Friday, May 9, 2014

Guest Post: Kimberly Loth + Kissed


I'm so pleased today to have author Kimberly Loth stopping by the blog to talk a little bit about her new paranormal young adult romance, Kissed. As most of you already know, I'm a romance girl at heart, so the mere mention of a mysterious boy in the synopsis has me more than ready to crack the spine of this one. Welcome to Supernatural Snark Kimberly!

Thank you for having me on your blog today. I’m thrilled to be able to talk about Kissed. This journey has been so amazing. Today I want to talk about something that readers have told me they’ve really enjoyed about the book. The roses.

I consider myself a lifelong learner. I love learning new things. But I hate reading non-fiction. I want to learn about things in a way that’s entertaining and leaves me longing for more, much in the way I want to read a fiction book. My favorite books are ones that not only captured me up in the story but ones that taught me something I never knew before. For example, in North of Beautiful by Justina Chen her main character loves maps and goes geocaching. I’d never heard of the concept before that book. Now, it’s a hobby that I enjoy.

I wanted to capture that spirit in Kissed. I chose to have my main character, Naomi, obsessed with roses. From a young age she learned how to garden with her grandmother and by the time we meet her at sixteen, she has a greenhouse filled with exotic rose blends and a garden out back.

I start every chapter with something she knows about roses or how she applies those roses to her life. Here’s the one from chapter four.

Seven roses contain the name of the day of rest. My favorite is Sunday Lemonade. Its pale pink blooms give off a scent of lazy summer nights visiting with friends. Just the opposite of the many Sabbaths I spend with my father. His Sundays smell like famine and pestilence.

Many readers have asked how I know so much about roses. The truth is I didn’t know much until I started writing Kissed. I’d always loved roses. My grandpa grew them and I loved watching him work on them when I was a child. He always picked a few roses for me and cut off all the thorns. But I’d never grown my own before.

When I knew Naomi needed this, I checked out every book on roses my small community library contained. (Five books, in case you were wondering). Then I  read everything I could online. I found out there are literally thousands of different roses. It was so fun finding roses to fit each situation. But I needed more than that.

I drove out to my local Lowes and picked out a few plants. I only chose ones that smelled good and would bloom all season. A lot of rose bushes will only bloom once a year and while Naomi was content with that, I wasn’t.

I’ve always had a black thumb. I killed everything I grew.  Everything I read said that roses were hard to grow. To my surprise, not only did they live, but they flourished. I loved those roses. We’ve moved since then, but for a couple of years I had gorgeous smelly roses. Not only that, I was able to really get a feel for the roses and add an authenticity that research alone doesn’t give you.

If you are interested in trying to grow your own roses, I would recommend Oklahoma, Tiffany, or Granada roses. They seem to do well in most climates and have dreamy smells. Also, Miracle Grow Roses does wonders.

I hope you will enjoy Kissed.

• • • • • • • • • • • 

KISSED


Trapped in a dark cult, sixteen-year-old Naomi Aren has lived a quiet, albeit unhappy, life nestled deep in the hills of the Ozarks. With uncut hair, denim skirts, and only roses for friends, Naomi seldom questions why her life is different from other kids at school. Until the day her abusive father, who is also the cult’s leader, announces her wedding. Naomi must marry Dwayne Yerdin, a bully who reeks of sweat and manure and is the only one person who scares her worse than her father.

Then she meets Kai, the mysterious boy who brings her exotic new roses and stolen midnight kisses. Kisses that bring her a supernatural strength she never knew she had. As the big day approaches, Naomi unearths more secrets of about her father’s cult. She learns she has power of her own and while Kai may have awakened that power, Naomi must find a way to use it to escape Dwayne and her father—without destroying herself.


*For the next week and a half Kissed is only 99 cents!

Find Kimberly:

33 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for having me! If anyone has any questions, ask them here and I'll answer them. This was a fun post to write.

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  2. Oooooh, this was such a fun guest post! I agree that reading fiction and learning things that the author has put a lot of research and time on does come across in the page!
    And even if I'm not too much in the mood for romance, I feel like reading this book if only for all the mentions of roses!
    Thank you Kimberly & Jenny!

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  3. Thanks for the post. I confess that I'm intrigued about the roses now and how you did manage to get them into the book, it must have been a lot of researches I'm sure of that. And the cover is really nice. It was really interesting to read!

