K-lee Klein interview and give-away

~~Okay, here we go!!!~~

Hi, I'm Blaine D. Arden, and I'll be taking over the interview room for today, because after hosting and interviewing all these wonderful authors on her site, it's time for K-Lee to answer some questions herself.

First of all, thanks K-Lee for letting me torture you on your own site**

Thank you, Blaine, and welcome to my blog. I look forward to what torture you have in store for me, and I promise I won’t cry. J

Right, on with the questions, then.

1)    If you weren't a writer, what would you be?

Ahhh, that would have to be a rockstar or a cowboy – no! A rockstar/cowboy shifter! Yeah, that’s it. Of course I’d prefer to be a man doing both those things so I could, you know, do some other rockstars and cowboys and shifters. But I do have a degree in Communication Arts, a Legal Assistant diploma and am a certified travel agent so I guess if the rockstar/cowboy/shifter thing didn’t pan out I could do one of those. J

2)    Do your characters come to you fully-formed, or do you spend hours trying to find them a job … and a name?

That really depends on the characters and the story. For some reason the job part is usually easy – rockstar, cowboy, fast food worker, lawyer, private investigator. If I don’t have a name right off the bat, I usually struggle with figuring that out. Normally the part I know about my characters first is how and why they are damaged and broken. L

    3)    Are you a pantser or a plotter?

I think I’m a little of both of these. When ideas pop into my head I have to write them down or start the story immediately but other times I think it out for a while. Often times I know the beginning and the ending but not the middle. If I really had to choose I think I’d say pantser – just sit down and go for it.

4)    What do you enjoy the most about writing?

I love writing my characters and feeling like I’ve made new friends – new friends I can guide and torture. I also like getting my emotions out on the page and being able to shut the world out when I’m in my own made-up world.

5)    What makes a story worth reading to you?

Emotion and good characterization. I don’t have a preference for butch or fem, big or small, but I like to get inside the characters’ head and there has to be a plot, not just a lot of sex strung together by a few extra words. That’s not my kind of story.

6)    What do you when you're not writing?

I’ve had a bad year health-wise so right now I’m just trying to get and stay healthy. I’m addicted to reality shows and spend some time with my boys and cats, too.

     7)    Which of your characters are you most likely to take on a cruise, and why?

That’s gotta be Rylan and Gage from Outfoxed – I’m sure they’d love to entertain me and everyone else on a cruise, plus they’d be great company. Josiah and Wyatt from Finally Home would be totally out of their element so I’d have to leave them at home where they’re comfy.

     8)    What is your favorite place in your house to write?

In the morning I write in my living room in front of the big picture window so I can watch the day start. The afternoon and evening are either the family room or my room. I only write on my laptop or iPad so I’m pretty versatile that. I also like writing in coffee shops when my inspiration is low, and embarrassingly enough, I’ve discovered I’m quite prolific in the bathtub. (which freaks my husband out – but hey, I read on my iPad so if I have enough skill to write in there too, what’s the harm?) Lol.

9)    Finally Home is coming out on the 27th. 
Tell us about it.

Finally Home is a bit of a sad story right from the beginning, involving loss and grief. Josiah has come home to bury his father and all the bad memories associated with him, but a surprise in the form of his childhood best friend is waiting for him. There are tears and sadness and confusion, but overall I think it’s a sweet, hopeful story about finding yourself and figuring out where you really belong.

10) And on to the fun part:

I never leave home without …......my cell phone and usually my iPad.

I can never ….get enough sushi.

Favorite pizza topping? Strangely enough, I don’t really eat pizza because I’m not a fan of tomato sauce but I do like one I’ve discovered that has olive oil, salsa, spicy chicken, loads of cheese and jalepenos. J

light or dark chocolate? The only chocolate I don’t like is white.

Smile or eyes? Eyes – gotta be the eyes for me. It’s one of the first thing I know about my characters – what color their eyes are.

