Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Lynn Hones to the blog today to chat about her newest release.  Lynn, can you please share with us a little about yourself?

Sure. I’m the mother of two beautiful children. I’ve been married to my husband for 24 years. I have two dogs, two cats, one hamster and one mouse that lives in my walls. Yikes.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

Yes. My first book was Bubbles the Bear and Dinkles the Duck at the age of nine or ten.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

I chew massive amounts of bubble gum while I write.

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

My latest book is called A Titanic Tale.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

I’m fascinated by the Titanic and the mingling of the rich and poor during that horrible night. Some people acted with such courage and some with nothing but selfish intent. My story is about a woman who cared only about herself and the curse put on her by a poor woman who witnessed her behavior.

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

I’m writing a story about haunted dolls. We’re all freaked out by old dolls, aren’t we?

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

Stephen King. He is a true artist.

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

Be persistent. It can get daunting. It can get very discouraging. But, if you’re a real writer, you’ll keep on keeping on.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list.

I’d like to go to Paris and Las Vegas. In that order.

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

Right now I’m writing so much that I don’t have much time for reading. I don’t like that at all because I love to read.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I want to thank you for having me here and also I’d like to add how much I love my publishers, Devine Destinies. They care very much about their authors and their readers alike. A great place to look for great reads.

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Books-n-Kisses is pleased to have Jillan Stone on the blog today.

Jillian, can you please share with us a little about yourself? Have you always wanted to be an author?

I think I have always been a storyteller, at heart. At one time, I thought my career trajectory would land me in film, but I am very happy with the turn it has taken into fiction writing. I was an art director in advertising before I decided to try writing novels, which I guess makes me a very visual writer! An Affair with Mr. Kennedy was my second complete manuscript and I was fortunate in 2010 to win the RWA Golden Heart for An Affair with Mr. Kennedy, plus I met my agent, Richard Curtis, at the RWA Nationals in Orlando.

Are you a plotter or a punster?

I’m a plotter, but I don’t have hard and fast rules about  plotting. And I don’t have a method, either. In fact, I never plot the same way twice.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

I suspect I have a lot of quirks, but I don’t recognize them as quirks. I try to always stop writing in the middle of a scene, even though I want to finish, because it makes it easier to jump back into writing the next day. Is that is more of a tip than a quirk?!

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

I’m excited to share my latest release from The Gentlemen of Scotland Yard series. A Dangerous Liaison with Detective Lewis is a fast paced road trip adventure, with the hero and heroine on the run from Edinburgh to London by train, velocipede, landship and submersible!

Amazon | B&N

Here’s the blurb:

WHEN FANNY Greyville-Nugent’s father suffers a gruesome death in the clutches of his own machine, mourning his loss is not the beautiful heiress’s only heartbreak. Scotland Yard is convinced he was targeted in a plot to halt the rise of industry, and Fanny’s former fiancé, dashing and dubious detective Raphael “Rafe” Lewis, has been assigned to the case.

For the estranged ex-lovers, bringing the notorious assassins to justice proves as tumultuous as quelling pent-up desires. Fighting peril and passion at every turn of a dangerous journey from Edinburgh to London, they are pursued by an anarchist group hell-bent on destroying her father’s mysterious entry into the London Industrial Exposition.

When an astonishing discovery about the couple’s failed engagement surfaces, the sleuthing duo realize they can trust no one. Rafe confesses new details about his infidelity and Fanny risks all to avenge her father’s murder. But will Rafe and Fanny triumph over the pain of their past?

How did you come with the idea for this story?

As a film student, I studied all of Alfred Hitchcock’s work and I particularly admire the romantic suspense films: Rear Window, North by Northwest, and To Catch a Thief. Thrills, chills, adventure––perhaps there’s a mystery to uncover, or a villain to capture, but at the story’s core, there is a love story.

