Interview & Giveaway with J.K. Beck / Julie Kenner

Happy Tuesday Monsters and Addicts!  

Book Monster Reviews and LITERAL ADDICTION are very excited to welcome USA Today Bestselling Author, 

Julie Kenner/J.K. Beck to our sites today.

Praised by Publishers Weekly as an author with a “flair for dialogue and eccentric characterizations,” bestselling author Julie Kenner’s books have hit lists as varied as USA Today, Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and Locus Magazine. Julie 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, was selected as a Booksense Summer Paperback Pick for 2005, was a Target Breakout Book, was a Barnes & Noble Number One SFF/Fantasy bestseller for seven weeks, and is in development as a feature film with 1492 Pictures.

Julie spent more than ten years as a litigator in Southern California and Central Texas, using her rare free time to indulge in her passion for writing. Now she uses her legal background as inspiration for her paranormal romantic suspense series, THE SHADOW KEEPERS, written under her pseudonym J.K. Beck, which is set in and around a secret judicial system hidden within and mirroring our own. California born, Julie now lives and writes in Texas, where she hangs out with her husband, two daughters, several cats and drinks far too much coffee.

Julie has quite an extensive library of literary excellence.  She is the creator of many great series including the DEMON HUNTING SOCCER MOM, BLOOD LILY CHRONICLES, CODEBREAKER TRILOGY & SUPERHERO CENTRAL, as well as her YA series, RELUCTANT VAMPIRE “GHOUL”. That’s not even mentioning all the standalone novels and anthologies she’s written.  Whew!  To check out the entire Julie Kenner backlist click HERE.

As J.K. Beck she has the incredible SHADOWKEEPERS series which currently has 3 full length novels “When Blood Calls”, “When Pleasure Rules” and “When Wicked Craves”, as well as the enovella “Midnight”.

The next 3 installments of the SHADOWKEEPERS are being released back to back starting in May.  Book 4, “When Passion Lies” is set to release on May 29, followed by Book 5, “When Darkness Hungers” on June 26 and then Book 6 “When temptation Burns” on July 31.

Since we are helping to promote the SHADOWKEEPERS series this time around, we’ve posted the synopses for all the books in the series below (including the upcoming releases) to keep you up to speed

SHADOWKEEPERS Series:

“When Blood Calls” – Book 1

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Attorney Sara Constantine is thrilled with her promotion—until she finds out that she must now prosecute vampires and werewolves. The first defendant she’ll be trying to put away? Lucius Dragos, the sexy stranger with whom she recently shared an explosive night of ecstasy.
 

When Lucius kisses a beautiful woman sitting next to him at the bar, he’s hoping only to avoid the perceptive gaze of the man he’s planning to kill. But what starts as a simple kiss ignites into an all-consuming passion. Charged with murder, Luke knows that Sara is determined to see him locked away—unless he can convince her that he’s not a monster. And that might mean making the ultimate sacrifice

“When Pleasure Rules” – Book 2

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Seven innocents have been brutally murdered in Los Angeles, yet the Shadow Alliance has no suspects and no leads. As the body count mounts, the age-old feud between vampires and werewolves threatens to explode.
 
Lissa Monroe—a strong-willed, ravishing succubus who entices men to surrender their souls—agrees to go undercover for the Alliance. Her mission: infiltrate the mind of werewolf leader Vincent Rand, a ferociously alluring enemy who exerts a powerful hold over her. As the City of Angels teeters on the brink of apocalypse, these two adversaries must join together in order to survive an even more lethal enemy hidden in plain sight.

“When Wicked Craves” – Book 3

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Petra Lang is cursed never to love. One touch of her skin unleashes the vilest demons. Sentenced to death by the Shadow authorities, who fear she’ll turn her curse against them, Petra is rescued by vampire advocate Nicholas Montegue. As their bodies merge and transform into mist, Petra feels an erotic longing.  

Nicholas risked his own life to save Petra, yet he knows he can never give in to the explosive attraction he feels for her. But the deep yearning they share tempts them. Together, they must find a way to lift the curse. For only a love this strong has the power to overcome such monstrous evil.

“When Passion Lies” – Book 4

Released TODAY:  May 29,2012

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Tiberius is a vampire dedicated to protecting his kind—and the secrets of the shadow world. Now, as his quest to become head of the Alliance draws within reach, a shattering new threat puts him to the ultimate test. It’s a nightmare of grim proportions: a dark plot to bring about the mass extermination of human and shadow alike. And it forces Tiberius to turn to the woman he loved and lost, the lover he still desires but doesn’t trust.
 
