S2 E15 - Kat Sterling Samples Winnie West Has An Agenda

This podcast is a proud affiliate of Libro.fm. By clicking on this banner, we may earn a proceed of any purchases you make, in which case, we thank you very much!

Kat Sterling Samples Winnie West Has An Agenda

​ [00:00:00]

Katherine Grant: Welcome to the historical romance sampler podcast. I'm your host, Katherine Grant, and each week I introduce you to another amazing historical romance author. My guest reads a little sample of their work, and then we move into a free ranging interview. If you like these episodes, don't forget to subscribe to the historical romance sampler, wherever you listen to podcasts and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

Now let's get into this week's episode. I am super excited to be joined today by Kat Sterling. Kat writes historical romance featuring rebellious heroines and the swoon worthy heroes who challenge and support them. From the American South, she currently lives with her brilliant husband in Ireland. When she's not writing, she enjoys nature walks, playing video games, and drinks with friends.

[00:01:00] Kat, I'm really excited. Thanks for joining!

Kat Sterling: Thank you so much for having me.

Katherine Grant: Yeah, so what are you reading for us today?

Kat Sterling: I'll be reading an excerpt from Winnie West Has an Agenda. This is the first book in my series, The Seattle Suffrage Society. So just to give you a little context of what's going on, this is set in the American West in Seattle, Washington.

and the year 1908. So I'm going to be reading a part from chapter 5. So we've kind of already met the main characters, Winnie West and Mack Donnelly. So in this scene some of the suffragists are already doing petitions and they're gathered in a square when they have a little kerfuffle with some little boys who throw mud.

Winnie and her friend duck behind an automobile. And unfortunately, that automobile gets damaged, and guess who might own that automobile? So, here's that scene. Alright. [00:02:00] "What in God's name happened to my automobile?" A man shouted from farther down the sidewalk, and their heads swiveled as one. Even from a distance, Winnie recognized Mack Donnelly's lanky form pressing through the crowd.

Satan's handbasket. She ducked behind the bumper once more and lowered the brim of her hat. When her friend stared at her in bewilderment, she hissed, "Hide! I don't want to speak with him." "I'm afraid it's too late for that." Rhoda peered down the sidewalk with interest. "Dare I ask who he is?" Clem asked. "My editor."

"Why are you hiding from him?" "And not very well, I might add." "He never has a pleasant word to say," she groaned. "And he's forever staring into space like he's some great thinker. Minus the great thoughts, mind you. Honestly, I have no idea how he became an editor." The truth was, his rejection still stung. But she wasn't ready to admit that to the girls.

And she certainly couldn't tell them that she'd been obsessing over the dimple that [00:03:00] had finally revealed itself in his right cheek. It was much easier to focus on his faults. "I can hear you, Bobcat." Winnie gaped at her friends in horror, but they were no help. Their eyes glued to the man on the sidewalk before them.

She eased herself to her feet with as much composure as she could muster. But the effect was lost when his gaze dropped to her soiled front, down to her dirtied hands, and back to the damaged windshield. "It's not what you think." She crossed her arms over her chest and stepped into his path. Based on her few interactions with Mr.

Donnelly, she didn't have much hope he would be reasonable. If that meant she had to go toe to toe with him, so be it.

" We were conducting a petition when-" "This is a suffrage event?" "So what?" "You throw dirt at innocent men's cars in the name of equality?" His scowl was strong enough to bleach her mud stain, yet Winnie found herself leaning forward in challenge. He was so close she could see the dilated pupils and his [00:04:00] deep blue eyes, and every cell in her body fluttered awake.

What was it about this man that simultaneously made her want to strangle him and crush her mouth to his? She was both horrified and captivated by the direction of her thoughts. Kiss the enemy? Had she gone delusional from lack of water? Rhoda snorted behind her, diverting Mr. Donnelly's intense gaze and giving Winnie a moment to compose herself.

"As if anyone related to the McIntyre family could claim to be innocent." Mack's cheeks flushed with indignation, and Winnie's curiosity rocketed. How did they know each other? "Miss Carlyle, isn't it? My regards to your father." Rhoda gave a mocking bow, and in the awkward silence that followed, Mack's attention returned to his automobile.

"Wait, it's not just mud. My windshield is cracked." His thunderous expression should have repelled her, but she found herself wanting to place a calming hand to [00:05:00] his cheek, as if her touch would magically fix everything. Seriously, what was wrong with her? "We were harassed by some young boys," Winnie said, wrangling her absurd thoughts under control.

