How did you become an author?
I’ve always wanted to be a writer.
But after college, I worked in New
York City government, for a New York City Council Member, helping
constituents, and then I went to law school and became a lawyer. I
worked for a large NY law firm. One of the reasons I became a
litigator was because I liked writing briefs.
After I watched a really bad
romantic comedy one night, I thought I could write a better one. And
so, I started writing one at night. I then took a lot of writing
courses. My first writing course was the Penguin Writer’s Academy
“Constructing a Novel” course, and my teacher said the exchange
between Audrey and Eve (two characters in Partner Pursuit) was
“sparky.” That made my month. I realized I could actually write
commercial fiction—and not just legal briefs and compliance
policies.
What is something
unique/quirky about you?
I like to create dollhouse
miniatures and set up scenes in my dollhouses.
Where were you born/where did
you grow up?
I am a born and bred New Yorker.
How do you find time to write
as a parent?
I let my children use their
computers. I do have some guilt about that. I also set up play dates.
And I try to find them books to read. That’s the best. It’s
guilt-free for me, and they can be totally absorbed for about 5
hours. I should probably thank Rick Riordan in my acknowledgements
for occupying my children and giving me time to write.
What do you do to unwind and
relax?
I hang out with my family, talk to
friends, read, listen to music, or watch movies or TV. I am also
trying to work out more; I have a stationary bike and I watch Korean
dramas or other TV shows, and if it ends on a cliffhanger, that’s
usually enough incentive to get back on the bike the next day. I
sometimes make miniatures. During the summer, I go to the beach and
go swimming in the ocean. If I really need to relax, I take a bath
with bath bombs.
Do you have a favorite movie?
HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS is one
of my favorite movies.
Here are some of my other favorite
romantic comedies:
https://kathystrobos.com/favorite-romantic-comedies/
Which of your novels can you
imagine made in a movie?
This novel, Partner Pursuit.
I’m writing my third novel now, and I could imagine that as a
movie.
As a writer, what would you
choose as your mascot/spirit animal?
I’m afraid, as a writer, my spirit
animal would be Cookie Monster. But I’m trying to eat less cookies
and M&Ms as I write.
What inspired you to write
this book?
I found it very hard to have any
work/life balance when I was a lawyer at a law firm, so that inspired
this in part. But I did make a lot of great friends at the office, so
I also wanted to convey those friendships.
Can you tell us a little bit
about the characters in Partner Pursuit?
Audrey is a workaholic lawyer. She
is trying to make partner—with only six months until the decision.
She’s torn because she’s stressed by working so much, but she
also loves being a lawyer and the analytical thrills. And then she
meets Jake.
Jake is a fun-loving music marketing
executive. He definitely doesn’t want to date a workaholic
lawyer—because his dad was one, and his dad often put work before
family. I made him a music marketing executive because when I became
in-house counsel, I worked for the parent company of a music company,
among other things. When I would ride up in the elevator in the
morning, other people would talk about how they’d been late the
night before at a concert. I thought, “wow, that’s so different
than my life writing a brief or compliance policy until late at
night.”
How did you come up with the
title of the book?
Finding a title was hard. I put down
all the various concepts on a huge piece of paper, and I played
around with them. I had so many different titles. I liked Partner
Pursuit because she’s trying to become a partner at her firm
and find a life partner. And I liked the alliteration.
At one writers’ conference, they
said they didn’t like the title Partner Pursuit, so my son
(I think he was 7) suggested “Only One”—because only one
person making partner and she thought Jake was “the one.” I liked
that too. But then, they said it should be “The Only One,”
so for a while it was called “The Only One.” But in the
end, I liked Partner Pursuit better.
What did you enjoy most about
writing this book?
When I write a good scene, I get a
really happy feeling. I love writing banter like when she’s
chatting with her friends about whether Jake likes her.
I was walking outside on Columbus
Avenue when I thought of the opening scene of her trying to get out
of work but make her office look like she’s still there. And I was
really happy that I finally thought of a good opening scene. I think
I rewrote the opening scene around ten times.
