Hello everyone and welcome. We here at Coffee Time Romance are pleased to have author Karen Kay with us today. Welcome Karen and thank you for taking the time to chat with us.
Would you like to tell us about yourself and how you began your writing career?
It began with reading and the love of books. Also I was raised in a musical family and so creative matters were an everyday part of life. When I was older and had my own children and got that creative urge one day, when I didn’t have a piano to turn to, I took up the next best thing, which was paper and a pen.
Your have a new book out this month titled Red Hawk’s Woman, would you tell us a bit about the story?
RED HAWK’S WOMAN is the third book in the Lost Clan series which is about a Native American Tribe that long ago committed a terrible act — they killed the children of the Thunderer (a Native American mythological being). For this act, the clan was banished by the Creator to live a half life in the “mist,” neither dead nor alive. Red Hawk is a reluctant champion for his band of the tribe. Not related to the tribe by blood, he is yet chosen to represent the tribe and go out into the world in an attempt to undo the curse that enslaves his people.
On his first day out into the real world, Red Hawk meets Effie Rutledge, who is the daughter of an archaeologist. Their encounter is memorable for them both, and though they are children, both fall a little in love with the other. But they don’t meet up again until they are adults and Effie has returned to the Montana Territory to finish the work started by her father…to find the missing artifacts that belong to the Lost Clan.
Did you have inspiration for the characters?
Most of my female characters are based on personal friends, whom I acknowledge in my books. The inspiration for the male characters are usually partly made-up, partly based on people I’ve met on the reservations, partly my husband and partly characters from books that I’ve read — particularly a character from the book, BUCKSKIN BRIGADES by L. Ron Hubbard — a book written in the 1920’s. That character is one of the most memorable characters I have ever read. In RED HAWK’S WOMAN, however, in the very beginning of the story, when the characters first meet as children, that inspiration came from my first encounter with my fourth cousin — the first time I ever saw him. Strangely, I identified more with RED HAWK for that scene than with Effie.
What gave you the idea to use archeology? I found it very interesting and that was part of what hooked me.
Archeology fit the story line at the time and it is a particular interest of mine. The study of history and peoples and getting to know them through the things that they made — it’s very fascinating. For that part of the book, I ordered about 10 books on archeology, all of which were enormously entertaining…I’m hoping to do more about that in the future.
Do you have anything coming up that you would like to tell us about?
Currently I am on tour with Sarah McKerrigan here in the Los Angeles area. At the end of this interview, I’ll post the tour schedule so that anyone who lives in Southern CA could come on out and talk to us.
What do you like to do to unwind and take the edge off?
What a great question! Mostly I read to take the edge off — I also am an exercise fanatic and love exercise videos — particularly Cathe exercise videos www.cathe.com. That does help to take the edge off, at least a little. Also, walking, riding my bike, visiting museums, parks — or just visiting friends helps to take off the edge. We don’t own a television in our house and in truth, I don’t miss it at all. I used to sing a little, even took lessons for a while, and that helps to stir the creative urges a little, as well. Great question!
If you could spend the day with one person, could be a famous figure or not, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
Wow! Another really good question. Without a doubt if I could spend a day with one person, it would be my husband and myself talking with L. Ron Hubbard. His work, Dianetics and Scientology, has helped me a lot, but it has also helped me to help others, if that makes sense. I do some work with literacy on a few of the reservations and because of Mr. Hubbard’s work in that field, I’ve been able to help many other people toward a better life.
Thank you as well Karen for talking to us today. I look forward to reading more wonderful stories from you.
Thank you so much, Liadan for your insightful questions and your attention to detail. It’s been a pleasure doing the interview and really great getting to know you. ; )
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