Caris was Tiberius’s mate for centuries—until a fateful mission changed her forever. Her tortured secrets drove her into the arms of his rival, but desperation has brought her back. As a horrifying new weapon of mass destruction is about to be unleashed, Tiberius and Caris harness the power of their immortal and passionate love. But will it be enough to battle devastating odds and a ruthless enemy with the ambition to destroy them all.

“When Darkness Hungers” – Book 5

Release Date: June 26, 2012

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FBI agent Alexis Martin knows that vampires exist—because one of them killed her sister. Assigned to investigate a series of bizarre homicides in Los Angeles, Alexis believes the murders are the work of rogue vampires—perhaps even the monster responsible for her sister’s death. Now she finally has a chance for retribution. Even better, Alexis receives unexpected help from a sexy stranger as hungry for rogue blood as she is.

Serge is a centuries-old bad boy who stays off the grid—keeping his secrets, his hunger, and his heart safe from exposure. A new breed of vampire that feeds off other shadowers, Serge finds sweet torture in Alexis’s arms. Loving her is a chance to be free from the hiding, the loneliness, the secrecy. But the truth about what he is, and what he’s done, may banish him to the dark confines of his own private hell—and destroy the beginnings of their love.

“When temptation Burns” – Book 6

Release Date:  July 31, 2012

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Half human, half daemon, Ryan Doyle is a driving force for justice. As an agent for the Preternatural Enforcement Coalition, he’s investigating murders linked to a Los Angeles fringe group bent on exposing the shadow world to humanity. He is a master of self-control, keeping his deepest hungers hidden beneath a veneer of cool professionalism. Until he crosses paths with sinfully sweet Andy Tarrent, a gutsy reporter who makes him crave all the pleasures he’s denied himself for centuries.

Tracking a band of conspiracy theorists eager to spill blood, Andy has uncovered the story of her career. Brooding, mysterious Ryan is an enigma—but their dance of seduction is hotter than any fantasy. As they race to stop mass murder on the streets, Andy knows that Ryan is holding back, keeping secrets. But getting close to Ryan means opening the door to a world that will challenge her deepest beliefs—including what it means to truly surrender to love.

Don't they sound incredible?  They most certainly are and we highly recommend that you grab them NOW!!  Before you head over to your favorite bookseller and start buying the books, let's start the interview so we can learn more about the amazing woman behind the books….

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Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  Hi Julie! Welcome to Book Monster and LITERAL ADDICTION!  Thank you so much for taking time out of your busy schedule to sit down and chat with us.  We’re so excited to have you here! 

Julie:  Thanks so much for having me!  And thank you so much for the great intro. After reading all that, I think I need to go take a nap! 

Q1):   Can you tell us 3 things about yourself that we can't find out on the internet, in your bio, etc? 

Julie:  Wow. Hmm. You know, not too long ago, I was at a booksigning, and a fan was hanging out with me. A buyer came up, I signed the book, and we started chatting. She asked me something, and I answered (I don't remember the question) and the fan said, "Ah yes. That's because back then you were just a baby in California in that house you think you remember all the details of, but you don't really. You've just seen the pictures."

That made me realize that after ten years in this business, there's not a lot out there that folks don't know if they want to poke around enough on the Internet! But let me think...  

(You should all be humming the theme to Jeopardy! now...)

Okay, deep breath.  Here goes:

1)  When I was in the fifth grade, I collected license plate numbers with a friend. We would sit on the curb and write them in a book. Yes, this was before the Wii. We were pretending we were superspies or some such story. When I moved, he and I lost touch(it was also before IM, Facebook, etc. We had only the telephone and our parents willingness to drive) and I decided that I was getting too old for that silliness. The day - literally, the DAY = I stopped writing license plate numbers in a little book, I came home from school, saw a car parked in the vacant lot behind our house, DIDN'T write the number down, and walked in on a robbery. Yup, if I'd noted that plate number, we probably coulda gotten our stuff back. Sigh.

2)  My husband and I had a romantic lobster dinner on our honeymoon in Mexico...only I couldn't eat the lobster b/c it was the entire little critter and I couldn't stand the way he looked at me with those big, glassy eyes. My husband didn't mind; he got two dinners.

3)  I can't keep cheesecake in the house. It's just too dang good. And if you take just a little sliver off the edge with a fork, then it's no longer a straight edge and you have to correct for it, until you've gone around the entire damn cheesecake and you have to run to the grocery store in the middle3 of the night to replace it so that your family doesn't know your shame. Not that I speak from personal experience or anything. Ahem.

