Sail the Seven Seas With Best-Selling Author Katherine Bone

This week we are opening the blog to guest posts, interviews and/or reviews. Katherine is the author of the best-selling Duke by Day, Rogue by Night and several sequels. She also happens to have one of the most rabid fan clubs I’ve ever witnessed! I thought it would be fun to learn more about Captain Bone, as she is called by her loyal crew. To give you a little background about Katherine, she tells us she has been passionate about history since she had the opportunity to travel to various Army bases, castles, battlegrounds, and cathedrals as an Army brat turned Officer’s Wife. Now she lives in the south (southern United States) where she writes about Rogues, Rebels and Rakes, aka Pirates, Lords, Captains, Duty, Honor, and Country and the happily ever afters every alpha male and damsel deserve.

Without further ado, may I present…Captain Katherine Bone!

ARRR!!! And ahoy, Lady Patty! Thank you so much for allowin’ me to swashbuckle my way into your day!!!

So glad to have you here, Captain! Tell us, when and how did you become interested in pirates? When did you BECOME a pirate?

Katherine Bone with her muse.

This is a loaded question! Thanks for asking because I love telling this tale, Lady Patty! I devoured pirate books in my late teens by authors Kathleen Woodiwiss, Joanna Lindsey, Rosemary Rogers, and Laura London, to name a few. The Mallorys and especially the Captive Series by Fern Michaels gave me a sense of freedom and adventure on the high seas that I’d rarely been given a chance to explore. (I’d only been to the beach as a child.)

As for me becoming a pirate? I’ve never been one to conform. In fact, inwardly I’ve always wanted to buck the system, reject tried and true formulas, and go with my gut. The transformation to pirate has been a natural evolution developing over my youth as I learned not to agree with everyone around me just to fit in, though it’s very tempting. I remember my mother always said, “If everyone jumped off a bridge, would you?” Buahahaha! Crazy wild statement that I hated growing up, but somehow it began to make sense the older I got. And when several people told me to put my pirates under the bed, that they’d never sell, I’m glad I didn’t listen! Huzzah!!! (Pirate!)

We’re glad, too. How does your family handle having a pirate in their midst?

Ahem… Suffice it to say, they laugh sometimes but they ARR the best sports. And it helps greatly that my rogue supports my insatiable habit of buying research books. Buahahaha!!!

Sounds like the perfect rogue for you! How did you come up with the concept of Nelson’s Tea?

A rags to riches story, Lady Patty! I consider finally getting my books out there to be vast treasure, indeed. When I made the transition from writing westerns (Pirate!) to Regency romance, I knew swashbucklin’ adventure on the sea would fill the pages of my books. Pirates of the Caribbean made 18^th century piracy BIG again! But I didn’t want to cache in on the popularity of the Golden Age of Piracy. No. That would have been too easy at the time. I wanted something unique and new. When I began researching the Regency Era, more and more of the information I read about piracy along the English Coast mentioned Admiral Horatio Nelson. Mesmerized by the man, his courage, and humanity, I turned my attention on him. When I discovered he never went without tea, even on board ship — during battle (Say what?) — the idea for Nelson’s Tea was born. All my Nelson had to do when he needed mercenary tactics was call up first born sons, men above suspicion by the ton and enemies alike, to protect England’s shores. “Bring me tea.” Voila!!!

Fascinating! You’ve now written two novels and two novellas about Nelson’s Tea. How do you organize your details and timelines across your series?

Katherine’s Book Bible

This is the cool part! Characters come to me first. Then they tell me what kind of fix they’re in. After that, I search for their name, because sometimes they don’t tell me who they ARR at first. Afterward, I’ll hunt for visual inspiration in magazines, through actors/actresses, or models online. Once I see who they really ARR, I create a storyboard with pictures and chapter squares. At that point, I’ll add sticky notes to get major plot points added. Then, (not done yet) I get a Book Bible started, especially if I’m dealing with a series. Usually that’s one composition book per book. But that didn’t happen with my Nelson’s Tea Series. Believe it or not, I’ve got 3 big books and 2 novellas stuffed into one notebook. Once I have all those things in place and sit down at my computer, magic happens! Woot!!!

