Tuesday 18 August 2015

Spotlight: Anything but Broken - Joelle Knox (Guest Post: Burnout or Bliss)

I've been a huge fan of writing duo Bree Bridges and Donna Herren ever since I discovered their paranormal romance and urban fantasy stories written under the name Moira Rogers. Then they went on to create one of my all time favourite series and introduced us to the O'Kanes of Sector Four in their post-apocalyptic erotic romance series written under the pen name Kit Rocha. So of course when I found out that they were turning their hand to a NA contemporary romance series I knew I HAD to read it.

I love how these two authors seem to be able to turn their hand to anything, the stories they write under each of their pen names are very different but you can always expect fantastic, realistic characters, brilliant world building and believable romances. That definitely holds true for their first release under their newest pen name, Joelle Knox. To celebrate the release of Anything but Broken I'm thrilled to welcome Bree to the blog today to talk about why they decided to try their hand at another new genre but first let me give you a little more information about the book which releases on the 25th of August (and is already available to pre-order). I was actually lucky enough to get send an advanced copy and I LOVED it so watch out for my review on release date.

After five years, tragedy brings Hannah Casey back to Hurricane Creek to bury what’s left of her family. She’s flunking out of college, haunted by scandal, and the only person who cares is Sean Whitlow, an irresistible bad boy with a soft spot for her. The problem? He’s her dead sister’s ex.

Sean doesn’t bleed red, he bleeds motor oil. During the week, he struggles to turn his auto repair shop into a profitable business. But when Saturday night rolls around, he’s the reigning stock-car king of the local race track. He doesn’t know how to lose–or how to walk away and leave Hannah alone with her grief.

Between her grades and her wealthy family’s dark secrets, Hannah’s barely holding her life together. And the last thing Sean needs is to get tangled up with another Casey girl. As the attraction between them spins out of control, they’ll either find a love with no limits–or go up in flames.

Visit Joelle Knox's website for more information.

Now please give Bree a very warm welcome to to the blog today!

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Bree Bridges is one half of the co-writing partnership behind Joelle Knox, Kit Rocha and Moira Rogers. Together with her best friend Donna Herren, she's written over a dozen novels and over fifty novellas and short stories. Anything but Broken is their first New Adult romance.


Burnout or Bliss

It's no secret that authors are feeling the pressure to write faster and faster these days. And most of the time I don't complain—there is nothing as awesome as having readers eager to read your next story. But that pressure has a dark side—the fate that haunts authors, the word that makes us wake up at night in a cold sweat.

Burnout.

Burning out is scary. The most terrifying part is that it can happen even with a series you love. Sometimes you have to work through the burnout because you've made commitments and there's no other choice. But self-publishing gives me a little more control over my schedule, and I've realized that when I hit a wall, sometimes pushing through is the wrong move.

Which is how new series happen.

When Donna and I sat down to write our first Kit Rocha title, Beyond Shame, we weren't thinking about publishing or strategy or marketability. We were thinking, "Oh god, I'm tired. Let's just write something different." We'd been writing paranormal romance exclusively for a while, and outside stressors were making it difficult. Our brains were chugging slowly. Of every 1,000 words we managed, only 250 of them were worth a damn.

Then we started Beyond Shame. It was different. It was new. It was a complete change of pace, with a new setting and a new world and a different voice. We flew through the first book, and the energy and excitement spilled over. When it was done, we turned back to our next paranormal, excited and renewed.

Sometimes all it takes to get your creativity flowing again is a new perspective. Which is what we needed last fall when we were midway through our (in retrospect, kind of reckless) attempt to write two novels and three novellas in the same series in under a year. The words weren't coming, only this time we knew how to fix it.

And that's how Hurricane Creek came to life.

Anything but Broken is unlike anything else we've ever written. It's contemporary. It's New Adult. It's a book where the conflicts stay between two people—where the fight is against the trauma and loss of a troubled past, and the biggest danger is the secrets a broken person keeps to protect their vulnerable heart.

Writing it renewed us. It brought back my excitement and my enthusiasm. Sean and Hannah helped us fall in love with writing all over again. Which is why it's so exciting to finally share them with the world. Every book we write is the book of our hearts…but this is one of the few books that saved our hearts.

Anything but Broken by Joelle Knox comes out August 25th and is available now for pre-order.

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Thanks for stopping by and explaining your writing process Bree, I for one love that you like to switch things up a bit occasionally. I'm an O'Kane fangirl so will devour as many Beyond books as you guys care to give me but it's nice to branch out into different genres and keep things fresh. I'm already looking forward to the next two Hurrican Creek novels!

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