RBL Presents!
Kally Jo Surbeck






     

     



Tammy: In case anyone missed your "Hotseat" feature in the April newsletter, would you please tell us a little about yourself, what you like to do when you're not writing?

Kally: I am the baby in a family of five. As of this moment, I am currently unhitched, but I enjoy researching the perfect man. My family and I live in Wyoming and have cows, horses, and kitty cats, but no indoor pets. Here is a view from the back porch of where I live, and a picture of a couple of very precious (outdoor!) "pets."





Leisure activities? Hmmm. I love all the regular things. Movies ... actually, I am a cinema hound. The problem with this being that, now that I live in Wyoming, I actually have to travel a considerable distance to get to a movie theater. So there are days I make "movie days." Might as well see more than one if you have to go that far, right? My X-Box sees lots of usage. I also love to go fishing! (Note I said "go fishing" because I do not like to eat fish or clean them!) Mostly I just enjoy being out on the boat. Oh! That is my favorite of all things, water. Anything to do with water. Tammy: Do you have time to read for pleasure? Who are some of your favorite authors and what kind of books do you prefer?

Kally: Yes, I do read for pleasure. Quite a bit actually. Reading has always been a passion of mine. And I am of the old school that all work and no play makes Kally cranky.

Some of my favorite authors? On my keeper shelf, the closest one to me (I have six bookshelves): Kat Martin, Julie Garwood, Pamela Clare, Gennita Low, Catherine Coulter, Jude Deveroux, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Christine Feehan, Emma Holly, Glenna McReynolds, Shana Abe, Christopher Golden, Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Charles Dickens, J. R. R. Tolkien, George R. R. Martin, Jeff Strand, Melissa Schroeder, Alexandre Dumas, James Patterson, Jeffery Deaver, Patricia Cornwell, Kathleen Kingsley, Karen Marie Moning, Amanda Quick, Katie MacAlister, Catherine Asaro, Sharon Mignerey ... those are the only ones I can see at this moment.

Tammy: Was there an author - or authors - who really inspired you to write?

Kally: There are many authors who have inspired me. I am of the belief that every day, every moment, imprints us, whether we acknowledge it or not on a conscious level. Every action effects how we will respond in the future.

That said, one author in particular touched my life. Had it not been for her soft guidance, her support, and her willingness to talk to a "nobody," I seriously doubt I would have pursued romantic fiction. In 2000, when I first decided I could do this, I knew no one. One night in May of 2000, inspiration struck and I sat down and wrote the first three chapters of a book. Then I thought, "Hmm, I need contacts." That night I joined my local chapter of Colorado Romance Writers online without ever having spoken with anyone. July was their conference. With characteristic go-ahead, I signed up and went (knowing absolutely no one). Surprisingly enough, I don't remember, - I think it was at a region's meeting - I met Sharon Mignerey, a fantastic woman who has written for Kensington, Intimate Moments, and Steeple Hill. She reached out, took me under her wing and introduced me about. And it wasn't just to other local members, as though she were proud to know me, she introduced me to BIG names. She made me feel as though I belonged. At that conference, she signed a book for me. The inscription was not long, but it is one of my most prized possessions to this day. It said, "I believe in you." The spirit of her love, inspiration, and compassion is one I, too, try to share and pass on to other authors. I don't know that I do as fantastic a job as Sharon did for me, but I try. But at times all of it (writing) still seems a little surreal to me.

Tammy: What is your writing process? Do you plot and plan things out in advance and keep to the outline? Or do you come up with certain characters or incidents and go from there?

Kally: Each book is a little different. I am definitely not a plotter. It must be my limited attention span or something, but if I write it out, plan it out, detail it to the bone, I think, "Why bother?" I already know what happens and I no longer care about it. However, to a certain degree you have to. So I write down the general overview and get to know the characters really well, until I trust them to take me where I need to go. Most of my books are partz of series. That helps. Once one book is written, it seems that the incidence for the next book is already set up, or something the character did during the writing of the first book triggered a response in my brain telling me what sort of situation they were going to get themselves into.

Tammy: Has the Internet been an encouragement to write and does it affect your writing in any way?

Kally: I'm not certain about an encouragement. I love how much it helps cut down on paper waste and printing costs. You can zip off your draft to your agent and editor without having to print it out and then bulk mail.

Definitely, it has helped my writing. I can write at all hours, researching to my heart's content. I'm a research hound. I love hands-on experience, but to get that I have to know whom to contact. I like to know useless information, of which the Internet is a treasure trove. The library in my town is a wee bit on the small side, so the Internet makes researching or buying my research books easier. So yes. It's a Godsend.

Tammy: Tell us a bit about your current release, FOR THE LOVE OF ... .

Kally: FOR THE LOVE OF ... is Mac’s story. She is an assassin. It is her story - all about her life, her love, her hopes and fears. It's the story of one woman's struggle and growth past circumstance.

