Keira Lea: June 2011

Monday, June 27, 2011

Manic Monday

I have so many awesome places to be on this tour, I can't keep up with myself! My two current stops are Young Readers and We Fancy Books.

Hope your Monday is treating you well. :-)

Sunday, June 26, 2011

It's Sunday already?

I think I lost most of the weekend to a Netflix marathon of BONES. I feel a bit smarter, though.

The weekend may be coming to a close, but the fun is just beginning for me. And for you, if you come see me at A Chick Who Reads for today's stop on the REPLAY blog tour.

Interview With YA Author Sue Owen

As part of the REPLAY Blog Tour festivities, Sue Owen stopped by to answer some questions about her writing life and her book, THE SWORD'S JOURNEY, Book One of the Chasing History series. On July 2, one blog tour follower will win a copy of this ebook as part of the grand prize!

Me: What's the story behind your title and cover?

Sue: When I first thought of this idea, I knew I wanted to do some kind of epic adventure where the good guys had to fight monsters, magic, and each other to either find something or keep something from destroying the world. There are all kinds of books out there like that, so I needed a new spin. I’ve always been a fan of history and time lines and the time vortex theories of relativity and all that so I thought, wouldn’t it be fun if someone just went back in time and stole our national treasures before they were needed? How bad would that mess things up! Chasing History seemed the perfect name for what they were doing.

Me: What was your favorite part of writing your book?

Sue: I don’t know that I had a favorite. I loved writing this book and truth be told if I left in all the parts that I wanted to it would be about 40,000 more words! I tore a ton of stuff out after I got it done to move the story along. Someday, I may make that a book, too!

Me: Do you have a special writing place or routine?

Sue: On days when I get to write, I like to start first thing in the morning. I’ll write for two or three hours, take a break, do housework, walk, whatever, and then go again in the afternoon. I can usually get about 10,000 words in on a good day. Most days, however, work interferes so I don’t get much time to write. Sometimes an idea will strike me and I just have to write it down, so I’ll write a bit in the late evening.

Me: Who has influenced your writing the most?

Sue: The epic writers such as J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, Anne McCaffrey. Even a story such as Harry Potter, for me, is an epic, and I’m envious of those that can keep story lines straight after writing that many books with the same cast. I’d love to follow in their footsteps.

Me: What were the last five books you read?

YA Author Sue Owen

Sue: This isn’t really a fair question. I do reviewing for my web site Pink Phoenix, so the books I read are ones that I’ve been asked to review and not indicative of the books I would choose for myself. Although the books I read are sometimes great books and ones I would have chosen to read, most are not my typical reading style. That being said, of the last ones I read that I actually liked, they are: THE DARK ONES by Demetrius O. Davis, SYLVIANNA by Keryl Raist, BLOODLINE OF A KANE by Bobby Dennis, and ACROSS THE SEA by Eric Marier … all Indie authors, by the way.

Me: What do you order at your favorite coffee shop?

Sue: White chocolate mocha with caramel … iced in summer, hot in winter.

Me: Please open a dictionary, pick ten random words, and write a sentence using all ten.

Sue: Oh, you want me to work! Okay … I don’t own a dictionary so I just opened a web site and picked some words off that: indubitably, lewd, lovers, pigeon, and gentle. "Indubitably, the lovers were given lewd looks, which they returned with the gentle, forgiving, and understanding eyes of pigeons."

Me: If you could be in your dream critique group, which five authors would you choose?

Sue: Janet Evanovich, Clive Cussler, J.R.R. Tolkien, Gene Roddenberry, and Christopher Paolini. The style I seem to write in is indicative of Tolkien, although I love the history of Cussler and how he weaves that as the story. Evanovich has the ability to add humor like no other, and both Roddenberry and Paolini have the sci fi styles that I love … just enough real life to put you in the story. It would be an honor to see what they thought of my work.

Me: Pick two characters from your book and tell us a little about their lives.

Sue: Remember my remark about the 40,000 more words … most of it was character study. Since this book is mainly Josh, let’s talk about him. Josh is a typical teen. He’s considered handsome by his peers, popular and liked by the ladies. He knows this, but it doesn’t make him arrogant. He lives with his mom and her revolving boyfriends in a run-down trailer park. He’s working as a cook at a local diner to buy a car and get out of "Dodge." He has a girlfriend, but they are barely to the kissing stages yet. He’s full of promise, but life keeps trying to tug him down. He’s on the verge of something, but at the point he enters the story, it isn’t clear which way he is going to go: follow his friend Charlie into a life of crime or follow his dream of leading a normal life.

In contrast to Josh, there’s Digger. Quiet, confident, strong Digger has grown up on the streets, always moving and never trusting anyone or relying on anyone but himself. He’s done some things that wouldn’t be considered mentionable in polite society, but where he comes from, stealing to live is acceptable as long as you don’t get caught. He sees way more than the normal person as he’s honed his observation skills to a fine line. Nothing gets past him. Always a loner, when he’s tossed into this group, it is hard for him to trust, let alone work as a team member.

Me: If you could rewind time, what would you change in your life?

Sue: I would spend less time working and more time with family. I missed watching my kids grow up because I was a single parent and felt I had to work extra in order to meet our family needs. I think some of the needs I should have been meeting were family time. I regret that.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Fabulous Friday on the Blog Tour

It's Friday. I can breathe now. :-)

Today, I'm heading over to Mission to Read to talk about why YA is my thing. Writing YA is very personal for me. When I read or write YA books, I feel like I belong. It's my comfort zone. And I think most writers who write YA feel the same way.

All right, all right, I'm a sappy geek. You knew this about me!

