This interview was done for CityLitRag,
an online lit zine dedicated to publishing quality prose
and poetry. It's no longer available at the site, so I've decided to reprint the interview here
as it really does have some practical information that I want to share with other writers.
Thanks to Loren Kleinman for asking some great questions.
A lifelong California native, Kate Douglas has found her niche writing sexy paranormal romances. Series include her StarQuest collection from Ellora’s Cave, Demon Lovers, Wolf Tales, Dream Catchers, DemonSlayers, and the current Spirit Wild series, following the now-adult children born to her Chanku shapeshifters from Wolf Tales. Married for over four decades, she and her spouse have two amazing adult “kids” who have produced six perfect grandchildren. Kate gives credit for much of her success to the fantastic cadre of generous and talented authors who have helped her over the years. She is a firm believer in the philosophy of “paying it forward.”
Loren Kleinman (LK): Do you have any advice for unpublished authors?
Kate Douglas (KD): Do I, ever! There are so many things that I did wrong, or that I didn’t know I should be doing. I think I’d start with:
If you want to write a book—do it. Don’t set your dreams aside. It’s way too easy to say you’re going to write a book someday. Don’t talk about it, do it. I first started talking about writing a romance in the mid-1970s. I didn’t actually start writing one until 1985, and I didn’t finish it until around 1994 or so. Kids and husband’s work-related moves kept me busy, though I think I used those as excuses, too. I can’t help but wonder where my career would be if I’d gotten serious when I first thought about writing fiction as a career. As it was, I didn’t sell until 1998, and that was to an epublisher before anyone knew what ebooks were. Sales were less than stellar. My first New York sale happened in 2005 to Kensington Publishing—Wolf Tales was a series I’d started with Changeling Press, a small epublisher. I was 55 years old. I know I wasted a lot of years because I didn’t focus on writing as a career.
Second bit of advice? If you want a New York sale, get a good agent. It makes a huge difference to have a cheerleader on your side—one who knows both the business and the ones in position to make offers on your book.
Third would be to join Romance Writers of America. As much as the publishing industry has changed over the years, I still advise membership for anyone starting out in this business, even if you intend to self-publish. You can join as an unpublished writer and learn a lot about the ins and outs of the publishing business, though I think the best part about RWA is the networking—I’ve met some wonderful authors, editors and agents over the years who have answered questions, helped me out when they could, and offered some really amazing advice.
And probably my most basic advice would be to perfect your writing skills. Writing isn’t all imagination and ideas—it’s the technical knowhow to write well. Editors, when faced with two manuscripts and one open slot are not going to choose the one that’s filled with typos, misspellings, and/or poor grammar. They’re going to go for the manuscript that is closer to perfect. It makes sense—time is money, and an editor has to weigh the value inherent in having to rewrite poor writing versus simply editing a well-written story. I still get letters from readers asking me how to get published, and those letters are written in ‘text speech.’ I generally reply and tell them to learn to spell, first.
But, whatever you do, never, ever give up. If you don’t write it, you can’t publish it. I spent twenty years writing, revising and submitting before I finally got that NY contract. Not one of those years was wasted, and my persistence paid off. Since 1998, I’ve had 59 novels and novellas published, and I’ve no intention of stopping.
LK: Are you a plotter or a pantzer?
KD: I’m definitely a pantzer but with a few caveats. I no longer leave everything up to whatever serendipitous roads my mind takes, because I’ve learned that, within the context of an established series, I have to keep my facts straight. I often start my book with nothing more than a scene or an impression, and I’ll write that down so I don’t forget it. Then I start thinking about my characters and who the book will be about, but not necessarily what it will be about. I’ll often find pictures online to use as visuals to help me get to know the characters, jot down their names, ages, various properties like eye and hair color, weight, whatever background comes to me. These are important little biographies, especially when writing a series, because even a pantzer has to keep track of the details when characters may reappear in future books.
