Against the Wind by Kat Martin

By Caridad Piñeiro

Recently I had the opportunity to interview Kat Martin, the New York Times bestselling author. Kat has written over forty bestselling novels, including Historical, Romantic Suspense, and Contemporary.  Over ten million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in a dozen foreign countries.  Among her many awards, Kat has won the prestigious Romantic Times Magazine Career Achievement Award.

Kat’s new release, AGAINST THE WIND, is the first book in a new romantic suspense trilogy from MIRA.

You attended the University of California at Santa Barbara where you majored in Anthropology and History.   When did you realize you wanted to be a writer?

Not until I started actually writing.  I was in my late thirties at the time.  I started my first book in 1985 and it was published in 1988.  The title of the book was MAGNIFICENT PASSAGE.

Can you tell us a little something about your current release and what made you decide to write in this genre?

AGAINST THE WIND is the first book in a romantic suspense trilogy–AGAINST THE WIND, AGAINST THE FIRE, AGAINST THE LAW.  I’ve always loved writing contemporary.  I was ready for a change and a chance to grow my writing skills

Can you give us a little teaser about AGAINST THE WIND?

In the novel, a young girl humiliates a boy who has a crush on her in high school.  Years later, Sarah Allen returns to the small Wyoming town of Wind Canyon, in trouble after her failed marriage.  Unfortunately for Sarah, the only person who can keep her and her little girl, Holly, safe is Jackson Raines, the boy–now a man–she humiliated in high school all those years ago.

Jackson sounds like quite a man to forgive and forget being humiliated.  What is he like as a hero?

Jackson is as solid as a rock.  He was raised in poverty, pulled himself up by his bootstraps, then helped his brothers become the successful men they are today.

What about the heroine?  Has she learned from the error of her ways?

Sarah Allen has a lot of baggage.  She ran away from Wind Canyon to find a more exciting life and learned the hard lesson that what we run from is sometimes what we end up wanting the most.

Are you a plotter who lays out everything in detail as you write or a pantser who lets the story unfold on its own?

I used to do a detailed synopsis.  I’m most comfortable when I know what I’m going to write next.  But since my deadlines are so much closer together, I do both.  I know the story roughly, but have to work in the details and a lot of the plot as I go along, so I work a good deal by the “seat of my pants.”

What was the inspiration for your novel?

I love that question because I have an interesting answer, not just “somehow it popped into my head,” which is usually what happens.  Well, it did pop into my head, but I was listening to a Toby Keith Country song, “How do you like me now?”   It’s about a girl who makes fun of a guy when they are young and he has a crush on her and then he becomes wildly successful and he wonders, “How do you like me now?”   Jackson, the hero of AGAINST THE WIND, is a western man who just sort of fit the part.

What are you working on now and what will readers have to look forward to in the future?

I’m writing more AGAINST novels.  I got hooked on Dev Raines very sexy men friends, Trace Rawlins, Johnnie Riggs, and Jake Cantrell.  I’ve also got a little novella coming out in April, a gift-sized Hardcover for Mothers Day called A Song for My Mother.

Thank you so much for taking the time to chat, Kat!  For more information on Kat, you can visit Kat at her Facebook page or get more information at www