Katee Robert: On Chasing Your Joy

Katee Robert (she/they) is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of spicy romance. Entertainment Weekly calls their writing “unspeakably hot.” Their books have sold over two million copies. They live in the Pacific Northwest with their husband, children, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and two Great Danes who think they’re lap dogs. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram.

Katee Robert

Photo by Bethany Chamberlin

In this interview, Katee discusses the process of writing their new romance novel, Blood on the Tide, their advice for other writers, and more!

Name: Katee Robert
Literary agent: Laura Bradford
Book title: Blood on the Tide
Publisher: Berkley
Release date: May 13, 2024
Genre/category: Romance
Previous titles: Neon Gods; Court of the Vampire Queen; Hunt on Dark Waters
Elevator pitch: A vampire on the hunt for something stolen from her and a selkie trying to recover her lost skin must work together to achieve their aims.

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What prompted you to write this book?

I’ve loved selkie stories since I first encountered them as a child. Over the years, I’ve attempted to write my own selkie story, but it never quite worked out until I realized that I need to give my selkie a murderous vampire as a romantic interest.

How long did it take to go from idea to publication? And did the idea change during the process?

This is the second book in a series, so the timeline was significantly shorter than other books I’ve written and sold. There was maybe eight months from the moment I started writing to the book being released, which is remarkably fast. The core idea of a selkie without her skin and a murderous vampire stayed consistent throughout the writing and editing process, but the details shifted here and there during developmental edits. We added a scene with a nasty storm at sea that ended up being one of my favorites in the book. I love it when that happens.

Were there any surprises or learning moments in the publishing process for this title?

I’ve been publishing for a little over 12 years now, so the process is pretty expected. Sometimes curveballs happen, but in this case, it was a very normal process.

Were there any surprises in the writing process for this book?

In the last year or so, I’ve switched my writing process up pretty dramatically. Due to health issues, I’ve almost entirely switched over to dictation, and once I felt comfortable with that process, I ended up outsourcing my audio to a transcriber. This is the first book I did that with, and it ended up being a wild success in how the story came together with that new process.

What do you hope readers will get out of your book?

I hope they get a little slice of joy. The world is particularly dark right now in a number of ways, and sometimes we all need a little escape for a few hours.

If you could share one piece of advice with other writers, what would it be?

I would advise authors to chase their joy and just get that book out on paper, whatever their process might look like. They can worry about marketability and all the business details once the book is finished. The true magic happens in the joy, and that’s one thing that’s consistent, whether you’re writing your first book or your hundredth.

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