AOTW- Kari Thomas

Kari Thomas

About the author

"..I'm a professed Book-A-Holic and have ALOT of books. Okay, I'm confessing here that my TBB (To Be Bought) List growsall the time! It’s an addiction I'm proud to own up to! LOL! I've been writing since I was old enough to understand the words, as my mother taught me to read and write before I started school. I wrote my first "book" (a 5 page story about a cat who loved to get into trouble) at the age of 5 yrs. Then, at 13 I completed a 300 page teen romance mystery. Imagine my disappointment when it was rejected. But that didn't stop me.

After attending College and studying Child Psychology for my Major, I decided what I REALLY wanted to do was WRITE. I blame it on my too-active imagination. With a confusing array of characters and ideas always running through my mind, I had no choice but to sit down and try to make sense out of each one. My first 'official' book wrote with publication in mind, was TEMPTATION UNLEASHED. I worked on and off with it for several years. With a dear friend (who was also writing her own book) I made the commitment to write each week. Together, we managed to complete
our books and learn as we went along. I submitted and.... WOW...was immediately accepted! I was on Cloud Nine!


Unfortunately, the publishing company went bankrupt later that year due to
mismanagement and my "baby" was held in bankruptcy court as an "asset" for almost a year. Then, when my Rights were finally returned, I submitted to Samhain Publishing and it was accepted there. It received a new Cover (a 'wow' done by well-known Cover Artist Natalie Winters) and as they say: "The rest is history!"  It continues to be a BEST Seller and I'm still so proud of my first baby!  Later, I published 2 Shorts, Epilogues, for the Secondary Characters. "The Christmas Chapter" is Gavin and Lena's Love Story, and "Soul's Choice" is Riana’s Love Story.  Contact me for a FREE copy.


To read full bio on author go to her website here.

Interview with Kari Thomas

Kari Thomas is an author of paranormal romance with title such as, Temptation Unleashed, Hunted Mate, Prey for the Wolf and eight other titles.

Holly: Hello, Kari! Would you care to tell us a little bit about yourself?

Kari Thomas: Along with being an Author, I'm also a Freelance Editor and a Book Reviewer for several major publishing houses (Brava, Avon, Signet, etc). Anything to do with Reading and Writing makes me a happy camper!

Holly: On your bio it says you are a professed bookaholic, something I highly understand! When did you first realize that you where a bookaholic?

Kari Thomas: When I was a child I always asked for books as gifts. When I started noticing that I couldn't go a day without reading, then I started obsessing over what books I didn't already have. Okay, so I was an unusual child! LOL!

Holly: You wrote your first book a short story you said about a cat that loved to get in trouble when you were five. I know I am not the only one who is going ‘wow’ at that. Do you still have the story, I wonder? If not do you know what ever happened to it?

Kari Thomas: Sadly, the story didn't survive the many hurricanes I went through over the years ('m a native Floridian though I now live in the Southwest). But I do remember the little female cat go into so much trouble that a little boy cat had to rescue her eventually. Ahhh, my first romance!

Holly: At 13 you completed a 300 page teen romance mystery, which you go on to state was rejected much to your disappointment. I am curious; did you go on to try to get it accepted later on after the first rejection or when you were older maybe?

Kari Thomas: I was so disappointed that I hid it away in my closet. Of course, it later became a hurricane victim too when we lost our entire house. I still remember the characters and what it was about. Maybe some day I'll try re-writing it.

Holly: Your first novel that you published was Temptation Unleashed, would you tell us a little bit about it and where you got your inspiration for it from?

Kari Thomas: My first baby! It's still my Bestseller even today. I was co-writing a fantasy with a friend (we were experimenting and learning to write at the same time) and I kept having this hero pop into my head. He wouldn't stop bothering me. Turns out he was a Cougar Shapeshifter and head of an unusual shifter family (each member was a different animal). I kept trying to think of a perfect heroine for him and kept throwing out ideas. Until it finally came to me: Why not make the heroine something that he hates? A Witch. And why not make the heroine hate his kind? She's deathly afraid of animals. Their story and conflict was born. They shared a niece who is half shifter and half witch and both want custody. But first they have to fight the temptation of their feelings for each other AND fight an Evil intent on destroying the shifters.

Holly: After you wrote it and it got accepted immediately but then the publishing company that accepted it went bankrupt and you didn’t get your rights back to it for almost a year. What where your feelings at the time; sadness, loss, anger?

Kari Thomas: It was a horrible experience to go through. I was so excited about my first book and then disaster strikes and all the excitement is drained away. But I did learn a valuable lesson --and that was to thoroughly check out each publisher I ever want to submit to before I submit. I will never go blindly into a publishing agreement again without knowing for certain that the company is strong AND honest. I recommend that to every author.

Holly: Did you keep writing right after it happened or did you have a hard time?

Kari Thomas: I kept writing and then submitted my second book HUNTED MATE to Black Lyon Publishing. This is a wonderful publisher and her reputation is spotless.

