Let's jump right into the questions:
Indie or Traditionally published? - Tell us how this works for you…
I’m 100% self-published and extremely proud of that. I couldn’t do any of it without my amazing team, which includes my cover designer, my editor, my beta team, and so many more people. I love having creative control over my work and being able to tell the stories that are important to me without being censored.
Plot or Pants? Do you pre-plot your books, use an outline, fly by the seat of your pants or some combination of things? How do you keep track of characters in a series? Do you keep a journal of your characters’ statistics, such as hair and eye color, relatives, hometown, etc.
I’ve always been a pantser, but within the past year I’ve started sort of treating things with a hybrid approach. I tend to write character driven stories, so I do make notes about where they are at the start and where I want them to be, and then I use pinch points on a beat sheet to figure out how to get them there. I try to follow a three act structure, but I don’t hold myself to it. I keep character notes about likes and physical characteristics so I don’t lose track of those, and I make notes in an outline AFTER I write so I can see where I hit certain things in case I need to come back to them later. And I do all of this on my iPad!
Tell us about your first… published M/M fiction/romance
My first published novel was called His Kind of Love and it’s a darkly modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. In my story, Gabriel is middle age and he’s been stalking Joel for awhile. He finally makes his move, and ends up moving Joel into his house and using the things he’s learned through his stalking to make Joel fall in love with him. Joel finds out, and as for what happens after that...you’ll have to read it to find out.
and then your most recent one..
My most recent book is a collaboration with EM Denning called Blood in the Water. It’s kind of a wild idea we came up with one day and it’s a vampire and merman romance. We wanted to figure out how to give these two guys a happy ending, considering our merman can’t survive on land, and our vampire kind of wants to die the true death anyway. It ended up being angstier than we thought, but I absolutely love these characters and had so much fun.
Which character still pops into your mind to visit from time to time?
Of my own? Haha. I think about Richard from Until You Say Otherwise A LOT.
What are your writing goals for the next year? The future?
I really have no idea what I’m doing for 2022, which is kind of scary. Normally I have a series idea all laid out and release dates planned and I’m set. But I don’t have that this time, so I’m kind of flying blind. I have some story ideas that I know I’m going to write and publish, but I don’t know if any of them will pan out into a series or anything like that. I do also want to start writing outside of M/M. I have an idea for a series of F/F and MMF based novellas that I want to launch next year under a new pen name. I’m excited to tell those stories!!!
What is the funniest scene you’ve written?
In Future Gay Boyfriend, I got to write a character who was struggling to come to terms with his newly discovered bisexuality. Ryan had a very heteronormative view of what sex was, so I have this scene with him in the shower alone giving his dick a pep talk while he tries to fuck himself with a dildo. I love Ryan because even though he was so open to the idea of being with men, the mechanics of the whole thing really threw him for a loop. In the end, Ryan and Darian realized that having penetrative sex was maybe NOT it for them, and I also love having that representation on page too.
What’s the hardest part about writing?
I think one of the hardest parts is also the most fun. There’s only so many tropes and story ideas, right? So as an author, it’s our job to come up with new and inventive ways to tell and retell these stories, and I love that so much.
Who’s your biggest supporter/cheerleader?
100% EM Denning. She has been there for me since I wrote His Kind of Love. She reads everything I write almost as soon as I get the words onto the page and she’s always supportive, helpful, and kind. She’s one of the best people I know and I’m so lucky to have her in my corner.
How can we connect with you?
I’m literally everywhere!
Facebook - http://facebook.com/authorkatehawthorne
FB Group - http://facebook.com/groups/hawthornesharem
Newsletter - http://www.katehawhornebooks.com/extra
Twitter - http://twitter.com/katewriteswords
Insta - http://instagram.com/kate.hawthorne
Patreon - http://patreon.com/katehawthorne
Okay, y'all that's the end of our interview, and I'm not sure if I'm any clearer about how Kate's mind works, but I'm just so excited to have added to my TBR... maybe reading a few more of her books will help... probably not, but I'm sure it will be fun... If you haven't read anything by Kate Hawthorne yet, and want our team's insights, you can check out the following book reviews: A Cold Hard Truth, Giving Consent Series, Reel Love (Destination Daddies Series)Please, if you have more questions for Kate, please visit her socials and connect with her or leave a comment below!
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