A warm Love Bytes welcome to Karen Stivali visiting us today on her Pride Promotions blog tour for Moment of Truth.
Karen kindly answered some questions for us on her new release and the series , she shares an excerpt and there is also a giveaway to participate in.
Welcome Karen!
Book Name: Moment of Truth
Series: Moments in Time #2
Release Date: March 4, 2015
Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24236086-moment-of-truth
Author Name: Karen Stivali
Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies, and fictional British men. She’s also the multiple award-winning author of contemporary and erotic romances. She writes novels about love…like real life, only hotter.
Karen’s lifelong fascination with people has led her to careers ranging from hand-drawn animator, to party planner, to marriage and family counselor, but writing has always been her passion. Karen enjoys nothing more than following her characters on their journey toward love. Whether the couples are m/f or m/m, it’s guaranteed that Karen’s novels are filled with food, friendship, love, and smoking hot sex—all the best things in life.
When Karen isn’t writing (and often when she is), she can be found on Twitter attempting witty banter and detailing the antics of her fruit-loving cat, BadKitteh. She loves to hear from readers (and other writers), so don’t hesitate to contact/follow/like her at the links below.
Where to find the author:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/karenstivali
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/karenstivali
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/karenstivali/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170527.Karen_Stivali
Tsu: https://www.tsu.co/KarenStivali
Blog: http://karenstivali.com
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Anna Sikorska
Blurb:
Collin expected to spend another summer fixing cars and working at the college pizzeria. Instead, he’s living in a beach house on Fire Island, waiting tables at a hip seaside restaurant and, for the first time since he and Tanner got together, they can publicly be known as boyfriends. Being “out” takes some getting used to, but with the help of new and old friends, Collin is happier than he ever imagined. And more in love. But newfound freedom brings unexpected challenges, and when friends get flirty, old insecurities arise. Moments of doubt and jealousy threaten their happiness, and Collin and Tanner must confront the truth or risk losing it all.
Categories: Bisexual, Contemporary, M/M Romance, New Adult, Romance
Buy Links:
Tell us about the Moments in Time books.
I’m super excited about this release because MOMENT OF TRUTH is the second book in my Moments In Time series. I have absolutely loved every minute that I spent writing about Collin and Tanner, the two college students who experience all the ups and downs of first love together over the course of the three books in this series. The first book in this series, MOMENT OF IMPACT (on sale this week for 99 cents!), is a coming of age/coming out story that shows how Tanner and Collin, college roommates, discover that they think of each other as a lot more than friends.
MOMENT OF TRUTH takes place a few months later, when Collin and Tanner decide to spend the summer together in the much more liberal and accepting environment of Fire Island.
This is definitely a series that’s best read in order because each book is a complete story that takes place at very different times in their relationship. There are no cliffhanger endings (I can’t stand them as a reader, so I’d never write one—I promise!), just an opportunity to watch their relationship evolve as these two young men are confronted by a variety of life’s trials.
I don’t usually title my books until I’m well into writing the story. At some point while I’m writing I’ll think of something that just “fits” and that’s never been more the case than in the series. While writing the first book it occurred to me how many specific moments there were in the story where Collin, the point-of-view character, had his life completely change. You know the kind of moments I mean. The ones where you look back on a memory and you realize that there was a specific second where something happened that altered everything that happened after it. Collin has several moments like that in book one, several experiences where the IMPACT of that one MOMENT changes everything. Hence the title MOMENT OF IMPACT.
When I decided to write more of Collin and Tanner’s story, I focused on what the defining moments would be in each phase of their relationship and that’s how the other titles were born. I loved finding the different pieces of their lives that would be so life-altering and would change them as individuals and as a couple. There are several MOMENTS OF TRUTH in book two as this couple grows and matures.
Do you have more books planned for the series?
Yes. MOMENT OF CLARITY, book three of Moments in Time, will be out in early May. This book explores the next phase of Collin and Tanner’s relationship, when they move back to their conservative university to finish their last year of college after spending the summer being out as a couple on Fire Island.
I’m also working on spin-off books for some of the secondary characters. Stay tuned for more news….
What is the hardest part about writing for you?