"They're the ones who threw the dirt." He spread his arms wide and turned in a full circle. "And where are these mysterious boys now?" Winnie's nostrils flared, the few remaining vestiges of attraction vanishing in an instant. No man called her a liar. "Are you suggesting I'm inventing a tale?" "All I know is that you're the only one covered in mud and standing beside my damaged automobile.

If the shoe fits." "It might shock you to know that the Seattle Suffrage Society has loftier goals than damaging your automobile, sir." "They ran away after they dirtied Winnie," Olive said. The squeak in her shy friend's voice heightened her anger. But what more could be said? It was clear Mack had already made up his mind, and as she had learned [00:06:00] countless times throughout her life, a woman's word always came second.

At eight years old, when Tommy Whitaker let her take the punishment for spilling ink all over the classroom floor. At sixteen, when she witnessed a robbery, but the male thief convinced everyone she was a liar. At twenty one, mere months into her marriage, when her late husband decided she should stop working despite her wishes.

It was just another item on a long list of insults. She wouldn't waste another breath. Jaw clenched so tight it hurt, she whipped open her handbag and rummaged inside for her coin purse. Thrusting as many coins as she could into Mack's hand, she said, "Here, I'll pay for the boys damage to your windshield."

He gave the money in his hand a cursory glance, and shook his head. "This is something that can be resolved with your husband. I won't take your pin money." Her face grew hot and her chest tightened to a painful degree. That was all the money she [00:07:00] had until the next payday. And he dismissed it like it was nothing.

Maybe it was nothing, but she would be damned before she let him humiliate her in front of her friends. "There is no pin money, I manage my own accounts," she said between gritted teeth. "And my husband's been dead for two years. So good luck getting any money out of him." If the silence had been awkward before, now it was excruciating.

Mack's mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. Her friends moved closer in silent support, giving her the strength to raise her chin and meet Mack's gaze head on. The movement shook him from his reverie, and he said solemnly, "Mrs. West, my words were unconscionable." "Agreed," Rhoda said icily.

"Instead of throwing accusations, I should have asked after your well being. A refined woman like yourself deserves such a courtesy, and I fell short." His throat bobbed, but he didn't break eye contact. "And since you've never given me reason [00:08:00] to doubt your word, I've done you a grave disservice by accusing you of a malicious act.

Please accept my apology." The flames of Winnie's outrage reduced to glowing embers. Able to be rekindled if necessary, yet soothed by Max's sincerity. How had he known exactly what would get through to her? Part of her suspected it was a ploy to save face, but another part wanted to crow in triumph. At last, a man had admitted to his unfair treatment.

Then his gloved fingers were wrapping around hers, enclosing the coins in her palm. She sucked in a breath as the gentle touch sent an electric pulse of desire between her thighs. She almost laughed at her body's lack of judgment, but it meant nothing. Anger and lust were merely two sides of the same coin.

"I won't take your money," he said softly. "Fine by me." She pulled her hand free and dropped the coins back into her change purse. The task returned her senses and she [00:09:00] looked up with renewed boldness. "I accept your apology, Mr. Donnelly, which could only be made sweeter by a generous donation to our cause." "You can send it to Longfellow House,"

clem chimed in helpfully.

Something like admiration flicked across his face. "You'll receive my donation in the next few days, miss." Winnie quickly performed the introductions, and though Rhoda's greeting included an ill concealed glare, his apology had seemingly worked on them as well. "And will you allow me to sign your petition?"

Mack asked. Winnie couldn't contain her surprise. "You support our cause?" "If all suffragists are as earnest and resolved as you are, I would be a fool to stand against it."

Olive let out a low, dreamy sigh, and Winnie fought to maintain a serene expression as she removed the petition from the basket. Once it was signed, Mack handed it back to her, his finger grazing hers as the pen exchanged [00:10:00] hands. For the second time in a span of moments, a spark of awareness shot through her.

Was she so desperate for affection that the smallest touch could affect her so? Or was it because Max stared at her with an intent expression, as if she were the only woman in the square? Rhoda came to her rescue once more, saying, "You've earned the pleasure of living another day, Mr. Donnelly." A wry grin tugged at his lips, finally revealing an adorable dimple.

"I'm pleased to hear it, Ms. Carlisle. Now, ladies, if you'll excuse me, I see my friend has arrived. He'll help me sort out this mess." He replaced his hat, and then, in a softer tone that made her neck prickle, he said, "Mrs. West, I'll see you at the office." She had to clear her throat twice before she could speak.