I spend a lot of time thinking about my character in relation to the world I’ve put them in—in the case of my Spirit Wild series, it’s the previously established Chanku world from Wolf Tales, except that now we’re twenty-six years in the future, so I have a lot of history to build on. I just finished writing Dark Spirit, a new Spirit Wild story that will release in early January, ahead of Dark Moon, which is my final in the series from Kensington. I’m continuing the series with the help of my agent, and Dark Spirit will be the first release (ebook and print) outside of Kensington Publishing. Dark Spirit takes place between Dark Wolf, which released in April 2013, and Dark Moon, which releases January 28, 2014, and all I knew in the beginning was that my heroine was named Romy and she’d spent her entire life in a repressive religious cult. The first visual I had for the story was a scene of Romy, naked and strapped to a St. Andrew’s Cross in an open courtyard with men and woman standing around watching, while a man viciously beat her with a bullwhip. That was it—that was all I had. So when I started writing, I asked Romy how she’d ended up on that X shaped cross, and she told me.
Her story became Dark Spirit. When I finally sat down to write, I had her character so firmly lodged in my mind that she felt real to me, and her reality let me tell her story. And until I wrote the last chapter, I had no idea how it was going to end. Luckily, my characters are pretty good at coming up with endings!
LK: Did you do any research before start or during of the writing of the books?
KD: I am constantly researching. The idea for my Dream Catchers series came to me while my husband and I were traveling in the Sierras. We went to the Allen Array, which is a huge plot of ground at a place near Hat Creek where satellite receivers point at the heavens in search of signals from space. It’s part of the SETI project—absolutely fascinating. I found myself asking, What would happen if, instead of receiving, we were broadcasting. And what if someone answered…and what if that person broadcasting was sending his or her sexual fantasies, and creatures who drew power from sexual energy happened to be listening? I got a novella and two novels out of that visit, all in the name of research, obviously!
I also spend a lot of time researching details online—what kinds of trees grow in a particular area, what will the phases of the moon be in 2039? If I’m describing a moonlit meadow, I want to make sure it’s the right time of the month so it’s not a waning sliver, but a full, waxing moon we’re seeing.
My office is filled with books on wolves and their behavior, on the flora and fauna of all the states I set my stories in. I think the research is half the fun! The DemonSlayers series was the result of walking into a crystal shop in the town of Mt. Shasta, and my demons used the vortices in Sedona to cause havoc among humans after we visited there. Research adds meat and muscle to the bones of your story. It’s important to get those details right.
How many books do I read a month? Okay…so this one is kind of embarrassing. I read a lot. Just this month (and this is pretty average for me) I’ve read Shadow’s Curse by Alexa Egan, both Home on the Range and Gentle on My Mind by Susan Fox, Night Vision by Yasmine Galenorn, Soul Kissed by Erin Kellison, I reread The Raven Prince, The Serpent Prince and The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt, Ritual Magic by Eileen Wilks, the Enthralled Anthology by Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day, Meljean Brook, and Lucy Monroe, I Only Have Eyes for You and Kissing Under the Mistletoe by Bella Andre,Deception Cove by Jayne Castle aka Jayne Ann Krentz, and I’m currently reading The Way you Play the Game by Willa Okati. I know I’ve missed a couple—those are the print books I’ve read, but I’ve also read a few on my iPhone. The one I’ve currently got going there is wonderful, and it’s called Feyland—The First Adventure by Anthea Sharp.
And I probably should make sure my husband doesn’t see this blog post…just sayin’!
LK: Do you ever run into someone who says “You write WHAT?”
KD: I write erotic paranormal romance. Of course I get asked that question! My best story happened when I was having lunch in the financial district in Manhattan with my agent, editor, a couple of booksellers and production people from Kensington, and the vice president of sales from Barnes and Noble. He was a really nice man and we were having a terrific lunch, talking wine (I live in the wine country in northern California) and books, but I noticed that the VP kept staring at me oddly, and sort of smirking. Finally I asked him what was so funny, and he started laughing. VP says, “You don’t LOOK (yes, he said it in capital letters) like you write those books!” And I replied that no, I probably looked like a 55 year old grandmother, because that’s what I was at the time. Now I’m a 64 year old grandmother, and I’m still writing those books. And still, on occasion, getting the odd stare or comment. I mean, think about it…what are we supposed to look like? A hooker on the street corner? Age doesn’t take away a woman’s enjoyment of her sexuality any more than it takes away her imagination. If anything, I feel that older writers have a richer store to draw on—a life well lived offers up so much experience in human relations that we can share in our stories through the lives of our characters.
