“Although disheartening, I am glad my agent pulled me back all those years ago,” says Katharine. And not exactly the sort of book she likes to read.Īn example of plans not working out the way we’d like – but sometimes better. Her original version was dark, gritty, violent, a political thriller. When she dug out her manuscript she’d tucked away – the one her agent didn’t like – Katharine winced. She had not let go of her American royal family concept. The next books in the series, The Dazzling Heights and The Towering Sky, are good, clean fun for young adult readers and older readers too – like me.Īs Katharine finalized The Towering Sky, she pondered what came next. Katharine explains it takes her a year or so to craft a book before she hands it over to her editors who help her fine-tune it for her audience.

And that contract insured her employment for the next few years. She provided the publishing house with “very short summaries” of what would happen in the remaining books. “I knew they would be a continuation, and I knew where the story would end,” Katharine says. When she signed the contract, the articulate, Texas-reared blond only had a few ideas for books two and three. That same agent did love this concept, and Katharine sold the futuristic novel to HarperCollins as a trilogy. Set among the floors of a towering skyscraper, where residents hop on super-fast transportation systems to reach homes, stores, parks, and schools, The Thousandth Floordetails a glamorous life 100 years in the future. Late into the nights, in the living room of her second floor Manhattan apartment, Katharine dreamed up an idea for a young adult sci-fi romance. As an assistant editor, she “developed and edited books the company hoped might translate to film or tv.” A good portion of her job involved the enviable task of reading books at all stages – from a one-page summary to a full draft – and passing on editing suggestions to the authors. In the meantime, the Princeton/Stanford grad plugged away at her day job in the publishing world.

“He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. “Who will read this? I don’t think people care that much about the royal family.”Ī devastated Katharine McGee took the manuscript from her agent and put it aside.

Katharine mcgee american royals