Magic, indeed. Did you have the entire series plotted out before you began, or did one book lead you to the next?

Excellent question! I didn’t have a series planned at all when I first began writing Pirate by Night, which later became Duke by Day, Rogue by Night. Once I started creating the characters and Nelson’s Tea grew by leaps and bounds, I knew I had to make this into a series.

Did you find any of these books easier or more difficult to write than others?

Duke by Day, Rogue by Night flew onto the keyboard like a bird taking flight — easy, fast, exciting. The idea for The Rogue’s Prize materialized as I sat on the beach in Cancun and envisioned a woman chained in the bowels of a ship. My Lord Rogue was easier because I’d already written the first two books in my series when I created the prequel. But My Lady Rogue was a difficult beastie! LOL!!! Having 20 men in the same room when one of them is trying to kill someone else nearly fried my brain cells this year! My wonderful brainstorming partner, M.V. Freeman, and my FABulous editors Kay Springsteen Tate and Kim Bowman, helped mold that book into story gold!!! That brings me to Romancing the Jewel, what I call my contemporary that could. LOL! RTJ sprang from my heart like a glistening gem. My first attempt at writing contemporary romance was rollicking good fun!

Your readers are enjoying it, too! What’s next for Captain Bone? Will you continue the Nelson’s Tea series, or are there new projects planned?

Comin’ up later this year, I hope to have the third book in my Nelson’s Tea Series available. Finishing up my series has been a wonderful exciting adventure but it’s been a bit heartbreaking too. Because The Rogue’s Surrender has taken a lot more research than I’d already done, I’ve spent months digging into history this year alone. Plus, it’s hard to let great characters go. I love them so much!!! Because they ARR so FANtastic, I’m considering an offshoot series about the Seatons, Garrick and Adele’s brothers!

Besides writing and pirating, what are your other interests?

Love this question! I enjoy spending time with my family, though writing absorbs so much of my days and mental capacity. My kids can ask me what I did yesterday and I may not remember. But ask me about the characters of my books or a plot thread and I’m so there. Quirky and strange! Before writing took over my time, I used to can jam, spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce, applesauce and zucchini relish! (I was regular Martha Stewart wannabe!) I love to quilt, sew, garden, read (of course!) and knit too! And, my interest in history and art usually steers me in FANtastic directions.

When I was young, I used to tell my mother I was bored. She would say, “If you’re bored, find something to do.” I have and there’s always something on my agenda. The only problem? Not enough time to git ‘er done, me hearties!!!

Thank you so much for this wonderful interview, Lady Patty!!! I’ve had loads of fun!!!
About Duke by Day, Rogue by Night:

His identity in jeopardy, Percy crosses into more dangerous territory… losing his heart

Constance Danbury is desperate to escape an arranged marriage to a man nearly twice her age. Her only hope is to board a merchantman bound for Spain to enlist her aunt’s help. Her plans go awry when she’s captured by pirates. Even more alarming, her traitorous body longs for the man who’s returning her to England! Pushed into a marriage of convenience, she’s caught between two men—one owns her heart, the other is bent on stealing it.

Percival Avery is a member of Nelson’s Tea, an elite group assigned to protect England’s shores at any cost. On a mission to avenge his sister’s death, Percy infiltrates the gang of cutthroats responsible. When his vessel attacks a merchantman, Percy must choose between vengeance and saving the life of his commander’s niece. His only choice is to mutiny, but mutiny obliterates his well-laid plans. Forced on a new course that leads straight back to Constance Danbury, Percy has to make a decision—chase revenge or allow himself to love again.

Duke by Day, Rogue by Night can be purchased at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, iTunes, All Romance EBooks, Bookstrand, Books a Million, and Book Depository.

Katherine Bone can be found at her website as well as on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Tsu, Amazon, and Goodreads.

Now, here’s what piratin’ is all about. TREASURE!!! One lucky commenter will win an ecopy of Duke by Day, Rogue by Night, the book that started it all! Huzzah!!!

So what would you like to ask me today, eh?

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