Spotlight on Pat Kay
(Published in 2002)

By Cheryl Bolen

Not many chapter members can remember a time when Pat Kay wasn't a member. She joined West Houston RWA in 1986--four years before selling her first book. In fact, Happily Ever After owes its origins to her. She was its first editor.

She's now published 32 books, 24 of them for Silhouette Special Edition. Meteor (now defunct) published four, Precious Gems one, and Berkley three. Her last book for Special Edition (the fourth in her Callahans & Kin series) will be published in September. She's happy to be moving on to publishing women's fiction with Berkley, which also is publishing her fourth book with them in September.

The move to Berkley and to the meatier book netted Pat her first Rita finalist nomination in 2001. And she did not even submit THE WRONG CHILD for competition! Her editor did.

Pat's first book to be published (CINDERELLA GIRL) was the fifth book she had written. Actually, she said she wrote three and two-thirds books before CINDERELLA GIRL. The first and fourth have been pitched in the trash, and the two-thirds of a book will probably meet the same fate. Books 2 and 3 were purchased by Meteor right after Pat sold CINDERELLA GIRL.

Several factors figured in making that first sale. First was her determination. She also credits her abiliby to take criticism and use it constructively, writing constantly, and taking advantage of all that RWA offered.

Though Pat attributes luck to getting published, she said she believes people make their own good luck. "It's our job to make sure we are in the right place at the right time."

From the beginning, she's been in a dynamic critique group. She is the only original member left of the critique group. Two of the original members (whom she had met while taking creative writing at Houston Community College) dropped out of writing completely, but one of them is coming back. Current members of the group include three-time Rita finalist Heather MacAllister, Rita finalist Marilyn Amann (who writes as Amanda Stevens) and Carla Luan (who writes as Kay David). Kay's first-ever critique partner, Alaina Richardson, won a Rita for her first book. Richardson still reads all Pat's work.

Pat's biggest supporter and advocate is her current agent, Helen Breitwieser of Cornerstone Literary. Breitwieser is actually Pat's third agent. "The first didn't know the business the way she should have and steered me into the wrong places." Pat had selected her because she represented Pat's favorite writer "and I mistakenly assumed she was partly responsible for the author's success. She wasn't."

The second agent was good, "but we simply weren't a good fit."

In addition to crancking out all these great books and being matriarch of a family of two grown daughters and a son, Pat has found time to do serious volunteer work for RWA.

Besides launching Happily Ever After, she served on the national board for three years as Region 5 advisor, where she served as contest chairman, awards banquet chair, national site chair, professional relations chair and chairman of the insurance committee.

She has also served as editor of PANdora's Box and the subsequent PASIC (Published Authors Special Interest) newletter and has served as PASIC president. Currently, she's list owner for the PAN links.

"Often people ask me why I volunteer to do so many different kinds of things," Pat said. "The truth is, I get more out of what I do than RWA gets from me. I would go nuts if all I did was sit in my house and write. I need people contact, and I like being involved."

Those same motives have driven Pat to conduct workshops and to teach writing at the University of Houston.

In spite of all her professional "pulls," Pat finds time to walk every day with the "gray-haired army" at West Oaks Mall at 6:45 a.m.

And she and her husband Dick, who have been married for 43 years, have a standing date every Friday. They go to an afternoon movie, followed by dinner out.

They also love to travel. This spring they will spend 17 days in France, with most of the trip focused on studying cooking in Provence.

Pat can be reached on the web at www.patariciakay.com and at www.specialauthors.com, both sites designed by Pat's youngest daughter who is a web designer at Shell Oil, in addition to having her own web designing business.

Though not currently contracted, Pay has a verbal go-ahead to do two more books with Berkley. "I hope we'll have a long, mutually beneficial relationship," Pat says of Berkley.