Halloween Special with Julie Kenner!

Happy Halloween!!!

Here is the first of FOUR author specials this Halloween weekend!

Author Julie Kenner knows all about demons and vampires! But do you all know about her? Here is your chance to get to know the author, her books and even maybe win a prize!

Enjoy!

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Amber - Welcome to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you as a guest here and I hope you will enjoy your time here ;) Maybe you can start things off for us by telling my readers a bit about your Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Series?

Julie - Sure! The series revolves around Kate Connor, a former demon hunter for Forza Scura, a secret am of the Vatican. An orphan found wandering in Rome, Kate was raised by the church, and slid into the demon hunting profession. When the series opens, she's retired and living with her second husband, their toddler, and her fourteen year old daughter by her first husband, Eric, her former demon-hunting partner who died not long after they made the decision to retire and live a normal life (he was, Kate believes, the ironic victim of a mugging). She's living happily as a suburban mom, organizing car pools and playdates and helping her politico husband ... and then she runs across a demon in Wal-Mart. A demon who, for inexplicable reasons, later crashes through her kitchen window and tries to kill her.

Kate's thrust back into the demon hunting world, but she still has to juggle mommy duties and keep her past a secret. It's lots of fun!

Amber - How did the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom Series come about? Was it a long process?

Julie - Surprisingly short, actually. I was trying to think of romance heroes, and thought of demon hunters. At the same time, I was also trying to think of a chick lit story, but I was a new mom and wanted to do something for moms. The ideas came crashing together like a Reeses Peanut Butter cup, and Kate was born! I wrote the first three chapters and we sold them very, very quickly, and got some Hollywood attention, too!

Amber - The latest book in the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series 'Demon Ex Machina' is due out soon. What can we expect from this new installment?

Julie - Hard to say without spoilers, but I think it's fair to say that Kate has to fight more than just demons here...she has to fight her own emotions and the repercussions of the past!

Amber - I loved your Elizabeth Frasier Young Adult series. Can you tell my readers a little about her?

Julie - Thanks!! Beth is the smart girl in school. Kinda geeky, but still fun to be around, and she's on her way to being valedictorian (she's a junior). But then the senior jock vampire jerks turn her into a vampire (for purposes that become clear in the series) and Beth's pissed. After all, colleges don't admit the dead! Now she's got to juggle the demands of the jock vampires who are pulling her chain, and try to figure out how to regain her humanity.

Amber - Will there be anymore Elizabeth Fraiser or Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom books? How long do expect, or would you like, those series to keep going?

Julie - I hope so! Both series are currently out of contract, and it's really in Berkley's hands at the moment. Folks should watch my website, though, because I definitely want to continue both stories in some form or other. (And a Kate/Allie short story is coming up soon...details to come!)

Amber - I know you have written alot of other books. Would you like to tell us about any of them?

Julie - I have written a lot! I write for Harlequin (Blaze and the now defunct Temptation line), and those are sexy, contemporary romances. I've also done a series for Pocket called the Codebreaker series which is a series of chicklit suspense novels that were a lot of fun. I also wrote a series of Superhero romances (the Aphrodite series) that are light and fun and I had a blast with them. The easiest thing is for folks to visit my website (www.juliekenner.com) and click on Bookshelf. There are excerpts and descriptions, and hopefully something for everyone!

I've also written five books that are still to be released this year, and one for next year under another name. I'll talk about that other name book in the next question, but the five remaining Julie Kenner books are two Blazes for Christmas and New Years (Starstruck and Moonstruck) and an urban fantasy trilogy -- TAINTED, TORN, and TURNED -- about a woman who goes out to murder the man who raped her sister, but is killed in the process. She's given the chance to come back to earth to earn her redemption as a demon assassin. But things aren't always as clear cut as they seem.

Amber - What projects are you working on at the moment? What releases can your fans expect in upcoming year?

Julie - I'm really excited about a series of paranormal romantic suspense novels I have starting with Bantam under the name J.K. Beck (Julie Kenner, and my maiden name of Beck). The first book, WHEN BLOOD CALLS is already complete, and I'm working on the next two, WHEN PLEASURE RULES and WHEN WICKED CRAVES. The books will be published back to back in the fall. They take place in and around a paranormal judicial system hidden within the bowels of our own, and I am loving the world and the characters!

Amber - Are you anything like your characters? Are any of them based on people you know?