As far as future projects and things I’m currently working on right now? I have a lot going on—and a huge career change at the root of my crazy schedule. Kensington is not buying anymore of my Spirit Wild series. Sales were down and it was a business decision they really had no choice but to make. Sales have been down across the board for paranormal romance, which is my favorite genre to write, but I wasn’t ready to end my Spirit Wild series. In fact, it’s basically a continuation of my long-running Wolf Tales series—you might say I’m a bit over-attached to my Chanku characters, but so are a lot of my readers. Enough, I hope, to make continuing the series independently a viable choice. I’ll know when I see sales figures on Dark Spirit whether or not I can afford to keep it going. I certainly hope I can—I really love the characters and the stories that keep popping into my head.
I’ve also got a romantic suspense called Intimate that I’m really having fun with. I’m not done with it, but hope to finish that one up before I start the next in the Spirit Wild series. I’ll be posting more first chapter excerpts on my website as soon as they’re ready to go up. In the meantime, I hope you’ll take a look at the first story in Spirit Wild: Dark Wolf. That one will lead you into my Chanku world of the future, when the children of the first modern generation of shapeshifters are coming into their own and making a mark on their world.
One thing I would love to say about choosing a career as an author, is that writers write. When we can do what we’re going to be doing anyway because we love it so much, and actually earn a living doing something we love, it just doesn’t get any better. I’m sure there are career choices I could have made that would be less stressful or not have me freaking out over deadlines or reviews, but at the same time, I’d be missing the joy of writing stories in worlds of my own creation, the satisfaction of a good review or a note from a fan who found something meaningful in one of my books. And I wouldn’t have met all the truly wonderful people who’ve come into my life because of my books. Other writers, booksellers, and most of all the readers who are the incentive to keep coming up with new and—hopefully—entertaining tales.
A lifelong California native, Kate Douglas has found her niche writing sexy paranormal romances. Series include her StarQuest collection from Ellora’s Cave, Demon Lovers, Wolf Tales, Dream Catchers, DemonSlayers, and the current Spirit Wild series, following the now-adult children born to her Chanku shapeshifters from Wolf Tales. Married for over four decades, she and her spouse have two amazing adult “kids” who have produced six perfect grandchildren. Kate gives credit for much of her success to the fantastic cadre of generous and talented authors who have helped her over the years. She is a firm believer in the philosophy of “paying it forward.”
Loren Kleinman (LK): Do you have any advice for unpublished authors?
Kate Douglas (KD): Do I, ever! There are so many things that I did wrong, or that I didn’t know I should be doing. I think I’d start with:
If you want to write a book—do it. Don’t set your dreams aside. It’s way too easy to say you’re going to write a book someday. Don’t talk about it, do it. I first started talking about writing a romance in the mid-1970s. I didn’t actually start writing one until 1985, and I didn’t finish it until around 1994 or so. Kids and husband’s work-related moves kept me busy, though I think I used those as excuses, too. I can’t help but wonder where my career would be if I’d gotten serious when I first thought about writing fiction as a career. As it was, I didn’t sell until 1998, and that was to an epublisher before anyone knew what ebooks were. Sales were less than stellar. My first New York sale happened in 2005 to Kensington Publishing—Wolf Tales was a series I’d started with Changeling Press, a small epublisher. I was 55 years old. I know I wasted a lot of years because I didn’t focus on writing as a career.
Second bit of advice? If you want a New York sale, get a good agent. It makes a huge difference to have a cheerleader on your side—one who knows both the business and the ones in position to make offers on your book.
