Tell us about yourself and how many books you have written.
I’m a mom first and foremost. I’m a do-gooder. I’m a self-improvement nut. I’m a java junkie (with half and half, please), Green Bay Packer fan, runner and newbie rock ‘n roll singer.
I love to have fun. But more importantly, I want to leave this earth in better shape than I found it–for my kids and for everyone’s’ kids. That fuels a lot of what I do.
This is my first book. But not the last. I’ve spent more decades than I want to reveal as a reporter. I covered small town politics, freelanced for bigger papers and then went to work covering the travel industry for trade magazines. No, it wasn’t beaches at sunset or snow-kissed mountaintop writing. It was business, marketing, technology.
I covered stuff we don’t always like to talk about –like human trafficking and the travel industry.
A lot of what I did was cover how the big guys try to the run the market. And I wrote how the little guys–mostly travel agents, who are mostly women and entrepreneur–were succeeding. A lot of David vs. Goliath stuff. So, yeah, you can see I’m for the people. It’s because I’m Irish and because, even though I live in New York City, I remain a hick from the sticks. So I’m for the little guy who can often be overlooked by the folks on the coasts. But I’m done being a reporter. Now, I am a full-time writer. A bit more on that in the advice-for-new-writers section!
Because I’m from a small town and a big family, I like to play. I love the outdoors. I love to move. So I do some kind of hardcore workout every day. Not because I’m disciplined, but because I’m addicted to exercise. My whole family is like that. We are all up running or power-walking at dawn. I like hiking–nature is SO good for us!-camping, skiing, biking, and stand-up paddle board. Earth is a playground for me! I want it to stay that way, so that’s one reason I volunteer with the New York League of Conservation Voters writing blog posts. I am their oldest intern!
What is the name of your latest book and what inspired it?
My book is “The Stranger Among You: How the Faith-Based Refugee Resettlement Movement is Shattering our Red and Blue Silos.”
Back in 2015, when I saw all those images of refugees pouring into Europe, I thought of my great-great-grandmother, a teenager who fled a starving Ireland with her widowed mother and a few of her big brothers. And of my daughters’ great grandmother, a 12-year-old who fled with her mom and brother and sisters across Siberia. Because they couldn’t go through Europe. World War I was in the way.
So I went to work helping refugees. And then so many people kept asking the church I was working with how we did it. I kept telling them, you need to write a book about this! And then I realized, ‘I’m a reporter! I should write it!’
So, I wrote this book! And I didn’t just write about the church and the synagogue that I was working here in New York, I wrote about the Southern Baptists, the Lutherans, the Mormons, the Methodists, and all those many people who were doing the same in the Bible Belt and a lot of red states. Because I found that this issue, which looks so divisive when you read the headlines, is actually a unifying one.
And I met a lot of wonderful and very thoughtful people, with big hearts and open minds. And–fun as well!
And I am hoping, now that we have all of these desperate migrants right on our own border, Americans will help them the same way we helped the refugees from Syria, the Congo, Myanmar, South America and more.
Do you have any unusual writing habits?
My favorite time to write–or at least get going on it– is first thing in the morning. First, though, I have to go for a run or do some really killer, heart-pounding workout, like Core Power Yoga Sculpt. Then I shower and have a kick-butt cup of coffee (in my Montana Coffee Traders cup–I love Montana ’cause one of my daughters lives there!) It really works best if I am up at 5:05 and out the door — either off to Sculpt class or on a run with our coonhound–before 5:30.
Then, a shower, get dressed (contacts in and make up on!) and that big jolt of java. I like to get going before my daughter (only one left at home now!) is up.
Then, once she is out the door (which is fast, she is an efficient kid!) it’s off to write–either at the New York League of Conservation Voters, or at my own desk, depending on the day.
What authors, or books have influenced you?
I have authors I love but I don’t feel that anyone influenced this book. It came from an impossible-to-deny drive within me to tell a story that major media were totally overlooking.
