Welcome to another Writers Wednesday! Today, I am so thrilled to be hosting my dear friend Kathy Bosman, a prolific author, and editor.
Kathy Bosman is a sassy, single, homeschooling mom, who lives in Durban, South Africa. For her day job, she gets to read and edit amazing stories.
At night and in her spare time, she loves writing, reading, crafts, dancing, delving in the world of mystical spirituality, and spending time with family and friends.
She writes mostly romance but loves to sprinkle a little bit of magic and drama into her stories at times too.
I first became acquainted with Kathy whilst working together on Second Chances A Love Anthology in 2016.
Since then Kathy edited two of my romance releases Angel Of Ice and Marry Me By Christmas
I’ve learned a lot about writing romance from Kathy and she’s been such an inspiration to me.
I have no doubt that you will be equally inspired after reading my interview with Kathy. So read on!!
Q. Kathy, how did your love affair with writing begin?
A. As a child, I had a ferocious appetite for reading. And my father fueled it by signing me up for the Puffin Book Club which sent me at least two new books a month. I remember how exciting it was to receive those books. I also used to walk to the library and borrow piles of books. In those days, it was safe to walk the streets in my city. Anyway, I remember standing in the library one day and thinking, “I want to be an author one day.” That dream faded when school and life took over. Then, when my two oldest kids were a baby and toddler, I spent a lot of time outside watching them play and I needed mental stimulation. I remembered my dream to write. I did a writing course and started writing children’s books.
Q. Tell us about your journey to becoming a published author?
A. This was a journey fraught with a lot of anguish. After I did the writing course on writing for children, I wrote several children’s books that weren’t very good, I must say. Anyway, I sent them off to publishers and received many rejections. Then my daughter was born and we moved countries. A few years later, I took up a position running a super-quiet bookshop. Having moments to spare and not knowing what to do with myself, I decided to start writing again. My husband at the time suggested I try out an adult novel and I thought—why not? So, it turned out to be a romance. A terribly written one that I paid a vanity publisher to publish—a foolish and costly move. I wrote several more after that and sent the manuscripts all over. Eventually, several years and books later, I obtained my first publishing contract with Astraea Press which is now called Clean Reads. I am so grateful to the owner, Stephanie Taylor, for showing me what was wrong with my book so I knew how to improve. With her tips in mind, I wrote Wedding Gown Girl, which was my first published novel.
Q. What are some of the aspects of the romance genre you’ve found particularly challenging during your writing career and how you gotten around those challenges?
A. Wow, I love this question! In the beginning, I struggled a lot with writing masculine heroes. I believe it’s because I am attracted to the softer, more beta men myself, so figures. But at the time, I didn’t see it that way and saw my writing as flawed. Now, I don’t care. I’m going to write the type of man I’d like to fall in love with. The other thing I struggled with in the beginning was whether to write sex scenes because I believed they sold. But at the time, I was quite religious and didn’t believe it was right. I eventually did branch out into erotic romance but realised I wasn’t too good at it and it didn’t come naturally. Since then, I’ve created a kind of hybrid in my work and I write contemporary romance, which is a mixture of my sweet romances and women’s fiction, with sex scenes in. Now, I like the scenes as they show the progression of the emotional relationship. The biggest thing I struggled with in the sex scenes is the pressure to write them like the standard—or how other people write them. But I’m a bit of a feminist and a realist. I like to write sex scenes that are not always perfect. I write about real people who are growing and learning. I want to write sex that empowers women to choose a good lover, but at the same time lets them know that they are good enough just the way they are, even if they respond differently to the “ideal” in the industry. That’s my dream!
Q. One of the toughest things a writer has to face is rejection. How have you dealt with rejection over the years and what’s the secret to staying motivated when all you’re getting is a resounding NO?
A. Rejection nearly caused me to give up twice. The first time was before I received my first publishing contract. The second time was recently when I went through a three-year-long writer’s block. Yes, the block was caused by many reasons, but I think a strong contender was the fact that my books weren’t selling. I’d published over 15 books and none of them were selling. But now, I write for me. I write because it’s a type of meditation for me. It’s a way for me to express my truth, veiled in fiction. It’s healing for me after my divorce. It’s a fun escape. Yes, I’ll probably be disappointed if my newer books don’t sell too. I don’t know what I’ll do then, but I know I can’t stop writing now as it’s what feels natural and makes me happy.
Q. Tell us about what inspired you to turn editor and how do you balance your editing business with your own writing projects?
A. Stephanie Taylor from Clean Reads asked the members of the author Facebook group if any of us were willing to do volunteer editing for her as she was struggling to keep up with the workload. I offered my services and became an intern. I learned a huge amount by studying their style guide and working with her authors. In June 2016, I decided to open my own editing business to make extra money—little did I know how much I would need it in the months to come. I enjoyed editing and had received positive feedback from my work with Clean Reads so I thought it would be a good business to run. Balancing my editing and writing isn’t easy. I have to write before I edit as editing can take a lot out of me. So, I usually write first thing in the morning once I’ve done my chores. I prefer to write down on paper as I’m tired of the screen and associate it with work. One of the things that smashed my writer’s block was a suggestion in a book called The Artist’s Way, where Julia Cameron tells her readers to write three pages every day in the morning to get their creative juices going. I actually misunderstood what she meant; she meant journaling. But I thought she meant actual writing so I did that—I took out a paper and wrote three pages of a book I had written 10K of during Nano. The first few days were hard, but after that, it flowed and then it became a habit. I do sometimes drop away when I’m busy or something emotional is happening in my life, but I generally try to write every Monday to Friday morning. I stop for the weekend to relax and focus on other creative projects.