2)  When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Julie:  I can’t remember wanting to be anything else!  The real question is how did I end up in law school (answer: because they don’t give you a degree in “novelist” that leads to job interviews; fortunately, I liked the law, especially appellate work).  But I never lost the bug to write, and I kept at it and kept at it.  Honestly, if I didn’t do something (write) to get the stories out of my head, I would have probably either exploded or gone insane.  Neither result sounded very good to me…. 

3)  Do you have any interesting writing quirks or things that you must have with you to begin the writing process? 

Julie:  Nothing that interesting.  I have to type.  For some reason, I can’t write longhand anymore.  My brain doesn’t kick into story mode unless my fingers are on a keyboard. 

4)  What is a typical day like in the life of Julie Kenner? 

Julie:  Did you say “typical”?  I’m not familiar with this foreign word of which you speak. 

I homeschool my two girls (ages 10 and 8) and that entails a lot of driving. The younger one has speech therapy 3 times/week and the older one has a Latin tutor (homeschool sometimes requires me to be the teacher, and sometimes it requires me to be the driver and check writer).  And they both take dance and piano, and the older one also takes Glee and violin. 

My second home is my car. 

So I’ll make one of our driving days (Tuesday) be our “typical” day: 

5:00am.  Alarm blares.  Continue to sleep. 

5:15am. Alarm blares. Continue to sleep. 

5:30am. Alarm blares. Husband yells at me to get up. 

5:30-6ish. Breakfast with husband 

6-7:30 write and/or take care of emails, tweet, blog, etc. 

7:30 wake kids up 

7:30-8 while they watch something (these days, Meerkat Manor), I write

8-9 – feed kids, instruct them to eat, clean dishes, get dressed, do piano.  I sneak off to write.  Instead, I screw around on the Internet. 

9-11:30 – school with the kids. Schlep MacBook Air around house; do emails, other stuff, and maybe a scene while they’re doing independent work 

11:30-12 – realize kids must be fed before we leave the house.  I aim them toward the fridge and set a timer.  I write.  Or not. 

12-12:45 – in car.  Sometimes we listen to a history audiobook like Story of the World, or a fun story book like Magic Tree House (in the case of the latter, the eldest will plug in her own headphones).  Sometimes we listen to Wicked or Chess.  Sometimes I listen to an audiobook in my own blissful little bubble 

1:00-2pm – eldest meets with Latin Tutor; youngest and I practice her reading or I have her do a spelling program on my iPad.  I answer emails, etc. 

2-3 – back in the car; drive to Costco. (If we have to go all the way into Austin, then this becomes my “big” shopping day.)  Buy lots of bulk food. 

3-3:45:  back in the car (oh, joy). 

3:45-4:15: speech for the eldest (but it’s done for the summer!  Now only once every two weeks with a private therapist.  Whoo hoo!) 

4:15-4:30: drive home 

4:30-5: fix dinner; check/answer emails on phone while cooking. 

5:00 – eat (early, because it’s piano night).  

5:30 – in the car for piano, which is about 40 minutes away.  Drive.  See above re audio entertainment. 

6:15-7:30 – having dropped kids at piano, I go to Starbucks.

  Restore sanity with coffee beverage.  Write (or, ahem, surf net) 

7:30-8:15 – drive home.  Drive faster b/c of caffeine. 

8:15-9 – hang with family 

9-10:30 (or later if I’m crunched) – write, answer emails, etc. 

11ish – time to crash (I used to be a night owl-like 2 am—but I’ve been reading a lot about the power of sleep, and also realizing I function a lot better with sleep.  I can still pull the late nights, and will if I’m in the throes of finishing a book, but I try to be good and get at least 6 hours.  8 is a luxury. 12 is a heavenly blessing.) 

Bottom line:  I LIVE for weekends! 

5)  What are some of your hobbies, or things that you enjoy doing when you’re not writing or taking care of other author business? 

Julie:  Ah, perhaps you didn’t read that previous answer.  When am I squeezing in the hobbies? 

Okay, sarcasm aside… I love to SCUBA dive, but it’s been forever.  Travel is a huge love of mine, even if it’s just a weekend trip to a small town with my family.  (I’m embarrassed to admit that I got sucked back in to the Real Housewives of Orange County this season, although I swore I wouldn’t go there again.  But we used to live there, and I love how pretty it is.  Would love to go back there for a long tourist weekend!.)

