Books-n-Kisses is pleased to have 1st time guess Kim Law on the blog today to chat a little about her day to day life and her newest release CAUGHT ON CAMERA

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

Sure! I’m a converted cubicle rat…once a computer programmer, now sitting at home writing romances full time. I have dogs and cats and hairballs underfoot at any given time. Oh, and the husband, too.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

As far back as I can remember!

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

My typical day is still taking shape. I just quit my day job a few weeks ago, then was out of town, had a release come out, and just generally haven’t had normal yet. So really, I’m not sure what my writing day is going to consist of, but I sure hope it falls into place soon as I have a lot of deadlines looming!

Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

Oh goodness…the most challenging is getting new words down on the paper. I am the worst procrastinator when confronted with the tasks I don’t like, and I HATE writing new words. I love having written them, and I love editing them. But it pains me greatly to have to get them out of me the first time.

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

CAUGHT ON CAMERA is my debut novel. It’s a sexy, contemporary romance about a wealthy, well-known, soon-to-be politician who sets his eye on a lovely camera lady. Only she will do anything to stay out of the spotlight with him! Yet…she doesn’t 😉

How did you come with the idea for this story?

I was looking around, trying to come up with something “current”, something that you might see in the real world, and the idea for the story occurred to me. I wanted to see what it might be like for someone on the “other side” of a scandal. The innocent person.

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

Sure! I’m working on a new book. It’ll be a sexy contemporary, too, only it’ll come out in episodes instead of all at once. It’s a Kindle Serial, and should start releasing in January. I also have a December release coming out called SUGAR SPRINGS. It’s a small-town contemporary about second chances and redemption, with loads of emotions.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

Oh, I have a lot, but here are a few: I love Susan Mallery, Jill Shalvis, Robyn Carr, Stephanie Bond, Victoria Dahl, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Jennifer Crusie, and of course Nora. I’ll read pretty much anything those ladies put out!

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

I’m not sure if they’ve inspired it, exactly, but I do feel like I’m a blend of a lot of them. I write what I love, so it’s only natural for my writing to incorporate the qualities I love most about those other writers. But hey…maybe that qualifies for inspiration J I’m not sure!

Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening.

Oh fun! OK. I opened it and Vega, my heroine, has just found out that if she does not get the interview of JP that she’s after (and he’s highly resisting), then she is definitely losing her job!

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

I haven’t bought it yet (but only because I know I’ll read it immediately and I’m supposed to be writing), but I’m dying to read Nora’s third brother’s book in the Inn Boonsboro trilogy. Those books are so good!!! It’s called, The Perfect Hope.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Only that I’d love to give away a copy of CAUGHT ON CAMERA to one of your readers! I’ll gift a Kindle version to whoever you pick for me J Oh! And if they check out my website, they’ll find another giveaway, this one for a Kindle Paperwhite (or eCard equivalent)!!! That contest runs through November.

 Learn more about Kim here:

Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads |Website

  

B&N | Amazon

Scandal meets seduction when America’s golden guy falls for a woman with secrets.

Beautiful Vega Zaragoza learned the hard way that sex and the spotlight don’t mix. Now the former model makes her living behind the camera, working as a videographer to escape public scrutiny. But when Vega gets a shot at her dream job, one that puts her back in the public eye, she must choose: continue to play it safe or gamble everything to go toe-to-toe — and heart-to-heart — with the city’s most eligible bachelor.

JP Davenport is the golden boy of American politics, rumored to be the governor’s first choice for Georgia’s open senatorial seat. Charming and gorgeous, he is also fiercely private, with a string of romantic conquests a mile long. Now he wants to add Vega to their ranks. And he will do anything to have her. Vega should know better than to trust a man like him. But kiss by heated kiss, she discovers this man may be worth the risk.

To Enter for a chance to win an Amazon copy of Caught on Camera answer this question for Kim

What some of their favorite authors are and why!

And make sure to leave your email address
*NO EMAIL. NO ENTRY* 
Contest Ends 11/25

 

Books-n-Kisses is excited to have Stephanie Queen on the blog today to chat about her newest book “The Hot Shots”

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

I’m just a girl with a crown living the romance novelist dream!

