Kaylene Winter's Blog, page 14
December 11, 2020
HOLING UP TO WRITE
I’m back!
I’ve been in a “writing cave” for the past couple of weeks finishing up my first draft of FEARLESS, Connor and Ronni’s story.
What is really a fun part of the writing process is how characters evolve. You think you “know” them and then they go off and do something you didn’t expect. I can’t explain it, other than when you’re in the zone and you connect with your characters, they speak to you. Their dialogue flows. Their interactions make complete sense.
I’ll give you a couple of hints:
Connor’s parent’s are from Northern Ireland.
Ronni was a child actor.
Connor had to step up and help his family at an early age.
Ronni’s experience on her first television set was less than ideal.
Their first meeting is based on a dare.
The first chapter should shock your pants off if I’ve done my job right.
RESTLESSMy biggest surprise is my holiday gift to you – hoping by New Year’s (if not sooner). If you are on my mailing list, you’ll receive a new novella – a prequel to all of the LTZ novels – this one about Connor and Ronni.
Hints:
She’s a ballerina.
He’s a budding rock star.
Their love story is beautiful.
And tragic.
Plus, you’ll find out why he’s such a meddling grandma (Zoey’s words, not mine)
I cannot wait you guys! I think (hope) Carter will be somewhat redeemed!!!
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
Today, I’d like to introduce you to my friend Tylor Paige and provide you with a link to the first novel in her You & Me series – It’s called MISSING YOU, MISSING ME.
Cleo is good at two things: stealing the spotlight and always making the wrong decisions. From bad tattoos to a sudden elopement, Cleo is a mess who can’t help but be loved from everyone around her. Except for the one that matters, her husband.
Ethan is hurt beyond measure. Leaving home after losing his best friend and brother, he joined a band and traveled the world looking for someone to love his damaged soul. Turning to girls who can’t love and drugs that make him hate himself, Ethan is just as lost as Cleo is.
Forced to work together for a summer tour, Cleo and Ethan discover the old flame isn’t completely snuffed out. However, she can’t let go of her husband, and Ethan can’t let go of her.
– You can get it here:
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November 26, 2020
THANKFUL
This Thanksgiving I want to focus on the magnitude of blessings that I’ve had in a year of turmoil. It would be easy to get lost in the drama of the Presidential election or the horrors of COVID. I’m always a glass is half full kind of gal, and feel like in many ways this has been one of my best years in terms of growth and acceptance.
Today, I want to talk about all of the people I’m thankful for.
FRIENDS AND FAMILYMy husband is my rock. He’s a very manly man, is a builder and can fix anything. He’s Irish, so he’s funny, witty and loves a good banter. What most people don’t know about him is that he’s the silliest, sweetest, most sentimental and loving man. He’s the one who has encouraged me to pursue this creative outlet of writing Rockstar Romances and I’m grateful that he gave me this gift.
S&K: My two muses, the inspirations behind Alex and Ronni. Both of you also have encouraged me ever step of the way. You’ve been my beta readers. My cheerleaders and all around sounding board about literally every single thing about this author journey.
NEW FRIENDS AND TEAMMEMBERS
Grace: My editor extraordinaire. You humbled me in such a good way and I’m a better writer because of it. I’m so excited to send FEARLESS to you in just a few short days.
Mari: My first author friend and supporter. You gave me something that I needed, and that was validation. I’ve been such a great fan of yours for so many years, I’m grateful for your friendship, support and encouragement.
Regina: I stalked you and made you my photographer and creative director in many ways. We have a really fun collaboration coming up and OMG I cannot believe all of the hotness that will be in one room. Thank you for creating such wonderful book covers, and giving me Jace.
Beth & Anna: You two were the first to read ENDLESS and really get what I was trying to do. You’ve become invaluable friends and sounding boards in my LESS THAN ZERO journey, and you’re both awesome to boot.
Rock Star Romance Sisters: I’m thrilled to be included in this new group because I’ve admired all of you for so long. I can’t wait for all of the awesomeness to be unleashed upon Rock Star Romance fans.
READERS!
A special thank you to all of the bloggers and readers who have loved ENDLESS AND LIMITLESS. I’m so excited for 2021 to bring you more from the LTZ world. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Kaylene
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November 12, 2020
CELEBRATING ROCKSTAR ROMANCE
This year has been so fun for me as a new romance author. I feel like I have my undergraduate degree in book publishing and marketing now. Next steps? A Masters and then PhD.
