Welcome to Author Thursday hosted by Never Too Old for YA & NA Books group on Goodreads.
Today we welcome Brigid Kemmerer to the blog!
Do you know Brigid's books (click on the pictures to be taken to the blurbs on Goodreads)?
The Novellas:
Elemental (Elemental #0.5), Fearless (Elemental #1.5), Breathless (Elemental #2.5)
The Books:
Becca Chandler is suddenly getting all the guys all the ones she doesn't want. Ever since her ex-boyfriend spread those lies about her. Then she saves Chris Merrick from a beating in the school parking lot. Chris is different. Way different: he can control water just like his brothers can control fire, wind, and earth. They're powerful. Dangerous. Marked for death.And now that she knows the truth, so is Becca.
Secrets are hard to keep when your life's at stake. When Hunter, the mysterious new kid around school, turns up with a talent for being in the wrong place at the right time, Becca thinks she can trust him. But then Hunter goes head-to-head with Chris, and Becca wonders who's hiding the most dangerous truth of all.
The storm is coming
Gabriel Merrick plays with fire. Literally. Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can't. Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he's not doing it. And no one seems to believe him. Except a shy sophomore named Layne, a brainiac who dresses in turtlenecks and jeans and keeps him totally off balance. Because Layne has a few secrets of her own..
With power comes enemies. Lots of them.Hunter Garrity just wants to be left alone. He’s learned the hard way that his unusual abilities come at a price. And he can’t seem to afford any allies.
He’s up to his neck in hostiles. His grandfather, spoiling for a fight. The Merrick brothers, who think he ratted them out. Calla, the scheming psycho who wants to use him as bait.
Then there’s Kate Sullivan, the new girl at school. She’s not hostile. She’s bold. Funny. Hot. But she’s got an agenda, too.
With supposedly secret powers rippling to the surface everywhere around him, Hunter knows something ugly is about to go down. But finding out what means he’ll have to find someone he can trust…
Don't they look AMAZING????
So without further ado, let's see what Brigid has to say!
Did you always know you wanted to be a writer or did you want to be something else?
I’ve always written stories, even when I was young. My mom keeps threatening to bring my first “book” to one of my book signings. It was a month-long project in third grade where we had to write a book and then make a cover and … you’re already bored aren’t you? Mine was about a cat doing cat things. The rights are still available if you know anyone.
How long does it take you to write a book from start to finish?
It depends. It took me about a year to write Storm. About nine months to write Spark. Spirit was finished in six months, and Secret was finished in four. I’ve been learning a lot as I go, and I have an easier time putting a story together now. Plus, it helps to have a deadline cracking the whip behind me.
How do you come up with themes for your stories?
I usually start with the characters and their stories and let the themes develop organically. There’s a pretty strong theme in Secret about people creating the most outcry against something they actually resent about themselves.
Do you have a schedule of when you write?
I have small children and a full time job. I write whenever I can. A schedule would be impossible to keep.
How are you able to balance other aspects of your life with your writing?
I’m lucky enough to have a really supportive husband. I don’t have much of a social life, at all. It’s all about deciding what’s important.
What elements do you think make a great story line?
Personally, I’m all about character first, then plot.
What was the hardest thing about writing a book?
Ha! That depends on the day. Sometimes just putting words on a page is a struggle. Sometimes it’s a minor detail, like the type of music someone is listening to. Sometimes it’s big picture stuff, like when a plot point isn’t working.
How many books have you written so far? Do you have a favorite?
I’ve written seven full length novels. Three are already published. My favorite so far is Secret, which comes out in January.
Do you have a favorite character?
Gabriel Merrick is the most fun character to write, but I love them all.
Where do you write?
Usually, I go to Starbucks. Sometimes I hole up in my bedroom.
When deciding on how to publish, what directed you to the route you took?
When I was first looking for an agent, self-publishing was looked down upon. It wasn’t the “quick route to riches” people see it as now. (That’s a joke, by the way. Success with self-publishing is just as hard to achieve as it is with traditional publishing.)
Have you gotten feedback from family about your book(s)? What do they think?
My mom probably still thinks the series is about vampires.
What kinds of things do you like to do outside of writing?
I used to ride horses competitively, but then kids and work and writing got in the way of that. Maybe I’ll get back to it one day.
What kinds of advice would you give to someone who wants to start writing?
Allow yourself to suck. It doesn’t have to be perfection right from the first word. Anytime I get stuck, it’s because I’m trying to make it perfect. Sometimes it’s just about getting a story down on paper.
What is your favorite book? favorite author? Do you have an author that inspired/inspires you to write?
I loved Elaine Bergstrom’s books when I was in high school. I can still recite lines from her novels. They were out of print, but she’s since re-released them electronically.
Do you have any go to people when writing a book that help you with your story lines as well as editing, beta reading and such?
I have two main beta readers, one of whom just sold her first book to Entangled! (Congratulations, Alison Kemper!)
Are you working on anything now?
Right now I’m working on Sacrifice, the last book in the Elemental Series.
Thanks so much for stopping by today Brigid! It was so great to have you here! Looking forward to your future books!
Brigid Kemmerer was born in Omaha, Nebraska, though her parents quickly moved her all over the United States, from the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the lakeside in Cleveland, Ohio, and several stops in between, eventually settling near Annapolis, Maryland. Brigid started writing in high school, and her first real “novel” was about four vampire brothers causing a ruckus in the suburbs. Those four brothers are the same boys living in the pages of The Elemental Series, so Brigid likes to say she’s had four teenage boys taking up space in her head for the last seventeen years. (Though sometimes that just makes her sound nuts.)
Brigid writes anywhere she can find a place to sit down (and she’s embarrassed to say a great many pages of The Elemental Series were written while sitting on the floor in the basement of a hotel while she was attending a writers’ conference). Most writers enjoy peace and quiet while writing, but Brigid prefers pandemonium. A good thing, considering she has three boys in the house, ranging in age from an infant to a teenager.
While writing STORM, it’s ironic to note that Brigid’s personal life was plagued by water problems: her basement flooded three times, her roof leaked, her kitchen faucet broke, causing the cabinet underneath to be destroyed by water, the wall in her son’s room had to be torn down because water had crept into the wall, and her bedroom wall recently developed a minor leak. Considering SPARK, book 2 in the series, is about the brother who controls fire, Brigid is currently making sure all the smoke detectors in her house have batteries.
Brigid loves hearing from people, and she probably won’t refer to herself in the third person like this if you actually correspond with her. She has a smartphone surgically attached to her person nearby at all times, and email is the best way to reach her. Her email address is brigidmary@gmail.com.
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