Karen Witemeyer Visits Friday with Friends!

Hey, y'all! I'm letting my southern drawl crawl out today. Let's welcome 

Texas gal and one of my top ten favorite romance authors today:

Karen Witemeyer! 

We're going to do a fun little interview and GIVE-AWAY. Can you tell I'm excited?

Linnette: 

Karen's latest release and must have!

Karen, I'm so excited to have you here today. Time to pick that amazing writer's brain. I'm dying to know. Did your first completed novel ever get published?

Karen:

No. However, it did get my foot in the publishing door. I brought my first novel manuscript to the ACFW conference in 2007. I met Karen Schurrer from Bethany House and she invited me to send in the proposal. I did, and they requested the full. Hooray! But then I got the news they were rejecting the manuscript. Noooo!!! It was too similar in plot to another book they had recently published. But they liked my writing enough that they invited me to submit again. Hooray again!!! By the time the 2008 conference came around, they were hinting at a contract, and by January of 2009, I had a three book deal. So even though that first book will probably never see the light of day, it served a great purpose.

Linnette: 

Oooh! That's exciting! A nerve wracking ride to be sure, but exciting. How long did you write before you landed that three book deal?

Karen:

Six years. I started writing with intent to publish in 2003. Started attending the ACFW conference in 2005, and had my contract in 2009.

Linnette:

From all I've heard within the writing community over the years, that's a rather quick turn around. Now on to writing itself. How do story ideas come to you?

Karen:

I get inspiration from many different places. Movies, other novels, even the Bible can play a role. For example, Short-Straw Bride was inspired by the old Hollywood Musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. To Win Her Heart was inspired by the parable of the Prodigal Son in the Bible, though I started at the end and asked the question, what was life like for the prodigal AFTER the celebration was over. We know the father loved him, but how did his brother and the other townspeople treat him? How did he deal with the consequences of his past choices? Then, Head in the Clouds was inspired by my love for both regency and western romances. I brought an English nobleman to Texas, blended in a little Jane Eyre (my favorite classic book), and ended up with a Texas fairy tale.
Linnette:
I love all your books, but I think Head in the Clouds might be my favorite. (It's also the one Karen is giving away today!) But back to writing... What is your writing process? How detailed are you in your planning when you write?

Karen:

I'm half plotter, half pantser. I need to know my characters and their motivations ahead of time, how the hero and heroine are thrown together, and what central conflicts they will face. Then I loosely outline the main plot points. I just focus on the big events (usually around three) that are the pillars shaping the story. I do my research to get a good handle on my time period, then I sit down and start to write, letting the characters and plot details develop naturally. I have a general road map that I stick to pretty faithfully, but I'm willing to take windy roads to get from point A to point B if that is what my characters want.

Linnette:
I can totally see that. That's a really cool balance to have. What’s your method for naming your characters? I love the Alamo theme in Short Straw Bride. Very creative!

Karen:

Thanks! I had so much fun with those Archer brothers. In Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, all the men were named alphabetically for Bible characters. I wanted to keep my Archer men linked as well, but I wanted it to be fun and focused on Texas. I thought of the Alamo and loved the name Travis. The rest just blossomed from there.

Coming June 1st!

Linnette:
That is so cool! I love it when things like that happen. I'm also looking forward to seeing what becomes of Travis Archer's brother, Crockett Archer, in Stealing the Preacher. 

Karen, it amazes me how you deal with serious and deep issues in such a beautiful way. How do you do that?

Karen:

My spiritual themes often stem from things I struggle with in my own spiritual walk. I wrote Head in the Clouds before I had a contract, and in that book by heroine struggles with waiting on the Lord's timing instead of rushing in to make things happen on her own. In To Win Her Heart, Eden is the young woman who has always been the good girl. She does what is right, what is expected, but it doesn't always translate to true sacrifice or love for others. She has to get past her outer shell of righteousness and let God's spirit truly change her heart. I struggle with that on a regular basis.

Linnette:

I loved Head in the Clouds! Did I say that already? I think I must have really identified somehow with Adelaide. ;-) Do you have a set time slot every day in which you write?

Karen:

I work full-time and have three kids at home, so writing time comes whenever I can find it. I have learned to be flexible and to hold myself to mini deadlines in order to get the pages written.

