I am thrilled to be part of Kathleen Kent's tour. Is an amazing author and had been kind enough to write a guest post giving us a small peek inside her life as a writer. After reading her guest post, you will learn about the re-release of her book. She has written an amazing story that you won't be able to put down, and the best part is a chance to win a copy of your own! Three lucky winners will win The Traitor's Wife, and one of those lucky winners will also receive The Heretic's Daughter (see below for more details and how to enter).
A day in the life of a Writer
Just like writing styles, the daily discipline of writing varies from writer to writer. For a good part of my adult life I lived, and worked full time in various commercial enterprises, in New York City, and I wrote whenever and wherever I could. It was a haphazard affair; late at night, weekends, or during the in-flight hours while I travelled for work.
It wasn’t until I was close to fifty that I decided to jump off the cliff and complete the novel I had been working on for years, but just never seemed to get finished. Leaving the career I had spent twenty years building, I moved to Texas with my family, and began to write full time. It was most definitely a leap of faith.
Since my first two novels, The Heretic’s Daughter and now The Traitor’s Wife, have been published, I have found a writing routine that seems to work for me. I try to write and do research, or think about the project I’m working on, every day, seven days a week. During the week days, I’ll begin at 9:00 and work until about 1:00, taking as few breaks as possible to stay in what the author Annie Lamotte calls “the fugue state”. However, I have a fifteen year old son and an 85 year old mother who both live with me and often Life intervenes; and there will be illnesses, accidents, missing homework assignments, trips to the mall, etc, etc, and my best laid plans are sometimes foiled by the unexpected. On the weekends, I like to wake up before everyone else and write for a few hours on my laptop in bed. What joy!
The process of writing for me is wonderful when things are flowing and agonizing when they’re not. So to sustain the flow, the rhythm and continuity, I need to feel immersed in whatever I’m working on every day or, like some ephemeral dream, the essence of it soon starts to fade. I carry little notebooks around with me in my purse and in the car in case I think of some dialogue or bit of action for the novel. I’ll often get story ideas while driving and I’ve been known to miss exits or make a wrong turn because I’m listening to my characters’ voices in my head, instead of reading road signs.
When I come to an impasse in my writing, I’ll often go for long walks. That always seems to clear my mind and re-invigorate the process. About the Author:
Kathleen Kent lives in Dallas with her husband and son. The Heretic's Daughter is her first novel.
Most of the books that have influenced and touched me the most are historical fiction. When I was a child I read a lot of Dickens, Poe and H.H. Monroe. Some of my favorites from the past are The Quincunx, by Charles Palliser, Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears, The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve, and The Source by James Mitchener. I also read everything by Annie Dillard, Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. Currently I'm re-reading a book called The Long Home by William Gay who is, to me, one of the best writers in American fiction today.
Author: Kathleen Kent
Publisher: Reagan Arthur/Back Bay Books; Reprint edition
Category: Fiction, Historical Fiction
Format: TRADE PAPERBACK
Publish Date: 9/26/2011
ISBN: 9780316068642
Pages: 352
This novel was originally published under the title The Wolves of Andover.
In the harsh wilderness of colonial Massachusetts, Martha Allen works as a servant in her cousin's household, taking charge and locking wills with everyone. Thomas Carrier labors for the family and is known both for his immense strength and size and his mysterious past. The two begin a courtship that suits their independent natures, with Thomas slowly revealing the story of the role he played in the English Civil War. But in the rugged new world they inhabit, danger is ever present, whether it be from the assassins sent from London to kill the executioner of Charles I or the wolves-in many forms-who hunt for blood. At once a love story and a tale of courage, The Traitor's Wife confirms Kathleen Kent's ability to craft powerful stories from the dramatic background of America's earliest days.
My Thoughts:
The Traitor's Wife is not only a fantastic story, but the legend behind the story is what made me want to read it in the first place. With roots that went back to the Salem Witch Trials, Kathleen Kent pens an amazing account of how her generations before grandparents met. It is their love story and told with a tone that one only finds in books that the author is truly involved in.