Blog Tour Stop at Books of Love

I'm at Books of Love today! If you're dying to know what I do in my spare time, check out my interview there. Even if you don't care what I do with any of my time, I hope you'll stop by and say hi. :-)

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

A Mysterious Day on the Tour

I'm super excited to be at the Mysteriousbooks blog with the lovely Mysteriousrose today! I think I'll extend my tour indefinitely because I love waking up in a different place each day. Wait, that doesn't sound quite right ...

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Blog Tour Tuesday

I was tired of counting the blog tour days so I switched to days of the week. I generally go for the easiest method for doing anything. Today, I'm lurking around ComaCalm's Corner. I feel the love there, but I could use a little more. I'm lazy and needy. What more could you want in an author?

Here's a shout-out for ComaCalm, Harpreet, and Liz R. for making me feel welcome today!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Monday is my new favorite day!

It's Monday again, and I was feeling a bit droopy until I remembered that I'm at The Bookish Snob today for my blog tour! Bels' site is an awesome place to spend a Monday (or any day, really). You'll see what I mean when you go there. :-)

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Blog Tour, Day Five

I'm spending Father's Day at It's All About Books. My dad said it's fine. Sneak away from the family for a few minutes to hang out with me, all right?

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Blog Tour, Day Four

It's a super-sunny Saturday here in Dallas, and I'm at the Breathing Books blog today!

I hope it's no secret that REPLAY centers around the ability to manipulate time. Allow me, then, this geek moment. The Science Channel has a series called THROUGH THE WORMHOLE. The June 22 episode is called "Is Time an Illusion?" In writing about the episode's connection to string theory, Craig Haggit from HowStuffWorks.com says, "Ever wish you could go back in time and do something over? Not to worry. Somewhere there's a universe where you got it right." Sound familiar?

Friday, June 17, 2011

Interview With YA Author Julia Crane

As part of the REPLAY Blog Tour festivities, Julia Crane stopped by to answer some questions about her writing life and her new book, COEXIST (KEEGAN'S CHRONICLES). This book has everything: romance, action, and a terrific cover!

Me: COEXIST is an awesome title. What's the story behind it?

Julia: Thank you, it took me a long time to come up with the title. I was originally going to call it Keegan. I thought Coexist was fitting since the elves have evolved to live among humans.

Me: What was your favorite part of writing COEXIST?

Julia: The actual writing process. I would come up with ideas at the oddest times. When I first started the book I was on a plane to Katmandu, of all places, and suddenly I pictured the ending. It drove me crazy to sit on the plane and not be able to get it down on paper. I can tell you what I genuinely dislike about writing is the revision/editing stage that took me much longer than actually writing the book.

Me: Do you have a special writing place or routine?

Julia: I tend to write a lot from my bedroom late at night. I’m one of those people that needs quiet to focus.

Me: Who has influenced your writing the most?

Julia: Hmmm, I don’t think there is one person I could name. As an avid reader, I love so many authors.

Me: What were the last five books you read (besides mine)?

Julia: I did love REPLAY! I have been reading A LOT of indie books lately. I do tend to sneak back to the best sellers and grab the books I’ve been waiting for.

TRANSFECTION by David Gaughran, UNDERNEATH by Heather Marie Adkins, PARADOX by Pattie Roberts. I’ve also recently read THE NAKED EDGE by David Morrell, and EVE by Iris Johansen.

Me: What do you order at your favorite coffee shop?

Julia: English breakfast tea or hot chocolate. I know I’m odd, but I LOVE Folgers instant coffee, which they do not carry in Dubai! I have to have friends and family mail it to me.

Me: Please open a dictionary, pick ten random words, and write a sentence using all ten.

Julia: You're killing me. :) I can’t play this game because my dictionary is online. So instead I will write another sentence: Buy REPLAY written by Keira Lea; it’s a great story!

Me: If you could be in your dream critique group, which five authors would you choose?

Julia: James Patterson, Richard Castle, Iris Johansen, Nelson DeMille, and Ken Follett.

Me: Pick two characters from your book and tell us a little about their lives.

Julia: Thaddeus is one of my favorites. He is Keegan’s younger brother, born with the gift of sight. Only twelve years old, and he has the burden of saving his kind from extinction.

Keegan’s best friend Anna is a fun character. I actually based her on one of my daughter's best friends who is quirky and confident.

Me: If you could rewind time, what would you change in your life?

Julia: I wish I could turn back time and be stuck at the age 28. That’s a great age. You are finally secure in who you are and have yet to get grey hair. That’s not really a change, but I like my life, so I wouldn’t change anything.

Thanks for having me!

Me: Thanks for hanging out with me! It gets lonely around here sometimes.

Blog Tour, Day Three

Happy Friday! I woke up thinking it's Tuesday. I have no idea why. Anyway, I'll be hanging out at Adventures of the Cautionary Tale today. If you have a few minutes, please stop by and leave us a little blog tour love. We will love you back.

I'm trying to cut back on my use of exclamation points. I feel so bland now. I'll have to increase my use of adverbs and random YouTube videos to make myself feel better.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Blog Tour, Day Two

Hey, awesome peeps! If you're looking for me today, I'm over at vvb32 Reads talking about what I would do if I could rewind time. Fascinating stuff (ha ha)!

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

June 15 is a Beautiful Blog Tour Day!

June 15 is the first day of the REPLAY Blog Tour! The party starts at The Great, The Good and The Bad! (Such a great name for a book blog!)

I've chosen U2's "Beautiful Day" as the official song of the tour. If you've read REPLAY, you know why. If you haven't read it, maybe you'll win a free copy along the way!