AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Katie Mettner
1.
Can
you tell us a little about yourself? I would love
too! My name is Katie Mettner and I live in Northern Wisconsin, where I’ve
lived all my life. I’ve been married to my husband Dwayne for 15 years and have
three kids, one girl and two boys. I also live with two leopard geckos and a
fish, all named after Japanese Anime characters, thanks to my daughter! I’m a
ballroom dancer turned amputee, and I’m an advocate for amputee’s right to a
well fitting prosthesis. I’m also an advocate of organ donation, because it has
so closely touched my life. In 2009 I donated a kidney to my husband’s brother
and am happy to report we are both doing well. I write inspirational romance
for all ages. My Snowberry series is about characters just out of college, the
Sugar Series focuses on just one couple and their family, and the Northern
Lights Series is a mix and match of new adult, inspirational and I even have
older couples finding love.
2.
Who/What
inspired you to write your first book? In my case it was what, and that was the
amputation, simply because I finally had some down time to write. Sugar had
been floating around in my head as a character for a long time, but what she
became was very different than I thought she would be when I was just in the
thinking stage of the book. After I published Sugar’s Dance I realized pretty
quickly how few stories there were about people with disabilities finding their
true love, so with that I found my platform. I’ve published nine stories now
and all of them have at least one character trying to overcome something to
find their true love.
3.
How
many books have you published to date? Like I said above I’ve written nine romance
books and number ten and eleven are at the editors. I also have a children’s
book, Spaghetti Eddie, that I wrote and my son’s class illustrated. That was a
fun project to work on and would love to do that again when I get some time!
4.
Where
can the readers find your books? My books are all on Amazon only. They are all
part of the Kindle Unlimited program as well. I have found the KU program to be
beneficial to me for building a new audience. It’s a love hate relationship,
but you can’t argue with finding new, devoted readers for your work.
5.
What
was the hardest thing about being an author? I think the hardest thing for me
was just figuring what the heck to do. I had no idea what I was doing when I
published Sugar’s Dance. In the last four years I have learned SO much! Finding
time to write amongst all the marketing and time spent on social media was a
real trick for me in the beginning, but thanks to some good friends, and other
authors I looked up to, I caught on quickly and now I manage it all with a lot
less difficulty.
6.
What
is your favourite thing about being an author? My favorite thing is the feeling
I get every time I finish a story and get the first review! I love it when my
stories resonate with someone. I don’t care if 20 people hate it, as long as it
made a difference in one person’s life, because that’s the reason I write.
7.
Would
you like to see any of your books made into a movie? If so, which ones? This is
a funny question because I just got a 2 star review for December Kiss that said
“it plays like a Lifetime movie.” Well, you know what? There have been a lot of
great authors who have had their books made into Lifetime Movies, so I took
that as a compliment! I think the Snowberry series would make a great movie
because it’s based on a fictional town and it’s something you could just have a
lot of fun with. Sugar’s Dance, my first novel, would make a fantastic movie
because it’s romantic suspense and is set on Lake Superior. It would be an epic
movie if ever made, but of course it won’t be. LOL
8.
Is
there a particular actor/actress you would want to play your main characters in
this movie? All I can say is if they make Sugar’s Dance into a movie Jude Law
would make a great Van J Sugar would be a little harder
to find, but I think there is a lot of talent in the disabled acting community
who could do it.
9.
What
are your thoughts on reviews? Do you respond to them good or bad? I love a good
review! I also love a good 1 star review if it’s filled with something that
actually makes sense. I get quite a few 1 star reviews that say there is too
much sex or what not, when they have been clearly warned on the blurb of the
book about everything they are complaining about, that irritates me. I don’t
respond to bad reviews, because I don’t want to get into a war with anyone. I
do thank readers on social media for their reviews by tweeting and sharing them
on Facebook etc.
10.
How can readers get in contact with you or
find out more about your books? They can head to my blog at www.katiemettnerbooks.blogspot.com,
the information on all my book series is there. They can email me at sugarsdance@gmail.com or go to my
author page at Amazon
11.
Is
there anything else you would like to add that I haven't included? I thought
since we are highlighting the Snowberry Series I would share a little about
each of the couples, if you don’t mind. I’m even including a sneak peak on the
new couple coming out for Easter J
The characters in this series are
all based around one family, The Alexanders. In the first book Dully Alexander
is a special education teacher who meets Snow Daze, a physician at the local
hospital where he was visiting a student. We don’t meet any other Alexanders
specifically in the book, but he tells Snow about his brother, Jason, who was
born with spina bifida and has been in a wheelchair his whole life. Snow is
also in a wheelchair and was struggling to accept that a man like Dully could
love her knowing she would always be in a chair. Snow and Dully’s story is a
novella, because you continue to get their story through the rest of the
series.
Jason Alexander, Jay as he
prefers to be called, was a college student when Snow Daze was written. December
Kiss opens with him newly graduated and looking for a job in his hometown of
Snowberry. He meets December Kiss in a rather uncomfortable situation and has
to accept help from her to get back to his car when his wheelchair breaks down.
Jay is a good guy, a social worker, who has seen his share of pain and
disparagement. He loves his little niece, Sunny, Snow and Dully’s daughter, and
Sunny plays a big role in helping him overcome his fears about being a husband
and father. December is an all around awesome woman who is a nurse at the same
hospital where Snow works. She slowly falls in love with Jay’s charm, but she’s
been hurt deeply by her own family, including her twin, Noel. Jay stumbles upon
a chance to bring the two of them together and takes it.
Noel Kiss owns and operates seven
cafes in southern Minnesota. When you meet him in December Kiss he’s feeling
the heaviness of not having his twin sister with him and really wants to
reconcile, so when Jay shows up he takes the unexpected opportunity to do so.
When he goes to Snowberry for Christmas he meets Snow’s best friend Savannah
Hart. He doesn’t know why, but he instantly knows she is going to need
something from him. Drawn by the need to be close to Snowberry he buys an old
closed down restaurant next door to Savannah’s Flower Emporium, so he can keep
an eye on the woman who has found a way into his heart, even though he still
has no idea why. This is where the series diverts from the Alexanders and moves
into the rest of the town as a whole.
April Melody (Easter 2015) is
Noel Kiss’s right hand woman. She runs the front of the café and does the books
for him, grateful to find a job where her disability can stay hidden. A child
singing star God threw her the biggest curveball anyone has ever seen and she’s
still trying to figure out why. When a kitchen accident sends her to the local
hair salon she comes face-to-face with the man who just moved into Old Lady
Lifton’s apartment next door to her, a man who just goes by ‘Crow’.
I’m sure you can see by the descriptions
of the book that each book is a play on names. Snow Daze was written because I
had an old patient who would come to the doctor I worked for, and her name was
Snow. I always thought it was a great name for a character and finally took the
plunge and based a story around it. When it came time for Jay’s story I knew it
was going to end on Christmas Eve, so December Kiss was just the best name
ever! Noel’s Hart, well Savannah Hart steals his, you get it. I try to find
titles that will intrigue people and make them wonder how I got there with the
name. The story of how the character got their name from their parents is
always revealed inside the book, so the reader is always let in on the answer.
Thank you so much for having me
on the blog today! I appreciate the spotlight and all you do to help Indie
Authors get the word out about their books.
Thank you so much for hosting me today!
ReplyDelete