Interview and Giveaway with Laura Kaye!

I am pleased to have had the opportunity to read and review the book Forever Freed by Laura Kaye (which I have posted HERE). It's a wonderful book and I highly recommend it! I also had the pleasure of interviewing Ms. Kaye, keep reading for more:

I read that your new release Forever Freed was actually the first novel you had written. When did you write it?

That’s true! Forever Freed was the first novel I wrote and the first I sold! I wrote the draft of Forever Freed, which was muuuuuuuch longer than the published book, in eleven weeks during the fall of 2008. I revised and revised and revised again, then started submitting to agents, and revised some more. *grins* I received a lot of requests from agents but didn’t get a taker, so in December of 2009, I submitted to The Wild Rose Press, who bought the book!

Did you get to choose the model for the cover? Who designed it?

At The Wild Rose Press, authors get to give input on covers through a very detailed cover art questionnaire that solicits author input on character appearance, story themes, preferred color schemes, objects of significance to the plot, etc. Some epublishers will allow authors input into selecting the stockphotos used (and thus the models used), but only at traditional publishers do they hire actual models and do photoshoots with them. Ironically, authors at traditional publishers tend to get less input into the cover art process than epublished authors! At The Wild Rose Press, cover artist Angela Anderson did Forever Freed’s cover, and she really met a lot of my requests!

You have books in a variety of genres, which one is your favorite to write in?

Paranormal romance is my true home as a reader and a writer. I love the creativity you can have in paranormal romance because anything can go as long as you justify it in your world-building. Plus, I just flat out love vampires!

What is your biggest challenge of being an author?

Time! Probably the same thing most authors would say! I work a full-time job, have a husband and two young daughters, etc., and so finding the time to do everything I need to do plus the things I’d like to do can be challenging. I tend to be a nightowl as a result!

Approximately how long does it take for you to write a book?

It varies. I tend to be a fast writer. When the story is ready to be told, it tends to pour out in large chunks at once. Like I said, I drafted Forever Freed in 11 weeks. My contemporary romance novella Hearts in Darkness I drafted in two weeks. The novel-length fantasy romance I just sold to Entangled Publishing entitled North of Need, I wrote in four weeks. The novel-length women’s fiction I completed in January, I wrote on and off for a year because the damn thing just wouldn’t cooperate. When I got blocked on that, I’d go off and write something else (thus the three novellas I completed while writing it!). But writing is only part of the process. Revising can take as long or longer than the initial drafting stage. And that, too, varies by manuscript.

Who is your favorite author/book?

J.R. Ward, her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, and, if I have to choose just one from within that, I’d have to go with Zsadist’s book, Lover Awakened. ZOMG don’t even get me started on Zsadist! Okay, do…

Out of all your books, which character is your favorite?

Such a difficult question, because I really do adore all my heroes, in particular! But, if pressed I’d have to say hero Lucien Demarco from Forever Freed. I probably know him better than any other character I’ve written, because I’ve gone so much deeper into his character and backstory than probably any other. Lucien just has a yearning and a loneliness that draws me to him and makes him so sympathetic. I’m totally in love with him! Caden Grayson from Hearts in Darkness would be a close second, though! *winks*

Do you have anything else you'd like to say about your new release, or about what you are working on now?

Thanks to all the readers and supporters out there! I hope you enjoy the book!

Working on now? I’m in the revising phases of the women’s fiction project I mentioned, and I’ll soon be getting first-round edits back from my publishers for my contemporary erotic romance, Just Gotta Say, coming late this summer from Decadent Publishing, and for the fantasy romance, North of Need, coming out in November from Entangled Publishing.

Otherwise, I’d just like to add a discount code and a giveaway!

Discount: Through 5/31, get 25% off of all titles/formats at my publisher http://thewildrosepress.com with code 18b632d0b0 !

Giveaway: Follow Laura at her blog (http://laurakayeauthor.blogspot.com) and twitter (http://twitter.com/#!/laurakayeauthor) and comment here to let her know you did so – everyone who does so by 9AM EST on Tuesday the 24^th will be entered into a drawing to win one of two copies of Forever Freed – ebook or signed paperback – winners’ choice! Winners to be announced Tuesday the 24^th by noon EST!

[Note: 1) existing followers are eligible to win, just make sure you follow me at both & comment

here; 2) I’ll follow you back on twitter!]

Find Laura on the interwebz:

Website: http://www.LauraKayeAuthor.com

Blog: http://laurakayeauthor.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/laurakayeauthor

Twitter: @laurakayeauthor

TWRP Publisher Website for paperback & ebook: http://thewildrosepress.com

/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=800

************************************************************************

Thanks for coming by my blog Laura! How awesome was that for her to offer the discount coupon AND to give away 2 signed books???

Oh, and I couldn't agree with you more about Zsadist! It's that dark, tortured, brooding thing...