Today we’d like to introduce you to Kathryn Lane.
Hi Kathryn, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
After a wonderful international career in finance with Johnson & Johnson, I traded corporate boardrooms and airline travel for writing mystery novels. And I’ve never looked back! Moving from multinational finance to fiction has been an exciting adventure, allowing me to combine my love of other cultures, storytelling, and unforgettable characters that I’ve met along the way.
My years of traveling the world sparked my inspiration for setting my Nikki Garcia Mystery Series in exotic locations around the world. I’ve also used interesting locations for my coming-of-age books. If I need to revisit a location, I immediately jump on a plane to do on-site research. A case in point was “Revenge in Barcelona” where Nikki travels to Spain. Many years before my writing career, I’d fallen in love with Barcelona and the city itself seemed like the perfect place for a Nikki adventure.
During the writing of the novel, I visited Spain twice – once at the beginning of the novel and again at the end. After all, readers also travel and I work hard to make them feel they are re-visiting those locations.
My love of travel started when I was a child. I grew up in a small town in northern Mexico. My father traveled all over Mexico for business purposes and usually took my mother and me along. My mother homeschooled me, making our travel possible. At that tender age, I was amazed at the differences in food, customs, and landscape from one place to another. These themes continue to captivate me!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like any worthwhile journey, mine has come with its share of challenges.
During my international finance career, the privilege of traveling to other countries and learning about other cultures came at a personal cost. Being away from family and loved ones for long periods was never easy. Yet the times we were together became even more meaningful. The experience taught me that success is most rewarding when it is shared with the people who matter most.
When I decided to leave finance and pursue writing, I faced an entirely different challenge. Unlike many authors, I did not have a degree in English or literature. Spanish is my native language, although I have always been fully bilingual. I moved to Texas and enrolled in several writing courses to learn the craft. I began by writing poetry and short stories, experimenting with different forms until I discovered where my true passion lay.
Everything changed when I completed my first novel, Waking Up in Medellín. That experience confirmed what I had been searching for—I was meant to write mysteries. From that moment on, I knew I had found my literary home.
Of course, writing books is only part of the journey. The publishing world is highly competitive, and building a reputation as an author takes patience, perseverance, and resilience. There are no shortcuts. Every book, every reader, and every opportunity help to build a career one step at a time.
Today, it is especially gratifying to see my books reaching an even wider audience as they are being translated into Spanish. As a native Spanish speaker, sharing my stories with readers in both English and Spanish is deeply meaningful. It feels as though my professional and personal journeys have come full circle.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a fiction writer, I am passionate about the creative process and the opportunity it gives me to transport readers to places they may never have visited, introduce them to unforgettable characters, and invite them to experience lives very different from their own. Whether I am writing a mystery or a coming-of-age story, my goal is always the same—to entertain, inspire, and remind readers that every person has a story worth telling.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
I have learned that every event I have experienced has reinforced the value of sharing stories. Storytelling doesn’t have to mean writing a novel. It can be the stories shared around a campfire with young people, at the dinner table with family, or over a cup of coffee with friends. Those moments connect us, preserve memories, and help us to better understand one another.
But storytelling is never a one-way street. Throughout my life, I have been just as enriched by listening to the stories of others as I have by telling my own. The people I have met around the world have broadened my perspective and inspired me in countless ways. Their experiences, wisdom, and generosity have influenced both my corporate career and my life as a writer. Every conversation has the potential to teach us something, and every story we hear becomes part of our own journey.
One experience that profoundly shaped my life occurred when I was a young woman. After I married, I moved to the Australian Outback, far from my family and everything that was familiar to me. It was a challenging time. I was adapting to a new culture, living in remarkable isolation, and learning to navigate life on my own for the first time.
Looking back, I realize those three-and-a-half years were among the most formative of my life. They taught me self-reliance, resilience, and the confidence to face unfamiliar situations. Those lessons stayed with me throughout my international corporate career, where they helped me accept responsibility and embrace new challenges around the world. They have also sustained me as an author, reminding me that perseverance and adaptability are essential to any creative journey.
The Outback has never really left me. In fact, those years inspired my latest novel, Echoes from the River, a coming-of-age story woven together with a family mystery. Through its characters and setting, I was able to revisit a place that challenged me, changed me, and ultimately became an enduring source of inspiration. The novel will be released on August 17, 2026.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.kathryn-lane.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kathrynlaneauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kathrynlanewriter/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathrynLane13
- Other: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15096935.Kathryn_Lane?clear_facebook_session=true
