Kat Martin started writing in 1985; she is now the bestselling author of more than 50 Historical and contemporary Romance novels, including her Raines of Wind Canyon series. Today, she thanks her mother, Helen, who shared her dream of writing --- an unfulfilled ambition that led Kat to discover fiction, and explore her own talents.
My mother dreamed of being a writer. When I was a girl, she talked about it often. During her high school days at Tulare Union in the San Joaquin Valley, she was the editor of the school newspaper. She loved writing and more than anything, she wanted to go to college and become a journalist.
The country was at war back then, and my grandparents were poor. My mother never achieved her dream, but I could hear the yearning in her voice when she talked about it, and maybe that was the seed that set me on the path to becoming a writer. Or maybe it was the love for reading she instilled in me.
As a young woman, I saw reading as something I had to do to get through high school and then college. I enjoyed learning new things, and especially enjoyed reading history books. But reading just for fun? I couldn’t really imagine it.
Then I discovered the Bestseller List.
My mother loved every sort of book and particularly true crime murder books. But my tastes were not the same and other than the textbooks I read in college, I had no idea what to choose. I began picking up books off the top 15 bestseller list in the grocery store and discovered the wonderful world of fiction.
Books by Wilbur Smith and Danielle Steel, Sidney Sheldon, Colleen McCullough, Herman Wouk, Arthur Hailey, Robert Ludlum, Jack Higgins, Anya Seton, Kathleen Winsor, and Frank Yerby, who wrote heartwrenching Romance novels.
I was hooked.
Over the years, my mother and I often traded books and then discussed them, which lots of moms do with their children today.
I loved reading, but a career as an author never crossed my mind until I was in my thirties and met my husband, Larry, who had written a western novel. It was a wonderful book and I couldn’t understand why he hadn’t been able to get it published. I thought maybe I could help him by doing a little editing and, during the process, realized how much I was enjoying the work.
I decided maybe I should try writing myself and jumped in with both feet. MAGNIFICENT PASSAGE was the result, my first novel, which I am happy to say is being re-published this July with a magnificent new cover.
More than 50 books later, my mother is gone, but I’m still reading and still writing, and I thank her every day for introducing me to the career I love so much.
Kat Martin's A SONG FOR MY MOTHER is in stores now! Learn more at www.KatBooks.com.
