Kathye Quick has been writing since the sisters in Catholic School gave her a number two pencil and some paper with ruled lines. From stories about her family for “Writing Week” in fifth grade, to becoming editor-in-chief of her high school newspaper, The Blueprint, to 1999 when she realized her dream of being published, Kathye’s love of the written word spans numerous genres.
She writes contemporary and career romances for Avalon Books, romantic comedy and historicals for Wings Press, urban fantasy for Cerridwen Press, and most recently medieval historical romances for Wild Rose Press.
In August 2009, Avalon Books will publish her three-book contemporary romance series entitled Grandmother’s Rings. The books, Amethyst (August 2009), Sapphire (December 2009), and Citrine (early 2010) follow the Archer family siblings in their quest to find their soul mates using rings given to them by their Grandmother. Kathye used the birthstones from her family for her inspiration for this series.
Kathye will be on virtual book tour in May 2009 to promote her latest historical romance novel, Cynthia and Constantine. We interviewed her to find out more about her wonderful new book!
Q: Thank you for this interview, Kathye. Can we begin by having you tell us why you chose historical fiction?
A: I have always loved the adventure and story lore of Camelot. When I was a very little girl, and I know I’m dating myself now, there was a black and white television program on called “Tales of Sir Lancelot.” I watched it religiously. I wish I could find it now on DVD.
I chose to write a story from the Arthurian time because it is so much a part of me. I could watch Camelot with Richard Harris every day.
But I also knew the Arthur Legend was done a thousand times and decided that the lesser knights should have stories also. I’m not sure there was a Sir Constantine, but I am sure that the other knights had adventures also. This is merely one of them, albeit one of fiction.
You’re supposed to write what you know and love, so that’s why I did Cynthia and Constantine.
Q: Did you outline before you wrote your book?
A: I knew the beginning, a few scenes in the middle and how I wanted it to end. I just write and let the characters evolve and take me in the direction the book needs to go. Before I started writing seriously, when I heard that an author said that the characters did things that weren’t expected, I never believed it. Well, now I know it’s true.
I never expected Cynthia to be a skilled archer or that she would take up a sword and join the battle alongside Constantine, but she did! And both were what she needed to do to move the story forward. Our characters actually do take on “life” once we write them.
Q: Who was your favorite character in Cynthia and Constantine and why?
A: I like the feistiness of Lady Cynthia, the mystery of Jane, the honor of Constantine and the loyalty of Sir Braeden.
Lord Simon is a necessary evil and of course, he can’t work alone, so we needed someone to be a catalyst to get the action started in the form of Ranaulf, a townsman who found there was money to be made by getting certain information to his lordship.
Q: Who was your least favorite character?
A: I actually don’t have a least favorite character. If I really dislike someone, I usually find myself either dumping the character, or killing him or her off rather early. I try to make even my antagonistic characters interesting enough so you want to know what happens to them. Otherwise readers may find themselves skipping pages. We can’t have that!
Q: Can you tell us about the setting and why you chose it?
A: As I said, I chose the Arthurian Legend for my story because I love Camelot. First came First Knight, Merlin, Camelot with both Richard Harris and Richard Burton are all DVD collection, along with the Mists of Avalon starring Julianna Margulies.
