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Sunday, January 8, 2012

Author Interview & Contest with Kimberly Frost

You may know author Kimberly Frost for her fun, witty and magical Southern Witch series. Well Kimberly has something new out and it is totally different from her previous work. Darker, more Paranormal and definitely worth reading.

All That Bleeds released last week and I can only recommend you all give it a try. Kimberly has come up with a fresh new world with some interesting characters and I am looking forward to book two when it comes out.

So I invited Kimberly to Amberkatze's Book Blog to talk about her new baby so you can all get a better look at what All That Bleeds is all about. Make sure you read till the end because Kimberly is very generously giving away FIVE copies of her new book!

------------------------------

Amber - Welcome back to Amberkatze's Book Blog! It is great to have you here as a guest again! Could you start things off by telling us a little about your new book, ALL THAT BLEEDS?

Kimberly – Thanks so much for having me. It’s always wonderful to visit here!

ALL THAT BLEEDS is the first novel in my Etherlin series. The new series is paranormal romantic suspense and within the backstory for the series there’s an event in the 1950s—a vampire “plague”—that changes the course of human history. The Etherlin stories feature archangels, human-vampire half-breeds, and descendants of the ancient muses.

Merrick, the love interest in ALL THAT BLEEDS has a very dark background. It’s impossible to intimidate him and for most people, it’s impossible to get close to him. When he meets Alissa he’s a syndicate enforcer who’s sent to kill a demon. Since they should never have met, their relationship grows in secret. He sends her gifts. She writes him letters. They’re star-crossed lovers with no apparent hope of ever really being together. But when she’s abducted and lands on his side of the wall that separates them, their romance begins. The fact that she’s in danger creates an opening for the “wrong man” to become the right one.

Amber - Where did you get the idea for ALL THAT BLEEDS? Did the idea just come to you? Or do you have a muse to help you?

Kimberly – A lot of things probably contributed. Some characters that I wrote about when I was a teenager inspired me to create Merrick and Alissa. I don’t have a live muse. It would be great if I did! I tend to think there’s a muse who lives in my subconscious. She helps me dig up the plot twists that I can never plan ahead of time.

Amber - Except for the obvious, it hasn't really been done before...Why Muses?

Kimberly – As a writer, I’ve always been interested in where creativity comes from and what influences our ideas. I’ve also always loved stories from Greek, Roman, and Norse mythology as well as various legends. At some point when I was thinking about writing a darker series, I flipped through a lot of my reference books including one on mythology. It occurred to me that modern muses might make interesting characters.

Amber – ALL THAT BLEEDS introduces a new world and some new paranormals. What exactly is the Etherlin?

Kimberly – It’s a pristine community in the Rocky Mountains that was founded by a group of muse descendants when they realized that their supernatural powers of inspiration were more potent when they were in close proximity. Because members of the “fallen” crave the muses’ blood, a wall is erected around the Etherlin and an elite security force is assembled to guard the Etherlin muses.

Amber - Alissa is obviously very pretty. Which famous person would you say she resembles?

Kimberly – There’s a Dutch model named Doutzen Kroes who comes to mind. She was the example I sent with the character description to the publisher when they were preparing to talk to the cover artist.

Amber - What kind of research did you do for ALL THAT BLEEDS? Anything interesting or was it totally boring?

Kimberly – I did a fair amount of interesting research, especially the history of post-war America during the time of the Red Scare.

I think my favorite research was on cocktails. Part of Merrick’s backstory is that his first job was as a bartender, and when the story opens he’s living in a penthouse apartment in the same building that houses his club, Crimson. I wanted his world to be very stylized and cool. And because he’s smooth, I pictured him mixing Alissa a distinctive drink.

While doing that research, I ended up on the website of a popular men’s magazine. It had a ton of colorful descriptions and historical anecdotes about various cocktails. The drink I had Merrick make Alissa is called a Maiden’s Prayer. The site also hypothesized that Hemingway invented the Scotch Lime, which is what I have Merrick drink.

