Interview | Kimberly Kinrade, author of the Forbidden series, and a GIVEAWAY!!!

Today, I have the pleasure of welcoming Kimberly Kinrade to the blog to talk about her book Forbidden Mind which I just reviewed yesterday HERE.  Forbidden Mind is the first book in the Forbidden series, a thrilling paranormal romance about a telepathic girl and those who would use her for their own greedy purposes.  It is an excellent, exciting read and ya’ll should pick it up for yourselves… or you could also enter the giveaway at the end of the post. <wink, wink>

 

 

So without further ado….meet Kimberly:

Bio taken from www.kimberlykinrade.com

 

 1.  Welcome Kimberly!  First things first, what specifically triggered the idea for Forbidden Mind?  How did it develop?

It all started with a dream. I woke up one night with a title and a girl in my head. The title was Rent-A-Kid and the girl was Sam, a paranormal teenager who could read minds and had been raised by a secret organization and rented out to the rich and powerful for her powers. I grabbed the notebook by my bed, jotted down a journal entry from the point of view of Sam, and went back to sleep. I didn’t look at my notes again for… years.

 

 

2.  Forbidden Mind ended up being a lot darker in tone than I was initially expecting.  When you started writing, did you know that the story was going to go in those directions?

I knew it would be dark, but it had some unexpected twists even I didn’t anticipate or plan. I usually start with an idea and character and write what I know first, thenI start thinking through the story. So, by the time I actually got into the book, I knew it would take some twisty dark paths, but when I first started jotting down ideas I had no idea!

 

 

3.  Can you tell us a little bit about how you developed the romance between Sam & Drake, because while I found it to be rather unconventional, I thought it was also deeply intimate and toe-curlingly satisfying.

I’m a big fan of unconventional romance! I’m living my own version, actually, and Sam and Drake were inspired by that. I met my fiance online. We became writing partners and ended up falling in love before ever meeting in person. He left his country, friends and family to come to the US and be with me our girls.

 

I know first hand how powerful that ‘voice in your head’ can be! For so long, Dmytry was just that voice in my head or words on a screen, before he existed in the flesh for me. I used that experience to create Sam and Drake and their unique love interest, and added a few twists to theirs for added fun!

 

 

4.  Forbidden Mind is actually more of a novella in length.  What made you decide to decide to write this as a novella instead of a full-fledged novel?

The YA genre is tricky. There’s a wide range that is considered novel length, depending on who you ask, so technically Forbidden Mind is novel length, more or less! lol But really, it started as a short story. As I mentioned earlier, I put this story aside for years. This fall, as I prepared to launch two other novels (Death by Destiny and The Reluctant Familiar) I wanted to put a short story out there that would tease my fans and give a taste of my YA paranormal writing. I remembered this idea and pulled out my notes.

 

What started as a short story turned into a novella, then into a short novel?? Then into a trilogy! The second book, Forbidden Fire, which is scheduled for release on Halloween, is twice as long. I imagine Forbidden Life, the final book due out in November, will also be much longer.

 

So it ended up longer than I anticipated, but still pretty short. I deliberately left it that length because I like how it’s fast paced, engaging (I hope!) and easy to read. My hope is that this first book gets you hooked on the series and entices you to try my other YA paranormal work coming out this winter and early spring!

 

 

5.  The sequel, Forbidden Fire, is coming out very soon.  Any juicy insider gossip you can share about what to expect for Sam & Drake?

Forbidden Fire: They’ve started a fire they can’t put out. Will it destroy them… or save them all?

 

Things are heating up for all of the Rent-A-Kids in book two. Sam and Drake especially have a lot on their plate! In addition to developing their physical relationship, they face new threats, major revelations and Sam will be really looking at the ethics of using some of her powers. Also, readers will get to know Lucy (and Luke) better in book two as well and will meet some other teens with fun powers.

 

I’m really excited about Forbidden Fire. If you thought Forbidden Mind had some twists, wait til you read the sequel!

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Website:  www.kimberlykinrade.com

Twitter:  @kimberlykinrade

 

Kimberly’s bookshelf

click the covers for more information

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Thank you so much Kimberly for taking the time to give us some insights into your fabulous story!  I think it’s really interesting how some ideas just take years to marinate until they’re ready to be put to paper and I love that the romance between Drake & Sam is inspired by your own real life fairytale!  I’m really excited about your upcoming projects, particularly Forbidden Fire, and I cannot wait to read more of your work!

 

Now….for the giveaway!  Kimberly was kind enough to offer ONE (1) ebook of FORBIDDEN MIND for ONE (1) lucky reader!  What you will be winning is a smashwords coupon for the book, and it is available in all these e-reader/digital formats, so you can download the version you need!  Thank you Kimberly!

 

Please fill out the Rafflecopter form to enter.  This is mandatory.  Comments will not be counted as your mandatory entry. Rules and conditions are listed below the Rafflecopter form.