Playing 20 questions with Kelly Lee!

Today I am joined by the lovely Kelly Lee.....

EM: Welcome to My World, Kelly! Thank you so much for stopping by to play twenty questions with me : )


Before we begin, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Greetings and salutations! First of all, I want to say thanks to Elizabeth for having me on her blog today. Thanks, Elizabeth!

I am a new author with a debut novel just released this week. It’s called Murdering Eve, and is the first book in a Fantasy/Romance series entitled The Four Realms.

EM: Not at all, it is a pleasure to have you here! : ) Now, are you ready to play 20 questions? *Rubs hands together*

KL: So excited to be here, Elizabeth, but honestly I'm a little scared. Be gentle! : )

Which do you find harder to write?


1. First person POV or Third?

First person is much more difficult for me. Third person gives me a lot of freedom to explore different points of view. I admire writers who can successfully write first person to keep it immediate and real with a single point of view while still giving the story a well-rounded feel.

2. As a male or female?

I enjoy both immensely, and it's fun to experience the different perspectives of each character on the same situation or dialogue. As a woman, my heroine tends to take front and center stage, but including the male perspective can give a really multi-dimensional feel to the story.

3. Beginning, middle or end of the story?

The end, definitely the end. The beginning always seems to write itself as the characters explore themselves and their relationships to each other, and the middle is a cool journey we take together, but the end always makes me work for it. Usually over many glasses of wine! Mastering just the right circumstances and just the right tone to pull a story together with a big "aha" at the end takes an inordinate amount of work for me.

4. Fight scenes or smex scenes?

Smex. I can spend days on a scene, wonder why it took so long, and then look back to see I've written 20 pages dedicated exclusively to a single sexual encounter. Ah, good times.

EM: 20 pages? Damn, that has to be one torturous encounter ; P

5. Synopsis or blurb?

Drafting a synopsis makes me want to hurt something… I get too detailed, then have to edit and re-edit because everything seems soooo important. I prefer the blurb. Those are light, fun and easy for me.

EM: Me to. I have to write the synopsis, and then condense it about ten times. Very frustrating.


As a writer, do you prefer:


6. Writing in the morning, afternoon or evening?

I have a day job, so I usually have no choice but to write in the evenings. If I had my perfect world, I'd write in the mornings. My juices really flow first thing, especially when caffeine is part of the mix.

7. Writing with music, or in peace?

Peace, baby. All the way. My husband can do 50 things at once, but I get distracted easily. If I've got music going while I'm writing, and even one more thing happens like a phone ringing, I could easily fall right out my chair.

8. Planning, or Improvising?

I'm an improviser. I plot some of the story in an outline before I start, so I know most of what's going to happen, but one of the best parts of writing a book is when your character grabs you by the throat and says, "Kelly, here's what I'm going to do today. Just sit back and take notes." You never know when that's going to happen, and you pray you've got lots of time allocated for writing, because honestly, that muse can be a whip-wielding slave driver when she wants to be!

9. Juggling a few projects, or concentrating on one at a time?

I can't seem to walk and chew gum at the same time - so to even contemplate writing two stories simultaneously makes the vein in my temple start to throb. Perhaps that skill is something I can grow into as a writer, or as I have more time to dedicate to the craft between a day job, a 4 year old, and one more kiddo on the way. : )

EM: Hopefully we will both grow in to it. My imagination and muse hop around together, so I have to force them on to one little patch of green grass until I'm done. Otherwise I would never get anything finished.


10. Sticking to one genre, or exploring many?

I've only completed two manuscripts and they're both in the same genre, but instead of continuing the thread right away on my next book, I'm thinking of going another way altogether.

As a reader, do you prefer:


11. Story being told from female view or male?

Doesn’t matter to me as long as I can identify with, and get into the mind of, the character.

12. Good guys or bad boys?

I like the bad boy with the heart of gold . . . doesn’t everyone?

13. Feisty females or fragile damsels?

Feisty females! They’re my favorite both to read and write, but they need to have a hint of vulnerability to keep them real. Those fragile damsels make me want to reach through the page and slap them. : ) I grew up very independent, and I appreciate that in other women, including those who exist only in my mind.

EM: Amen. Be a woman, but be a strong one in some way or another.