Third would be to join Romance Writers of America. As much as the publishing industry has changed over the years, I still advise membership for anyone starting out in this business, even if you intend to self-publish. You can join as an unpublished writer and learn a lot about the ins and outs of the publishing business, though I think the best part about RWA is the networking—I’ve met some wonderful authors, editors and agents over the years who have answered questions, helped me out when they could, and offered some really amazing advice.
And probably my most basic advice would be to perfect your writing skills. Writing isn’t all imagination and ideas—it’s the technical knowhow to write well. Editors, when faced with two manuscripts and one open slot are not going to choose the one that’s filled with typos, misspellings, and/or poor grammar. They’re going to go for the manuscript that is closer to perfect. It makes sense—time is money, and an editor has to weigh the value inherent in having to rewrite poor writing versus simply editing a well-written story. I still get letters from readers asking me how to get published, and those letters are written in ‘text speech.’ I generally reply and tell them to learn to spell, first.
But, whatever you do, never, ever give up. If you don’t write it, you can’t publish it. I spent twenty years writing, revising and submitting before I finally got that NY contract. Not one of those years was wasted, and my persistence paid off. Since 1998, I’ve had 59 novels and novellas published, and I’ve no intention of stopping.
LK: Are you a plotter or a pantzer?
KD: I’m definitely a pantzer but with a few caveats. I no longer leave everything up to whatever serendipitous roads my mind takes, because I’ve learned that, within the context of an established series, I have to keep my facts straight. I often start my book with nothing more than a scene or an impression, and I’ll write that down so I don’t forget it. Then I start thinking about my characters and who the book will be about, but not necessarily what it will be about. I’ll often find pictures online to use as visuals to help me get to know the characters, jot down their names, ages, various properties like eye and hair color, weight, whatever background comes to me. These are important little biographies, especially when writing a series, because even a pantzer has to keep track of the details when characters may reappear in future books.
I spend a lot of time thinking about my character in relation to the world I’ve put them in—in the case of my Spirit Wild series, it’s the previously established Chanku world from Wolf Tales, except that now we’re twenty-six years in the future, so I have a lot of history to build on. I just finished writing Dark Spirit, a new Spirit Wild story that will release in early January, ahead of Dark Moon, which is my final in the series from Kensington. I’m continuing the series with the help of my agent, and Dark Spirit will be the first release (ebook and print) outside of Kensington Publishing. Dark Spirit takes place between Dark Wolf, which released in April 2013, and Dark Moon, which releases January 28, 2014, and all I knew in the beginning was that my heroine was named Romy and she’d spent her entire life in a repressive religious cult. The first visual I had for the story was a scene of Romy, naked and strapped to a St. Andrew’s Cross in an open courtyard with men and woman standing around watching, while a man viciously beat her with a bullwhip. That was it—that was all I had. So when I started writing, I asked Romy how she’d ended up on that X shaped cross, and she told me.
Her story became Dark Spirit. When I finally sat down to write, I had her character so firmly lodged in my mind that she felt real to me, and her reality let me tell her story. And until I wrote the last chapter, I had no idea how it was going to end. Luckily, my characters are pretty good at coming up with endings!
LK: Did you do any research before start or during of the writing of the books?
KD: I am constantly researching. The idea for my Dream Catchers series came to me while my husband and I were traveling in the Sierras. We went to the Allen Array, which is a huge plot of ground at a place near Hat Creek where satellite receivers point at the heavens in search of signals from space. It’s part of the SETI project—absolutely fascinating. I found myself asking, What would happen if, instead of receiving, we were broadcasting. And what if someone answered…and what if that person broadcasting was sending his or her sexual fantasies, and creatures who drew power from sexual energy happened to be listening? I got a novella and two novels out of that visit, all in the name of research, obviously!
I also spend a lot of time researching details online—what kinds of trees grow in a particular area, what will the phases of the moon be in 2039? If I’m describing a moonlit meadow, I want to make sure it’s the right time of the month so it’s not a waning sliver, but a full, waxing moon we’re seeing.
My office is filled with books on wolves and their behavior, on the flora and fauna of all the states I set my stories in. I think the research is half the fun! The DemonSlayers series was the result of walking into a crystal shop in the town of Mt. Shasta, and my demons used the vortices in Sedona to cause havoc among humans after we visited there. Research adds meat and muscle to the bones of your story. It’s important to get those details right.
