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Thursday, January 17, 2013

Interview with Author J. Kenner and Giveaway


Today I would like to welcome author J. Kenner to RFTC. Julie is celebrating the recent release of her book, Release Me and has stopped by to answer a few questions. Please give Julie a warm welcome.

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Julie Kenner (aka J. Kenner and J.K. Beck) has published over forty novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres. Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations,” J.K. is also a two-time RITA finalist, the winner of Romantic Times‘ Reviewer’s Choice Award for Best Contemporary Paranormal of 2001, the winner of the Reviewers International Organization’s award for best romantic suspense of 2004 and best paranormal of 2005, and the winner of the National Readers’ Choice Award for best mainstream book of 2005. She writes a range of stories including sexy and quirky romances, young adult novels, chick lit suspense and paranormal mommy lit. Her foray into the latter, Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom by Julie Kenner, is in development as a feature film with 1492 Pictures. Her current book, Release Me by J. Kenner, is a New York Times and USA Today bestseller and has sold to over a dozen territories/sub-rights. Julie lives in Central Texas, with her husband, two daughters, and several cats.

Places to find Julie:


First off, can you tell us a bit about you?
Of course! I’m a lawyer-turned-writer (I think there are quite a few of us) who always wanted to write, but somehow found herself in law school. I loved law school, though, and did well, and after graduation, I clerked on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals (meaning I was one of three other attorneys who worked directly with “my” judge to review cases, decide which cases hear oral argument, handle death penalty appeals, and travel to New Orleans (yay!) when the court was in session. It was a great job, but it didn’t leave a lot of time for writing, and I had the bug. (I did write a Really Bad Play while I worked at the court. It shall never ever see the light of day!)

After that, I moved to California and did entertainment law for a while. I met a lot of cool people, did some fascinating First Amendment work … and continued to battle the urge to write (difficult as young lawyers do not have a lot of spare time).

Eventually, though, I dove in full throttle, and I’m happy to say that I’ve been writing full time since 2004, just a few years after my oldest daughter was born. (We have two girls and two cats!)

I live in Texas now (where I grew up), and love to muck around in my yard (I wouldn’t say I’m a gardener, but I’m a planter … lots of trial and error). I also love biking and swimming and SCUBA diving, though there’s not much of that in Central Texas. I drink way too much coffee and adore dark chocolate!

Did you always want to be a writer?
Yes! One of my earliest memories involves banging out “stories” on my dad’s manual typewriter. Or writing out a story (Kitty Claus, a Christmas tale, was a big hit) and sewing the edge together with yarn to make a “book”. I used to entertain myself in the long, loud plane flight from Austin to Dallas by closing my eyes and making up stories in my head. (My dad’s plane, a single engine, was too bumpy for me to read without getting motion sick.)

What kind of writer are you? Panster or Plotter?
Both … but I lean toward plotster. I usually, but not always, do a synopsis after I’ve written the first three or four chapters. But I don’t always stick to it!

Where do your ideas come from?
I’m scared to figure that out, for fear they’ll stop coming.

Seriously, I have no idea. I like to say they come from Wal-Mart, but the truth is I just make us stories and spin a lot of what-ifs. I was shy as a kid, so maybe that played into it?

A la Twitter style, can you describe your book (or series) in 140 characters or less.
Sparks fly in this sensual tale of a powerful man who always gets his way and a fiercely independent woman who challenges him at every turn.

What are some of your favorite kinds of stories to read?
I read everything! I love sexy books with enigmatic heroes. I love suspense and the classics and romance and YA and middle grade fantasy and pretty much anything I can get my hands on.

That’s the only downside of my writing life … I have less time to read now! (I’m a huge fan of audiobooks!)

Do you have a favorite book and if so what is it?
I have a lot of favorite books J I suppose the one that is my fall-back favorite book would be A Wrinkle in Time, but as an adult, I’m completely addicted to the JD Robb In Death series and the first four books in the Outlander series. Love Roarke! Love Jamie!

What are the scenes that are the hardest for you to write?
That’s a difficult question to answer because it changes with each book. In some books, it might be the deep, emotional revelations. In others, the emotions might flow from my fingers but an action scene takes three days to write!

If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would you choose and why?
Dee Davis, because she’s one of my best friends and she lives soooooo far away and I don’t get to see her enough. Nora Roberts/JD Robb because I am amazed at her productivity. Neil Gaimen because … well, duh.

Last question, are you working on anything right now?
I am! I’m working on Claim Me, which follows Release Me. Though by the time this interview goes live, I’ll probably have turned Claim Me in to my editor and moved on to book 3: Complete Me.


I love reading books and then watching the movie adaptation. What’s the best adaptation you’ve ever seen? The worst?


He was the one man I couldn't avoid. And the one man I couldn't resist.

Damien Stark could have his way with any woman. He was sexy, confident, and commanding: Anything he wanted, he got. And what he wanted was me.

Our attraction was unmistakable, almost beyond control, but as much as I ached to be his, I feared the pressures of his demands. Submitting to Damien meant I had to bare the darkest truth about my past-and risk breaking us apart.

But Damien was haunted, too. And as our passion came to obsess us both, his secrets threatened to destroy him-and us-forever.

Purchase: | Amazon | Kindle | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository |

Check out the Stark trilogy: 
Click for more info.

Check out whats up for grabs.

Up For Grabs:
  • 1 lucky winner from the win a $10 Amazon Gift Card
  • 1 lucky winner from the win a signed copy of Release Me

To Enter:
  • Please leave a comment answering Julie's question: I love reading books and then watching the movie adaptation. What’s the best adaptation you’ve ever seen? The worst?
  • Please fill out the Rafflecopter form. 

