It's here! It's here!! Release day for my good friend and NYT/USA Today Bestselling author Laura Kaye's newest and much anticipated book, HARD AS IT GETS. Here's your chance to find out more about Laura, where you can purchase this fabulous book, and how hot Nick Rixey is!
Check out this trailer about HARD AS IT GETS and then scroll down for a Q&A with Laura.
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Q&A WITH LAURA KAYE
HARD AS IT GETS is one steamy
read! How did you first get into writing?
Thanks so much! And thanks for having me here! I’ve been a
writer all my life. I’m a historian by training, so writing non-fiction was a
part of my job for the fifteen years I worked as a college professor. But I
started writing fiction in 2008 in kind of an unusual way. I hit my head on
July 4, 2008. I didn’t think much of it that day, but soon after I realized I’d
really hurt myself, and it turned out I had a minor traumatic brain injury. As
I recovered, I was filled with an amazing urge to be creative, so I started
taking guitar lessons (still not very good at that!) and wrote my first novel
in 12 weeks (fortunately, I’m better at that LOL!). The experience of writing
that first book was truly transformative. It was what I was supposed to be
doing, so I revised that book until it sold and kept writing new ones. And I
haven’t looked back since!
Why did you choose to write
romance?
I had been an avid reader of paranormal romance for years at
that point, so I wrote what I loved. But I also picked romance—unconsciously, I
think—because to me it’s an incredibly hopeful genre. Romance stories are
inherently stories about people who can’t find love or think they don’t deserve
it who overcome the odds and find it in the end. In the years leading up to
starting writing, I experienced a number of very hard personal losses, so
writing in this genre was one way I worked through those issues.
What does “Hard Ink” refer to?
What importance do tattoos play in your story?
Hard Ink is the name of the Rixey brothers’ tattoo shop in
the Hard Ink series. Nick and Jeremy Rixey are co-owners, though Nick (the hero
of book one, Hard As It Gets) prefers
to be more of a silent partner, despite Jeremy’s efforts to put Nick’s artistic
talents to work. In this series, tattoos are a way people remember, pay
penance, or highlight what’s important to them. The act of creating permanent
marks on skin has deep meaning to them. And the shop creates a gritty setting
where diverse kinds of people meet and interact in the series. I really love
it!
Describe Becca—what do you love most
about her? And Nick?
I’d love to! Because I really
loved writing these characters!
Becca Merritt is smart and strong and honest and protective.
I really loved the way she was willing to stand up for those she loves, even
against people and forces who might be stronger and even a little scary.
There’s a scene in particular when she dresses down Nick’s Special Forces
teammates after a fist fight where I was particularly cheering for her! LOL
Nick Rixey is, omg, so freaking hot, you guys! He’s brooding
and tortured and honorable and when he falls he falls so hard.
I especially loved Nick’s mix of hard, alpha edges with his artistic side. When
Nick shows Becca what her idea for a tattoo might look like on her skin, it’s
just scorching!
What significance does the
military play in the book?
Military themes are central to the whole Hard Ink series.
The military isn’t just sexy window dressing nor is it just there to provide an
intriguing backstory. The prior SF guys are this series are entirely defined by
their military experience good and bad. It informs their identity, their sense
of honor and duty, their view of the world, and of course gives them the skill
set required to fight the battles they face in the series. The overall series
mystery the characters are working to solve revolves around a military
conspiracy in Afghanistan, so even though they’re out of the Army, the military
themes are central.
If you could describe your book
in a 140 character tweet, what would it be?
In #HardAsItGets, an
ex-soldier joins forces w/his dead commander's daughter to regain his tarnished
honor & save her brother from a gang
Is there a particular author or
book that has influenced your writing?
There are a number of authors that have influenced me, but
if I had to pick one it would be J.R. Ward. A lot of what I know about how to
write sexy, authentic male point of view comes from reading her books. And I
definitely learned the importance of a good bromance to a romance novel from
her Black Dagger Brotherhood series, too. Given my ginormous fangirling, you
can only imagine how flipping excited I was when this happened:
“Edgy, sexy, and full of suspense! A great read from a great new author!”
~J.R. Ward on Hard As It Gets
You guys, I bawled like a baby in the middle of a huge workshop put on by my
publisher. For real. LOL
What advice would you give
aspiring writers looking to get into the publishing industry?
Here’s my advice:
1) Write, write, write. You can’t revise what you haven’t
written and you can’t sell what you haven’t written. And the psychological and
emotional boost you’ll get from writing “The End” for the first time cannot be
overestimated.
2) Revise, revise, revise. That first time you type “The
End”? Yeah, you’re nowhere near done. Your book will need to be edited, by you,
several times before you ever put it in front of an agent or editor. You get one shot with them, so don’t waste it by
not showing them your very best and most polished work.
3) Find critique partners. And your mom, siblings, and best
friend do not count (unless you’re really lucky, like me, and your best friend
happens t also be a professional author). You need other aspiring writers in
your genre who will give you honest but constructive feedback about how to improve
your manuscript. Let them catch all the embarrassing goofs and plot holes you
thought you caught before it gets to an agent or editor.
4) Want to be a professional, then act it. And by that I
mean join the professional organization(s) of the genre in which you write.
Through them you will find classes to help hone your craft, critique partner
match-ups, networking opportunities, calls for submission, and other
opportunities invaluable to breaking into publishing.
5) Don’t give up. You will hear way more no’s than yeses,
particularly early in your writing career. Stick with it. Believe in yourself.
Give yourself one day to wallow in the rejection and eat a bunch of chocolate
and then get right back on the horse. If your first book doesn’t sell, chalk
that up to learning and write a second.
What can fans of HARD AS IT GETS
look forward to next?
I’m currently writing four series: two contemporary (Hard
Ink, Heroes) and two paranormal (Hearts of the Anemoi, Vampire Warrior Kings).
I’ll have books from all four of those releasing in 2014. My next release is Hard As You Can (Hard Ink #2) coming
2/25/14!
About Hard As It Gets:
Five dishonored soldiers.
Former Special Forces.
One last mission.
These are the men of Hard Ink.
Tall, dark,
and lethal...
Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.
With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.
Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...
Trouble just walked into Nicholas Rixey's tattoo parlor. Becca Merritt is warm, sexy, wholesome--pure temptation to a very jaded Nick. He's left his military life behind to become co-owner of Hard Ink Tattoo, but Becca is his ex-commander's daughter. Loyalty won't let him turn her away. Lust has plenty to do with it too.
With her brother presumed kidnapped, Becca needs Nick. She just wasn't expecting to want him so much. As their investigation turns into all-out war with an organized crime ring, only Nick can protect her. And only Becca can heal the scars no one else sees.
Desire is the easy part. Love is as hard as it gets. Good thing Nick is always up for a challenge...
Read Chapter 1 of Hard
As It Gets
About Laura Kaye:
Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author
of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up,
Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore
involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long
fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her
husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the
Chesapeake Bay every day.
Click Here to find more about all of the upcoming events Laura is planning to celebrate this exciting release, including a full day release party on Facebook!
Thanks for joining in the celebration!
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