Authors Are Rockstars Tour: KIM HARRINGTON Interview + Giveaway!

Today I am super excited to be participating in the second annual Authors Are Rockstars tour!  Not only that, but I get to feature one of my favorite authors, Kim Harrington!!

Kim is a ROCKSTAR

Kim Harrington, now on her fourth book for Young Adults, is one of those writers that I truly admire.  Her stories and characters draw you in, take them with you on an enthralling, sometimes creepy journey, and stick with you long after you turn the last page.  But what makes her books stand out to me is something that is surprisingly hard to come by in the YA world these days. Her books speak to all ages, the whole range of the young adult genre, and are even fun to read for adults like me!  Her stories are still sophisticated and are generous with the spine-tingling  moments, but you never have to worry as a parent or a teacher or a librarian about handing over one of her books to even the youngest YA readers of 11 or 12.  It’s a challenge these days, I’d say that more than half of the YA out there is only appropriate for 15 and up.  Kim Harrington is a master at giving us fun stories that everyone can enjoy. For me, that is definitely a big part of what makes her a rockstar.

Q & A with Kim Harrington:

Which of the characters that you've written is your favorite?

I tend to adore whichever main character I’m working with at the time. And I can’t wait for you guys to meet Morgan from FORGET ME (coming Summer 2014). But I have to admit that no matter how much time passes and how many other books I write, there will always be a special place in my heart reserved for Clarity Fern. I miss her.

What are you usually doing when a story idea strikes you?
Story ideas never hit when I’m trying to think of one. They usually spring up when I’m doing something automatic that doesn’t require too much focus—exercising, showering, cleaning. My mind wanders and then BAM! An idea is born.

Do you know how a story is going to end before you sit down to write it?
I have to know. I found this out the hard way with starts and stops and incomplete manuscripts years ago. Before I start writing, I have to know the beginning and the end. The middle can grow organically. And the end can change, of course, but I have to have some idea of it before I can begin.

What kind of books did you love to read as a teenager?
I was a teen in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s—horror’s heyday. It seemed like every publisher had a mass market paperback horror line, and I spent all my 

part-time job money on those books. I loved them.

 What is the best writing advice you’ve ever been given?

To write, first and foremost, for yourself. I write books I would want to read. I write to entertain 
myself.

Favorite snack while writing?

Sour Patch Kids, especially Sour Patch Fruit Salad

Favorite movie?
Poltergeist (weird, I know)

Favorite color?
Purple. I’m kind of obsessed with purple.

Favorite band and song right now?

Radioactive by Imagine Dragons

Favorite teacher from your school years?
My eighth grade science teacher. That was a pretty miserable year for me, but he made science exciting and fun, and introduced me to astronomy, which I still find fascinating.

And everyone who visits Stories & Sweeties answers this one:  Do you like cupcakes? Frosting or cake better?
YES! I looooove cupcakes. Especially yellow cupcakes with a lot of sugary frosting. What I like to do is break off part of the bottom cake part, then put it on top and squish it down so the frosting is in the middle, like a sandwich. That way I get frosting in every bite.

Thanks for having me!

Find Kim Harrington online:

WEBSITE  •  TWITTER  •  FACEBOOK  •  GOODREADS

Stories & Sweeties reviews:

CLARITY  •  PERCEPTION  •  THE DEAD AND BURIED

GIVEAWAY!!

I'm giving away one winner's choice of any of Kim's books!
 Open internationally  •  Ends 8/16/13

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Authors Are Rockstars Tour Stop - Melissa West!! Guest Post & Quadruple Giveaway!

Welcome, book lovers to my stop on the Authors are Rockstars tour!!

Today I'm featuring the author of the upcoming YA sci-fi romance Gravity,
  Melissa West! 

So, what makes Melissa a rock star?  Well, aside from writing a book that I've been salivating over for many, many months now, with an epic cover that is absolutely to die for and one of the best, most intriguing taglines out there? Here's what gives her rock star status to me: she's also a mommy, a wife, a collector of shoes (really, what good rock star isn't?), and she totally owns being a sore loser at Monopoly. :)  Now, I totally thought she rocked before, but then I found out this little tidbit:
 Melissa has commited to donating 10% of all sales of the entire Gravity series to the American Cancer Society. 
Wow. Just wow.  Her reasons for doing this are incredibly touching, and I'll let you read about it in her own words here.  But as some of you know, I'm a cancer warrior myself, so if you ask me, this incredibly generous act not only makes her a rock star, it makes her a bona fide hero of mine. :)  So, to show my gratitude, I'll be purchasing four copies---one for me, of course LOL---and three for giveaway! Check out the giveaways down below to win one!

?

In the future, only one rule will matter:

Don’t. Ever. Peek.

Seventeen-year-old Ari Alexander just broke that rule and saw the last person she expected hovering above her bed — arrogant Jackson Locke, the most popular boy in her school. She expects instant execution or some kind of freak alien punishment, but instead, Jackson issues a challenge: help him, or everyone on Earth will die.

Ari knows she should report him, but everything about Jackson makes her question what she’s been taught about his kind. And against her instincts, she’s falling for him. But Ari isn’t just any girl, and Jackson wants more than her attention. She’s a military legacy who’s been trained by her father and exposed to war strategies and societal information no one can know — especially an alien spy, like Jackson. Giving Jackson the information he needs will betray her father and her country, but keeping silent will start a war.

Gravity comes out October 16th, 2012 from Entangled Teen.

About Melissa:

Melissa lives in a tiny suburb of Atlanta, GA with her husband and daughter. She pretends to like yoga, actually likes shoes, and could not live without coffee. Her writing heroes include greats like Jane Austen and Madeleine L'Engle.

She holds a B.A. in Communication Studies and an M.S. in Graphic Communication, both from Clemson University. Yeah, her blood runs orange.

GRAVITY is her first book.

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Goodreads ~ Twitter

Guest Post:

Melissa's thoughts on making characters readers can relate to…even if they aren’t human:

It’s interesting that this topic was presented to me as I’ve been thinking a lot lately over what bonds a reader to a character. I think it’s easy to understand why we fall for characters like Katniss Everdeen. She may not be the most presentable lady. She isn’t funny. She isn’t cute. But she’s brave. She’s loyal. She cares more about her family than anything—than what’s right, what’s legal, what’s expected of her. That sort of determined love is admirable. Couple that deep love with her skill and bravery and suddenly it’s easy to understand why we root for her.

I think the traits that bond us to Katniss, or even to a person in our everyday lives, also apply to characters that aren’t human. The key is to make those nonhuman characters humane in their actions, in their emotions, in the way the human characters in our books sympathize with them. Suddenly we no longer care that “X” is a vampire, or werewolf, or angel, or demon…or alien.

Hopefully, readers quickly forget that Jackson is an alien and instead view him as the kick ass, super hot guy that he is. ;)

And now for the giveaways! 

#1 - Entangled Teen has generously provided an e-book of Gravity for giveaway!   

#2 - And as promised, I'm giving away three pre-ordered Gravity paperbacks.  
Both giveaways are open internationally. Must be 13 or older. You may enter both giveaways using the rafflecopter forms below:


a Rafflecopter giveaway


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck, everyone, and thanks for stopping by my Authors are Rockstars tour stop!