Interview and blog tour stop with author Killian McRae

Today, Reviews and Interviews is a blog tour stop for Killian McRae as she tours with Goddess Fish Promotions for her new book 12.21.12. There's a chance to win a $20 Amazon gift card, too. Details below.

Bio:
History is Killian's primary love in life, outside her family and, yes, sadly her dog. Therefore, her works of fiction often are packaged inside historical wrappers, as she tugs and twists on the edges of reality to ask the ever-present "What if?"

Born and raised in rural Michigan, Killian used the local library - a single room in her village's firehouse - as an escape, before actually escaping to the relative jungle of Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan. There, after several minor attempts to establish a major, she finally completed a BA in Turkic History and nearly attempted a Bachelors of Music in Vocal Performance. ("Theys call it the opry 'round these parts," she says in her heavy, Michiganian accent.)

Though she had written three novels before graduating high school, she never thought of trying to publish for - oh, it must have been well into her 30s. 12.21.12 is her first published work, released in late 2010.

Killian is a member of Stanford University's Writer's Certificate program and a PRO member of the Romance Writers of America. Her other interests include musicology and did we mention history? She currently lives in the San Francisco Bay area, though she is quite often unhappy about this fact.

Welcome, Killian. Please tell us about your current release.
12.21.12 is a cross-genre speculative fiction that combines elements of sci-fi, romance, history, and mystery. As time ticks away towards December 21, 2012, the date the Mayan calendar claims the world will end, Egyptologist Prof. Shep Smyth tries to decode the past in order to save the future.

What inspired you to write this book?
I was inspired by a trip to Ephesus in the late 1990s, where I began to wonder what a person who inhabited the ancient Greek city would have experienced if that’s have been able to come across time and witness the parade of cultures that had inhabited the region.

What exciting story are you working on next?
My next release comes out in early Autumn this year, a historical romance set in 1860s Ireland entitled, A Love by any Measure.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I remember making text books for my stuffed animals around the age of seven. By ten, I was writing short stories and poetry, and wrote my first novel at age sixteen.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
It would be a dream to be a full-time writer, but for now I sneak it around my day as I’m able, in between family, job, and school.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I’m a collector of world music, and a random shuffle of my iPod can bring up anything from Amadeus Mozart to ZZ Top and everything in between and outside.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Taller. :)

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
This summer, Omnific Publishing will be offering two short story anthologies by its authors to raise funds in the fight against breast cancer. I hope lovers of romance will consider buying one or both volumes, in which I have one short story (contemporary romance). 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Save the Ta-Tas.

Feel free to connect with me: Website, Blog, Twitter,
Facebook, and Goodreads.

Folks, remember, Killian will be giving away a $20 Amazon gift card to one randomly drawn commenter. So leave a comment here and/or at any of her other blog tour stops.