Kaylene Winter's Blog, page 15

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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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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BEHIND LIMITLESS

New Release- Amazon Best Seller!

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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ROCKSTAR ROMANCE AUTHORS!

Limitless Release Next Friday!

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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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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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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TRUE STORIES

As many of you get to know the LTZ family, some of my favorite comments in the reviews of ENDLESS have been about how realistic the depiction of the concert scenes are.

That is because I lived it, my friends!

Throughout my late teens and early twenties, I was knee-deep in the Seattle music scene promoting shows, working with some of the bands you probably all know and love, and booking one of the biggest venues in Seattle (which is sadly a Silver Cloud Inn now).

This week, I thought I’d share a couple of funny but true stories.

BOOTED OFF THE TOUR BUS

One of the bands who everyone knows was just getting started. Their album was out and beginning to get some traction. They were booked to play in a theater in Spokane, which is about 5 hours away from Seattle. The entire management office decided to go except for our boss, who had business to take care of with a different band you all know. Anyway, we piled on the tour bus with the band and crew and off we went.

The show was phenomenal, everyone was in high spirits. After load out, we went to board the bus and the driver wouldn’t let us on. Why? Well, the band had other plans and other guests. They didn’t want a couple of gals from the management office riding back to Seattle with them.

We weren’t left stranded. Our ride back was in a U-Haul squished together with the one of the roadies. A decidedly less than “rock-star” ride home.

KICKED IN THE FACE

The club I booked in Seattle held about 1000 people (not legally) but it was where so many 90’s band played. Everyone from the Goo-Goo Dolls to Ice Cube to The Breeders to Bush graced the stage. Every major Seattle musician also played there from Soundgarden to Candlebox to Sir Mix-a-Lot.

But I digress.

Often, big promotors would rent out the venue for tours that didn’t quite sell out the smaller theaters. One time, a shredding metal guitar god was touring solo and every long-haired dude within a thousand-mile radius descended upon the club to see him play.

I should mention that the club was 21+ and the liquor control laws in Washington State are notoriously strict. When guitar god demanded that he bring in his CLEARLY underage “girlfriend” and was rejected, he lost his mind. Raging around the place, he and his tour manager cursed us, threatened not to play, and generally behaved like entitled assholes. Which made us more determined to keep the girl out. We held our ground.

When he got on stage (yeah, empty threat), he tore into his set. He was an amazing guitar player, I’ll give him that. But in the world of 90’s Seattle, it was so dated. Like an 80’s hair metal band on steroids (side note, he was pretty jacked…)

The crowd began to taunt him a little. His stage banter wasn’t helping anything. Most performers know that insulting your audience isn’t super endearing. You should also know that this was the age of stage diving, it was something that happened every, single night at the club. When the first guy tried to climb up next to guitar god, he took his high-heeled, pointed cowboy boot and kicked him squarely in the face.

Needless to say the set ended early. We took off the deposit to cover our insurance (the kicked guy never sued), the tour manager didn’t even argue. The young girl was waiting for her man outside.

I never heard about that guitar god again…

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IT’S HERE! LIMITLESS COVER REVEAL!

Can you believe it? Limitless is only a month (and a few days) away! I’m thrilled to reveal the cover today, which features the next LTZ heartthrob Jace Deveraux. So, without further ado. I present the cover:

FINDING JACE

I’ve always had a special kind of love for drummers, and Jace is no exception. He’s the only dude in a family of sisters, and they hold him accountable for his Rockstar tendencies. Jace is also a headstrong guy, who is used to being the one handling things as they come up. He’s not only a great percussionist but he’s responsible for LTZ’s social media accounts which help propel their worldwide domination.

He’s also gorgeous if you like a tattooed long-haired Viking (and I know that you do).

WHO IS BEHIND THE COVER

Just like ENDLESS, Regina Wamba designed the cover for LIMITLESS. She also took the cover photo of Mr. McModel himself, Garret McCall – follow him on IG at @mr.mcmodel. Follow Regina on IG @reginawamba.

OTHER NEWS IN THE LTZ WORLD

First and foremost, I really want to thank everyone for their support of ENDLESS. I had no idea how fun this journey would be and how many cool people I’ve met along the way. The reviews continue to make me want to weep with joy. Now that both ENDLESS and LIMITLESS are charting on Amazon – it makes me so happy that the stories are resonating.

