Thursday, January 10, 2013

Katherine L. Logan - HBS Author's Spotlight

Today our blog puts the Spotlight on Award winning, best-selling author Katherine Logan. She is the author of the Celtic Brooch Time-Travel Series.

Author Genre: Romance, Mystery & Thrillers - Time Travel

Website: Katherine Lowry Logan
Author's Blog: Katherine Lowry Logan's Notes from Tabor Lane
Twitter: @KathyLLogan
E-Mail: Kathy.Logan@insightbb.com
Goodreads: Check Out Goodreads
LinkedIn: Check Out LinkedIn
Facebook: Check Out Facebook
Pinterest: Check Out Pinterest


Author Description: Katherine was born the second of five children to a Presbyterian Pastor and a stay-at-home mom. She came of age in Louisville, Kentucky, during the tumultuous 1960s. Sit-in's, bra burnings, the sexual revolution, pot, campus unrest, and the Vietnam War were brought vividly to life by Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News. While the rest of the world seemed to spin out of control, Katherine spun stories in her head.

College, marriage, and two daughters kept the muse simmering on the back burner. She worked as a real estate and tax paralegal in a law firm in central Kentucky, and was actively involved in the life of her community.

It wasn't until the nest was empty that she sat down to write full-time. Life, as it often does, brought tragedy and a screeching halt to her writing. Her husband, best friend, and lover died unexpectedly. Healing was a slow process, but two weddings and five grandchildren have a way of putting life into perspective. Following the birth of her second grandchild, she found her writer's voice again.

Katherine lives in Lexington, Kentucky and is blessed with a wonderful and supportive family and circle of friends. They have encouraged her and celebrated each and every step of her journey.

SPOTLIGHT Questions and Answers with the Author

We have referenced your works in progress below. (THE SAPPHIRE BROOCH, THE EMERALD BROOCH and THE LAST MACKLENNA) Tell us about when we can except to get our hands on them? How do you keep the three projects separate? Do you use software or spreadsheets or something like that?

I was about 50-60 pages into THE SAPPHIRE BROOCH when I decided to go back and rewrite THE RUBY BROOCH. It really made no sense at the time, but in hindsight, it was the right thing to do. I hope to get back to the story this summer.

I recently had a conversation with a California State Representative about the plot in THE EMERALD BROOCH. I now know where the story is going, but it will take significant research to get there. Hopefully, the story will be released in early 2014.

I’m working my way through the second edit of THE LAST MACKLENNA and hope to have it ready by spring.

I storyboard. I wrote a blog post on my process. You can read the post here: Twenty Days to the Finish Line - Storyboarding

Did you get caught in a situation where THE LAST MACKLENNA got great reviews and contest results and you had to move it up in the publishing sequence?

I had great contest results and received requests from a New York agent and editor. When it’s finished, I’ll send the story to them, but I’ll still self-publish it.

Elliott Fraser is the hero in THE LAST MACKLENNA. He is godfather to the heroine in THE RUBY BROOCH. At the end of the story, he demanded his story be told next. When you’ve got a fifty-year-old Scotsman making demands, what’s a girl to do. He’s an interesting character, and I’ve enjoyed bringing him to life.

What was your experience with your Book Trailer?

THE RUBY BROOCH has a book trailer. It’s on my website and also on the Amazon book page. I had a blast finding pictures that represented the story. There is a picture of a wagon train going down Big Hill on the Oregon Trail. A friend of mine is an Oregon Trail re-enactor and is actually in the picture.

I saw some of the pictures of your character on your site. Did you pick the pictures and then write your characters or did you write and then pick the characters later?

I found the pictures while working on the trailer once the book was finished. For THE LAST MACKLENNA, I found pictures at the time I started the book but haven’t gotten around to creating a trailer. It’s on my to-do list.

I like the way you presented your book project to your audience through your blog. Do you feel that you got your readers more involved in the process?

