Author Interview: Katy Eeten

About the author:
Katy Eeten lives in southeast Wisconsin with her husband Jason and their two sons. She works full time in Contract Administration, but her true passion is writing. She is a new author whose contemporary Christian Romance Blast From Her Past, published by Anaiah Press, was released on January 23, 2018. She also has a Christmas novella due out this 2018 holiday season.

When she is not working or writing, she can be found taking walks, baking goodies, dining out, playing the piano, or relaxing with her family.

What inspires you to write romantic fiction?
I love to experience the joys of new love, lasting relationships, and happy endings – what better way than through the written word? Books are an innocent escape to a world where conflicts are resolved and faith in love is restored. I am grateful to be able to bring that joy to others in what I write.

Tell us about how you write.
I work full time and have two kids, so my writing comes in spurts. Sometimes I am glued to my laptop for days, and then I can go weeks without touching my manuscript. That's just life! I type over 100 words per minute, so I never use a pen-and-paper when I write. I just sit at my computer and type, type, type. I try to flesh out the overall storyline and then go back and fill it in to "make it pretty."

Do you listen to or talk to to your characters?
Not consciously! But after being so steeped in a manuscript, the characters do tend to become almost "real" to me. For my upcoming novella, Christmas in Meadow Creek, I've grown quite attached to Lincoln and Sarah – ha!

What advice would you give other romance writers?
My advice is not to expect to get rich with your writing. Some books or authors might strike it big, but in general the market is pretty saturated so you have to write for the joy of it – not for the money. That said, it can be a very rewarding experience to publish a book. Just expect to do a lot of self-promotion and marketing (gain a wide social media presence!) in order to sell your work.

How did you decide how to publish your books?
I knew I wanted to go through an actual publishing company instead of self publishing, as I was not at all familiar with the publishing scene. I also wanted to be sure I wasn't putting in any money up front, as I've heard of lots of scams like that. I researched publishers that accepted unagented, unpublished authors in my genre and queried a few at a time until I received notification that Anaiah Press wanted to offer me a contract!

What do you think about the future of book publishing?
The concept of e-books has opened up a lot of opportunity for authors to get published – however, with so many free books out there at any given time, the competition is fierce. I can't say how things will go in the future, but I hope people will continue to be willing to purchase books and keep lesser-known authors willing and wanting to write more.

Which romance sub-genere(s) fit your stories best?
Contemporary, Christian/Inspirational

My books are available in the following formats:
eBook, Print