Julie - I'm probably a little bit like all of my characters, and certainly my mom experience shows in Kate, and I was the "smart girl" at school (though no one turned me into a vampire). As for based on people I know, not at all. Though the talking ferret in the Aphrodite series bears a striking resemblance to the ferret I had during law school!

Amber - How did you end up being a writer? Was it something you always wanted to do? What other jobs have you had?

Julie - I've wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, but I didn't really know how to go about it. I was very much a "here's the class, make the grade," kind of girl, and college doesn't offer "how to be a novelist 101." So I majored in journalism, but then switched to film and considered writing screenplays. I graduated very young, though, and was too chicken to move to LA, so I bummed around doing some media related jobs, then took the LSAT. I had a knack for the law, loved the research and writing component, and ended up clerking on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, then moving to Los Angeles to practice first amendment and entertainment law. I met a guy also interested in writing, and he and I wrote two screenplays, one which sucks, and the other which got some interest in Hollywood, but was never optioned.

After I got married and moved to Orange County is was too hard to continue writing together (this was, gasp, pre Internet. Or, at least, pre "easy" internet) and so I started thinking about writing novels again. I discovered category romances and thought that with my insane lawyer schedule, I should focus on that, as the books have a shorter page count. I wrote one, got decent feedback, and discovered RWA. I was fortunate to sell my second manuscript to Harlequin Temptation, and my third, a full length paranormal called The Cat's Fancy, both as the result of RWA contests.

Amber - Your books cover alot of different genres? Which genre is your favourite?

Julie - I don't really have a favorite, but I'm always happiest if there are paranormal or suspense elements. I call it "added value" :)

Amber - What books do you like to read when you have time? Do you have any must read authors/series?

Julie - My biggest must read -- the only one I will order for the Kindle at 12:01 am the day it becomes available -- is anything by J.D. Robb. I love that series!

Others -- wow, I read so much stuff. I've been on a YA kick lately, and I'm thoroughly enjoying that, and I'm listening to Atlas Shrugged, reading The Count of Monte Cristo, and starting Outlander again (I figure by the time I reread the series, the latest will be in paperback).

I just read and Falling, Fly, which is by a debut author, Skyler White, and coming out in March 2010. It's awesome!

Amber - What do you like to do to relax?

Julie - I used to say that I didn't relax (I homeschool my kids and write a gazillion books!) but I recently got really sick and my mom had a stroke, and I've pretty much decided that Type A or not, relaxation is important!! And I do have things that I love to do. I like to bike, and can't wait for my kids to get older so that they have more stamina. I swim and work in the yard (it needs more work at the moment!). I don't watch too much television, but my husband and I tend to pick a few and follow them. Currently, we're into Mad Men and The Wire (awesome!)

Amber - Lots of authors have playlists for their books. Do you have any specific music/artists that you like to listen to when you are writing?

Julie - Not me. I really can't write to music. If the kids are being too noisy, sometimes I'll put Mozart on low with headphones (like if we're all four in a single hotel room!) but I can't write to lyrics, and I prefer to write to silence. Interestingly, I can write to the TV, but I try not to, as I sometime get interested in the show and I really need to use my writing time for writing.

Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature what would you be and why?

Julie - An immortal (but with an out, at some point it would get tedious). I think it would be fascinating to see the changes in the world!

Amber - You are stranded on a desert island. What 5 things do you hope to have with you?

Julie - My family, my Kindle (with a solar charger and a whispernet connection), an endless supply of coffee and cream, an endless supply of chips and hot sauce, and something to write with/on.

Amber - Thank you so much for being a guest on Amberkatze's Book Blog. I hope you will pop by again sometime!

Julie - Thank you!!! I really enjoyed being here!



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Contest Time!

Julie is giving away one signed copy of Tainted to a lucky Halloween winner!

All you have to do to enter this contest is tell us what your favourite scary movie is!

No Movie = No entry!

The usual rules apply!

Earn another entry for each place you link this contest on the net. Make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries!

You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.

I can offer more prizes if my Amazon Associates account gets more money!! So please make sure you order at Amazon.com through the links around the site and help keep the contest coming!




The contest will stay open until Sunday 8th of November 2009 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.

If you are claiming a prize, have emailed me and have not heard back before the 7 day limit is up then post a comment here on the blog. Your email may get sucked into my spam filter.