"Yes, you will. I'll have a very interesting list of ideas to show you." "I'm sure you will, but as you already know, it takes a lot to impress me." Winnie waited for him to [00:11:00] walk toward a burly, dark haired man before expelling a long sigh. Bracing herself, she gave her friends an embarrassed smile. "He's terribly handsome," Olive said.

"Is he?" Rhoda snorted. "You're blushing, dear." "Over that ogre? Never!" Her friends grinned. "We shouldn't tease you," Clem said. "Thank you." "Ah, but you were eyeing him like a piece of cake to be devoured," Rhoda added. Olive nodded, giggling. "Doubtful." Her ears heated again, and her mind turned to what Rhoda had said earlier.

"What did you mean about Mr. Donnelly's family not being able to claim a title of innocence?" Rhoda shrugged. " I've only heard snippets at parties. Our families run in the same set and people love to gossip. I've heard a thing or two about his uncle being in the pocket of some questionable politicians." "But have you heard anything about Mr.

Donnelly?" Rhoda pursed her lips and thought. "No, nothing about [00:12:00] him." The relief she felt surprised her. It shouldn't matter to her if he was the owner of a gambling den, so long as he approved her ideas. And yet, she was happy to know that at least his reputation was solid. "Thanks. Now, I think it's time for that cake.

A real cake." She pointed a finger at her mischievous friend. "Not a man cake." "Well, shoot, now I want a man cake," Rhoda teased. Clem laughed. "Come on, ladies, it's starting to drizzle and Winnie has already suffered enough." As they made their way out of the busy plaza, the first raindrops trickling down, Winnie made a vow.

If MackDonnelly was willing to sign their petition, that meant he was on the cusp of supporting her ideas. She was about to become the most annoying fly in the office.

Katherine Grant: Oh, wow. What a great ending to that.

Kat Sterling: She's like rubbing her hands.

Katherine Grant: I love a woman who resolves [00:13:00] to be more annoying.

That was a fantastic scene. I have lots of questions, but first we're going to take a quick break for our sponsors.

Audio Only - All Participants-1: Do you love to find historical romance book deals? Or are you an author who would like to boost a new release or discount to readers who love historical romance? Historical Romance Book Deals was made for you. Historical Romance Book Deals is a daily newsletter that showcases free books, discounts, and new releases.

It's great for readers to find new books and for authors to spread the word about their books. Authors, while HRBD grows their list, you can submit your books for free. Simply visit historicalromancebookdeals. com and use the coupon code HRBDFREE.

Speaker View: Hey, audiobook listeners! Have you checked out the official Historical Romance Sampler Season 1 playlist on Libro. fm? On the playlist, you'll find historical romances you heard here first that are available to listen to on Libro. fm. Plus, if you're not [00:14:00] yet a Libro. fm subscriber, use code HISTORICAL to get extra credits in your first month.

Head on over to the Historical Romance Sampler link tree to learn more.

Katherine Grant: All right. Well, I am back with Kat Sterling, who just read a sample from Winnie West Has an Agenda. And my first question for you is how, what about the era of the turn of the 20th century, American West, specifically Seattle, drew you to write though in that setting?

Kat Sterling: I know it's super random at first glance, right? It's definitely not the typical setting for historical romance right now. Not to say there's not, you know, other great American romances, but it all comes down to the theme. So I knew that I wanted to write about suffrage. I loved Evie Dunmore's books and, you know, it was the era of social justice and I thought, well, what [00:15:00] interests me and it was women's rights.

And I thought, I want to do suffrage and I want to do American suffrage. So it was really just a search of what setting and time most excited me. And I decided that national suffrage, which was passed in, you know, 1920, was a bit too late. I didn't really want to write that far ahead, and so I was like, okay, well what was going on in the 1800s?

What was with, you know, state suffrage? And that's how I learned that only four states had passed suffrage by I think 1896. And then an era called the doldrums started where there was 14 years that passed and no suffrage was passed in any state in the United States. But things were kicking up on the west coast and when Washington State passed suffrage in 1910 It was kind of a domino effect for a lot of the next states.

So I was like, well, that's a really cool premise, you know like kick starting the movement [00:16:00] again having a victory and then the more I looked at Seattle. I was like, This history is fascinating. I mean, it was a, you know, the city was exploding at that point, just so much movement. I think between 1900 and 1910, the population grew, I think I wrote this down, 194%.