In all seriousness, some of my friends have asked me “how do you do it?” when I run another business full-time and serve on two very important arts boards in Seattle.
The answer is— My fellow sister authors.
In the beginning, I was a huge fan. I devoured a ton of books by other women who write Rockstar Romance and other types of Contemporary Romance. Getting lost in their worlds has been such an amazing escape for me.
Little did I know how much I’d love to write. Now, I have the best of all worlds. I get to read amazing stories from my favorite authors. And I get to create my own worlds.
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT
I’m debuting a new feature in this week’s newsletter – my Author Spotlight, highlighting very cool authors and their new releases.
Today, I want to tell you about Michelle Mankin, one of my very first Rockstar Romance author friends and someone who I aspire to be one day. Michelle is a New York Times bestselling author of a PLETHORA of amazing Rock Star romances – let me give you a little taste:
BRUTAL STRENGTH is a trilogy combining the plot underpinnings of Shakespeare with the drama, excitement, and indisputable sexiness of the rock ‘n roll industry
TEMPEST is set in Seattle and follows a rock band on the cusp of making it big, but with serious obstacles to overcome that may prevent them from ever getting there. (hmm, I see a tour with LTZ happening sometime—)
MAGIC is a collision of rock stars, myths, and legends with paranormal romance.
ROCK STARS, SURF AND SECOND CHANCES series is a sweet journey of romance and self-discovery
FINDING ME series is a Tempest spin off with a more experienced but familiar cast of characters.
The ROCK F*CK CLUB series is a girl-power fueled reality show with the girls ranking the rock stars.
ONCE UPON A ROCK STAR series is modern-day fairy tale retellings.
This week, Michelle released a new book called STORM (get it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MWQR9CS/ ) a novel about never giving up, no matter what life throws at you. It’s about the importance of love and learning to dream again. It’s about looking beyond the wind, rain, and lightning to find the calm. It’s about holding on to the right person who helps you to be strong.
Here’s a description:
He wants her, but he can’t have her.
She wants him even though she doesn’t know who he really is.
Storm Hardy left Ocean Beach to pursue a career in the music industry.
Lotus Irving stayed behind, her world rocked by one terrible tragedy after another.
What if all your best memories are behind you?
What if you lost the one friend who understood you better than anyone else?
What if your greatest wish is to recreate the past instead of imagining a brighter future?
Friends – I’m telling you this, STORM is amazing. If you’ve loved ENDLESS and LIMITLESS, I really encourage you to read this book!
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November 5, 2020
ROCK STORIES
I have a lot of new subscribers to the newsletter, and I want to say “WELCOME!” I really appreciate all of you and am excited for you to be with me on my journey with LESS THAN ZERO.
The past couple of weeks have been CRAZY – mainly because LIMITLESS was released and I’ve been working on a lot of cool new things that I’ll be able to reveal soon.
WHAT’S NEXT?
My favorite thing about writing this newsletter is sharing updates about the LTZ world and also giving you backstories and inside scoop. I have been VERY busy writing FEARLESS, which is Ronni and Connor’s story. I’m not going to give any big spoilers away but suffice it to say I think the first chapter is going to BLOW YOUR MIND! What an adventure these two are on.
BLIND ITEMSI thought I’d give you a new feature that I’ll pull out every so often. For those of you who don’t know me yet, I have spent a lot of time around real rock stars and there are a lot of really fun stories I like to share! Today I’ll give you two blind items, feel free to shoot me an email or comment if you think you know the answer!
1. When I ran a nightclub, there was a very famous 90’s band that had a ton of hits. They played my club at the cusp of their success and suffice it to say their heads were getting a little large. Now, this may not have been the band’s fault, but the tour manager actually threatened to cancel the show if I couldn’t stock the dressing room with Cool Ranch Doritos.
2. One of my side gigs was working production for big arena concerts. As the lowest gal on the totem pole, I’d often be assigned the funniest jobs. Let’s see if you can guess these two artists:
a. Artist 1: He was a big star in the 70’s, was also in a band with one of the Rolling Stones and had hits well into the 90’s. Now he’s more of a crooner. At his show, I was in charge of making sure his famous wife’s limo had a clear path to the side of the stage.
b. Artist 2: He was one of the biggest stars of the 90’s but was not out of the closet at the time. My job was working with his wardrobe manager, and I had to iron 20 of his black Armani t-shirts and steam all of the choir robes for the iconic song you all know. After the show, I took the wardrobe manager to Neighbors, one of Seattle’s most iconic gay nightclubs.