Amber - A new book means new names. How do you pick the names for your characters? Do they have any special meanings?

Kimberly – I don’t spend as much time considering name meanings as many writers. I do use baby-naming websites to troll for character names, but I care more about how a name sounds and whether it feels right for the character than the actual historical meaning.

Amber – A lot of authors have 'soundtracks' for their books. Is there any music that influenced this book?

Kimberly – I don’t create soundtracks for the books, but I do tend to listen to music that “feels like the story” while I’m writing. For ALL THAT BLEEDS, it was rock because Merrick’s pretty bad to the bone.

More interesting was the music research I did while writing the second Etherlin novel, ALL THAT FALLS. I watched YouTube videos of great violin and guitar players. Have you ever seen David Garrett? He’s a gorgeous and extremely talented German violinist. He plays things like Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on violin. I recommend checking out his rock symphonies.

I also read some nonfiction works about Eddie Van Halen, George Gershwin and his contemporaries, and Kurt Cobain. Music and dance are important parts of ALL THAT FALLS and doing the research was so interesting since that’s not a world I knew much about.

Amber – Will ALL THAT BLEEDS turn into a series or is it just a one off?

Kimberly – So far there are three stories in the Etherlin series:

TIED WITH A BOW Holiday Anthology – 11/1/11

“First Light” Novella (Etherlin #0.5 – Prequel to the novels)

“First Light”

Investigative reporter/muse aspirant Kate Devane has had recurring dreams of a gorgeous stranger ever since she found a battered antique ring. When she comes upon the dream guy half-buried in the snow, she’s anxious to find out who he is. Unfortunately his memory’s a blank slate. He doesn’t know who he is…or why the world’s most dangerous creatures are hunting him.

ALL THAT BLEEDS (Etherlin #1) – January 3, 2012

He’s the darkness she can’t resist…

In a glittering community in the Colorado Rockies called the Etherlin, the descendants of the ancient muses live behind a wall that separates them from the world and the dangerous creatures who crave them.

Alissa North is inspiration made flesh, so she should never have met Merrick, a deadly half-vampire enforcer, but when they do meet, the connection is instantaneous, and an illicit flirtation is born. He sends her secret gifts. She writes him secret letters.

The long-distance friendship was never supposed to go any farther. But when she is kidnapped and thrown briefly into his world, everything changes. Now Alissa realizes he’s the only person she can trust, and Merrick finds he’ll do anything to protect her, even risk his life by crossing the wall.

As both worlds close in on them, Alissa knows that getting caught with Merrick could cost her everything she’s ever cared about, but giving him up proves harder than she ever imagined…

ALL THAT FALLS (Etherlin #2) - Scheduled for June 2012

(The blurb and an excerpt will be available on my website soon.)

Amber - What are you listening to and watching lately? Is there any music or other media that influences your writing?

Kimberly – In terms of other types of storytelling, I’m pretty into series television. I actually need to catch up. I turned off my cable and put my Netflix subscription on hold when I was swamped with deadlines last year. I’m only just now starting to catch up. For comedy, I loved the first three seasons of The Big Bang Theory. Psych and How I Met Your Mother also crack me up.

I recently watched the first season of Justified, which I enjoyed a ton. In the opening scene, Timothy Olyphant’s character reminded me (in the way he stares people down) of Merrick. All great writing, even if it’s well outside my genre, inspires me.

Amber - If you could be any famous person, alive or dead, who would you be? And why?

Kimberly – Wow, I’m not sure I want to go there. I’m just getting the hang of living my own life.

Amber - Are you working on anything else at the moment? Will Tammy Jo be coming back any time soon?

Kimberly – I just turned ALL THAT FALLS in to my publisher. My plan has been to do a Southern Witch novella next and to release it electronically as soon as it’s polished so that fans of that series don’t have to wait two years to see Tammy’s next adventure. I’m hoping to have the novella finished in time for a spring 2012 release, but that will depend on my schedule. Any of my readers who want to be sure that they don’t miss a release should sign up for my newsletter at my website. That’s the way that I announce new releases.

