Interview with B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree Kathryn Guare

 

B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree Kathryn Guare is here today to talk with me about her book, Deceptive Cadence. Kathryn lives in the Vermont town where she grew up, part of the third generation of her family to call the tiny capital city of Montpelier home. She spent ten years as an executive with a global health membership and advocacy organization, worked as a tour coordinator in a travel agency, and has traveled extensively in Europe and India. She has a passion for Classical music, all things Celtic, and exploring ethnic foods and diverse cultures. Her first novel, "Deceptive Cadence" was awarded a Gold Medal in the Readers Favorite Awards and a Silver Medal in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards, and most recently was honored with an IndieB.R.A.G Medallion. She currently has three books published in the Conor McBride Series, with more on the way.

Hello, Kathryn! Thank you for chatting with me today and congrats on the B.R.A.G. Medallion. How did you discover indieBRAG?

I belong to the Alliance of Independent Authors and several of its recipients are Medallion recipients. Through the discussions in the member forum, I came to understand that indieBRAG was very well respected among authors and other professionals in the self-publishing industry, so I decided to check out the website and learn more.

Please tell me about your book, Deceptive Cadence.

I like to think of it as “a thriller with heart.” The hero of the book is an Irishman named Conor McBride. He’s a talented musician whose career was ruined when was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit. Now, he’s been asked to reinvent himself, and assume an undercover identity to search for the man responsible, who happens to be his own brother, Thomas. The book is about his wild ride from the west coast of Ireland all the way to India, as he finds himself drawn into a dangerous game where things are not what they seem and he doesn’t know who to trust.

Who designed your book cover?

I worked with Andrew and Rebecca Brown at Design for Writers. They are based in the UK and I’m in the US, but despite the geographical distance the whole process felt very collaborative and positive, and I was really happy with the result.

What are a couple of the themes written in your story?

I focus a lot on character development in my writing, so I’d say the most important theme in the story is the internal struggle of the hero to hold on to his own sense of identity. He’s not a professional spy, and he’s a decent man, so he has trouble with the moral ambiguity of what he’s doing. Pretty quickly, he gets sucked into this world of criminal gangs, drugs and human trafficking. He used to be a man who carried a violin everywhere, and now he’s a man who carries a gun. And what’s worse (from his standpoint, not the reader’s!)  is his discovery that he’s very good at it. He’s learning things about himself he didn’t want to know, and as the book continues he begins to realize that he can never “unlearn” them, or go back to the life he had before.

What is an example of conflict that Conor experiences in his undercover identity?

I’d say one big conflict is his attitude about his brother. Thomas is ten years older and was Conor’s hero, so when he disappeared and let his younger brother take the fall for a crime he’d committed, it was a bitter betrayal. Conor’s first instinct is to refuse the mission to find him, but once he’s persuaded Thomas is in danger he can’t help but go through with it, because in spite of everything he still loves his brother, and part of him also wants the opportunity to confront him and get an explanation.

To read the rest of this fascinating interview with Kathryn Guare, click here