Holly: From what I can tell the last book you published was in 2010 in November and that was the anthology you participated in, Just One Bite: Volume three. Can you tell us a little about your story in the anthology?

Kari Thomas: It's the perfect (PURR-FECT!!) story for Halloween. "Purr-fect Timing" is about a witch who is being punished by the Coven for a huge mistake and she ends up getting a Halloween treat that shocks her. It's also FREE from ARe (All Romance Ebooks)

Holly: Why paranormal romance?—though you do have one contemporary I believe called, Hold Onto the Night.

Kari Thomas: I love the limitless possibilities that the Paranormal genre has. You can build your own world, make your own rules, and Readers love those "extra special heroes". "Hold Onto The Night" is my only Contemporary but I think the hero in this one is just as sexy as any Alpha I've written in my other books. This is a very sensuous story about a one-night stand that turns into something more.

Holly: Do you ever think you might branch into contemporary again or even YA or any other genre beside paranormal romance?

Kari Thomas: Anything is possible! I have a very active imagination and can't write fast enough to get all the stories out. I'm even considering a few Non Fiction books too.....!

Holly: You have other titles that we have not touched on, Her Heart His Soul, Spell-Kissed, Under a Shifter’s Moon, Soul’s Choice; just to name a few. Where can we purchase your novels from?

Kari Thomas: SPELL-KISSED www.blacklyonpublishing.com

     HER HEART HIS SOUL www.bookstrandpublishing.com

     UNDER A SHIFTER'S MOON www.blacklyonpublishing.com

     HUNTED MATE www.blacklyonpublishing.com

     PREY FOR THE WOLF www.eternalpress.ca

     SEDUCING THE HERO www.eternalpress.ca

     HOLD ONTO THE NIGHT www.allromanceebooks.com

     TEMPTATION UNLEASHED www.samhainpublishing.com

     SLOAN'S WITCH Amazon, Barnes and Noble, ARe, Smashwords for ONLY 0.99!!

And two FREE Stories associated with Temptation Unleashed: "Soul's Choice" and "The Christmas Chapter" are available by sending me an email.

Holly: Are you working on anything at the moment? Do you have plans for future novels?

Kari Thomas: I'm into chapter twelve of my next Paranormal Romance but will have to put it on hold for a few weeks while I do Final Edits on my next Release (SURRENDER HER TOUCH) due out Dec 7 with Eternal Press. And I'm working on another Short that I plan to Self Publish like I did with SLOAN'S WITCH. (BTW, Sloan's Witch is a Sequel to Spell-Kissed but can be read alone).

Holly: Do you have anything you would like to say to your readers?

Kari Thomas: A HUGE THANKS for all the support and your wonderful emails. I went through a very difficult time this past year and was out of the writing scene for a long time. But my Readers kept buying my books, kept posting great Reviews, and sent me emails. You're all so precious to me!

Holly: Can you name us a few of your favorite books—one bookaholic to another? ;)

Kari Thomas: LOL---that's putting me on the spot! Hmm. How about a few classics? "Gone With The Wind", JRR Tolkien's "Lord of The Rings" books.......

Holly: Thank you so much for doing this interview with me; it is a pleasure to have you on my blog, Kari!

Kari Thomas: A BIG THANK YOU, Holly, for giving me this opportunity!

Books by Kari Thomas

Spell-Kissed

Under a Shifters Moon

Hunted Mate

Temptation Unleashed

Her Heart His Soul

Seducing the Hero

Prey for the Wolf

Hold Onto the Night

Short Stories

Sloan’s Witch--Sequel to Spell-Kissed, but can be read alone.

Purr-fect Timing—Free in Just One Bite, Volume Three anthology
The Christmas Chapter
Soul's Choice

Anthologies

Just One Bite, Volume Three—Free

Coming soon
Surrender Her Touch--Expected Publication Date: December 7th 2011 from Eternal Press 

Awards
*2009 BEST PARANORMAL ROMANCE AUTHOR award
Spell-Kissed
*2010 BEST ALL AROUND BOOK AWARD

Under a Shifters Moon

*2009 BEST SHIFTER BOOK AWARD

*PNR Reviewer Top Pick
*PNR Top Staff Top Pick

Hunted Mate

*2008 Golden Rose BEST Erotica Winner

Temptation Unleashed

*BEST SELLER! FIVE ***** Stars/Roses/Flames Reviews

Her Heart His Soul

*2009 BEST ALL AROUND BOOK AWARD

You can also find Kari at:
Goodreads
Her website

Kari Thomas has offered to giveaway a CD of four eBook short stories!


Giveaway Details

• Giveaway is open to US only.
• Giveaway will run from October 3rd 2011 - October 17th 2011
• Giveaway winner will be chosen randomly and announced on October 18th 2011
• The winner will have 48 hours to contact back before another winner will be chosen.
• One entry per-person please!
• If you enter, you are acknowledging that you read and accept the giveaway/contest policy.
• Giveaway is provided by the author.

To Enter

• Go to the giveaway post.