Good Luck =)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

40 comments :

  1. Hi Julie :)
    For me the best adaption movie from books is Lords of The Ring trilogy. I never bored to watch it. Epic and fantastic. As for the worst, well its plenty. The worst so far is Eragon. For Twilight saga, its average. Not bad, but not good too.

    BTW, I love Roarke too! :D

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  2. Oooh I have issues with adaptions, because I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I tend to not actually picture real people when reading. Will admit that The Hunger Games was pretty well done, and I loved the movie for Atonement, but have yet to actually read the book (it's on my tbr!). Not sure about worst though.

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  3. For me the best adaption movie from books is Lords of The Ring trilogy. I never bored to watch it. Epic and fantastic. As for the worst, well its plenty. The worst so far is Eragon. For Twilight saga, its average. Not bad, but not good too.

    BTW, I love Roarke too! :D

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  4. Best: Princess Bride
    Worst: Twilight series

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  5. Thanks for the fun post and congrats to Julie on the new release! I have to read the book before seeing the movie or I usually don't read it. I dunno why that's a tic of mine :) I thought the LoTR series was very well done :)

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  6. Some years ago, I read Kate Mosse's book Labyrinthe and loved it. But I did not like too much the movie, to much back and forth
    in it. I read Diana Gabaldon's Outlander and loved it so much. I think they are going to make a film of it. If they do, I won't miss that one. Thank you so much for giving away your book "Release me". I would love reading it.

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  7. Mmm, the best adaptation would be Carrie from Stephen King, I don't really recall any book/movie because I don't usually read the book and watch the movie. I do one or the other.... I think that Twilight was pretty much a good adaptation too, but it's probably the book that was at the beginning the problem. SO the worst adaptation... I really don't know!

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  8. Best - Lord of the Rings
    I tried so hard to read the books

    worst - J Auel Clan of the Cave Bear
    don't get me started

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  9. Wow, wonderful blog structure! How long have you been blogging
    for? you made running a blog glance easy. The full look of your
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  10. Love Jamie!!!

    Best Daniel Silva series

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  11. I guess the best would be Lord of the Rings and I can't think of a worst because I love when books come alive on the big screen.

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  12. Thanks so much for hosting me today! Love the answers, every one!

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  13. I thought 'The Help' was a good adaptation and the worst is Twilight! ugh! :p Thanks for the chance to win!

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  14. One of my fav is The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks.

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  15. This is a tough question. I'm usually really disappointed when I see a movie after I've read the book. I agree with a lot of these comments. The best was probably The Lord of the Rings. I think the worst was probably the 1st Harry Potter movie. I love Harry Potter, but the first few movies just didn't have the magic of the books.

    kesummer69(at)gmail(dot)com

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  16. The best the Twilight movies or The Hunger Games. Thanks for the chance to win!

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  17. Silence of the Lambs was very, very good. Both the book and the movie freaked me out!

    Can't wait to read your entire trilogy, Julie!

    BluePhoenix21(at)hotmail.com

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  18. I have not seen any movie that does the book justice.

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  19. I prefer not to see movies made from books as my imagination can't be duplicated in movie form. However, there are some good ones out there. I liked Princess Bride. Not a big fan of the Harry Potter adaptations. Not to say I didn't enjoy the movies, just not what I wanted.
    Mel
    bournmelissa at hotmail dot com

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  20. I loved the BBC Pride and Prejudice mini series. Loved the book and loved Colin Firth.

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  21. Best adaptation would have to be a three-way tie between Harry Potter, Pride & Prejudice, and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. There a whole bunch of movies I love, but whose books I haven't read like The Princess Bride and the Lord of the Ring Trilogy.

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  22. best would be Pride and Prejudice
    don't have a worst

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  23. I can't think of a worst adaptation, but for the best I am going with the Natural. It is the only time I think the movie was better than the book.

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  24. I thought the Harry Potter movies were well done, it was almost like I pictured them. And Pride and Prejudice was really good. My least favorite are most of the Stephen King adaptions, with the exception of The Stand.

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  25. Best adaptation I think would be Pride and Prejudice. The worst although I loved most of the movies I think were the some of the Harry Potter books because so much was cut out to fit into one movie rather than making the books into two movies (which they finally figured out later).

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  26. It has to be the LOTR movies. Outstanding.

    I'm sure there are worst, but none come immediately to mind.

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  27. "Fried Green Tomatoes" was a great translation of movie to film & did an excellent job of portraying the dimensions of an evolving, life long friendship. That movie is hard to beat.

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  28. the best adaptation is twilight saga...
    the worst ? i dunno...

    thx u so much ^^

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  29. Best - Lord of the Rings
    Worst - i don't know

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  30. My favorite was GONE WITH THE WIND. I can't think of the worst right now.

    kscathyATyahooDOTcom

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  31. I am newbie bookworm so none of the books I have read have been made into movies...

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  32. Best I've seen are the Harry Potter films. Worst would be Eragon!

    Thanks,
    Leanne

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  33. I just watched the newer version of 'True Grit' which was much closer to the book than the first movie version.

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  34. The truest adaptation would have to be The Lord of the Ring movies. I would say the worst was Eragon.
    Thanks,
    lorih824@yahoo.com

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  35. Best is Lord of the Rings trilogy; worst is the Tracy Lord's version of A Princess of Mars.

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  36. Worst The Hunger Games. I cant think of any that were the best. This book sounds like a great read. Adding this book to my buy list.
    lauratroxelatyahoodotcom

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  37. the best was Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter. The absolutely hands down worst was Stephen King's The Stand.

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  38. I would have to say The Hunger Games series. I was SO disappointed with the movie. I'm hoping the second one will be better.

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  39. The best - The Notebook! I don't have a worst that I can think of.

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