How many books do I read a month? Okay…so this one is kind of embarrassing. I read a lot. Just this month (and this is pretty average for me) I’ve read Shadow’s Curse by Alexa Egan, both Home on the Range and Gentle on My Mind by Susan Fox, Night Vision by Yasmine Galenorn, Soul Kissed by Erin Kellison, I reread The Raven Prince, The Serpent Prince and The Leopard Prince by Elizabeth Hoyt, Ritual Magic by Eileen Wilks, the Enthralled Anthology by Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day, Meljean Brook, and Lucy Monroe, I Only Have Eyes for You and Kissing Under the Mistletoe by Bella Andre,Deception Cove by Jayne Castle aka Jayne Ann Krentz, and I’m currently reading The Way you Play the Game by Willa Okati. I know I’ve missed a couple—those are the print books I’ve read, but I’ve also read a few on my iPhone. The one I’ve currently got going there is wonderful, and it’s called Feyland—The First Adventure by Anthea Sharp.
And I probably should make sure my husband doesn’t see this blog post…just sayin’!
LK: Do you ever run into someone who says “You write WHAT?”
KD: I write erotic paranormal romance. Of course I get asked that question! My best story happened when I was having lunch in the financial district in Manhattan with my agent, editor, a couple of booksellers and production people from Kensington, and the vice president of sales from Barnes and Noble. He was a really nice man and we were having a terrific lunch, talking wine (I live in the wine country in northern California) and books, but I noticed that the VP kept staring at me oddly, and sort of smirking. Finally I asked him what was so funny, and he started laughing. VP says, “You don’t LOOK (yes, he said it in capital letters) like you write those books!” And I replied that no, I probably looked like a 55 year old grandmother, because that’s what I was at the time. Now I’m a 64 year old grandmother, and I’m still writing those books. And still, on occasion, getting the odd stare or comment. I mean, think about it…what are we supposed to look like? A hooker on the street corner? Age doesn’t take away a woman’s enjoyment of her sexuality any more than it takes away her imagination. If anything, I feel that older writers have a richer store to draw on—a life well lived offers up so much experience in human relations that we can share in our stories through the lives of our characters.
As far as future projects and things I’m currently working on right now? I have a lot going on—and a huge career change at the root of my crazy schedule. Kensington is not buying anymore of my Spirit Wild series. Sales were down and it was a business decision they really had no choice but to make. Sales have been down across the board for paranormal romance, which is my favorite genre to write, but I wasn’t ready to end my Spirit Wild series. In fact, it’s basically a continuation of my long-running Wolf Tales series—you might say I’m a bit over-attached to my Chanku characters, but so are a lot of my readers. Enough, I hope, to make continuing the series independently a viable choice. I’ll know when I see sales figures on Dark Spirit whether or not I can afford to keep it going. I certainly hope I can—I really love the characters and the stories that keep popping into my head.
I’ve also got a romantic suspense called Intimate that I’m really having fun with. I’m not done with it, but hope to finish that one up before I start the next in the Spirit Wild series. I’ll be posting more first chapter excerpts on my website as soon as they’re ready to go up. In the meantime, I hope you’ll take a look at the first story in Spirit Wild: Dark Wolf. That one will lead you into my Chanku world of the future, when the children of the first modern generation of shapeshifters are coming into their own and making a mark on their world.
One thing I would love to say about choosing a career as an author, is that writers write. When we can do what we’re going to be doing anyway because we love it so much, and actually earn a living doing something we love, it just doesn’t get any better. I’m sure there are career choices I could have made that would be less stressful or not have me freaking out over deadlines or reviews, but at the same time, I’d be missing the joy of writing stories in worlds of my own creation, the satisfaction of a good review or a note from a fan who found something meaningful in one of my books. And I wouldn’t have met all the truly wonderful people who’ve come into my life because of my books. Other writers, booksellers, and most of all the readers who are the incentive to keep coming up with new and—hopefully—entertaining tales.