Kat Mackenzie is the author of the new novel Work in Progress.
Q: What inspired you to write Work in Progress, and how did you create your character Alice?
A: I actually wrote this book to take a break from a darker, more serious book that I never finished. I wanted something light and fun that gave my tired mind a chance to go on a trip to the UK.
I was going through a difficult life transition at the time (not unlike Alice), and writing this was almost like a form of therapy. I wanted to be happier, I wanted to have an adventure and return to a place that I loved and considered home, and I wanted to add a bit of romance to my life, and of course, in the book Alice received the lessons that I needed to remind myself of at the time.
I hope that when people read Work in Progress they also get to feel like they’ve been whisked away for an adventure, fell in love, and learned some lessons along the way.
Alice herself did not like the character plan I had made for her. I had carefully drawn her out, but she kept breaking free of that mold and doing her own thing against my will. After a while, I learned to give her the space she needed to be as sassy as she wanted but still have heart, room for growth, and hope for the future.
Q: How did you choose the locations that Alice visits on her British tour?
A: I picked places that I love! I lived in Britain for about eight years when I was studying, and was lucky enough to get to travel around the country, exploring, camping with friends, taking road trips. With all but a few exceptions, the stops in this book are places that I stuck in my memory from my own travels.
However, loving a place was not enough. If I had pinpointed all the places that I loved on a British map, it would have looked like one of those unhinged murder maps with all the yarn, but once I realized that Robbie’s tour was a literary tour, that gave the map a bit more direction.
There were still far too many wonderful places to choose from, because what corner of the British Isles doesn’t have a plethora of fabulous books set there, and a collection of world-renowned authors that have called it home? I needed to narrow it further, so I tried to imagine how a stop in that location could help to move my story along.
Unfortunately, the tour was only a three-week trip and there were still so many places which I had to leave out that they keep me up at night! Will I one day get an angry letter from Glasgow asking why it was not included?
I’m an unabashed food lover, so most of the cafes and restaurants in the book are also real, and I encourage you to visit them all!
There is one place, Abbotsford, that I got to visit for the first time only after writing it as a location in my book. To see it come to life was almost like walking into a fantasy realm that I had built myself. It was a unique pleasure.
Also, regrettably, I have never been to the Welsh “book town,” Hay-on-Wye, but I have plans to fix that soon, and I could not deny my characters that pleasure simply because I had not yet been.
Q: How would you describe the dynamic between Alice and Robbie?
A: Alice and Robbie’s dynamic is getting a lot of attention, both good and bad. Their banter is what I’ve been calling a “super-salty snark-fest.” This is an enemies-to-lovers romance, so what starts as genuine antagonism quickly morphs into sharp-toothed teasing with flirtation at its core.
I’m that type of person who always gets along best with people who give me a hard time - I love the playful battle of teasing. “Taking the Mickey” is something that the people of UK and Ireland are particularly adept at. So I think it fits in here, and gives the book a little bit of edge.
Q: What would you see as the role of humor in your work?
A: Fundamentally, I think it’s just a major part of my voice, in my writing, and as a human being. When I try to write scary stories, for instance, they always manage to turn into comedies along the way.
Within the story though, I think it helps to turn what might otherwise be a sad story about a broken woman who is totally overcome with anxiety and self-doubt into something light and dynamic that keeps us laughing through both the good and the bad - which, in all honesty, is exactly how I try to live my life, laughing through both the ups and the downs.
Also, I think it can serve to form a very special and unique connection between the writer and the reader.
I often think of it this way - if you were to go to a party full of strangers, you may be lucky enough to find a few people with whom you just instantly click. There will also be some who dislike you instantly and vice-versa. And, of course, most people will fall into that largest category of new people, with whom you need more time to decide.
The connection between a writer and their reader is like this. Writing is so personal - you’re getting to see into a writer’s thoughts. And some of my readers instantly click with the humour in Work in Progress, and some instantly hate it, and yet others need more time and may just be charmed and won over by the end.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: Right now I am in the final throes of editing my second book which has been purchased by Avon and is due to be sent to my fabulous editor in only a few short days.
This book is also a travel romcom. It focuses on an American woman with a dating podcast who travels to Ireland during the annual matchmaking festival. There will be a road trip. There will be many hilariously horrendous dates. There will be a tall, grumpy farmer. And, of course, there will be a mischievous matchmaker.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Hmm. Perhaps it would be interesting to know that I travel to do my own research in the form of scouting missions before I write a book. This, as you might guess, is an unbearable hardship.
So, last year I went to Ireland for two months… during the matchmaking season… where I went to the matchmaking festival, and employed the services of a world-renowned matchmaker. I am nothing if not thorough.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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