Lexi: She eases our addiction to tattoos and smexy alpha men one book at a time. Welcome author of the Hard Ink series, Laura Kaye!
LOL! I love that! Thanks so much for having me here to celebrate the release of Hard to Hold On To!
Lexi: All of us here at Reading Between the Wines love your Hard Ink series. Well, we really can't limit our book love to just this series but for today we will pretend. Have you been pleased with readers’ reactions to the Hard Ink guys? Has it been what you expected?
Aw, man, yes! Reader reaction has been amazing and I’m just so thrilled that everyone is loving the world of Hard Ink and all the characters in it—including the puppy! LOL What I expected? I don’t know! I’m not sure if you ever expect the kind of awesomeness I’ve experienced with this series. The fact that readers are so equally divided between which of the Hard Ink men they love the most, for example, or how incredibly popular Jeremy Rixey turned out to be—a secondary character I never intended to play as central of a role as he’s turned out to play. I love surprises like that! And I’m also not sure I expected to find it just so hard to let go of the series—I’m writing the last full-length novel now and I don’t want it to end!
Lexi: I know I wasn't expecting all of these amazing men. I remember reading and the moment they all arrived to help out their friend, their brother. Ooh. Goosebumps! How do you write these guys so well and have us feel their affection/anger/elation they experience with one another?
It’s always about characters, for me. That’s what I love to read, so that’s what I love to write. The guys are always easiest for me. I don’t know why. But they always speak to me the most clearly and I just adore writing tortured heroes and bromance! And I just love all of the Hard Ink men!
Lexi: Easy was a favorite that I hoped would get his day to find love. Ok, again pretending to only have one favorite...but where would one stop!? Easy makes your heart break a little. What was your favorite thing about writing Easy?
I liked a lot of things about writing Easy and his story. I liked that I could finally get into his head—not that it wasn’t a difficult place to be, but he’d been so quiet to me as a character through a lot of the earlier writing. It wasn’t until mid-way through writing Hard As You Can (Hard Ink #2), that I first realized that Easy was depressed and suffering from PTSD. Then I realized why he was always so quiet, so separate from the others. I loved his blend of sweet and hard. I loved his strength in asking for help. And, as a writer, I loved that his story might help someone else.
Lexi: You have a knack for writing strong secondary characters. Works out rather nicely for you when you can branch out into a series. The overall story arc and the Church gang seem well planned out. Do you have plans for the rest of the series, or will you just let the guys tell their stories as they come to you?
I don’t generally plot too much out, but with the Hard Ink series, my process has been a little different. Because the suspense plot arcs over all the books, I’ve had to plot out what parts of it will be revealed when and how to set those things up in earlier books. So the remaining books are definitely planned out. But that doesn’t mean there might not be some storytelling for additional secondary characters left to do! *winks*
Lexi: As always Laura, we LOVE having you stop by and wish we could ply you with enough wine to stay and spill all the secrets of the Hard Ink men. Congrats on the recent release! And we hope you will be back soon with another book!
Yay! Thanks so much for being here – I always love the opportunity to come visit you guys! I have plenty more on the horizon! The 10-author Tall, Dark, and Paranormal box set that includes my vampire romance, Forever Freed, is coming out on September 16. I’m re-releasing my erotic romance, Just Gotta Say, on October 14, and the next Hard Ink book, Hard to Come By, releases November 25! Woot! *grins*
Hard to Hold on To
(Hard Ink #2.5)
by Laura Kaye
Published August 19th 2014 by Avon Impulse
Edward "Easy" Cantrell knows better than most the pain of not being able to save those he loves--which is why he is not going to let Jenna Dean out of his sight. He may have just met her, but Jenna's the first person to make him feel alive since that devastating day in the desert more than a year ago.
Jenna has never met anyone like Easy. She can't describe how he makes her feel--and not just because he saved her life. No, the stirrings inside her reach far beyond gratitude.As the pair are thrust together while chaos reigns around them, they both know one thing: the things in life most worth having are the hardest to hold on to.
Other Books in the Hard Ink Series:
Hard to Come By (11/25/14)
Hard to Be Good (3/10/15)
Hard to Let Go (7/28/15)
About Laura Kaye:
Laura is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over a dozen books in contemporary and paranormal romance. Growing up, Laura’s large extended family believed in the supernatural, and family lore involving angels, ghosts, and evil-eye curses cemented in Laura a life-long fascination with storytelling and all things paranormal. She lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.
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Congratulations Laura on the release of HARD TO HOLD ON TO.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview and giveaway. Thanks for everything you do !!!!
Aw, that's awesome! Thanks so much Sandy! :)
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