Interview and Excerpt: Meant to Be by Karen Stivali
Thanks to Karen Stivali for stopping by with a Q&A and excerpt from Meant to Be. Please visit her tour page on CLP Blog Tours for more information and a giveaway!
**Interview**
When did you know writing was for you?I think I’ve always known writing was for me---I started writing fiction in first grade---I just never had the nerve to really go for it as a career until a few years ago. There’s never been a time in my life when I wasn’t writing something, it just took a long (long) time for me to be comfortable sharing my writing with other people. That wasn’t an easy step. In fact it still makes me super nervous. But I’ve gotten much better about it. I credit blogging and posting on message boards with getting me to feel more confident about sharing my words with the public. That and a few friends who nagged, uhh… I mean encouraged me, until I finally started submitting things to agents and publishers.
How would you describe your books?They’re love stories. I write in three genres, women’s fiction, contemporary romance and erotic romance, but every single one of my stories is a love story. Some are steamier than others but they’re all about relationships and falling in love. And they all contain sex. I’m not a fan of the fade-to-black sex scene as a reader so when I’m writing the story you’ll always see an open door. I think you learn a lot about a couple and their relationship from the way they are together when they’re being intimate with one another. It can be as telling or more telling than dialogue or other forms of body language.
Why was Meant To Be a book you wanted to write?I had the idea for Meant To Be nearly a decade before I sat down to write it. I’d seen the saying that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime and when I thought about it I realized that you never know who’s there for what purpose. That’s the premise of Meant To Be. You never know who your lifetime people are going to be.
What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?The hardest part for me is the waiting. I’m not good at waiting and publishing is FULL of waiting. Being on submission with a new project still makes me super nervous. I hate the compulsive email checking that goes with waiting for a response. Everyone thinks the waiting stops once you contract a book, but it doesn’t. Then you wait for edits. You wait to see if your editor likes your changes. You wait for a publication date, for a cover, for a release date, for reviews to start rolling in…. You’re always waiting for something. I’ve gotten better about it, but it’s still the hardest part for me.
What are your favorite genres to read?I tend to read more by writing style than by genre. I like stories with richly drawn characters. Books are all about the characters for me, so if I don’t feel close to them I won’t enjoy the story. If the characters are interesting and I feel like I’m getting to know them I can forgive a lot of story flaws (so-so writing, unrealistic plot) because I’m so invested in the characters I just go along for the ride because I want to know what happens to them.
What do you want readers to take away from your story?My favorite thing about reading is getting to know the characters. I love a book that leaves me feeling like I know the characters as well as I know my friends. In all of my books I try to give that to the readers. I hope they come away from my stories feeling like they have a new group of friends---people they care about and enjoyed spending time with while they read my book. Nothing makes me happier than when I hear someone discussing one of my characters as if he or she is a real person. I love it when someone says to me “Oh that’s so Justine!” or “Daniel would NEVER do that.” Then I know they ‘got’ what I was doing with the characters and are thinking of them as real.
How important do you think social media is for authors these days? I think social media is very important to authors. For one thing, writing is a very isolating job. You spend hours upon hours alone with your keyboard and your characters. Social media is a great way to have some human contact with real people without having to leave the keyboard entirely. It’s also very beneficial to chat with other authors because they understand things that your everyday friends may not. If I complain on Twitter that the characters in my head won’t shut up, I get 10 messages from other writers, commiserating. If I said that to a non-writer friend in my real life they’d probably consider handing me a business card for their therapist. And there’s nothing better than interacting on social media with people who’ve read your book. I love getting comments from readers or questions about what I’m doing or when my next release will be.What would be your advice to aspiring writers? Two things. FINISH your book. It’s so easy to get stuck in an endless loop of revisions and continually reimagine things and never actually complete a project. It’s extremely important to make sure you finish what you’re working on and don’t get caught up in the little things. Second, don’t give up. Odds are you’ll get a lot of rejections. Most of us do. I certainly did. What matters is that you keep going. Believe in yourself and in your characters and keep trying.
**Excerpt**
“Here.” She grabbed a box of cookie cutters off one of the kitchen bar stools. “Have a seat. Try whatever cookies you’d like.”He was continually amazed by how warm she was. How inviting. Though he’d only known her for five months he felt as though he’d known her forever. Without thinking he grabbed a cookie and popped it into his mouth. It melted on his tongue. “Mmmm. That’s good.”She tossed him a quick grin as she basted the chicken. “Try another.”By the time she’d finished scooping the fluffy mashed potatoes into a serving dish and started on the gravy he was on his sixth one. The tray by the kitchen table held cookies that looked temptingly similar to ones his mother used to make. His very favorite cookies. He’d spent years buying bakery look-a-likes, but had always been disappointed when the taste didn’t compare to his memories. He’d given up trying.He eyed the tray as he sampled the other varieties. Each tasted better than the one before. He hesitated, not wanting to ruin the moment with unrealistic hopes, but curiosity got the best of him, and he grabbed a cookie off the final rack. He slowly bit into it, and there it was. The exact cookie he recalled from his childhood. The same texture, the same rich flavor, the same chewy jam. “Oh my God,” he said.“What?” “These cookies,” he said, his voice wavering. “They taste exactly like cookies my mother made when I was a child.”“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked.“Good thing. A very good thing.”