I love to bike, and am excited that the girls are getting old enough that we can do more than go around the block a couple of times. Ditto hiking.  I also love working in the yard, trying (futilely) to beat back the encroaching weeds and get something pretty in their place! 

6)  What are some of your favorite TV shows and movies?

Julie:  

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Vampire Diaries

Mad Men

X-files

The IT Crowd

Downton Abbey

As Time Goes By

Breaking Bad

Any house fixer-upper type show

Star Wars

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Anything by Hitchcock

Bringing Up Baby

Pretty much anything with Hepburn or Cary Grant

I have a huge list of movies I love…those just pop to mind! 

7)  Do you like to listen to music when you write?  If so, do you listen to a certain genre of music when writing in different genres of romance? 

Julie:  As a general rule, I don’t.  I’ve never been a big music person, except for Broadway show tunes.  And I can’t write to something lyrical.  But for some reason (involving the fact that I was on deadline while I was traveling with husband and daughters…) I needed music when writing WHEN PASSION LIES (as in, to tune out the sound of kids).  I ended up with Hans Zimmers’ soundtrack to Sherlock Holmes.  Awesome music, and it really does fit the book!  I loved it so much I also downloaded the soundtrack to The Holiday, which Zimmer also did.  I didn’t listen to it quite as much, but I did listen to the romantic songs while writing some parts of PASSION. 

8)  Do you have a personal favorite book among those you have written so far?  Maybe one that holds special meaning for you, etc? 

Julie:  Oh, that’s a hard one!  Like picking a favorite among your kids.  It just can’t really be done.  That being said, though, Carpe Demon has a special place since that book marks being able to quit the day job and work full time.  Not to mention that Kate is just so much fun to write!  And The Cat’s Fancy was my first single title (and second published book) and everyone said it would never sell because it was (gasp!) a paranormal.  I’ve actually just re-issued it, and it’s still a favorite of mine - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083Q189U (I hope folks check it out.  I LOVE the new cover!)

The entire Shadow Keepers series is near and dear to me because I love the concept so much and the fact that I get to delve into meaty issues centering around moral ambiguity.  It’s fun!  Out of the six, if I had to pick two I’d probably go with When Blood Calls (the first … isn’t your first always special?) and When Darkness Hungers (because the hero, Serge, is so tormented, and was great fun to write).  But then again, I love the story in Passion, and Caris is such a cool heroine, and Tiberius definitely her match! 

Ga!!!!  This is hard! 

9)  If you could spend the day with any of your characters, which would it be, and what would you want to do? 

Julie:  I truly don’t know.  I usually say Kate from the demon hunting soccer mom series, because she’s such a best friend kinda character.  But I’m in a bit of a mood tonight.  I think maybe Elmer from the Aphrodite series.  Because, really, everyone needs to spend a day with a talking ferret. 

10)  If you could have any one super power, which would you like to have and why that power? 

Julie:  The power to change my superpower.  (ha! Score one for me!) 

11)  You've written many novels in different genres of romance.  Which is your favorite genre to write in? 

Julie:  I don’t actually have one … which I guess is why I’ve written all over the ballpark! 

12)  For those who have not yet read THE SHADOW KEEPERS series yet, can you please tell us a little about the series? 

Julie:  Sure!  The series centers around a paranormal world with its own government hidden within ours, and the focus is on the judicial system.  Very Law and Order, with the investigators and the trial, but because the “cops” and the perps are creatures like werewolves and vampires, I get to explore a lot of issues of moral ambiguity (is it ever okay to kill a human? Can justice be served through vigilantism? That kind of thing).  In WHEN PASSION LIES, we’re more removed from the courts and more focused on the Alliance which is the overarching entity that oversees the operation of the various branches of the paranormal government.  In this book, I got to spend time with Caris (a really kick-ass female character who’s a vampire/werewolf hybrid) and her estranged love, Tiberius (who’s a very alpha vamp with a hatred of werewolves), and who also happens to be the Chairman of the Alliance.  In other words, the biggest of the bigs.  Theirs was an epic love, but something horrible happened and they were ripped apart.  The book is the story of how they get back together…set against the backdrop of a mission to save the world! 

13)  The next 3 installments of THE SHADOW KEEPERS series will be released back to back starting with “When Passion Lies” on May 29, “When Darkness Hungers” on June 26, followed by “When Temptation Burns” on July 31.  What plans do you have for this series after the 6^th book is released in July? 

