Books-n-Kisses is super excited to welcome Erin Kellison to the blog today.
1. Can you please share with us a little about yourself
Hi everyone! I’m Erin Kellison. Nice to meet you all. I write contemporary dark fantasy romance, with a twisted take on fairy tale. I’m generally a little twisted myself, though in day-to-day life I appear to be a mild-mannered mom of two little ones. I share my office with Henry the hamster, who drives me insane when he runs on his wheel.
2. Have you always wanted to be an author?
Yes! I asked for a typewriter for Christmas when I was in fourth grade, but never got much further than typing the title. I always have a story going on in my head, and have been known to make them up about strangers I see at stoplights or at adjacent tables in restaurants.
3. Can you share with us your typical writing day. Is there anything you have to have while writing?
My typical writing day begins with waving bye-bye to the little ones. I hit my email and social networking first, usually quickly, and then dive into the current work in progress. (Okay, that’s a lie. I also check blogs, celebrity gossip, read, debate shoes at zappos, snack, and nap.) I need snacks when I write. I’m pseudo-healthy in my selections, but after lunch usually break down and go for the chocolate.
4. Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?
It’s a challenge to make myself stay focused on the WIP. Sometimes I’m restless with the words. Sometimes a plot point won’t cooperate. Sometimes I’m cheating on the story with the Shiny New Idea. But most often, I am lured to the time-suck of the Internet. I used to have my husband shut off all online access to the house (not kidding), but now I use a program called Freedom, which allows me to shut off my laptop’s access for a specified amount of time.
The best thing is getting lost in a scene, so excited that my fingers can’t keep up with what I want them to type. I love those scenes. I love to see the story unfold. I love the high moments and lows. I love the craft of it. I love working out my structure. I love the moment when a character becomes more than my initial construction. And I love when the story gives me ideas, what I think of as gifts, that I had not dreamed of upon setting out.
5. Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?
My latest book, Fire Kissed, comes out July 1 and is book one in a new series based on my Shadow world. But my latest release is a novella, Shadow Play, which comes out April 24. It’s a stand alone, but the characters were introduced in Shadow Touch (the first novella). Here is the blurb:
Shadow
The world is growing dark with it as mysteries from antiquity and legend creep into our time, bringing a new world of danger, beauty and…
Magic
Dr. Cam Kalamos has dedicated his life to studying its strange properties, but nothing is more intriguing than a woman whose soul is split in half, one part under her control, one part bent on…
Seduction
How can he resist the lure of a lover with no inhibitions and an insatiable desire to possess him? Both Ellie and her shadow want Cam, but there is an innocent child to be rescued from the forest and the strange fae creatures of…
Twilight
Love, loyalty, betrayal – which will rule? As Ellie sends her other self into the darkness, there is only one certainty: Trusting in shadows is a dangerous game.
Fae Fire
It is Kaye Brand’s power to wield. But outcast from her kind, she’s been selling herself to the highest bidder—money for her survival in exchange for a magic glimpse into the flames of the future.
Angel Ice
One of the angelic Order, Jack Bastian has no use for a female like Kaye, as provocative and unexpected as her blazing beauty. Yet he has no choice but to hire her to uncover the secrets of his sworn enemy and her former fiancé, Ferrol Grey.
Magekind
War is inevitable between the defenders of the Order and the mage Houses who threaten to engulf the world in Shadow. For Jack, mage-born Kaye is off limits, no matter how hot the impossible attraction between them. But in the coming darkness, beset by danger and desire, everything is about to change.
It is Kaye Brand’s power to wield. But outcast from her kind, she’s been selling herself to the highest bidder—money for her survival in exchange for a magic glimpse into the flames of the future.
Angel Ice
One of the angelic Order, Jack Bastian has no use for a female like Kaye, as provocative and unexpected as her blazing beauty. Yet he has no choice but to hire her to uncover the secrets of his sworn enemy and her former fiancé, Ferrol Grey.
Magekind
War is inevitable between the defenders of the Order and the mage Houses who threaten to engulf the world in Shadow. For Jack, mage-born Kaye is off limits, no matter how hot the impossible attraction between them. But in the coming darkness, beset by danger and desire, everything is about to change.
6. How did you come up with the idea for this story?
My Shadow series explores the idea that Shadow (capital S) is magic and that it is seeping back into the world. While I was writing those books, I thought a lot about shadow and its different permutations. I wondered what it would be like if a person’s shadow were able to move and act independently of their body. Eleanor Russo, my heroine, was born. Her shadow is the personification of her id—it acts on impulse and primal desires. Ellie has to contend with this deepest, darkest part of herself. Luckily, she’s found a man, Cameron Kalamos, who understands and is in awe of her split existence. They meet in ShadowTouch, the first novella in the series. And in Shadow Play, they team up to find a young boy who has been lost to the faery world.
7. Can you share with us your current work in progress?
I’m working on Shadow Hunt, the third novella in the series, which follows the romance and development of Ellie and Cam as a kick-ass team. The third installment is shaping up to be a dark, sexy, dangerous ride. I’m having a lot of fun with it.
8. Who are some of your favorite authors?
I have a million favorites, from Jane Austen to Lois McMaster Bujold to Karen Marie Moning to Patrick Rothfuss to Stephen King. I tend to lean toward genre fiction over the literary stuff (which I studied in college). I love them all, and further, I am so grateful for their amazing characters and stories. I don’t know what my life would be like without them.
9. Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style?
I like fast reads, propelled by strong characters. And I owe many authors a huge thank you for so many great examples of pacing and character arcs. Often I will stop in a book and curse at an author’s brilliant technique and then try to discover the building blocks of how that particular moment came together. Every book is different, so I don’t think that there is a direct transfer, but I know trying to get an idea of the inside of the construction and voice and power of a great book has made me a better writer.