Also, I love chocolate, football, funny romances, sappy romances, action-adventure romances…(you get the picture).  Oh, and I like to kid around.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

As a child, my dream was to be a princess. I’ve graduated since then. To keep up my fantasy—err—Queendom, I write novels.

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

First things first – I wake up. Who needs an alarm. I have a cat.

Then words leap from my brain onto my computer. Sure.  Too bad I don’t write Sci-Fi.

If it’s before 10am there are no words in my brain to leap anywhere. The only thing in my pre-coffee brain is dust. Fuzzy dust.

So I have coffee. In my royal cup. It has a crown on it.

Meanwhile, I dress in my royal robe and slippers, wave hello to the subjects below as I pass by the balcony on my way to the royal dining table.

While I fill up on coffee and my brain begins to buzz to life, I watch the news. One must keep up with one’s current events. Plus, you never know what might catch your eye and inspire a novel. (Of course, this would work better if I was not tuned to the cooking channel).

Then I write.  While lounging on my pink velvet divan with my laptop on my lap and a box of chocolates nearby. Hey, it’s breakfast.

After a suitable number of syllables, I instruct  my chauffeur,  Myren (long story) to drive me to the gym where I work off the chocolates. Of course, in the interim, I’ve dressed into appropriate attire for the gym, with dark glasses to throw off the paparazzi. Although sometimes the crown is a give away.

Once I outrun my screaming subjects—they’re such fans—I arrive back home to the castle and take a nap.

Maybe I’ll dream up a plot.

Oh dear, look at the time!  I’ll have to cover my afternoons in another blog. Myren the Chauffeur is waiting.

Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

Readers are the best part of writing! I’ve discovered I love hearing from my subjects—err, readers and chatting about books and soaking up their enthusiasm!

Can you please tell us about your latest book?

THE HOT SHOTS is available today on Amazon! It’s the second book in a romantic comedy suspense series, the Scotland Yard Exchange Program where blokes from the Yard mix it up with cops from Boston, solve crime, fall in love and make me laugh.

Here’s the snap on the story:

Would you jump off the USS Constitution into Boston Harbor with a perfect stranger?  You would if that stranger was hot shot Scotland Yard detective Chauncey Miller, the usual tall-dark-handsome type, especially since he has an assassin with a score to settle who just caught up with him…

Decorator Sophia Alano’s career gets side-tracked from the moment she meets hot shot  Chauncey. He’s on the run from a madman terrorist out for revenge when Sophia ends up targeted too.  Now he must protect this spitfire while they’re hunted wherever they go. They escape to London to outwit the madman. But once Chauncey catches their would-be killer, how do they go back to the lives they had before?

Amazon Buy Link

How did you come with the idea for this story?

Remember about the brain fuzz from question #3? Well, apparently, this is magic fuzz, and some how when the fuzz clears, a story appears. This is as close as I can come to an explanation, although studies are being done…

What is an upcoming release you can’t wait for?

The next installment from Trish McCallan in her Forged series, anything by Gemma Halliday, Kristine Cayne, Alexa Grace, Sophia Knightly, E. Ayers, JM Griffin…I could go on.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

I’d love to offer a $10 Amazon Gift Certificate to one lucky commenter!

Thank you so much for hostessing me on your fab-blog!

Learn more about Stephanie here:

Twitter:  @StephanieQueen

Website:  www.StephanieQueen.com

Facebook:  Stephanie Queen

 

To Enter for a chance to win a $10 Gift Card.  

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

*NO EMAIL, NO ENTRY*

Giveaway will end on 11/24/2012

Will will be announced 11/28-ish

Books-n-Kisses is pleased to welcome Tes Hilaire to the blog to chat about her upxoming release of “DELIVER ME FROM TEMPTATION”

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

Of course! First I want to say thanks for having me here today at Books-n-Kisses as I kick-off the preliminary round for the Deliver Me from Temptation book tour. As you can imagine, I’m very excited about its upcoming release and just love to share all the goodies and behind the scenes info with you readers. As for me, I personally don’t find myself quite so interesting. I’m your bona fide soccer mom who spends way too much time carting kids around and volunteering for school activities.  All I can say is it’s a good thing I have a healthy imagination or I think I might just have gone crazy by now navigating the kidlet culture!

