Saturday’s Pick is Author KM Lowe (Kelly “McMullen” Lowe)…
KM Lowe writes Love and Romance for a broad audience. She attributes her understanding of the “true value of life” to her parents, who taught her to believe she could succeed in anything she wanted to do. Being taught you matter and can achieve goals is every child’s right, but too many parents skip over that part of inspiring their children. She intends to pass that lesson on to her children.
Kelly wrote her first book, The Smile, in May of 2014. Since that time, she’s published two more books in the paranormal trilogy and two romance novels set in Scotland and France. Kelly, her husband, children, and two dogs live in Scotland.
Congratulations to K.M. Lowe on her March Release of “Burning Hearts.” “Burning Hearts” is a book about the grueling life of a firefighter and the romance that shakes his foundation.
Kelly, you stated that writing this book caused you tears of sorrow, joy, and happiness. How do you stay on track when writing something that moves you to tears?
Over the years I’ve gotten used to writing raw emotion into my novels. However, for the first time, I’ve had two books written on the go. Burning Hearts and Home For Christmas. When I felt like I was overwhelmed by the emotion of Burning Hearts, I jumped over to Home For Christmas. While Home For Christmas deals with its individual set of issues, it was more lighthearted, and I felt like it balanced everything out.
My son was a firefighter for some years, and I know how difficult some parts of the job are. How does your protagonist handle the emotional upheavals of being a firefighter?
Jase has faced a lot over his career as a firefighter, and he wouldn’t have managed to get through the ups and downs without his family and colleagues. His strength and passion for the job are clear from the beginning, even though he finds himself tested on many levels.
What message do you want your readers to carry in their hearts after reading this newest book?
I wanted to show what a firefighter does in our community. We don’t always think about what they do on a day to day basis. A lot of people take for granted what they do, and when this story popped into my head, I felt like it was the perfect opportunity to do just that. Not only is this book showing the strength and determination of a firefighter, but it is also showing what they go through because of their job…what their friends and family go through.
From the romance side of things, I hope to show people that love doesn’t just strike once.
The Smile is the first book in The Beautiful Life Trilogy.
Ashley is the typical girl living her dreams. Moving to Alaska to start a new job was her fresh start in life. She didn’t know that her life would be turned upside-down and back to front.
Falling in love with Dale Black, was always a dream for her. She never expected it to ever happen in this lifetime. All was going better than she hoped until a family secret stumbled out of the cupboard. But would it kill them or cure them?
The couple’s happiness is short-lived when Ashley, becomes ill but could all be well with a little help from a family member?
The Smile – New Beginnings is the second book in the trilogy.
Dale Black is reeling from his unimaginable loss in book 2. Cancer changes lives. What inspired you to write this book?
My inspiration for writing this trilogy was the loss of my mum. Very suddenly – two weeks from start to finish – I lost the one person who meant the world to me. I went through a hard time accepting her loss. Ultimately, I found writing was good therapy for me.
Can you describe the mountain cabin where Dale begins to heal? Have you been to the mountains of Alaska?
I haven’t been to the mountains of Alaska, yet. However, I say yet because it’s on my bucket list. The cabin in the mountains is in the middle of nowhere. Trees and wilderness surround it. It’s the perfect place for some peace and tranquility.
Your Book, The Smile – Forever After, completes the trilogy. Did you experience a feeling of loss when you finished the series?
Yes! OMG, I was at a loss for a long time without these characters. Still, I could jump back into this trilogy like I’ve never been away. It’s been nearly two years since this series finished, but because it was my very first story. I feel like I will always have a connection to it.
The book is my baby and opened many doors for me.
Would you write another one?
The honest answer is, I don’t know. At the moment, I am happy writing my standalone romance novels. However, A Different Christmas was also a standalone book, but the readers have asked for another book based on another character’s story. I am having fun with this because it is very different from The Beautiful Life Trilogy.
No, I don’t have any plans to set out to write a three book series anytime soon. I have too many standalone stories shouting at me.
You used two very different locales in It Was Meant To Be. From Strathclyde to Marseille, Leela Parks experiences very different surroundings. Can you tell the readers a little about both places?
In all my romance books I try to add a piece of Scotland because that’s where I’m from, and it feels natural to write about places I’ve been and where I grew up. Strathclyde is mentioned in the book because Leela’s partner works for Strathclyde Police Force. Also, Strathclyde is a region in Scotland, and it’s made up of 19 different districts. The Strathclyde Police Force is based in Motherwell, a large town, and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It’s located south-east of Glasgow.
When I was bringing this story together, I looked for a place completely different from Scotland. Leela travels around France after her life turns sour, and I wanted a place in France where she could settle down and rebuild her life. So far, I haven’t been to Marseille; I did a lot of my research on Google. It is another place on my bucket list.
