Q & A with Kara Isaac and giveaway!!!

 Kara is very graciously offering a copy of Close to You as well as a $10 Starbucks giftcard and a mug to one commenter. To enter, answer the question below and leave contact information. 

Tell us about Close To You:

Close To You is a romantic comedy about a disillusioned academic-turned-tour-guide and an entrepreneur who knows nothing about Tolkien who meet on a Tolkien themed tour of New Zealand. I’m so excited that my debut novel is set in my native story and really hope readers love its themes of second chances and not allowing the mistakes of the past to define your future.

Will we know what happens to your character after the end of the book?

YES! I love this question because I often want to know what happens to characters I’ve come to love after that last wonderful “happily ever after” scene in a romance novel. I’m thrilled that Jackson and Allie return as secondary characters in Can’t Help Falling, which releases in October, so readers get to be part of the next stage of their story from a slightly different perspective.

What is your current work in progress?

I’m currently in copy edits for Can’t Help Falling. Set in Oxford, England, it’s a story about an elite rower who has has his Olympic dreams shattered by injury and a tabloid journalist trying to atone for a story she wrote that had tragic consequences. Like Close To You has a Lord of the Rings theme, Can’t Help Falling has a Chronicles of Narnia one.

What would be your dream vacation?

I love travel and have done quite a lot of it as part of my professional life but have never had the opportunity to do a big trip with my family. My dream vacation would be exploring a great city like New York or Rome with a willing grandparent or two to help look after our two pre-schoolers so my husband and I can sneak off for our own fun occasionally!

What is your most difficult writing obstacle, and how do you overcome it?

Fear. Like all writers, I spend most of my writing time by myself staring at a screen and wrestling with imaginary people. When the magic happens there is nothing like it but a lot of the time it’s just about showing up and putting anything on the page, knowing you can work with something but you can’t work with nothing. When you’re creatively struggling it’s easy to let fear in. Begin to believe you’re a fraud. That the book that got you a contract was a fluke and you don’t have another good one in you. That you’re going to let down your publishing team and readers. I have to keep reminding myself that God didn’t open all the doors to me receiving a book contract to leave me alone now.

What advice would you give to a beginning author?

Oh wow, there are so many things I wish I knew when I started on this writing journey almost eleven years ago.

I would probably start with write what you love, don’t chase the current craze. It’s tempting to want to follow whatever the current “it” genre is but publishing trends come and go (I finished my first novel, which was chicklit, right on time for the whole genre to be declared dead and all editors wanting historicals!) I’m a big believer than when you’re writing in a genre that you love it shows on the page.  Having said that, also be open to trying new things. I started writing chicklit and it took me a few years to discover that my true happy place is romantic comedy.

The second thing I would say would be find a writing community. Writing can be a very lonely pursuit and most of us need people who understand the craziness that trying to put thousand of words on a page can entail. I have five close friends who I met through ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) years ago before any of us were agented and contracted. We’ve seen each other through the best times and the worst, in life and in writing. I’m pretty sure I would have give up on the crazy publishing dream long ago if it wasn’t for these amazing women cheering me on, believing in my stories, and talking me off the ledge when it all starts to feel impossible!

If someone else were sitting at your desk right now, what would they see?

If they were sitting at my day job desk it would be all very boring I’m afraid. A desktop computer, large sets of files and lots of paperwork related to the project I’m working on at the moment. The government department that I work for has been in a constant state of change recently and my team has just had our fourth location move in fifteen months and I haven’t even gotten around to putting up my usual family photo that travels with me.

When I’m writing I don’t have a desk. I write on my laptop which lives on a tray that was originally designed for TV dinners! My usual writing spots are in bed or on the couch. I’m writing this sitting in bed and looking at the collage of family photos that sits on the wall and into the open door of a closet that desperately needs a spring clean!

What’s on the horizon for you?  What will you be writing next? 

I’ve just started brainstorming the story of one of the secondary characters from Close To You, Katriona McLeod. She returns to her roots in rural Australia and the finds herself working on a reality TV show trying to find the perfect wife for the one guy she’s never gotten over J

To enter the giveaway, answer this question: 

Which country would you most like to visit and why? J

Tell us about the giveaway you’re offering.

An autographed copy of Close To You travelling all the way from lovely New Zealand Starbucks card for 10.00 and a mug

Where can readers find you online?

I love to connect with readers online! They can find me at www.karaisaac.com, on Facebook at Kara Isaac – Author and on Twitter @KaraIsaac.

Bio

Kara Isaac lives in gorgeous Wellington, New Zealand. When she's not working her day job as a public servant, chasing around a ninja preschooler and his feisty toddler sister, she spends her time writing horribly bad first drafts and wishing you could get Double Stuf Oreos in New Zealand. She loves to connect on her website, on Facebook at Kara Isaac - Writer and Twitter @KaraIsaac