The Incomparable Kathleen Eagle

 Get Lost in a Story Readers, today's guest published her first book, a Romance Writers of America  Golden Heart winner, in 1984.  Since then she's 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.   Please welcome Kathleen Eagle.

One Less Lonely Cowboy

He's ready and able… Jack McKenzie is an old-school cowboy. A loner making a good living at a Missouri ranch, he just wants to collect his pay, keep to himself and—most important—forget the past. But the return of his boss's daughter changes everything…and makes him long for more than his solitary life….  But is she willing?  The last place Lily Reardon had ever imagined going was home, but there she is—the prodigal daughter with a child of her own. Estranged from her father, she struggles to reconnect. Slowly, with the help of strong, silent ranch hand Jack McKenzie, she begins to see her past—and even her future—in a new light. But can Jack trust in love enough to take his place in Lily's renewed family?

And now let's learn about Kathleen Eagle. . .

 

DONNELL:  Welcome!  According to your bio you have written more than 40 books.  Now, my first question for you is:  When do you sleep?

KATHLEEN:  Thanks for inviting me to hang with this terrific group today, Donnell.  Sleep?  I confess to being a night owl, which makes me a night writer.  I do enjoy an afternoon siesta when I can sneak one in.  And zeroing in on fifty books, but it’s taken me almost  30 years.

DONNELL:  You’ve no doubt gotten some advice over the years, so here’s your chance to share:  What is the best advice you’ve ever received?  And What is the worst advice you’ve ever received?

KATHLEEN:   I met LaVyrle Spencer shortly before I attended my first RWA convention, and she was a wonderful mentor.  Best advice:  hire Steven Axelrod.  I already had an agent, but when he retired a few years later, LaVyrle hooked me up with Steve, and I’ve been with him ever since.

Worst advice—and everyone gets it somewhere along the way—has to do with trying to write what’s “hot” at the moment.   

DONNELL:  LaVyrle Spenser as a mentor? She was recommended reading when I joined RWA in 2001. I'm having a "wow" moment.  What’s in your refrigerator right now?

KATHLEEN:  Vanilla ice cream right next to the Lean Cuisines, lots of Trader Joe’s brand stuff—even the staples  like milk, eggs, mayo, mustard, chicken, cheese.  Honey crisp apples, mmm, and heirloom oranges, both of which will soon be out of season so I’m enjoying my fill.

DONNELL:  Heels, hiking boots or tennis shoes?

KATHLEEN:  Crocs.  Flip-flops for summer and winter clogs.

DONNELL:  You’re written so many books.  Have you ever had writer’s block? Was there one in your memory that you almost didn’t finish? 

KATHLEEN:  Lately I worry about repeating myself.  I had a dry spell a couple of years ago, so I went back to my series roots and focused on straightforward romance for a while.  I’m not a fast writer, and in some ways that makes it harder to write commercial fiction for a living.  But do you want it fast, or do you want it good?  Every woman knows the answer to that one.

DONNELL:  (I want it good) :) What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned in researching a book?

KATHLEEN:  Researching SUNRISE SONG—soon to be re-released by Bell Bridge Books—was an eye-opener, even for someone who’s lived in Indian Country and been part of a Lakota family for over 40 years.  Did you know that from 1902 to 1934 the U.S. government ran an insane asylum for American Indians?  We didn’t until we attended a lecture, then traveled to Canton, SD, site of Hiawatha Asylum For Insane Indians. 

DONNELL:  What is the most unusual thing you have in your closet.

KATHLEEN:  I was just digging around for something and found an old rug beater.  Wondered where that thing went.  I collect women’s tools from times gone by.  Things like hankies and button hooks and hand-operated egg beaters.  I like to hold them in my hands and  imagine who used them

DONNELL:  If you could meet anyone, past or present, who would it be?  And why? 

Kathleen:  One person?  I’m a history buff, so I’d go back in time.  My husband is from Sitting Bull’s band.  He was quite an amazing man— powerful, insightful, charismatic and wise—whose life spanned a transitional period.  There’s so much to be learned from people who stood their ground, as Lincoln said, “with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right.”  Lincoln.  Oh, I’d love to meet him, too.

Kathleen, now it’s your turn:  Time to ask Readers a question:

QUESTION FOR READERS:  Let me turn the tables.  If you could be a character in a book you’ve read, who would it be, and why?  What would you do differently?

Book Giveaway  I’d love to send an autographed copy of my new book, ONE LESS LONELY COWBOY, to one of today’s commeters.

Links and Contact information

Web site:  www.kathleeneagle.com

Blogging at www.ridingwiththetopdown.wordpress.com 

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/kathleen.eagle1 

 Note: Offer void where prohibited. Prizes will be mailed to North America addresses only unless specifically mentioned in the post. Don’t feel comfortable leaving your email on the blog? Send it directly to Angi at GetLostInAStory@gmail.com. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants. Winners of drawings are responsible for checking this site in a timely manner. If prizes are not claimed in a timely manner, the author may not have a prize available. Get Lost In A Story cannot be responsible for an author's failure to mail the listed prize. GLIAS does not automatically pass email addresses to guest authors unless the commenter publicly posts their email address

 

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.