Teen Interviewer Talks to Kitty Keswick

Teen interviewer Anna interviews Leap Books author Kitty Keswick:

When did you know that you wanted to be an author?

I have always written stories. I wrote to escape, to entertain myself, to get the stories that were in my head...out. I write from my dreams and if I don't work on the stories that I'm dreaming about ("they" can be very persistent), I don't sleep until I do. I started out as a journalism major because I enjoyed writing. I didn't care that much for non-fiction and switched my major. The idea of being a novelist was always in the back of my head. I had been writing full-length stories since high school. It was until 2004 that I started to do something about it and joined RWA (Romance Writers of America). There I learned more about the craft and started attending conferences and sending out queries.

Have you always specifically liked supernatural stories?

Yes and no. My stories have supernatural elements, but they are more character driven and based in folklore and mythology.

Do you consider romance a necessary component in all your stories?

Yep. I am and always will be a romantic sap. It's a blessing and a curse. Love can be wickedly cruel and totally earthmoving amazing. There's always something to write about when love is involved, good or bad. Love changes you, it shapes you. Whether it's for better or worse is up to you.

What is your favorite genre of stories to read?

Right now, it's mysteries and sci-fi. It changes. I am re-reading One for the Money and Game of Thrones.

Why did you choose to write young adult books instead of adult books or children's books?

I wrote general romance first. Several novels and got close. I had many editors tell me they liked my character building and worlds and snarky humor, but felt my voice was a little young for general romance. I took their advice and went back to my roots, YA. I started writing, really writing as a teen. I used the basic elements of those stories to formulate my YA novels. I keep a dream journal and often get my ideas from my dreams. Freaksville started out as a strange conversation between two best friends.

What advice do you have for aspiring authors?

Study your craft, never stop learning. Read. And never give up.

More about author Kitty Keswick:

 Kitty Keswick has been an Anglophile since age four when she saw Robin Hood and fell head over heels in love. As she grew up on her grandfather’s California vineyard, Kitty’s imagination was her best friend. At a very tender age, she started writing her stories and reading them to the grapes.

Kitty now lives with a bossy tabby cat and maybe even a few ghosts. She spends her days with Werewolves, Valkyries, Vamps and other creatures that go bump in the night.


Her books:

Having a family whose skeletons in the closet lean toward the paranormal is not a topper on anyone’s list. Sophomore Kasey Maxwell is busy juggling the typical teen angst. Add visions, ghosts, and hairy four-legged monsters into the mix and you get FREAKSVILLE. It’s a wonder Kasey has survived.

Sixteen-year-old Kasey Maxwell left Freaksville behind when her family moved from California to rural Pennsylvania. But she didn't leave her troubles behind. As her Valkyrie side grows, the spirits become more haunting. When her visions turn bloody, Kasey must trust new support systems—paranormal ones.

Get entombed in stories of Egyptian treasures, shudder at tales of malevolent spirits, and become enthralled with the adventures of witch-hunters, ghost seekers, and lost souls. From steampunk to cyberpunk, our collection spans past, present, and future hauntings. One story actually leaps off the page with 3D augmented reality. Go ahead. Turn the page if you dare. We won't tell if you sleep with the light on. Because after all, there's no rest for the wicked.

Freaksville Book Trailer




Spirited Book Trailer

Judith Graves Blog Tour

For her new release, author Judith Graves is going on tour. Join the celebration of the official launch of the second book in the SKINNED series, SECOND SKIN.


During the month of March Judith will be doing interviews and guest posts on some fabulous blogs, as well as features on her own site. It will be a month of giveaways, SWAG, and great conversations.

In honor of Second Skin’s major theme, FACING YOUR DARKEST FEAR, she’ll look at what scares us – from horror films, fiction, phobias, folklore and the beasties that haunt our dreams. Thankfully, she'll only talk about others' sheer terror – Eryn and her monster-hunting crew are the ones who get thrown to the wolves.

Here’s the line up of blog stops and author thus far:

3/1 – Tour kick off (my blog)
3/7 - Jennifer R. Hubbard – guest post exchange and feature on my blog
3/8 – Electrifying Reviews – guest post
3/9 – Fragments of Life – author interview / character interview
3/10 – Just Deb – guest post
3/12 – Ellz Readz - guest post
3/13 – Book Swarm - character interview and review
3/14 – Late Bloomer – guest post
3/15 – Heather McCorkle - author interview exchange and feature on my blog
3/16 – Dawn Dalton- author interview exchange and feature on my blog
3/17 – Dawn Ius – author interview
3/19 – Denise Jaden - author interview exchange and feature on my blog
3/20 – Joy Preble – author interview exchange and feature on my blog
3/22 – Janet Fox - author interview exchange and feature on my blog
3/25 – Lauren’s Crammed Bookshelf - author interview
3/28 – Bewitched Bookworms – review

Judith's books in the Skinned Series:
Available Now Books 1 and 2

COMING IN 2013...

