Hi Everyone!
Just stopping by with a guest post. When Kathy and Bob reached out to me about their upcoming book, I said that I would share some information here. Kathy provided me the guest post below to share with us some thoughts on why they write what they do. Thanks for coming by the blog today!
Just stopping by with a guest post. When Kathy and Bob reached out to me about their upcoming book, I said that I would share some information here. Kathy provided me the guest post below to share with us some thoughts on why they write what they do. Thanks for coming by the blog today!
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WHY WE WRITE TIME TRAVEL
By Kathy Clark (writing as Bob Kat for our YA Books)
WIN a beautiful heart-shaped shell necklace. Details at the end of this post.
NOT MY LIFE, the 5th book in the Time Shifters YA time
travel/romance/mystery series will be released on October 18th. Nothing is as it seems and everyone has a
story that needs to be heard. Our teens
travel back to either vindicate or convict their old friend, Dan Denucci. But the man with a medical degree, a
beautiful wife, and a young son is very different from the sad, homeless guy
who lives under the pier on Fort Myers Beach, FL. Who is the real Dan and what did he do to
lose everything?
Of all the concepts (or tropes), I think time travel would be the
most amazing adventure. You can have the
trips to Mars or an excursion down to the Titanic. Give me a trip to the late 1800s any day to
see what the Old West was really like.
Or the early 1800s in Ireland before my family left to come to the
U.S. Or even back to the 1960s just
because I love the Beatles. The hardest
part of the trip would be deciding where and when to go first.
Where would you go if you could travel back in time? Who would you want to meet? What historical event would you like to
witness? What era’s pop culture, fashion
and music would you like to experience?
That was the idea that sparked our Young Adult series TIME
SHIFTERS. How would it be for four
teenagers to be able to go back and see how average people lived, and, along
the way, experience the feelings and textures of different times and
places? What kind of challenge would it
be for them to do without things they thought they couldn’t live without while
having to deal with issues (such as no electricity, different currency, and child
labor) that they’ve never thought about?
Bob and I have had over forty books published (as Kathy Clark and
as Bob Kat), but most were written for adults…about adults. Writing a YA presented new outlooks on
everything from friendship to romance to problem solving. Obviously, a sixteen-year-old is going to
react differently to almost everything than an adult would.
And even though dragons and witches and vampires are very popular,
we wanted our teens to be real. No magic
spells or mythical creatures save them.
Instead, they have to deal with their issues using only their own
ingenuity, creativity, and the friendship they share. Plus, we wanted our young readers to
“accidentally” learn a little about history and what was normal back then as
compared to now.
My favorite books when I was growing up were Trixie Beldon and
Nancy Drew mysteries, as well as Agatha Christie and Mary Stewart. We wanted our teenagers to be 21st
Century versions of the very interesting and intelligent characters from those
famous novels.
Having never written a book with lead characters under the age of
twenty-one, we were a little nervous about capturing the innocence,
insecurities, and youthful logic of teenagers.
But the four characters we created became so real to us that we easily
slipped into their heads and their hearts.
Their vulnerabilities and dreams are so pure and yet heart-breaking as
they discover the cruelties of the real world.
Bob and I plot the books together, usually sitting outside on our
deck. He then writes the first draft,
and I add all of the color (clothing, scenery, hair, etc.), personalities,
romance, and polish. We have totally
different writing schedules. He’s up
early and fills about three to five pages before I ever get up. I’m a night-writer and don’t even start until
around ten p.m., then go to bed around two or three a.m. I like to let my subconscious mind take over,
so I always have the TV on for background noise. I don’t think I could write a coherent sentence
if it was quiet or before noon. I heard
that Mozart’s wife would read to him while he was composing his brilliant music
because the words would occupy his left brain so his right brain could create.
Basically, this series allows Bob and me to do a little time
travelling, too, as we go back to the memories of our own teenage years and
hang out with our four new friends, Kelly, Austin, Scott, and Zoey as they
learn how to love and live and survive in a world that’s not always kind.
Come along. Whether you’re
twelve or ninety-two, you’ll enjoy the trip.
Visit us at our website www.LoveRealityRomance.com or write us at Kathy@Nightwriter93.com. We would love to hear
where and when you think our teenagers should travel to in the next book. Reviews are always appreciated.
Bob Kat loves to hear from their
fans. Write us at TheThrillOfSuspense@gmail.com and tell us where you’d like to have Kelly, Scott, Austin
and Zoey travel to next.
To celebrate the launch of NOT MY
LIFE, we’re giving away a very special heart-shaped mother-of-pearl shell
necklace. (The photo doesn’t do it
justice.) It is 18” long. All you have to do is send us an email at Kathy@nightwriter93.com with your name, email address, and the words SHELL NECKLACE. You will be entered into the drawing that
will be held on December 1, 2016. The
winner will be notified by email.
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AUTHOR BIO
Long ago and far away (in
Alvin, Texas) Kathy Clark began her career writing and performing plays for the
neighborhood kids. She charged a nickel,
but the attendees got a free bottle of ice cold Coke along with their
entertainment. Flash forward a few years
and Kathy Clark still loves telling stories.
She started writing solo
for such publishers as Harlequin and Dell.
In 1993, she met and married her prince charming, and after his career
as a business executive, he became her co-writer. Together they have had fourteen books
published, bringing her total to thirty-seven.
Their books are about real people caught up in unexpected and
extraordinary circumstances, and just happen to fall in love in the
process…just like Kathy and Bob did!
They write adult romance
and romantic suspense under the pen name Kathy Clark and YA romance/time
travel/mysteries under the pen name of Bob Kat.
They currently live in
Colorado Springs near their five sons.
When they’re not plotting their next book on what they call their
Authors’ Deck with a glass of wine, they love to travel to far-away
places…always together.
NOT
MY LIFE is #5 in the Time Shifters YA romance/time travel/mystery series. The first four books have won numerous
Readers’ Favorite and other awards.
Our
latest adult romantic suspense series, Austin Heroes had book #2 ALMOST FOREVER
released in July and book #3 ANOTHER CHANCE to be released in November. We are currently working on a new adult
romance series called Breathless that is set in Cripple Creek, Colorado.
We
love to hear from our readers and encourage everyone to leave reviews. Add your name to our newsletter at http://nightwriter93.us4.list-manage2.com/subscribe?u=36aefea91512cdbd3abf603cf&id=b02a931508 and receive updates on our books, household
hints, recipes, and contests.
SOCIAL
MEDIA
Website: www.LoveRealityRomance.com
Email: LoveRealityRomance@gmail.com
Sign up
for our Newsletter at http://nightwriter93.us4.list-manage2.com/subscribe?u=36aefea91512cdbd3abf603cf&id=b02a931508
Twitter: @93NightWriter
Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/BobKat1993/
Link to
purchase NOT MY LIFE on Amazon: http://lrd.to/not-my-life
Link to
purchase ANOTHER CHANCE on Amazon: http:// lrd.to/another-chance
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