One Mama’s Dream (an interview and giveaway)
Ξ May 12th, 2008 | → | ∇ Books, Win Cool Stuff |
Today I have the fun of doing my first interview! Kendra Leigh Castle is a mom and Navy wife just like me (and some of you) but she has also just published her very first book! Read on to learn a little about her, and if you comment on this post before Saturday morning, TWO of you will win a copy of her first book, Call of the Highland Moon!
1. Ok, let’s say we’re actually meeting at Starbucks instead of doing this over email. I’m having a peppermint mocha. What are you drinking? I always order the same thing: a grande vanilla latte. Vanilla + foam+ lots of caffeine = perfection.
2. How many years have you been a Navy wife? Ten years this month, actually!
3. How many places have you lived? Well, I stared in New York, then moved to Pensacola, Corpus Christi, Meridian (MS), Virginia Beach , Fallon (NV), and in a month, Lemoore (CA). But I’m in North Carolina right now with family:-) Moving boxes are starting to make me phobic.
4. Do you have children? I’ve got three, ages 8, 6, and 2. A girl and two boys. The older two spend most of their time trying to annihilate one another, and the youngest one is currently exploring future career options as a stripper.
5. How did you get started writing? I’ve been writing since I was really little, actually. It started with bad holiday poetry, but by high school a friend and I were filling notebooks with this meandering, bizarre, hysterical (we thought) thing that we just called “The Story.” It was so much fun, I didn’t realize it was actually three years of a creative writing exercise. I won a schoolwide contest my junior year to have an article I’d written published in a local paper, and then in college, a goofy little story I’d written made it into the campus literary magazine. So it was always a strong part of who I was…it just never occurred to me that I might be good enough to make a living at it. Or if it did, my strong fear of rejection kept me from getting very serious about it!
6. How did the military lifestyle affect your writing? Honestly, I don’t think I would ever have decided to take the plunge and really try to get published if I hadn’t been a military wife! Watching my husband, who’s a Navy fighter pilot, live out his dream has been a big inspiration for me to do what I love. That, and knowing so many amazing Navy wives who manage to carve out their own niches, just for themselves, despite being moved all over the country at regular intervals. The military lifestyle itself has, I know, made me much more resilient in general, and has given me confidence in my abilities. Because, you know, when the bad stuff happens and he’s gone (AGAIN), you’re “it”! I won’t say that I never despaired (like, say, over the first manuscript I ever wrote that now lives in the recesses of my closet with a stack of rejection letters), but the writing helped center me amidst the daily insanity. I had to keep trying. And my husband was never going to let me quit anyway…I would have had a boot up my butt immediately. I grouched sometimes, but the support made a huge difference.
7. What’s your favorite snack while writing? This is tough, mostly because I love snacks. If it’s available and crunchy, I’ll probably eat it. And get crumbs in my keyboard. That said, original flavor Baked Lays are right up at the top of the list!
8. Tell us about your first book. What do you love most about it? My first book, Call of the Highland Moon, is about a werewolf named Gideon MacInnes, the reluctant future alpha of his Highland pack, and the shy bookshop owner he falls for when he’s attacked and she takes him in out of a snowstorm in Northern New York. Of course, she thinks he’s a wounded dog at the time…but by the time she figures out otherwise, the creatures hunting Gideon for his connection to an ancient and powerful relic have targeted her as well. Although Gideon and Carly Silver quickly forge a deep bond, Gideon knows all too well that mating with a werewolf can be deadly for humans. But with enemies closing in, and the legendary Stone of Destiny only just beginning to reveal its secrets, the two of them are soon in far too deep to turn their backs on one another. Can their love survive against impossible odds? Only the full moon will tell.
I love a lot of things about this book (after all, it’s the one that won me an agent and sold), but my favorite aspect of it is still the way my hero and heroine, Gideon and Carly, interact with one another. From the very beginning, they just clicked, and their banter was a lot of fun to write. Both speak sarcasm, which is like a second language to me:-) Spooling up their sexual tension before I finally let it rip was, I admit, also entertaining. I love those characters. I’ve had a few emails from people telling me that they hope I’ve included Carly and Gideon in my second book, Dark Highland Fire, which somes out in October, because they really connected with them and want to check in and see how they’re doing. And I did, actually, because I wanted to check in with them too! But that makes me happy, that the heart I put into the characters has come across to others so well.
9. What have you learned about following your dreams while balancing family? In a nutshell: that it’s possible. Being a mom and Navy wife, there were a lot of years where I didn’t think I had any room to add something just for myself to the mix…just holding everything else together was a struggle! But I hit a point where I realized that I really needed to take care of myself as much as I was taking care of everyone else, that besides being a wife and mother I was still the kid who had filled pages with stories and dreamed big, and that that should be important too. It’s not an easy balancing act, for sure. I don’t sleep as much as I should, and I’m more caffeinated than I ought to be. I’ve always been kind of a stress case anyway, though, chewing over the most nebulous concerns with gusto, so it could be a good thing that I have more concrete things to worry about with my work! So there has definitely been sacrifice involved, but I’m happier for actively chasing my dream. And having my husband and kids be as proud of me as I am of them is an amazing feeling.
Congratulations to Kendra! Remember, to be entered to win one of two copies of her book, just leave a comment on this post before Saturday morning. Or you can hop over to Amazon.com right now and buy a copy or five for everyone you know, and support a fellow military mama. And spread the word about the giveaway and Kendra’s first book!
on May 13th, 2008 at 6:52 am
First let me say - Congrats Kendra on getting published!
I hope y’all don’t mind but I brought my own coffee along to ‘watch’ the interview… just some plain ole Joe with Hazlenut creamer.
It was nice to get to know a little bit about Kendra and what brought her to writing - Thanks for letting me sit in on the interview!
on May 13th, 2008 at 7:26 am
The book sounds terrific! I can’t wait to check it out!!
on May 13th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Wonderful interview Christy
Even if I don’t win I’ll have to check out this book - sounds intriguing! And now I’m lusting after a bag of Lays!
on May 13th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Sounds like a great book! Congrats to a fellow Navy wife on getting published!
on May 13th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I’m SO going to have to add this book to my Amazon wishlist!
on May 13th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
congrats to her!
Sounds like an interesting book to me!
on May 14th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Thanks for the interview, Christy (I loved the questions!), and thanks for the well-wishes, everyone! It’s evening, but I’m beginning to think I’m going to need another cup of coffee to keep moving this evening. Ugh, the mid-week hump:-) And Jen, I’m ALWAYS lusting after junk food. Nice to meet everyone, this is a great site! Mmm…coffee.
on May 15th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
That was a great interview…really well done! COngratulations on the book, I look forward to reading it too.
on May 15th, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Oh, sorry…I should mention to sop over at my blog…we are having a fun little story contest…Even comment rights a line. Maybe CArly and Gideon can make an apperance?
kelleysfamilyjewels.blogspot.com
on May 15th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Congrats on getting published. It sounds like a book I could get lost in.
on May 15th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Sounds good…please enter me in the drawing. Thank you.
on May 16th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Very good interview. Makes me want to read the book even more after learning about the author.
on May 16th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
I enjoy books more when I understand the authors!
on May 17th, 2008 at 12:18 am
Count me in