Amber - Thank you so much for being on the blog! I hope you will come by again sometime!

Kimberly – It was great! Thanks so much for having me. And I never like to come empty-handed, so if people visit the comments and tell me either (a) what their favorite cocktail is or (b) who their favorite dead author is and why, they’ll be entered to win a copy of ALL THAT BLEEDS. 5 commenters will win.





Southern Witch Series

#1 - Would-Be Witch
#2 - Barely Bewitched
#3 - Halfway Hexed

Etherlin Series

#0.5 - First Light
#1 - All That Bleeds
#2 - All That Falls

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Contest Time


Yes you read correctly! Kimberly is giving away five copies of All That Bleeds!! That means there will be five winners this week!


How To Enter


Answer one of Kimberly's questions to be entered. Answer both for an extra entry!


No Answer = No Entry


'Please enter me' posts will NOT be counted as an entry


Earn more entries for each link you place about this contest on the net. You can post on Facebook, Twitter & MySpace but make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries! However please do not make individual postings for each entry. Please post all your entries in one post.


Advertise Amberkatze's Book Blog on your site and get an extra entry for this and every other contest!

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Have you 'Liked' Amberkatze's Book Blog on Facebook?


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.

Make sure you post your links here so I can confirm your entries.

Keep the contests going by using the Bookdepository.com and Amazon.com links/Banners below and around the site.

Free Delivery on all Books at the Book Depository

The contest will stay open until Saturday 15th of January 2012 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.



39 comments:

Starr K said...

My favorite cocktail is Liquid Cocaine, I am not sure what is in it other than Southern Comfort, but can say it's the best drink in the world.

Natasha said...

Hrmmm.. favorite cocktail.. I don't drink many cocktails. I usually drink beer or "rum & coke".. Rum & pepsi is a cocktail right? lol hehe

Thanks for this giveaway!! I love Kimberly!

natashajennex(at)gmail.com

Kathy said...

Favorite cocktail - Cosmo.

Robert Jordan is my favorite dead author. I love the "Wheel of Time" series. 14 big huge books (counting New Spring) and 1 more to go. I have read them, listened to the audios more than once and will do so again. It is awesome!

Birgit said...

My fav cocktail is the Screwdriver, yep I don't like my cocktails too fancy ;-) !

My fav dead author is Edgar Allan Poe. Let's just say watching "A Premature Burial" on TV when I was still quite young (my parents didn't know) left quite an impression ...

Liked you on FB and shared: http://www.facebook.com/birgit.horvath.muck/posts/285265628189782

Posted about your blog here:
http://the-book-garden.blogspot.com/p/austrian-and-german-book-bloggers.html

Thanks for this wonderful chance, and five winners? Woohoo! I admit I've already been waiting for this post since I read in Kimberly's newsletter about it ;-) !

Lil said...

Kir Royale is my favorite cocktail. My favorite dead author is Alexander Dumas. It was The Three Musketeers that first captured my attention regarding romance, swashbucklers, and intrigue.

little lamb lst at yahoo dot com

Diane said...

one of my favorite cocktails is the Pink lady, I enjoy the easy way it goes down my throat, no bitter taste and it looks so pretty!

One author who passed away in 2011 is Beverley Barton, she was a good romantic suspense writer.

Barbara E. said...

My favorite dead author is Robert Heinlein, he's always been my favorite SciFi author.
I don't really drink, but if I ever do it's something wimpy like a wine cooler, so I'll list that as my favorite cocktail.
I'm looking forward to reading All That Bleeds, it sounds fantastic.

Dovile said...

My favorite cocktail would be pinacolada, although I don't really drink cocktails.
My favorite dead author is Arthur Conan Doyle, I love his Holmes stories.

Calliope said...

I don't drink so unless you count water with a twist of lemon a cocktail I don't have a favourite, although I do like the names given to cocktails, lame as that sounds.