Linnette:

Wow! You're one busy lady. Do you have a reward system for when you reach certain goals in your writing? How do you motivate yourself to keep going?

Karen:

I set weekly goals. This works better for me than a daily word court because my days can get hectic fast, and I need the flexibility of a larger time frame to allow me to meet my goals without growing frustrated. My goal is to write one polished chapter a week. Sometimes if I have additional projects or approaching deadlines, I bump this up to 3 polished chapters every 2 weeks. And If I manage to get my deadline met by Friday, that means I get the weekend off – a HUGE reward for me.

Linnette:

I bet it is! I'm amazed you could ever have a weekend off with your schedule. I love the idea of writing a polished chapter a week! I tend to edit as I go, too, though I've loosened up on my self-expectations on that a bit with book two. Now. How about... comfort food, exercise, or other?

Karen:

My big weakness is chocolate chip ice cream, but I'm also a sucker for cookies (peanut butter, oatmeal raisin, chocolate chip). With that kind of weakness, I definitely need to exercise, so I usually get up at 5:00 a.m. and walk on my treadmill. My motivator is that I read while I walk, so if I'm in the middle of a good book, it's easier to get out of bed on a cold morning.

Linnette:

*Sigh* Maybe this time next year, my book will be your walking companion. ;-) Just for fun, what's your favorite color?

Karen:

Green

Linnette:

You'd love my heroine's eyes, then. They're a bright green. Do you have a favorite author?

Karen:

Too many to count. I really enjoy Mary Connealy and Deanne Gist in the CBA. In the general market, I'm a fan of Julia Quinn, Jodi Thomas, and the old historicals by Julie Garwood.

Linnette:

I love Deanne and Mary! And, yes. I often refer to my favorites as "my top ten", though I'm sure there are more than ten of you. What's your favorite beverage?

Karen:

Sprite – though I try to drink water most of the time and only splurge once in a while.

Linnette:

Coffee, hot tea, hot cocoa, or other?

Karen:

Hot tea (just plain Lipton) with honey.

Linnette:

Yes! I'm a hot tea girl, too! Black like you. Though I can't get past the strong taste of honey. I'm still on sugar. Are you a paper and pen writer or computer all the way?

Karen:

Definitely computer. I'm one of those odd ducks who edits as she writes, so paper and pen would be a mess.

Linnette:

If you're an odd duck, then so am I! If I'm out and about, I'll use paper and pen for notes and ideas, but I need my computer when I write! How do you manage to produce such near perfect novels? Seriously. Your writing amazes me.

Karen:

One of Linnette's favorites!

*Blush* You're such a sweetie. In truth, I think it has less to do with me than one might think. I pray over my writing every day and ask the Lord to guide my stories. I'm sure I get in his way more than I should, but my goal is to let him take the lead while I follow. I would have no stories to tell if it weren't for his influence.

Linnette:

Thank you for that! I need to be more diligent about praying as I work. Thanks for that needful reminder. Karen, I can't tell you how much it means to have you visit Friday with Friends. Thank you for coming!

Karen:

Thank you so much for having me here today, Linnette. It's been such fun!

~

There you have it folks! I hope you've enjoyed Karen's interview. Do you have anymore questions for her? Leave a comment or question, and if you wish to participate in the drawing leave us your email address (such as - lr.mullin at live .com). She's giving away a copy of one of my favorite books: Head in the Clouds! 

*To be entered into the drawing, please leave your email address in a comment which must be left before Monday. Please leave a space on each side of @ in your email address in order to help avoid spammers. Winner will be notified via email. Thank you! :D

Two-time RITA® Finalist and winner of the coveted HOLT Medallion and ACFW Carol Award, CBA bestselling author, Karen Witemeyer, writes historical romance fiction for Bethany House, believing that the world needs more happily-ever-afters. She is an avid cross-stitcher, shower singer, and bakes a mean apple cobbler. Karen makes her home in Abilene, TX with her husband and three children. Learn more about Karen and her books at: www.karenwitemeyer.com.  

Come May 31st, Karen will return to talk about AND give away a copy of her next novel, Stealing the Preacher. I'm SO looking forward to reading that book! Won't that be fun? In the mean time, go grab a copy of Short Straw Bride - a book you don't want to miss!