Interview & giveaway with Morgan Kelly

Books-n-Kisses is super excited to have Morgan Kelly on the blog today to chat a little about life and her new book Midnight in Your Arms. 

Morgan, can you please share with us a little about yourself

My name is Morgan Kelly, and I’m a writer of various styles and genres of fiction, from Sci-Fi to Literary to Romance. I live in the Pacific Northwest of Canada in a tiny house on the Stave River with my husband and our menagerie of animals. Midnight In Your Arms (Avon Impulse, October 30^th) is my first romance novel, and I couldn’t be more thrilled!

Have you always wanted to be an author?

From the time I could write words with a pencil, I’ve used that ability to concoct stories. I don’t think there was a time in my life since then that I wasn’t a writer, so the progression from writer to published author always seemed completely natural,. So, the simpler answer is, yes! I’ve always wanted to be an author, the way I’ve always wanted to keep breathing!

Are you a plotter or a panster? And you explain the difference?

I am definitely more of a panster than a plotter, though I am learning to be a little more of a plotter than I used to be, for the sake of time and energy conservation.

As I understand it, a plotter needs a lot of structure when it comes to their writing projects—they need diagrams, charts, and concise plans of action. They need to know every detail in advance. I think of a panster as someone who flies by the seat of her pants, when writing—a silly pun that I think describes the panster ethos perfectly. They might begin with a character, or a line of dialogue, or a single scene around which they construct their entire novel, without knowing the outcome or even much of the plot before diving into the writing process. In fact, they feel as though too much structure and foreknowledge actually hinders and may even damage their ability to write. Plotters are very logical, whereas pansters are a bit more superstitious and organic in their approach.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

That I use the Pomodoro Technique to optimize my productivity, and therefore only need to write for 2.5 to 3 hours a day to produce 6,000-10,000 words. Look it up, folks! It really works!

Can you please tell us about your latest book(s)?

My latest book is called Midnight In Your Arms (Avon Impulse/HarperCollins), and it’s an eerie Gothic time-travel historical set in 1926 and 1866! The premise is that the heroine, Laura Dearborn, is a former WWI Western Front nurse with psychic abilities becomes a medium after the war to earn her living. All her life, she has dreamed about a ruined house clinging to a cliff over the sea, and had no idea that it was a real place. One day, she is visited by a solicitor who tells her that she has actually inherited the house she dreams about—Stonecross Hall. The twist is that the man who left the house to her in his will died 30 years before she was born! Laura goes to investigate the house and her connection to it, and falls in love with the ghost of Alaric Storm, her long-dead benefactor. How they find ways to be together is all tied up with the approach of All Hallows, the time of year when the veils between worlds disappear….

How did you come with the idea for this story?

I’ve always loved stories that are tied to a great and eerie house in the wilds of England—books like Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca, and The Little Stranger are like oxygen to me! So naturally I couldn’t help coming up with a ghostly love story in an English Manor House myself—and a story began to take shape in my mind that had to do with an abandoned house, a psychic, and a sexy ghost. When Avon put out a call for submissions for a Halloween romance that had to do with an abandoned house, I knew my opportunity to break into the romance genre had come. So I wrote my story over the space of two very hectic days, sent it in, and a week later I sold it to Avon! It was one of the most thrilling moments of my life.

Can you share with us your current work(s) in progress?

At the moment, I’m writing a story about a WWI governess who gets permanently stuck with her charges when a bomb kills their parents. The hero is their only surviving relative, an older half-brother who has inherited everything, including the children. The only problem is, he was injured in the war, shell-shocked, and secretly can’t remember who he is! Can our plucky governess and the two children she has sworn to protect help him find a way back to himself? I hope so, because if they can’t, I will have a pretty anti-climactic story on my hands! Ha.

Who is the one author that you would love to meet someday and why?

I would love to sit down to tea with Susanna Clarke, because she wrote what may well be my favourite novel of all time—Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It’s the perfect blend of the wit and charm of a19^th Century novel and a fantastical, gritty, violent fairytale/cautionary tale. There is nothing else like it, and I think Ms. Clarke must be one of the world’s most fascinating writers. I’d like to talk to her forever about folklore, myth, literature and arcane matters. We could totally nerd out together over scones!

What is the best piece of advice you would give to someone that wants to get into writing?

It is my personal opinion that there has never been a better time to be a writer. There are so many avenues by which a writer can get her work out there. My best piece of advice will always be this: If you want to write, don’t dream about it, DO IT! Sit down and WRITE! And FINISH what you write! Until you do that, no amount of dreaming will get you where you want to be. The simple truth is, writers MUST write, and they MUST FINISH what they write. Work towards that goal with complete bloody-mindedness. Remember that every writer you admire was once unpublished, staring at a blank page. It took an immense amount of self-discipline and hard work to get them where they are now. Writing is a dream job, but it isn’t easy! But if you really want to, you can do it!

Can you share with us something off your bucket list.

I really want to swim in the Bosphorus! Not across it or anything—just IN it!

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

Julie Anne Long’s new Pennyroyal Green book, A Notorious Countess Confesses, came out the same day my book did, and I can’t wait to read it!

What is one book everyone should read before they die?

Oh dear, that’s a tricky question! I could easily name one of my own favourite books, but I really feel like the answer is that I hope each and every person on earth manages to read the one book that explains the human condition to them so perfectly and with such grace and beauty that they die feeling perfectly understood and that it was all worthwhile.

What is your favorite time of year & why?

My favourite time of year is now! I love the leaves changing colour. I love getting out all the sweaters I knit over the summer and finally getting to wear them. I love those crisp, brilliantly sunny days where the whole world looks hyper-real against the sky, and the salmon are running in the river in front of my house. Everything is dying and getting ready to sleep so it can be reborn after Midwinter fades away. It’s a wonderful, magical, eerie time, and I love every minute of it. Halloween is my favourite holiday, made extra special this year with the release of my first romance novel.

Who is your Celebrity crush?  And what would you do if you ever meet them?

My celebrity crush has always been and will remain Christian Bale. I’ve loved him since I was five, and saw him in Empire of the Sun for the first time. He is one of the most gifted actors, with the ability, despite the fact that he is totally, singularly HOT, to disappear so completely into his character that I don’t see Christian Bale at all—I really do see only the character. I believe every moment of every scene he is in. And if I ever met him, I would tell him just that. And then melt into a puddle on the floor.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I am offering a giveaway! Leave a comment here (on the BnK post) and “Like” my Facebook Fan Page in order to be entered to win a copy of Midnight In Your Arms on Kindle or whatever e-format you like best! You can find me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/MorganKellyAuthor

Learn more about Morgan here:  Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | HarperCollins 

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Order here:  Amazon | B&N

For fans of Downton Abbey and readers of Jude Deveraux and Teresa Medeiros comes a brand-new tale of a love that dares to defy time itself…

When psychic Laura Dearborn inherits Stonecross Hall in 1926, she has no idea she’s inheriting a love story too-one that she’s lived again and again. But as Alaric Storm III, the handsome owner of the mansion from sixty years earlier, starts to haunt her waking dreams, Laura discovers her heart’s true home has always been within Stonecross’s walls.

Tormented by memories of war, Alaric Storm III is used to spirits-just not ones from the future. Set on fire by Laura’s ghostly affections, Alaric is forced to choose: follow his heart and grasp Laura’s hand through time, or surrender to the call of duty and live without love.

As All Hallows’ Eve draws near, Alaric and Laura must find a way to hold on to each other forever-or risk repeating their tragic romance until the end of time.