**Everyone who leaves a comment on Karen's tour page will be entered to win a digital copy of Holding On - the sequel to Meant To Be! Anyone who purchases their copy of Meant to Be before December 17 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**
Author Bio:
Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she’s not writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to family and friends. Prior to deciding to write full time Karen worked as a hand drawn animator, a clinical therapist, and held various food-related jobs ranging from waitress to specialty cake maker. Planning elaborate parties and fundraisers takes up what’s left of her time and sanity.Karen has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so she favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters and their relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the dynamics between characters and has a tendency to craft romantic love stories filled with sarcasm and sexy details. Karen has published three erotic romances with Ellora’s Cave: Marry Me (June 2012), Long-Distance Lovers (co-written with Karen Booth, March 2012) and Always You (Passionate Plume First Place Novella Winner, RWA 2012).Karen’s first full-length novel, Meant To Be, released from Turquoise Morning Press on August 26, 2012. Its sequel, Holding On, released on November 26, 2012. A prequel to these novels, the short story All I Need, appears in the Foreign Affairs Anthology (Turquoise Morning Press, August 2012).Coming in 2013 Karen will have several contemporary romances releasing from Samhain Publishing and Turquoise Morning Press. The first of these, THEN, AGAIN will release from Samhain on May 23, 2013. Connect with Karen! http://karenstivali.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/karenstivaliGoodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170527.Karen_StivaliAmazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005KWSFGO
Buy the Book!
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Meant-To-Be-ebook/dp/B0092GWS0S/ref=la_B005KWSFGO_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1346196986&sr=1-5
AllRomanceEbooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-meanttobe-923889-148.html
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/meant-to-be-karen-stivali/1112675856?ean=2940015227789
Publisher's site:
Turquoise Morning Press: http://www.turquoisemorningpressbookstore.com/products/meant-to-be-by-karen-stivali
**Interview**
When did you know writing was for you?I think I’ve always known writing was for me---I started writing fiction in first grade---I just never had the nerve to really go for it as a career until a few years ago. There’s never been a time in my life when I wasn’t writing something, it just took a long (long) time for me to be comfortable sharing my writing with other people. That wasn’t an easy step. In fact it still makes me super nervous. But I’ve gotten much better about it. I credit blogging and posting on message boards with getting me to feel more confident about sharing my words with the public. That and a few friends who nagged, uhh… I mean encouraged me, until I finally started submitting things to agents and publishers.
How would you describe your books?They’re love stories. I write in three genres, women’s fiction, contemporary romance and erotic romance, but every single one of my stories is a love story. Some are steamier than others but they’re all about relationships and falling in love. And they all contain sex. I’m not a fan of the fade-to-black sex scene as a reader so when I’m writing the story you’ll always see an open door. I think you learn a lot about a couple and their relationship from the way they are together when they’re being intimate with one another. It can be as telling or more telling than dialogue or other forms of body language.
Why was Meant To Be a book you wanted to write?I had the idea for Meant To Be nearly a decade before I sat down to write it. I’d seen the saying that people come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime and when I thought about it I realized that you never know who’s there for what purpose. That’s the premise of Meant To Be. You never know who your lifetime people are going to be.
What is the hardest part of the writing process for you?The hardest part for me is the waiting. I’m not good at waiting and publishing is FULL of waiting. Being on submission with a new project still makes me super nervous. I hate the compulsive email checking that goes with waiting for a response. Everyone thinks the waiting stops once you contract a book, but it doesn’t. Then you wait for edits. You wait to see if your editor likes your changes. You wait for a publication date, for a cover, for a release date, for reviews to start rolling in…. You’re always waiting for something. I’ve gotten better about it, but it’s still the hardest part for me.
What are your favorite genres to read?I tend to read more by writing style than by genre. I like stories with richly drawn characters. Books are all about the characters for me, so if I don’t feel close to them I won’t enjoy the story. If the characters are interesting and I feel like I’m getting to know them I can forgive a lot of story flaws (so-so writing, unrealistic plot) because I’m so invested in the characters I just go along for the ride because I want to know what happens to them.