I had an idea that was based on a villain and his small private army of minions who are essentially anti-progressives. In 1887 England, that meant that they were anti-industry, anti-machinery, anti-invention. Today they would be anti-technology. I then came up with a string of grisly murders and a beautiful industrial heiress whose father has just been killed by one of his one machines––accident or murder? Scotland Yard suspects the darker of the two and sends a detective up to guard the young heiress. Then I added a complication for the romance––Rafe and Fanny have a past.

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

At this very moment, I am writing the third book for the Phaeton Black series for Kensington and synopses for the next three Gentlemen of Scotland Yard novels for Pocket!

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

I was having dinner with my editor at RWA12 and who should stop by to say hi? Nora Roberts! I think I went all fan girl­­ on her––really embarrassing!

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

Write what you love. Write everyday. Learn to be your own best editor. The moment you finish one book, start another. Keep writing as you market your previous manuscript.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list.

Travel. Anywhere and everywhere. And especially volunteer vacations through the Peace Core!

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

Anna Randol’s Sins of a Virgin, Heather Snow’s Sweet Deception, Kristen Callihan’s Moonglow, Tessa Dare’s A Lady by Midnight.

What is one book everyone should read before they die?

To Kill a Mockingbird

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I enjoyed the interview, thanks Kelly!

Thanks for being here Jillian!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jillian has given me an advance copy of A DANGEROUS LIAISON WITH DETECTIVE LEWIS.
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Hi Joan,

Thank you for taking the time to stop by the blog for your Intimate Enemies blog tour.  Since I know you are a little busy with the new release of Intimate Enemies and preparing for Blaze (bk2 release 9.25.12).  What do you say we do a quick speed round quiz?

Joan:  Shoot

Kelly:  Ready

Joan:  M14

Kelly: Set

Joan:  Hollow point ammo

Kelly: Go…..

Dark Chocolate or Milk Chocolate

Joan: Milk, definitely!

Dirty Dancing or Grease

Joan: Dirty Dancing. Hooooooooooot!

Doritos or Ruffles

Joan: Ruffles, who needs all that orange stuff all over your fingers? Well, unless one of my heroes would be licking it off…then, I change my answer to Doritos.

Angels or Demons

Joan: Demons – love me a bad boy.

Beach or Mountains

Joan: Oooo, tough one. I’ll say trade off six months of the year at the beach, six months in the mountains.

Boxers or Briefs

Joan:  Boxer briefs. J I love that question!! (Because I like being difficult!)

Chest hair or bare

Joan:  Either as long as we’re not talking Gorilla Man here.

Teague or Rio

Joan:  That is just WRONG!!

Kelly:  *evil grin*

E-book or Paper

Joan:  Audio. J

Summer or Winter

Joan:  Where? Where I live, I’ll take Fall and Spring. J

80’s music or 90’s music

Joan:  Was there any decent music in the 80’s?

Goonies or Gremlins

Joan:  WTF are Goonies? That’s a trick question isn’t it?

Kelly: *jaw drops*  WHAT??? You don’t know what a Goonie is????

The Lost Boys or Interview with a Vampire

Joan:  *looks right* *looks left* No idea what you’re talking about. *shrugs* But if the Boys are hot and older than 12, I’ll volunteer to go find them!

Pizza or Hamburgers

Joan:  Pizzaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

Beer or Wine

Joan:  Margarita, fruity, blended, sugar rim…didn’t we talk about this already?

Kelly:  Thanks Joan for stopping by the blog.  What do you say we give the readers a little peck at Rio & Cassie?

Joan:  Oh, yes! Lets!

Intimate Enemies

Covert Affairs #1

A ring sounded somewhere behind him. He reached back and pulled his phone from his jeans.

Cassie’s mouth dropped open. “You made love to me with a phone in your pocket?”

The smile that broke out over his face could have lit the room. “At least it wasn’t my gun.”

He leaned in and kissed her before he answered the phone.

The voice coming over the other end of the line, while muffled, clearly wasn’t speaking English. Or Spanish. And Rio’s smile went flat.

“Good,” he said. “Keep me posted.” He disconnected and slid the phone back into his pocket.

“I have to get things ready for the party. Are you joining us tonight?”

