1--What is the title of your latest release?
THE RED RIVER SLAYER
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
The FBI can’t find the maniac killing women and dropping them in rivers around the country. When one of those women landed in Secure One’s backyard, they took matters into their own hands. Someone has to stop this serial killer, even if that someone is one of the women he tortured. Powerhouse crime fiction in an unexpected package makes The Red River Slayer explosive!
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
This is part of a series, so I knew some of it would happen in Minnesota. I decided on St. Paul as I needed a place where the Mississippi would flow past and, since St. Paul has old stately homes, also a place where a senator may reside. The part that happens in Pennsylvania was also set up in a previous book, so that was just a matter of getting the characters out there safely.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Yes! I love Charlotte. She’s down to earth and cares about others, even after the horrors she’s been through. Some might think the hero, Mack, would be considered the protagonist, but they haven’t met Charlotte yet. She steals the show and takes back her past so she can own her future.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Observant, Relatable. Determined.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
I learned a lot more about how the Senate is split, as well as how and when each senator comes up for reelection. I also learned so many interesting facts about all the major rivers in our country, how they intersect with other waterways, and where they originate.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
I wait until I’m done. When I sit down to write, I want to tell the story as fast as I can. Usually, that’s because I want to know how it will end, too! Once I’ve told the story, I let it sit for a month or two and then go back and edit it. That gives me distance from it so I can see what is or isn’t working and look for areas where I’m confused. If I’m confused, the reader will be too, and I need to do a better job of clarifying. In suspense novels like Intrigue, I’m also looking for anything that doesn’t make sense within the plot or things that I need to double-check my research on.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Actually, I’m completely tube-fed through a tube in my intestines, so I don’t eat food. I drink tea, but that’s about as exciting as my food indulgence gets!
9--Describe your writing space/office!
After thirteen years of writing, I finally got an office of my own when my son left for college a few years ago. It’s a small bedroom that I’ve converted into a working office with a desk, bookshelf, and television (my dog likes to watch Hallmark while I’m working. I’m not even kidding!) There’s a window that gives me so much sunshine during the morning hours as I’m writing too. My favorite part is the big closet full of swag for my readers!
10—Did you read a lot of Harlequin novels before you started writing for them?
Yes! I’ve been reading Harlequin Intrigue novels for 35 years. I started getting them in the mail back in the 90s when it was four a month, and you had to send a check or pay when they were delivered! I’m so thankful that’s changed now, but I still read as many as I can every month. I love the stories, the pacing, the way you can connect with the characters immediately because the stories are shorter, and how quickly you can plow through them when you want to binge a great book. It took me so long to submit to Harlequin because I always wrote in first person, so I had to find my confidence in writing in third person before I could submit.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
I would have to say The Boxcar Children. The original from way back in the day. It released the reader in me who is enraptured by character-driven stories. That book made me the writer I am today, so I can say with confidence that it was the book that changed my life.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
I started self-publishing in 2011 after my amputation. I published over fifty novels before I ‘Got the Call’ from Harlequin Intrigue that they were buying Going Rogue in Red Rye County (Book one of this series). I pitched the manuscript through a Twitter pitch for #Romanceincludesyou, which is Harlequin’s diversity and inclusion platform. Since I write #ownvoices disabled romance, I was never more pleased to get that like! I submitted the manuscript, and then, within days, my mother-in-law passed away. We were very close, and it was long after the new year before I remembered that I hadn’t heard back from them in the eight weeks they’d indicated. I reached out to Harlequin, and in March, I got a call from my editor, Allison, that she wanted the book. It was great to talk with her about publishing disabled romance and how needed it was in mainstream romance novels. If you want to read more about it, I was featured on Harlequin’s blog here: https://www.writeforharlequin.com/i-got-the-call-meet-new-harlequin-intrigue-author-katie-mettner/
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
I love romance and romantic suspense as well as detective novels and read them exclusively, but I read different subgenres within them like paranormal, sapphic, etc.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
The Holiday. Another highly character-driven movie that makes me smile whether it’s July or December.
15--What is your favorite season?
Autumn! I live in Wisconsin, so we have a beautiful fall (though I also love winter). I love the weather finally getting cooler (I hate summer with the passion of a thousand bonfires) and the beauty in the changing leaves. I also enjoy the coziness as we prepare for winter.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
My birthday is June 14th and my husband’s is June 15th, so we always celebrate it together. Usually, we go to Lake Superior, either Duluth or further north, to sit on the shore and search for agates. It’s the perfect time of year where it’s not too hot yet and you can enjoy a sunny day without sweltering to death. (Can you tell I hate summer?)
17--What’s a recent TV show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
The TV show would be Dark Winds or The Way Home. The movie would be The Ballad of Snakes and Songbirds. The book would be anything written by Lisa Regan, Lena Diaz, or Janie Crouch. The podcast would be Morbid (Keep it weird, my friends).
18—Will you give us three fast facts about yourself?
I love this question!
- I had my left leg amputated because of a skiing accident when I was 13.
- I’m a living kidney donor to my husband’s brother.
- I met my husband on the internet 24 years ago. Our first date was around Thanksgiving; we were engaged in January and married in April. When you know, you know.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
I love to read, of course. I also crochet and bake. I’ve been very busy training my puppy, Miss Lilibet Linn, to be a service dog, so that takes up a lot of my free time. When we go north, I love hunting for agates on Lake Superior. With three kids, we also spend a lot of time visiting them. My youngest son attends UW Madison, my middle son is a funeral director, and my daughter is a supply chain manager.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
The Secure One Series continues in October with The Silent Set-Up, November is The Masquerading Twin, and December is Christmas Under Wraps. That completes the series to this point, though I have some ideas for spin-offs—more to come! I will also be releasing a self-published novel in May titled Caught by the Complicated Doc, and my self-published holiday release in November, which is the final Bells Pass Novel. From there, we will see where the next writing adventure takes us in 2025!
Secure One #3
Confronting their pasts
…to stop an infamous killer
When a fourth woman is found dead in a river, security expert Mack Holbock takes on the search for a cunning serial killer. A disabled vet, Mack is consumed by guilt that’s left him with no room or desire for love. But while investigating and facing danger with Charlotte—a traumatized victim of sex trafficking—he must protect her and win her trust…without falling for her.
From Harlequin Intrigue: Seek thrills. Solve crimes. Justice served.
Romance Suspense [Harlequin Intrigue, On Sale: March 26, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781335591548 / eISBN: 9780369744081]
A Pulse-Pounding Search for a Serial Killer Leaving Bodies in the Rivers
Katie Mettner wears the title of 'the only person to lose her leg after falling down the bunny hill' and loves decorating her prosthetic leg to fit the season. She lives in Northern Wisconsin with her own happily-ever-after and spends the day writing romantic stories with her sweet puppy by her side. Katie has an addiction to coffee and dachshunds and a lessening aversion to Pinterest — now that she’s quit trying to make the things she pins.
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