 COMING IN 2014...

A steampunk e-serial starring Amelia Strangeways. Ghosthunter. Necromancer.

Beauty or Beast?

With Fiends Like Eryn…

Monsters. Bloodsuckers. The evil. The damned. Eryn McCain knows they exist—she's been hunting them since she was a child. At sixteen, she's ready to take on all comers. Being a shapeshifter gives her an advantage when it comes to her unusual part-time job. The hours suck and the pay is, well, non-existent, but bonuses like inhuman strength and night vision make tracking scary beasties a dream come true. Especially in a town like Redgrave.

When an ancient demon targets Redgrave High, Eryn and her crew of hunters must face their innermost fears to prevent the Harvest Moon Dance from becoming one serious Monster Mash. Loyalties are tested and temptations abound. With questions ever brewing, can Eryn share a future with the brooding, noble, human Alec—the hunter after her heart? Or will she succumb to her enemy's son, Wade, a seductive predator as bloodthirsty as she is?

What happens when you’re both the beauty and the beast?

Leap Books is thrilled to announce Judith Graves' latest book in the Skinned series SECOND SKIN.

Praise for Second Skin

"Smart, sassy and more than a little scary, Second Skin hits all the right notes. I adored reading about Eryn and her attempts to deal with her life!"

~Amanda Ashby, award-winning author of Zombie Queen of Newbury High and Fairy Bad Day

"If tasked to recruit a monster-hunting army, I'd want Eryn on my side—her tongue is as sharp as the athame she brandishes. In Second Skin, the second book in Judith Graves' thrilling SKINNED series, Eryn goes head-to-head with a chilling new paranorm, has lingering feelings for two of Redgraves' hottest boys, and is surrounded by an endearing cast of family and friends. Prepare to be engrossed—Graves digs in her claws and doesn't let go until the mesmerizing cliffhanger end."

~Dawn Dalton, author of Thread of the Past

"In Judith Graves' Second Skin, book two of her Skinned series, shapeshifter Eryn McCain is fighting the paranorm baddies again and cracking wise while she's at it. A wild ride of snark, chills and romance, Second Skin poses the creepy question: what if your worse nightmares came to life?"

~Joy Preble, author of Dreaming Anastasia and Haunted

Also look for the second edition of Under My Skin: Book 1:

And watch for Judith Graves' blog tour. Stop back next week for kick-off info.

A Holiday Invitation from Author Judith Graves

On Saturday, December 4th from 12 noon to 5 p.m., join me, and about 40 Alberta authors, as well as artisans with wares (or should that be WERES...wink, wink…) that will amaze you! It’s the first annual Book Lovers Christmas Sale offered by the Writers Guild of Alberta. We’ll be doing readings, signings, wandering around and chatting up folks – I’ll be shopping for notebooks and funky bookmarks I know I won’t find ANYWHERE else….cause they’re handmade gems (GEMS, I tell you. ;)

LOCATION: Stanley A. Milner Library – aka the downtown branch in Edmonton, Alberta.

Anyway – here are the details. I’ll be at the sale pretty much all day until they kick me out:

Program of events:

12 noon—2 pm: Territory of the Young

* 12 noon—Award-winning, multi-genre author Marty Chan reads from his brand-new kids’ book “The Mystery of the Cyber Bully”. A treat not to be missed!

* 12:30 pm—Drop in for some hands-on fun and make really cool bookmarks using the ancient art of origami. All materials provided.

* 1 pm—Time for more mystery, now with Calgary author Jan Markley , who’ll give us the scoop on “Dead Bird through the Cat Door”, the second book in her Megabyte Mystery series.

* 1:30 pm—Bring a clove of garlic for protection, and come to listen as author Judith Graves reads from her Young Adult vampire-ish title “Under My Skin”. Note: the WGA shall not be deemed responsible for fang marks on anyone’s neck.

2—3:30 pm: Poetreats

* 2 pm—On the screen, Edmonton will be looking beautiful as ever through the delicate prints by the late Dr. W.B. Stallworthy. At the microphone, his son Bob Stallworthy adds stanzas to the scene, as he reads some of the poems in which his father’s presence is still very much alive.

* 2:30 pm—Three new books, three poets on stage. Laurie MacFayden brings us her gravelly poet’s voice as she reads from her debut collection “White Shirt”; Edmonton’s own Alice Major (once laureate, always laureate…) gifts us some verses from “Memory’s Daughter”; and Peter Midgley goes bilingual as he reads from “perhaps i should/miskien moet ek”.

