Talkshow Thursday: Welcome KC Hart!

Talkshow Thursday: Welcome KC Hart!

I'm excited to welcome KC Hart to my blog. I read Our Head Strong Love back in April and adored this book! Second chance stories are my favorite. Take a few minutes to get to know this fascinating lady.

What was your inspiration for the story? The inspiration for Our Head Strong Love came from the conversion of Saul to Paul in Acts 26. I began thinking about what it would be like to have to return to a group of people that you had been trying to slay and imprison and try to teach and minister to. Can you imagine the trust issues that had to exist at the beginning?

How do you develop your characters? (e.g. decide on their vocation, names, etc.)? Lucy, my female main character rose out of what I mentioned on the last question. What could she do that would make my readers dislike or maybe even loathe her, not trust her. She abandons her six little ones, the youngest still a baby, with her husband and goes off to chase a music career. She returns over twenty years later, after having no contact with any of them to try to form a relationship. Orville, her husband, has devoted his entire life to raising this family without her. He has a strong faith, but he could never stop loving the woman that betrayed not only him, but the kids as well.

What sort of research did you do for your story, and was there an exceptionally interesting tidbit you knew you had to include? I did a ton of research on the music industry, song writing, royalty shares, song writer’s rights. All of that was so interesting. I also did a lot of research on owning a junk store, taking things on consignment, contract agreements in these situations, things I’ve never thought about before.

Tell us about your road to publication. I lost my sister, two brothers and my mother to different unrelated illnesses in a two-year time span. I had been a hospice nurse for years, but after this I felt drained with nothing left to give. Hospice was not only a job, but also a ministry of sharing my faith. When this was gone, I felt like a large part of me had died. I had written some things over the years that only my family have seen. My daughters suggested I do this crazy thing called Nanowrimo. I had never heard of it before, but my oldest daughter and I started writing that November and texting our daily word count to each other. I love murder mysteries like Columbo, Murder She Wrote, Perry Mason. By the end of the month I had almost completed the first very rough draft on Moonlight Murder and Small Town Secrets, a Christian cozy mystery.

Have you ever considered writing under a pseudonym? Why or why not? I actually do write under

Pixabay/Anna

the pen name KC Hart. My real name is Kathy Crosby. Hart is my maiden name. I think the reason I used a pen name to start with was fear. I was scared I would embarrass myself and my family with my little books. I truly did not expect anyone to want to read them.

How are your characters like you? Different? Well, my cozy mystery sleuth is a nurse, like me, living in a little town in Mississippi, like me. Those things are sort of obvious. Things that are not so obvious is that all my characters fail, stumble , can’t get up on their own even though the want to. They either turn to God for help, or turn back to God for help. I haven’t experienced a lot of the soul crushing things they have went through, but I can feel their heartache, because it mirrors my own in so many ways.

If your book is part of a series: Did you set out to write a series? Why did you decide to write a series? Yes. All of my books are in series. I love reading series, so that may be why I write in series. In the Red Creek Redemption Romance series that I’m working on now, the father and mother are in book one, Our Head Strong Love. The other books are about their grown children.

How has your book changed since your first draft? I do not edit as I go. I just write what flows our after I get an idea and a general outline of characters and the story. When I go back through the finished first draft, I flesh things out. Like Orville, my main character gave up smoking when his kids were little. Now he always keeps butterscotch in his shirt pocket and won’t wear a shirt without a pocket.

Pixabay/Eddie K

If you were to write a spin-off book about one of your secondary characters, which one would you choose and why? Two characters come to mind. One is Aunt Sadie. When Lucy left Orville with the kids all those years ago, Aunt Sadie basically gave up her life and stepped in to help her little brother Orville raise them. The other is Gordon Blue. He’s a wealthy man who owns the Blue Motel and a lot of other real estate in the little town of Red Creek. He’s a good guy, but has always been shortchanged in love. I’m wondering if a later in life romance between him and Aunt Sadie could happen.

What is your process for writing? (do you outline, have a special place or time of day you write, etc.) What is your favorite part of the process? I get this idea with a couple of characters, very general. I jot it down and flesh it out the best I can, but the real magic happens when I talk about it with my husband and daughters. I bounce ideas off of them and they give me feedback. My husband has to be kept on track, though, because he turns everything into a murder mystery if I don’t reign him in. I put all of that on an outline then I try to come up with a few things, like how the couple meet, what will be the spiritual growth aspect, what will be the dark moment, and what will bring them back together? Then I sit down and write, just seeing where the story takes me.

What books are on your nightstand right now? My Bible, a study of the life of Elijah and a craft book on writing.

What is your next project? I’m working on Our Unlikely Love, book three in the Red Creek Redemption series. This story is about the second son in the Robinson family, Owen, and Rachel, a girl from his past. He has ADHD and is sort of like a very handsome overgrown puppy. He’s inquisitive and very smart, but tends to be like a bull in a china shop. Rachel has moved back to town after a tragedy to live with her elderly grandmother and work in their ancient dry cleaners. She doesn’t have time for Owen, but he just won’t go away.

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About Our Head Strong Love:

Sometimes giving a second chance is just too painful.

In the small town of Red Creek, Alabama, Lucy Robinson is back after 23 years of running away from her mistakes. She has returned broken, but with a newfound faith, hoping to prove to her husband Orville and their six children that she has changed and can be trusted again.

Orville Robinson thought the love for his wayward wife had died long ago, but when Lucy returns, he can’t help but feel a spark of love reignite. He doesn’t know if he can trust her again, and his decision will decide the fate of their family.

If you enjoy small town Christian romance with seasoned characters and stories of a second chance at happiness, Our Head Strong Love, book one in the Red Creek Redemption Series, is for you.

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/40MLlyb

Connect with KC:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20570083.K_C_Hart

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kc-hart?list=author_books

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KCWRITESBOOKS

Newsletter signup: https://www.kchartauthor.com/newsletter.html