Just Seattle. Wow. So, when I started reading about it, and I'd visited Seattle many times because my sister lived there for a decade I just, I just knew that it was the right place. I got excited about it, and I thought, there's so many stories here that haven't been told in a historical romance setting, and I'm gonna do it.

Yeah. So yeah, that's how I ended up in Seattle.

Katherine Grant: That's amazing. And something that stands out to me whenever we're at, we're encountering the suffrage movement. And it, it came out in the scene too, where she said, kiss the enemy is that like the suffragists were very [00:17:00] aware of how marriage was an institution that oppressed them.

So I think that must be a really interesting tension to play with. How do you think about that as you're crafting your romances?

Kat Sterling: Yeah, I mean, I think that especially came out in Winnie's story because she is a widow and she was in a marriage where she was not supported in terms of wanting to be a professional, wanting to further her education.

So now that she is widowed, she's reclaiming her life and she's not looking for any man who, at all, really, and especially any man who doesn't support her newfound freedom. So there's definitely a tug and pull of that throughout this book that kind of how do I live for me while still embracing that I deserve love and I'm, you know, I can find happiness in this new place.

So yeah, it's a very interesting concept because I also don't really want to write misogynistic heroes. It's just not my cup of tea. I don't mind if they make, you know, the [00:18:00] occasional foot in mouth kind of statement, but I just, I didn't want to convert anybody.

I wanted there to be reasons for what they were doing, but overall for them to support a woman's right to vote, no matter their background, no matter their circumstance. So all of the heroes will have that kind of attitude in this series, yeah.

Katherine Grant: Have you found examples of men in the historical record who supported the right to vote?

Kat Sterling: Yeah. Yes. Yes.

So for example, with the Seattle movement, there were plenty of examples of men going to speak for women in like kind of male led areas like different labor groups or in government, et cetera. So there are a lot of accounts of men working beside women. And actually in my book, in Winnie West, she goes to a suffrage kind of conference, if you will out in the countryside.

And I do make sure to show that there were men attending these talks as well, that they were interested in [00:19:00] supporting the women as well.

Katherine Grant: I like that. I mean, so often we get pushback when we write heroines who are too liberal minded, but I also sometimes feel in myself giving pushback, but also I think seeing pushback of like, well, men wouldn't be thinking that way because why would they be?

So it's nice to, to kind of know that it's not just wishful thinking that these heroes exist.

Kat Sterling: Oh, not at all. And I do try to base a lot, if not all of the stories I write, in real history. You know, obviously we can push the, the boundaries a little bit or color within the lines kind of thing.

But I, I've done such a deep dive into what went on at that time. And I have so many examples of things that really happened either in Washington or in a different state. And then from there, it's easy to concoct a fictional scene or setting.

Katherine Grant: Yeah. So do you tend to do your research before you start doing most of your writing or is it kind of [00:20:00] integrated throughout your process?

Kat Sterling: I think I do an initial deep dive of whatever is interesting me at the moment because I am heavily influenced by what I find. And I find amazing gems all the time. So just as another example, my Christmas novella, Snowed In with the Scoundrel it's based on a Seattle female photographer from 1909, you know, and I, when I found that, I was like, Oh my gosh, like, I want to write.

And my other novella is by opening day is set around the kind of World's Fair in Seattle. And again, that was based on so many of the things that actually happened at the World's Fair. And so when I find these things in history, they just shout to me like, this is your story include this. And so I love that, but at the same time, it can be, you know, a double edged sword, because I'm like, but I haven't found the perfect detail, and then, you know, four days later, I'm still [00:21:00] reading through research, so I'm trying to get better at saying, it's okay for you to invent something.

This is fiction.

Katherine Grant: Right. One of the things that strikes me specifically about how much you weave in real things that happened. It reminds me of books I read before I got to the historical romance genre. When I was a young reader, I was reading like Anne Rinaldi and also like the Royal Diaries and the Dear America series.

And those were fictional. Well, the Royal Diaries were real people, but for the most part, those, those books were all like fictional people interacting with actual history that happened. And it was partly to educate the young readers. So I'm, I'm always curious, like, does, do you also have influences from outside the historical romance genre?

Kat Sterling: Does the American Dolls series count?

Katherine Grant: Yes! I was actually working on a theory the other day. I was like, I wonder for, like, our generation, how much of us started, our love started with the [00:22:00] American Girl Dolls.

Kat Sterling: Oh yeah, I loved those and I felt like they really took me around the world and they were really good for introducing you to the immigrant experience and branching out from, you know, the, the world that you lived in.

