Today I’m very happy to welcome Kathryn Leigh Scott, who recently published Down and Out in Beverly Heels (see my review here). Kathryn not only starred in one of my favorite shows, the classic Dark Shadows, but she also had a very memorable guest appearance on Star Trek Next Gen in the episode Who Watches the Watchers. Down and Out in Beverly Heels (great title and lovely story) is a combination cozy mystery, women’s fiction novel with just a touch of romantic suspense.
A Day in the Life of Kathryn Leigh Scott
I rise early and my day always begins with a cup of English tea (P & G Tips) and a walk in my garden. I grew up a farm girl and remember my dad walking out the kitchen door in the morning with a cup of coffee to look out across the fields before starting the day.
My work as a writer is so much like farming was for my dad: sowing seed, cultivating through the long, hot growing season, harvesting and then going to market. My dad would stand on the kitchen steps drinking coffee, planning his day, just as I walk through my garden sipping tea and formulating the turns my story will take.
I’m usually at my desk around 7 am with my second cup of tea reading over my pages from the day before. I find it hard to continue unless I’m satisfied with the writing. I edit and rework before moving on to the day’s fresh output. I work from a synopsis and an outline, but I find that by chapter 6 or 7, the characters are guiding the story. I keep them in check, but still give them a lot of freedom. Somehow, everything usually ends much the way I conceived it.
I write seven days a week with a goal of 1000 words a day. There are times when it’s a struggle and I just can’t meet my goal… so I stop and give myself a break. After all, there were days on the farm when we had to stop work because of bad weather, but the sun always came out again. I’m usually finished by early afternoon when I either swim or take a long walk.
I love to cook and garden, and that’s what I turn to when my work is done. I love having friends for dinner, and flowers on the table are just as important to me as the meal. I absolutely cannot write after the sun goes down unless I’m at the tail end of my book… then I could write until dawn!
About Kathryn Leigh ScottKathryn Leigh Scott is an actress, probably best known for creating the roles of Josette DuPres and Maggie Evans, the love interests of vampire Barnabas Collins in the cult classic TV show “Dark Shadows.” Down and Out in Beverly Heels is her second work of fiction. Scott wrote Dark Passages, a paranormal romance, with more than a passing nod to the ‘60s soap and she appeared in the Johnny Depp/Tim Burton film Dark Shadows last year.
Scott is currently at work on a sequel to Down and Out in Beverly Heels.
To learn more about Kathyrn, please visit her website or connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.