As for favorite dead authors, I love Jane Austen (because of the sort of romance her stories encapsulate), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (because of the tone Watson sets in his accounts of Sherlock's cases), Alice Borchardt (because of how she incorporates so much historic detail into her Tales of Guinevere and Legends of the Wolves series) and Anne McCaffrey (she wrote the Dragonriders of Pern series - do I really need more reason than that? LOL).

alainala said...

A)oohh Cocktail.. hmm Blue Hawaiian! ilike that blue curacao stuff in just about everything!!

B) my fav dead autho.. how about Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.. i love the Sherlock Holmes books!

these books look great, thanks for the chance to win!

alainala AT hotmail DOT ca

SandyG265 said...

My favorite cocktail is a Bermuda Triangle. Especially if I'm drinking it in Bermuda.

sgiden at verizon.net

clynsg said...

I don't have a favorite cocktail because I do not drink alcohol--just don't like the taste of the stuff. Never could get that into the minds of some who tried getting me spiked soft drinks!

cgclynsg0 at gmail dot com

clynsg said...

My favorite dead author--quite a few actually, but will pick Marion Zimmer Bradley for the purposes of this.

cgclynsg0 at gmail dot com

NoraA said...

I'm very old fashioned in my drinks. I still love "White Russians", which is Kahlua and Cream. For hard drinking I tend to have Vodka, tonic, w/bitters and lime.

My favorite dead author is Lawrence Sanders who wrote the McNally series. The law school drop out who is the investigative arm of his father's very successful law practice.

I've read and thoroughly enjoyed all of the Southern Witch series to date and am looking forward to this new series.

NoraAdrienne(at)gmail(dot)com

Victoria said...

I'm a Long Island Iced tea drinker or a VERY spicy Bloody Mary.

I would love to win this as I had never read you before I got a copy of Tied With A Bow. Yours was my favorite of the four stories. I loved the setting and the entire concept. Learning more about Merrick will be wonderful.
Thank you so much!

vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

Stephanie said...

I don't have a favorite cocktail because I don't drink. My favorite dead author is Agatha Christie because I love mysteries.

Skk25@aol.com

Cheryl said...

I rarely drink, but my favorite drink ever is a Chambord Sour. Unfortunately, I can't drink it since I became a vegan a couple of years ago (there's honey in it), so I'd have to say my runner up is a good Mojito.

Thanks for the giveaway!

miki said...

Hi,

if this contest is open worldwide please enter me. I would love to discover your book.

My favorite cocktail would be a pisang orange ( simple but i don't drink much)

my favorite and unfortunately dead author is Jennifer Rardin. I love her serie jaz Parks and she was really kind to her fans

all the best

isabelle(dot)frisch(at)gmail(dot)com

elaing8 said...

Great interview.
My favorite cocktail is margaritas :)
and I don't have a favorite dead author.

tweet
https://twitter.com/#!/elaing8/status/156485740375703555

Linda said...

My fav dead author is Anne McCaffrey; I adore her Pern series. I was given DragonFlight as a birthday prez as a teen & that probably was what got me started on loving all things dragon!

I don't drink, i'll have to pass on the 1st question on a fav cocktail; unless it's a cocktail of skyjuice :)

tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/LindaThum/status/156520455241605120

thumbelinda03 at yahoo dot com

trichie said...

I am not much of a drinkerbut I do like Fuzzy Navels

trichie said...

My favorite dead auther is Ernest Hemingway. I have no clue why other than I really enjoy reading anything that he wrote.

JenM said...

I don't drink much but when I do, I love a good mojitos with nothing fancy, just rum, simple syrup, seltzer and lots of muddled mint.

Jen(at)delux.com

Amy said...

My favorite cocktail is gin and tonic.

Unknown said...

I dont like cocktails but my favorite drink is Sex on the Beach. My favorite dead author is Shakespear. Please enter me in contest. Tore923@aol.com

Gail said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gail said...

Hi Kimberly,

My favorite dead author is J. R. R. Tolkien. My Dad gave me The Hobbit in my Christmas stocking when I was a teen and I was hooked on fantasy and later paranormal romance, epics, etc.

