Author Interview: Kimberly Nee

The Basics
Kimberly Nee
Genre(s): Historical Romance
Publisher(s): Samhain Publishing, The Wild Rose Press

To Other Authors

What are the three MOST important pieces of advice you would give to a brand new author?

  • The most important thing I would give is to read. Read a lot in your genre, but read outside of it as well. It’s a good way to keep up with how your particular genre might be changing, or what editors/agents might be looking for.
  • Second, write every day. Even if, in the back of your mind, you know you’re just going to edit it out later on. Shut down that inner editor and just put words on paper. It’s amazing how silencing the inner editor can make the creativity flow.
  • The third piece of advice I’d give it to develop a thick skin. Rejections are a huge part of this business, and they hurt, but it isn’t personal. Bad reviews hurt, but it isn’t personal. I think every new author needs to print that out and hang it above their computer: It isn’t personal.

What’s your favorite way to advertise?

  • I like to do chats, where I can interact to a certain extent with readers and potential readers. I find contests tend to attract a lot of attention as well, so I like to do them when I have a new release.

What hard-knock lesson did the publishing world teach you (can be your own experience or someone else’s that you learned from)?

  • Not everyone is going to like everything you write. No one wants a bad review, but they happen, and though it might sting a little, it’s nothing personal. Someone, somewhere, is going to hate the characters, or hate the story, or the ending. But, I’ve learned that, for every person who doesn’t like something about the story, there is someone out there who will love it.

For the Readers

What are you reading, if anything, at the moment?

  • Right now, I’m reading No Choice But Seduction by Johanna Lindsey and I’m waiting for the new Stephanie Plum novel from Janet Evanovich to be released.

Do you prefer ebooks or print for your reading pleasure?

  • Print definitely. I don’t have a Kindle (yet) and I already spend so much time on my laptop that the last thing I want to do is read a book on it. Besides, I can’t take it out by the pool, which is a great place for reading while the kids are splashing around! 🙂

Name three of your all-time-favorite, read-them-over-and-over books.

  • A Prayer for Owen Meany tops my list. I read it at least once a year. Gone With the Wind is a close second, and The Catcher in the Rye would round out the list.

Idle Curiosity Compels Me to Ask

– What inspired you to be a writer?

  • There wasn’t any one inspiration. It’s just something I’ve always done. But what inspired me to write historical romance was Kathleen Woodiwiss’ The Flame and the Flower. I’ve always been a history nerd, and reading that book showed me I could combine it with writing. And that was it, I’ve been writing historical romances ever since.

– What do you do immediately after finishing a manuscript?

  • I print it out, chapter by chapter as I write, and put it aside. It basically gets ignored for a few weeks to give my eyes and brain a chance to forget the story. That way, when I begin revisions, it’s like I’m reading it for the first time. The longer it sits, the easier the mistakes are to find and fix.

– Do you talk to your characters or your muse or both?

  • I talk to my characters, out loud, especially when they are giving me a problem. My muse and I don’t always get along so well, so there are times when I talk to her, and other times when I give her the silent treatment.

Promo Section


~ Most Recent Release ~

Eden’s Pass

Publisher: Samhain Publishing
ISBN – 1-59998-914-X

Love can blow even a true pirate off course.

Finn Eden will do anything to escape a life of slavery on a Barbados sugar plantation. Even risk her life disguised as a cabin boy aboard a pirate ship, putting up with the drunken captain’s slovenly habits. Then her patience nets her an unexpected opportunity: A ship of her own. Half the profits. And freedom. Too bad the captain conveniently left out a small detail; there’s a price on his head.

Captain Inigo Sebastiano is a ruthless pirate with a years-long score to settle with the man who raped and murdered his wife. The truce he’s struck with the fiery Finn is uneasy in more ways than one, but his unsettling reaction to his new cabin “boy” is explained when he uncovers her true identity. Ever the gentleman pirate, he’ll help his lovely new bedmate keep her secret. For now. When the time is right, it’s a secret he’ll use to his advantage.

But the spitfire in his bed rekindles something in his heart he thought had died. As Inigo closes in on his quarry, he begins to wonder if Finn’s freedom—and her trust—is a sacrifice he’s willing to make.

Warning: this book may lead to fantasies containing gorgeous pirates with sexy accents.

This book can be found at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and My Bookstore and More

Learn More
Website: www.kimberlynee.com
Blog: www.kimberlynee.blogspot.com
MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/kimberlynee
Yahoo group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kimberlynee/

Thanks, Kimberly!

Join me next week for Kelcy Jones’s interview.

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