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October 22, 2020
LIFE ON THE ROAD
I was on a couple of Zoom calls over the weekend at a writer’s conference. When one of my fellow authors found out that I wrote rock star romance, she said “I’m married to a musician – it’s not as glamorous as you might think.”
She’s partially correct.
It is glamourous. Successful musicians have money, privilege, and the types of experiences you can’t imagine. I know a dude who picked up a guitar because they loved Eddie Van Halen (DEVASTATED by the way) and found himself himself touring with the band – it’s crazy.
THE NOT-SO-GLAMOROUS LIFE
As someone who worked very closely with musicians for many years, I’ve seen first hand the struggles they have with relationships, drugs and alcohol and the feelings of isolation.
I began to delve into this in ENDLESS, where Ty struggles to deal with fame. For Ty, as a shy person, he is suddenly be forced into talking with hordes of people who he doesn’t know – but feel like they know him. You see his evolution from eschewing any interaction to embracing and owning his own notoriety.
In LIMITLESS, I take it further. Jace, for the most part, is a very well-adjusted dude with a supportive family. But he’s on the road for years at a time. Life goes on he misses a lot. Dynamics change. When he tries to assimilate back into the mix it’s hard.
SOCIAL CURRENCY
Social currency means the level of influence a person has on social networks (e.g. online and offline communities) and the degree by which people value you because of that influence.
It is one of the “celebrity culture” dynamics. An example of this is if you see a celebrity and get them to take a selfie with you, you’ll get more “likes.”
Many famous people, musicians or not, now face this new phenomenon. Fans “use” them for social currency. So, they become very protective of their inner circle – for good reason. You never know who wants to be your friend because they actually like you or whether
In Jace’s case, an old girlfriend wants something from him – and will do anything it takes to get it. Including going to the media – and social media – to get it. Being taken advantage of – or used – is something a lot of musicians struggle with.
SHOUT OUT
In conclusion – I want to shout out to a friend of mine who used to work for a big record label. She’s changed careers and serves as the inspiration for my character Lisa Kinkaid – so shout out to Jodi Jacobsen Milstein: https://jodimilstein.com/specialties/musician-support/
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October 16, 2020
LIMITLESS DESTINATIONS
One of my favorite parts about writing LIMITLESS was the travel and beautiful destinations that Alex and Jace connected with all around the world.
BARCELONA
Barcelona is one of my favorite cities. My husband and I have been there many times. We even stopped there to have dinner one night on our way to Munich. It has wonderful restaurants. The Gothic Quarter is so fun to explore. If you’ve never had Jamon, you are missing out. On one visit, we were out on a Segway tour (yes, I’m a nerd – but don’t knock it until you try it), my husband was filming me and he hit a pylon and the video of him crashing is priceless. Yes, he was okay. Yes, I show it to anyone who cares to see it. No, I won’t post it here.
Alex and Jace’s time here really was the beginning of their relationship – where they were two individuals getting to know each other without any outside influences.
SYDNEY
Sydney is a gorgeous city that I’ve been fortunate to visit on a few occasions. You are probably familiar with the gorgeous city view of the bridge and the Opera house. My husband’s brother lives in a suburb, and what you might not know is they have an elaborate water taxi system to get you into the city which frowns on car travel. I find Sydney to be a magical, romantic city with wonderful wide, clean pathways and the nicest people on the planet.
In Sydney, Jace gets a bit of a shock when he thinks he’s going to have another amazing visit with Alex but it isn’t to be. It’s his first moment of realizing that she is a truly independent girl.
BELFAST
If it seems like I know a lot about Belfast, well it’s because my husband grew up in Northern Ireland and it has become my second home. Although the hubby is from a smaller town called Armagh, we spend a lot of time in the “big” city as well as in Dublin. I’m not a tourist-attraction girl, but the Titanic exhibit is actually amazing. Belfast has a deep history and is a city I’ve really grown to love over the years.
Before I met my husband, my BFF (my Alex inspiration) and I made plans to move to Ireland. We had visited the country two years in a row, and wanted a fun life experience. The night we made our decision was March 16, the day before St. Paddy’s Day (side note, it is Paddy’s day not Patty’s Day).
We were both single, not interested in meeting anyone and decided to wear jeans and our baggy Irish rugby jerseys to the pub. No makeup. In other words, stay away boys! What I didn’t know at the time was a charming young Irish lad watched us walk into the pub wearing the same jersey. He came up to talk to us and after a few minutes, I excused myself to go get a shamrock painted on my face (because, not interested in boys).
