Today we’d like to introduce you to Katharine McGee.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Katharine. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My latest book, American Royals, was just published on September 3—and it’s a New York Times bestseller!
I grew up here in Houston and spent my childhood with my nose in a book. (I was that student who always had the maximum number of books checked out from my school library.) I majored in English at college, then lived for four years in New York, working as an editorial assistant in the book publishing group of Warner Brothers Entertainment.
There were a lot of things I loved about that job. I worked with some fantastic authors, on high-profile, buzz-worthy books such as Gossip Girl and the Pretty Little Liars series. But even though it was an exciting role, I secretly wanted to be an author—to be the one with full creative control, the one telling the story. I was also starting to get a bit homesick for Texas! In 2014, I gathered my courage and began working on a manuscript that would become my first New York Times bestselling novel, The Thousandth Floor.
Now my husband and I are back in Houston. My new book American Royals was just published by Random House, and I couldn’t be more excited!
American Royals is essentially Crazy Rich Asians meets The Crown. The book reimagines present-day America as a monarchy, following all the intrigue and drama of the modern royal family, with a very feminist twist: focusing on the princess who will be America’s very first queen.
Being a full-time writer certainly has its challenges; I work from home, and it can feel lonely sometimes. But it’s also creative and incredibly rewarding. I feel very lucky that I get to do a job that I love.
Has it been a smooth road?
Having a creative job comes with its own unique brand of challenges: writer’s block, infrequent payments, and the fact that you have to do the job alone, without any coworkers to bounce ideas off. But the hardest part is feeling passionate about something and being told no.
I first got the idea for my new book, American Royals, the day of the first royal wedding: when Will and Kate got married in 2011. The moment the newlyweds kissed, it felt like all of New York broke out in cheers. I remember marveling at how invested Americans felt in the fairy tale of it all, even though we don’t have any royals of our own. Which got me to wondering… how would the world be different if we did have a royal family?
I wrote up a few chapters of the concept and took it to my boss, who wasn’t a fan of the idea. He told me that the American fascination with royalty had already come and gone, that no one would be interested in this concept and I should turn my attention to something else. Discouraged, I set aside the idea… but I never gave up on it. Years later, I pulled out my old draft of American Royals and started working on it again.
It’s hard hearing negative feedback, particularly when you work in this kind of job, where you’re pouring a little bit of yourself into every project you do. The longer I’ve been a writer, the more I’ve realized that I need to listen to my creative instincts no matter what other people tell me.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I try to write my books as if they are hour-long TV dramas. What I mean by that is that every book has a fast-paced and exciting story arc, and ends on a cliffhanger!
Far too often, people assume that reading needs to feel like “work.” Of course I want readers to take something away from my novels, and think about them after they’ve turned the last page. But at the end of the day, I want readers to enjoy my books. That’s the main job of a storyteller—to tell a good story.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Writing is, definitionally, a solitary job. It’s nice to know that I can occasionally escape my desk to meet (and commiserate with!) other creative professionals! Houston has a growing writing community, and I’ve enjoyed exploring our literary scene since I moved back two years ago.
Bookstores are still the backbone of the reading world. Houston is lucky to have amazing independent bookstores like Blue Willow Bookshop, Brazos Books, and Murder by the Book, which host book-related events and support local authors. I have done all my launch events at Blue Willow—it is the most wonderful and charming neighborhood store!
Houston is also home of some amazing libraries. The Texas Librarians’ Association is a force to be reckoned with, and I have loved all the librarians I’ve gotten to meet through TLA events.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation, which has done phenomenal work fostering childhood literacy in the Houston area.
Pricing:
Contact Info:
- Website: katharinemcgee.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katharinemcgee/?hl=en
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/katharinemcgee
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