Author Spotlight: Kait Ballenger

Today’s Author Spotlight is debut paranormal romance author and Agency-sibling Kait Ballenger!

She’s here with an interview and a giveaway, and I can’t wait for her debut in June with Harlequin!

Marisa: What do you write and why do you write it?

Kait: I write paranormal romance as Kait Ballenger and YA urban fantasy/paranormal under my maiden name, Kaitlyn Schulz. I write those genres because that’s what I love to read. When I open a book, I want to escape daily life and go somewhere magical. My favorite books are books that have strong romantic elements, so as a reader, I’ve always naturally gravitated toward the romance genre. Life can be tough at times and some days it’s great to bury yourself in a book in which—at least eventually—you know everything is going to end with a happily ever after.

Marisa: When and where do you write?

Kait: I’m kind of all over the place lol. If my office is clean, then usually I write in my office, sitting at my desk. But for some reason, I can’t work in the office if it’s messy—unless I’m on deadline and the office starts out clean and then I eventually make it messy during that deadline lol. If the office is too much of a mess for my crazy cluttered brain to want to be there, I end up in other places all over my house. In those instances, I generally write while I’m sitting on the couch in the living room or on the bed in mine and my husband’s bedroom. I rarely write away from home, though I can do so.

Marisa: If you were going to be stranded anywhere in the world, where would you want it be and what three things would you want with you?

Kait: Despite that I love to travel and I’ve been all over the world, I’m a bit of a home-body so I wouldn’t want to be stranded anywhere away from my home. Home is where my heart is at and home for me is right here in sunny little Deland, Florida. I think Florida is the perfect state to live in. But if I had to choose somewhere away from home, I guess I would say Ojika, Japan during the summer time. It’s a little island not too far south of Nagasaki and with a population of only a couple thousand people. I went there during a two week visit to Japan back in 2007 and I found it to be an extremely relaxing place.

Since you say what “things” I would want, I’m going to assume you mean inanimate objects. In that case, I’d want to have my Nook (so I’d have a huge reading supply), my bed so I would be comfortable, and my cell phone so I could hopefully become “un-stranded.” 😉 If the three things can be living though, I would want it to be my husband Jon, my mom, and my dog Sookie.

Marisa: If you couldn’t write, what else would you do?

Kait: That’s a tough question haha. Writing is my sole career goal—both through my books I write and because I’m finishing grad school this November and plan to find a job as a creative writing professor. Before I decided to chase my writing dream though, I wanted to be a foreign language professor. I was a Spanish major for the first year and a half of my undergrad schooling before I switched to majoring in English with a Creative Writing minor. Spanish ended up just being a minor for me, but I still speak the language rather proficiently.

Marisa: What can readers expect when they pick up a Kait Ballenger book?

Kait: Dark twisted plot lines filled with tension and action, lots of cursing, and a whooole lot of steamy romance and sex. My characters talk like they’re sailors and their love lives are definitely rated above R. Alpha heroes partnered with kickass headstrong heroines is my usual M.O

Marisa: Do you celebrate holidays, and if so, what’s your favorite holiday to celebrate and why?

Kait: My favorite holiday to celebrate is Christmas. There is something really magical about being with your family and loved ones underneath the sparkling lights of a Christmas tree at home, and singing praises in church during the late evening candlelight service. Christmas always gives me a happy warm feeling inside and I think in some ways it’s a really romantic holiday. I know I wouldn’t want to spend a single Christmas without my husband.

Marisa: What are the last three books you’ve read?

Kait: The last three books I’ve read are: The Better to See You which is the second novel in Kate SeRine’s Transplanted Tales urban fantasy series (completely awesome and I totally recommend it!), Before I Die by Jenny Downham, and The Anatomy of a Boyfriend by Daria Snadowsky.

Marisa: Are you planning on attending any conferences this year? Where will readers be able to meet you?

Kait: I will be at Authors After Dark 2013 in Savannah, Georgia from August 15th through August 18th. I’m a featured author for the event and I’ll be there signing copies of both After Dark, an anthology featuring Shadow Hunter, which is an Execution Underground prequel novella, alongside a Lords of the Underworld novella by Gena Showalter titled The Darkest Angel, and the first full length book in the E.U series, Twilight Hunter. I should have lots of awesome goodies and promo items to hand out. I’d love for readers to come see me!

I also might be at the Romantic Times Convention in Kansas City, Missouri from May 1st through May 5th, but it’s still tentative, so don’t hold me to it 😉

Thanks for stopping by my blog! As always, encouraging comments are appreciated. 🙂

Here are some links to hook up with Kait and her super sexy books:

After Dark for pre-order on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/After-Dark-Darkest-Angel%5CShadow-Hunter/dp/0373778252/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1362720730&sr=8-1&keywords=Kait+Ballenger

After Dark for pre-order on Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/after-dark-gena-showalter/1113942026?ean=9780373778256

After Dark for pre-order on Books-a-Million http://www.booksamillion.com/p/After-Dark/Gena-Showalter/9780373778256?id=5626304966770

After Dark on Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16180772-after-dark

Twilight Hunter for pre-order on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Hunter-Kait-Ballenger/dp/0373777388/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1362720952&sr=8-2&keywords=Kait+Ballenger

Twilight Hunter for pre-order on Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/twilight-hunter-kait-ballenger/1114504377?ean=9780373777389

Twilight Hunter for pre-order on Books-a-Million http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Twilight-Hunter/Kait-Ballenger/9780373777389?id=5626304966770

Twilight Hunter on Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14288739-twilight-hunter

Blog: http://www.nocturnalreadings.blogspot.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kait_ballenger or @kait_ballenger
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaitlynschulzromanceauthor
Google +: https://plus.google.com/u/0/108985176548347481138/posts/p/pub

And they can look for http://www.KaitBallenger.com Coming soon!

GIVEAWAY!!!
Kait has generously offered to pre-order one TWILIGHT HUNTER for one lucky winner! To enter, please comment with the last three books you’ve read, and one random commenter will be contacted by Kait to receive her novel!