Thursday, 9 April 2015

Blog Tour + Interview + Giveaway - Snapped Series by Ketley Allison


Find the tour schedule here.





Snapped Series by Ketley Allison
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

“We have someone who saw you struggling with the deceased before using that knife. Your best friend, and our eye witness.”

In nine weeks Charlie Miller’s life goes from high-rolling perfection to a crypt of sin. All it takes is one night, one blade, and her boyfriend, best friend and new friends all either end up as suspects or dead.

Nate Westcott, a pierced, tattooed, charismatic lawyer, is a man she can’t have—but a seductive danger she can’t ignore. He’s cocky, infuriating, brilliant and wrong, yet he makes her question whether she really is the good girl she wants to be or more like the selfish killer everyone thinks she is.

And her body wants him in ways she’s not supposed to crave.

As the weeks close in, cracks start forming in her everyday world of pro football golden boys, law school domination and New York City nightlife. Everyone she cares about is at risk because one of them doesn’t love Charlie back. In fact, they want her out of the way. 
Disposed of. Set up.

One more step, and all Charlie has to do is fall through.

Week 1 starts now.

WHO WILL SNAP?

Snapped is Ketley’s New Adult Contemporary series with all the romance you’d expect, but the killer—and lovers—that you don’t.


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When did you start writing?

Since I could pick up a pencil! To be honest, it started around second or third grade where as a project we were to write and illustrate a children’s story book (I know…teacher with high standards, man). I remember mine was about a penguin getting lost in a rainforest and meeting friends along the way. I think my mom still has it! I love crafting stories, in my head, on paper, on the computer…it’s just in my bones and I can’t imagine a time when I didn’t do it.


What makes you want to write?

An indescribable craving. I sit on the subway and think of an idea. I’m at dinner with friends and family and I’m off in space because I’m wondering…what if a woman out to a social dinner is sitting with a murderer and doesn’t even know it? Things like that make me desperate to pull out a notebook and jot down a thought or a great line or dialogue before I lose it. I actually have a notebook in my purse for just this purpose! And beside my bed for those midnight “Great SCOTT” moments. In short, my being alive makes me want to write!


Do you ever get writer's block and what do you do to get over it?

Absolutely I do, and it’s painful and frustrating and makes me question why I think I could’ve done this in the first place. Which means it’s time to walk away, which is exactly what I do. I take a breather, do something unrelated to writing, and I come back and write something else for a while (if I have a new idea floating around) to get my drive going again. During those times when I don’t have another story in the wings, I force myself to outline. This happened to me recently, and usually I write my first draft off the cuff, but with this story I wrote myself into a wall. I went to a bar with friends and asked them to help me out. I pulled out my notebook and started tossing ideas at them, which they added to or opined on, and you know what? I had the rest of my story written. I could go home and put my fingers on my keyboard and write myself right over that wall. And now that wall doesn’t exist anymore because I have at least six anticipated scenes to keep me moving forward. The wonders of outlining! It’s frustrating because you want to just write the story already, but wow. It was the best feeling and I do recommend going outside, talking with people, reading other books and jotting down where you want to go with the novel to get your juices flowing again.


Do you have a special way of going about writing?

Pantsing! I did this for a long time with my first draft—just writing and seeing where I was going. I loved it because new characters would pop up or a specific character would become more meaningful than I ever gave him credit for in the beginning. However, this is risky business. In my recent writing escapades I could not get past a scene no matter how I tried. I became annoyed and snippy…wanted to ditch the thing altogether. So I tried something I hate doing—outlining—and made it fun by involving my friends who tossed ideas (and you know there’s always that one who yells ALIEN PROBES or KILL THEM OFF to really help a girl out). With laughter and fun, I wrote down a bunch of ideas for scenes, put them in order, and I was able to fall back in love with my manuscript.


Do you have any works in progress?

Why, yes! Always. A bunch. Too many! It’s a matter of setting aside time for each idea and really banging it out. Right now I have one actual WIP which I’m making headway on about the NYC underground, the illegal things that go on down there, and a girl who’s lost a lot and thinks danger is her answer. Maybe even a lethal man…
I also want to finish my paranormal trilogy, Dark Souls, this year, and I have a few other NA as well as paranormal ideas that I hope to make some dents in before the year is out.