Pecs or abs? Some of these questions seem familiar. Hmm. I’m a pecs girl but not huge, just defined and lickable.

Coffee or tea? The only coffee is something like lattes or macchiatos but I’m a big tea drinker (with cream and sugar)

** Blaine signed an agreement in threefold in which she promises not to do any lasting damage. Any scratches, hick-ups and gaps on the page happened purely by accident. No K-Lee or kittens were harmed during this interview.

The awesome Megan Derr decided to offer a few questions of her own. J

If all your characters were thrown into a season of Survivor, who would get kicked off first? Who do you think would win?

OMG! Would Ozzy (from Survivor) be there too. ~Purrs~. I asked for a life-size Ozzy doll with working parts for Christmas – did I mention that? Did I also mention I have writer-ADHD?

Sorry back to the question: that's very tough because my cowboys (Josiah and Wyatt) are very gentlemanly and wouldn't be cut-throat enough - one of them would probably go home first then the other right after because he wouldn't want to be there anymore. My rocker boys, Rylan and Gage, would fair pretty well, probably wrap all the boys and girls around their glamorous little fingers but I'm not sure they'd make it to the end - not enough glitz and excitement for them. I think it would be a character from one of my WIPs, maybe Lucius the wolf because he's tough and sneaky and gets what he wants but Alistair (the witch) might also be an option being that he's magical and all.

Who would win in a fight: Viking or Gladiator, and why?

Megan Derr, you have lost your awesome title and now are just considered plain, old evil. But really what’s to fight about anyhow – make love not war and I think a Viking and Gladiator would be able to do that just fine. Fighting for dominance, already have-clothed, not afraid to get dirty - biting, holding each other down, teeth, nails, tongues, hands, pecs, abs… ~~excuses herself for a moment~~

So do you do anything exciting for New Year's? Convinced your hubby a cruise would be a great start to 2012 yet?

~~sighs~~ No world cruise for me and don’t think I’m getting the life-size Ozzy or the pom-pup either. As for New Year’s, we are very boring people or maybe we’re just old people. When we were younger we did the bar or club thing and then house parties, but now, as harsh as it sounds, it’s kind of just another day. Last year was the best New Year’s ever though – we took our three basically-grown kids on a Caribbean cruise so we danced and drank out by the pool for about four hours – awesome.  

                       

Thank you, Blaine and Megan for your questions and thanks to all the authors who contributed to my blog and comments who showed up in the last couple of weeks.

I’m very excited to have my debut book coming out on Tuesday, December 27 at MLR Press and if you comment on this post with your name, email address and something witty to say about my interview or my writing, I’ll enter you in a draw to win a copy of Finally Home. Contest will run until the night of the 27^th. If you don't win, please do me the honour of picking up Finally Home from MLR Press, and if you haven't read Outfoxed yet, you can download it for free here. You can also check out my awesome website designed by the fabulous Zathyn Priest K-lee Klein.

Finally, I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and Joyous New Year!

And just for good measure, even though you're probably tired of reading it - here's the blurb and an excerpt from Finally Home.

FINALLY HOME (Home on the Ranch series 1) (blurb)

When his father’s funeral brings Josiah Nelson back to his childhood home during the Christmas holidays, he’s determined to sell the ranch and bury his past. But when Wyatt Aames rekindles a fire in Josiah’s lonely soul, he realizes that home isn’t the house you grew up in, it’s where your heart belongs.

EXCERPT

Josiah flicked the cowboy hat from Wyatt’s head, one hand sinking into the brown curls he’d wanted to touch for so long. His hair was thicker than Josiah would have thought, thick but still soft and sensual as it slid through his fingers. In Josiah’s mind it was the most intimate of gestures, touching someone else’s hair, playing with it, tugging it as passion soared. The kiss went on and on, lips moving, tongues exploring until both men were breathless and had to pull away. Josiah nervously ducked his head only to have it lifted again by one calloused thumb, his eyes meeting Wyatt’s.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to be with you like this?”

