Hi Kylie! Thank you for taking the time to chat with us at Love Romances and More Reviews and our readers. I have to tell you, I really enjoyed The Last Warrior, more than I expected. I’m a huge western fan, both historical and contemporary and in The Last Warrior you tell not only a highly suspenseful romance, but you weave in bits of history and you do it so well. And, while I’d love to gush about how much I enjoyed The Last Warrior, we have readers who want to know more about Kylie Brant. Ready? 

Thanks, Gina.  I’m so glad you enjoyed the book!  Fire away! 

Let’s start with an easy question. One of the first things our readers want to know about you—how long have you been writing? 

I’ve been writing romance since 1990.  My five kids would have been aged about 4-12 at the time.   

But I guess I’ve been writing in one way or another for much longer.  My friends and I used to write some pretty imaginative notes in high school.  At one time we even convinced the structured study hall supervisor that we needed to use the time to collaborate on plays we were writing for English class.  So at one time or another, most of my friends got starring roles, although not exactly ones they relished J 

In looking at your back list you have some excellent sounding titles. What inspired you to write in the first place?

My favorite authors couldn’t write fast enough to keep me in reading material.  It’s as simple as that.  I used to read three or four books a weekend, about two dozen a month.  When I was done with the new ones, I’d go back and reread old favorites.  One summer I decided I was going to fill the time by writing a romance myself.  I didn’t get to it that summer, but I did the next.  To say that I started in complete ignorance of the writing would be masterful understatement!  My whole getting published process was an exercise of exactly what not to do. 

If you can for a moment, think back to your first submission, do you remember what you felt when you got that first acceptance letter? What did you do to celebrate? 

Actually it was an acceptance phone call for my second manuscript, and it came in 1992 at the most inopportune time possible.  I was home in bed with bronchial gunk and laryngitis.  I was wakened by a call from the editorial assistant to Senior Editor Leslie Wainger.  The bubbly assistant was so excited that ‘she’d found me.’  Apparently I’d neglected to include a phone number in my submission, so she used my address and called directory assistance, just so she’d have the phone number on hand.  She went on to tell me that she herself had discovered me in ‘the slush pile’.  Now I thought she’d said ‘flush pile’ and that didn’t sound good!  She said Leslie was reading the submission as we spoke and would be giving me a call later that day.  

After I hung up, I was sort of in a daze.  Had that really just happened?  Had I dreamed it?  Or was it the result of some sort of Vicks Vapor-rub induced hallucination?  I really wasn’t sure, so I didn’t tell anyone.  I just laid in bed waiting for a phone call that I couldn’t be sure was even coming!  But a couple hours later Leslie did call and tell me she wanted to buy my book.  When she realized I barely had a voice, she offered to call back in a couple days and I croaked out, “No! I’m fine!”  J  She offered a contract and asked if I had anything else for them to look at.  My first manuscript was also in-house, as I’d done revisions from an earlier submission.  A few months later they bought that, too. 

As far as celebrating, about the most exciting thing I did was huff some more Vicks <g>.  I called my husband to tell him, but I had hardly any voice, so he really didn’t seem to get it.  And he and my kids were the only ones who even knew I’d been writing.  So it took a couple days for them to even grasp what had happened.  But I’ll never forget that euphoric feeling after ‘the call’.  It was incredible.  

One of the things about THE LAST WARRIOR that I so much enjoyed was how you wove in the history and culture of the Navajo. You truly bring their beliefs to life. One of my favorite scenes is where Delaney is sitting on the back porch looking out at the sunset and how she is so very present in that moment. Is this something you do for yourself? 

Although my idea of camping is a four star hotel, I do very much enjoy nature.  I take long solitary walks almost every day in nice weather and I like to immerse myself by taking in my surroundings, whether it’s sunsets, trees, water, sky, wildlife…its all very calming and life-affirming. 

In places you go into such detail. How did you research all the intricacies of THE LAST WARRIOR? 

I’ll admit I’m a research junkie!  Often I order several books on a topic I’m researching, but this time my most valuable resource was a website I’d found on the Internet on the Navajo people.  I asked the web master, who lived on the Navajo reservation, if he’d answer some questions for me and he agreed, assisting me through the writing of the book.  The more I learned, the less I felt I could really truly do justice to this ancient people, but my respect for the Dine’ increased tenfold. 

At times Joe Youngblood is the epitome of the alpha male and then when the reader least expects it he backs off, making him all the more real and tangible. Is he based on anyone you know in real life? 

No, my characters are rarely drawn from real life.  But he sort of sprung, fully drawn onto the page from the time he surprised the heroine in her house the first time! 

Delaney has some serious, real life, issues. You give your readers a glimpse into what it is like to be through a war, yet you show how someone, in this case a female photo-journalist, grows and heals from that experience. How did you choose that thread in her character? 

That was right out of the newspapers.  With all the kidnappings of journalists in Iraq, I started to wonder what would happen to those who returned home.  What sorts of inner demons might linger after some of the things they experienced?  And I enjoy giving my female characters ‘weighty’ problems to wrestle with.  One reviewer pointed out that I tend to give my heroines issues that traditionally are ascribed to men.  I had never considered that before, but it’s absolutely true. 

I’m sure other readers have asked you this, but I’m curious. One of the bad guys is named “Brant”.  Being that’s your last name, I gotta ask, did you do it for a personal reason or just because it’s a cool name?

I have to admit, your question brought me up short!  I had never even thought of the character’s name before!  So, no, it had no special significance.  My secondary characters sort of name themselves as I’m writing.  I barely pause as the name just comes to me. I only put real thought into naming my hero and heroine.  