14. Stand alone stories or series?

I’m a huge fan of series. Love to read them, and turns out, I'm enjoying writing one. I can develop an almost unnatural emotional connection to characters in a series, and tend to get heartbroken when I reach the end of a series I've dearly loved.

15. Quick reads or long stories?

Long stories for me. I appreciate the talent and skill it takes to write a quick read and still capture appropriate depth, but I savor the longer, slower ride.

16. Romance as a side dish or the main course?

That's a tough one. Usually a side dish, because the characters’ circumstances need to be really developed and compelling. I value a complex plot; one that the characters are required to navigate together, usually perilously, and somehow end up together in the end. Romance is a thread throughout the books I write, because who doesn’t need more of that in their lives? But it's definitely not solely about the main characters' journey to love.

17. Erotica or soft romance or something in-between?

In-between. I need more than soft romance, or the intimacy between lead characters doesn't *ahem* go deep enough for me.

18. More action or humor?

Gotta have both, but humor will carry me through most days. Some of the most memorable passages in books to me are the bantering dialogue or sarcastic, funny barbs from the minds of characters shared only with the reader.

Just for fun:


19. Vampires or Angels?

Hmm. Gotta go with vamps on this one. I haven't written them, but sure do love to read them.

20. Werewolves or Demons?

Demons. I'm fascinated by all the cultural incarnations of demonology. Don't tell my mom, though. My interest in all things demon-y freaks her out.

EM: My lips are sealed ; ) *Seals lips*

What are you currently working on?

I am in the midst of edits on my next manuscript – the second book in the Four Realms Series after Murdering Eve. I'm getting it ready for submission to my publisher.

Do you have any current release?

Murdering Eve, won the 2011 Readers Favorite award in the Romance/Fantasy-SciFi category.

EM: *Looks at readers* How awesome is that? *High fives Kelly*


Blurb:

If Eve Moore’s life was a horse, it would be lame and she would shoot it. She has a cheating husband, unrealized dreams, and everything about her is average. At least she thought so, until her husband’s mistress thrust a knife into her chest and tried to send her soul to Hades. Unfortunately for Eve, surviving a vicious attack is only the beginning.

In the blink of an eye, the normalcy of Eve’s life drains away with the rivulets of her own blood. Now forced to face the reality of living, breathing Greek Gods, she must complete an impossible task assigned by Ares, the God of War to prevent her own execution, or worse, being thrown into Acheron, the Underworld River of Pain. As she would wistfully think later, attempted murder was the last mundane experience of her life.

Eve now has to find a banished troll and return him to Olympus while fighting off a pissed-off Titaness in league with her mother’s vengeful ex-husband, falling for a ridiculously gorgeous man who can command the very air she breathes, and figuring out who and what she really is. Plus, she’s having a pretty hard time dealing with the apparent break in her sanity. And time is running out.

Purchase link for Murdering Eve:

Noble Romance: https://www.nobleromance.com/Books/350/Murdering-Eve & Amazon.com

Any upcoming releases?

Nothing to announce yet, but hopefully will be soon! The working title is Battle Heat, and here’s a little taste . . . .
Holly Okeanos is alone. Descended of a race whose adult males were all either killed or imprisoned, she refuses to fear those who decimated her people. A warrior to her core, and now a prisoner to a God of War, she is torn between loyalty to her race and the overpowering attraction she feels for the fearsome man who led the bloody battles who destroyed the lives of everyone she's ever known.

The beast inside Ares must feed. His family knows the darkness that lies within him and they equally fear and hate him for it, but the God of War is the first they call when the throne is threatened. He is a slave to the monster that drives him, but it wasn’t always this way. He had love once, and it was stripped of him by a curse that left him a hollow shell of hate. As if the circumstances of his very existence weren't bad enough, his father bound him against his will to Holly, a trouble making vixen that detests the very air he breathes.

Now Ares is assailed by emotions that haven’t surfaced in centuries. Could Holly be the woman to quiet the beast inside him? And if she is, how will they overcome thousands of years of hatred between their races and each other?

EM: Oooo this series is soooo on my too buy list. ^_^

Where can readers find you on the internet?

http://www.kellyleefiction.com/

EM: Thank you so much for joining me, Kelly! : )