The challenges and rewards of writing trilogies

Arts & EntertainmentBooks & Music

  • Author Kat Martin
  • Published February 5, 2011
  • Word count 564

Now that I’ve started writing trilogies, I’ve found them both challenging and rewarding. When the idea came to me for AGAINST THE WIND, I knew immediately I wanted to write more than just Jackson’s story. I also wanted to write a book for his brothers, Gabe and Devlin.

The first book, AGAINST THE WIND, was a tale inspired by the Toby Keith Country song, How Do You Like Me Now? The moment I heard it, the kernel of an idea popped into my head. A small-town high school girl mistreats a boy with a crush on her in front of half the school. In my mind, that boy and girl became Jackson and Sarah, the hero and heroine in the book. Years later, Sarah returns to Wind Canyon in trouble after her failed marriage, and the only person who can keep her and her little girl, Holly, safe is Jackson Raines, the boy—now a man—she humiliated in high school all those years ago.

I knew I wanted all three brothers to be Western men, the kind of guys comfortable in cowboy boots no matter where they lived. Wyoming seemed the perfect place for them to be raised, the fictional mountain town of Wind Canyon, a setting I could relate to since I live in a similar area in Montana.

Being basically a plot-driven writer, I could see right away that the brothers’ stories wouldn’t all fit into the tiny town of Wind Canyon. But the brothers have a very a very strong bond. They’re the kind of men who are there for each other, no matter what happens.

So in the second book, AGAINST THE FIRE, after Gabe has moved to Dallas and made his fortune in the construction business, then runs into trouble with an arsonist, Jackson and Devlin are there to help him find out who wants him dead and stop it from happening before it’s too late.

They say opposites attract, which is what Mattie Baker, a successful lady architect far too-independent to suit a macho man like Gabe, discovers when she finds herself deeply involved in Gabe’s troubles and head over heels in love with him. Not something career-minded Mattie is pleased about in the least.

Dev is the baby of the three Raines brothers, the handsomest and most wayward of the men. In AGAINST THE LAW, Dev, an ex-Army Ranger, makes his fortune in the security business in Scottsdale, Arizona. His troubles begin when Lark Delaney, a woman he agrees to help in order to repay a debt to an old Ranger buddy, leads him into danger in a search for Lark’s sister’s missing little girl.

In the beginning, I didn’t plan on using Dallas and Phoenix for Gabe and Dev’s stories, but the brothers’ ambitions where high and their adventures led me there. I was more than happy to follow.

I’m interested to hear if readers like trilogies. What in particular do you like about them?

I hope you enjoy AGAINST THE WIND, AGAINST THE FIRE, and AGAINST THE LAW, The Raines Brothers trilogy, and down the road, I hope you’ll look for other Against books. I’ll have three sexy adventures coming your way in the future. Till then, all best wishes and happy reading.

Kat Martin

Visit my website katbooks.com

Currently living in Missoula, Montana, Kat is the bestselling author of over forty Historical and Contemporary Romance novels. Before she started writing in 1985, Kat was a real estate broker. During that time, she met her husband, Larry Jay Martin, also an author. Kat is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, where she majored in Anthropology and History.

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