Kathleen Eagle

More stories to get lost in…

Today, I’m incredibly excited to welcome USA and New York Times bestselling author Kathleen Eagle to Get Lost In A Story.

Kathleen Eagle published her first book, a Romance Writers of America Golden Heart Award winner, with Silhouette Books in 1984. Since then she has published more than 40 books, including historical and contemporary, series and single title, earning her nearly every award in the industry. Her books have consistently appeared on regional and national bestseller lists, including the USA Today list and the New York Times extended bestseller list.

Born in Virginia and raised "on the road" as an Air Force brat, Ms Eagle earned degrees from Mount Holyoke College and Northern State University. She taught at Standing Rock High School in North Dakota for 17 years. She continues to teach writing at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapolis.

A CERTAIN KIND OF HERO is a two-fer—“Broomstick Cowboy” and “Defender.” Two of Kathleen’s favorites from Silhouette. Both came out in the early 90’s.

A CERTAIN KIND OF HERO

Harlequin Enterprises, Special Release, December 2010

Two bad boys find redemption when they become unlikely heroes to two very special women and their families.

Defender
Gideon Defender understood hard choices. Innocent and pure, Raina McKenny had deserved someone better than him, so he'd stepped aside and watched her marry his brother. He'd stayed away when they adopted a baby and created the perfect life he could never offer her. Now, fifteen years later, Raina had returned to the reservation a widow with her fatherless teenage son in tow, and Gideon faced the toughest choices of his life. Between desire and duty, between condemnation and trust, between fatherhood and honor…and even between life and death.

Broomstick Cowboy

Amy Becker needed a man. Tate Harrison wouldn't have been her first choice…but then, her first choice had gone and died, leaving her pregnant, broke and on the verge of losing everything. Surprisingly, Tate was a good father figure to her children, a tireless worker and far too tempting during those long winter nights. But Tate wasn't one for roots; he was hers only until spring. Unless she could convince him to stay.

Read Exerpt

CAT: What’s your favorite kind of story to get lost in?

KATHLEEN: A wonderful romance, of course. I read lots of historicals—Regency England is not my favorite setting in most cases—and all kinds of contemporaries. That said, I can get lost in any well-crafted novel. Give me really great characters, and I’ll follow them anywhere.

CAT: What’s the first book you remember reading?

KATHLEEN: Let’s see...when I was able to read on my own I remember going from fairy tales to children’s Greek mythology books. Ironically, the first non-picture book (what the school calls “chapter books” nowadays) was a “junior biography” of Custer. It ended with him “falling for an old Indian decoy trick” and riding over the hill at the Little Big Horn. I knew what was going to happen, and I cried.

CAT: What’s your favorite “love” word?

KATHLEEN: cherish

CAT: What’s your favorite fairy tale?

KATHLEEN: “Beauty and the Beast”

CAT: What’s your favorite cartoon character?

KATHLEEN: Bugs Bunny (otherwise, I was never a big cartoon fan)

CAT: What turns you off like nothing else?

KATHLEEN: whining

CAT: Where do you read and how often?

KATHLEEN: I read in bed every night.

CAT: Do you write to music? If so, what kind?

KATHLEEN: When I write to music, I don’t want to hear lyrics. I like classical music, American Indian, “new age” music, Hawaiian slack key guitar. When I’m not writing, give me that ol’ time rock ‘n roll.

CAT: What was the first story you remember writing?

KATHLEEN: In 4^th grade wrote a series of stories about a girl who solved mysteries with her cat. I didn’t have a cat.

CAT: What’s your favorite movie of all time?

KATHLEEN: So many, but “Dirty Dancing” is one that I’ve probably watched a hundred times.

CAT: Who’s your favorite villain?

KATHLEEN: Iago, the master manipulator who engineered Othello's downfall. He's much worse than Hannibal Lecter, who's a really scary. But Iago is nearly perfect evil. Hannibal likes Clarice, respects her, and he's true to his word. Iago abuses trust and uses love to bring about a good man's downfall. For those who believe that love makes the world go 'round, that God is love, that the capacity for love is the root of man's capacity for nobility, this is the ultimate perversion.

CAT: Be honest, when reading 1^st person...do you miss the hero’s POV?

KATHLEEN: Definitely. I’m not a big fan of 1^st person, but there are standout exceptions. One is SILENT IN THE GRAVE by Deanna Raybourn. Wonderful book.

CAT: Is writing or story-telling easier for you?

KATHLEEN: Fiction writing IS story-telling, and it ain’t easy. Writing has always been my “best thing.”

CAT: What’s something you’d like to tell your fans?

KATHLEEN: Thanks, readers. Without you, I’d still be doing some version of my “best thing,” but the process isn’t complete until a story comes alive in a reader’s mind, which makes it ours. So let’s all of us keep buying books so publishers don’t fold up their tents and move on to doing something more profitable and less satisfying.

CAT: If you couldn’t be a writer anymore, what profession would you take up?

KATHLEEN: I’m a teacher. Most important, most difficult, most rewarding job in the world. I still teach a couple of classes a year at the Loft, and I can’t tell you how stimulating it is for me. But teaching high school English at Standing Rock was a privilege, and seeing “my kids” again is a joy.

CAT: What’s the first thing you do when you finish writing a book?

KATHLEEN: Clean and sleep. Not necessarily in that order.

CAT: If you could interview one person (and it doesn’t have to be a writer) who would it be?

KATHLEEN: Steven Colbert

CAT: If you were given a chance to travel to the past where would you go and specifically why?

KATHLEEN: Okay, specifically I would go to London right around 1600 and see as many plays I could at the Globe Theatre before the city was hit by the plaque. I would LOVE to time travel, but not in the body I was born with. I would have died for sure when I was 23 and had kidney failure.

CAT: What is your favorite tradition from your childhood, that you would love to pass on or did pass on to your children?

KATHLEEN: Daddy used to build a huge ice skating rink in the yard every winter when we lived in Massachusetts. So many good memories came with it.

CAT: Which of your characters would you most/least to invite to dinner, and why?

KATHLEEN: I’d love to meet Jesse Brown Wolf from THE NIGHT REMEMBERS because in many ways he’s still a mystery to me.


CAT: What dreams have been realized as a result of your writing

KATHLEEN: Making up stories and seeing them in print is a dream come true. I’m told that my books entertain and often give people something to think about, and it’s just cool to realize that I wrote those books. When I read a book that I wrote—and I do—I always think, “Did I really do this?” Once a book is printed, it has a life of its own.

CAT’S GOTTA ASK – KATHLEEN’S GOTTA ANSWER

If you were a T-shirt, what color would you be and why?

KATHLEEN: I’d be sky blue. It’s always always been my favorite color. I love prairie skies.

GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?

What’s one absolute requirement for you in a Romance? What’s a sure-fire turn-off for you?

Kathleen is offering a signed copy of ONE COWBOY, ONE CHRISTMAS for one commenter’s holiday reading pleasure.**

Find out more about Kathleen at her website: www.kathleeneagle.com

Thank you, Kathleen for blogging with us today.

**Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only. If an Advanced Reading Copy (ARC) is available, the author may utilize that option for International participants. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.