1–What’s the name of your latest release? Best Laid Plaids, book 1 in the Kilty Pleasures series 2–What is it about? Set in 1928, WWI vet Joachim Cockburn is one thesis away from earning his PhD in Psychology—and he’s writing his paper on delusions. He heads to Scotland to interview a disgraced academic, Dr. Ainsley Graham, who ruined his career by outing himself as a believer in ghosts. Ainsley’s behavior is odd at first glance, but Joachim soon understands that he’s just terribly anxious with a fidgety mind—ADHD in modern parlance. Joachim still keenly feels the tragedies he witnessed during the war, and Ainsley’s confidence in himself is intoxicating. The two head into the Scottish countryside to track down some of the spirits, and end up realizing that their assumptions about one another are definitely wrong, and together, they fit just right. 3–What word best describes Dr. Ainsley Graham? Irrepressible 4–What makes Joachim Cockburn irresistible? Hmm, I’d say he’s an alpha-roll—sort of a mix between an old-style alpha hero and a more modern, squishy cinnamon roll. Joachim is happy to charge in and take over, but I think he does it with a sense of thoughtfulness and sweetness.   5–Who…

Research for writing a novel is like opening a message in a bottle. Of course, all the material isn’t nicely folded up containing everything you wish to know about the subject, but each new piece is a surprise nugget adding to the richness of your story. I became interested in writing about Edgar Degas after I bought a travel guide to New Orleans as I was considering re-visiting the city. I had attended college there and had only returned once in the intervening years. I needed to know about places to stay and which favorite places were still around. I’d no idea while I was in college that Degas had spent five months visiting his Creole relatives there in 1872-73, and I was intrigued by the discovery. From there I began my research. Much has been written about Degas the artist and some historical novels have been written about his life, but I couldn’t find any that related to his time in New Orleans when he was thirty-eight and not yet famous. So I had the good start for a story: you need a protagonist or main character who’s in trouble, someone who wants something badly. With historical fiction writer’s…

Welcome to Fresh Fiction, Kathryne! Please tell us about yourself and a little bit about your new book, HIGHLAND GLADIATOR. Thank you so much for having me! I’m a 19-time USA Today Bestselling author in Medieval Historical Romance. Think knights in shining (or dented) armor, and that’s me. This book was both a blast and a challenge to write for a couple of reasons – first, this is Highlander and I normally write everything set in Medieval England. I swear I know Medieval England better than I know my home state of California, so working in Scotland was an interesting challenge. Second – this isn’t Medieval, but Tudor, so it was a little more advanced time-wise than my usual 13th century domain. During this period in time, there was still the usual Scotland vs. England stuff going on, but there were some external politics going on as well when it came to Scotland and how it dealt with England. It made for interesting reading. This is the start of a new Highlander series, called Scots and Swords, and has been described as “Gladiator meets Fight Club.” Can you tell us about the inspiration behind this new series? What do you love most…