The hardest part of the process is the waiting. You’re always waiting for something in the writing world. Whether it’s waiting for comments from your editor or critique partner or waiting to see cover art or waiting for reviews to come in after a release or waiting for a contract on your next project there is always something making you nervous about checking your email. That perpetual anxiety is something I would happily do without, but there’s really no way to remove it from the process. You just have to wait it out, fingers crossed, and hope for the best each time.
What was your favorite subject in school? Why?
My favorite subjects were art and creative writing. I’ve always loved drawing and writing. I find it easier to focus on creative things like either of those than to study random things I’m not really interested in. That said, there really weren’t any classes I hated. I don’t enjoy math, but I’ve always been really good at it. Science and history were both interesting and I’m good at memorizing things. English was always easy for me because I’m a fast reader and I’m good at analyzing things, but I hate reading books that don’t appeal to me, so it was often a struggle to force myself to do the required reading because I always had a stack of books from the library that I WANTED to read.
What do you have coming out next?
My next release will be MOMENT OF CLARITY, the first week in May (and the paperback edition of all three of these novellas will release the same day). After that I have a late April release of LONDON CALLING—that’s a re-release of a book I co-wrote with my critique partner, Karen Booth, years ago. We got the rights back to the story and have revised it and added a brand new ending with bonus scenes. It’s a m/f contemporary romance but Tim, the hero, has a bff since childhood who is gay and married and he and his husband are in the process of adopting a baby. They’re another set of secondary characters who I enjoyed writing so much they may get their own spin-off some day soon.
His smile twitched as he started up the next staircase. The last one. The one that led to our room and nowhere else. My hearth hammered hard and fast, and not from stair climbing. I needed to touch Tanner, soon, or every part of my body from my brain to my balls was going to simultaneously combust.
Tanner pushed our door open with exaggerated care and stepped inside. Jesus, is he trying to make me crazy? All I want is to….
My back slammed against the wall, and before I could complete my thought, Tanner’s mouth was on mine. The kiss was savage, tongue hot and heavy against mine, cock hot and heavy against mine. Even through our shorts, I could feel how ready he was. My head swam.
Desperate for more, I grabbed on to him, rolling us toward the door and kicking it shut. Tanner let out a grunt as I pressed him against the hard wood. Could anyone hear us? I didn’t care. I just needed this. Tanner. Now.
As soon as I shoved his T-shirt up his ribs, he yanked it off and tossed it aside. Warm smooth skin greeted my fingertips, filling my nose with his scent. God, I missed this. My mouth returned to his, tongues dueling as my hands fumbled with his fly. I couldn’t stop rubbing against him enough to get the zipper down. Tanner grabbed my ass, crushing his cock alongside mine, humping against me with enough intensity I had to force myself not to come.
I didn’t want that. Not yet. Not standing against the door when that crazy big bed was only feet away. As if he read my mind, Tanner shoved me backward, taking advantage of the moment our bodies parted to strip off his shorts. I tugged off my shirt, and before I could launch it across the room, Tanner had my shorts undone and down. Kicking them away put me off-balance, and Tanner steadied me with one hand clutching the back of my neck and the other wrapped around my cock.
Whimpers echoed through the room. My whimpers. His thumb slicked over my swollen head, round and round in circles that left me dizzy and panting.
“Let’s try out the bed.” Tanner’s voice was low and thick. I’d have said yes to anything he asked with that voice.
I couldn’t actually say a word, so I nodded and pulled us down onto the mattress. Holy Jesus. Soft cool sheets, warm hard body, wet velvety tongue. Heaven. Fire Island was heaven.
Pages or Words: 150 pages
Tour Dates & Stops:
4-Mar
5-Mar
The Fuzzy, Fluffy World of Chris T. Kat
6-Mar
9-Mar
Rafflecopter Prize: $20 gift card
A moment that changed life as I saw it was when I was told 11 years ago I was having a girl! I had convinced myself she was a he! I guess I was so stunned my sister said “it’s a girl, Suzie, not an alien!” So, needless to say, I was blessed with my healthy munchkin and I have never though about that crazy revelation until your comment question! Congrats on the new release, I can’t wait to read the series 🙂
Moment that changed my life… Well, I wanted to study Medicine and become a doctor, but then my parents died before I even graduated from high school.
I love New Adult books because it’s a glimpse into the kind of life I wish I could have had. Recently bought Moment of Impact and looking forward to the rest of the series.