In honor of Valentines Day...
I'm giving away one of my favorite Romance stories ever.
-B Vixen
INTERVIEW AND GIVEAWAY!!!!
To Stand Beside Her
by B. Kristin McMichael
Leila is a courier. To the people she takes from, she is seen as a common thief; to the people she helps, she is a savior.
Nalick is your typical king. He’s rich, powerful, and always assumed
to be right. When Leila crosses paths with King Nalick, she finds
herself trapped. In a rush to save her best friend Kay from a prison
sentence for a crime Leila committed, Leila trades her hand in marriage
in exchange for Kay’s freedom.
Tomboy Leila does not want to grow up, but in three months’ time, she
will be married to King Nalick, if Nalick can keep his end of the
bargain. First, Nalick must make Leila fall in love with him, a hard
task since Leila is not ready to love again after losing her first love
to a greedy king. Second, Nalick must keep her safe. He is not the only
king trying to hold onto her. Leila has made many enemies over the
years, and even more admirers that want her as a prize. Lastly, Nalick
must convince Leila that ten years of love is better than a lifetime
without. Unless Leila can trust her destiny,she might not reach her
wedding day at all.
To purchase Stand Beside Her:
Amazon
Nook
Smashwords
Kobo
Also available on Itunes!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
B. Kristin McMichael
BIO: Years ago while I was all alone on Saturday mornings, I decided to
start writing again. I began by seeing if I could write a complete
novel. So I sat down for a couple hours each Saturday of the month of
April. I had written some short stories/novellas when I was in junior
high and high school, but never a full length novel. After 150,000+
words in one month, I had a complete novel. It made me realize that
maybe I could do the writing thing after all.
Five years, two kids, three cats, and a PhD later, I am still writing
and have three completed manuscripts and twice as many started (a
couple near finished). I try my best to find time each week to write,
but now I find more and more that I need to spend time editing. To
improve my writing I am back to reading lots and getting ideas and
better understanding how to craft a story people will enjoy.
When I am not writing, I am normally working at my job as a scientist
or playing with my two wonderful children. If I get any amount of free
time I like to bake, garden, and sew (yes, I know- such a mom life, but I
have liked to do those before I had children) I continue to enjoy
writing and love the motivation my husband gives me to try to make it in
the writing world. I may need a harder shell, but with his support, I
just might be able to do this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTERVIEW:
Being the awesomesauce person that she is, B. Kristin let me ask her a few questions, to go along with the giveaway! I'd like to Thank B. Kristin for being so amazing, kind, and brilliant! I thoroughly enjoyed her debut novel. I'm excited to give y'all a excerpt from her new book coming out! *squee* Enjoy the interview, and Enter the giveaway!!! - B Vixen
B Kristin, How did you come up with the idea for 'To Stand Beside Her'?
This actually was from two different dreams that had the same characters. The first part I dreamt was Leila trying to free her best friend from the king (he had no name at that point). I dream in an odd, third-person type of way, like the way I write- I see the characters, but I somehow know what they are thinking and feeling. The second dream, weeks later, was taking that same king and his friend home to meet the family. Somehow between one dream to the next- the mean king became a likeable guy. In reality, I watch too many movies and read too many books and when I go to bed at night, my mind tries to sort it all out. I end up with very long dreams that I can remember all the details from.
What was your favorite moment in writing this novel?
I
liked writing the beginning with Leila and Nalick
meeting: two forces of nature butting heads to see who would
win. That was fun. Writing scenes with bold characters is
always fun as I can write what I would love to say but would
never in real life have the guts to! Also, I liked
writing the epilogue, even if it was a bit sad. I hate to get
to the end of a book and wonder how everything turned out. I
figured there would be no guessing here, and it would be
a bit bitter sweet. But it was an ending I could be
happy with.
**I just want to share my favorite moment in this novel - THE ENTIRE THING!! lol seriously, I loved it that much!**
Nalick is a very special character... When you first started writing this novel, did you intend for him to end up the way he did?
I try to know all my characters very well so that I always know their motivation. By the time I wrote the novel (I always plan out the details from beginning to end twice before I sit down to write), I knew how the book would turn out, so I had a plan for him all along. I also had a plan for Anatolio, but I guess that was a well-kept secret…..
Leila is an indescribable force... Behind all her masks she had red hair [Yay Red head power!]. Do you see yourself in Leila at all?
Oh, I wish I could be that bold! What I’d give to have an alternative personality like that, but in reality, I’ve always been shy and very introverted. I also am much more of a planner and could never live my life on a whim. As to the hair color, I figured with all her spunk, she needed to be a red head.
If you had to choose, which one writer / person would you consider to be your mentor / inspiration for writing?
I don’t think I could name one person. This past year I read over one hundred books and put many on my list to read a second time. First time I read a book, I get caught up in the story, but the second time, I can look more at the writing and look for what pulls me in. As much as the big authors like JK Rowling are great, I think the indie authors are really admirable as they produce a great product without having professional editors and the whole crew of people making the books look great. At first I was hesitant to read indie authors, but once I downloaded a few free ones, I was greatly surprised.
How do you react to a bad review of one of your books?
Ahh, it is disappointing, but you can’t please everyone. I would love if the bad reviews actually said why they didn’t like it. I believe in learning from all this, so if I do something that someone doesn’t like and that I can change the next time around, I’d love to hear it.