That’s hard to say because I got very few comments from readers. However, book sales were generated from somewhere, so I’ll give the blog the credit!

What kinds of traditional marketing do you do like book signings, conferences and personal appearances? Have you ever participated in a Book tour?

I had a local book signing right after THE RUBY BROOCH was released. That was the only traditional marketing event I had in 2012. Next month, I’m joining seven other authors for a romance panel at a local library.

You have a good following on twitter (excess of 16K followers). How much does social media play into your marketing scheme? How important are the relationships formed to your writing success?

The total is over 40,000 today. I’ve discovered that sales are directly related to the number of followers. As one goes up, so does the other. Most of my marketing efforts are Twitter related. I’ve made some incredible friends.

In doing my research, I noticed you had a writers’ group. Can you tell us about the group? Is it open to other writers or is a close, personal group? You can give 'how to join' instructions here if that is appropriate.

I’m a member of RWA, Kentucky Romance Writers, and Kentucky Independent Writers. To be a member of KYRW, you have to be a member of RWA. KIW is by invitation only, and you have to be a Kentucky author.


Author's Book List
The Ruby Brooch
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. ~Anaïs Nin

Can a 21st century paramedic find her heart's desire on the other side of time?

From the white-plank fenced pastures of Lexington, Kentucky, to the beautiful Bay of San Francisco, The Ruby Brooch, a saga steeped in family tradition and mystery, follows a young woman's journey as she searches for the truth on the other side of the heather-scented mist.

As the lone survivor of a car crash that killed her parents, paramedic Kit MacKlenna makes a startling discovery that further alters her life. A faded letter and a well-worn journal reveal that she was abandoned as a baby and the only clues to her identity are a blood-splattered shawl, a locket that bears a portrait of a nineteenth-century man, and a Celtic brooch with mystical powers.

After studying the journal, she decides to continue her father's twenty-year search for her identity and solve her birth parents' murders. For safety reasons, she adopts the persona of the Widow MacKlenna. Although a perfect cover for her eccentric behavior, she will be forced to lie and MacKlennas don't lie, or so she thought. Finally, dressed and packed, she utters the incantation inscribed on the ancient stone and is swept back to Independence, Missouri, in the year 1852.

Upon arriving in the past, she meets Cullen Montgomery, an egotistical Scotsman with a penchant for seducing widows. The San Francisco-bound lawyer happens to resemble the ghost who has haunted Kit since childhood. She quickly finds the Bach-humming, Shakespeare-quoting man to be over-bearing and his intolerance for liars threatens her quest.

If she can survive his accusations and resist his tempting embrace for seventy-three days, she might be able to find the answers she seeks, and return home to a new life without changing history or leaving her heart on the other side of time.
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Buy Page: Amazon - Barnes and Noble
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THE LAST MACKLENNA
Contemporary Romance



Work in Progress - Award winning previews

From the bluegrass pastures of Central Kentucky, to the glens of Callander, Scotland, to the vineyards in the Napa Valley, baby boomers Elliott McGregor Frasier and Meredith Montgomery find love and take risks in the last season of their lives.





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THE EMERALD BROOCH



Work in Progress

The sweeping love story of Adam Hughes Barrett and Taylor Rebecca Johnston. Can two U.S. Senators find compromise when they walk the halls of Congress in two different centuries?





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THE SAPPHIRE BROOCH


Work in Progress

From the re-enactment of the Civil War’s Battle of Cedar Creek, to the 19th Century White House, to the vineyards in Napa Valley, this story follows Major Michael Abraham “Braham” McCabe and Dr. Charlotte Marie Mallory through the turnstile of time as two people from different centuries find a place to share their timeless love.



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Author Recommended by: HBSystems Publications
Publisher of ebooks, writing industry blogger and the sponsor of the HBS Author's Spotlight plus the blog: eBook Author’s Corner.
Check out the index of other Spotlight authors. Spotlight Index.

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