Welcome Today's Featured Author
K.B. Nelson!!!
Carnival by K.B. Nelson
Publication date: July 7th 2014
Genres: New Adult, Romance
Synopsis:
Charlie should be packing her bags for college, but the life ahead of her isn’t one she’s certain she wants. Maybe that’s what led her to sleep with a perfect stranger at the county fair. Finding out he was a carnie was like winning the bonus round of the world’s worst game.
Blue grew up in the carnival, never staying anywhere long enough to call home. He never thought of himself as the type to seduce a local, let alone fall in love with one, but his impulsiveness got the better of him this time. He should go where the carnival takes him, but for the first time he’s not sure if he wants to go.
When he makes the decision to stick around, Charlie eagerly follows him down the rabbit hole; into a world with no regard for consequences or regret. Most of all, he shows her that home isn’t a place, it’s a feeling they can create and share. For a price. Because the higher the roller coaster goes, the faster it all comes crashing down.
Excerpt
One, two, three
flips in a row. Reaching the top of the rotating axis, we’re flung
upside down. It’s the moment where thrills reach the point of
climax. The point in the ride when everything has lined up
perfectly—the cage, the axis, and the chains. If that happens at
the tip of the axis, then it feels as if you are being thrown into
another world. At the very least, it feels like you’ve been thrown
from the chains.
Two minutes in
this cage feels like a lifetime in seconds. Two minutes in this cage
with Blue feels like being swamped by a thousand migrating
butterflies. The childish grin on his face, in between shouts of
ecstasy, argues with his strong, muscular body as we flip.
We could lose a
bolt with every flip and I probably wouldn’t notice. We could be
one bolt away from breaking news and I wouldn’t be any the wiser.
The cage could fly open, and I wouldn’t even know it until I woke
up in hell.
Blue turns to me
with his palms still pressed against the roof. It’s magnetic, and I
have no choice but to look right back. Neon lights swirl behind him,
illuminating half his face at once. He’s just as perfect in the
shadows as he is in the light. There’s something in those eyes—a
lifetime of stories and I want nothing more than to go down the
rabbit hole.
Engines roar from
the derby in the distance and just like the crashed-up cars there, I
know what it feels like to be wrecked. This ride won’t last
forever, and when it comes to a stop, I need to have made a
decision."
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21453236-carnival?ac=1
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LICD9ZM
----
AUTHOR BIO:
I
grew up on a farm in Ohio, but that's not very interesting, is it? When
I'm not writing you can find me doing one of two things; getting lost
on highways or getting lost in the lives of fictional characters. If my
heart had two feet, one foot would be in romance and the other solidly
in geekdom. I hope you'll all follow me on my journey through this
carnival they call life.I promise there will be a happy ending.
Author links:
Author links:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8052332.K_B_Nelson
Interview with K.B. Nelson:
1) Can you tell us a little about your
book?
I think when you boil it down, Carnival is really a coming of age novel
that happens to be set against this powerful romantic attraction. It's a
new adult novel, through and through, and I think that's reflected in
the actions of these characters. So, I'd say Carnival is a book about
what the world can do to you when you are in such a venerable time in
your life. Sometimes we better ourselves within the circumstances we're
given and sometimes it's the exact opposite. But life is always just
like a carnival ride.
2) When did you know you wanted to write a book?
It was about seven months ago, and it was something I decided to do on a whim and without much thought. I kind of just jumped into the writing-pond and didn't look back. It had been years since I had written anything and all of my previous work was under twenty pages each, so it was definitely an experience. It was rough at times, but it's an experience I'll never forget.
It's a little bit of both. There is an outline, but I think it's very different in format compared to the outlines of other writers. The outline for Carnival didn't go much further than something akin to the following; Chapter one, Charlie meets Blue. Chapter two - Charlie runs into her ex. Chapter three... etc. I guess anything more than that would really restrict my creativity.
4) Do you have any “odd” writing habits?
I have a thousand and one 'odd' writing habits. I think the most particular and the one that annoys me the most, is that I can't write a single word of a story until I have a final title in mind. Beyond that, I can't write unless I have every character named, even characters that won't appear until well past the first chapter.
5) In Carnival, Charlie dates Blue who is a carnie. Have you every dated a carnie?
Haha, no. When I was twenty, about five years ago, I met a really interesting carnie at the county, fair though. His name was Sam and he was the definition of interesting. He had a turbulent, unstable life, but he had been through so much. And I remember being fascinated by his stories, so much that we went to lunch together. I won't delve into his personal life too much, but my favorite story of his was about his trip to the Jerry Springer Show. Absolutely fascinating character and I knew him for a week, but I will never forget him.
6) Do you have a favorite carnival ride?
There's a lot of me in the characters in the book, especially Charlie.
Her love for the Zipper is only rivaled by my own love for the ride. The
same summer I met Sam, he operated the Zipper the majority of the time
and I once rode it, at least, twenty times in a row... ditching the
lines with the permission of Sam... I'm a terrible person.
7) Which of your characters would you like to meet in person and why?
You know? I've already met all of them, including Rake. None of these
people are real people, but in a way they are all fashioned from bits
and pieces of people I know or have met. Especially Charlie and her
friends. I know these people, and there have been some readers who have
said that this isn't the way kids act. But it is. I haven't met Blue,
but I know someone very similar to him. He's not a carnie, but he really
is the epitome of an amazing person, who maybe hasn't always made the
best decisions but will always have a beating heart, even while the rest
of the world doesn't really 'get' him.
8) What's one random fact about yourself that you can share?
I've spent the last three days doing nothing but watching the Big Brother live feeds... It's a new addiction and I need help.
9) Do you listen to music while you
write?
No. I'd love to, because I think music is so powerful and important to
the construction of emotional arcs, but it's too distracting. I have a
playlist that I'll listen to randomly for each story/book, and it helps
me visualize the story, but it's never playing while I'm writing. I've
been meaning to do a playlist feature on my blog, but I'll leave a few
of the songs here. Full of Grace by Sarah Mclaughlin was imperative to
the emotional arc during the scene where Charlie is driving Rake's car.
It's unfortunate I can't place music inside a book, because I think that
song takes the scene to another level. Other songs on the Carnival
playlist: Where I stood by Missy Higgins, What Would Happen by Meridith
Brooks.
10) When can we expect book two?
I can't be too specific because expectations and deadlines terrify and constrain me, but I will say that I'm working on two projects in the Carnival world. Amusement will definitely be out in the fall, but there might be something coming within thirty days... Maybe.
10) When can we expect book two?
I can't be too specific because expectations and deadlines terrify and constrain me, but I will say that I'm working on two projects in the Carnival world. Amusement will definitely be out in the fall, but there might be something coming within thirty days... Maybe.
No comments:
Post a Comment