Author Interview: Kieran Kramer

Please welcome Kieran Kramer, debut author of the Regency historical romance WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY. In the two weeks since its release, her book has already reached the USA Today Bestseller list, and after reading the book I understand why. I met Kieran in Orlando at RWA10, and was immediately struck by her friendly, upbeat attitude. We kept in touch, and she graciously agreed to answer a few questions for today’s post.

Here’s a quick bio:
Kieran Kramer, a former CIA employee, journalist, and English teacher, lives in the Lowcountry of SC with her family. Game show veteran, karaoke enthusiast, and general adventurer, her motto is, "Life rewards action." Find her on Facebook, Twitter, and at www.kierankramerbooks.com.

GH: Tell us a little about the Impossible Bachelors series.

KK: Four Regency gentlemen who are experts at avoiding the marriage altar wind up falling in love! The series is light, funny, sweet, sexy, and even poignant in places. My goal when writing the series was to have fun as I wrote. I dearly hope you, my readers, will have fun as you read them.

GH: I loved the premise for Molly and Harry’s story. It’s not always easy to say where our ideas come from, but was there any particular inspiration for their story that

you’d like to share? Or maybe a spark of a scene or character that got it started?

KK: I knew that I wanted to have a beauty pageant of some sort back in the Regency era. That was where the whole idea started. So how could I pull that off? I came up with the idea of a competition between mistresses, and I knew that one of them had to be a fish out of water, like Sandra Bullock in Miss Congeniality.

GH: Your books are chock full of fun, and that’s reflected in the titles. Did you get to choose them, or help?

KK: When I submitted my proposal to my agent and then to my editor, I had come up with some very unusual titles. I wanted them to be sassy and fun and fresh. We wound up keeping one out of

four of the originals, which was WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY. The rest we came up with together. We throw ideas back and forth and have a lot of fun. It's a great feeling when we find a title we all love!

GH: What element of writing do you feel you struggle with most, and how do you overcome it?

KK: Plotting. I spend hours and hours thinking and getting nowhere because I have too many ideas. And then I'll walk myself into corners and give up and start over the next day. The only thing that has made plotting palatable to me is Blake Snyder's book series, SAVE THE CAT. That adds a huge dimension of fun to plotting. I like it, and it helps me a lot to use his 40-scene structure storyboard.

But in the end, it's really just me and my imagination, feeling lonely, scared, and frustrated, not knowing what I'm going to do next.

GH: So I’m not the only one! I’m reading SAVE THE CAT right now and already wishing I’d picked it up a long time ago. You obviously managed to plot a winner with WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY. Did your editor request any major changes before publishing the book?

KK: Oh, sure. I had a mistress contest or two that I had to either tweak or drop because I wrote this book WAY long!

GH: Did anything surprise you about the publishing process?

KK: Definitely. I knew nothing about what went on behind the scenes. I've learned it takes a great team to publish a book, and I'm super grateful for mine at St. Martin's Press.

GH: You have such an interesting background. Former CIA agent--is agent the right word?--game show winner, journalist, bar maid in Scotland. Do you have any idea what influenced your decision to write romance, and specifically historical?

KK: Good question about the CIA. At the real CIA, no one is called a CIA agent. That's movie talk. James Bond, if he worked for the CIA, would be called a case officer. I was hired as a career trainee (CT), which was a big honor—you're basically selected for specialized training that very few people at the CIA receive. I was in the same CT class as Valerie Plame. We slogged through trenches together at the Farm and slept in the same quonset hut for a couple months. Incidentally, I can't believe she's having a movie made about her. I can't wait to see it. She was very together…very confident. I'm NEVER that girl. I'm always the one who trips over her feet or says the wrong thing. I often did that in the CIA, and you know what? I love that goofy younger version of myself. I was fully involved in everything I did there. I tried. I was adventurous. I occasionally embarrassed myself. But that's okay. I like that I'm all right with stepping out and messing up and starting over again.

Looking back on the other stuff—game show winner, journalist, bar maid (and college student) in Scotland—I don't think any of that influenced my decision to write historical romance. What influenced me most was my love of reading, my love of books.

A lot of my sense that life offers endless possibilities comes from my immersion, as a kid, in the world of story. The irony is, I applied that principle of believing in endless possiblilities to the pursuit of a career in story, specifically in writing romance novels.

GH: Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?

KK: Yes. Start from a strong foundation. By that, I think it's important that you know yourself and like yourself before you write a story. Why? Because if you don't believe in yourself—if you think you're unworthy in some way—what you write won't be a good story as much as it will be either a strained attempt to prove yourself to the world or an apology of some sort. The best stories are those that don't exercise your demons. The best ones are those that come from a solid Truth that you know, from a place inside you that's deep and protected from the whims of the moment, or the viccisitudes of life.

Yes, you need your brain to help you put your story's plot together, but you need your gut more than your head—and so you need to be able to trust yourself. This is essential. Trust your instincts. Embrace who you are and be excited about shining your unique light on the world. That sort of enthusiasm is interesting and attractive. That will win you an audience.

Another way to say this is, don't be your own worst enemy. If you are constantly sabotaging yourself, become aware of your patterns—work at emphasizing the positive and releasing the negative until you come to an honest acceptance of who you are. Be gentle with yourself while you try to alleviate or work around your weaknesses—and be proud of your strengths.

When you approach writing with this attitude, you can't help but write strong. Powerful words, powerful stories—whether they're humorous, dark, complex, or simple—flow from the minds of people who claim their place in the world. Imagine thinking along these lines: "I'm here, and I have no need to prove anything to anyone—I'm much more interested in noticing these cool/interesting/poignant/funny/dark things about the world that I want to share with you because I can. I want to interact, to share, to participate in life!"

Writing stories is living. It's living in the moment and living to the fullest. It means we're here right now and we're engaging, being a part of the world. So pat yourself on the back for taking that extra step forward, for daring to put pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard and writing. You're brave. You're reaching out. You're trying to connect. So many people don't even attempt that. So believe in the rightness of your purpose. Write your stories. They're important. All the stories we write connect us to each other, and there's no higher purpose than that.

Thanks so much for joining us Kieran!
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We have a copy of WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY, and an ARC of DUKES TO THE LEFT OF ME, PRINCES TO THE RIGHT to give away, so be sure to leave a comment before Monday at midnight EST! Kieran will try to check in periodically if anyone has questions.

Look for WHEN HARRY MET MOLLY on bookshelves now, and DUKES TO THE LEFT OF ME, PRINCES TO THE RIGHT coming November 30th. To learn more, visit www.kierankramerbooks.com.