Please Welcome K. Reed author of Dark Inheritance Fallen Empire

Please welcome K. Reed author of Dark Inheritance Fallen Empire.

The author will award nine Post-apocalypse survival baskets (which include tea, a fan, a shawl, a bracelet and more -- Plus ONE Grand Prize basket will include an iPod Touch) to randomly drawn commenters during the tour and one to the host with the most comments (excluding hers and the host's) - US/Canada only.

Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire

by K. Reed

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BLURB:

The once glittering ballrooms of Regency England now lay desolate. A plague has ravaged the countryside. The government has fallen. What vestiges of order remained have been consumed by the endless funeral pyres.

Grayson, once the Baron of Harwich, sought only to protect his people. Rescuing a half-dead woman was not among his plans. But something about her pulled at him. Perhaps it was her beauty, still evident beneath the pallor of loss. Perhaps it was the recently fired rifle at her side. Or maybe he was simply tried of death. All he knew was that the plague had taken too much already. He couldn’t let it take her as well.

Lady Juliette Adair had been ready to die with her brother. She didn't expect to be shown mercy in a world that had no room for mercy. When Grayson saved her she questioned his motives but soon found herself intrigued by him, drawn to him.
Societal rules were a thing of the past, dead along with the ton. Juliette had no manner by which to measure her growing closeness to Grayson any longer. But when she discovers he may not be the man she thought she knew more is at stake than just her heart. The secrets she carries could make a king or destroy one.

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Interview

1. How did you come up with ideas for your books?

I’ve been asked this question a lot, and have thought about it on many different levels. The reality is the plots come from ordinary and unusual places. Sometimes, they’re floating in the ether and they suddenly materialize in my brain. I once had the idea for an entire trilogy walking from the top floor of my house to the bottom. It doesn’t always happen like that, and Lord knows where my mind floated that day, but it’s a true story!

Then there are times I’m watching a movie or TV show and while it’s not necessarily the show itself but a line or a look that gives me an idea. I’ll latch onto that moment the look or line that makes me think what if? And it’ll grow from there.

I’ve had conversations (with friends and strangers) and it’ll spark an idea. Very often I’ll piece together thoughts from the oddest places to create a story. Or sometimes it presents itself whole, as if a gift from the writing gods.

  

2. What components are necessary for the genre of this novel?

A post-apocalyptic Regency Romance? Not exactly mainstream is it? But, there are elements of Regency romances in it, after all it is a Regency! Some thriller aspects, and definitely a post-apocalyptic world aspect. I tried to create a logical world that would emerge after a devastating plague hit. The story is firmly set in an historical dystopian world without any tech, magic, or steampunk gadgets. It’s simply a what if scenario.

3. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

My next project is a trilogy set in the late Victorian Era, England with a rather diabolical killer on the loose. The romance is a little different this time for me, it develops throughout the trilogy instead of all in one story. I’ll also be working on a series of novellas set in the Edwardian era with a more traditional bent than either Dark Inheritance or Victorian killers. These will explore the splendor of the world and have more character driven stories behind them.

 4. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

I don’t know that any one person or thing encouraged me. I knew I wanted to write, and I knew Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire was a great story. To me, the logical progression of finishing the story was to see it published.

Family and friends did help, of course! Everyone was always very supportive and positive over the whole process.

 5. What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

Best: FINISH THE BOOK! Seriously, it’s the only advice you’ll need. If you don’t finish the book, you can’t work on it, polish it, edit it, kiss it goodbye, and watch it get published.

 Worst: KILL THE ADVERBS! An editor once said to get rid of every single adverb in the manuscript. Granted, I did try, but adverbs play a very important part in the English language. You need adverbs.

6. Do you outline your books or just start writing?

I outline them. Obsessively. I have 5 acts, chapter breakdowns, scene breakdowns, and occasionally dialog tossed into the outlines. Tried once to write on the fly. I will never go back to that book. Ever.

7. Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you've gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?

I write historicals, and while I do have a BA in American History, as you can see I’ve yet to write an American Historical romance. But it does help to have the overall historical knowledge handy. That and the internet. What did we do before we could look everything up online?

I also like antiquing. Do I ever use it in a book? No, but again, it’s the knowledge of the time I use.

8. Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?

I’m putting the finishing touches on the plot of the trilogy now, which is a bit different from plotting out one book. But I want this one to seamlessly flow from book 1 to 2 to 3 with both the romance and the overall arc.

