Interview + Giveaway: Keri Stevens

Posted December 26, 2010 by Carmel in / 39 Comments

I am pleased to welcome debut author Keri Stevens to Rabid Reads today! She’s the author of the new book, Stone Kissed, which actually comes out tomorrow (December 27, 2010). I recently read and reviewed this great book and gave it a 5/5 so it’s definitely worth checking out!

  

About Keri

Keri was raised in southern Missouri and has lived in Germany, Arizona, North Carolina and Kentucky. Along the way she acquired degrees in writing and German, a romance hero of her very own, three sons, two miracle cats and a mutt who licks her when she speaks German.

Her husband gave her a Jade Lee novel–her very first romance. A few years and a couple thousand novels later, Keri took up her laptop and began writing her own love stories.

By day, she’s a mild-mannered yoga and Oriental dance instructor. By night she creates mayhem and magic in small-town paranormal romance novels like her award-winning debut, Stone Kissed.

About the Book

When Delia Forrest talks to statues, they talk back. She is, after all, the last of the Steward witches.

After an arsonist torches her ancestral home with her estranged father still inside, Delia is forced to sell the estate to pay his medical bills. Her childhood crush, Grant Wolverton, makes a handsome offer for Steward House, vowing to return it to its former glory. Delia agrees, as long as he’ll allow her to oversee the restoration.

Working so closely with Grant, Delia finds it difficult to hide her unique talent—especially when their growing passion fuels her abilities.

But someone else lusts after both her man and the raw power contained in the Steward land. Soon, Delia finds herself fighting not just for Grant’s love, but for both their lives…

   

Interview

RR: Delia isn’t a very common name; is there a story behind why you chose it for the main character?

KS: Honestly, I’ve never met a Delia! I really want her character to develop without preconceptions as I drafted, so I chose a name I had no associations with. It took me about as long to name these characters as it did to name my sons!

RR: The ability to talk to statues isn’t your typical witch power; how did you come up with the idea?

KS: I was exhausted and loopy in Manhattan, and did what they tell tourists not to do: I stared up at all of the big buildings with their carvings and looked like a total rube. But I didn’t care. I began to wonder what stories the faces carved above the doorways would tell–and some of them started telling me!

RR: If you could choose one statue in the world to have a conversation with, which one would you pick?

KS: Ignoring the rules I’ve set in STONE KISSED (talking statues must have carved faces) I’d love to speak with the Venus of Willendorf figurine. She’s had so much history and myth ascribed to her (often with very little to no evidence). I want to hear firsthand from her who made her and why.

RR: What was your biggest challenge in writing your first novel?

KS: Oh, heavens. I’m afraid if I start answering this question I’ll never stop. I’d have to say, however, that for a period of time I thought the book was finished when it, in fact, had quite a bit of editing yet to go. But even more basic than being able to step back and ruthlessly assess my work, however, are my day-to-day challenges of getting my butt in the chair.

RR: Stone Kissed left me with a few unanswered questions; is there a possibility of a second installment?

KS: The problem with falling in love with your own characters is that suddenly all of them have stories to tell you. It may take me years and many books to get out of Stewardsville!

RR: I really enjoyed the love story between Delia and Grant; did you use any real life experiences as inspiration?

KS: Only in the love scenes. (My husband made me say that.)

Seriously, though, I’ve seen plenty of so-called “flawed” marriages in my life–couples that, from the outside, appear to be headed for doom and gloom. And yet, they know each other better than we observers do. They make their lives together work for them. That’s what I want for Grant and Delia. I want them to negotiate their life together (even after The End is written) knowing that deep down, in a hidden core, they “get” each other–even if they leave others bewildered.

RR: If you could go back and change anything in the book, would you and if so what?

KS: Only very seldom do I enjoy a “director’s cut” of a movie more than the edited version that makes it to the big screen. For the same reason, I think it is good I can’t get my hands back on STONE KISSED. Every time I run across a new artwork or cemetery statue I wonder how it would fit in Stewardsville. If I could get away with it, I would double the length of the novel just in secondary characters alone. It would be a fun indulgence for me, but ultimately bad for the book.

More Keri Stevens

Keri Stevens’ Blog
Twitter
Facebook		      Goodreads
Buy at Carina Press
My review of Stone Kissed

Giveaway

Last but not least, Keri was kind enough to offer up an advanced readers copy of Stone Kissed to you, my awesome readers! This book is currently only available in eBook format (even though I think it deserves to be in hard-copy!).