She sighed. “I haven’t decided yet. But either way, I’ve been strictly instructed not to make trouble for you, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Really.” His eyes narrowed. “Who do I have to thank for that little bonus?”

“A friend in San Diego.” She watched closely for any reaction. “The friend I mentioned at the clinic.”

It took a second for Rio’s mind to travel back, pinpoint the conversation, identify the friend. But Cassie saw the moment it registered. Only, no reaction showed in his expression—just a slight tic beneath his left eye, something she’d never seen before.

Rio said nothing. He just pulled her into him for a long, deep, hot kiss. And even with all the turmoil on her mind, she found she could lose herself in him.

She rolled back and tried to pull him on top of her, but he resisted. “Please? Just for a minute?”

“I don’t want to…upset you.”

With her fingers curled in the waistband of his jeans, she pulled his hips toward her. “I don’t recall being upset earlier.”

His arms wrapped around her, and he slowly turned into her. “You’re going to make me late, Christo.”

She parted his shirt so the muscles of his chest and belly pressed against her. Opened her legs and wrapped them around his hips on a sigh. Skimmed her fingers through his thick, soft hair.

“I know the boss.” She kissed him. “I’ll put in a good word for you.”

He laughed. Trailed kisses across her jaw, down her neck. “God, you are heavenly, baby. Heavenly.”

Cassie memorized the feel of him. Their fit—physically, mentally, emotionally.

“I could love you,” she whispered, and his mouth froze on her collarbone. “So easily.”

He lifted his head. “Why do I hear a but in there?”

“You know why. Because I don’t have one hundred percent Rio here. Because I don’t know who Rio really is. You have all of me, but…how much of you do I have?”

He pressed one hand against her face, kissed her deeply, then said, “You have everything that’s important.”

 

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Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Natalie Anderson to the blog today.  Natalie can you please share with us a little about yourself

Firstly thanks so much for having me here!  Hmmm, what can I tell you about me… I live in New Zealand, in a city called Christchurch (you may have heard of it in recent times as we’ve had a series of devastating earthquakes). I love New Zealand (it really is Lord of the Rings beautiful). And I love Christchurch especially—it’s my home town, and while it’s hard to see it in its current state—most of the central city/CBD is being demolished, there are just acres of empty spaces now where whole blocks of buildings once were—I want to stay and see it rise strong again. I live here with my husband and four kids. The kids are under ten years and include a set of twins. They’re all gorgeous and maddening and delightful. We’re pretty busy but it’s lots of fun. I travelled a bit in my early twenties (met the Hubster in London actually) – and I still have the bug really… it’s just in hibernation while we get through the ‘school’ years! I love writing, I love reading, I love the movies and I love my regular coffee date with my best girlfriend—we’ve been best buds since we were six… so that’s a fair number of years of friendship now!!!

Have you always wanted to be an author?

Pretty much! I wrote stories as a kid, was sent to a young authors conference when I was eleven or twelve, got waylaid by the ballet bug for a while, then mucked around at university not knowing what I really wanted to do (or thought I could). So I studied my favourite subjects (English Lit, Music, Art History) and ended up doing a Masters in Library & Information Systems – and then worked in law libraries and corporate banks. But the yearning to ‘create’ always, always burned—and it was always going to be writing.

Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?

Peace! I have four young children and I really can’t write with them around (not awake anyway!). This year has been so great because for the first time in the five years since I sold my first book I finally have my own office!!! We’ve put a small ‘shed’ in the garden (across a tiny creek we have). It was a kitset shed from Sweden and it’s the cutest thing. It looks like a gingerbread house or something. All wood and lovely. And it’s all mine! The neighbours thought we were putting in a playhouse for the kids but actually it’s MY playhouse! The kids are banned 😉 And happily our wireless internet connection doesn’t extend that far from the house so I cannot get distracted!!!

Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

I love the days when I’m sitting there grinning at the screen like an absolute loon, with the words just flowing and being fun and … easy! I can get such a high from that. But some days, the real slog days where the story just isn’t going where you want it to, or it all seems flat… they can be so hard. But you just have to push on through! And this last year has taught me how much external things—things going on in other parts of your life—can really effect your writing and what you’re able to write. So that’s definitely been a challenge for me in recent times.

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

WAKING UP IN THE WRONG BED – is a Harlequin Presents Extra, out in August. Here’s the blurb:

When film location scout Ellie Summers sneaks into a colleague’s hotel room with seduction in mind, she’s thrilled by her own daring!



But the smug morning-after glow morphs into red-faced mortification when she wakes in the arms of a total stranger! Ruben Theroux might be fine with the situation, but a flustered Ellie most definitely is not.



Ellie’s only defence against this very attractive guy is to insist they’re friends only–strictly no benefits! But Ruben isn’t a successful businessman for nothing–they’ll be good together, and he’s happy to play dirty to get what he wants….

 

How did you come with the idea for this story?

I really wanted to do a ‘wrong bed’ story—it’s such a fun and ‘naughty’ trope and I really wanted to see if I could get it to work in a believable way. I really wanted to figure out a way where she wouldn’t realise that it was the wrong guy—so she couldn’t know the guy’s body already (but then why is she jumping him in the middle of the night?), maybe they don’t talk much, and why does he let it happen? There were just so many delicious challenges to work through—and I had such fun doing it. And I loved flipping things around in the ‘morning after’ scene. And what happens after she’s walked away? Yeah, it was a lot of fun J

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

I’m working on a couple of things at the moment but I think my next release (hopefully it’ll be out very soon) is a novella featuring a heroine who’s desperate to ‘do the right thing’ for an important client, only she falls in the path of her client’s very sexy but skeptical older brother. Said brother will do whatever he thinks is required to protect his family and that includes bargaining with our beautiful heroine. This is the first in a trilogy of novellas that’ll eventually be out in an anthology titled FLIRTING TO WIN.

 

Who are some of your favorite authors?

I always find this question SO hard!!! My absolute fave ‘comfort read’ author is Georgette Heyer—I never tire of her Regencies no matter how many times I read them. She wrote some fabulous heroines—great, strong, witty women. And then those guys she created?! Yeah. I can never go past Heyer.

Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style? 

I guess my style is naturally influenced in a way—because we often write what we love to read. I love to read dialogue and that’s something I’m always working on. I love really getting to know the characters through the things they say and how they say them.

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

I’m very lucky to have a couple of wonderfully supportive writing buddies—Nicola Marsh and Soraya Lane—both of whom also write for Harlequin. Both have released other projects recently. Nicola has a contemporary romance out with Entangled called “Not the Marrying Kind” while Soraya has a YA that she’s put out called “Change”. I can’t wait to read both these books as soon as I get my current wip into shape!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thank you so much for having me here today! And I’d love to give away a signed print copy of WAKING UP IN THE WRONG BED to one commenter—so please say hi to go into the draw!!!

You can find out more about my other releases on my website http://www.natalie-anderson.com  and be sure to sign up for her newsletter there as I love to give away subscriber only eTreats!

I’m also on Twitter @authornataliea and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authornataliea

Waking Up In The Wrong Bed is available from

Amazon  | Barnes & Noble

And will be on the shelves in bookstore from Mid-August

To Enter:

Please leave Natalie a comment or questions along with your email address

*giveaway ends Aug 7th*

I’m holding a contest for the hosts of my book tour. The host with the most commenters will receive this gorgeous rhinestone studded, hand decorated book bag crafted by Tina Garcia of Blingitude.com. Come on everyone! Let’s get in the game!

 And before you feel left out, there’s something for the commenters too. Details of the contest are below. 

 

Sheri, Can you please share with us a little about yourself

Hi Kelly, thank you so much for having me here today.

Before I became a writer, I worked as a Communications Coordinator (aka Secretary) in an engineering contractor’s office. It was great: 65 men, 3 women. It was as close to heaven as a single girl could get. Today, I write full-time, working my schedule around my family and our many daily ranch chores. I’m a “cowboy girl” — a girl who loves her cowboy — who lives on the scenic central coast of California where the weather is nearly always perfect.

