Tell Me About it Tuesday! Welcome Kimberly Packard AND GIVEAWAY!

This week on  Tell Me About it Tuesday, a good friend of mine and fellow GFWW group member, Kimberly Packard, author of the recent release, Phoenix is stopping by to tell us about her book. She also allowed me to embarrass her with silly interview questions.

She's also graciously offering a copy of her book. Make sure you scroll down to see how that winner could be YOU!
 

Q. Do you do any special research for your novels?
I seriously thought about hopping in my car and running away. Like lots of times thought about it. (I’m even thinking about it right now) I didn’t have to do too much research. But in my current WIP, the follow up to Phoenix, my main character Amanda is having a lot of new and emotional experiences, having to put aside her fears to be confident in her own strength and power. So I think I’m going to have to push myself towards some of these experiences to draw the reader deeper into her psyche.


Q. What made you pick your particular genre?
Phoenix is commercial fiction with mystery and romance elements. I didn’t set out to write in a genre, the story came to me that way. I found that to be somewhat of a hindrance when I was querying it – some agents telling me they liked the story and writing but it didn’t fit neatly into one package. My publisher, GoodMedia Press, didn’t find that to be a problem, which is really refreshing to find a publisher that likes cross-dressers, I mean, uh, cross-genres …

Q. What are you working on right now? Can you tell us about it?

I’m working on the re-write of Pardon Falls, the follow up to Phoenix. Talking about cross-dressing genres, I’m finding this story to be darker and a bit more literary fiction with romance and thriller than Phoenix, and I’m pretty sure the third and final book in the series will be more romantic suspense. I sure don’t make this easy on myself, do I?

Q. Do you ever hit the wall or find you've written yourself into a corner? How do you turn that around?

I find its either feast or famine with my Muse. She’s either talking so fast I can’t keep up, or chasing something shiny. But, I feel there are no wasted words – even the bad ones. Sometimes you have to warm up, and that means giving yourself permission to write badly for a couple hundred words before the good words start flowing. I know other writers may say it’s a horrible waste of time, but I’ve never been known for my efficiency.

Okay...enough with the business questions! How about some fun stuff. You know, just between the two of us.  

Sweet! 

Q. The opportunity to go on a surprise vacation arises. You have 90 minutes to pack and get to the airport. Where will you go and what will you pack?

Oooh, can this happen in real life?  I know I should pick somewhere much more exotic, but I love the calm that washes over me in the Texas Hill Country so a trip down there would be perfect. It’s Texas, so casual is the way to go with jeans and t-shirts, but I’d toss in my swimsuit for a refreshing swim in the Blue Hole (did I mention this trip will be in the summer?). Then, I’d sit on a hilltop with my feet kicked up and my laptop open doing a little scenery-inspired writing with a glass of wine beside me while the sun dips down in the most glorious sunset ever.

Q. Are you more likely to be spotlighted on the TV show Hoarders or Fashion Police?

Totally Hoarders. My boss makes fun of me for squirreling away boxes at work, and even though Phoenix has been in print for three months now, I can’t bring myself to toss the older printed drafts of the manuscript.  I also still have random stuff from high school – a really great Far Side cartoon, Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy-like notes my friends and I passed back and forth to each other, and that butt-ugly Good Luck Troll that I swear is the only reason I passed any math class. And I have t-shirts that are old enough to buy beer.

Q. If they make a movie about your life, who do you want to play your part?

I’ve been told several times that I look like Claire Danes, so I’d pick her since she totally kicks ass in Homeland (and makes a really good cry-face, but I don’t cry that much so maybe that’s not necessary … http://clairedanescryface.tumblr.com/). However, chances are my life movie would be a Lifetime Friday night special – for people with no social life – so they would probably pick Debbie Gibson, the other person I’m told I look like.

Q. Tell us one thing about you that might surprise us...it can be a secret...we won't tell. :)

Speaking of Debbie Gibson … I shaved my legs for the first time ever in front of my entire sixth grade class. Two of my best friends and I re-wrote “Shake Your Love” to “Shave Your Legs” and even choreographed a dance where we shaved our legs while performing it. We signed up to perform during the end of school year talent show and they got cold feet. Well, the show must go on, so I did it solo. I cut myself 18 times that day, and when my mom picked me up and I had to explain all the band-aids, she asked why I didn’t do it with the cap on the razor. Ummm … yeah. 

Thanks for the laughs, Kim! You're so much fun! Now what everyone has been waiting for! 

Tell us about Phoenix! (by the way, I adore the cover!)

PHOENIX is the story of Amanda, Alex and Shiloh, three individuals tied together by two crimes committed thousands of miles and ten years apart, each looking for redemption and forgiveness. 

Amanda Martin boards a bus in the middle of a cold Chicago night with no luggage and only two thoughts:  get the hell away from the crazed gunman who obliterated her office and locate the man responsible for her indictment – and make him pay. 

A small Texas town of Phoenix becomes her refuge as she assumes a new identity to rediscover who she was before all the power and money changed her. She intends it to be a temporary stop before searching for her ex-boyfriend who ensnared her in his securities fraud scandal, but the flirtatious advances of a handsome cop fuels her struggles between building a life there with him and her desire for vengeance. Uncovering a forgotten murder ignites Amanda’s need for redemption, but also drives a wedge in her new relationship, and puts her in the line of fire of two people who will stop at nothing to keep the case cold.

Phoenix is available in both paperback and e-book!

BUY IT!

Amazon 

B&N 

You can contact Kimberly at Kimberly@kimberlypackard.com or follow her Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/kimberlypackardauthor. 

Thanks for stopping by today, Kim! I hope everyone enjoyed your interview and hearing about Phoenix as much as I did!

 

 A word from Kim! 

OK, so since I shared one of my most embarrassing middle school moments – a signed copy of Phoenix to whoever shares their best cringe-worthy middle school moment.  Post it in the comment below, and if you make me cringe, I’ll ask you to email me your mailing address.