But, I love to read. My favorite book is “Pride and Prejudice.” It’s just utterly delightful. Aside from really killer fiction like “The Goldfinch,” I am really a history and biography nut. So that means that, of course, I am listening to Michelle Obama read “Becoming.” That book makes me love her even more. But I also adore Robert Caro and his blockbuster LBJ series. It’s really the history of America told through the prism of the life of one man. And I loved Jon Meacham’s “The Soul of America.” Since I’m a woman who has a life filled with joy but also challenges, I am a huge Brene Brown fan. Sometimes my bedside shelves hold all of her books.
What are you working on now?
Right now I’m working on marketing this book (which is why I am writing all of this for all of Awesome Gang’s awesome readers). Guess what. Marketing a book might be harder than writing it!
But I have a LOT of books in the works! One is about travel being an emotional journey as well a a geographic one. Another one is going to be a memoir, a fun one that manages to laugh at topics that can often make us weep. Life is filled with so much absurdity, you might as well grab every opportunity to laugh that you can. It’s going to cover some of my tough times and bad people I had to deal with, but mostly it’s going to be how all of that helped me grow–and how rock ‘n roll and extreme sports (well, extreme for ME) helped! A lot of other stuff helped, too, like wonderful friends and all of the great resources that are at our fingertips today.
What is your best method or website when it comes to promoting your books?
I am hoping that Awesome Gang is!
Do you have any advice for new authors?
I have two pieces of advice for new authors. First, join a writing group. I’ve only tried one, but it is great–Self Publishing School. You don’t have to use that one but here’s what you need to look for in any writing group:
Number one: community, because writing is SO solitary. Especially if you’re like me, a reporter used to busy news rooms and a mom used to working at schools with lots of people around. So it should have a really great Facebook page and some kind of regular online get-together.
The second thing to look for in your group: resources: SPS basically lays out a roadmap that starts with how to come up with an idea for your book and goes all the way through to marketing it! They provide wonderful resources like great editors, designers and more.
My second piece of advice: hire a life coach. It is SO hard for us women to do that! But it is really important for us to invest in ourselves. So finally, I am doing it! And it is SO worth it!
What is the best advice you have ever heard?
The best advice I’ve ever heard I was something my Core Power Yoga Sculpt instructor gave last week. “Lean in and let go.”
That’s lean into all the positives and opportunities before you. And let go of anything that isn’t helping you. I’ve really embraced that. It’s very helpful.
What are you reading now?
As I mentioned, I just finished “The Soul of America,” I’m listening to “Becoming,” and I’ve just begun reading “Young Washington,” by Peter Stark. It shows a very different Washington–cocky, ambitious and headstrong–than this wise and modest father of our country we picture today. He was so rash that he was the guy who sparked the French and Indian War that led to the Seven Years War in Europe. The fire was laid for both of those conflicts, Washington provided the match. It’s full of extreme adventure–weeks of riding or hiking in virgin wilderness, rafting (and falling into) icy waters and some pretty pitched and very ugly battles. If you like history, you’ll dig this. Oh, and I am also reading “Sarong Party Girls,” by Cheryl Tan, a friend of mine. It is HILARIOUS! And also thought-provoking. It’s set in Singapore and if you liked “Crazy Rich Asians,” you’ll love this book!
What’s next for you as a writer?
My next step is writing a memoir that will make you laugh and cry–and then turn it into a movie!
It’ll be about overcoming the odds, something every woman does every day. So even though it’ll be specific to my life, the lessons I’ve learned (many taught to me by others I sought out) should be universally applicable.
And, it’s set in New York, where I live, which means there is a LOT of opportunity for absurdity!
If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and allowed to take 3 or 4 books with you what books would you bring?
If I were stranded on a desert island, I’d bring a book about how to shoot flares to bring in rescuers!
More seriously, I would bring “Pride and Prejudice,” Robert Caro’s “Master of the Senate” and “Ascent to Power” and some book like “The Goldfinch.” Along with whatever book I am currently reading.
Author Websites and Profiles
Kate Rice Website
Kate Rice Amazon Profile
Kate Rice’s Social Media Links
Twitter Account