Lennox, Kara

BWG: Are there any words of inspiration on your computer or in your office when you write?

Kara: My office is all over the house right now because I’m renovating that particular room, but before I tore everything apart, I had this advice on my computer monitor: Don’t get it right, get it written. I am not sure who said it first, but I have to constantly remind myself that the first draft doesn’t have to be perfect, it doesn’t even have to be very good. Just get something down. As Nora Roberts says, “I can fix a bad page, but I can’t fix a blank page.

Marianne: What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever received?

Kara: Once when I was still unpublished, I got a particularly harsh critique from a contest judge. The contest coordinator wrote me a long, thoughtful letter back. While she never said a word about the critique, she obviously felt it was hurtful and wanted to mitigate my pain. So she advised me on how to take criticism. She said it should be offered as neutrally as a tree offers fruit. You can pick it and eat it, or you can leave it hanging on the branch, and not worry about offending the tree. She also quoted an old Arab proverb: “If one person calls you an ass, that’s his opinion; if two people call you an ass, consider the opinion carefully. If three people call you an ass, get yourself fitted for a saddle.” This advice, more than any other, has helped me to accept criticism without taking it personally, and to not be afraid of someone not liking my writing.

Marianne: What was the worst?

Kara: I think the worst is, “Write what you know.” I think it’s more important to “Know what you write.” In other words, do the research. If we only wrote what we knew, no one would ever write fantasy, or historical novels, and I certainly couldn’t write about serial killers … oh, wait a minute, I DID know a serial killer.

BWG: What are you currently working on and when can we read it?

Kara: I am polishing a vampire novel. And I have no idea who might publish it, if anyone, so I can’t tell you when it might be available for public consumption. But if I can’t sell it, I will self-publish it. So someday, it will be out there

BWG: Tell us about your RWA Rita nominated books.

Kara: TAKEN TO THE EDGE and NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH are the first two books in my Project Justice series as well as my first two Harlequin Super Romances, so I was thrilled they’ve received such an honor. I am writing romantic suspense now, quite a departure from the sweeter Harlequin American romances I was writing. Both of these books, like all of the Project Justice books, are about a nonprofit organization that helps to exonerate those who have been unjustly imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. So in each book there is a mystery of some type to solve (as the principle characters figure out who really committed the crime) as well as a romance. The characters are investigators, lawyers, evidence analysts, journalists, cops and former cops.

BWG: You consistently publish three books a year when most novelists manage one. How do you keep up with the work?

Kara: I just write every day—well, most days. Some days I only write one or two pages, some days I write ten pages, but I certainly don’t put in a superhuman amount of work! Just a few hours consistently every day is all it takes.

BWG: What’s Script Frenzy and why are you participating?

Kara: Script Frenzy is put on by the same people who do National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). You sign up to write a complete, 100-page script in a month. I’ve written several screenplays, but nothing since I moved to the L.A. area two years ago, so I’m hoping Script Frenzy will motivate me to write more scripts and maybe sell one.