10. What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?
My TBR… Hmmm… Actually it’s full of YA. I have one of those Shiny New Ideas and I’m immersing myself in that subgenre for a while. I recently finished Jenna Black’s Glimmerglass and Dan Well’s Partials(both awesome). I’ve got Brenna Yavanoff’s The Replacement right here. I’m itching to start both Leanna Renee Hieber’s Darker Still series and Jaime Reed’s The Cambion Chronicles series. I’m currently reading Sean Cumming’s Poltergeeks. I know my kindle is loaded as well (bwahahahaa). I eat books, buy a ton at once (I should own my local B&N), so this summer will be a blast of good reading.
11. Is there anything else you would like to add?
Yes! I’ve got a freebie and a giveaway! I dipped my toes into SF romance this year with the Hotter on the Edge anthology.
It’s a 4 1/2 stars—Top Pick from Night Owl Reviews: “HOTTER ON THE EDGE is an exceptional trio of Sci-fi romance novellas… Creativity, strong characters and interesting plots make this one a winner.” My story is “All That Glitters,” and here is the blurb:
Cheated out of a fortune by the Sol royal family, lowborn Simon Miner will do anything to get his revenge, no matter how ruthless. When Princess Mica Sol, a terraforming expert, is shot out of the sky on the way to her sister’s lavish wedding, she fears the worst—scavengers—and flees into an alien jungle to avoid capture. But the man who pursues and captures her is none other than Simon, her former lover. Passions reignite as violence rocks Sol City, and Simon and Mica must fight for love, family, and their world… or lose everything.
It’s available free at Smashwords in all e-formats with promo code UW37U.
AND….
I’m offering a set of my Shadow series (Shadow Bound, Shadow Fall, and Shadowman) to one lucky commenter who tells me the title of their favorite book ever.
AND x2…
I’ll be giving away a Kindle Fire soon, so make sure to “like” me on FB for details. You can also find me at:
It would have to be Gone With The Wind since its the only book I have read multiple times 🙂
Please enter me in contest. I would love to read this book. It sounds very good. Tore923@aol.com
my Fave book is OUTLANDER
My fav as of right now is Beautiful Disaster.
yadkny@hotmail.com
WHICH favorite book?! LOL…there are soooo many. Ok, the first one that pops into my head is Pleasure Unleashed by Larissa Ione…Wraith is my hunky hero…sigh, a bad boy with a heart of gold (but don't tell HIM that)!
There are so many but I'd have to choose Bet Me by Jennifer Crusie.
e.balinski(at)att(dot)net
Thanks for the fantastic post and giveaway! I'd have to say that my fav book is usually the one I'm reading right now… lol… But… one that I've always like since I was a wee girl, lol, was Anne of Green Gables. I luuuuuved that book and have reread it a large number of times 🙂
I have to Series that are my faves The Makers Song Series by Adrian Phoenix and The Other World Series sometimes called Sisters of the Moon Series by Yasmine Galenorn. And this series sounds very intriguing so fingers are crossed for this win.
My favorite now was Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
Thanks for the great interview ladies, I really enjoyed reading it. I already own your three books, but a signed copy would be awesome of course!
My favourite book, pfff. Narcissus in Chains by Laurell K. Hamilton. A turning point in the series in my opinion.
Great interview! I'm really looking forward to reading Fire Kissed! My favorite book is Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. Thank you for the giveaway!!
My favorite book of ALL time is K. Moning's "Shadowfever". Love Barrons and all of the characters actually. It's action packed, unpredictable and full of WOW!
~Ava~
Dragonlady029 @ aol.com
I already have signed copies so don't need to be in the drawing… but anything written by you… and The Swan Thieves by E. Kostova And works by E. A. Poe
*Carole*
Mine would be Pleasure Unleashed because Wraith is SO much fun. He's my book boyfriend. Since this book was already mentioned my second favorite would be Rachel Vincent's ALPHA. I just totally relate to Faythe and Rachel did an excellent job with keeping it real emotionally. Thank you.
vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com
My fav book is Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews.
I have way to many favorites. One is Justice by Laurann Dohner. 🙂 Thanks!
My fav is Brandon Sanderson's Elantris tho Thea Harrison's Dragon Bound is a close second!
I'm looking forward to Fire Kissed, as to my favorite book? Oh that's hard, I have so many, The Shining by Stephen King, which I think I've read 30 times in the 20 years since I first read it.
My favorite is very hard as there are many that love and go back and reread every year or so just to visit with the characters again before the next installment in a series is out. I am going to pick one that I visited many times and it is by Laurel K. Hamilton, Narcissus in Chains this seems to have been such a pivotal book in the series. I am certainly looking forward I am certainly looking forward to continuing the Shadow series. I have Shadow Touch and really enjoyed it.
Hi! My fav book would be Bound to the Prince by Deborah Court!!! Thanks for this chance 🙂
Proserpine @ Proserpine Craving Books
Pride and Prejudice
Wow, favorite book ever?? That's so hard to pick-I love so many. I'd have to select Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning.
mljfoland AT hotmail DOT com
As a kid my favorite book was Dealing with Dragons, the whole Enchanted Forest series really. But it was this book that started me on my love of fantasty.
Shadows, never thought much of them. Though you sure have! Great idea to make into a story.
My favorite book as of now is Tempted by Elisabeth Naughton. It is the 3rd book in her Eternal Guardian Series. I love the H/H and their interaction. Thank you for the giveaway!
Great interview! This looks like a great series. 🙂
I think my all time favorite is Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon.
I have so many favorites that it is really impossible to pick my favorite, favorite. But, I'd have to say To Kill A Mockingbird. I think it was brilliantly written and was followed by a movie that did it justice.
MJB
msmjb65 AT gmail DOT com