Have you always wanted to be an author?

Yes and no… I’ve always written short stories and poems and there is not a time I don’t remember having my nose in a book (my parents had a no books at the table rule), but I also had very practically parents who repeatedly encouraged having a “fallback” career. Still, I will never forget the time in middle school when we had an author come in and speak.  I listened to him and was so inspired I went home and started writing a middle grade novel about a cat who decided to go on a walk-about from his two-legged family. Needless to say, his adventure didn’t go so well—probably because I stopped less than half-way through—and after realizing that writing was actually work, and that career success was even more difficult (this from that inspiring author’s own mouth), I decided my parents might have a good idea with that fallback career advice!

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

My day stars with typical mom things: get the kids ready, make lunches, see them to the bus; but after I normally settle in for a good few hours of writing.  It’s a tossup to see if I actually get those hours as there is usually some bit of business that needs to be taken care of, but if I do make it through, I normally take a break for some email, social media, and a get the creative-juices flowing shower (trust me, showers work wonders when you’re stuck) then either take off on mom errands or, if I’m really lucky, get right back to the grind and write some more.

Most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

The most challenging is when I just can’t see the scene. I know something has to happen to get my hero/heroine from A to B but there is something about the setting or the interaction or even the plot seems off.  Conversely this is also the most rewarding part about writing. When that scene finally does fall into place and you read it over and go “Yes! That’s it!” it gives me some much energy and inspiration to keep on going and finish their story.

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

I thought you’d never ask! 😉  Deliver Me from Temptation is the second book in the Paladin Warriors novels. It is stand alone, but I personally recommend you read book one first as it ties in some various plot threads started there. Not to mention that Logan, the hero, played a pretty prominent part in Deliver Me from Darkness and I don’t know about you readers, but I can never get enough of my heroes 😉  Anyway, this is Logan’s story. He’s the last full-blooded Paladin and has pretty much determined that he’s never going to find his mate.  First there is so much to do he doesn’t have much time to look and second there aren’t that many eligible Paladin women out there. Needless to say it’s a bit of a shocker when he falls hard for a very stubborn and very human cop, especially when she ends up embroiled in the type of mess that is better off left to a Paladin to take care off.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

This story just sort of unfolded naturally after Deliver Me from Darkness. Because this is part of a series, there are always interesting subplots and thread lines that are being developed within each novel. In book one there was a secondary character that met with a pretty final end. The problem was, when his body turned up (between books one and two) our hero from book one, Roland, was the last person to be seen with him.  Logan, being his best friend, and fixer of many messes naturally stepped in to help, and also stumbled upon his future mate in the process!

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

Oh!  I’d love too J  I am currently working on book three for the series. Deliver Me from Death will come out sometime next fall and will bring back two characters that I’ve had many upon many requests from readers to see again.  I’m just finishing my first round of edits now but I can tell you that having both Gabriella and Valin on the pages together has been often trying, sometimes explosive, and overall downright fun.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

When I’m looking for dark and intense, Karen Marie Moning, Suzanne Brockman, Patricia Briggs, Ilona Andrews, Karen Chance are top of my list!

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

Yes!  Those dark and intense authors I mentioned?  Well if you read their books you’ll find them filled with lots of emotion and grit.  For me, writing with that sort of intensity can be hard because I’m always second guessing myself, wondering if this is how the characters would really act or if it’s coming across correctly. In hindsight I realized that in some scenes I just wasn’t meeting the emotional bar I was looking for, so, the one thing I’ve learned from these authors is Don’t Hold Back!  I can always fine tune things later, but it’s really, really difficult to go back and insert intensity into a key scene if it was not there originally.

Open your book to a random page and tell us what’s happening.

