Local Author Turns to Romance

Romance at 57? Well, why not? Local author Katherine McDermott had previously published in non-fiction and children’s literature, but decided at 55 to try her hand at writing romance.
“At first, it was rather daunting. I started by sending manuscripts out to contests sponsored by various chapters of RWA (Romance Writers of America). When I actually started placing and winning some awards, like the Daphne du Maurier Award for Suspense, for an unpublished work, I gained a little confidence. But I was till getting rejections from Harlequin,” says McDermott. “Then I read about a more recent publisher The Wild Rose Press. I investigated them on Editors and Predator because you don’t want to get involved with a company expects the writer to pay all sorts of editing fees, etc. They had a very high rating for author satisfaction … I send my manuscript Hiding, and they returned a contract,” says McDermott, who has lived in West Ashley her whole life.
As an English teacher and lover of literature, McDermott says it has been a life-long dream to publish fiction and she is hoping it’s the start of a new career. McDermott graduated from Middleton High School, she received her undergraduate degree from the College of Charleston, and has a masters degree from The Citadel.
Hiding premieres Aug. 7 at www.thewildrosepress.com and is set partially in Charleston and partially in Paris. It’s the story of a young, artistically talented woman who is trying to escape an abusive, possessive boyfriend, to pursue a career in art. She flees to Paris and takes a job in an art museum. She also paints wonderful wall murals that attract attention.
But her old boyfriend tracks her down and abducts her into the underground labyrinth of the Paris catacombs.
With Hiding being published next week, McDermott says she’s also working on other manuscripts, like one set entirely in Charleston and involving a female assistant medical examiner and a serial killer. “I have always like suspense and am a big fan of Mary Higgins Clark and Agatha Christie. However,” says McDermott. “I have just completed a much longer historical romance set in the 1800s in the great American southwest entitled The Raven and the Fox. It blends the cultures of that region: French, Spanish, English, and Native American and includes parts of the Mexican American War.”
According to McDermott, she hopes to find a publisher for that novel soon.
“To be writing myself, after years and years of editing student papers, is very rewarding.” Says McDermott. “I’ve always hated that expression: those who can do, those who can’t teach. I think teachers can and thus are able to teach. I hope to prove it.”
Kathering McDermott’s debut novel Hiding will be available Friday, Aug. 7 on www.thewildrosepress.com.