Welcome to my stop on Laura Kaye's Release Day Blog Blitz for Hard As It Gets!!!
Q&A WITH LAURA
KAYE
HARD AS IT GETS is one steamy
read! How did you first get into writing?
Thanks so much! And thanks for having
me here! I’ve been a writer all my life. I’m a historian by
training, so writing non-fiction was a part of my job for the fifteen
years I worked as a college professor. But I started writing fiction
in 2008 in kind of an unusual way. I hit my head on July 4, 2008. I
didn’t think much of it that day, but soon after I realized I’d
really hurt myself, and it turned out I had a minor traumatic brain
injury. As I recovered, I was filled with an amazing urge to be
creative, so I started taking guitar lessons (still not very good at
that!) and wrote my first novel in 12 weeks (fortunately, I’m
better at that LOL!). The experience of writing that first book was
truly transformative. It was what I was supposed to be doing, so I
revised that book until it sold and kept writing new ones. And I
haven’t looked back since!
Why did you choose to write
romance?
I had been an avid reader of paranormal
romance for years at that point, so I wrote what I loved. But I also
picked romance—unconsciously, I think—because to me it’s an
incredibly hopeful genre. Romance stories are inherently stories
about people who can’t find love or think they don’t deserve it
who overcome the odds and find it in the end. In the years leading up
to starting writing, I experienced a number of very hard personal
losses, so writing in this genre was one way I worked through those
issues.
What does “Hard Ink” refer
to? What importance do tattoos play in your story?
Hard Ink is the name of the Rixey
brothers’ tattoo shop in the Hard Ink series. Nick and Jeremy Rixey
are co-owners, though Nick (the hero of book one, Hard As It Gets)
prefers to be more of a silent partner, despite Jeremy’s efforts to
put Nick’s artistic talents to work. In this series, tattoos are a
way people remember, pay penance, or highlight what’s important to
them. The act of creating permanent marks on skin has deep meaning to
them. And the shop creates a gritty setting where diverse kinds of
people meet and interact in the series. I really love it!
Describe Becca—what do you love
most about her? And Nick?
I’d love to! Because I really loved
writing these characters!
Becca Merritt is smart and strong and
honest and protective. I really loved the way she was willing to
stand up for those she loves, even against people and forces who
might be stronger and even a little scary. There’s a scene in
particular when she dresses down Nick’s Special Forces teammates
after a fist fight where I was particularly cheering for her! LOL
Nick Rixey is, omg, so freaking hot,
you guys! He’s brooding and tortured and honorable and when he
falls he falls so hard. I especially loved Nick’s mix of
hard, alpha edges with his artistic side. When Nick shows Becca what
her idea for a tattoo might look like on her skin, it’s just
scorching!
What significance does the
military play in the book?
Military themes are central to the
whole Hard Ink series. The military isn’t just sexy window dressing
nor is it just there to provide an intriguing backstory. The prior SF
guys are this series are entirely defined by their military
experience good and bad. It informs their identity, their sense of
honor and duty, their view of the world, and of course gives them the
skill set required to fight the battles they face in the series. The
overall series mystery the characters are working to solve revolves
around a military conspiracy in Afghanistan, so even though they’re
out of the Army, the military themes are central.
If you could describe your book
in a 140 character tweet, what would it be?
In #HardAsItGets,
an ex-soldier joins forces w/his dead commander's daughter to regain
his tarnished honor & save her brother from a gang
Is there a particular author or
book that has influenced your writing?
There are a number of authors that have
influenced me, but if I had to pick one it would be J.R. Ward. A lot
of what I know about how to write sexy, authentic male point of view
comes from reading her books. And I definitely learned the importance
of a good bromance to a romance novel from her Black Dagger
Brotherhood series, too. Given my ginormous fangirling, you can only
imagine how flipping excited I was when this happened:
“Edgy, sexy, and full of
suspense! A great read from a great new author!”
~J.R. Ward on Hard As
It Gets
You guys, I
bawled like a baby in the middle of a huge workshop put on by
my publisher. For real. LOL
What advice would you give
aspiring writers looking to get into the publishing industry?
Here’s my advice:
1) Write, write, write. You can’t
revise what you haven’t written and you can’t sell what you
haven’t written. And the psychological and emotional boost you’ll
get from writing “The End” for the first time cannot be
overestimated.
2) Revise, revise, revise. That first
time you type “The End”? Yeah, you’re nowhere near done. Your
book will need to be edited, by you, several times before you ever
put it in front of an agent or editor. You get one shot with
them, so don’t waste it by not showing them your very best and most
polished work.
3) Find critique partners. And your
mom, siblings, and best friend do not count (unless you’re really
lucky, like me, and your best friend happens to also be a professional
author). You need other aspiring writers in your genre who will give
you honest but constructive feedback about how to improve your
manuscript. Let them catch all the embarrassing goofs and plot holes
you thought you caught before it gets to an agent or editor.
4) Want to be a professional, then act
it. And by that I mean join the professional organization(s) of the
genre in which you write. Through them you will find classes to help
hone your craft, critique partner match-ups, networking
opportunities, calls for submission, and other opportunities
invaluable to breaking into publishing.
5) Don’t give up. You will hear way
more no’s than yeses, particularly early in your writing career.
Stick with it. Believe in yourself. Give yourself one day to wallow
in the rejection and eat a bunch of chocolate and then get right back
on the horse. If your first book doesn’t sell, chalk that up to
learning and write a second.
What can fans of HARD AS IT GETS
look forward to next?
I’m currently writing four series:
two contemporary (Hard Ink, Heroes) and two paranormal (Hearts of the
Anemoi, Vampire Warrior Kings). I’ll have books from all four of
those releasing in 2014. My next release is Hard As You Can
(Hard Ink #2) coming 2/25/14!
About Hard As It Gets:
Five
dishonored soldiers.
Former
Special Forces.
One
last mission.
These
are the men of Hard Ink.
Tall, dark,
and lethal...
Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.
With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.
Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...
Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.
With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.
Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...
Buy Links:
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
About Laura Kaye:
Laura is the New York Times and USA
Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and
paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family
believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels,
ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination
with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland
with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and
appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment