I’d like to welcome Kim Baccellia, author of Crossed Fire to my blog today.
KB: Hi!, I’m Kim Baccellia,
a YA author. I’m from Sacramento (yes, the same city where Stephanie does her
crossings). Currently I live in Southern California with my husband, son, and
two parrots.
RW: How many hours a day do
you spend writing?
KB: I try to write every
day. When my son is in school, I go to my writing office and try to get in as
much writing as I can. I schedule time for writing. During this time, I don’t
answer the phone or do errands for others. This is my time. I feel it’s very
important to give yourself permission to say ‘no’ to others.
RW: Why did you decide to
write? When did you submit your first manuscript and what genre was it?
KB: I’ve always wanted to
be an author. I’ve written short stories since the fifth grade. I didn’t really
start submitting stories/poetry out until much later. My first novel, Earrings of Ixtumea, was a multi-diverse
YA fantasy.
RW: Who are your favorite
authors? Who influenced your writing?
KB: I have many favorite authors! Terry Brooks;
Diana
Gabaldon; Isabel Allende; Beth Revis; Rachel Caine; and Ellen Hopkins. My list
is always changing!
I’d have to say Terry
Brooks influenced my writing at the beginning. I first got into fantasies when
I read his Sword of Shannara series
in high school. My biggest thrill was when I actually met him at the Maui
Writing Conference back in 2004. When I told him how much he influenced me with
my own writing, he asked about it. He’s so supportive of the writing community!
RW: Who are your favorite
characters among the books you’ve written?
KB: I really have to say
that Jordan Lake of my Myth & Mayhem series is one of my favorites. I love
her enthusiasm and she’s the one that led me to find out more about Audrey
Hepburn.
Stephanie in the
Crossed series is also someone close to my heart.
RW: How much does reader
feedback matter to you? Do your fans’ comments and letters influence you in any
way? Do you have a favorite comment or question from a reader?
KB: I do read comments from
my writers. It was the comments asking about when another Crossed book would
come out that led me to write Crossed
Fire.
My all time favorite
comment came from a high school Skype meeting I had. This adorable teen got up
and told me how much she loved my book and when will the next one come out.
Soon, please?
RW: How do you come up with story ideas? What kind
of research do you do for a book?
KB: Each book is different. For the Crossed series
I came up with the idea after seeing numerous crosses off the side of the road.
My husband asked, “What if it’s the job of someone to make those crosses?” I
took it a step further and had Stephanie be a “rescuer,” someone who made
talismans for the dead in order to guide them to the Other Side.
In the Myth
& Mayhem series, I was frustrated with the number of rejections I had been
getting. At that time, I was a reader for a YA romance imprint. So while on a
run, I brainstormed an idea that would include a “cute,” light romance.
Earrings of Ixtumea came about after an
experience I had as a bilingual teacher. I used to have this one bulletin board
where I’d have the students draw themselves. Almost all of my girls drew
themselves as white, blonde, and with blue eyes. That really bothered me. I was
taking Chicano Studies classes where my professor explained why this might be
happening. I also saw this with the Mexican side of my family. So Lupe came to
be. I had her thrust into a parallel world where she had to confront her
heritage.
RW: Would you like to write a different genre or
sub-genre than you do now?
KB: I’m currently writing a romance set in Tuscany,
Italy. It’s more new adult. It’s been fun to write. I feel that it’s good to
write outside your comfort zone!
I also
plan on finishing a memoir based on growing up with a bipolar father.
RW: How many books have you written, how many have
been published?
KB: I currently have five published books out. Earrings of Ixtumea; Crossed Out; Crossed
Fire; No More Goddesses; and
Goddesses Can Wait.
I’m finishing revisions on a dystopian
novel. I’m also writing a romance. I have the outline of a memoir that I plan
to get back to soon.
I also have a poem published in a
poetry anthology, an essay on the adoption of my son in a national adoption
magazine, and other poetry published.
RW: After you’ve written your book and it’s been
published, do you ever buy it and/or read it?
KB: Yes, I do buy copies! I do go over them after
they’re published. Mostly though, I buy copies to share with family. I also do
giveaways.
RW: If I were a first-time reader of your books,
which one would you recommend I start with and why?
KB: I’d recommend first reading Crossed Out to find out more about
Stephanie. Though Crossed Fire could
be a standalone novel.
Younger
readers I’d recommend reading No More
Goddesses to find out how Jordan ends up getting on the wrong side of the
Goddess of Love.
RW: What book for you has been the easiest to
write? The hardest? The most fun?
KB: I’d have to say the Myth & Mayhem series
was the most fun to write. I totally got into reading about Audrey Hepburn and
fell in love with her.
The
hardest scene to write has to be when Lupe finds out why her mother became so
hard. I sobbed throughout writing that scene.
RW: Are you in control of your characters or do
they control you?
KB: I have to laugh on this question. I’m not a fan
of country music, but my one character, Phoenix, loves it. Let’s just say I
ended up listening to it in order to get into the head of my character! You
never know where they’ll lead you.
CROSSED FIRE
The
Plot
Stephanie Stewart is a
typical sixteen-year-old girl—she loves hanging out with her friends, going to
concerts, and sipping mocha lattes. Yup. Just your average teenager… Except for
one difference—she can see and talk to the dead. In fact, Stephanie helps dead
girls who who’ve been murdered or killed, cross over. Just as Stephanie is
getting used to her unique “gift”, her mom stumbles into some dangerous
witchcraft that backfires and triggers similar abilities in Stephanie’s best
friend Cura, and nemesis Hillary.
Stephanie already has enough
trouble trying to maintain a “normal” life between school and her cute
boyfriend Dylan, who happens to have a supernatural talent all his own. But now
she has to help her friend Cura and her “frenemy” Hillary cope with their
new-found powers as well as cross over two murdered cheerleaders and battle an
evil demon who wants to use Stephanie’s supernatural strengths as a free pass
to The Other Side. And she needs to do it all while still getting her term
papers in on time. She’s definitely going to need an extra-large mocha latte
for this.
An
Excerpt:
Life hasn’t been “normal”
for me in a very long time. Not since I figured out that I could see and talk
to dead people. Well, dead girls mostly. My name is Stephanie Stewart and I
help dead teenage girls cross over into the light. I’m not sure why I’ve been
singled out for this. I don’t think I’m anyone special, but for some reason I’ve
been given this “gift” and it has really thrown my life upside down.
Kim Baccellia
Bio
Kim Baccellia has always
been a sucker for the paranormal. She blames it on her family’s love for such
things such as having picnics at cemeteries, visiting psychics, and reading her
mother’s copies of the daily horoscope. She even had her own horoscope column
in middle school, which was a big hit! She lives in Southern California with
her husband and son.
Book Links:
Publisher:
Lachesis Publishing
Contact Kim At:
Website:
http://Kim-baccellia.com
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/kbaccellia
Twitter:
@ixtumea
Amazon Author Page:
https://www.amazon.com/Kim-Baccellia/e/B002NM28O4
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