My debut book is published through Ruby Lioness Press.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

I think I did; only I never knew it. I’ve always been a book reader, a habit inherited from my father. In high school, I learned people would pay me to complete their English writing assignments — naughty, I know. That carried into college when various members of the football team would ask for “help” with their Creative Writing assignments. Hey! It helped pay the bills. Wish I had kept some of those stories.

Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?

A typical writing day would start with dropping the kids off at school, coming home for a two-mile run, then heading for the barn to feed the animals so they’ll stay quiet. After a shower, I zip through my emails, and bounce from Triberr to Facebook. By this time, I’ve consumed two very large mugs of decaffeinated coffee (two sweeteners, lots of cinnamon-vanilla cream.

One thing I like to wear while writing is anything with a hoodie attached. You’ve heard of a dream catcher? Well, I swear the hood acts like my muse catcher and keeps my thoughts from wandering too far.

Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

Most challenging: Staying off Facebook, and the constant need to check my email. <Grin!> On a more serious note, one of my weaknesses is not allowing outside distractions to come between me and my precious writing time. Willpower makes all the difference. And let’s not get started on the marketing aspect.

Most Rewarding: Having my editor publicly say, “Your writing makes me feel like I need a cigarette. I don’t smoke…” That was a first and a personal best.

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

Remedy Maker is book one of the Centuar series, which revolves around mythic inhabitants of the modern day Boronda Forest.

Here’s a little blurb that best describes the story:

Man by day, Centaur by night, Rhycious is a remedy maker who needs his own healing.

He’s the royal physician, famous for his cures. War and posttraumatic stress disorder has broken his spirit, preventing him from finding true happiness. Then a direct order from the queen to investigate an uprising forces him out of his secluded cabin at the edge of the forest.

Patience is an optimistic, good-natured Wood Nymph who works as a mediator to ensure harmony within the Nymph sector.

Environmental pollution in the aquifer stream that feeds the taproot tree of her heart is slowly killing her. Resigned to the fact she will not live long, she sets out to discover the mysterious disappearance of her sister. Experience has taught her to deny herself the love of a male, but the gruff Centaur is different. He doesn’t push his expectations on her, only his healing nature.

When Rhycious loses his grip on reality, he believes his inability to control his disorder will drive Patience away. Nevertheless, desire flares, and Patience draws him close. Kidnapping and betrayal turn their mythic joint venture into a deadly bout.

Will their love endure when survival hinges on trusting each other?

Here’s a short excerpt to tease you with:

A tickle teased his neck again, but not from annoyance this time. He repeated the examination of her other arm. Tension curled tighter in his gut, suspicion spread like spilled wine.

Tilting her head with care, he pushed her dark brown hair from her smooth décolletage, sucked in a short breath, and froze.

“What is it? Snake bite?” Samuel raised the brass lantern higher and leaned over for a better view.

Rhy tapped his thumb against her neck. Designs a few shades darker than her natural color marred the creamy complexion. The millennia old skin formation carved its way into his painful memories. It started behind her ear, an inch wide at the hairline, and extended to the other side.

The words choked out of him. There was no use trying to hide his revulsion. “Wood Nymph.”

How did you come with the idea for this story?

Wish I could say a moment of utter brilliance came upon me, and without further adieu, I had my rough draft. Not quite the way it happened.

I took an online writing class, and the assignment was to put our character in a pitch-dark room and write from his/her point of view. Participants in the class turned in the same old rhetoric: people who were blindfolded, struck with blindness, in a cave, etc. I wanted something different, and somehow a centaur in hiding came to me.

Then I asked myself the all important question – what if…?

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

Absolutely! I’m currently writing two books — Book Two of the Centaur series tentatively titled Trolly Yours. The outline is complete and I’m digging in with all ten fingers to finish the book. The story involves a character with a huge ego named Aleksander, introduced in Remedy Maker. He meets the only mythic female in the Boronda Forest who isn’t fazed by his charms and good looks. Ooh-whee…and the sparks fly!

