Today on Writer Wednesday we welcome Kathy Herman, author of A Treacherous Mix.
Enter below for a chance to win a copy of A Treacherous Mix! Congratulations to Becky Canfield who won Kim Vogel Sawyer’s Ours for a Season! Please e-mail my assistant (hello{at}triciagoyer{dot}com) to claim your prize! Note: This post contains affiliate links.
My writing desk fits nicely on one wall of my cozy apartment on the third-floor wing of my Christian retirement facility. The abundance of trees outside my window gives the feeling of living in a tree house and the impression that I’m secluded, which is quite conducive to writing.
Most of what is on my desk is either practical or just for decoration. However, the polished shofar (ram’s horn) in front of the clock was sent to me by a Jewish friend and serves as a reminder to pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
Above my desk (on the far left) hangs a canvas collage of all my book covers. And directly above my desk several wall hangings speak of the Christian faith I embrace. Under those you’ll notice three crosses: the one on the left was a gift from my daughter, Jody, after she visited a Coptic Christian church in Egypt. The green cross on the right I made last year at Easter, and the ornate cross on the bottom is from the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Above my desk and to the right is my gallery of family photos. Oh, and under the desk, that whimsical row of cats hides an abundance of unsightly electric cords.
I moved to Oregon and into a Christian retirement community a year after my husband passed away. I wanted to live close to my daughter and her family. It didn’t take me long to discover that the power of family ties coupled with Oregon’s breathless outdoor beauty is both healing and inspiring.
But continuing my writing career in this environment meant rethinking the way I do things. I no longer had the quiet privacy of my house or the flexibility of planning meals and activities around my writing schedule. So, this may come as a surprise to you, but almost all of my writing is done at night, from about 9:00 PM to 4:00 AM. Though it requires immense self-discipline, this affords me hours of uninterrupted time and leaves the daytime hours for my staying involved here in my retirement community. I can sleep from 4:00-11:00 AM, and still meet friends for lunch.
Though I live in a retirement community, I’m anything but retired. I was recently asked to speak to more than two hundred fellow residents about my writing. Their response was both humbling and motivating. Not a day goes by that a resident or staff member doesn’t tell me how much they are enjoying my books. This is such a blessing. Especially since last November, when I left Texas and moved to Oregon, I had reluctantly said goodbye to a special group of reader friends whose enthusiasm for my work had fueled my creativity throughout my career. Without their up-close support and encouragement, I wondered how long I would keep writing. Thankfully, the Lord knew what I needed, and I’m surrounded daily by new friends who are equally stimulating and enthusiastic. Only God could have planned it so perfectly.
Now that A Treacherous Mix (the finale in the Ozark Mountain Trilogy) has released, I’m mulling over the idea of doing a series set on the Oregon coast. I’m enamored with its rugged beauty, ever-changing weather, and the distinct personality of dozens of small towns that add character to this slice of heaven. After sharing on Facebook my photos of the Oregon coast, I was amazed at how many people really didn’t know it was so beautiful. Or that the sun really does come out. Before I can feel comfortable writing a series set on the coast, I’ll need to go back there on a research/fact-finding adventure and observe (with different eyes) details of the seascapes, the towns, the history, and the culture. But then, that’s half the fun. And as long as the ideas keep coming, my fingers will stay busy for years to come crafting suspense stories that I hope will still be alive long after I’m gone.
More about A Treacherous Mix
When twenty-four-year-old Hawk Cummings wakes up by Beaver Lake at sunset, all he remembers is a dream about a spider that spewed venom. Then he realizes that Kennedy—the young woman he broke every vow to have an affair with—is gone. He rushes to her house only to find it empty. No furniture. No pictures. No sign that anyone lived there.
Ashamed and confused, Hawk decides not to report anything to the sheriff. Then Hawk realizes that someone else in town knows what happened to his lover. He begins to fear for Kennedy’s life—and his own.
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Best-selling suspense novelist Kathy Herman has published twenty-two novels, including her latest release, A Treacherous Mix. She loves nature photography and lives in the Pacific Northwest with an adorable rescue cat named Prissy.
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