Tangled Up with Karen Hooper

Karen and I met at RWA in Orlando in 2010. I was waiting to talk to my agent Sara Megibow after a PRO panel and the cutest girl at RWA in the cutest hat I'd ever seen, asked me if I'd take a picture of her with my agent. Turned out one of my agent's other clients--the amazing MG author Natalie Bahm--and Karen are good friends. Karen and I were inseparable at RWA after that. We both love cute hats, cute guys, and we have the same birthday (I'm all of one year older). She will now and always be my RWA Other Half. I'm thrilled to be able to interview her about her brand new book TANGLED TIDES now on sale. Everyone please say hello to my Karen!

Karen! Welcome to my Storytime blog! Tell us about your story TANGLED TIDES. What's the plot?

Tiffany!!! *tackles with hugs* So glad to be here. I've missed you to pieces. 

The plot of Tangled Tides can be summed up by singing "Merfolk, selkies and sirens, oh my!" But if you need more than that, it's about a human girl who is turned into a mermaid and she discovers she is the only soul who can save a world of sea creatures--including herself.

Why mermaids and sirens and undersea creatures?

Why not? Ha. Just kidding. I love the ocean. Many times, whether it be on a cruise ship, swimming, laying out at the beach, watching a sunset over the gulf, etc., I’ve let my imagination wonder about what life beneath the waves might be like. Plus, I've always loved mermaids. 

I adore mermaids and mermaid legends. My love of mermaids comes from Disney's The Little Mermaid. I love it so much I even wrote a novella that's a modern day retelling of the Disney version of the story. Where does your love of mermaids and sea creatures originate?

Oh, yes, I’m a Disney fanatic, so I love The Little Mermaid too. However, my first mermaid love was my Sea Wees dolls. They were rainbow colored mermaid dolls and each came with a sea creature pet like a seal or penguin. Then, the movie Splash came along and I loved how Madison the mermaid had a tail in the water and legs on land.Best of both worlds. 

How long did it take you to write TANGLED TIDES?

I wrote the first draft in five months. My critique partners read it and gave me notes, and then I spent another couple months revising and editing. Six months of querying agents left with lots of rejection letters, so, with a broken heart I shelved the manuscript for a year. But that’s a whole different story.

Who is your publisher and what's been your experience like working with them?

Rhemalda is my publisher, and every day I thank the heavens for them. They have been awesome to work with. They believe in giving authors a say in anything and everything. They allowed me to be involved in the development of the cover, they were open and supportive of my idea to include artwork in my book, and no matter how many emails or phone calls I bombard them with, they are always patient with me and happy to help in whatever way they can.

Is this part of a series? Will we see more mermaid books in the future?

You betcha. The Sea Monster Memoirs is the series title, and my sea peeps have lots of adventures in their future. Tangled Tides ends as if it’s a stand alone because I wanted readers to have a sense of closure, however, I hid a secret hint somewhere in the final chapters that left the door open for book 2. I didn’t know if Tangled Tides would ever be published, or if anyone would like it enough to want a book 2, but I’ve already had a few fans tell me they are craving more , so I can’t let them down. *big smile*  As long as readers want more, I’ll keep writing more memoirs. I’ve got enough ideas to last a lifetime.

What's your best advice to aspiring writers?

Never give up on a project you love. And write what you love. The universe will take care of the rest.

Will you be my RWA Other Half again this year?

Heck yes! Remind me to register early this year! Ha. We should dress up like my sirens. You do know my sirens are all sultry, right, Ms. Erotica writer? We could wear high heel boots, corset tops, and…oh, wait, we’re still interviewing. We’ll discuss this later.

And most importantly, how do mermaids and merman have sex? Inquiring (dirty) minds...

This question has come up like five times in the last two months! I should have addressed this in the book, but I didn’t know so many peoples’ minds were in the gutter. Lol. The answer is very simple based on the world I built and the rules I created. Wait for it...

They have sex just like humans do. 

No weird fish eggs or anything like that. My merfolk are human on land, and they even have the ability to control whether or not they have legs (and all other human anatomy) in the water. So yeah, they can get it on in the water or on land, but they have to be in human form because weird fish sex would've freaked me out.

Karen was born and bred in Baltimore, frolicked and froze in Colorado for a couple of years and is currently sunning and splashing around Florida with her two beloved dogs. Blurring the line between paranormal and fantasy, she writes young adult novels that appeal to readers of all ages. She's addicted to coffee, chocolate and complicated happily-ever-afters. While writing young adult novels, she blurs the line between paranormal and fantasy. 

