Karen Kennedy Samoranos is visiting JBR today!
She is giving away her latest novel, “Small Town, Add Vice” (Musa Publishing,
October 10th, 2013) on the rafflecopter to the right of the page. The giveaway will
last all October long. So lots of GREAT items for an AWESOME giveaway!
We are all very glad you came here to JBR.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I collaborate with my husband, Clifford (he’s the teacher, I’m the administrator),
in a music education business in the Bay Area, near San Jose, California. I have
four adult children, and four grandchildren. Aside from writing, which I am
privileged to indulge in about 40% of my waking hours, I enjoy hiking, and riding
my motorcycles. I have a Kawasaki Vulcan 1500 for street, and a zippy little Honda
CRF150 for the dirt. There are miles of urban trails here in Santa Clara County
adjacent to my home, where we ride mountain bikes.
What genres do you write?
Contemporary Adult Fiction, which has also been categorized as Romance, and
Chick Lit. All my books are different—“Road Apples” (Musa-12/2011) featured
a May/December relationship, while “The Curious Number” (Musa-3/2012)
encompassed the racism of the 1950s, and resulting shenanigans of a family
matriarch who suffers from dementia, while owning an arsenal. There’s a lot of
requited/unrequited love, and triumph/tragedy in that book. “Death By Bitter
Waters” (Musa-6/2012) is a collection of short stories about contemporary Red
Power in small-town California, where a certain amount of historical enmity
survives nearly two hundred years of white settlement. “Big Lies in Small Town”
(Musa-9/2012) follows the Sumner Family, and the conservative gun culture in
rural northern California—which is quite the opposite of the gun control lobby in
liberal urban areas of the state. “Small Town, Add Vice” (Musa-6/2013) is a novel
written in interconnected short-story format that highlights good and evil in small
town. It’s a play on the word, “advice,” using “add vice,” due to the events that take
place.
As a reader I love all genres but my followers want to know what to except
from your books. Action, adventure, romance, sex, magic??
My novels through Musa Publishing encompass female empowerment, Native
American culture, various types of romance, and a sex rating of 3 out of 5.
Who is your favorite character(s) from your books?
Katherine McLain Sumner. She shows up in every book except for “The Curious
Number.” In “Big Lies in Small Town,” Kate, husband Paul, and two sons Dakota and
Charlie Kat are attacked by two white supremacists, and she has to use lethal force
to protect her family.
What is your newest release? Can you tell us a little about it?
“Small Town, Add Vice” follows a plethora of characters in a small town in northern
California, who use religion as power, and the political arena to line their pockets.
What about future projects? Any hints?
I’m currently working on four manuscripts, which I can compare to a voyeurteleporting to these various settings. I’m intimately acquainted with each of my
characters. I’m amazed how I can keep the stories apart, and haven’t yet blurred the
line between. They range from a widow who discovers her husband conducted a
secret sexual and financial life for thirty years; a woman in the witness protection
program who turns tables on a hit man; a successful Erotica author who is
romantically inept in her private life; and a forty-eight year old woman who has an
affair with a twenty-six year old man.
Can you give aspiring authors any advice?
Keep writing, keep querying, and don’t ever give up, unless you’re prepared to stop
writing. Perfect your craft.
How about some "fun" personal stuff!
I’m a moderate Democrat married to a liberal Republican, a union of contradiction.
What book have you read that touched you deeply? and why? (yours or
someone elses)
Our Lady of the Forest, by David Guterson. The book can make you into a true
believer if you’re a skeptic, or into a cynic if you’re ultra religious.
Favorite past time activity?
Well, writing, of course. What else is there in life?
a favorite book or author you can recommend (not your own)?and WHY?
For health reasons, I’d recommend The Blood Sugar Solution, by Dr. Mark Hyman.
It parallels the article in the publication, Indian Country Today, by David Bender
(“Native Family Turns to its Roots,” October 24, 2011), to battle the SAD (Standard
American Diet) and food addiction, and to encourage and teach people about the
consumption of whole foods, and the hidden health dangers of gluten.
Favorite place to travel to?
Susanville, California. The drive encompasses a classic sampling of California
geography and agriculture, plus the four-season destination is outstanding. Our
rural neighborhood is inhabited with gray fox, quail, turkey, and mule deer. Just
don’t go outside after sundown, because I’ve witnessed a very large adult mountain
lion prowling the perimeter of the subdivision. Last sighting of our big cat occurred
in December of 2012, at night, 8 degrees F, with four feet of snow on the ground.
What kind of music do you listen too?
Jazz, Bluegrass, New Age
And finally where can we find your books?(please include any links you want
including buy links)
Musa Buy Link: http://musapublishing.com/index.php?
main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&zenid=d23f3709aad
7fdadb1f58e1c8480c589&keyword=karen+kennedy+samoranos
Amazon Books Link Page: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?
url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=karen+kennedy+samoranos
Author Web Site: http://www.saraville.com/
Author Blog: http://www.karenkennedysamoranos.wordpress.com
Well I know I learned a lot and have added to our TBR list. I hope you all have had
fun as well as well. Thanks you again, Karen, for coming and talking with me here on
JBR. I hope you had fun and I hope to see you again. Good Luck and wishing you lots
of success!
Julie Ramsey
ADM JBR
Love this interview!
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