INTERVIEW WITH KATHERINE SMITS

 

Hello, everyone! Welcome to Pen Dames. Today I’m interviewing the talented and mysterious Katherine Smits. She’s a gifted author who writes intriguing and passionate books in a unique setting.

 

Kathy, you write captivating stories about mermaids and mermen. Can you share with us how you got interested in them?

 

I learned to swim at Weeki Wachee. At the time, it was a private tourist attraction in Florida on the Gulf Coast. Now, it’s a state park with the deepest freshwater cave system in the country. There’s a natural first magnitude spring, and no one knows how far down it goes because the bottom has never been found. Young women performed underwater ballet using an air hose and wearing mermaid tails. The first time I watched the show from the underwater theater, I was hooked. I’ve never stopped loving mermaids, and when I decided to write my first book, I knew it had to revolve around the merfolk.

 

Before you, I’d never seen a book that’s set in Tarpon Springs, Florida. What inspired you to use that for your setting?

 

Tarpon Springs is a unique town with a large population of Greek immigrants who moved here for the sponge diving industry starting in the 1880’s and their descendants. I grew up there, and I love the town. I’m not Greek, but I always wanted to be, so maybe I can claim honorary membership.

 

 

From the four books you’ve written, do you have a favorite character?

 

Wow, what a hard question! I love all my characters. I’ve lived with them for years, and they seem so real to me. Nik from Water Dreams and Water Desires showed up first in my brain, so she’s the one I know the best. I “found” her apartment in Tarpon Springs, and I’ve been to all of the places where she went in the book (including a little hut on stilts a mile out in the Gulf of Mexico). I admire Athenia from The Sea Witch and the Mage and Siren Descending for her strength and talent. Then, there are the men. The awesome Water Dreams cover shows Nik and Bas in the water at night under a full moon. Bas is a swoon-worthy merman (or Nerei, as they call themselves), and his character arc brings him a long way from being the worst possible choice for Nik to becoming her ideal mate. Thorne is an alpha male with a strong sense of right and wrong who doesn’t abandon Athenia even when she betrays him in the worst way. He’s amazing. Nope, I can’t choose. I love all my characters, including the villains.

 

When did you start dreaming about mermaids and what motivated you to write about these mythical creatures?

 

Mermaids inspired me from a young age. I think I was about six or eight years old when I started going to Weeki Wachee for swimming lessons. I always pretended I was one of the mermaids when I was there. It helped me learn to swim. I wanted to be one of them, but I was never a good enough swimmer or able to hold my breath long enough, so I never tried out.

 

Where do you get your inspiration?

 

I’m a little unusual in that I often get my inspiration from places. First, I discover a location which would make a great setting for a book. Then, the characters who would live there come to me, and the plot derives from their interactions.

 

Writing isn’t the only thing you and I have in common. We both love to dance, but you dance on a horse. Can you talk about your love for dressage and how you got into it?

 

I was one of those horse crazy girls who collected horse statues and mooned over pictures of horses, but my parents adamantly refused to buy me a horse. I vowed someday I would own one. When my daughter begged for riding lessons at about age eight, we both started together. It’s a passion we have shared ever since. Dressage emphasizes riding in harmony with the horse, and that’s why it’s known as Dancing with Horses. The horse is your partner and together you complete a graceful pattern or ‘Test”.

 

How does it feel when you and your horse are dancing?

 

Horses are amazing partners. When I manage to move with the horse, it’s the greatest feeling of freedom and lightness I’ve ever experienced. I wish I were a better rider and could find that effortless partnership more often. My horse is retired now due to chronic lameness issues, but she loves her life on a farm in Ocala, and I visit her every week. I’ll include a picture of me with my horse. Her name is Corrin Castle, and she’s an Irish Sport Horse who was imported from Ireland. She has a passport! I was riding another horse twice a week before Covid-19, but now I’m social distancing, so I can’t ride. I hope a vaccine comes out soon, so I can get back to it.

 

You also clog, which sounds like a blast!

 

Though I can’t ride, I dance with my clogging team four days a week outside on the instructor’s driveway. Clogging is a form of dancing developed in Europe by workers who danced during their breaks in wooden shoes which made a distinctive tapping sound. Some of them brought the style to this country, and it evolved into what we do today. Though it is sometimes compared to tap dancing because the shoes have taps, it is quite different.

 

You were a social worker, working on behalf of veterans. Does your former career help you with your writing, and if so, how?

 

Absolutely! The training and clinical work help me craft believable characters with real life problems.

 

Any advice for aspiring authors?

 

Read a lot and write a lot. Practice, practice, practice. Also, establish a social media presence, including a web site, as soon as possible. Many publishers now want a marketing plan along with submissions, and the more social reach you have, the more likely they are to offer you a contract.

 

You have some good news. Congratulations! Can you tell me about your newly contracted book?

 

Witch Trial Legacy will release in 2021 from Foundations Books.

 

She must break an ancient curse before everything she cares about goes up in smoke.

Sybilla is a nurse gifted with the ability to heal with her touch but cursed with visions of future tragedies she cannot prevent because no one heeds her warnings. With help from the mediums of the spiritualist town of Cassadaga, Florida, she learns she is descended from both the first person executed for witchcraft in this country and the man who accused her. 

Conn Ahern is an Iraq war vet dealing with pain and PTSD while working as a paramedic and struggling to save the ranch his grandmother founded. He’s an atheist who wants nothing to do with the people of the town.

When Conn and Sybilla meet, sparks fly, but not always in a good way, and their relationship fans the flames of jealousy and revenge in someone who doesn’t want them together.

During a séance, her ancestor’s spirit reveals what Sybilla must do to rid herself of the curse and save Conn, but the price may be too high.

Wow, it sounds amazing. I can’t wait to read it.  Thanks so much for joining us today, Kathy.

 

 Katherine Eddinger Smits Bio

 

Katherine Eddinger Smits holds a master’s degree in social work.  For 20 years, she assisted veterans and their families until she retired to pursue her writing obsession.

 

Now she brings clinical training and experience to her stories of mermaids, mages and magical creatures. Within the context of fantasy and romance, her novels explore real-life issues of self-acceptance, body image, relationship dynamics, fears, and phobias. Mystery, suspense, and a little sex add spice to her books.

 

Katherine and her husband divide their time between Florida and West Virginia. Their children and granddaughters live in Virginia.

 

Besides writing, Katherine is a blogger, mom, Mimi, dressage rider, and clog dancer.

 

Sign up for her quarterly newsletter and receive a free short story! Newsletters always include contests, freebies and fun.  http://katherineeddingersmits.weebly.com/

 

 

 

 

Books by KATHERINE EDDINGER SMITS:

 

1.     Water Dreams, Love’s Siren Song, Book I

2.     Water Desires, Love’s Siren Song, Book II

3.     The Sea Witch and the Mage, Sirens Series 1

4.     Siren Descending, Siren Series 2

5.     Witch Trial Legacy (2021)

 

 

 

Facebook Author Page:

 https://www.facebook.com/Katherine-Eddinger-Smits-1570871886468704

 

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/katherinesmits

 

Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.com/katherinesmits/_saved/

 

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/kathyeddingersmits/