Hmmm… okay, page 127 of Deliver Me from Temptation.  This is where our heroine is seriously questioning her sanity. There has been more than one recent event that she knows occurred that she can’t remember the details of and now there is evidence that someone is going around doing a pretty good imitation of a vampire and chowing on her victims necks…

 …Sighing, she leaned against the hood of her Chevy. She scrubbed a shaky hand over her face, blinking through her blurry vision at the street before her. On top of the aches and pains from her encounter last night, on top of the perpetual exhaustion, the damn headache had returned. She knew why, of course, and it had little to do with her momentary slip into fantasy land. It was because she was here, staring at the same street she must have driven back home on the other night, and couldn’t remember a fucking thing. If this kept up she was going to have to get a damn MRI to find out what the hell was wrong with her fucking mind. Had she actually witnessed something and couldn’t remember? Was the key to their victim’s killer locked up in her foggy brain?

“I’m a mess,” she grumbled.

“Yeah, you are.”

She jumped, spun…

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

Well, a lot of my favorite authors have recently come out with some great things. Gunmetal magic by Ilona Andrews, Iced by Moning, Suzanne Brockmann has another one out to I’m told… The problem is time though! I’m currently in deadline crunch so I’ve been waiting very, very patiently to order my copies as I know I won’t be able to help myself if they are in the house!

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Yes! I wanted to let the readers know that I’m offering up one signed copy of book one Deliver Me from Darkness to one commenter that leaves me a suggestion for the sexiest thing a man could say to his woman! Oh la la 😉

Learn more about Tes here:

Website | Facebook |  Twitter | Goodreads  

Can you please share with us a little about yourself.

I’m a stay at home Mom. Wife. Volunteer within my community. Run a cattle farm, grow my own produce year round. A Jane of all Trades.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

No. The need to write my own stories happened about eight years ago. But I tolk some time off due to my dad’s death and couldn’t write for a long time. Now I’m back in the saddle and doing it pretty well.  I wanted to be a teacher and a Mom when I was a young girl.

Who are some of your favorite writers? Who do you feel has influenced your writing?

There are many…Cherry Adair, Jaci Burton, Sara Brookes, Suzanne Brockmann, Sandra Brown, Karen Robards, Nora Roberts. Probably the two biggest idols are Jaci Burton and Cherry Adair…they inspire me a lot.

How did you get into writing in this specific genre?  Have you ever thought about writing in a different genre?

I read more romantic suspense/contemporary romances. So I think that plays a huge part in why I write within the 2 genres. I have a paranormal ghost story, which still has a contemporary feel to it. And a trilogy that deals with witches and sensory gifts of the characters (which is taking a lot of research!!)/

I can’t see myself going beyond that. I like to write what I’m most familiar/comfortable with.

What are some of your writing rituals?

A pot of steeped tea, notepad and pen beside me, low lighting, bowl full of M&M peanuts and 3-4 bottles of water. And hopefully some quiet!

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

I’ve had many releases the last couple of months–3 new releases within the “In the Arms of the Law” series, and a contemporary single title. TIED DOWN is a short story that revisits Isabella & Brady (from Illusions). Brady wants a commitment from Bella…he’ll do whatever it takes to get her to decide…one way or another.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

I wanted to revisit the characters. And knowing Brady as I do, I knew it wouldn’t be long before he was anxious to discuss the future with his woman. I had to laugh though at what he put Isabella through. For me, it was her getting some of the payback for being so stubborn when I wrote Illusions. Bella & I didn’t always get along!

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

I have a WIP that is in the “almost ready” stage to be submitted to a publisher. It’s a Contemporary Ménage—a heroine who meets her two heroes and it has a twist in it that the heroes have to come to grips with.

What would you be if you were not an author?

I probably would have gone back to school to get my teaching degree. I might still be working for an online publisher, working with authors, doing critiques and such for authors. Then again, I would be just as happy to remain a stay at home Mom, and be available to my kids/schools.

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

Jaye Wells’ “Red-Headed Stepchild” is sitting on top of my TBR pile and I’m anxious to read it. I’m dying to read the series (Sabina Kane Series) and have waited til I’ve finished some other fave authors and got some writing in where I could read the whole series consecutively without pause.

Website / Facebook / Facebook Author Page / Twitter / Amazon / Goodreads / Pinterest

 

 

Giveaway:

Kacey is giving away a copy of the first book from the “In the Arms of the Law” series—Illusions. One winner will be drawn randomly and will receive a PDF copy of Illusions on November 18^th.