My guest today is an author after my own heart, someone with wandering feet and an itch to travel to new places, someone who is inspired by what she sees. Please welcome Karen Hulene Bartell, a multi-published author whose latest release is the paranormal romance Kissing Kin.
I’m always intrigued by how book ideas are birthed. What was
the inspiration for Kissing Kin?
Whenever I visit provocative places, encounter new
experiences, sample different ethnic foods, or chance upon stimulating people,
I’m inspired. Ideas flow. (I should’ve been a travel correspondent.) There’s
something about traveling that takes me out of my rut and propels me into new
realms of possibility.
I’ve written some of my best concepts sitting in noisy
airports or hotel bathrooms at midnight (so I don’t wake my husband with the
light). Being out of my element and in new environments stimulates my
imagination.
As I visit new destinations, I’m infused with innovative
ideas, envisioning scene after scene, like vignettes flowing from one to the
next and the next.
Oh, I love that feeling! How did that play out for this book?
In Kissing Kin’s case, my husband and I spent
Christmas week hiking and horseback riding in Big Bend National Park twenty
years ago. You’ve seen the area on maps--the southernmost tip of Texas that
borders the Rio Grande and dips into Mexico. Spanning more than 800,000 acres
of Chihuahuan desert, mountains, and rivers, Big Bend is larger than the state
of Rhode Island--and filled with lions and bobcats and bears. Oh, my!
Driving home early that New Year’s morning, we missed the
turnoff in Alpine and followed TX-118 north. Snow-covered and glinting against
the frosty blue January sky, a remote jumble of mountain peaks and ranges
beckoned as they rose above the desert floor. I was enchanted. Gazing at the
sky island for the first time, wide-eyed, I wondered whether those rocky
pinnacles were mirages or optical delusions.
But as the craggy peaks loomed larger (a mile high, I later
learned), I realized they were no hallucination or Fata Morgana. A hasty glance
at the map told us these were the Davis Mountains. As we approached, vertical
basalt columns rose like thousands of giant fingers reaching for the sky. The
palisades, buttes, and bluffs towered above both sides of the road with a raw,
majestic beauty, and I breathed a contented sigh, almost as if coming home.
That missed turn took us only a half hour out of our way, but
as we drove through those mountains, my life changed. From that day to this,
the area’s held my heart and imagination. Wild Rose Pass became Book I
of the Trans-Pecos Series, and Kissing Kin has become Book II. Both
novels are standalones with dissimilar genres--Wild Rose Pass is a
historical novel, while Kissing Kin is a paranormal romance.
What a fabulous setting! Now that
we’re dreaming of those mountains, we’re primed to see the blurb and excerpt.
Book Blurb –
Maeve Jackson is starting over after
a broken engagement—and mustering out of the Army. No job and no prospects, she
spins out on black ice and totals her car.
When struggling vintner Luke Kaylor stops to help, they discover they’re distantly related. On a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, he makes her a deal: prune grapevines in exchange for room and board.
But forgotten diaries and a haunted cabin kickstart a five-generation mystery with ancestors that have bones to pick. As carnal urges propel them into each other’s arms, they wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical?
Kissing Kin Excerpt – Dozing by the Fire
“Mind if I camp out ’til the roads clear?”
“Under the circumstances?” The clerk shook his head. “Not a problem.”
“Thanks.”
He started toward the sitting room and nearly bumped into Maeve, leaning
against the wall. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”
“You
didn’t.” She tossed her chin. “I was cat-napping.”
“Right.”
He compared her guarded veneer to her sleeping-beauty persona. Which is
closer to her true self?
“Couldn’t
help overhearing.” Gesturing toward the clerk with her chin, she grimaced. “I’m
responsible for you being out tonight--”
“No.”
He shook his head. “This is just a freak storm.”
“You
don’t have to sleep in a chair.” She took a deep breath and gave a quick,
tight-lipped smile. “My room has two queen beds, and you’re welcome to one of
’em.”
Unsure
of the extent of her invitation, he did a double take.
“Just
so we understand each other, this is a bunk, a place to sack out. Period.
Amen.” She spoke in a low-pitched, no-nonsense voice. “Nothing more, so don’t
get any--”
“Got
it.” He covered his disappointment with a laugh. “Thanks, I appreciate the
offer, but I’ll be fine dozing by the fire.”
“Hey,
I’ve bivouacked with soldiers in Afghanistan. We do what’s necessary under
extenuating circumstances.” Shrugging, she glanced at the door. “And this
blizzard qualifies.” Her face relaxed into a smile.
Her
offer tempting, he compared sitting up all night to stretching out in a bed.
Then he glimpsed the clerk.
“If
you’re worried about my reputation, don’t be.” She laughed, the sound like
sleigh bells tinkling on a crisp, wintry night.
What is it about her that conjures thoughts of other times--other eras?
Now that you’ve hooked us into this paranormal
story, we need the buy links.
UNIVERSAL LINK: https://books2read.com/u/boXl10
AMAZON: https://shorturl.at/iwEIJ
GOODREADS: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204849593-kissing-kin
APPLE:
https://books.apple.com/us/book/kissing-kin/id6475424012
BARNES
& NOBLE: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kissing-kin-karen-bartell/1144521766?ean=9781509253951
And an author’s bio and social media links:
Author of the Trans-Pecos, Sacred Emblem, Sacred Journey, and Sacred Messenger series, as well as Kissing Kin, Fox Tale, Wild Rose Pass, The Keys: Voice of the Turtle and more, Karen is a best-selling author, motivational keynote speaker, IT technical editor, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life. She writes multicultural, offbeat love stories steeped in the supernatural. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved annually, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her mews—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.
Social Media Links –
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenHuleneBartell
MeWe: https://mewe.com/i/karenbartell
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HuleneKaren
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/karenhulenebartell/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/611950.Karen_Hulene_Bartell
Website: http://www.KarenHuleneBartell.com/
Email: info@KarenHuleneBartell.com
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/karenhulenebartell
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenhulenebartell/
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/karen-hulene-bartell
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenhulenebartell/
AUTHORSdb: https://authorsdb.com/community/17847-karen-hulene-bartell
Thanks for visiting, Karen, and sharing the origins of your latest release. You've made us all want to visit the Big Bend area and check out Kissing Kin.
