Things some of you want to know.
All three of the Kat books will have different titles in the UK and North America, just because the two different publishers prefer different titles for the books. In the UK, the first book (Kat Book 1, as I think of it) is called A Most Improper Magick, and it was published on 1st August 2010. In the United States and Canada, Kat Book 1 is called Kat, Incorrigible, and it will be published on April 5, 2011.
The titles and covers are different, but the book inside is almost exactly the same. (The North American edition uses American spellings, while the British edition uses British spellings, and there are a few different line edits in the different editions.)
Yes! There are going to be two more books about Kat and her family. Kat Book 2 will be called A Tangle of Magicks in the UK (where it will be published on August 1, 2011), and it will be called Kat, Incorrigible: Renegade Magic in North America (where it will be published on April 5, 2012). Kat Book 3 is still looking for a name on both sides of the Atlantic...but it will be published exactly a year after Book 2 on both continents. Watch the Kat Books page on this website for more announcements about titles and release dates, as well as sample chapters, sneak previews, and all the extras you could want!
I LOVE the idea of people entering so deeply into Kat's world that they want to create more stories of their own! For legal reasons, I can't read any Kat-based fan-fiction myself, but as long as the writers don't interfere with my copyright or otherwise try to make any money from it, I'm thrilled for them to have fun playing in Kat's world.
And as far as fan-art goes: I would absolutely love to see any fan art that people make! Please do send me links or images to your Kat fan-art, and if you want, I'll happily re-post them on my website. (Or I won't, if you'd rather I didn't! But I'd love to see them anyway.) Sadly, I have no artistic skills whatsoever, so I've never been able to sketch Kat or any of her family members myself...which makes it even more exciting for me to see other people's versions of how they ought to look!
When I was little, reading was my favorite thing in the whole world to do. Then one day, when I was seven years old, I made an announcement to my mom: "I found something I like even better than reading. Writing!" And it's true. When the writing is going well, it is just so much fun - and even when it's hard work, I still find it more satisfying and fulfilling than any other job I've ever had.
Yes I do. I live with my husband, Patrick Samphire (who is also a writer), our toddler son, whose internet pseudonym is "Mr Darcy", and our crazy-sweet border collie mix, Maya. You can see some photos of us on my flickr account.
The answer to this question changes every day. Of course, reading has always been one of my very favorite activities. There's almost nothing better than curling up with a really good book and diving into it for hours. On the other hand, writing can be even more fun, when it's going well...playing with my dog can make me laugh out loud with happiness, especially when she's dancing around me with a huge, silly grin on her face and her tail wagging madly...and being a mom often feels like the most fun of all.
Macaroni and cheese, cooked with strong, sharp cheddar and lots of garlic! (I usually use the "Zippy Cheese Sauce" recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook.) It's my favorite comfort food. But I'm also a huge fan of Indian curries, especially Palak Paneer and Matar Paneer, and I looooove strong hot chocolate, made with melted dark chocolate and hot milk. Yum!
It's really hard to name one favorite book, so I've put together a whole page on my website with several of my favorite books! I hope you'll have fun checking them out. (Also, please do friend me on Goodreads if you feel like trading book reviews & suggestions!)
As far as writing tips, of course every writer will probably give you
different ones, but here are the things that have been most helpful for
me:
1. Write as often as you can (every day if possible)
2. Write
what you want most to read - for instance, I LOVE Regency romantic
comedies like the ones Jane Austen and then Georgette Heyer wrote, but I
always wished they had magic in them, because I love fantasy so much,
too. So with The Unladylike Adventures of Kat Stephenson, I'm actually writing the books I always most wanted to read and wished that I could find on the shelf in the library.
I
wish I had let myself do this a lot sooner - I wasted a lot of time
trying to write what I thought would make other people respect my
writing, which is really a waste of time. You'll always write best when
you're writing something you genuinely LOVE, instead of writing to
please somebody else.
3. Work to improve your writing. Personally, I
can't think critically about a first draft, whether it's a novel or a
short story. I have to write that draft straight through and just for
fun, without getting any critiques or even letting myself think about
what could be done better. AFTER I've finished that draft, though, it's
time to think about what could be done better, and to ask other people
for suggestions. It's a bad idea to take all of everybody else's
suggestions - only take the ones that make sense to you and feel right
for the story - but it's important to take the time to improve every
story, even your best ones. That's how your writing skills will grow.