Being a Mom... Have you ever gone out in public with your shirt on backwards, or your slippers on, and when realizing it, just said screw it?
The first year with my daughter I had a few of those days. I remember being lectured by the dentist, this old time guy that was really hard core. He was telling me that I don’t floss enough. I told him, I’m sorry but I have a three month old baby at home that has yet to sleep more than three hours at a time. I honestly don’t even know if I combed my hair today, so flossing just isn’t that high on my list. He didn’t like that reply…..
Do you work with an outline, or just write?
I’m more of a just write type person. I mentally work through the plot twice before I start writing. So I do have points A, B, C, and an end point, but everything else just falls into place. If you know your characters inside and out, just writing works because you can start something and they take it away and go with it.
Do you have any advice to give to aspiring writers?
Read,
write, edit, repeat……. Read what is out there to know
what keeps your interest and how to better your own
writing. Write as often as you can find time and don’t forget
to edit. Editing can never be done too much.
To
Stand Beside Her was your debut novel as an Author,
are there any more stories in the works for you?
[Could we maybe get a tiny teaser, if so!?]
I
actually sent off my next novel to the editor
yesterday. This was another book I never thought anyone would
end up reading. It is an urban fantasy dealing with night
humans. I wrote it two months before Twilight came out
and figured vampires would be everywhere. Unconfident
me thought that I would have no luck with getting anyone
wanting to read it, so I gave up.
Blurb:
Arianna Grace liked her boring Midwestern teenage life where she
ignored the many unanswered questions of her childhood. Why were her
parents dead? Why doesn’t she have a family? Why do her memories only
start at five? When someone offers to explain it, Arianna thinks she is
just getting answers. Instead, she is thrown into a world of night
humans that drink blood.
On Arianna’s sixteenth birthday, her world is thrown upside down when
she changes into a vampire. Night humans, or demons as some call them,
live in normal society. Learning all the new rules of a world she didn’t
know existed would be hard enough, but it’s further complicated by two
former-friends that now want to help her take her role as the successor
to her grandfather.
There is a war going on between the night humans. Sides have been
taken and lines are not crossed. Four main clans of night humans are
struggling for control of the night. Divided into two sides, clans Baku
and Tengu have been at war for centuries with the clans Dearg-dul and
Lycan. That is, until Arianna Grace finds out the truth; she is the
bridge of peace between the two sides. But not everyone wants peace.
With the night humans divided onto two sides, Arianna is now a pawn in
the war between them. Arianna must choose a side- her mother’s family or
her father’s- and for once in her life decide her own fate.
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT:
The Legend of the Blue Eyes
hopefully being released in March
The
tumbling of her stomach didn’t stop, and she slowly
stepped into the light rain, towards the unknown man
waiting for her. The young man opened the picket fence as she
neared. Arianna stopped suddenly as she recognized the young
man’s face.
“You’re
from my math class,” she said in shock, as
blond-haired boy from her math class took her arm and pulled
her under the umbrella with him. He did not respond but
directed her down the street. “You also ride the same Friday
bus as me.” Arianna waited for a reply, but he still
didn’t speak. His clear, blue eyes darted around, searching the
shadows as they walked. She was feeling worse now as her
stomach turned. “I think I’m sick,” she said, as she slowed
her walk. Arianna quickly stepped away from the
unnamed boy and puked into the grass. “Just my luck,” she said,
trying to break the heavy silence. “I turn sixteen and get
sick at the same time.” The boy escorting her stopped.
“Your
birthday is tomorrow,” he responded, still carefully
watching around them. Arianna should have been
surprised he knew, but she was too sick to care.
…….
Suddenly,
the pain began again, worse than before. Arianna
gripped the young man’s shoulder as it continued.
Arianna was numb to the world around her, while the pain
continued to grow worse. The man stopped running, and quickly
darted into an alley between two stores. He carefully
set Arianna down against a building with an overhang to
protect her from the rain. Arianna glanced up as he moved a
few feet away and turned his back to her. The pain grew worse,
and she shut her eyes as he spoke on his phone.
“We
won’t make it there in time,” he said quietly. “She’s
already turning.” Arianna waited, listening to the rain
and his conversation to try to distract herself from the pain.
“My tracker is on, get here as soon as you can.” The young
man knelt beside Arianna.
“Can you make the pain stop?” she begged. He nodded.
“I
was trying to make it to a safe house, but we are
still at least a mile away from the nearest one.” Arianna
nodded, though she didn’t understand what he was talking
about. “You need to feed, or the pain will get worse.”
“Feed?”
she asked, confused. Arianna felt a jolt of pain rip
through her body and she closed her eyes. With one
fluid movement, the young man pulled a knife from his pocket
and cut his own wrist. “What…?” Arianna began to ask, as she
opened her eyes to find his bleeding wrist near her
face. Arianna felt an urge come over her. Her eyes
glazed over as she stared at the blood. Without thinking, she
reached for his bleeding wrist and licked the blood away. The
world around her dimmed, and she passed out.
Now for the giveaway[s]!
[**US ONLY**]ONE SIGNED paperback of To Stand Beside Her
[**INTERNATIONAL**]TWO E-books of To Stand Beside Her!
-> US ONLY<-
[Sorry y'all, postage is expensive!]
-> INTL <-
