The Reading Frenzy: **GIVEAWAY** Interview with Kat Latham about her London Legends series

Thursday, October 30, 2014

GIVEAWAY Interview with Kat Latham about her London Legends series

Please welcome US Expat Kat Latham former SoCal girl who gave up Jimmy Choos for Wellies and now resides in rural Netherlands with her sexy British hubby and daughter. And whose new London Legends series are spicing up the romance shelves. Kat’s a newcomer to the blog but I was part of her cover reveal for Tempting The Player.

Kat has generously offered for a giveaway
an e-book of the winner's choice of either Knowing
The Score of Playing It Close.
Open Internationally!
Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter
Thanks Kat!
Good Luck!

Kat hi! Welcome to The Reading Frenzy.

Thank you so much for having me—and for being part of my cover reveal! Aren’t Matt’s abs incredible? ;)

First tell my romance addicts about this new series.
Where did the idea come from?
Are there a set number in the series?
Can they be read as stand alones or in order?

Okay, well, the London Legends series follows a team of rugby players—the world’s hottest rugby team, with sexy British accents to boot!

The idea came when I was having lunch with friends from work waaaay back in 2009. I was working for a humanitarian aid organization in London and was really stressed. I needed to do something creative to take my mind off everything, so I told them, “I’m going to write a romance novel. The heroine’s going to be an aid worker because I know and understand that world. But I have no idea who the hero is.” And my friend Izzi said, “He should be a rugby player.”

Seriously, it was as simple as that. I owe my first hero—Spencer Bailey—to my friend Izzi.

There are three books in the series so far (Knowing the Score, Playing It Close and Tempting the Player), and I’m writing book 4 right now. I’m planning for there to be at least a couple more stories. Apparently I can’t get enough of rugby players!

You can definitely read them as standalone novels (and you don’t need to know anything about rugby to enjoy them—I promise!). You don’t have to read them in order, but the characters do show up with their wives and girlfriends in later novels, so you’ll get little updates about them if you do read them in order.

Now tell us about your upcoming November release London Legends novel Tempting the Player.

Tempting the Player is about rugby fullback Matt Ogden, whose career has hit the skids. He showed a lot of promise when he was younger, but an early divorce and some other horrible things happened that totally derailed his confidence. But tragedy strikes one of his teammates—his rival for the fullback position—and Matt gets one last chance to prove he’s an awesome player.

The problem is that he’s terrified of flying. I mean, he suffers full-blown panic attacks midair. And his team has to fly to matches in other European cities, so he’s pretty much useless when he arrives. Knowing this is his last chance, he asks his best friend Libby to teach him how to fly so he can learn how to manage his fear.

Libby’s a pilot with a low-cost airline. She wants a stay-at-home husband so she can keep her career and have a family. But she is insanely attracted to her friend Matt, and she decides that if she’s ever going to find the right man for her she has to get Matt out of her system. She decides the only way to do this is by having sex with him. Because no man can live up to the expectations she has for Matt, right?

Wrong.

Kat before we go any farther you must tell us about winning the sex-scene contest on Between the Sheets and why is this the contest your mother is the proudest of your winning?

Ha! The Greater Detroit chapter of Romance Writers of America used to have a sex-scene writing contest called Between the Sheets. I don’t know if they still do.

I entered a scene from a book that still isn’t published, and it won first place out of over 100 entries. It was the first contest I ever entered, and it was the first time I got feedback on my writing from strangers. Talk about a massive boost to my self-confidence!

My mom told me later that she told her friends I’d won it. She’s always been so supportive of me…even though I’ve still never let her read the winning scene!

Now I’d love to chat about your fabulous background, from teaching English in Prague to working for philanthropic organizations.
How did an English teacher cum charity employee start writing romance?

I was working as a writer and editor for a big humanitarian aid organization, and my job had always been equal parts creative and nerdy, which I really liked. But then we began a project to relaunch our website, and I had to delegate all the creative, fun stuff to my colleagues while I spent my day surrounded by spreadsheets. The project got quite stressful at times, and one day I walked into the library behind our office and found an old Julie Garwood novel that I’d loved as a teenager. I spent my lunch break reading it and came back the next day for more. Soon I was reading a ton of romance, and my husband said, “Why don’t you write one?” So I did.

Kat, I love your blog, your posts are inspiring, funny, touching and informative.
Kat’s blog

Is blogging cathartic, part of your social media evil plan for more fans, or something totally different?

Thank you for loving my blog! And oh man, that’s a good question. I started blogging as a way of connecting with other romance lovers. I lived in London when I started blogging, and none of my friends read romance. When I told people I read romance, I always got looks of shock and one of two reactions—either: “But…you’re smart” or “But…I thought you were a feminist.” So blogging helped me connect with other romance readers and writers around the world, people who wouldn’t make me explain why I love romance novels but just took it for granted that reading romance is a wonderful thing.

Now that I’m published, I don’t have as much time to blog. It’s certainly helpful in connecting with my readers, but I also try to introduce readers to other authors I love. I don’t want my blog to just be a promo vehicle for myself because that gets boring for everyone (especially me). I try to make it a place where people can come and chat about the books they love, whether those books were written by me or not. :)

Kat lets get a wee bit personal here.
What do you miss most about the US?
Mexican food! And my family. In that order. (Don’t tell my family.)
What do you miss the least?
The politics.
How often do you get back?
Once or twice a year.

So Kat on those long transatlantic flights what’s on your lap or or your e-reader?

My 16-month-old daughter is on my lap, and when she sleeps I read a ton of contemporary romance. Right now my favorite authors are Molly O’Keefe, Anne Calhoun, Katie Lane, Julie James, Alison Packard…basically, I love smart, funny, well-crafted books.

Kat thanks so much for taking the time to answer these questions. It’s amazing when you think about how small the world is and I’m so happy that because of that we’ve connected. Good luck with the series and all your future endeavors. And don’t hesitate to come back and visit!

Thank you so much, Debbie! I really appreciate your kind words, and I’m glad we connected too!

Be sure and get Kat's holiday novella out 11-11
Unwrapping Her Perfect Match

Connect with Kat - Website - Facebook - Twitter

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Kat Latham is a California girl who moved to Europe the day after graduating from UCLA, ditching her tank tops for raincoats. She taught English in Prague and worked as an editor in London before she and her British husband moved to the Netherlands. Kat’s other career involves writing and editing for charities, and she’s traveled to Kenya, Ethiopia and India to meet heroic people helping their communities survive disasters.Find out more on her website: katlatham.com.

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