KAREN KELLEY—TRIUMPH AFTER SIX LONG YEARS OF WORK

My guest is best selling romance author, Karen Kelley. She writes sexy, quirky romances and paranormal romance.

Karen shares a bit about her road to publication and her tears and triumphs along the way.

Thanks for inviting me for coffee. I have to admit I’m hooked on Café Mocha. I didn’t always drink coffee, but late nights and deadlines had me reaching toward something that would keep me awake and semi alert.

You asked me to share the laughter and the tears, the glitches and triumphs. That would be a book in itself! But I wouldn’t want to do anything else. It took me 6 years of hard work and a wonderful group of friends before I sold my first book. I talked my husband into mailing it because I couldn’t face the looks of pity from the postal workers. That was on Tuesday. On Thursday morning Hilary Sares from Kensington called to make an offer. Yes, it can happen that fast.

I dedicated the book to my mom and dad. My dad had passed away the year before from cancer and my mother’s health wasn’t good. I quit work, brought my mother to live with my husband, and me and stayed at home to take care of her. Those were lean times living on one income, but I would do it all over again because every time I lifted my mother from the bed to her wheelchair I felt the warmth of her arms around me. She told me stories I’d never heard and we laughed and we cried and we bonded like I never could have imagined.

She was so excited when I sold, and again when Kensington sent me a big mock up of the cover, and so proud when I told her I’d dedicated it to her and daddy, then I read her the dedication. I guess I knew she wouldn’t ever hold the book in her hands and I wanted her to know just how much I loved her. She passed in May; my first book was released in August.

I wrote 19 books for Kensington, one for Berkley and then I found Sourcebooks and I continue to write my quirky romances, even more sexy than my earlier ones.

Where There’s a Will is the second book in my brand new series. Haley lives her day to day dreary life until she’s stood up by a coworker. That night she cries herself to sleep and prays for a miracle.  The next morning a handsome nephilim (half angel/half man) rings her doorbell and promises to give her the miracle she’s been waiting for. Ryder rings more than her doorbell.

If you’ve ever felt like you were on the outside looking in or someone made you feel inferior, then you might enjoy Where There’s A Will. It’s a story about discovery and love and it’s very sexy and a little funny, too!

Who wouldn’t want an immortal on her doorstep promising to make all her dreams come true? 

BUY: AMAZON, B&N, INDIEBOUND

Her Fantasies Were Wild But Buried Deep...

Haley Tillman words hard at being a good girl, hiding her rich fantasy life in the pages of her diary. But being good doesn’t seem to get her anywhere with men, and her confidence is on a downward spiral. She's ready to try something altogether different, but hasn't a clue where to start. In a moment of desperation, she prays for a miracle...

He Might Take Her Beyond Them...

Ryder is the perfect combination of powerful angel plus normal hot–blooded man. Crossing into the mortal world could cost him his existence. But mortals are like a potent drug to Ryder, and Hayley is quickly becoming his drug of choice... excerpt

Currently Karen writes for Sourcebooks and the Brava Imprint with Kensington Publishing and has the fabulous Kate Duffy for an editor. Karen writes full-time, and collects junk which she fondly calls antiques. Her husband can still be talked into mailing her manuscripts and also helping with her publicity. She has two grown children, one son-in-law and four grandchildren and a very spoiled Pekinese. She loves sitting on the patio on a warm spring day and procrastinating about her approaching deadline. 

You can find Karen: Facebook, Goodreads, Website