What are your hobbies? 

I love reading (surprise), I love watching trashy reality shows, and I absolutely love going out for brunch on weekends. Is that a hobby? Who cares, let’s make it one!


How did you choose the character names for Snapped?

This is an interesting question because I don’t necessarily have a process. It’s more what sounds right. I think about names and then think about my character and what would suit him or her best. Charlotte (Charlie) came into my head. It was always a name with one of the best nicknames around and it suited her. Jason Sladerman (Slade) combined one of my favorite first names and one of my favorite last names because-again-it had a pretty cool nickname. Nate is also a boy’s name I like. Lara and Reagan came to me as I wrote – their personalities seemed to demand names like these. Hard to explain other than it simply worked. And now I can’t think of them as anything else


Who is your favourite character in Snapped?

No fair! They all have pieces of me. But if I can only have one, then I would say Charlie. Writing in first person gives a gift of character I don’t have with the others. I know her inside and out, and have been in her head throughout her entire journey of starting out weak and coming out strong. That creates a bond that has me still thinking about her even though her story is written.


How did you get the idea for Snapped?

It was kind of a mesh of a bunch of ideas coming together. I know I wanted to write a whodunit, I know I wanted a Prince Charming boyfriend who seemingly did no wrong. I also love a kooky best friend to relieve the tension when things get really serious. I wanted to dive into relationships of all kinds and what makes them tick. Murder, intrigue, romance, suspense all combined in my head and came out with this doozy! Basically, I wrote and let my characters guide me a little. I had a few road bumps mapped out, but the rest was left up to them with a few pushes of my imagination.


What was your favourite part of writing Snapped?

The showdowns for sure. The arguments, the excuse to really dive into relationships and pull out the insecurities and get my characters furious. Uh oh, I just read this and realized how much of an evildoer I am! But I’ve never, ever sunk into a scene so deeply as when my characters are arguing. I have to be brutal, succinct, hit each character where they hurt like any real argument with someone you love would. It’s the closest I’ve felt to the humanity of writing when I do these scenes, where my vision blurs and I’m transported. Needless to say, Snapped has plenty of these – everyone’s a suspect and therefore no one comes out unscathed.


What are you currently reading? 

The Burning Sky (Book 1 of The Elemental Trilogy) by Sherry Thomas. SO GOOD.


What is your favourite book? 

The Pact by Jodi Picoult.


Who is your favourite author? 

Ooooh. Shoot. Off the top of my head? Nora Roberts, because she’s the first author who ever introduced me to the steam of romance.


What is your favourite film?

Tie between Dirty Dancing and Grease. Both are timeless, both can make me forget everything but the music!


What is your favourite TV show?

Also tough. BBC’s Skins is and always will be amazing, though. (watch it on Netflix!)


Quick-fire questions:

Chocolate or ice cream? Chocolate! I will eat an entire bar, filch all the good truffles out of the chocolate box, savor every Lindt…oh man. Now you have me searching around my desk for chocolate.
 Paperback or ebook? Depends. A good paperback on the beach is hard to trump. Reading an ebook on the subway is gold.
 Dogs or cats? I have a cat so I will say cat because otherwise I will die. This is not cat typing.
Go out or stay in? Stay in. Love me some couch, popcorn and movie time. And cat time. Of course.
Summer or winter? Autumn. Ha!





AUTHOR BIO

Ketley Allison began her career by writing books as birthday presents for her friends (with her friend as the main character and opposite a super sexy lead, of course) before ending it in order to walk down a path she thought she was supposed to follow.

The writing bug never left her–and, in fact, would often bleed into the official papers she was supposed to write–so now Ketley’s putting down her suit and finally following her dream. While her friends are no longer the stars of her books, she still throws in bits and pieces of them into each and every one of her characters.

As a result, her books tend to focus a lot on friendships as well as love, because let’s be honest, friends are what really get you through–especially when your epic love turns into epic heartbreak.

Learn more about Ketley by visiting her website at www.ketleyallison.com


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