I was also really happy when I
thought of the scene where she and Jake are battle the water bug. I
had a romantic date with my now-husband when we first started dating;
we were eating dinner, by my balcony in my apartment, and all of a
sudden, there was a flying water bug! I’d never even seen one fly
before. We got out the vacuum cleaner and were trying to vacuum it
up. We couldn’t find it, and then my husband saw its antennas
peeking out from a shelf on the bookcase.
I also enjoyed sharing my love for
New York City.
Convince us why you think your
book is a must read:
It has opposites attract, friends to
lovers, witty banter, a real sense of what it’s like to live in New
York City, an engaging cast of characters, a rollercoaster plot, and
a heartwarming romance. It also provides examples of how to ally with
colleagues to succeed at work.
Have you written any other
books that are not published?
I’ve written two more books that I
hope to publish over the coming year: Is This For Real? and
Caper Crush.
Who designed your book covers?
Cover Ever After. I love my covers!
She is an amazing cover designer.
Do you have any advice to
offer for new authors?
Take writing classes. I have learned
so much from writing classes, and it helps to add all these tools to
your writing toolbox so that you can fall back on them when you’re
stuck.
I highly recommend Linnea Sinclair’s
classes (new classes posted here:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063591436317).
Also, classes are great for meeting
other writers and finding critique partners. Chatting to other
writers is so helpful and inspiring! And my critique partners have
been amazing in pointing out where I need to raise the stakes or add
more tension.
I also recommend joining writers’
associations like the WFWA and the RNA. There are also so many great
writers’ and readers’ groups on Facebook.
Read in your genre.
There are also so many writing books
I recommend, but here are a few:
Writing the Romantic Comedy
by Billy Mernit (this is a fun book to read about romantic
comedies—even if you’re not writing one)
Story Genius by Lisa Cron
The Emotional Craft of Fiction
by Donald Maas
Save the Cat by Blake Snyder
Scene and Structure by Jack
Bickham
Techniques of the Selling Writer
by Dwight Swain
Also, I found entering RWA-related contests helpful. The feedback is
very useful. Placing also felt like a validation of my writing.
Partner Pursuit placed in two contests:
Winner of
the Hudson Valley RWA’s 2020 25-4-25 Contest (Romance)
Third
Place in
the 2019 RWA Orange Rose Contest for Women’s Fiction with Romance
as a Central Element under its former title, The
Only One.
Do you prefer to write in
silence or with noise?
I prefer to write while listening to
music. I have various Spotify writing playlists.
Do you read yourself and if
so, what is your favorite genre?
I love reading romantic comedy. My
favorite author is Sophie Kinsella. She makes me laugh out loud. But
I also read women’s fiction.
Do all the characters come to
you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
They don’t all come to me at the
same time. Some appear as I write. I also sometimes have to sit down
and interview a specific character to really get a feel for them.
Pen or Typewriter or Computer?
Mostly I write on my computer, but I
also sometimes write scenes by pen. And when I am revising, I print
out the pages and revise with a pen.
Do you write one book at a
time or do you have several going at a time?
I write one book at a time, but if a
plot idea comes to me for another book, I write that down. This year,
I was taking a Gotham screenwriting class and we had to write an
outline for the class, so I was working on that outline for a
different book/possible screenplay while writing my third book Caper
Crush.
What is your writing process?
I started out as a pantser, and I’m
still mostly a pantser, but I recently tried this eight-sequence
outlining process I learned in the Gotham screenwriting class, so
maybe I will try that for future books. We’ll see how it works once
I try to write that book. 😊
After I write my first really rough
draft, I find that a lot more scenes and conversations come to me,
and I weave those in. That’s one of my favorite parts, when things
start clicking into place. I also create an outline as I write so I
can see the character arc and the stakes.
How long on average does it
take you to write a book?
I think it takes me a year to
eighteen months. I wish I could write faster, but I am getting
faster. It took me about six months to write the first very rough
draft of my third novel. And then I print it out and read it over and
write another draft, adding more scenes and description. After a few
rounds of that, it goes to editors and critique partners. That takes
awhile too. But it’s also good to have that time away from my MS.
