Friday with Friends: Meet Kelly Irvin
Hello friends,
Today on my Friday with Friends blog I am featuring the amazing, persevering, and talented Kelly Irvin. From the first book I picked up, which sucked me right into Bee County, Texas, to our social connections through media and literary agents, I can call this wonderful lady my friend. Kelly not only took the time to answer this newbie’s concerns as I ventured into this career, but her faith in God and keep on keeping on attitude as she continues to live everyday with cancer coming and going at will has inspired me to continue doing what I love and to love the people in my life with a greater appreciation. Being a woman of a certain age past forty, I have to admit taking on a new career in my In Between Years was a bit daunting, but Kelly reminded me, and she does many others, that neither age nor disease or even hardships excludes us from new ventures, but with it comes wisdom, strength, and the patience to pursue them to our fullest.
You have built a grand name for yourself in Amish Fiction. I personally have a deep love for your Amish of Bee County series. But you have recently released a suspense, which I equally loved. Do you find writing more than one genre a challenge?
Writing in more than genre is the fulfillment of a dream for me. I feel so blessed that my publishing house Harper Collins Christian Publishing is willing to allow me to explore both genres. The biggest challenge is meeting dueling deadlines. I’ve constantly been on deadline for an Amish romance, a romantic suspense project, or a novella, for several months. However, writing romantic suspense after writing 14 Amish romances was the change I needed to feel fresh again for writing more Amish fiction. They’re so different. I like being able to build characters who are challenged by social media and use cell phones and wear name brand clothes. Getting them into all sorts of trouble is fun too. With romantic suspense if you get stuck, you can always kill someone off!
Who are your go to authors when you want to take a break from pounding keys and reaching deadlines?
I read tons of mystery and suspense, mostly mainstream. I’m a fan of Sue Grafton, who passed away last year, Sarah Paretsky, James Scott Bell, James Lee Burke, John Sandford, Craig Johnson, Linda Castillo, Laura R. King, and Julia Spencer Fleming, to name a few. This year I’m challenging myself to read authors who are new to me. Most recently I read The Long and Faraway Gone and November Road by Lou Berney. They are suspense with a bit of historical and a bit of romance in them. I like the fact that Berney doesn’t follow a genre formula. I was really surprised by how the stories unfolded.
What inspired you to become a writer? Had you always known this was your calling?
Since the first grade, when my sister and I created our own newspaper, I knew I wanted to be a writer. I wrote poems, short stories, and plays as I grew older. I decided to become a journalist so I could get paid for writing. I didn’t pursue my dream of becoming a novelist until I was forty-five and my kids were a little older. With a full-time job in public relations, I didn’t have much time for it, but I knew it was now or never. I found a novel in the library by Dee Henderson from her O’Malley series and I realized that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to write inspirational fiction. It took a few years, but I finally signed with an agent who encouraged me to dip my toes in Amish fiction. My career took off when I did. It’s been an interesting and fulfilling journey.
What was the first manuscript you ever submitted?
It was a precursor to my first published romantic suspense novel A Deadly Wilderness. I loved it because the main character, Piper, volunteered to feed the homeless in downtown San Antonio. The book was never published by the same characters appear in A Deadly Wilderness, which was published in 2010. Strangely enough, my first romantic suspense novel with HarperCollins, Tell Her No Lies, features a photographer who takes pictures of people experiencing homelessness. She has experienced it herself and volunteers at Haven for Hope, the local San Antonio campus that provides a one-shop service center for people who need this kind of help. I feel as if I finally was able to explore this issue in a published story.
What’s next for Kelly Irvin? Can we expect more suspense in the future or will you be gifting us another remarkable Amish series soon?
I’m still doing both. My novella, Cakes and Kisses, is part of An Amish Christmas Bakery novella collection that debuts on October 1. It also includes novellas by Kathleen Fuller, Beth Wiseman, and Amy Clipston. The second book in the Amish of Sky Country series, The Long Bridge Home, will debut in February 2020. My next romantic suspense novel, Closer Than She Knows, releases in June 2020. I’m definitely keeping busy. I’m truly blessed.
