Kate Noble Interview and Book Giveaway

I adore Kate Noble's books. If you are looking for wonderful historical romances, she is the author to read. Compromised, Revealed and her latest release, Summer of You are MUST reads. (My review of Summer of You will be posted later this week)

It should come as no surprise that I would have Kate (who has an awesome first name, by the way ) for an interview...

KB: You've published three books in little over a year. Can you tell us your road to publication? And advice you can give aspiring authors trying to become published?

Kate: Actually, I have to correct you here. (On the first question! Oh no!) I’ve published 3 books at year intervals – Compromised in spring 2008, Revealed in spring 2009, The Summer of You in spring 2010. The reason you might think they came out within the span of a year is that I’m published first in trade paperback, but then a year later, the books are re-released in mass market.

I didn’t want to put one over on you – I’m not a fast writer (much to my agent’s and editor’s dismay), so the idea of putting out three books within the span of a single year makes me want to curl up in a ball and sleep.

Caveat over. Now to the subject at hand.

My road to publication was sort of normal. At least I think of it as normal. From about thirteen years old on, I’ve been reading romance novels. Jump ahead a decade or so, and I’m working at a job that doesn’t pay me very much and does nothing really to fulfill my career ambitions, so in my spare time – to keep myself from going insane or in debt or both – I started fiddling with writing a romance novel. Fourteen months later, I have a completed novel – Compromised. Another year of polishing and submitting, and revising and submitting, I landed an agent, and then shortly thereafter a contract with Berkley.

Now, it sounds pretty simple written out like that, but bear in mind the amount of time I committed to this – not only on the book, but on the querying, the revising… it takes a long time. It takes dedication. The best advice I can give is, Do Not Give Up. I queried twenty agents before I landed mine. What if I had stopped at nineteen?

KB: Why write historical romance? If you could write for another genre, which one would you write for and why?

Kate: I write historical romance because its what I love to read. (What can I say, I was very young and impressionable when I first read Jane Austen.) And while I full intend to always write historical romance, I wouldn’t mind dabbling in contemporary or sci-fi-ish romance, possibly YA. You know, in my vast spare time.

KB: Your books are very witty, adorable and very, very funny (so says me). How hard is it for you to write humorous dialogue or scenes? Does it come easy to you?

Kate: Thank you! And I’m not exactly certain how to answer this question. I wouldn’t say humor comes easy, but it is part of my voice. I don’t set out to write jokes. A string of the best jokes in the world can never make a story. I just try to write a scene, and emotionally, if there is room for humor, inevitably it comes out.

KB: Let's have some fun with your titles! If you had to come up with an alternative title for each what would it be?

Kate:

Compromised – Making Out with Your Sister’s Fiancé, 101.

Revealed – In this Sarcophagus, you Meet Only the Best People.

Summer of You – Swimming Lessons with Men, given midnight to 2 am.

KB: Two of your favorite romances are Pride and Prejudice and Jane Eyre. If you had to choose between Mr. Darcy or Rochester, which one would you ride off in the sunset with and why?

Kate: DAMN that’s a tough one. You know what? I’m going to buck tradition here and say Rochester. Don’t get me wrong, I love me some Darcy – but Rochester had it a little harder, what with the nutty wife in the attic, but he bucked society and the law to get what he wanted – Jane – which was something Darcy would have never done. And in the end, fate made Rochester pay a terrible price to earn her. But earn her, he did.

KB: Are there certain plots or tropes you've read in historical romance that you aren't a big fan of? What types of characters and stories would you like to see more of in this genre?

Kate: Um, not really a fan of the “oops I’m pregnant but I’m not going to tell you for a convoluted reason that makes sense to me and no one else, so when we run into each other four years from now you can be surprised by the precocious moppet who looks like you” trope. It is one of those storylines that cannot help but make the heroine look stupid. I’m against stupid heroines in general.

KB: When an author like yourself receives her author copies, what do you do with them? Do you pet them and hug the, perhaps takes pictures with them?

Kate: I roll around on them on my bed like Demi Moore in Indecent Proposal. Or, I stash them in the corner and use them for giveaways. (Ahem. See below.)

KB: You read aloud from your latest release, Summer of You, at Lady Jane's Salon in New York City last weekend. What was it like for you to read your book on a stage in front of a large group of people? Were you nervous? Would you do it again if asked?

Kate: I’m not gonna lie – alcohol was required to get me up the stairs to the stage.

Seriously, it was a great experience, and I’d do it again in a heartbeat. About two hours before the reading I started getting nervous, but then I heard NK Jemisin and Miranda Neville read (and after me, Sarah MacLean), and the crowd was so positive and receptive that I realized it couldn’t help but be fun. And once I was a couple of sentences into my reading, all the nerves were gone and I started enjoying myself.

KB: You've moved from the New York City area to California. How is the West Coast different from the East Coast?

Kate: Many Many ways.

1. The ocean is on the left.
2. I have to drive now. Everywhere.
3. The sun! It burns my eyes!
4. Why is everyone smiling at me?

KB: You were just nominated for this year's Romance Writers of America's RITA in the Regency Historical Category for Revealed. When you got the call about the nomination, what was your first reaction?

Kate: Sincere disbelief. And I, in fact, refused to fully believe it (and therefore post about it on Facebook) until I saw the nominees put up online… and Regency Historical Romance was the LAST category to get posted. My fingernails have yet to completely recover.

Question from Mho Fho: 11. What do you think of sheep? Let's say you decided to write a paranormal historical romance, would you ever have a demon sheep character who shifts into a hunky hero and looks incredible in a cravat? Duke Mho has a nice ring to it, don't you think? What type of lady would the handsome and seductive Mho hook up with?

Kate: Mho, I wasn’t going to tell you this, but the original title of my latest book was The Summer of Ewe. The publishers wouldn’t go for it. It seems you and I are ahead of our time.

KB: Can you tell us about any future projects you're working on?

Kate: I’m currently hard at work (and on a serious deadline – ack!) for Jason’s book. Jason, Jane’s brother, figures heavily in The Summer of You, and once that book ended, I realized I wasn’t quite done with him. But since he’s still got a lot of growing up to do, the book is set five years after the events of The Summer of You. After that, I have some ideas, but they aren’t fully formed, so I’ll keep them to myself for now.

Kate has a copy of Summer of You up for grabs! And this is open for everyone. In order to have your chance to win leave a comment here for Kate until Thursday 4/15.