Thursday, March 28, 2013

Author Interview with Kelly Martin!


Kelly Martin is one of my good friends at Astraea Press. Her books are AWESOME, and she has held my hand and helped me figure things out while I released Feudlings. She's on a one day blog tour and she's stopping at mine! Check her out :)

What inspires your writing?

I like to think God inspires it. Definitely life. I want to write clean fiction for young adults, and people of all ages honestly. I want to write good stories that draw you in with characters readers can relate to.



Can you briefly tell us your journey to publication?

It took 11 months from first word written on the computer screen to publication. CROSSING THE DEEP was a 2011 Nanowrimo. I had 59,000 words finished when November ended. That draft was horrible… HORRIBLE. At least it had good bones to it. Thanks to the encouragement of my sister, I re-wrote it… and re-wrote it…. And re-wrote it. By March I started sending it to agents. By June, I had about given up. I learned from Absolute Write that some publishers don’t require you to have an agent. I submitted to a few of them. A week later, I had 2 offers! I decided on Astraea Press. CROSSING THE DEEP came out in October J My second novel with Astraea Press, SAINT SLOAN, came out Feb. 28th. AND I have a third AP book, B.I.G. is BEAUTIFUL coming out September 3rd, 2013.



What is your favorite/worst part of the writing/publishing process?

My favorite part is learning the stories of the characters. I LOVE it when backstories come together in ways I never imagined (of course, I say I planned it all along ;) )



The worst part is marketing. I love talking to people about my books, but it’s hard to ‘market’. I’d just like to talk to people and hope they buy my books.



What has been your most memorable experience as a published author?

Going to the store with my kids and someone stopping me because they had read my book. That was pretty special.



So tell us a little about your book. What prompted this story?

I had this idea after watching an episode of The O.C. It’s not a fan fiction or anything, but the idea kind of germinated from it. Two brothers, one girl and a horrible incident between them. The TV show went a totally different way than my book, actually. Still, I wanted a story with a triangle between a girl and brothers. It was definitely fun to write.



Which character do you relate to the most and why?

Ray. Most people are Team Aaron, but I’m all about Ray. He’s the quiet, shy type. Actually, he was the hardest character to write. Aaron was the easiest. He was so fun!



Which character did you find most difficult to craft and why?

Ray. I had to totally re-do Ray because as a quiet loner, he didn’t talk much. Which is okay when you watching a movie. Not so much when you are writing a novel.





What advice would you give aspiring authors?

Don’t give up. Just because it doesn’t happen right away, doesn’t mean it won’t happen. And above all else, pray and write. Don’t go more than a day without writing something.




BIO:


~Kelly Martin is a best selling author of young adult fiction. She has two books: Grace Award nominee CROSSING THE DEEP and Amazon Best selling in Teen/Religion SAINT SLOAN. She has several short stories published and loves to write ‘twitter fiction’ when she’s bored. Kelly loves God, is addicted to chocolate, and would rather write than sleep. You can find her on twitter (she tweets a lot) @martieKay







SAINT SLOAN BUY LINKS:



 AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Saint-Sloan-ebook/dp/B00BMQ9E9O/ref=pd_sim_kstore_1



BARNES AND NOBLE: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/saint-sloan-kelly-martin/1114723748?ean=2940016377308



 SMASHWORDS: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/290677



 ASTRAEA PRESS: http://www.astraeapress.com/#!/~/product/category=662245&id=20839143



 KOBO: http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Saint-Sloan/book-wNrqosRRB0i2jU9ym34izg/page1.html?s=4Xoj6XizzUOFvTfhOsZ87Q&r=1

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Feudlings Release!

Holy Hannah, I am...I can't even describe it. Today a lifelong dream came true! How do you possibly describe that? I can't. So this post will be short :) 

The one thing that stood out to me today is the support I received. I can't believe how many people supported me, cheered me on, bought my book, liked my photos, hosted me on their blog, created giveaways to see me in print...it blows me away. I have the most AMAZING friends and family EVER. I don't know how to say thank you. I don't know if there are words that can really do it justice. And I'm an emotional wreck, so I'm simultaneously sobbing and laughing. My mother is a bit worried ;)

SO. Here are the buy links and the COVER for Feudlings! Check it out and I hope you will all love it as much as I do!





Nothing makes a new school suck worse than discovering the guy you’re in love with is your prophesied nemesis.



Ari is the most powerful flame-throwing sorceress ever, and her people’s last hope in an ancient war. But she’s also a seventeen-year-old girl, and in her free, not-hunting-nemesis times, she jumps from school to school, trying to figure out regular people her own age and pretending she’ll get the chance to graduate.



Shane lives a double life. He goes to school and masters the art of popularity, hiding the fact that he has a fate with a slim chance of his survival. He’s destined to end a 300 year-old war by killing or being killed. He knows he’s hunted by a powerful enemy who’s not afraid to die. Only problem? He has no idea who that enemy is.



When Ari shows up at Shane’s school, angry and sullen and determined to keep him at arm’s reach, neither of them realize they are supposed to be killing each other, not falling in love. Until Ari does realize it, and she almost dies – by Shane’s hand.



BUY LINKS: 

Astraea Press Website

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Blog Tour Schedule

Hey! So, I may or may not have mentioned that Feudlings will be released the 19th of this month. That's like, six days away!!!!!!!!!
Ahem.
So, I'm bouncing around visiting lots of my wonderful friends' blogs for the next few weeks. Here are the first stops scheduled:




3/13 Laura Josephsen:
        http://laurajosephsen.blogspot.com/          Author Interview

3/18 Heidi Tighe:
        http://heiditighe.blogspot.com/                  Guest Post

3/19 Mercedes Murdock Yardley:  
        http://abrokenlaptop.wordpress.com/       Author Interview
3/19 Megan Wille
        http://mjwauthor2012.blogspot.com/       Author Interview

3/20 The Book Blog:
        http://www.thebookboost.blogspot.com/  Guest Post on Earth Day and Writing

3/21 Donna K. Weaver:
        http://weavingataleortwo.blogspot.com/   Book Review

3/22 RK Grow:
       http://www.rkgtheauthor.com/                    Author Interview

3/23 Konstanz Silverbow
       http://nothoughts2small.blogspot.com/      Guest Post
3/25 Tristi Pinkston:
       http://www.tristipinkston.blogspot.com/    Guest Post
3/26 Deanna Mortonsen Henderson
        http://deannahenderson.blogspot.com/      Author Interview
3/27 James Duckett
        http://www.jamesduckett.com/                   Guest Post


3/28 Lindzee Armstrong  

3/29 Marcia Mickelson 
        http://marciamickelson.blogspot.com/       Guest Post

4/1  Melissa Lemon  


4/2 Diann Thornley Read  
       http://www.diannread.wordpress.com/      Guest Post

4/3 C. Michelle Jefferies  





Come visit so I don't get lonely!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Feudlings Hypothetical Wedding

My fellow Astraea Press author, J.F. Jenkins, did a fun February blog host where authors created a hypothetical wedding for their characters. I literally spent HOURS doing mine. It was sooo much fun! If you want to check it out, here is the link:

Hypothetical Wedding

AND here's all the fabulous pictures. Enjoy!

Ari's Dress. Cuz, ya know. Red flames and all.

The Ring. *sigh*

Shane's Tux

The Flowers.

Bridesmaid Dress!

The cake :)

And of course, Ari's shoes. Because we all know these are the most important part!