Q&A With Kat MacKenzie

My Q&A is with author Kat MacKenzie who is the author of her debut contemporary romance novel Work in Progress which will be available on January 25th!

Q: Kat, would you please give a brief description of Work In Progress?

A: Work in Progress is a story about a broken woman who goes to Britain to find herself. She books a 3-week literary bus tour that is essentially a travelling book club, and arrives to find that all of her tour companions are 2 to 3 times her age, and that the tour guide is the insufferable Scotsman she had a massive fight with in the airport. Some people are calling it Bridget Jones meets The Golden Girls!

Q: Where did the idea for Work In Progress come from? What lessons do you hope readers learn and feel after reading the novel?

A: I wrote Work in Progress when I was going through a tough transition in my life. I was unhappy and lonely and needed a holiday, so I wrote one for myself! I basically just kitchen-sink threw in all the things I loved. It made me happy and swoony, and it made me feel like I had revisited the UK – my home away from home. 

But the heart of this story is about a woman dealing with uncertainty in her life, about learning to accept that despite the plans and schedules you’ve made for yourself, life seldom goes according to plan, and a happy and successful life doesn’t need to look the way anyone tells you it does. We don’t have to follow the road of timeline society sets out for us. We can listen to ourselves, explore, experience, and focus on having a fulfilling life.

Q: Which scenes did you enjoy writing in Work In Progress? I enjoyed their trip to Oxford!

A: I really enjoyed my macro-lens moments, like when the story stops so that we can experience the culture-shock that is all British bathrooms, detail by frustrating detail, with Alice. Or when the hideous incident with the luggage happens. I love the over-the-top detail and snarky inner voice at these moments. 

But I also liked describing places I knew very intimately and was in love with – like Edinburgh and Oxford, as you picked up on. 

Q: Can you reveal details about your second novel that you are writing right now?

A: I sure can! I just sent it to my editor last week! 

The next one is about a chronically bad dater who has a dating podcast and travels to the matchmaking festival that happens in Ireland every year. This is a real thing, and I traveled there myself to investigate… thoroughly. This one will have another road trip, forced proximity, a meddlesome matchmaker, and a very grumpy farmer who looks a bit like Henry Cavil!

Q: Other than the UK, you’ve been to over 40 countries! I want to travel one of these days once my blog makes more money. Which places were your favorite places to see? Can you describe them as though you were writing a scene in your books?

A: One place I loved in the UK that I couldn’t include is the Isle of Mull, which is in the Inner Hebrides in Scotland.

After a long ferry ride, you pull into the gentle, water-worn arch of the harbor where its brightly colored shop fronts reach down and pull you from the boat. Unable to resist the sight of sugar-coated pastries, you grab a flat white and a homemade millionaire’s shortbread from an adorable local cafe, get in your car, and head to your next stop – The Glass Barn. 

It’s cold outside and drizzling, because Scotland, and you wind up a muddy farm track to a place that doesn’t look like much from the outside. But you’ve already made a reservation, so you run through the rain and push yourself through the door. 

Whoa. This place looks like something out of a fairy tale. You’re in an old glass greenhouse. Thick, green grapevines curl up the inside beams, and dangle clusters of grapes between the endless windowpanes that open to the sweeping Scottish vista below. The fire is lit, and the warmth curls around you, drying the raindrops from your cheeks. You pick the coziest seat by the fire and go up to the counter to order from a surprisingly grumpy man in an apron. 

This place is a cheese farm, so you get a selection of toasted cheeses on homemade bread and some warm, creamy soup to eat while you gaze out over the view and listen to your smutty audiobook. 

You hate to leave. This place is so beautiful you want to move right in. But the last ferry leaves soon, and you want to be able to do some driving to see as much as you can of the island before you set sail back to the mainland. You look your last at the barn and turn your key, but your car won’t start. It won’t even turn over! 

You’re standing outside in the rain, gazing down uselessly at the engine when a voice surprises you and you hit your head on the open hood. 

“Still here?” It’s the grumpy man from the cafe. 

“Shit.” You rub your head. “Didn’t anyone tell you not to sneak up on people?” He rolls his eyes. “Yeah. It won’t start. And my ferry leaves soon. You don’t… I don’t suppose you know anything about cars, do you?”

He sighs a big heavy gust that shows white in the cold air. “Move over,” he commands as he moves in next to you at the engine. “I’ve got work to be getting on with, and hungry animals to feed, but I guess I can’t leave you here either. Unfortunately.”

He tries to jump your engine, but the car doesn’t oblige. 

“Here.”

The ferry is nearly gone, and you can’t just leave your car on an island in the middle of nowhere. You’re pacing in the rain and nearly in tears when he shoves a piece of paper into your hand. 

“What’s this?” 

“It’s a number. Call them and ask them to hold you a room. My family runs one of the only b&bs on the island.”