Chatting with Mallory Kane

Today, I have the honor of interviewing Mallory Kane and her new book, NO HERO.

A darkly handsome New Orleans detective who insists he’s no hero is blindsided by his one-time lover, a sexy investigative TV reporter, who exposes his secret troubled past to the whole world…and nearly costs him his job. When the at-risk teens he mentors start turning up dead, his vow to protect the other kids hits a major snag…his only clue to finding the determined killer is held by the one woman he never wants to see again. Compelled to work together to solve the vicious murders before another child dies, their passion reluctantly reignites, and their mutual mistrust slowly turns to respect as she realizes there’s much more to being a hero than outward appearances, and his deeply wounded heart gradually opens to the possibility of love.

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Q: Welcome Mallory Kane.  Why don’t you tell us a little bit about NO HERO?

Mallory: Teenagers are being murdered in New Orleans. Not just any teens, teens from Detective Devereux Gautier’s Johnson Center for Homeless Teens. Dev is determined to catch the killer before any more kids are killed, but he has no leads. Then Reghan Connor shows up, telling him she knows who the killer is. He’d be more inclined to believe her if she hadn’t exposed the past he’d worked for 20 years to hide on her TV news show. But when another teen is murdered, Dev begins to realize that Connor may have the key to catching the killer. But she nearly destroyed his career and his life once. If he works with her on this case, what will stop her from doing it again?

Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Mallory: I wrote my first poem, Miss Mousie Had A Tea Party, at around age eight and my first short story, a romantic suspense about a girl who visited a dude ranch, met a bad boy, falsely accused, solved a mystery and experienced her first kiss, at around age thirteen.

Q: Are you a plotter or a pantster?

Mallory: Years ago I, like a lot of other writers, considered myself a pantser. But once I’d sold my first book to Harlequin Intrigue in 2000, I realized that I no longer had the luxury of writing a book by the seat of my pants. If I wanted to write 3 or 4 books a year, I was going to have to make some sort of plan. I worried about plotting a book out before I started writing it. I was afraid I’d lose the magic that happened when I let the book take its own path. But in fact, I don’t feel like I’m missing out on magic at all. Whether plotting or pantsing, there’s still plenty of magic.

Q: What are you working on now?

Mallory: I’m finishing up a novella for an anthology, which will be published by Harlequin Intrigue in March of 2013. I’m almost done. As soon as I turn in the novella, I start work on a novel that will be published in May of 2013, also for Harlequin.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for aspiring writers?

Mallory: My advice for anyone who wants to write for publication is never ever ever ever ever give up. Ever. If you truly want to write and see your book in print, you may have to go through a lot of rejections. Don’t let them get you down.

Q: What book or series can you read over and over again without getting bored?

Mallory: The book I can read again and again is Lord Johnnie by Leslie Turner White. It’s a swashbuckling historical romance written in — I believe — 1943. It was the first ‘romance’ I ever read. Re-reading it gives me a comfortable, yet thrilling feeling that no other book does.

Q: If you decided not to be a writer, what would your other dream job be?

Mallory: I would probably pursue art. I love oil painting as well as computer-generated art.

Q: What is the scariest thing you’ve ever done in your life?

Mallory: Get married. I was 27 when I got married, and I knew that I was old enough to set out on this journey rationally, instead of with my head in the clouds. Yeah, right. After 38 years, I’m happy to say that as scary as it was, getting married was also the best thing I’ve ever done.

Q: Who is the one person that has singlehandedly inspired you the most in your life?

Mallory: My daddy. He always told me that I could do anything I put my mind to. And he treated me as if I could do anything. He taught by example, excelling at everything he did in life, and he was always my biggest fan. When I published my first book, he told me that if he could write, he’d never do anything else.

Q: If you could take a trip to any foreign country RIGHT NOW, which one would you choose? Why?

Mallory: I had a remarkable opportunity this summer to visit the South of France. I would go back there in a heartbeat.

Q: What is one talent that you’re hopeless at, but you wish you had?

Mallory: Gardening. I can kill just about any plant with hardly any effort.

Q: What TV show are you most addicted to?

Mallory: My acceptable answer is Once Upon A Time. The guilty pleasure answer is America’s Next Top Model.

Q: If you were stuck on a deserted island, name three objects and three people you would want with you.

Mallory: Objects: my laptop, my kindle and my coffee pot. People: my husband, my best friend from New Orleans,  and my nephew.

Q: What is one trait or physical characteristic that you are proud of/love about yourself?

Mallory: I love my brain. I spend a lot of time inside it–writing, daydreaming, night-time dreaming. I enjoy my imagination and such intelligence as I have.  I appreciate my ability to take a snippet of conversation or of a TV show and grow it into a plot for a book.

Thank you so much for allowing me to answer these questions. They are really fun and imaginative. I had a great time.

Find Mallory Kane: Website – Facebook – Twitter – Entangled

Cheers,