4. And
here's my last, totally subjective point...personally, and speaking
only from my own experience and that of my friends, I think that
majoring in creative writing as an undergraduate in college is usually a bad idea. Creative
writing classes can be very, very useful - I've taken some wonderful
classes & workshops that really helped my writing - but most of the
productive, happy writers I know actually majored in something else, and
now they have something to write about because they know about more
than just writing.
I double-majored in music performance and music history,
and not only my years of performance give me rich, interesting experiences that I
can draw on for all my stories and characters, I also learned a lot of
history that has been particularly useful for my historical novels. I
also know writers who majored in physics, film studies, theater, math,
biology...the main point of college, I think, is to stretch your brain
and learn about the world. An undergraduate degree in creative writing isn't necessary to become a writer, and it can actually stop you from taking the classes that will be more helpful to you as a writer, in the long term.
Again, though, that's just my subjective, personal opinion, so feel free to ignore it! What's right for me isn't necessarily what's right for anybody else. And once undergrad is over, MFAs (Masters of Fine Arts) in Writing are a totally different issue. You certainly don't need one to be a writer (I don't have one myself), but I do know a lot of writers who've gotten MFAs and found them to be a great opportunity to hone their skills and qualify to teach writing professionally.
For more tips, you can read my blog entry Top 10 Ways to Fight Writer's Block and see my single top writer's tip on the BBC Radio 2 website.
There are a lot of great books and resources on the Regency era. Here are a few good starting points to get a general introduction to the period:
Books About the Regency Era:
Jane Austen: The World of her Novels, by Deirdre Le Faye: This is a really good general introduction to Regency society of the kind Jane Austen (and Kat!) lived in - the "genteel" classes rather than the wealthy, high aristocracy.
The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World, by Margaret C. Sullivan: This is a great resource for the nitty-gritty, day-to-day details of life for genteel women and men in the Regency era.
Georgette Heyer's Regency World, by Jennifer Kloester: This is a good introduction to Regency high society of the kind Georgette Heyer wrote about - the life of the Dukes, Viscounts, and other aristocrats who never show up in Jane Austen's novels. (Note: I've linked to this book on Amazon.co.uk rather than Amazon.com because, unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be available at a reasonable price in America.)
Regency House Party, by Lucy Jago: This book is a tie-in to a very, very silly TV series about a group of modern British singletons who live the life of Regency aristocrats at a Regency-era houseparty, complete with the clothing, furnishings, and social rules of the time period. The story of the people themselves is pretty inane, but there are a surprising number of really interesting details about Regency life - and Regency house parties - interspersed with the silliness. (But don't believe for an INSTANT what Kim Newman tells the houseguests about Jane Austen - I completely disagree with him!) (Yup, I am an Austen geek. :) )
Online Resources About the Regency Era:
The Republic of Pemberley is a website that describes itself as a "haven for Jane Austen addicts", and I love it. It's full of useful information about Jane Austen's world and her books, and you can also read many Austen's own letters to her friends and family on the site. There's also a message board where you can ask questions about Regency protocol, etc. I'd particularly recommend starting with this article to get an understanding of the situation for girls and women in the Regency era: Marriage and the Alternatives: The Status of Women.
Georgian and Regency Antiques: From jewelry to ladies' fans and gentlemen's quizzing glasses, novelist Candice Hern has assembled a gorgeous collection of antiques from the Georgian and Regency periods for display on her website. (My personal favorite is her page of Georgian Sentimental Jewelry - I LOVED the "witch's heart" brooches, especially because they're so relevant to my Kat trilogy!)
Hern also has a great and comprehensive site devoted to The Regency World, including fashion information and a glossary of Regency terms.
(Please note: Candice Hern's novels are intended for an adult rather than a 10-15-year-old audience. However, the information she has on her site is wonderfully relevant for any historical books set in the Regency period.)
Regency History Videos:
Dick Turpin's Highwayman Song: I adore this Horrible Histories video about what highwaymen were really like, outside of poetry and legend... (It's also a fabulous spoof of Kat's theme song, Adam & the Ants's "Stand and Deliver!")
How to Fight a Duel: And just for fun, check out this fabulous short video, which instructs the modern gentleman on the historical and practical etiquette of dueling. It makes me laugh out loud every time I watch it!