So honestly, probably most of my influences are children's literature or young adult. I think so many of those definitive. books like Lois Lowry, you know, a lot of like World War II, just, I remember reading those over and over, Anne of Green Gables, just things that I think were so formative at that time.

I think that's where my love of historical fiction began. And then, you know, I got to middle school and was like, Hey, what are these other books in the library that look historical, but have embracing people on the cover? It opened a different pathway, but yeah, I think that's where it began.

Katherine Grant: Yeah, was there one that you identified with the most?

Kat Sterling: I think I was always a Samantha girl. I just wanted the [00:23:00] classic, you know, I think when I was, when I was a kid, There were only like four beginning. I think after they started expanding and growing, but at the time I was like, well, I look the most like her.

So obviously that's,

Katherine Grant: yeah. Yeah. The original four were Felicity, Kirsten, Samantha, and Molly. But Samantha also doesn't surprise me because then you ended up writing in the same time period that Samantha lives in. Yeah. So maybe it was

predetermined.

Kat Sterling: I

 think

so. Yeah, and determined a little bit by Anne of Green Gables, I think it's kind of the same time. Different side of the continent, but yeah, puff sleeves are still kind of a thing, so.

Katherine Grant: Yeah, exactly. You're right in the puff sleeves era. Well, speaking of Gilbert you know, in the description of Winnie West, he's a hero who's mesmerized by the heroine and that honestly like my first thought was like Gilbert Blythe.

So tell me [00:24:00] about I guess, what gets you going when writing a hero?

Kat Sterling: Sure. I think I always love an intelligent hero.

I think probably because my husband's a professor. I just, I'm like, ooh, smart man. Yeah. But also like intelligence is relative and I fully acknowledge that and will embrace that in different characters, right? It doesn't have to just be book smarts. I also really like A male lead who takes care of someone.

It could be a family member, it could be, you know, hopefully the heroine as well, but I think that, that ability to, to show love, even if they're not ready to say it, is something that I crave when I'm reading or when I'm writing a story. And going back to that idea of like Mack being mesmerized by Winnie, I think, I want all of the men just to be totally knocked.

off their socks by these women. You know, these are [00:25:00] rebellious ladies. They're a little ahead of their time. They're pushing buttons. They're trying to go to school. They're, they're, you know, getting jobs. They're changing clothing. They're voting in the street, you know, marching in the streets, all of these things.

And I don't want a guy that says, Oh, look here, little lady, maybe you shouldn't be doing that. I want them to say, Wow. Look at her. Like, that's amazing. And I just want them to be impressed. Maybe they don't know why they're impressed. Maybe it terrifies them or they, you know, actively fight against it.

But I would not be surprised if most of my male characters end up falling first just because I love I love that trope so much.

Katherine Grant: Yeah. I love that. Well, and the other thing from this scene that stood out to me was how great of an apology He delivered, and like, I had an emotional release as he was delivering that apology to Winnie and there's this trope of the grovel in the historical [00:26:00] romance, which I think usually comes towards the end of the book, but do you have, I don't know that I have a specific question around this, but, so I'm going to give you a very formless question and you can take it however you want, but how do you think about apologies slash groveling in your books?

Kat Sterling: Good question. I mean, with regards to Mack, he's caught between a rock and a hard place. You know, he's working at his uncle's newspaper. He's waiting to inherit. His uncle says, I'll give it to you if you do X, Y, Z. Which is kind of how he and Winnie get set up against each other, right? He, he thinks he needs to do this. So he puts his foot in his mouth several times in this

story, some more egregious than others, and he always realizes what he's done, or he tries to make up for it, and obviously there is a bigger grovel towards the end, and I think just... they need to be authentic. I think they need to come from a real place. Like in this [00:27:00] part that I read, you know, Winnie's not sure if it's to save face or not, but it feels authentic.

And I think that's what I want to see in a grovel. You know, it's not just pretty words. I mean, those are always great. We want to hear the pretty words, but we also want to see it backed up by action, by what comes next. So, yeah, I guess I just want that, that, that evidence, that you really mean it.

Like, what, what do you do next?

Katherine Grant: Yeah. Awesome. Well, I think it's time to play our game, Love It or Leave It.

[Musical Interlude]

Katherine Grant: All right. Do you love it or leave it? Protagonists meet in the first 10 percent of the story. Love it.

Kat Sterling: Some of mine meet on like page one. I mean, I'll wait patiently if it's not the first 10%, but in general, love it.

Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it. Dual point of view narration. [00:28:00]

Kat Sterling: Love it. I want to know what's going on in both of their heads for sure.

Katherine Grant: Love it or leave it, third person, past tense.

Kat Sterling: Love it but you know, I don't, are we comparing it to another one? Because I think depending on the story and the genre, I'm okay with any

type of style, really. I think we're just so accustomed to third person past in the historical romance that my first instinct is to say, of course, that's, that's the way it's done, but it doesn't have to be, right? As long as it's well written and can, I can get into that character's head, I don't, I don't really mind what style it's written in.

Katherine Grant: Alright. Love it or leave it, third act, breakup, or dark moment?

Kat Sterling: Ooh, that's a hard one. I do love them. I mean, obviously I want there to be a reason for it, and there needs to be a grovel or a way back. But I've read some that, They don't really have a strong breakup. It can be a soft breakup, if you [00:29:00] will or they, someone thinks they're going to break up.

And again, depending on the, how light or how angsty the story is, I think both can work really well. So can I say both? I like both. I love both.

I love both. I love both.

Katherine Grant: Alright, love it or leave it, always end with an epilogue.

Kat Sterling: Love it, yeah. I think I just, yeah, I want an, I want one more glimpse of the characters. Whether it's one week later, one year later, ten years later. A second epilogue, I, I, I could leave it. In fact, I've only written one of those, and I think that shows how I, I'm like, yeah, it's okay. Also, because I think when I, when I finish writing a story, I'm ready to move to the next character.

It's, it's harder for me to keep with those characters much longer, but I appreciate other, other authors who do. I wish I could, but no, I'll leave it. [00:30:00]

Katherine Grant: Okay. Love it or leave it, always share research in your author's note.

Kat Sterling: Yes. Love it. I love reading them. I love writing them. In fact, I have to remind myself that it's not a list of works cited and that not everyone cares about that 1, 000 articles I read as much as I do so I try to keep it to, you know, the three most interesting factoids or something like that, or that I think are the most

important for a reader to understand, you know, especially if it's something that readers might think is too modern, or maybe doesn't didn't happen.

If I know that I based it on something real, I want that to be evident. For example, the photographer then who does some nude photos, a reader might think they weren't doing nude photos. Like, well, I can direct you to the website that That sounds sketchier than it is. It's very tasteful on the University of Washington website.

Katherine Grant: I mean, yeah, I'm pretty [00:31:00] sure as soon as we have any medium, someone's making nude versions.

Kat Sterling: Yeah, exactly. But yeah, so I love the author's note. Love it.

Katherine Grant: Yeah. Alright, and are there any romance rules I didn't ask about that you'd like to break?

Kat Sterling: You know, I was trying to think of an example, and I couldn't really think of any, so maybe not?

Do you have any that you could refer to?

Katherine Grant: Oh gosh so in the sailor without a sweetheart, I decided not to have any penetrative sex. There was, there's sex, but they never have penetrative sex because of her chronic illness.

And so that kind of is sort of breaking a rule. I wasn't sure, how would readers respond to that? Yeah, so that's the type of thing that I kind of like to be like, well, what happens if we take that away, right?

Kat Sterling: Okay, that happens in one of my novellas as well. So yes But I think I could actually think bigger picture for a [00:32:00] second.

It's not technically breaking rules But some readers might see it that way. I mean just the mere fact that I'm writing stories after 1900 It's already like, oh, no, no, that's not historical romance anymore. And it's like, it is, it's over a hundred years ago. And also that I'm writing in the United States, that it's not New York in the United States.

Like, I think those, the setting and time are technically breaking some rules for bad or worse.

Katherine Grant: Yeah. There's certainly stepping readers outside of, what they're accustomed to.

Kat Sterling: Yes, exactly.

Katherine Grant: This has been awesome. Thank you so much for coming on and sharing your time with us.

Kat Sterling: Of course, thank you so much for having me. This was, this was really fun. Thank you so much.

Katherine Grant: Yeah. Where can readers find you and your books?

Kat Sterling: I am wide, so I'm on all platforms.

I'm on Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Barnes Noble, Google, all the things. You can follow [00:33:00] me on Instagram, Facebook, BookBub, all the places as well. And my website is katsterlingbooks. com.

Katherine Grant: All right, I will put a link to your website in the show notes, so listeners, you can just go click through on that. This has been fantastic.

Thank you so much for coming on. Thank you.

That's it for this week! Don't forget to subscribe to the Historical Romance Sampler wherever you listen, and follow us on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. Until next week, happy reading!