The winner will be chosen by random.org and the contest closes on January 7th, 2011 at 11:59PM EST. This giveaway is international. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 48 hours to respond or another name will be selected at that time.

** Please post one comment per entry and include your e-mail address in each. **

+1 GFC Rabid Reads Follower
+1 GFC Keri Stevens Follower
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+1 KeriStevens Twitter Follower
+1 Like Rabid Reads on Facebook
+1 Like Keri Stevens on Facebook
+1 Tweet: “Author Interview & Giveaway with @KeriStevens @rabidreads http://bit.ly/dQckNz”
+1 Answer the following question: If you could choose one statue in the world to have a conversation with, which one would you pick?

A big thank you to Keri Stevens for stopping by and good luck to everyone who enters the giveaway! Don’t forget to download your copy of Stone Kissed TOMORROW!

       

Giveaway now CLOSED – Winner

Owner, designer and main blogger behind Rabid Reads. Avid book reader, snowboard bunny, video gamer and Supernatural fan. I love all things paranormal, werewolves especially. Oh, and I’m Canadian, eh!

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39 responses to “Interview + Giveaway: Keri Stevens”

  1. Keri Stevens

    Carmel, thanks for having me! I’m on “blog tour” for the next couple of days and look forward to stopping in to answer readers’ questions. I’m really looking forward to seeing which statues they’d like to speak with!

  6. BLHmistress

    +1 GFC Rabid Reads Follower
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    +1 KeriStevens Twitter Follower
    +1 Like Rabid Reads on Facebook
    +1 Like Keri Stevens on Facebook
    +1 Tweet: “Author Interview & Giveaway with @KeriStevens @rabidreads http://bit.ly/dQckNz“
    +1 Answer the following question- Abraham Lincoln or a gargoyle.

  9. Carmel

    @Jeannene walker – I hear ya! LOL Great answer!

    @Tore – Interesting choice! That would be a very cool conversation.

    @BLHmistress – I love how you put Lincoln and a gargoyle on the same level! 😉

  14. DarkBloodyVamp

    Thank you Carmel for this giveaway and the wonderful review of the book. I am definitely adding it to my TBR List.

    If I had a statue to talk to it would one of the ancient Greek status such as the statue of Venus. She is after all the goddess of love and I would love to hear all the stories she hear of love. 🙂 LOL I know I am a big romantic!

    Hope to win a copy of the the book.

    +1 GFC Rabid Reads Follower
    +1 GFC Keri Stevens Follower
    +1 RabidReads Twitter Follower
    +1 KeriStevens Twitter Follower
    +1 Tweet: “Author Interview & Giveaway with @KeriStevens @rabidreads http://bit.ly/dQckNz“
    +1 Answering the question

    redfirewood888(AT)yahoo(DOT)com.

  15. Kat

    I’d definitely end up talking to the statues at the natural history museum, animal lover that I am. Or maybe the gargoyles over Notre Dame…

    I follow Rabid Reads, and now Keri Stevens, via GFC and answered the question… unfortunately I’m the last person in the world to start tweeting or join Facebook. *sigh* I better get on that. Anyway, thanks for the giveaway. 🙂

  16. Keri Stevens

    A Rodin figure inspired one of the sculptures in STONE KISSED! And Venus–yes! No gargoyles in SK, but I can tell you it’s not for lack of my husband trying. He really felt there needed to be gargoyles.

    BTW I am @KeriStevens on twitter for all of you tweeple, and I hang out over there quite a bit.

  17. Keri Stevens

    A Rodin figure inspired one of the sculptures in STONE KISSED! And Venus–yes! No gargoyles in SK, but I can tell you it’s not for lack of my husband trying. He really felt there needed to be gargoyles.

    BTW I am @KeriStevens on twitter for all of you tweeple, and I hang out over there quite a bit.

  25. Lindsay

    +1 RabidReads Twitter Follower
    +1 KeriStevens Twitter Follower
    +1 Tweet: “Author Interview & Giveaway with @KeriStevens @rabidreads http://bit.ly/dQckNz“
    +1 Answer the following question: If you could choose one statue in the world to have a conversation with, which one would you pick? Nelson in Trafalgar Square

  29. avatarlady

    Thank you for this giveaway. I love to read romance and suspense. Follow you via GFC with my nick avatarlady.

    lifeis.oceanbliss at gmail dot com