Josiah couldn’t contain the excitement that longed to shoot out of him, the urge to whoop and holler and turn into a raving idiot right before Wyatt’s eyes. He was achingly aware of his thighs pressing tight against Wyatt’s, his cock hard and lusting beneath his jeans as he let one corner of his mouth curl up in a sexy smirk, eyes never leaving Wyatt’s. “You kissed me last night.”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about,” Wyatt growled, leaning in and nipping at Josiah’s bottom lip. “I’ve missed you so much.”

“So you said in your letter.”

Josiah loved the red blotches that appeared on Wyatt’s cheeks. How could such a perfect man be embarrassed about anything, especially something that had made someone else so happy and hopeful? That was the first time he’d admitted that to himself—that Wyatt’s letter had touched something deep inside him. It scared the crap out of him.

“Kinda girly, huh?”

“What?” Josiah concentrated his thoughts back to the man beneath him.

“The letter,” Wyatt said. “It was kinda girly.”

Josiah shook his head but the smile on his lips must have been a dead give-away. “Well, maybe a little.” He leaned back to grip the bottom of Wyatt’s t-shirt, pulling it up and over Wyatt’s head and tossing it to the side.

Wyatt burst out laughing, startling Josiah and almost sending him ass over tea kettle to the floor. The cowboy managed to grab on just in time to pull him back into his arms. Then their mouths were attached again, something more primal and raw this time.

Josiah moved his body closer to Wyatt’s, stretching his feet to the floor, going up on his toes so he hovered over the cowboy, lips still firmly planted in place. His hands threaded through Wyatt’s hair again, fingers tracing and learning the shape of Wyatt’s skull. He shifted his hands lower to massage the back of Wyatt’s neck, slipping down his spine, inch by inch, knobby knot by knobby knot. He liked what he felt; bony vertebrae covered by skin as smooth as silk. He hoisted himself up further, one hand gripping the stool while the other slipped further down Wyatt’s back, fingers running down the smooth skin until they reached the crack in his ass.

Wyatt groaned into his mouth, hands cupping Josiah’s ass, fingertips rubbing and kneading the tight bottom beneath the jeans. They moaned in unison, bodies pressing closer together, mouths eating at each other as their tongues tangled for dominance.

Josiah felt like he was in a dream, the dream he’d had since he was young—kissing Wyatt, touching Wyatt, feeling Wyatt touching and kissing him. It was the most erotic thing he could ever remember doing, so much better than any of the sexual experiences he’d had in the past—and they still had most of their clothes on.

“Holy hell, Josiah,” Wyatt whispered when he tore his lips away, breath coming in soft bursts, his chest heaving against Josiah. “Waited so long for this. I just wanna hang on and not let go.”

“Then don’t.” Josiah even surprised himself when the words in his head became a reality and he was saying them out loud to Wyatt, but this time he didn’t back off. He brought his forehead to Wyatt’s, leaning in close and rubbing his nose against his friend’s just as he’d done so many years before. He wanted this. He’d always wanted this, and by Christ if it was a dream he just hoped he never woke up. He felt a hand move from his ass, sliding up his belly and stopping to play with a taut nipple. He gasped and arched his back.

Wyatt’s smile was bright, his eyes even brighter as his hands moved up and cupped the sides of Josiah’s face. “Do you mean that? Really?”

Josiah loved that smile, half-crooked but all sexy, one dimple appearing in the center of his left cheek when he was happy or excited. He licked over Wyatt’s lips, taking his time to taste everything that was his friend’s… dare he say his lover’s essence? He thrust his hips forward, cock straining against his jeans as it brushed against Wyatt’s metal belt buckle. He was already leaking, the material of his boxers’ sticking to his wet tip and making the tightness of his pants even more unbearable.

“I—” He didn’t get the rest of his words out as the barn door creaked open filling the room with more light.