I submitted a short story called Portals of OZ for one of my publisher’s anthologies (Love Down Under) and had so much fun, I decided to write additional shorts for two more anthology calls. The short stories are based on the mythological character types I created for the Boronda Forest.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

In my personal library, you’ll find popular authors such as Cherry Adair, Sandra Hill, and JR Ward to name a few. I also have some new to me authors that have fast become my favorites such as Brenda M. Dyer and Leanore Elliot.

There’s so many, it’s hard to choose just a few to name.

Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style?

I hope so. I greatly admire the fearless characters of Tara Janzen, the humor of Sandra Hill, and original worlds of Jacquelyn Frank.

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

My To Be Read pile is taller than most small children! I have Leanore Elliot, Robert Sadler, Christine Feehan, and Jacquelyn Frank, to name a few. I also believe in reading new, upcoming authors, as well as my old standbys.

Fortunately, with my writing schedule and jam-packed personal life, I don’t have to wait for the latest release. By the time I finish a book, the next one is usually out.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

If you’re looking for a book that will take you away to a mythic world that might exist…

If you love hot guys with insatiable appetites who have a dash of vulnerability…

If you’re looking for a sensual read with the power to make you gasp…

This would be the book for you.

You can find me at these online locations:

Website |  Blogsite |   Facebook   | Twitter  |  Google+

I have a fabulous prize for one lucky commenter at each of my tour stops, so don’t forget to leave your email address! Among other goodies, your name will go into a drawing for the grand prize of a $20 Amazon gift card at the end of my book tour.

Good luck!

Can you please share with us a little about yourself

KT: I’m a loopy redhead who blogs and writes. I write under the name, KT Grant, and my books are GLBT and straight romance that are sexy, sweet and sometimes naughty.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

KT: I think I always have wanted to be an author. I always enjoyed writing poetry and short stories and soon my ideas evolved into longer stories. When it came to a point where all I wanted to do was write, that’s when I decided try and get published. And now here I am!

Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?

KT: Since I have a “day job”, I usually will get up around five in the morning to write and will try to write another hour or two hours when I get home at night. I do a majority of my writing on the weekends. I would say I spend twenty hours or more a week writing.

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

KT: My latest release is Alana’s Surrender, a short story that’s part of Decadent Publisher’s new erotic line, the Edge. This is the second story in my Good Vibrations series about the owner of a bar and the bartender there who lusts after the same woman who happens to be the lead singer of a cover band. She’s also attracted to both men, and one night after the bar closes, they all give into temptation, which leads to some hot times on a couch in an office for all three.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

KT: I have so many ideas rolling around in my head. Usually one will rise above all the rest and bother me to the point where I have to get the characters and the world I’ve created down on paper.

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

KT: I have a Lesbian Historical Romance based on the fairy tale, Cinderella coming out this month from Ravenous Romance called, Cinderella and the Lady. I also just sold another story to Decadent Publish for their 1Night Stand series. This one is called Island Pleasures and just like Alana’s Surrender, it’s a ménage romance where sparks fly on the beautiful Caribbean island of Grand Turk. Island Pleasures will be released this fall.

I would also like to write a third story for the Good Vibrations series. This time it would involve the bouncer of the bar and two women. It would be my first FMF and I plan on making it very steamy and hot.

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

KT: I just finished reading Tiffany Reisz’s The Siren and The Angel. She’s my new author addiction and I’m anxious to read the third book in the series, The Prince in November. I’m also a hard core JR Ward addict and I don’t know how I’m going to make it to March when her next book in her Black Dagger Brotherhood series comes out, her first M/M romance called Lover at Last.

