SEELIE KAY: Postcards from The Ledge: This week in The Loft: Author Kate Hill!

Joining me today in The Loft is author Kate Hill. Kate is a vegetarian New Englander who loves writing romantic fantasies. Her stories span a broad range of romance subgenres, including Viking historical romance, erotic and paranormal romance, and romantic suspense. When she's not working on her books, Kate enjoys reading, working out, watching horror movies, researching vampires and Viking history, and running the Compelling Beasts Blog, which is dedicated to antagonists, antiheroes, and paranormal creatures. Kate also writes as Saloni Quinby.

Author Kate Hill

S: Welcome, Kate! I'm so glad you had time to join me in The Loft!

What do you think is the biggest issue facing romance authors today?

K: I think the biggest issue is also the biggest asset. Indie publishing allows for more work to be available for readers and offers greater opportunities for writers, but it also creates more competition. Personally, I think it's better now that there's more access to a wider variety of stories from more authors. People are more likely to find stories and characters they connect with.

S: Love does indeed come in many shapes and sizes. I love that there is now so much diversity in romance books.

Why write romance?

K: I've always enjoyed reading romance, but I couldn't always find the plots or character types I wanted to read, so I wrote them.

S: I know what you mean. I wanted to see more strong women and more men who supported their dreams in romance books. And that's why I started writing books.

How do you develop your characters? Do you use photos or a vision board?

K: I keep notebooks, but my favorite way to get to know characters is to think about how they deal with everyday situations I find myself in. I imagine them with me and think about how they'd react to normal situations.

S: That lends authenticity to your books.

Do you outline the plot for your stories before writing?

K: I like to work with a loose outline, with lots of wiggle room for the inevitable changes that happen during the writing process.

S: What do you write first—the blurb or the book?

K: I usually write a summary along with an outline, but the actual blurb that goes with the final book is usually written and polished after the book is complete.

S: I stopped writing the blurb first after I completed a few books. I found them too confining.

How do you get reviews?

K: I find reviews hard to get and would love to get more. Currently, I have an ARC group I'm grateful for and I also make my new releases available at Booksprout.

S: A while back, I began to suspect that reviews are not necessarily an accurate measure of the quality of a book. I've read books with thousands of reviews and found them seriously lacking. That makes me wonder what truly drives the "review engine." I still don't have a satisfactory answer.

Do you write in other genres?

K: I'm a huge horror fan and enjoy writing it sometimes. Some of my books are romantic horror. I hope to write more horror in the future.

S: If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to write books?

K: Definitely. Writing is a way of life for me. I write because I love it.

S: What inspired "Northman's Pleasure?"

K: "Northman's Pleasure" is the sequel to "Northman's Passion." While writing the first book, I got attached to Grim and Asgerd, and wanted to give them their own story.

S: Is there anything special you would like people to know about "Northman's Pleasure?"

K: "Northman's Pleasure" is a short, spicy historical romance set during the Viking era. It's related to "Northman's Passion," but it can be read as a stand-alone story. It was originally published several years ago. This version has been re-edited and contains two additional scenes after the main story.