Character Interview: Ann Lee Miller & Raine from “Kicking Eternity”
I’m happy to welcome Ann Lee Miller and Raine Zigler to the blog today, from Ann’s book Kicking Eternity. She’d like to let our readers know that anyone who leaves a comment on this post with their email will receive a free copy of the book! Or, if you’d like a free copy but do not wish to leave your email, you can contact her through her website: http://www.AnnLeeMiller.com
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Mia: What is the name of the book where we’ll find you? Can you tell us a little about it?
Raine: Kicking Eternity is the story about my last summer stuck in sleepy New Smyrna Beach. I socked away my camp pay checks, worried about my druggy brother, and ignored trouble: Cal Koomer. I was a plane ticket away from teaching orphans in Africa, and not even Cal’s sufer six-pack and the chinks I spied in his rebel armor would derail me.
The night I met Cal he told me the artist in him begged to paint my ivory skin, high cheek bones, and internal sparklers behind my eyes, but falling for me would caterwaul him into his parents’ life. No thanks, he said. I was self-righteous waiting to happen. His mother served sanctimony like vegetables, three servings a day, and he had a gut full. Guess he changed his mind.
Rec Director Drew taunted me with “Rainey” and called me an enabler. He was so infernally there like a horsefly—till he buzzed back to his ex.
My brother, Eddie, tweaked. My dream of Africa died small deaths. I didn’t know if I’d ever figure out what to fight for and what to free before it was too late.
Mia: Tell us a little about yourself. Where do you fit into the story? What should we know about you?
Raine: I’m usually not self-centered, but the story is about me—how after a lifetime of pressing my nose to the screen watching others live, I finally made friends—the kind that stick—how I had to lose my dream before I got a better one. You should know I’m pigheaded about God and about getting what I want, and the two don’t always link arms and stroll into the sunset together.
Mia: What do you think of the author? Be honest. We won’t tell.
Raine: I think she’s a better storyteller than she gives herself credit for. I heard her say all novelists are insecure. Amen. Preach it sister.
Mia: How do you feel about the story you’re in?
Raine: My stomach churns whenever I think about it—so much drama that summer. Eddie’s meth use spiraled out of control. Tension, tension, tension with Cal, Drew, and my dad. My entire future hung in the balance.
Mia: Do you like being a character in the book?
Raine: To you I’m a character, but this was my life. I lived every day of those ten and a half weeks. It’s not a summer I want to relive, but it turned out pretty well in the end.
Mia: How do you see your future? Without giving anything away about the story, naturally.
Raine: It’s not exactly the future I pictured, but a whole lot better.
Mia: What do you know about your author’s plans? Can we expect to see you in any future stories?
Raine: I know she’s got three more books coming out in 2012 and the beginning of 2013. I seriously doubt I play much of a role in any of them. My life is happy these days, not much grist for a novel.
Mia: Let’s say they make a movie about this book. Who do you want to play you, and why?
Raine: Maybe Anne Hathaway, but she’d have to get her hair cut just below the ears like mine. I’m just sayin’…
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Author Bio: Ann Lee Miller earned a BA in creative writing from Ashland (OH) University and writes full-time in Phoenix, but left her heart in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where she grew up. She loves speaking to young adults and guest lectures on writing at several Arizona colleges. When she isn’t writing or muddling through some crisis—real or imagined—you’ll find her hiking in the Superstition Mountains with her husband or meddling in her kids’ lives.
Author Site: http://www.AnnLeeMiller.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AnnLeeMiller
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ann-Lee-Miller/356653761022022
Buy Link: Amazon
Buy Link: Barnes & Noble