Do I have titles? Nope. Titles are the hardest thing in the writing world. Much harder than actually getting published! But I’ll work on that later. I have character names, Duncan and Zara, and frankly, that’s all I need right now.

That and the plot. I’ve researched Victorian murders, Victorian forensics, and Victorian London. I’m going to need to know a lot more about the actual city itself for this story than normal. Luckily, I have The London Encyclopedia to flip through.

  

9. Do you have any family traditions or recipes you might like to share?

I don’t think anyone here at your blog, Christine, would want to know my family traditions.  They’re probably only fit for family consumption.

Food on the other hand, I’m always willing to share. I love to eat! And as a consequence, I’ve learned to cook. I’m actually working with a co-author on a cookbook inspired by the Edwardian era. It’s only in the middle stages, but some of those recipes look scrumptious. I was asked to do this, inspired by the popularity of Downton Abbey, and am enjoying learning all the little things that go into Edwardian cooking, entertaining, and being at the top of society.

But to share a recipe, sure, if your readers don’t mind that I take 90% of my recipes from AllRecipes.com!

Slow Cooker Spicy Chicken (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/slow-cooker-spicy-chicken/detail.aspx)

Ingredients

• 3 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 (8 ounce) jar medium salsa
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 pinch salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions

1.     Arrange the chicken breasts in the bottom of a slow cooker, and pour in the salsa and tomato sauce. Add the garlic and onion, and sprinkle in the cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper. Set the cooker on Low, and cook until the chicken is very tender, 4 to 5 hours. Shred the chicken with two forks for serving.

10. If you were a casting director for the film version of your book, who would play your lead roles?

Fun question! Well let’s see; I have a penchant for Chris Hemsworth –who played Thor as my lead, Grayson, Baron Harwich or perhaps Henry Cavill from the Showtime series The Tudors.

As for the female lead, for my heroine Juliette Adair, I think Natalie Dormer also from The Tudors would make a wonderful Juliette.  

 11.  Anything else you might want to add?

I just want to thank you, Christine, for having me here to start off my blog tour for Dark Inheritance: Fallen Empire. I’m open to questions about the story and world, so ask away!

Excerpt 

In another time, his behavior would have been deemed inappropriate, but Grayson couldn’t bring himself to care. As she slept his eyes were drawn to her, and even her weakened state didn’t detract from her beauty. Or the spark of fire Grayson had seen in her eyes when he’d informed her she was to come with him. Her arguments were logical, but Grayson chose to ignore them. This had nothing to do with logic.

Raising his rough fingers to her face, he gently stroked her cheek. Those vivid blue eyes fluttered open at his touch.

“How long have you been here?” she asked. Her voice was low, but stronger than before thanks to food and drink.

“Just a few moments,” he said. The feel of her soft skin lingered on his fingertips, a touch he had denied himself upon first finding her. “Not long at all.”

Helping her to sit up, Grayson nodded ahead of them. He’d forgotten the niceties of society, the way to speak with a woman, the formalness of it.

“We’re not far from the estate, less than a half hour’s ride. There’s order there that much of England has lost,” he continued, holding her steady as the carriage bumped through several ruts. Before, he never would have touched her so intimately, but now those rules were long gone. “Quite unlike your last residence.”

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Romance author with an historical twist.

Too many post-apocalyptic stories, movies, and what-ifs crowded her head, and K Reed decided to do something about it. So she plotted one out, decided an historical post-apocalyptic romance was the way to go, and wrote that one instead.

A lover of all things historical, of strong heroes with equally strong heroines, and of sexy pirates, she’s going to explore the post-apocalyptic world of plague-ridden 1804 and the gritty criminal element of Victorian England.

Luckily she has an understanding family, supportive friends, and a day job that offers her the flexibility she needs to plot, plan, and write. Sure, one day she’d like to travel the country in search of fantastic storylines and great locale pictures, but for now she’ll stick to the east coast and the internet.

@kreedauthor

www.kreedauthor.com

kreedauthor@yahoo.com

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Don't forget to comment!


The author will award nine Post-apocalypse survival baskets (which include tea, a fan, a shawl, a bracelet and more -- Plus ONE Grand Prize basket will include an iPod Touch) to randomly drawn commenters during the tour and one to the host with the most comments (excluding hers and the host's) - US/Canada only.