Sports Talk with MICHEL PRINCE

Michel Prince drops by to discuss her latest book at Rebel Ink Press, Chrysalis, which comes out on April 17.
KT: What’s your favorite sports to write about?
MP: I guess basketball because I have four books with basketball in them. It may just be because I spend almost every weekend from November to June in a gym watching it. I do really like writing football game scenes a lot too.
KT: You seem to know a lot about sports did you play or do you coach?
MP: I played volleyball from fourth grade through my sophomore year of college. I ran track from junior high through college and cross country just in college. And I hold coaching certificates in volleyball, football and track. Luckily, my husband is a student of the game and so I usually learn even more.
KT: Would you ever date any jocks like your character Oscar?
MP: Hell yes. He’s perfect in every way. Although I’d probably have an inferiority complex, but I love jocks there’s something about someone who truly commits to a sport.
KT: Chrysalis is a series, how many books have you already written?
MP: Four have been written. I do have a few other ideas but they would be from different characters perspectives.
KT: Is Chrysalis the first book you ever wrote? How long did it take to write it?
MP: Chrysalis is the first book. The first draft took three weeks. It’s the only book that truly poured out of me.
KT: Did you have to make changes to your book because of Paypal’s new rules?
MP: I changed the cover to make it more YA. If they push that other parts need to be changed I’d rather be on less vendors and keep my story true. Teenagers have sex. They touch each other. They explore. Removing those actions would bastardize the story.
KT: Are all the books you write in the YA genre?
MP: No. Chrysalis is actually a cross over series in that it the first two books are YA the third and fourth are adult. Also in July my Adult Paranormal Romance series The Frozen comes out.
KT: There are a lot of religious references in your book are they from research or experience?
MP: Both. I had to research a lot on the demon aspect of my book. Learning about Gaap and Lilith as well as the gods around the world.
KT: How do you react to a bad review?
MP: A pan of brownies. A lot of cussing. Then calm down and look at objectively.
KT: Are your character’s names difficult to come up with?
MP: The main characters names usually just come to me. I don’t know where Sharyn came from but originally it was spelled Sharon, but I figured I should change it because I have an in-law with that name.
KT: You have a character named Sharyn that’s pretty mean. Is she from experience or made up?
MP: Yes. Some of the things she’s said and done have been done to me and my spouse.
KT: What character that you’ve written do you want to punch the most?
MP: It should be Sharyn, but Jordan just has one of those faces you feel needs to be hit. Repeatedly and with much vigor.
KT: Have you ever seen yourself as a character in a book or movie?
MP: There’s a little of me in all my female characters.
KT: Is there any snobbery for your chosen genre?
MP: There is a little scoffing when you say Romance and everyone kids about YA, but with the success of the Twilight series people always hate. People connected with the books and that’s all that matters when it comes to writing.
Blurb  In the annals of dysfunctional families, the Chisholm’s are working their way to the top. Drug abuse, an unwed mother with multiple fathers, and the questionable cash flow for the 'pretty one'.   All this from a seemingly normal, two parent middle class family. But were the choices truly made of their free will?
Bad choices are a Chisholm family trait, one that confounds the youngest child, Ellie, who's trying to separate herself by making smart decisions. And falling for Oscar Jeffreys, the hottest guy at school, would be number one on the list of  Chisholm family disasters.  Yet the crazy part is it’s not a one sided attraction.  Somehow Ellie has caught Oscar Jeffreys’ eye.   Sure she could see the barriers between them.  Race, age, popularity.  They were at opposite ends of the spectrum.  But a demon set to destroy her family? She can't see that.  
Oscar provides security and acceptance Ellie never imagined she deserved.  As the passion of first love grows, Ellie honestly believes she has a chance to beat the odds and live a happy, normal life. Then her world collapses around her. With the help of a guardian angel, Ellie learns of a world that has unknowingly surrounded her for years.  And she'll have to find strength buried deep inside to save not only her future, but flush out and stop the demon in her midst.
And Ellie will have to learn that sometimes the hardest lesson about growing up is accepting that you're worth more.
Where to find Michel Prince: www.michelprincebooks.com

HAPPY EASTER

I'm part of the Easter Blog Hop hosted by Drea Becraft. The contest starts today and concludes at midnight on Easter Sunday. I'm giving away a E-book copy of Songs From the Heart to the person who had the best memory of Easter as a child! Memories can be about church, receiving a Easter basket and your favorite candy. Here's the link: http://thebloghopspot.com/event-page/.

Introducing.... MELISSA KEIR!

Melissa Keir dropped by Football Romance to talk romance and her upcoming book.
KT: I'm grateful you stopped by.
MK: Thank you very much for having me visit your blog today. When I’m not writing my own stories or helping other writers with editing their stories for publication, I’m an elementary teacher.
I’ve taught every grade level from preschool to sixth grade over the last twenty years. There is something wonderful to be found at each and every level of teaching. Teaching children to find a love of reading is an important part of my job. But for students to establish a long time love with books, they have to see the value in what books provide—a way to share stories through time and space.
Students need to understand that people write those stories and that they can be writers too.
One of my former students has actually published her own children’s story. Each day, my students write. They write to prompts like “What if you went to schoolat the beach?” or “What if your teachers was a crab?” They write stories about pictures of animals in nature, pictures of difference scenes, or of cartoon characters. The students write stories about their lives and their dreams.
Children see authors as celebrities. They want to be just like their heros, sharing stories about their nasty younger brothers or goofy older sisters. They even practice writing like their heros, using similar ideas, voice, and plots.
I teach my students that writing isn’t done in one sitting. We have to write, review, edit, review, re-write, edit again, and all these steps many times before publishing.
This is the hardest part for students today to understand. They want to sit down and in one hour have a completed story. The debate rages if it was always this way with children, or if technology changed their lives. Writing, good writing, doesn’t happen that way. Students have many different ways that they can edit their work. They can do it one on one with me (as their editor), they can do it with their classmates (peer editing), or use a check-list (self-edit).
But what does teaching reading or writing mean to authors? We all write about our own lives, dreams or a picture in our head. We take the pieces and weave them together into a story that will delight the reader. We find heros, authors that we look up to and stive to be more like. We try different genres and different writing styles as we hone our craft.
For some authors, getting the idea is the hardest part. Or we have the idea and can’t get it down on paper in the way we want or see it in our head. Some of us dread the editing process. It is like pulling teeth. In each of these many ways, we are not that different than the children I teach. We all dream about seeing our stories in print, making someone else laugh, and reaching out to touch the heart of our readers. And that is why I write and why I teach.
My story Second Time’s the Charm was released this past week. I’m very proud of this story. While it is my second published piece, it was the first story that I wrote and touches my heart. In fact, I found a lot of myself in the character of Lissa. And I hope you will see that love can be found where you least expect it.
Second Time’s the Charm:Lissa Vincent having gone through a rough divorce, her self confidence in shreds, puts her children and her job first, never thinking that she would find love again. But when she meets Alex, her best friend’s ex-husband, those thoughts fly out the window. Would you fall in love with your best friend’s ex-husband?
Where to find Melissa:
www.melissakeir.com
www.facebook.com/AuthorMelissaKeir
www.twitter.com/#!/melissa_keir