Find Karen here!

Author Website: http://www.karenamandahooper.com

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/Karen_Hooper

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/AuthorKaren

In the undersea war of the worlds...I, Tiffany Reisz, side with THE SIRENS (of course). 

FELT TIPS - A Call to Submit!

Wanted: Office Supply Related Erotic Short Stories CLICK HERE TO SEE OUR NEW SPLASH PAGE PROVIDED BY THE EXQUISITE & TALENTED AMBER SKYE.

I, Tiffany Reisz, will be editor of FELT TIPS, an anthology dedicated to office supply-related erotica. Let your imagination run wild. No rules here except all participants should be at least old enough to use office supplies.

1000-2500 words please.

Deadline: February 14, 2012. That's Valentine's Day

Payment? The Glory

Release date? No idea. Publisher? No clue but I'll figure that out later.

Submit in a Word or a Pages doc to littleredridingcrop@gmail.com.

JOIN ME IN CREATING THE WORLD'S FIRST ANTHOLOGY OF OFFICE SUPPLY RELATED EROTICA EVER!

Love Always, Tiffany

P.S. Bonus points if you work in a 'shaking the toner cartridge' euphemism.

ADDENDUM (11-24-11) All proceeds will be donated to an organization that helps needy students get the school supplies they need. We won't publicly name the organization due to the adult content of the anthology.

2nd ADDENDUM (11-26-11) I think I found us a publisher thanks to the lovely Lucy Felthouse of EROTICA FOR ALL. Not only does the publisher come highly recommended by Lucy, but they've agreed to halve their fees because all profits from the anthology will be going to one if not two charitable organizations. Several Twitches have suggested giving money to both an organization that helps buy school supplies for kids and an organization to help struggling adults get the clothes, etc, they need to get back to work. Feel free to email suggestions to me at littleredridingcrop@gmail.com. All participants in the anthology will know who we are donating to and how much (I'll send out statements periodically) but I'd rather not publicize the names due the adult nature of the content.

Thanks again! I've already received three stories. My goal is 40. Contact me with any questions.

Also, special thanks to Allie Sanders who's agreed to be my editorial assistant.

FELT TIPS - A Team Awesome Production

Catching Miranda - An Interview with Miranda Kenneally about Catching Jordan

Everyone! Say hello to my friend and agent-mate Miranda Kenneally. THAT'S AN ORDER! Miranda hunted me down on Twitter after I signed with SuperAgent Sara Megibow and Uber-Agency Nelson Literary. Although I wrote BDSM Erotic Women's Fiction and she wrote YA, we found common ground with our shared love of hot, younger men. I fell in love with one of her characters. She fell in love with one of mine. And someday, I will slash the hell out of those two boys for the enjoyment of all our readers. Miranda was nice enough to give me some blog content in the form of an Interview about her new book CATCHING JORDAN.

I love it when people do all my work for me. And now...Miranda Kenneally! *applause*

1-First tell, introduce us to Catching Jordan.

Catching Jordan is the story of a 17-year-old girl who is captain and quarterback of the high school football team. She’s always been one of the guys because she’s afraid if she acts like a girl, all the guys will realize she’s a girl and won’t take her seriously anymore. Then this hot guy Ty moves to town, and he wants her position as quarterback, and he might want her too.

2-The original title of the book was called SCORE but you had to change that. Why is that?

It was thought that SCORE was too racy. But I’m okay with the name change. I like it more, actually!

3-There seems to be quite a bit of controversy over the portrayal of teenagers having sex in YA novels – what’s your stance?

My stance is that teenagers do it. They do it in real life, they do it in movies, they do it in books. And that’s fine as long as they know to use protection and understand the emotional implications of doing it. Parents should talk with their kids early on about sex and give them information, not shield them from it. As for sex being in books, I’m okay with it because I think books should tell the truth, not hide it.

4-Do you think it’s a moral decision to show sex or not? Or just a literary decision?

It’s a literary decision. If showing sex is important to the story, you need to show the sex. If it’s not important to the story, don’t describe it fully – just say the characters did it and move on. I think sex should only be in a story to strengthen it.

5-Have you had any experience with editors/publishers trying to either heighten or tone down the sexual content in your books? Or do they tend to leave it to the judgment of the author?

So far, this has not been an issue for me. But I wouldn’t be surprised if my editor asked me to tone down my next book. Haha!

6-Do you worry at all about parents or schools? Or do you care only about the opinion of your target audience?

