The AdC Scratching Post

DESERT SURVIVAL

by Kat Martin

As a writer, I am always looking for new ideas.  But I often find that my past experiences can be an important part of the story.  Have you ever spent time in the desert?

Being born in Bakersfield, California, which is close to the Great Mojave Desert, I've been in and around the desert a number of times over the years.  The hottest I've ever been was a hundred twenty two degrees in Phoenix, Arizona.  I'll never forget what it felt like, how difficult it was just to breathe.  In that kind of brutal climate, there's no escape from the heat. 

Mostly I visited the desert in the spring, a beautiful time of year.  I made a point to stay away when the temperatures started to climb.

In writing AGAINST THE ODDS, I drew from old memories of the heat and the dryness, the vast emptiness of the landscape.  Once I narrowly missed being bitten by a rattlesnake, and it was terrifying!  All those snippets of adventure, of traveling through the arid ground, scrub brush and mesquite helped me in writing the book.

In AGAINST THE ODDS, Sabrina Eckhart receives an inheritance from her uncle--an abandoned silver mine in the West Texas desert.  Running out of money, Rina, is determined to find the mine and make it productive. 

G.Q. handsome and obscenely wealthy, Alex Justice is a private investigator and an ex-Navy pilot--just the man Sabrina needs to fly her safely to West Texas in search of her late uncle's property.  She and Alex are oil and water, but the man is good at his job.  She needs to find the mine--even if it means putting up with the cocky jet jockey she is determined to dislike but finds ridiculously attractive.

It's a sexy tale of survival, murder, betrayal, and intrigue that kept me writing long after I should have been done for the day.

I hope you'll watch for Alex and Sabrina in AGAINST THE ODDS, out in time for Christmas on December 18.  Have a wonderful holiday, Kat

What are some of your scary adventures? 

Comment and your name will go into the drawing for an autographed copy of Against the Odds to one blog commentor.

Thank you,

Kat

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THIS CASE MAY PROVE TO BE TOO HOT TO HANDLE

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Comment and your name will go into the drawing for an autographed copy of Against the Odds to one blog commentor.

13 Comments

I think Kat Martin has another good story for us to get into, she doesn't fail to keep heat up in fire place!

Kat, we're always told to write what we know, so adding the emotions and sensations you've experienced can only make your work more vivid. I call pain my most useful emotion. There are so many kinds of pain and ways to use it to bring characters and situations to life. I guess that is what I most often draw on when I write. Best wishes with Against The Odds.

When we were moving to California from Texas, driving through Yuma, Arizona in August was crazy hot. It was soooo hot and dry! I don't know how anyone lives in the desert. On one of our trips to Cali from Texas we stopped in Phoenix, AZ to eat and when we got out of the car, we thought we would melt it was so hot. If you captured the intensity and brutality of the desert heat in Against the Odds, it should be a stay up all night read.

I've traveled through Yuma, too. It's so barren, but it's also gorgeous!! I live in the High Desert of California, and I've come to love and appreciate all of God's artwork. I really need to continue this series!

Yuma is crazy hot. I remember driving through there and the bottled water I had in my car was practically boiling. I love books where we see the characters face adverse environments and conditions. Against the Odds sounds like a very good read!

Hi, Kat, I know what you mean by Phoenix. One of our editors lives there, and I visit her sometimes. No wonder Bakersfield was a breeze for you (No pun intended). Environmental scare for me? Once I went to Las Vegas and I wanted to come back a different way--go straight up Nevada and back door Yosemite. Well, we were the only people on the road for miles on end. As if that weren't bad enough, though it was Memorial Day, it snowed, and we were dressed for the summer weather we had left behind. Then we learned that the road might be closed at the highest levels and we might have to turn back.

Were I to write anything from experience,there wouldn't be any desert scenes in there. I've been to the desert parts of the west and Southwest, but I was a little kid and don't remember much. (I'm from New England... very different climate!) It sounds like you're making the desert something of another character in the book, and it sounds fantastic!

Love this series and ooking forward to the new book. Great characters. For those reading Ms. Martin for the first time, there are many genre's to choose from. Choose a book and settle in for the night, 'cuz you're not going to want to put it down.

I am not familiar with this series but I can't wait to start reading it.

Last time I experienced the desert heat was almost 20 years ago in the Phoenix area (as I type this we have a -5 wind chill here in WI. I continue to have a healthy respect for jumping chollas and the importance of a good water supply. I must admit this story description had me at cocky jet jockey...

Congratulations! Margie Church is the winner of the Desert Survival comment contest. Congratulations Margie.

the Kalahari in Southern Africa & the Arabian desert on the northern coast - both very magical

the Kalahari in Southern Africa & the Arabian desert on the northern coast - both very magical

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