Kimberly Montague is the author of...
About the Book:Alexis Winston has been obsessed with famous race car driver Seth Keller ever since her older brother became best friends with him. After her parents pass away, Seth’s father becomes her legal guardian, and Seth begins referring to her as “kid sister.”
But when she returns home from college a grown woman, she becomes determined to prove to him that she is definitely not a “kid,” and the spark that ignites between them is anything but sisterly. Now they must battle her brother, her guardian, and his fiancé, all under the watchful eyes of the media as they fight to hang onto each other.
Our Interview
Please tell me 5 things about you.
1. I put a lot of salt on nearly everything I eat.
2. I drive a 2011 gray Mustang named Starbuck (after Battlestar Galactica 2003 not the coffee place)
3. I have four pets (in order of reverse acquisition): Black lab/Greyhound mutt, long-haired white German Shepherd, black tuxedo cat (weighs 27 lbs but is only overweight by about 3 lbs-- he's very long and tall), and a tiny Maltese/Shih Tzu (8lbs) who is the ruler of the entire house.
4. I'm an absolute hopeless romantic.
5. I'm a book hoarder. There, I admitted it. I just completely love books and going to bookstores and looking through titles on my Kindle. I love the smell of books and the feel of smooth pages against my fingertips. My books are my little friends and their little worlds are landscapes I can pop into at-will. I rarely every sell my books, opting instead, to have a really ridiculous pile of books two-deep on my shelves.
What are 3 unique aspects about Racing Outside the Line?
1. The heroine is a contradiction. She is both traumatized and totally open to getting her heart torn out all over again. She suffers from low self-esteem and is also incredibly confident and ruthless in achieving her goals. She is dependent upon the strength of others, but is also the rock for many of them. 2. The hero is famous, stubborn, arrogant, and more caring and giving than the vast majority of the population. He is a seriously strong example of how really good intentions can actually harm those he's trying to protect.
3. Where a lot of romance novels neatly tie up any issues with mean and angry ex-girlfriends, this book actually places this drama center-stage for the hero and heroine to confront in more detail.
Name 5 things you wished you knew about publishing (before being published)?
1. Amanda Hocking author-life story
2. I wish I had known that one day I would be able to do something with the stories and ideas I wrote just for me and my mom, instead of allowing the skeptics in my life tell me that I was never likely to get published.
3. I wish I had known that sometimes our desire to get our words out there can easily lead us to falling victim to "agents" and "publishing companies" who are simply running massive scams. While I've never fallen prey, my father was a victim.
4. I wish I had known the actual breakdown of how much money you are likely to make through a traditional publishing company.
5. JA Konrath's author-life story
Name 3 things on your bucket list.
1. Go to the Louvre in Paris
2. See where my father grew up in England
3. See the recreated Globe Theater in London
1. Hamlet
2. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
3. Sunshine by Robin McKinley
4. Castles by Julie Garwood
5. Ooronoko by Aphra Behn
1. Robin McKinley
2. Amanda Hocking
3. J.K. Rowling
4. Zoe Winters
5. J.A. Konrath
Name 3 things that help you gain inspiration for writing.
1. Dreams- sleepy-time ones
2. Dreams- wishes I have while awake
3. Moments in my life that have affected me or made me wonder "what if" throughout the years
What is the funniest thing that has happened to you as an author?
One of my students came to me one day with her arms folded across her chest and a huff in her voice. "Someone stole your name," she explained as she went into detail about finding Racing Outside the Line on Amazon's website. She knew I had been working on a young adult novel, but due to the young age of my students, I'd never shared any news about Racing Outside the Line with them. She was completely irate for me over this impostor that had dared write some romance novel under my name. It was funny in a completely cute way.
What's the most embarrassing author moment you've had?
My first draft of Racing Outside the Line was 160,000 words. I thought it was great and was attached to all my words. I had written scenes that I personally had to know in order to write my characters effectively, but that really had little to do with the actual story. When my very fabulous editor and cousin, Robyn finally got this reality to sink into my thick skull, it was really embarrassing to go back into my book and chop out 50,000 words of essentially crap. I have since accepted this as part of the writing process, but my resistance to the original idea makes me hang my head in shame.
If you were stranded on an island and could magically name 2 people, 3 things and 1 book you could have to have with you who/what would they be?
- My husband and my mom
- A fully charged satellite phone =) but if you're discounting the possibility of cheating, I'd say a machete, fishing spear, and a flint
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
I have a young adult paranormal romance called Altered, which centers around seventeen-year old Piper Kenly and the challenges she faces while being torn between her safe childhood relationship and an exciting, spark-filled connection she has with a guy she has just met. Just as she thinks she has it all figured out, a typical guy-dare leads to the spread of violent and destructive infection that causes the infected people to become aggressively deadly. This is the first book in my new series Inevitable Fates and will be out on June 1 of this year.
I'm also working on the second book in the Love Stories at 190 mph series: Pushing All the Limits. This second book is about the relationship and issues that Desmond (the older brother from Racing Outside the Line) and Chelsea (Alexis' best friend) face in their attempt to be together. Pushing All the Limits is expected to be out in the Fall of this year.
What is your favorite season?
That's actually a tie between Fall since my favorite holiday is Halloween, and I just love the leaves, and summers in North Carolina with their breathtaking thunderstorms.
Your dream vacation would be?
I would love to sit out on a beach in the Caribbean and do nothing but drink Daiquiris and snorkel with my personal aquatic life tour guide, my husband.
Best childhood memory?
My parents and me in our backyard during the summer enjoying the sun, swimming, raft races, playing chess with my dad, my mom making nachos, and our dogs with their tongues hanging out and their tails wagging in happiness. Good times.
If you were given the chance to do any one thing over again, what would you do over?
I would go back and live in a college dorm and experience going away to college even if it had only been an hour or two away.
If you were given the chance to re-live any one moment, what would it be?
When my husband met my parents for the first time. My husband and I played chess against my dad (he still won, he was brilliant) and laughed with my parents enjoying the warm evening on our swing on the deck.
What are you most looking forward to this summer?
Sleep. I'm a teacher, so the opportunity to focus on my own life without worry of lessons, students, budgets, etc, is incredibly welcome.
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
Don't let anyone look at you skeptically. Find those that always make you feel you can do what you aspire to do, and ignore everyone else. If you can successfully ignore the doubters... email me and tell me how. =)
Thank you Kimberly!
This is a great author interview-- I wish every new author knew about Amanda Hocking. Her story gives independent authors a lot of hope.
ReplyDeleteI am now following your blog. I'll contact you again when the Indie Reviewer List is live on Amazon. Thanks for agreeing to give small press books a chance.