I also have over 200 books in my TBR pile at home. One day it’s going to come alive and eat me.                                                                               

Links:

Website: ktgrant.com

Twitter: @katiebabs https://twitter.com/katiebabs

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kate.garrabrant

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5371939.KT_Grant

 

Can you please share with us a little about yourself

Mal: I write adrenaline-kicked romantic suspense. When my consuming passion for writing allows time, I enjoy reading, flower gardening, jamming with friends on my mountain dulcimer, and hiking in a nearby state forest (or in the mountains somewhere). I have three grown children and one granddaughter and reside with my own special hero in southeast Wisconsin where I juggle writing time with my freelance landscape design business

Every author’s bio I read starts out saying something like this: “I’ve been a ravenous reader since the age of six.”

Not me. Call me not a wiz-kid because as a child, I read, but I didn’t start reading books by the carload until I was a young adult. And I don’t devour books–as in reading two or three a day. I savor them by the half-carload and enjoy every morsel while analyzing the magic the author has produced to keep me turning pages.

Along the road to publication,, I have been blessed with help from many others–writers who give of their time to present workshops and seminars, especially those sponsored by Romance Writers of America and WisRWA, and classes offered at the University of Wisconsin Writer’s Institute, and by the generous authors of Mad City Writers.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

Mal: I’ve always had the urge to write, and my first romantic short story was the result of a seventh grade creative writing assignment–which was so long ago I don’t remember my English teacher’s name, but I remember it was the era of poodle skirts and saddle shoes–when I crafted the story of two star-crossed lovers reunited when the hero was freed from the Bastille Prison. Guess what we were studying in History at the time? The time span between writing my first romance story in junior high school and having my first romantic suspense novel published is a period of epoch proportions. I’m one of those overnight success stories that happened after decades of work and trying.

Over twenty years ago, my first-born daughter and I decided we could write a romance novel, and we had a lot of fun working jointly on creating two books. There’s still a place in my heart for those stories and characters. Later, we branched into writing our own novels, picking each other’s brains and critiquing for one another. If it weren’t for her support (she’s an awesome writer as well as a fabulous editor) I would never have reached my lifelong goal of becoming a published author.

What is your most interesting writing quirk?

Mal: I’m not really very quirky. Probably writing at any hour during the day, evening or into the wee hours of the A.M. is my quirkiest.

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

Mal: My latest book is my debut novel. Shadow of Deceit is a romantic suspense filled with non-stop action, hot and sexy characters, betrayal, smokin’ romance, and a thrilling plot. On the two-year anniversary of a car accident that robbed Shannon Riedel of her husband and infant son, a gunman breaks into her office and accuses her husband of swindling a half million dollars from him. When FBI agent Tony Crazaniak, an ex-Delta Force Operative with demons of his own, shows up to investigate, sexual heat sizzles. They collaborate to unearth secrets Shannon’s husband left behind—secrets connected to a terrorist leader Crazaniak has vowed to take down. With danger surrounding them, two emotionally wounded souls bond, but can they put their demons to rest and trust in love? Can they survive long enough to find out?

How did you come with the idea for this story?

Mal: This story has been re-written so many times, I don’t remember how I originally came up with the idea.

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

Mal: I’m currently working on another romantic suspense involving a Lieutenant Deputy Sheriff and his “off limits” new recruit. Too Sexy For His Stetson is set in the mountains of Idaho.

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

Mal: Since I am a big fan of Suzanne Brockmann, I’d really enjoy meeting her. Maybe some of her magic would rub off?

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

Mal: Follow your dream. Write every day. And never give up.

Can you share with us something off your bucket list.

Mal: Travel to Australia.

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

Mal: I loved Trish McCallan’s Forged In Fire, so I can’t wait until her next release.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Mal: Thank you so much for inviting me to Books n Kisses today. Readers, be sure to join in with any questions or comments you may have. One lucky commenter will win a $20.00 Amazon gift certificate at the end of my Sizzling Hot Blog Tour.

Check out my website www.malolson.com for two free short stories ~ Me and Brad-edge of the heart romance with a canine twist. And a Danger Zone ~ Are two strangers destined to become kindred souls when they survive a rock n’ roll landing on an icy Milwaukee runway and chase a could-be terrorist into the danger zone? Both are both also available at Amazon, B & N and most ebook retailers.