As for cocktails, I like a Cosmo and a old drink called a Stinger;-)
Thanks for the giveaway:)
Happy New Year!
gsryley(at)gmail(dot)com

Dawn M. said...

I don't have a favorite cocktail because I don't drink. Never liked the taste.

My favorite dead author is Anne McCaffrey. She's been one of my favorites since I was a teen in the 80's. I've re-read her books many times and they have their own shelves on my bookcase.

Tweeted:
https://twitter.com/#!/librarygrinch/status/156602547967246336

Thanks! :0)
librarygrinch at gmail dot com

Kristin said...

Not sure if a Vodka Collins counts as a cocktail, but if I can't have a Mike's Hard Lemonade or Cider, I'll be happy to drink one of those!

As for my favorite dead author, I have to go with Jane Austen. But I actually think she's my favorite author whose works I like seeing turned into shows on PBS!

Audra said...

I like Mus slides and my fave author is Anne Macaffery
audie(at)wickerness(dot)com

Unknown said...

My favourite dead authors are Jane Austen and Agatha Christie. Jane Austen because I love Pride and Prejudice and Emma and it would be so exciting to meet JA and see/get to know her (and how much of her novels are based on her life ;-p)

And Agatha Christie well because she amazes me! She wrote tons of novels and all of them are fantastic and none of them are similar! She was brilliant!

Mmm favourite cocktail? I love Pina Colada, Blue/Green Lagoon and Bahama Mama! :-D One summer with my high school best friend we flew off to Corfu and spent a wonderful week there. There were cocktail offers everywhere, so each night we experimented and drank about 2 cocktails each and discovered the less known ones, what a fun time we had :-)

Thank you for the great giveaway Kimberly!

stella.exlibris (at) gmail (dot) com

Unknown said...

oaky my fav coctail is a Long Island Iced Tea(that counts right) They are sooo yummy!

Fav Dead Author is Edgar Allen Poe..I have a morbid fasination!

tweeted:https://twitter.com/#!/harley_chick883/status/157553853787668480

Liked you on Facebook as:Kristina Miller Parmenter

shared on FB too:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Amberkatzes-Book-Blog/127379867292777?sk=wall#!/permalink.php?story_fbid=357169167643508&id=100000169851693


Thanks for the opportunity!

kristinaparmenter51(at)gmail(dot)com

Cheryl said...

I forgot to mention my favorite author who's passed away. I loved Ann Waldron's Princeton Murder mysteries.

Renee G said...

My favorite cocktail is a Mimosa. rsgrandinetti@yahoo(Dot)com

Brenda Demko said...

I don't drink often. My favorite cocktail would be the Fuzzy Navel.

Thank you for the very generous giveaway!

brendem7@comcast.net

Natalie @ Book Lovers Life said...

Thanks for the chance. My favorite cocktail is a Virgin Mary.
Tweeted https://twitter.com/#!/natcleary/status/157871099282071552
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/natcleary/posts/324261340941609
Like the facebook page as Natalie Cleary.

natcleary(at)gmail(dot)com

Margay Leah Justice said...

Hi, Kimberly!
a)I'm not much of a drinker but back in the day, I did like a tropical Sea Breeze.
b)Favorite dead author is Jane Austen, hands down. The woman just knew how to write and, man, did she leave us with some fabulous quotes! When I first read Captain Wentworth's letter to Anne Elliot in Persuasion and saw this - "You pierce my soul, I am half agony, half hope" - I really felt it. That is still one of my favorite quotes.

tromboneman said...

Don't drink any more, but my favorite in the past was Kahlua Cream. My favorite dead author is a 3 way tie between Leo Frankowski, Richard Sapir, and Jack Chalker. Why? They all told incredible spellbinding stories and were all a little off the wall, especially Chalker.

Laura said...

Favourite Cocktail - haven't had many cocktails but my fave alcoholic drink is the slushie-type lime margarita

Favourite Dead Author - Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens and Robert Lewis Stevenson

lauraalbert@hotmail.com