Amelia Kingston - Hate/Love Romance With a lot of Banter

Amelia Kingston - Hate/Love Romance With a lot of Banter
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Amelia Kingston is many things, the most interesting of which are probably California girl, writer, traveler, and dog mom. She survives on chocolate, coffee, wine, and sarcasm. Not necessarily in that order. She’s been blessed with a patient husband who’s embraced her nomad ways and traveled with her to over 30 countries across 5 continents (I’m coming for you next, Antarctica!). She’s also been cursed with an impatient (although admittedly adorable) terrier who pouts when her dinner is 5 minutes late. She writes about strong, stubborn, flawed women and the men who can't help but love them. Her irreverent books aim to be silly and fun with the occasional storm cloud to remind us to appreciate the sunny days. As a hopeless romantic, her favorite stories are the ones that remind us all that while love is rarely perfect, it’s always worth chasing. As our Author of the Day, she tells us all about her book, Truce? Hating Elijah Monroe.

Please give us a short introduction to what Truce? Hating Elijah Monroe is about.

Truce? is really about how blind we can all be to love and where to find it. Harper thinks she can't have Elijah, so she spends her life running from the feelings she can't control. She's so busy keeping her guard up she misses the painfully obvious truth hitting her in the face every time Elijah looks at her.

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What inspired you to write about a girl who has to move back to her hometown?

I travel a lot and while I love getting to explore new cities and meet new people, there is something special about coming home. The familiarity and memories are always so strong. They take me back to those carefree days when I used to chase butterflies and jump off the swings. I love the feeling of coming home and wanted to share that with my readers.

Why did you pick a claustrophobically small town as the backdrop for this story?

Small towns let you shrink the world down and really dig into the nooks and crannies. I wanted the reader to feel like they knew this town and these people like they were the nosy neighbor poking their head out the window to watch the antics. And small-town California is just so kitschy. I love the hundreds of adorable gold rush towns that line my home state. (I've added an image of the town I based my story on...)

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Tell us more about the cover and how it came about.

I absolutely adore this cover. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted, an image of a teacher and firefighter toe-to-toe in a play-fight, dripping with sexual tension. But I told my cover designer about the story and she came back with this simple sweet cover that I instantly fell in love with. It's original and unique. The burning heart, the whimsical sky, the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. It is so subtle and sweet, it just works. I didn't change a thing about it.

Besides writing, what other secret skills do you have?

I am crafty. I love to sew and knit and cross-stitch. I also paint when I have the time. Name a craft and I've probably given it a go at some point. I'm also horrible at finishing projects. I've got a dozen or so half-finished projects taunting me as we speak.

Why a stepbrother romance? What drew you to the genre?

Step-siblings is such an interesting relationship. I love the idea of forced proximity, of having someone in your home and in your life that you can't get away from. Having Elijah be Harper's step-brother means she'll never get away from him or the feelings she keeps trying to deny.

Your book contains a lot of humor and banter. Why do you take this approach?

The world is a scary place, more so than ever right now. I read to escape and I think a lot of my readers do the same. So I write to make people laugh. If my book makes one person a little bit happier, at the end of the day I call that a victory.

What makes Harper and Eli such a great match?

I think Harper and Eli are a great match because they are both so stubborn. If they can manage to turn that determination to staying together rather than pushing themselves apart, they'd be unstoppable.

Are any of the characters in the book based on real people?

I think all of my characters have a little bit of me in them, and Harper certainly has a fair share of my more obnoxious pig-headed qualities. Eli is based on my first crush, he's-out-of-my-league-but-I-can't-stop-staring kind of guy. I think everyone had that guy in high school that you daydreamed about. That's Eli.

Do you ever have days when writing is a struggle?

Writing is always a struggle. Some days it sounds about as much fun as cleaning my bathroom with my toothbrush. I live in my head most of the time, playing my stories over and over like my own personal sitcom in my brain. I sit down and write when the stories get so loud I can't do anything else but let them pour out onto paper.

Do you have any interesting writing habits? What is an average writing day like for you?

I give myself a time quota rather than a word quota because it seems less daunting. I'll set up my space, wherever I'm going to write for the day, with everything I'll need so I don't have any excuse to get distracted. I'll have my snacks, my water (or wine depending on the day), my story outline, and my music. I HAVE to have music playing when I'm writing. It's just enough of a distraction to keep me focused if that makes sense. I'll set an hour-long timer on my phone and then just write. I force myself to sit there and keep writing. I don't double back, I don't re-read, I don't question. I just write. Then after an hour, I'll get up, stretch, and think about what comes next. I'll try to get a 3-5 one-hour session during a standard writing day. Some times I'll get half a book written in that time. Some times it's barely a chapter. That's the life of a writer.

What are you working on right now?

Right now I'm writing the next book in this series, Noah and Alisha's story. I love both of their characters. They are so different. Noah is quiet and steadfast. Alisha is boisterous and flighty. Locking them in a room (or in this case, an apartment) and watching the sparks fly has been so much fun!

Where can our readers discover more of your work or interact with you?

I love hearing from my readers! I'm on Facebook and Instagram the most sharing stupid memes and lame jokes, but the best place to get book news and exclusive content is to join my newsletter here:

https://www.authorameliakingston.com/newsletter

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FEATURED AUTHOR - After graduating from Duke University, Glen Dawson owned and operated a flexible packaging manufacturing plant for 23 years. Then, he sold the factory and went back to school to get his Master's degree in biostatistics from Boston University. When he moved to North Carolina, he opened an after-school learning academy for advanced math students in grades 2 through 12. After growing the academy from 30 to 430 students, he sold it to Art of Problem Solving. Since retiring from Art of Problem… Read more