September 8th – Patricia Kay
TWENTY-SIX YEARS AND COUNTING
Patricia (Pat) Kay began writing in 1986 and sold her first book in 1990. She will talk about her experiences as a writer — the four different publishers she’s worked for, including 20+ years with Harlequin/Silhouette, as well as the three different agents she’s worked with over the years — what it was like when she began, the changes along the way, whether it’s possible to support yourself writing, the various problems and pitfalls she’s encountered and/or how to avoid them, how to “write smart”, some of the mistakes she and others have made, etc. She will take any and all questions and answer everything you ever wanted to know about being a writer as honestly as possible, including questions about money and other possibly controversial subjects. Nothing is off limits. This will be a “let down your hair and let’s talk turkey” program.
Pat sold her first book to Silhouette Special Edition in February of 1990. CINDERELLA GIRL made the top ten Walden list the month it debuted (December 1990), something that even made Debbie Macomber ask about it. (Remind Pat to tell you that story!) Since that fateful day, she’s sold 50 more novels of both romance and women’s fiction and worked with four different publishing houses and six different imprints. Her first contemporary single title, THE WRONG CHILD, (Berkley 12/2000), was a Rita nominee and a bestseller. Her books have made the USA Today list as well as other bestseller lists. An acclaimed teacher, she taught creative writing and novel writing courses at the University of Houston and now teaches exclusively online. She has been a member of the West Houston chapter since May, 1986 and was its first newsletter editor. WHRWA honored her upon the sale of her 50th book with a beautiful award. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, and at www.patriciakay.com.
September 8th Schedule
8:30 – Open doors – sign in/coffee
9:00 to 10:00 – Business meeting, PAL reviews & introductions
10:00 to 10:30 – Break
10:30 to 12:00 – “Twenty Six Years and Counting”
12:00 to 12:30 – Book signing and Book Sale