What do you want readers to take away from your story?My favorite thing about reading is getting to know the characters. I love a book that leaves me feeling like I know the characters as well as I know my friends. In all of my books I try to give that to the readers. I hope they come away from my stories feeling like they have a new group of friends---people they care about and enjoyed spending time with while they read my book. Nothing makes me happier than when I hear someone discussing one of my characters as if he or she is a real person. I love it when someone says to me “Oh that’s so Justine!” or “Daniel would NEVER do that.” Then I know they ‘got’ what I was doing with the characters and are thinking of them as real.
How important do you think social media is for authors these days? I think social media is very important to authors. For one thing, writing is a very isolating job. You spend hours upon hours alone with your keyboard and your characters. Social media is a great way to have some human contact with real people without having to leave the keyboard entirely. It’s also very beneficial to chat with other authors because they understand things that your everyday friends may not. If I complain on Twitter that the characters in my head won’t shut up, I get 10 messages from other writers, commiserating. If I said that to a non-writer friend in my real life they’d probably consider handing me a business card for their therapist. And there’s nothing better than interacting on social media with people who’ve read your book. I love getting comments from readers or questions about what I’m doing or when my next release will be.What would be your advice to aspiring writers? Two things. FINISH your book. It’s so easy to get stuck in an endless loop of revisions and continually reimagine things and never actually complete a project. It’s extremely important to make sure you finish what you’re working on and don’t get caught up in the little things. Second, don’t give up. Odds are you’ll get a lot of rejections. Most of us do. I certainly did. What matters is that you keep going. Believe in yourself and in your characters and keep trying.
**Excerpt**
“Here.” She grabbed a box of cookie cutters off one of the kitchen bar stools. “Have a seat. Try whatever cookies you’d like.”He was continually amazed by how warm she was. How inviting. Though he’d only known her for five months he felt as though he’d known her forever. Without thinking he grabbed a cookie and popped it into his mouth. It melted on his tongue. “Mmmm. That’s good.”She tossed him a quick grin as she basted the chicken. “Try another.”By the time she’d finished scooping the fluffy mashed potatoes into a serving dish and started on the gravy he was on his sixth one. The tray by the kitchen table held cookies that looked temptingly similar to ones his mother used to make. His very favorite cookies. He’d spent years buying bakery look-a-likes, but had always been disappointed when the taste didn’t compare to his memories. He’d given up trying.He eyed the tray as he sampled the other varieties. Each tasted better than the one before. He hesitated, not wanting to ruin the moment with unrealistic hopes, but curiosity got the best of him, and he grabbed a cookie off the final rack. He slowly bit into it, and there it was. The exact cookie he recalled from his childhood. The same texture, the same rich flavor, the same chewy jam. “Oh my God,” he said.“What?” “These cookies,” he said, his voice wavering. “They taste exactly like cookies my mother made when I was a child.”“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked.“Good thing. A very good thing.”
**Everyone who leaves a comment on Karen's tour page will be entered to win a digital copy of Holding On - the sequel to Meant To Be! Anyone who purchases their copy of Meant to Be before December 17 and sends their receipt to Samantha (at) ChickLitPlus (dot) com, will get five bonus entries.**
Author Bio:
Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she’s not writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to family and friends. Prior to deciding to write full time Karen worked as a hand drawn animator, a clinical therapist, and held various food-related jobs ranging from waitress to specialty cake maker. Planning elaborate parties and fundraisers takes up what’s left of her time and sanity.Karen has always been fascinated by the way people relate to one another so she favors books and movies that feature richly detailed characters and their relationships. In her own writing she likes to explore the dynamics between characters and has a tendency to craft romantic love stories filled with sarcasm and sexy details. Karen has published three erotic romances with Ellora’s Cave: Marry Me (June 2012), Long-Distance Lovers (co-written with Karen Booth, March 2012) and Always You (Passionate Plume First Place Novella Winner, RWA 2012).Karen’s first full-length novel, Meant To Be, released from Turquoise Morning Press on August 26, 2012. Its sequel, Holding On, released on November 26, 2012. A prequel to these novels, the short story All I Need, appears in the Foreign Affairs Anthology (Turquoise Morning Press, August 2012).Coming in 2013 Karen will have several contemporary romances releasing from Samhain Publishing and Turquoise Morning Press. The first of these, THEN, AGAIN will release from Samhain on May 23, 2013. Connect with Karen! http://karenstivali.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/karenstivaliGoodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170527.Karen_StivaliAmazon: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005KWSFGO
Buy the Book!
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Meant-To-Be-ebook/dp/B0092GWS0S/ref=la_B005KWSFGO_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1346196986&sr=1-5
AllRomanceEbooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-meanttobe-923889-148.html
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/meant-to-be-karen-stivali/1112675856?ean=2940015227789
Publisher's site:
Turquoise Morning Press: http://www.turquoisemorningpressbookstore.com/products/meant-to-be-by-karen-stivali
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