* 3 pm—Very Vocal poetry ladies for your ears’ delight! Spoken word artists Kathy Fisher and Kath MacLean, both with CDs for grabs at our Christmas Sale, will perform a few of the poems included in “think of me naked” (Kathy) and “Seed Bone & Hammer” (Kath).

3:30—5 pm: Proudly Prose

* 3:30 pm—Back from a long research journey on higher Canadian latitudes, Linda Goyette shares some stories from “Northern Kids”, a collection focused on the young people from the Yukon , Northwest Territories , and other northern communities. She is joined on stage by Conni Massing, a playwright turned travel writer after the adventures you’ll read in “Road Tripping—On the Move with the Buffalo Gals”. Bonus: you get to see on screen photos of gals and northern kids that were not included in the books.

* 4 pm—First it was the movie. Now, writer and filmmaker Geo Takach brings us “Will the Real Alberta Please Stand Up?”, the book: a mix of essay, interview, and colourful observation spotlighting the cultural complexity of our province. Come along for a chat with Geo—and a bit of movie time too!

Signing schedule

12 noon—2 pm

Ardith Trudzik, Diane Linden, Jan Markley, Jeananne Kathol Kirwin, Joan Marie Galat, Judith Graves , Karen Bass, Marty Chan *, Mary Woodbury , Pearl Murray, Shane Gauthier, Tyler Enfield

2—3:30 pm

Aaron A. Lehman, Alexis Kienlen , Alice Major , Bob Stallworthy , Clair Woodbury, Dianne Tchir, Kath MacLean, Kathy Fisher, Laurie MacFayden , Marion Brooker, Peter Midgley , Shelley A. Leedahl, Tololwa Mollel, Victoria Middleton

3:30—5 pm

Billie Milholland, Caterina Edwards , Conni Massing, Diane Robitelle, Eileen Bell, Geo Takach, Graham Clews, Jean Crozier, Linda Goyette, Margaret Macpherson, Marianne Stamm, Monika Igali, Pauline Holyoak , Roberta Laurie, Roxanne Felix, Sheree Zielke, Therezinha Kennedy, Uzoma Uponi, Vivian Mayne

* From 12 to 12:30 pm only

A Book and a Chat with Kitty Keswick

Author Kitty Keswick was featured on Barry Eva's show, A Book and a Chat. Here's the intro:

"Today was one of those shows that I have been looking forward to, partly because in this case I have actually met the author, secondly that I know she loves the English accent *grin*, finally that her book is one a lot of people have read and enjoyed.

A Book and a Chat with my guest Kitty Keswick lived up to all my expectations, as we chatted about her and her 'romance with a bite' debut YA book."

Click below to hear the interview:

A Book and a Chat with Kitty Keswick

Book Bites for Kid Interviews Judith Graves

If you missed yesterday's live interview about UMS, writing and werewolves, you can still hear it. And be sure to check out Judith's new snarky website to learn more about paranormal creatures of the night, the writing life, and Judith's upcoming tour schedule.

Listen to internet radio with Suzanne on Blog Talk Radio

Love UMS?

We've had fans tell us how much they love UMS (That's Under My Skin by Judith Graves, if you haven't been following all the book blogs where Judith's appeared.) If you love werewolf - vampire books filled with other paranormal creatures, this is the summer read for you.

If you're already a fan or want to find out more about the book, you can hear Judith Graves on Book Bites for Kids next Wednesday, July 14 at 2 pm CST. She'll be talking about her writing process, her characters, and what's in store for those of you who are eagerly awaiting the sequels.

And if you missed them, two of our other authors, Kitty Keswick (Freaksville) and Bonnie J. Doerr (Island Sting), were also interviewed on this blog talk radio show.

So tune in next week and find out more about UMS, and werewolves and witches and vampires and wolven. And if you comment on our blog and let us know you've listened in, we'll put your name in a drawing for a free copy of UMS or another Leap Book of your choice.

Win Free Vintage T-shirts

 Skulls, dead trees, crows... All this great goth stuff on a vintage T-shirt. Author Judith Graves is giving them away to celebrate her book's release. Wanna snag one? It's easy, but you only have until the witching hour--midnight EDT (or EST) tomorrow (Wednesday, April 21, 2010) to enter.

All you have to do is visit the Wolfy Chicks blog and ANSWER THIS QUESTION:

What's YOUR favorite paranormal creature, and why?

Be sure to let  the Wolfy Chicks know you heard about it here. Maybe they'll give you bonus points. You can also show up at the launch party for another chance to win. Good luck!!

And if you need more info about the launch, here it is....


Stayed tuned for the countdown and more fun stuff about the launch every day this week.

Only 4 more days until Saturday, April 24th.