SHOUT OUT TO AUTHOR FRIENDS:

I wanted to give a special shout out to my new friend (but someone who I’ve worshipped as an author for years) Mari Carr. To have one of my idols be so completely engaged in my journey has been life-changing. Please visit her website at https://maricarr.com/ and I know you’ll find some hot, sexy romances that will captivate you.

SOCIAL MEDIA/ENDLESS PAPERBACK GIVEAWAY

As always, I’d love it if you could follow me on social media that is where you’ll get all sorts of daily updates about LTZ. Here’s the deal: if you follow me one new platform by September 15 and send me PM on that platform, consider yourself “entered” into the giveaway. I will choose five people to send an autographed paperback of ENDLESS after the 15th.

Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Bookbub
Goodreads
Amazon

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LIMITLESS – COVER REVEAL

LTZ Fans, it’s time for Limitless! Limitless will be released on October 9, 2020 on Amazon exclusively for now, and I’m really, really excited for you to read Jace & Alex’s love story. You’ll see a ton of new graphics going up here on the website, on social media and by this time next week, you’ll get to see the gorgeous Jace Deveraux.

WHO ARE JACE AND ALEX?

For me, Alex was the most organic character I’ve written so far. Why? Because she was inspired by my very best friend, adventurer, lover of live, beacon of light and one of the strongest women I know. She is gorgeous and funny and kind. Out of nearly everyone I’ve ever known in my life, she’s always had a sense of who she is (and who she isn’t) even at a young age. She’s a world traveller and— wait, she IS ALEX!

Jace is a really good looking dude. Committed to his band and eager to contribute, he is one of the main reasons for LTZ’s success. He’s a social media wizard who manages to capture a trend and capitalize on it. He’s also a guy who isn’t looking for a serious relationship, and hides behind friends-with-benefits so he doesn’t have to open up. Mainly because, as a guy with a bunch of sisters, he knows if he falls in love it will be for good.

HOW THEY FIT INTO THE STORY

In many ways, Limitless is the other side of the coin to Ty & Zoey’s story. Zoey and Alex are best friends, they met the band at the same time – but their path to a HEA is drastically different. Without giving anything away (and trust me – you don’t want me to) you will go on a worldwide adventure with this jet-setting couple, and the ending will hopefully not only surprise but delight you—

Enough teasing, Limitless is up for preorder now: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08F9KJRMB?notRedirectToSDP=1&ref_=dbs_mng_calw_1&storeType=ebooks

I will be sending out ARC copies on September 18, 2020 so if you haven’t signed up to be an ARC reader do that here: https://rockerromance.com/backstage-pass/#arc-form

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EASTER EGGS

Someone asked me the other day if Endless was about me and my husband. No, not really. If you have read Endless and any of my blogs, you’ll know that the story was concocted for the first time when I was in high school.

While the book isn’t about me, I thought I’d give you a few “easter eggs” of things that are actually true and/or where the references have come from:

BE FONZIE

In my “day” job, I’m the owner of my own legal practice. Just because we work mostly with tech and media companies doesn’t mean there isn’t drama. We’re negotiating deals, helping strategize, etc. My “go-to” catch phrase – and I know this dates me – is “Be Fonzie” – which means stay cool. My office manager actually got me a picture of the Fonz and taped the words “Be Fonzie” to it – it hangs in my office. Zoey’s dad coins the phrase in the book, and you’ll see how it migrates to the rest of the folks—

PRIMPING ROUTINE

While the books are fiction, one scene (although it has been updated) from the original book is Alex and Zoey getting ready to go to the club. When my cousin read ENDLESS she called me immediately and said that she knew that she could picture me and my best friend as teenagers going through the same process.

MCCLAREN

Ty’s Amethyst Black McClaren is one of his few over-the-top indulgences. The story behind that particular car is: my husband is a HUGE car guy. He loves them. He likes looking at them. Test driving them. Owning them. He’s always trying to convince me that he needs a Ferrari. When I saw this particular car on the McClaren Dealership in Palm Springs, I told him “that is the car I’d be on board with.” It is baaaaad-ass. So we are saving our pennies, LOL.

WEST SEATTLE

Ty purchases his first house in West Seattle. Little known fact: most of the real Seattle rock stars used to live in West Seattle. It is where I live and it is an amazing community. We get the most beautiful sunsets, have the only sandy beach in Seattle, and everything you need is here. Where else would Ty live?

I’ll try to share some easter eggs on occasion. Have a great week. Next week – some exciting news—.

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