Julie:  That is a very good question!  I don’t yet have any specific plans for book 7, and obviously so much depends on how these 3 books do in the market, But I will say that so far the books have mostly centered around Division 6 in Los Angeles.  I’m toying with the idea of a New York centered set of stories.  Sort of like CSI v. CSI: Miami, LOL! 

14)  What inspired you to start THE SHADOW KEEPERS series? 

Julie: My Julie Kenner books tend to be lighter and quirkier.  True, the Blood Lily Chronicles (Tainted, Torn and Turned by Julie Kenner) are dark, but they’re also a) first person, and b) urban fantasy.  I wanted to write something darker and grittier.  More romantic suspense, but also paranormal.  I don’t remember the specific spark, but I was sort of edging around the law (I was a lawyer for fifteen years) and landed on a concept that I loved. Kind of a paranormal Law & Order.  And the series was born! 

15)  Congratulation!  We saw that “Carpe Demon” is being made into a movie.  Can you tell us a little about that project? 

Julie:  Thanks!  It’s with 1492 and Chris Columbus and his team at 1492 have been a champion for the series and for Kate since day one.  It can be a very long process getting a movie made, and often they never get off the ground, but I’m optimistic about Demon’s chances.  1492 recently hired Andre Overdal to work on the script with Chris C. and then direct.  Overdal just made a splash with the awesome Troll Hunter, and he’s a fabulous rising talent (he also really likes Kate!).  Fingers crossed! 

16) Can you tell us a little bit about your DEMON HUNTING SOCCER MOM series?  What do you have planned for this series? 

Julie:  I just love this series, and the feedback from fans is awesome!  Sadly, Berkley cut the series short after Demon Ex Machina…but with the rise of indie publishing, Kate and crew are back in business!  I have PAX DEMONICA coming out soon, soon, soon (it’s my first new indie release—as opposed to a re-issue-- and so I don’t have a firm date yet; I’d hoped for end of May, but it turns out that it’s going to be coming in June.  But it’s very much a beach read <g> so that works).  

In the meantime, there’s a demon hunting soccer mom story out for only 99c that I hope folks check out:  The Demon You Know, and you can learn more here: http://juliekenner.com/books-2/julie-kenner-website/demon-hunting-soccer-mom-series/the-demon-you-know/ 

17)  What other projects do you have coming up that you can share with us? 

Julie: I’m sooooooo superstitious about talking about upcoming stuff, but I have a few things in the works.  One thing I can mention for sure is that I’m almost done with book 3 in the Good Ghouls series that I write as Julie Kenner, so that will be out later this summer!  And I’m spinning Allie (Kate’s daughter) of into a demon-hunting YA series, and that will be a LOT of fun. 

18) What has been the most rewarding experience of your career so far? 

Julie:  Interaction with fans.  It’s great hearing from folks.  It’s even great being recognized in the grocery store with no make-up and messy hair, LOL! 

19)  What legacy do you hope to leave your readers with? 

Julie:  Entertainment! For me, that's what writing (and reading) is all about. The chance to escape for a few hours into another world and be entertained, whether it's by humor or sultry romance or a race-for-your-life situation or otherworldly thrills and chills. If I can take readers to someplace other than their living room, I feel like I've done my job!  

20)  Is there anything specific you would like to say to your readers while we have you here today? 

Julie: Thank you so, so much for your support!  And I do love to hear from you.  I’ve gotten my head around Twitter and Facebook, so please find me there, and you can check out my website (I blog at least 3X/week) or find a link to email me and/or sign-up for my newsletter.  Oh, and I’m on Pinterest, too!  Still getting my feet wet there, but it’s fun!

Here are all the various links:

Julie Kenner Website: http://www.juliekenner.com

JK Beck Website: http://www.jkbeck.com

(they go to the same site, just fyi)

Facebook for Julie:  http://www.facebook.com/JulieKennerBooks

Facebook for JK: http://www.facebook.com/JKBeckBooks

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/juliekenner (this is the more active 

twitter; the JK Beck one is more for release news, but it’s @jkbeck)

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/juliekenner

And you can sign up for my newsletter here:

 http://oi.vresp.com/?fid=ee0dc1f10b 

I’m still trying to get the hang of Goodreads, but I’m there! So if you follow me over there, eventually I’ll figure it out, LOL! 

Goodreads as JK Beck 

Goodreads as Julie Kenner

Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  Julie, thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us.  We would love to have you back again when your ready to promote your next release(s). 

Julie:  I would love to! 

Julie is graciously giving away a paperback copy of WHEN DARKNESS HUNGERS (book 5!)  to a winner from Book Monster and another winner over at the LITERAL ADDICTION Website.

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