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  4. Great guest post! I feel like I have a black thumb, too. Poor, poor plants. I can practically feel them screaming when I put them in my cart. I'm a big fan of the knockout roses because those suckers can put up with just about anything and you still get a bunch of blooms from them all summer long. Though, yes, I've killed one or two of those, too.

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    1. Mary, I'm glad you got something to grow! It is thrilling isn't it :-).

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  5. I love that the author made her story insightful and have real meaning. I love learning about stuff in the same way she does, there is nothing better than learning something new while having a great time doing it!

    Fun guest post, thanks for sharing it with us Jenny!

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  6. Lovely guest post, Jenny and Kimberly. I also have soft spot for roses and have them all around my yard. Shrubs, climbers whatever I can fit - lol.

    I'm really excited to check out Kissed. I almost missed the fact in the summary that not only does Kai bring Naomi exotic roses and stolen midnight kisses, but that these kisses bring out something supernatural in Naomi. How cool - and mysterious...I definitely need to know more! *running to amazon one-click* ;)

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  7. This book sounds right up my alley. Thanks for sharing the interesting post about the author's experience with roses. I am actually growing roses this year for the first time. Let's hope I don't mess it up! Anyway, I'll have to add this book to my TBR list. Happy Friday!

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    1. Good luck with your roses. I hope you enjoy the book!

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  8. Our house came with several roses but unfortunately they were badly placed and I spend a lot time cutting them back. But they grow like crazy with zero care. These are not fancy roses though, and the ones at the rose garden are SO much prettier. Portland is known for their roses so I could probably find some better ones and place them in better locations.
    I hadn't heard of this book, but I'm curious enough to look it up. :)

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    1. I hope you enjoy it. Good luck with your roses.

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  9. Oh my aunt grew roses, beautiful ones that she showed in Rose Shows and one prizes for. Now she lives in a condo and they have nowhere to grow roses. Well they have a summer home but they can't keep the deer out of the ones she tried to grow and it's too much work at her age now. But I always loved the Tea Roses. They smelled a little like tea and they were sweet and small. She always gave me flowers to take home when I came over. I haven't had any luck with growing them though.

    Cults fascinate me. I'll have to grab this while it's on sale. Great guest post!

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    1. Thank you!!! I hope you enjoy the book. I live in an apartment now too and can't seem to get potted roses to grow. Though, I confess as of late, I haven't been trying very hard. Writing is taking up all my time :-).

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  10. The cover has totally caught my eye! I adore this so far.

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  11. I love roses as well and found they flourished when I lived in hot Phoenix. My favorite was the Peace rose.

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    1. Yes! My mother had a Peace rose in her yard when I was a teenager. They are so pretty. Thanks for ready, I hope you enjoy the book.

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  12. Oh love roses! I also like the year round blooms. I am also with Jenny... oh sounds like a good romance. Count me in! :)

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  13. The rose analogies created such a connection with Naomi's character. And it was so fascinating! Kimberly is such a talented and inspired writer. Thank you for the wonderful insight into your writing process, and for writing such an amazing novel!

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  14. I also love roses, but like you, I'm pretty sure I have a black thumb! It's great to hear there are types of roses that can thrive even under the care of someone like me. :-) This sounds amazing, thank you for sharing!

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    1. You should try one!! They are worth the work :-). Thanks for commenting.

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  15. Awesome post Jenny and Kimberly. My grandmother had a beautiful rose garden. She believed in coffee grounds and miracle grow to keep them blooming longer.

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    1. Oh, coffee grounds. I never tried that. I'll have to see how that works. Thank you!!

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    2. What a beautiful cover. Roses were never a favorite of mine, but I have a huge soft spot for them. My grandma loved and grew them, so I get your connection with them.

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  16. Well now I'm fascinate and I really want to read this book. White roses are my favorite and they always seemed like the prettiest things out there. I'm sure I'd learn a lot from this one. Great post! :)

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  17. It is important to do a research before writing - that makes your fictional world more believable.

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  18. 99 cents? can't turn that down. I'll definitely get this one. The premise is so far off anything I've ever heard before that I can't wait.

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  19. You say the word romance and my ears perk up! I'm with you Jenny. I also love flowers, though I'm terrible at keeping them alive as well. but I like that aspect of this book. Cults totally creep me out, but they also fascinate me. I definitely want to meet this mysterious Kai, and I'm curious about Naomi's abilities. Do you know if this will be a series?

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