I write books for teenagers, and I try to tell the stories they want to hear. If it ends up in libraries – great. If parents are okay with my stuff – great. But I’m not going out of my way to cater to anybody except for my target audience. I want to write realistic fiction, and sometimes realistic fiction gets banned and I understand that and am willing to take that risk in order to tell the truth.

7-Books for children and teenagers seem to be judged by different criteria than books for adults. On top of being entertaining and enlightening, YA novels seemingly also have to carry a moral to their stories. Do you agree with this?

No. A story is a story. It doesn’t have to have a moral. But it does have to have relatable characters and a relatable scenario. People learn and grow by watching other people fail and try again, not by being told some generic moral.

8-What’s next for Miranda Kenneally after Catching Jordan?

Two companion novels to Catching Jordan – both of which will probably be renamed, both of which will be highly scandalous! Also, I’m editing a book of letters from authors to their teen selves called Dear Teen Me.

9-Last question – do you think I could make it as a writer of YA Erotica?

If anyone could, it’s you!

Check it out, Miranda! I already made you a new fan. Maybe your book will finally cheer Honeytoast up. 

Miranda Kenneally is the author of CATCHING JORDAN, a contemporary YA novel about football and femininity, coming in December 2011. Other books include PLAYING PARKER (fall 2012) and BAD, BAD THING (spring 2013). Miranda is the co-creator of Dear Teen Me. The Dear Teen Me Anthology will be published by Zest Books (distributed by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) in late 2012. She enjoys reading and writing young adult literature, and loves Star Trek, music, sports, Mexican food, Twitter, coffee, and her husband. Miranda is represented by Sara Megibow at Nelson Literary Agency.

God Will Give it to Prince - An Open Letter to My Boyfriend about Last Night

Dear Boyfriend, I know you're probably thinking your new girlfriend has a screw loose. Right before you went upstairs to read in bed, I was downstairs at the kitchen table, tweeting and trying to make my daily writing goat (yes, goat - I have writing goats, not goals - goats are cuter and less intimidating). And a few minutes later, you hear the sound of sobs coming from the vicinity of my face. You came downstairs to check on me and seemed skeptical when I told you I was fine, just tired. You ordered me off to bed and didn't seem thrilled when I said, "I'm coming...as soon as I finish this part."

Let me explain. When I told you the other day that I have no talents, I meant it. I can't sing or play a musical instrument. I have no artistic ability whatsoever. I've never shown any sort of aptitude for sports. People say I'm good at Zumba but that's code for "You're good at making an ass of yourself and not caring." All I can do is write stories. That's all I got. And when you only have one egg in your basket, you guard that goddamn egg with your life.

Last night prior to my minor breakdown, I tweeted, "When you're on deadlines, every month is #NaNoWriMo. It loses some of its charm. #firstworldproblems." I regretted tweeting immediately. It sounded as if I was complaining about people paying me to write books for them. What I meant by that tweet is that when you get a book deal and you're contractually obligated to produce works of fiction, the concept of #NaNoWriMo becomes something of a moot point. Every month I have to produce around 50,000 words. It’s not a fun adventure. It’s a job.

Before all writers who were destined for public consumption are born, some God, some angel, some demon reached out and tapped us on the forehead and said, "You will write lies that people will pay money to read." We are without a doubt the most privileged people on the face of the earth. People pay us money to read our goddamn sentences. Can you wrap your mind around that? You. Me. Our sentences. Our words. Shit we pull out of brains and our asses--people pay us for that? *mind boggles* Can you imagine a bum standing on a street corner offering sentences for spare change? Ludicrous, right? But that's what we are.

Last night in bed, you chided me for overworking myself. You said, "If I catch you crying at the kitchen table again, I'm going to take your computer away." I love you for caring that much about me. But I have to tell you a story about Michael Jackson so you'll understand…

Once upon a time a record producer friend of Michael Jackson's caught him in the studio in the wee hours of the morning. The producer said to Michael Jackson, "You can work on the song tomorrow. Get some sleep." And Michael Jackson responded, "I have to write this song now, or God will give it to Prince."

So despite exhaustion I write my books. If I don't, God will take them from me and give them to Anne Rice.

In conclusion…Yes, you’re right. I am exhausted. I am writing myself into the ground. I am trying to do too much in too little time. But I have been given opportunities unpublished writers would pluck out their own eye to have, and I know it.

But I am a writer before anything else, and you can have my computer when you pry it out of my cold, dead hands. ;)

Love,

Your Tiffany