What part of Leela’s experience was the most difficult to write?
Leela goes through a lot at the beginning of this book. Within days she loses her partner in the line of duty and her unborn child. For me, the opening chapters of this book were hard, because I’ve been where she was and lost that unborn child. On the one hand, it was good because I could pour my raw emotion into the story. But on the other, it was like opening a can of worms, and I felt like I was grieving along with her.
A Different Christmas published just before Christmas, 2016. One of the reviewers wrote:
A Different Christmas by KM Lowe deserves a round of applause. In Simply Brilliant: Ms. Lowe created a story that shows the true meaning of love, friendship, and family.
What makes Christmas so special for KM Lowe and her family?
I was always brought up with a big family. We always used to celebrate Christmas together, and it was a time that we could all come together and enjoy the festive period. As a family, we had many traditions that we followed. Christmas Dinner, decorations, Midnight Mass at our church on Christmas Eve. The list is endless.
I will always have happy memories of growing up. Even now, I have kids of my own and Christmas is a special time that I still love. Now, it’s watching my family opening their presents, playing games after dinner, enjoying a time when we can all sit around and enjoy the time we have together.
“A Different Christmas” is your very first holiday-themed book. Are you planning on writing more?
I am.Honestly, I now have the writing bug for holiday romance. After I published “A Different Christmas,” I felt lost without my characters. Even when I was writing Burning Hearts, I had a Christmas story playing in my head. So, I just had to write it down. I’m about three-quarters of the way through it.
Home For Christmas will release on 1st December 2017.
Did a seasonal book change the process you used to launch the book and is this effort more or less successful than other launches?
Personally, I had a much better launch with A Different Christmas. There certainly is a market for holiday romance books, and that made it much easier to launch and promote. The only downside to releasing a Christmas novel is after January the hype wears off. You have that window from October to January, and the rest of the year is quiet for that genre.
A Country Escape released in 2016 also. Why did you choose a country locale for this book?
Well, I moved house to a small country village in August 2015. I can remember looking out of my bedroom window, looking out to the cows in the field opposite my house, and this story appeared from nowhere. At that time, I’d been thinking of writing a “clean romance” because I knew there was a gap in the market for it.
I attended a book signing in Glasgow, and an older lady was talking to me about books. She asked me to point her in the direction of an author that didn’t have sex or violence in one of their novels. When looking around the room, I couldn’t point her to anyone because they were all full of sex and violence. So when I came home that night, I knew exactly where this story was going.
I was going to write a story that was pure. No sex. No violence. No twists and turns. It was just a pure romance story set in a small country village. I knew I was taking a chance with this book because people were going to love or hate it. That was what I thought, anyway. When the reviews started to come in, I was shocked beyond belief, but I was proud of the book. I was proud of myself for sticking to my ideas and just going with it.
What are Molly and Greg’s strongest character traits and how do they affect their relationship?
Molly is strong-willed and stubborn. It affects their relationship at the beginning because she can’t believe that Greg wants to be in her life. She has it in her head that no other man would want her because she is pregnant with another man’s baby. Greg must break down her walls and work his way into her heart.
Greg is loving and kind; he will do anything to help anyone. He was hurt in the past, left bringing up his daughter alone, but when Molly walks into his life he has to stop thinking that all ladies are like his ex. Molly is different.
They both have their kids to think about, and this causes conflict between them because they believe they’re protecting their kids by staying away from one another.
Does your family enjoy traveling in Europe? Where have you visited?
I love family holidays. Unfortunately, I haven’t taken the kids abroad yet, but we plan on doing a Disney Cruise with them next year.
Also, I have visited Tenerife, Grand Canaria, (I love the Canary Islands), Italy, Spain.
There are quite a lot of places on my bucket list. Now that the kids are older, I look forward to traveling with them.
Tell us one thing that most people don’t know about KM Lowe.
I love being crafty. When I’m not writing or reading, I spend my time making swag and crafts for my books or being crafty with the kids.
Silly fact – I love pugs! I am a little obsessed with them. 😀
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers here today?
I am scheduled to attend several signing events in the U.K from 2018. Unfortunately, I have taken this year off from the public appearances due to health reasons. but if anyone would like to keep up to date with me and where I will be, they can follow me on most social media.
I love chatting with my readers. If anyone reads my books and wants to get in contact, please do! (Links are below)
There are several projects that I’m working on this year.
My newest book, Burning Hearts released yesterday on 17th March.
I will release A Different Life in late August/Early September. (This is a sequel to A Different Christmas, but both books are completely standalone.)
Home For Christmas releases on 1st December.
I will announce any other projects on my social media.
Thank you so much for joining us here today. I urge the readers to pick up a copy of one of K.M. Lowe’s books to see why she has received so many Five-Star Reviews.
You can learn more about KM Lowe through the links below:
