What a Texas Girl Wants by Kristina Knight - Author Interview

Today I'd like to welcome author Kristina Knight here to talk about her romance novel, "What a Texas Girl Wants".

Thanks for stopping by, and for being kind enough to answer all my prying questions! The floor is yours.

Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

I love contemporary romance. Historical and paranormal and romantic suspense are wonderful, but there is something about slipping into the life of a modern woman and experiencing a happily-ever-after. Plus, my voice is modern. If I tried to write a historical my characters would wind up saying things like 'amazeballs' … and that would not be a good thing. *G*

What research (or world-building) is required?

I think the biggest part of world-building, in contemporary romance, is the backstory and conflicts. Because we all live in the modern world, readers don't need to know what a computer keyboard feels like. The key is to help the reader understand what has shaped the hero or heroine to this point in his or her life – and how that shaping is going to change over the course of the book.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

Kathleen is dealing with a lot of family pressures and issues, but she's also dealing with the mask she created a long time ago: the mask of the perfect daughter. From Kathleen I learned that sometimes the hardest mask to remove is the mask we put on ourselves.

Any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

When I'm starting to write I always read back over the previous chapter; that helps me get the feel of where I'm going back. I don't really have any superstitions and I don't believe in things like writer's block – I believe we control our writing environment and if the words are flowing like molasses, we have to write through the pain.

Plotter or pantser? 

I call myself a pant-lotter. I've tried completely pantsing a manuscript and it doesn't work for me. I need a basic framework for where my characters and the story are going. So, I write a general outline, coming up with the big turning points only, and go from there. Usually the finished product only resembles the outline a little bit, but it works for me.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

A very messy desk. Immediately to my right is my desk calendar with a ton of notes and my printer. Then a box of tissue, files and spiral notebooks with notes, a drill (I think my husband left it there), a stack of magazines and several days' worth of pre-school projects from bebe. It's messy, but it works for me. Completely cleaned desks skeeer me.

Anything new coming up from you? What?

My next release from Crimson Romance is What a Texas Girl Needs and it releases in December. It's the second in my Texas Series which follows the Witte sisters. Vanessa, the heroine of Needs, is the middle, misfit sister who is trying to change her image from socialite to cowgirl…and stay away from one, specific cowboy in the process… The first book, What a Texas Girl Wants, released in June and in available at ebookstores everywhere.

Do you have a question for our readers?

Readers, what is your favorite thing about romances? What makes you pick up a romance when there are so many other types of books to read?

Thank you so much for having me here today!

Kathleen Witte is a down-to-earth girl. She has to be, with the family ranch on the verge of success. After seven months of keeping it all together by swearing off men, however, Kathleen needs a bit of fun in the sun. Waking up with a husband she can’t remember isn’t how she planned to blow off steam.

The last thing Jackson Taylor wants in his life is a down-to-earth girl. He has four weeks of freedom in which to find his birth mother. He’s done well avoiding commitment until now, so when he wakes up on a Mexican beach with Kathleen his first reaction is curiosity. When he spies the matching wedding rings on their left hands curiosity turns to concern.

Neither Jackson nor Kathleen want to stay married, but when her family shows up, they have no choice. Once back in Texas, however, can they keep this all-business marriage from turning into an all-consuming love?

Once upon a time, Kristina Knight spent her days running from car crash to fire to meetings with local police - no, she wasn't a trouble-maker she was a journalist. When the opportunity to write what she wanted - business and family/parenting articles - and to focus more energy on the stories in her head, she jumped at it.

And she's never looked back. Now she writes articles for magazines and such by day and writes romance novels with spice by night. And any toddler-free, five minute break she has. She lives on Lake Erie with her husband and 4 year old daughter. Happily ever after.

http://www.kristinaknightauthor.com/index.htm
http://www.facebook.com/kristinaknightauthor
http://twitter.com/authorkristina

Buy Links:
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/What-Texas-Girl-Wants-ebook/dp/B008195BIS/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1336496939&sr=1-1
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/what-a-texas-girl-wants-kristina-knight/1110496096?ean=9781440544637iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/kristina-knight/id523130267?mt=11