Interview with romance author Kenzie Macallan

Author Kenzie Macallan joins me today to chat about her new contemporary romance novel, Edges, Art of Eros Series, Book 2.

During her virtual book tour, Kenzie will be awarding an all-new Fire 7 Tablet with Alexa (US ONLY) to a randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:

Kenzie lives with her husband in New England. She has been fortunate enough to travel all over the world to places like Africa, Greece, Switzerland, Holland, France, England and, of course, Scotland. Edinburgh is one of her favorite places. Creativity seems to be part of her soul as she paints portraits, takes photographs, and bakes. They have all added to her overactive imagination especially writing about strong women and alpha men. She looks forward to adding to her adventures and yours through secrets, strength, and passion.

Welcome, Kenzie. Please share a little bit about your current release.
My upcoming release focuses on Leigha, the middle sister in an artist family. On the outside, she appears in control of her life. Underneath, she lives with nightmares, fears, and doubts. Her nightmares become stronger after her sister Mara reveals her secret, an abusive marriage. Leigha knows the nightmares are the key to unlocking her self-imposed cage. Dean enters the picture and helps her to unlock her secret. But with that, more lies come to the surface. As she unravels the truth about her life, she gets caught in a web of other people’s secrets. It’s a story of secrets, strength, and passion.

What inspired you to write this book?

This is book 2 in the Art of Eros Series. The suspense storyline continues but this book is all about Leigha. She starts in the modeling industry full of illusion and manipulation. She becomes a photographer to get out from being in front of the camera. The modeling world has always fascinated me and I take a lot of photos. I wrote this story before the #metoo became popular and many men and women stepped forward to face their predators. This movement to step forward was long overdue. It’s the underbelly to many different businesses especially in entertainment.

Excerpt from Edges:

Her head came up and turned to him. “I never thought about men getting molested. I always assumed it only happened to women models. My memories from long ago still haunt me.” Blowing out a breath, a tight string let go just a bit to give her some wiggle room in the confines of her web. She rubbed the side of her neck with her hand.

“What haunts you?” He pushed a few strands of hair behind her ear, letting the tops of his fingers and thumb skim her cheek.

Her fingers curled painfully into her neck. She fought with the idea of revealing her nightmare to him. Tears pushed their way to her eyes of their own accord. Someone showing interest in her threw her off-kilter.

He leaned over and murmured, “Secrets have a way of destroying people from the inside out. Yours are eating away at you.” He took her chin in his fingers and turned her face to him. “Your secret’s safe with me. We all have them. Maybe one day, I’ll make you the keeper of mine.”

What exciting story are you working on next?

My next story will be the final book in this series. This novel will focus on the youngest of the Luccenzo sisters, Raquelle. She brings a lot to the table including a smart mouth, feistiness, and a great deal of talent. She’s the portrait artist of the family. The story will conclude and readers will find out the connection between their father, the Russians, and other unexpected family ties.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I didn’t really consider myself a writer until I published my first book. Even then, I still continue to grow and learn as a writer. How do I become better? Where can I get more emotions out of my characters? Is the plot line strong enough? I enjoy the learning process and the community of writers that are really supportive.

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?

Unfortunately, I can’t write full-time. There are things like paying the bills and health insurance that get in the way. Finding time to write can be very difficult. It’s not just writing you need to focus on in this business. Whether you are indie or with a publisher, you need to get yourself out there on social media, advertising, and making a multitude of connections. For the beginning writer, there is so much more than writing that has to be taken into consideration. I find myself getting whatever time I have to write even it’s thirty minutes a day. Creative planning of the day becomes crucial as I also need to find time for just me.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?

I read my favorite authors as I’m writing and especially as I’m editing. They inspire me and motivate me to write better, more effectively, and stronger. I study how they structure their sentences, do plotlines, develop their characters, etc. Some of my favorite authors include Pepper Winters, CD Reiss, Jennifer Probst, and Lexi Blake. They are each strong in these areas and I learn so much from each of their writing styles.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a pediatrician. I started out in pre-med but quickly realized I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in school. As it turned out, I have several degrees in many different areas. One thing that always came to the forefront was my interest in being a creative person. I love to take photos, which morphed into painting portraits. The stories that I’ve had in my head for so many years morphed into me finally taking the plunge and writing and publishing them. Early on, I never saw myself as a writer. But I think self-publishing allowed more people to take the dive to see their stories in print.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?

I really love to hear from readers about the things they loved and the things they didn’t love about my books. I enjoy the feedback and constructive criticism. It can be extremely helpful to hear from someone who’s looking at your book through a different set of eyes.

Links:

Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | Goodreads

Pre-order links:

Amazon | Kobo | Nook

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