Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Katherine Garbera: Avoiding Cowboys, Babies & Brides!


Welcome to author, Katherine Garbera.

When I first started writing romance novels back in the early 90s the popular trends in contemporary romance were brides, babies and cowboys.  And because I'm contrary by nature I set to work on a novel about a single-mom with a seven-year-old (definitely not a baby).  I was unpublished at the time and every contest I was a finalist in I was up against some cowboy, baby or bride.  Somehow this made me more determined not to write one.  I sold my not-a-cowboy-bride-baby book to Harlequin for the Desire line and THE BACHELOR NEXT DOOR was released in 1997. 

After that I wrote romantic suspense which I had heard from numerous agents and editors was deadßpun intended!  Those books were fun to write and I enjoyed dipping my toe into the suspense waters.  One thing that has stood me well in writing is the fact that I can see the both sides of an issue. And when I write bad guys I need to know why they are bad. I’m sort of digressing but it made my stories a little not so suspensy in the traditional sense because you always knew who the bad guy was.  J

I did a pretty good job of staying away from babies and cowboys until recently when I dipped my toe into the cowboy sub genre.  And I have to admit I love those rough and tumble men.  The way they are no-nonsense (billionaires are too!) and can sweep a gal off her feet.  I have an upcoming Christmas novella, Cowboy, It's Cold Outside :)

My main objection to writing a cowboy was that I had grown up on various ranches in Florida.  You probably didn’t know that Florida had anything but beaches and theme parks but there is a whole other Florida that is rural and ranch centered.  My parents had an egg-ranch with 10,000 chickens—do you know how smelly that is? 

That was my problem with cowboys and romance for a long time.  Every time I set something on a ranch I remembered the smells, but time has given me the distance to move on from there. 

And babies...the problem with babies when I first started writing was that I had a toddler and then was pregnant and had a baby--funny how that happens! And writing about a pregnant heroine or babies was too much my reality.  I didn't see the cute part until my kids were teenagers.  Then I could look back fondly and write a baby book.  Or in my case a series featuring cute babies, billionaire alpha men and strong feisty women. :)  


My latest release FOR HER SON'S SAKE is available now.


COMPETITION:

So what about you?  Are you a trend follower? Or a trend bucker like me?  I'm giving away an autographed copy of the complete Baby Business series to one lucky commenter!


USA Today bestselling author Katherine Garbera is a two-time Maggie winner who has written more than 60 books. A Florida native who grew up to travel the globe, Katherine now makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her husband, two children and a very spoiled miniature dachshund. 

Visit Katherine on the web
Connect with her on Facebook
Follow her on Twitter @katheringarbera.

Thank you for visiting the blog, Katherine.

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1 comment:

dstoutholcomb said...

I buck the trends.

Denise