It is written in the first person, and I was very hesitant to do that. I wrote the first three chapters in both first and third, but third just didn't work. I was also leery of writing a female assassin. Reading as voraciously as I do, I get so tired of supposed strong heroines who have kick-ass jobs but don't kick ass. I knew it was going to be a battle to make her a sympathetic heroine in her position and with her life, but that has been one of the best things to hear about from readers - how they connected with Mac and felt her struggle and growth through the story. That's why it had to be first person. It had to be her tale.

Tammy: How did you come up with the idea of a lady assassin?!?

Kally: I would truly LOVE to take the credit, but I can't. Now, before anyone jumps the guns and the *p* word comes out, let me explain. I was lounging in the tub (if you know me for any extended period, this is where I do my best thinking - if I could figure out how to live in water I would, but I digress ...), pretty much just daydreaming. This woman, in my mind, was very funny, and she was just chatting telling me about her life. And I thought, "This is too good just to entertain me."

Tammy: What genre would you consider FOR THE LOVE OF ... to be? Straight romance, romantic suspense, or something else?

Kally: You know, this surprises me. I have heard several people say what a surprise ending the book has, and how magnificent the suspense is. I simply thought of it as action/adventure. However, time and time again I hear people refer to it in different context: mainstream, action/adventure, romantic suspense. I would say that this is definitely not straight romance. You can't pull the romance out, because it's through her situation with Gabe that Mac grows, but the romance is less than a straight romantic focus would be. This story is about Mac and her issues. Her love completes those issues, if you will.

Tammy: And CONGRATULATIONS! FOR THE LOVE OF ... won the 2005 EPPIE award for action/adventure. For those who aren’t familiar with them, would you tell us about the EPPIES?

Kally: The EPPIES spotlight excellence in electronic publishing in moving the art of popular fiction forward into new dimensions of creativity. They are open to a wide range of electronic authors, not just EPIC members. Each year, the strikingly forward-looking awards grow in esteem in the publishing world. Finalists were selected from 457 entries in 19 categories - a significant number of entries for a six-year-old competition in a young industry. The judging was done by EPPIE members, all published authors or publishing professionals. The 86 finalists were sent to another panel for final judging. The winners in each category were announced and awards presented at a gala ceremony at EPIC's annual convention aboard the Queen Mary in Long Beach, California, March 10-13, 2005.



Tammy: Since FOR THE LOVE OF ... is book one of your Irish Series, could you tell us a little about the next book in the series, and when it will be released? Why did you choose Irish to be the theme for this series?

Kally: There are five books scheduled for this series. Hopefully, keeping fingers crossed, SHADES OF DOUBT, book two, will come out the end of this year. In FTLO, the reader meets Charlize, aka Charlie. She is the woman attacked in the alleyway. The Outfit is actually a larger operation than even Mac and Gabe originally perceived. In SHADES OF DOUBT, we get to see just how far-reaching their nefarious hold is.

I chose Irish to be the theme for several reasons. I am incredibly proud of my heritage. I love the accent, the pride, the history, and the loyalty of the people in general. The Irish are a fantastic grouping of people who, though they have a magical gift of gab, can also keep their mouths shut, until death if necessary, to protect their beliefs and their loves. It was also actually a rather tongue-in-cheek idea. The logo, which Angela Knight so graciously designed for me, is a four-leaf clover being cleaved in half by a bolt of lightning.

Tammy: Are there plans for FOR THE LOVE OF ... to go to print format also?

Kally: Of course, I would like to. I still hold the print rights. So, if any of you out there who know a house that might be interested, I'm all ears.

Tammy: How difficult do you find it to write the sex scenes? How much importance do you place on love/sex scenes in what you read or write?

Kally: I think sex, sexuality and sensuality all have to fit the stories. I don't write as hot as many authors, generally because there is so much else going on in the story that it doesn't fit. I mean, to me, there is nothing more annoying than a situation where the world is going to end, they have to defuse the bomb, but they can take time to have sex first? UNLESS they think they are going to die and want to get it on one more time before the end of the world. That I could understand. Truthfully, there are some sex scenes sometimes when I'm reading that I skip over if it's slowing the story. Then again, there are some authors who I read every single juicy word. Talent I tell you, talent.

Tammy: If you could choose one of the characters from your book to spend a day with, who would it be, where would you go, and what would you do?

Kally: Ahh. Now, that is a cool question. No one has ever asked me that before. It's a hard call because I like most all of my characters. I think if I had to choose, I would choose two characters from my as yet unpublished Such As These Series. The woman would be Belle. The man would be Arik. I would love to visit their world - both characters crack me up. They are strong, fun, and incredibly brave. However, if I had to choose from my published works so far, I think the woman would be Mac from FOR THE LOVE OF ... . She is an amazing woman. The man, well, he's not a man yet, but I would definitely like to hang out with Bobby. I bet he and I could go surfing or diving or something.

Thank you, Tammy and ReBeLs, very much for your interest in my work! Blessings.



Thanks so much for being with us, Kally. We'll be looking forward to your next adventure, SHADES OF DOUBT. I myself will be biting at the bit!

~Tammy~



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