Featured Interview With Katerina Baker
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
I am a mother to two witty girls, a project manager at a large corporation in New York City, and a writer at night, the only time of the day when I can be sane while plunging my characters into insane situations.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I wrote my first book in middle school, although I doubt you’d be interested in reading it. Since then, I can’t remember the time I wasn’t writing.
I think most authors have these “voices” in their head that keep changing the outcomes of reality. For example, I am crossing a street and a huge ass SUV pulls up with tinted windows. I can hear arguments inside it and some female voice. I begin to imagine that the guy is an undercover cop who is pretending to be a driver of a mafia leader and the girl is the bad guy’s daughter who never stops bickering with her “driver”. A story forms in my head and then windows roll down and I hear baby’s cries. Turns out the woman is upset her husband woke up their son. Reality is sometimes mundane, but writers grasp onto some tiny inspirations thrown at them all around and create fiction that’s entertaining to read.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I’ve recently read and highly recommend Camilla Monk’s Spotless series. I love Camilla’s dark humor and voice, and this series will make up stay up reading and laughing. What can be more fun than a serial killer with an OCD paired with a nerdy IT programmer who loves romance novels?
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The Corner Office is a story of a thirty-something year old female executive and her journey to “achieve it all”: in career and personal life. It’s about the mistakes that she makes along the way, including her affair with her subordinate that almost destroys everything she worked for. He is very different from other men she is around: a tattooed biker who is intense and domineering in bed, he is set on pursuing her, and she is initially drawn to him.
But the novel is not just about work. The Corner Office is a fun, fast-paced story that centers around two characters who spent years hating each other and fighting. They are competitors in the office, but their feelings lie deeper than hate, and each of their interactions are explosive.
I wanted to layer in fun scenes and situations to offset topics that would be dry on their own. I threw Tara into awkward situations. For example, the guy she ends up having an affair with meets her on a bike, and she refuses to get on at first. She is wearing her work clothes: pencil skirt, tight shirt, high heels. There is a masturbation scene; here is a short excerpt:
A woman had other ways to satisfy her sexual cravings. Mine came in trendy silver, with an electronically operated, “modest-sized” device designed specifically for ”her” pleasure. It was there for me when I needed it, it didn’t require any work on my part to get it ready, and it didn’t ask to rank our latest adventure when we were done. “Tara, sweetie, how was it? I feel like this one was at least a solid eight.” My Adam & Eve had a bit more common sense than that.
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