When I returned, he was waiting for me and bought me a Guinness. We got to talking, and I realized that we had everything in the world in common. His Irish accent didn’t hurt! He asked me out, a couple of days later we drove to Mt. Rainier and we have never been apart since. We celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary in July.
My BFF and I never did get our flat, but Alex did and it is a little nod to the adventure that we didn’t take but now lives on in LIMITLESS.
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October 7, 2020
BEHIND LIMITLESS
Early reviews are in, and I’m so thrilled that my ARC readers are loving LIMITLESS. What is super exciting is that LIMITLESS is already an Amazon Best Seller, thank you so much everyone! It just makes me so pumped to write more stories in the LTZ world.
Real Life Best Friends
As readers already know, both ENDLESS and LIMITLESS are super steamy, angsty, fun HEA love stories. One of my favorite parts of both books is the friendship between Zoey and Alex… and coming soon, Ronni.
I’ve often been asked if I’m Zoey – and the answer is no. Just like my friends are not Alex and Ronni—exactly. BUT! There are definitely some things that are very similar.
Here’s some tea:
When I wrote my first Rockstar romance, I had two BFF’s who – like me – were obsessed with music and musicians. They are who I read my typewritten pages to every night on my Snoopy phone. The are also the “inspirations” for Alex and Ronni.
I loved David Lee Roth and Daniel Ash of Love & Rockets, SR my BFF from the time I was 3 and she was 4 loved Jim Morrison (she loved classic rock) and KT, my Jr. High/High school BFF loved Adam Ant and Prince.
We would actually dress up like the guys we liked and go to the Tacoma Mall every weekend.
Unlike Zoey, I was a wild child and would sneak out of the house and go to parties and to see concerts.
SR and I would pretend we were spending the night at each other’s houses and go stay with her cousin who was on the crew for an up-and-coming metal band from Seattle.
KT and I had a couple of hair-raising adventures of our own.
The scenes of Alex and Zoey getting ready to go to the Mission were, as my cousin told me, exactly how she remembered it.
As adult, SR and I did NOT marry rock stars but I did work for many of them.
SR and I are HUGE animal lovers and really want to start a horse rescue at some point with another rock friend of mine whose husband is an equine vet.
KT was a model and did marry a musician/producer/director who is very well known.
SR was my first friend to develop the travel bug, and she and I have been to Europe together a couple of times.
SR and KT have been my beta readers, my support network and true encouragers of me following my dream to bring these Rocker Romances to life – and to you!
ALEX AND JACE
Truthfully, writing Alex and Jace’s story was easier and more lighthearted than writing ENDLESS. It flowed – mainly because I had a better idea of what I was doing. Also, the time it takes to set up a series is reflected in the details of ENDLESS and I was able to build on that in LIMITLESS.
For example, in ENDLESS I had to outline who each of the characters were and what they meant to each other in preparation for their own books. In many ways, it was important to create their backstories so they would relate to each other consistently as real people throughout the series. My challenge was to figure out a way to divulge enough so you’d be interested in them, but not so much that you couldn’t wait for their full story.
One final thought for the week: Jace has a big trauma to deal with in the book. It’s been on my mind for years, because something similar happened to a musician friend of mine (no one famous). If you haven’t read the book yet, you won’t know what I’m talking about. Once you do, know that a lot of the inspiration for what he was thinking and feeling – the conflict, the anger, the departure from his happy-go-lucky self – are from what I witnessed. No one handles things the same way, but I hope you love how Jace resolves it!
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October 2, 2020
ROCKSTAR ROMANCE AUTHORS!
Can you believe that Limitless is releasing next Friday??? Me either, words cannot express how excited I am for you to fall in love with Jace & Alex. Please check my social media because many of my friends are helping me launch this book and there will be giveaways and promotions – but only if you follow me Instagram and Facebook.
My Night With a Rockstar!My fellow rocker romance author (and HUGE inspiration) Michelle Mankin has invited me to help her and a bunch of other rockstar romance authors celebrate the release of this VERY cool anthology – here is all the information you need. You should have just enough time to read this and then LIMITLESS will be out and ready for you!