When I found out who was behind the clandestine activities my jaw popped open. I never expected who it was. Without giving that twist away, did you know when you started the book who is was going to be? 

No, not until chapter three or so.  I write the first three chapters before even attempting a synopsis.  Choosing that particular character for villain provided the explanation behind what was happening in Joe’s personal life, so that’s why he ended up becoming the bad guy J 

Can you describe your average day writing? For instance, after a day teaching, do you go home and write or do you wait for the weekend or time off?  

It depends on how close to deadline I am.  During the school year I want to get a chapter a week done, so I can accomplish that on the weekend.  If I’m going to be busy on the weekend, I have to work evenings.  I don’t really like having to do that—I can barely think when I get home!  During the summer, I write two to two and a half chapters a week, (ten pages a day), edit and research, working 5-6 days a week.  

On average, how long does it take you to write a book? 

As long as they give me J  You know the say, hard work pays off in the long run, but procrastination pays off now.  And I can be a master procrastinator.  I need a deadline to produce, and a looming deadline to produce massive amounts of writing at once.  The fastest I ever wrote a book was six weeks.  It’s not something I ever want to have to repeat. 

Who is your strongest supporter? 

My husband has always been almost embarrassingly proud of my work.  He’ll trail behind me in bookstores and while I’m browsing, he’ll go up to the clerk saying, “Do you know who she is?  You should get her to sign some books for you.”  Or we’ll be on an airplane, which I find is a wonderful time to nap or read.  He’ll be roaming the aisles making friends and telling everyone who’ll listen about my books.  He should be my publicist! 

While in Jamaica a few years ago, we got picked to have our luggage searched at the airport.  Unbeknownst to me, he had shoved several copies of my most recent release in the front copies, because, he explained later, ‘everyone’ at the resort was going to want one.  One of the two female security guards wanted to know why we had so many copies of the same book and my husband went into full mode, while I stared at the floor, wishing I could disappear.  He ended by telling her that I’d sign a book for her, an offer that left her looking singularly unimpressed.  But at the end of the search, she reached in the bag and took out one of the books and reminded me to sign it.  And the until-then silent guard next to her caught us at the end of the line and asked if I was going to sign one for her, too. 

That’s typical for the types of situations he gets me into! 

Are you a plotter or a pantser?  

Definitely a pantser.  For years I thought that was some sort of horrible defect.  I figured if I went to enough workshops on synopsis writing, read enough articles, I could change.  Turns out I can’t—and I don’t want to!  When I begin, I know the hero/heroine very well, their backgrounds and conflicts.  I know the overall suspense plot, have ideas for a couple scenes, including the black moment.  And that’s pretty much it.  I have to write the first three chapters to immerse myself in the story, then I stop and write the most abbreviated synopsis I can get away with.  As I write it I do get ideas for future scenes and how the suspense might unfold.  But I don’t feel any particular compunction to stick closely to the synopsis as I write, if the story is pulling me another way.  

You are multi-published—and now an auto-buy for me based on THE LAST WARRIOR. Have you ever had "writer’s block"?  If so, what did you do to get out if it?  

The first time I had writer’s block was, I think, on book seven.  And it was because I wanted something to happen a certain way, and it just didn’t work in the story.  I’ve discovered that getting out and walking or excercising, emptying my mind enables something to pop into my head.  If that fails, I do sort of a free association thing, where I sit down and type every way, nonsensical or not, I could solve the plot problem.  And usually when I look at the list, there’s something that really does work. 

Kylie, I loved THE LAST WARRIOR. It was one of the best books I’ve read all year. I’m now angling for time to get your entire back list and read it and then turn around and tell our readers about them. While I’m doing that, can you tell us if you are you working on anything right now? Can you tell us a teaser about these projects?  

My next project is a trilogy for Silhouette Romantic Suspense that involves a S.W.A.T. squad.  In the first book the hero and heroine, who share a past, are the hostage negotiators.  A bank robber they failed to convince to surrender is shot and killed by the SWAT sniper, and his brother wants revenge.  The heroine agrees to let the FBI use her as bait, and the hero insists on sticking close.  Against that backdrop of imminent danger, they are also forced to work out the emotional problems of their past, when the death of their child drove them apart.  

Okay, imagination time…or maybe a prelude of what is to come. A movie company has called you and they want to make THE LAST WARRIOR into a television movie. Who gets what parts? 

I don’t know any Native American heroes, but I ran across a blogger who suggested Benjamin Bratt for Joe and Nicole Kidman for Delaney.  I think that fits as well as any. 

Do you read for relaxation? Who do you turn to? 

When I’m not writing, I’m reading.  Nora Roberts is a favorite, as is Lee Child, Jeffrey Deaver,  Harlan Coban, and Elizabeth Lowell. 

What is one thing about Kylie Brant no one knows but you wish someone would ask you? 

I was kind of stuck on this question so I sought help from some of the family.  My dh thinks I should let everyone know I have a ‘hot’ husband.  My sons thought people would be fascinated to realize how hilarious and witty they are. So I guess now the world knows I’m surrounded by immodest, irreverent males J.  The walls of my house drip with testosterone!  Maybe that’s why I never have difficulty writing from the male point of view. 

Is there anything you’d like to add? 

I’d like to invite readers to drop by my recently revamped website at www.kyliebrant.com.  I’ll be updating the news page regularly as I learn my release dates and other details about the upcoming books.  They can also sign up for my newsletter. 

Thank you so much for being here with me today and even more, for writing THE LAST WARRIOR. It is definitely a keeper. I look forward to your next book. 

Thanks, Gina!  I’ve enjoyed it!