Q. As an editor, what are some of the common mistakes you’ve noticed writers in the romance genre often make?
A. Wow, that list could be quite long as it varies immensely from book to book. I’m going to list 5 common points below:
1.) Point of view problems where the author head-hops in a scene or writes something that is more omniscient / bird’s eyes POV as opposed to third-person POV / first-person POV, which is preferred in the romance genre. The book always reads clearer when the author sticks to one of the character’s points of view per scene.
2.) Sometimes the writers don’t give enough motivation for their characters doing something. I like them to take me deeper into the heart of their characters to find out the reason why they act how they do. Show us their thoughts. Take us into their heads and feelings.
3.) I sometimes find that they don’t always show the progression of the romance from the man’s POV. I have to tell them to take us deeper into how he’s fallen in love and what he’s feeling. I know it’s harder as men generally mask their feelings with toughness, but we still want to get a glimpse into what makes him tick.
4.) Yes, our characters do crazy, mean, stupid things sometimes, and we need an extra eye to tell us to soften those things a bit—make our characters so that the reader sympathizes with them deeply and doesn’t throw the book against the wall and cuss the hero or heroine for the crassness. (I learned this the hard way from one of my published books getting bad reviews because the readers hated the heroine. I’ve since edited this book and self-published it under a different name—Beautiful Hearts. And yes, my heroine was not nice at all. And I honestly didn’t see it. One of the editors tried to warn me, but I didn’t listen. I wish I had.)
5.) It seems like a little thing, but I’ve noticed it comes up often: Authors don’t set us in a new scene. They start with their characters straight in the thick of dialogue and go on for paragraphs. I’m scratching my head, wondering where on earth the characters are and how they got to the conversation. It’s a small thing and only requires maybe one sentence, but it just helps with the continuity of the story.
Q. What are editors particularly looking for when assessing manuscripts and what are your top tips on how to impress an editor?
A. I’m not hugely knowledgeable on how the Acquisitions editors work. I think every publisher is different, but I can give some tips on what I like in a romance novel:
1.) Make us feel. Take us into the heart of your characters. It’s not so much about the plot, although that’s important, but more that we feel deeply for what the characters are going through.
2.) For a romance, make us fall in love with your hero and heroine, but especially the hero. Most romance readers are women and they want to swoon, don’t they? With the heroine, they want to identify with what she’s going through. Give her flaws and give her real-life problems and show us her overcoming them.
3.) Chemistry—sexual chemistry is so important, even in a sweet romance. Even those small touches, like a hand brushing past or a hug, can be steeped with sexual tension. The more tension there is, the more invested your reader is going to be. And keep it going, even after they’ve had sex, by bringing in some conflict or separation, even if just outwardly imposed by circumstances.
4.) Humour. If you can write funny dialogue and scenes, that’s such a bonus. I know I love humour in a romance novel.
5.) Make us think. Show us something about life, about love, that makes us pause and think, “Wow, that’s so true.”
Q. What are you currently working on and do you have a release date?
A. I am working on Book 2 of my Farm Girls’ Series (that’s not the official name—I haven’t thought of a name yet). The book is called In Full Fruit. I don’t have a release date for Book 1 (When Love Blooms) yet as it’s just been contracted to Black Opal Books. I have an earlier book with them called Cat Therapy which hasn’t got a release date either. I’ve had to learn a lot of patience in working with Black Opal Books as they take about a year or longer to bring out a book—something I’m not used to. I see on their website that Cat Therapy is due to come out later this year. But they’ve had some changes in their business which may delay this.
High-Five with Kathy Bosman
1. Favourite comfort food
Homemade apple pie.
2. Name a book you really wish you had written!
The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie.
3. Favourite time of the day to write
The morning after my breakfast.
4. If you could travel back in time – which year or era would you love to visit and why?
I’d love to visit the time of the Druids in Ireland, round about the time of Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. I’d love to have met Merlin if he existed.
5. Favourite item of clothing in your closet
My little black dress which, by some miracle, still fits me.
Connect with Kathy:-
Facebook author page: http://www.facebook.com/KathleenBosman
Facebook interactive profile (she posts here more often): http://www.facebook.com//kathy.bosmanauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathleenLBosman
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5257900.Kathy_Bosman
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kathy-Bosman/e/B007GCQBNK/
Find out about Kathy’s editing services:-
www.indieeditingchick.wordpress.com
Kathy has a FREE book on Wattpad: Beautiful Hearts.
Lisa is petrified, but can’t resist saying yes to her boss, Dan Loriet, the handsome but fierce Editor in Chief at Prominence Magazine. He wants her to pose as his fiancée for a New Years’ bash at his family’s. In return, she may be able to get the promotion she’s dreamed of. Turns out Dan’s family is the family she’s always dreamed of being a part of, and he’s not so bad himself, when she gets to know him beneath the strict boss persona. But Lisa has a secret Dan mustn’t discover and has several of her own inner demons to conquer. Dan has always been a player. Can he settle down with one woman, no matter how much she fascinates him? They just can’t be a couple, no matter how beautiful their hearts are. There is too much pitched against them.
Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/user/LeenBee17
I hope you’ve been inspired by Kathy Bosman’s amazing writing journey!
Till next time!
Happy Writing.
Chapters of my World 