NOW AVAILABLE: MY NIGHT WITH A ROCKSTAR
1-Click: mybook.to/MNWARS
#free with Kindle Unlimited
This exclusive collection of short stories features original works from Jane Anthony • Jill Bengtsson • Dawn L Chiletz • Lianne Cotton • Crystal Kaswell • Michelle Mankin • Anne Mercier • Alyson Santos • Kacey Shea • Lisa Suzanne
ENTER FOR A LIMITED EDITION PAPERBACK: https://bit.ly/331IMdl
ADD TO GOODREADS: http://bit.ly/MNWAR-GR
All digital proceeds benefit Feeding America: http://www.feedingamerica.org
Come join the parties celebrating this anthology:
October 2: Late Night Support Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/LateNightSupportGroup)
October 3: 1-Click Addict Support Group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/OneClickAddictSupportGroup)
October 5: Do Not Disturb Book Club (https://www.facebook.com/groups/DoNotDisturbBookClub)
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September 24, 2020
TALES FROM THE CITY
All of the Less Than Zero worlds are set in my beautiful, flawed city of Seattle, Washington. I’m a native Washingtonian, growing up in a suburb of Seattle before moving to the big city for college at University of Washington (go Huskies!) and then adulting my whole life here.
I’ve had job opportunities in many other cities over the years, but I could never bear leaving my native Seattle. We have mountains, water, lakes, gorgeous greenery, and the Space Needle!
Plus, where else would I set a Rock Star Romance novel than in the iconic music city of Seattle.
ROCK VENUES IN SEATTLE
The fictional venue the “Mission” is the music venue where LTZ gets its start. While there is no Mission, it was based on a combination of a few different venues that have either changed significantly or are no longer open. A special shout out to RKCNDY, the iconic venue that I personally booked back in the early 90’s. The Central Tavern, located in Pioneer Square where Soundgarden, Alice in Chains and Mother Love Bone got their start, the Off Ramp, where some of the scenes from Singles (the movie starring Matt Damon and Bridget Fonda) were shot, and of course the OK Hotel, which was really the only all-ages venue at the time.
SPACE NEEDLE LOUPE
Ty launches his foundation with the help of his LTZ bandmates at the top of the Space Needle. Recently, the iconic landmark went through some really cool renovations and the entire observation deck has a glass floor. This means you can stand anywhere on the deck and look all the way from the top of the needle to the ground, which gives you amazing views of the MoPOP museum, Chihuly Glass and the Pacific Science Center. Their show was inspired by a special event the band Alice in Chains did a few years back for Sirius.
WEST SEATTLE
I’ve lived in many neighborhoods throughout Seattle, but my favorite is West Seattle where I’ve resided for the past 20 years (WOW! That is shocking even for me). Of course, this is where Ty bought his house, and I will say that a LOT of musicians from back in the day live in this very diverse and big area of the city.
I hope you enjoy getting a little of info from “behind the scenes” – let me know what you think!
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September 16, 2020
GEARING UP FOR A SERIES
In a few short weeks, LIMITLESS, the second book in the Less Than Zero Rockstar Romance Series will be live. I’m so thrilled to see so many pre-orders, it just warms my heart like you cannot imagine.
STANDALONE HEA
[image error]Each book in the LTZ Series are all stand-alone HEA for the couple who is the focus of the book. In ENDLESS, Ty and Zoey are the focus – but they are also the anchor to the entire story. It took me over a year to write ENDLESS, mainly because I was pre-plotting the basic outline for all of the other books in the series – including some other follow up stories to your favorite couples.
LIMITLESS is no different – by now you’ve seen the teaser blurbs for Alex & Jace’s sexy story, but I thought it would be fun to give you a few clues into what you will be reading.
SOCIAL IMPACT
I’m a big social impact girl, and while I don’t ever want to be preachy about it I focus on things that are near and dear to my heart.
In ENDLESS, we learn about the importance of music/arts education in schools and how impactful that is on underprivileged kids.
In LIMITLESS, we will focus on animal rescue – specifically HORSES!
In all of the books there is an undercurrent of how substance abuse has affected each of the band member’s lives. For Ty, Connor, and Zane, it involves their parents and sometimes themselves. With Jace in LIMITLESS, it’s an entirely different situation.
Substance abuse has been a very common theme in most of the musicians lives who I have worked with. A good friend of mine who was working for a record label has an entirely new career devoted to counseling folks through the unique pressures of fame and life on the road. She’s a great inspiration.
SNEAK ATTACK
One of my favorite parts about Alex & Jace is their friendship and how it unfolds. Let’s just say Alex is the master of the sneak attack. In all seriousness, their relationship evolves from two young, free spirits who have a lot of fun (and CHEMISTRY) to two more mature adults who have success, money, and the desire to take things up a notch— until life happens and threatens all that they have built.
Can you wait? I can’t!
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