Do you remember when I went absolutely giddy over Riptide Publishing's presence at this year's Romantic Times Convention? Well, they have just managed to make me MORE giddy. Riptide has released it's first f/f stand alone story - Portrait of a Crossroads by Kelly Rand. And to make this even more exciting for us, Portrait of a Crossroads is part of the New Adult category!
We are super happy to be part of the Portrait of a Crossroads Virtual Book Tour. Keep reading a special guest post and interview from author, Kelly Rand!
Guest Post and Interview:
Hello there! I’m Kelly Rand, and thanks for joining me on the virtual book tour for Portrait of a Crossroads, my new release from Riptide Publishing, which also happens to be Riptide’s first standalone F/F story—how exciting! As a writer of trans* fiction, f/f, m/m, and more, I’m thrilled to help Riptide expand their rainbow romance catalog. I invite you to comment on my guest posts all week long to share your thoughts on Portrait of a Crossroads, F/F fiction, the weather, or just to just say hello! One lucky commenter will even win a $5 store credit to Riptide Publishing, so don’t be shy! Comment below before midnight on 5/26 to enter.
Hi Kelly, and welcome! You’re a new Riptide author, so help us get to know you a little better.
As an author yourself, who are your idols? Which other authors have influenced your writing the most?
It’s absolutely Billy Martin (Poppy Z. Brite). I’ve read almost everything he’s ever written. When I first picked up Drawing Blood, which is still my favourite book ever, I felt like he’d touched on everything I’d ever wanted to read or write about. He creates such alluring characters, and tells such beautiful, unorthodox love stories. He’s retired from writing now, but I want more than anything for him to come back. I keep hoping. He taught me to boldly follow my imagination – to fully go there, if you will – and it turned my world around. He said “I write about what turns me on” once, and that quote flashes through my mind at least once a week.
What’s the most common response you hear when you tell people that you’re a writer?
When I tell them my genre, they say “Have you read Fifty Shades of Grey?” Then they tell me their own views on Fifty Shades of Grey.
Do you have any special writing rituals?
I write for 10 minutes a day every day. It doesn’t seem like much, but if I think of writing as something that requires hours of concentration at a time, I’ll never write. So I sit down thinking “I’m just going to go this for 10 minutes,” I end up being a lot more productive.
Do you listen to music while you write?
No. I need complete silence. I’ve written plenty of stories inspired by music though. I try to attach a Matthew Good song to every story I write too. The one for “Portrait of a Crossroads” is “Empty’s Theme Park.”
Do you have a writing tip to share with our readers?
Try writing in a notebook. With a pen. I’ve read articles about how the act of writing with a pen and paper actually inspires creativity. I used to do it as a kid and have just gotten back into it, and I find I can’t wait to get home at night and write.
Blurb:
Since finding her father’s body at the bottom of the basement stairs, Annette’s been drifting through her days, watching cars pass down the rural Ontario crossroads beside her house. Her brothers have no great ambitions, but Annette remembers a time when she did. She just can’t remember what they are.
Then she meets her neighbour, Sadie, a tattooed, world-weary, newly single portrait artist. Something about Sadie awakens something in Annette—the essence she captures in her subjects, perhaps, or the way the old familiar crossroads seem so fresh and promising from the view out Sadie’s window.
Annette begins to help Sadie, cleaning brushes and filing invoices between long lazy afternoons of conversations and shared silences. Soon, though, Annette wants more from her enigmatic neighbor, and their slowly heating friendship melts into passionate nights. Somewhere along the way, Annette discovers that her lover has illuminated for her, as with the people Sadie paints, not just her essence but her own endless worlds of possibilities.
Purchase Portrait of a Crossroads from Riptide Publishing here.
About The Author
Kelly Rand lives in southern Ontario, Canada. She has worked as a journalist for more than fifteen years, covering court cases and elections and every kind of human interest story imaginable. She published her first erotic romance in 2012.
She has a particular interest in trans fiction, and has published some and wants to write more of it. She also writes male/male, female/female, and male/female stories that range from figure skater love to sexually disgruntled Canadian musicians. In her more highfalutin moments, she likes to think of her stories as a merger between erotic romance conventions and Southern Ontario Gothic.
When she’s not writing, she likes live music, spontaneous road trips, volunteering with street youth, obsessing over various celebrities, and looking at pictures of cats on the internet.
You can find her at http://www.kellyrand.net or on twitter as @Rand_Kelly.
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