BLOG TOUR: Blackness Takes Over by Norma Jeanne Karlsson

Welcome to the Official Blog Tour for Blackness Takes Over by Norma Jeanne Karlsson.

Genre:

Mystery Romance

Publish Date:

January 3, 2014

Publisher:

It's Publishing

Synopsis:

Shannon Kelly’s life has been anything but typical.

Her life has been altered viciously at the hands of others twice.

However horrible they have been, it’s these changes that have given her a family and career…now possibly love.

The last thirteen years she has been supported and loved by her protector, her entertainer, and her comforter, but never a lover.

When Dylan Kellerman enters Shannon’s life he changes its course in more ways than one.

He gives her hope and promise of a future she was convinced wasn’t attainable.

Just as she begins to believe she has finally turned her life into something she can build a future on…blackness takes over.

   

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*Interview with Norma Jeanne Karlsson*

1. Thank you for taking the time for this interview! I thought we could start with the all-too-common question, especially for readers who are new to your books, what inspired you to become a writer? When did you know you wanted to become a writer?

First let me start by saying thank you for hosting a stop on my blog tour. I’ve always been a person that wrote. I wrote the most in high school and considered pursuing English or Literature at university but instead followed a degree path in developmental psychology. Once at university my creative/fictional writing came to a halt as my academic writing and research took up all of my time (and brain power).

I’m a voracious reader and that placated my need for stories in my life for years. One day I started forming a dialogue in my head. I kept thinking through the same conversation over and over. Finally, I just had a story that needed to come out. So in September 2013 I sat down at the computer and let it flow. I wrote 10,000 words that day and within about five weeks Blackness Takes Over was complete.

2. What literary works and/or authors have made an impression on you in regards to your writing?

I’ve been influenced by a great many writers. I love a lot of classics in Dickens, Poe, the Brontë sisters, Twain…the list could go on forever. Current authors I enjoy are Kristen Ashley, Dan Brown, Nora Roberts, Linda Howard, Helen Fielding, James Patterson…again the list could go on.

3. What is your writing process: do you write when inspiration hits you or do you isolate yourself and write hours one end?

I do both actually. I have to get in a groove to write which requires hours of isolation. I need to know what I’m writing for that to work though. I don’t just purge thoughts on paper. When I sit at the computer I have a goal in mind and bang away at it until my fingers are numb most days. Luckily as of late I’ve been very inspired so I’ve been in my office like a hermit typing away for weeks.

4. When you're not writing, what are you doing?

I’m currently completing a Master’s degree so that takes up a lot of my time when I’m not writing. But my main focus is on my three boys. Two of my children have special needs. While special needs children offer their own unique challenges working with them and watching them succeed is the most rewarding piece of my life. So before my education and my writing my family and their needs are the focus of my every day.

5. What gave you the idea or inspiration to write Blackness Takes Over? How many more books in the Blackness series can we anticipate in the future? 

Relationships fueled Blackness Takes Over. I was a bit homesick and thinking about all of the relationships I’d had in my life back home. The more I thought about people the more the story of intertwined lives and love came to me.

I’ve just completed Blackness Awaits, book two in the series. I’m not sure how many more books I’ll write. I love the characters I’ve created and would like to see some of their stories come to life. At this point I’ll wait and see how readers react and if they want the series to continue.

6. Which character(s) in this series were your favorite to write? Which one(s) was the hardest?

My favorite character is Aaron Kavanagh (Kavy)! I love his character so much that I wish he was a real person. I didn’t have a hard time with any of the characters in BTO. Everyone had a place and a face that was easy for me to imagine and grow.

7. If you could be any of your characters, who would you be?

If I could be anyone it would probably be Ryan Callaghan (Cally). He’s quiet and thoughtful and funny. I’d probably want to be him because I’m the most like him.

8. What are you currently working on? What can we, readers, expect in the near future?

I just finished Blackness Awaits which is going through editing right now. I’m looking forward to its release in April.

9. What prompted you to relocate to the United Kingdom?

My husband’s career moved us to the UK. My husband is Swedish and wanted our family to return to Europe. With two of our children having special needs we needed to be in an English speaking country so the UK or Ireland were our only options. So we ended up in Belfast making the strange compromise between Irish and British.

10. What differences did you notice between life in the United Kingdom versus life in the United States?

Everything is just a little different is the best way I can describe it. You’d think things would be quite similar between the two countries and they are, yet they’re different all the same.

I miss the costumer service of the States the most. And I love the more relaxed atmosphere of the UK.

11. What books have you read and enjoyed recently?

The Rosie Project by Graeme C. Simsion and Last Hit by Jessica Clare and Jen Frederick.

12. I have a lot of friends who are aspiring writers, what advice would you give them?

Write what you love. Writing is a process that works differently for everyone. I don’t think there’s a magic formula. If you write to fit somewhere or to please a certain readership you’ll struggle. Readers can tell how you felt when you wrote. If you write what you love and work at it, you’re setting yourself up for the greatest outcome.

Thank you again for taking the time for this interview.

**About the Author**

Blackness Takes Over is Norma Jeanne Karlsson’s debut novel. What began as an homage to the home town of a homesick Midwestern girl, unfolded a story of love, danger, humor, and trust. She’s currently working on her untitled sophomore effort. We can’t wait to see what thrilling saga she leads us through next!

Originally from Kansas City, Missouri, Norma Jeanne recently found herself relocating to the United Kingdom. Now living in Belfast, she took hold of the opportunity to kick the 9-5 job for a chance to become an author. The best part: working from her home office, she gets to spend more time with her cast of crazy characters (written and real).

In her free time Norma Jeanne is a voracious reader and consumes books as readily as meals. She is a people watcher by nature and uses her experiences in life, observed or otherwise, to build the worlds and characters that thrive in her books. A believer in the strength of the human spirit, Norma Jeanne writes the stories of people that persevere when all appears to be lost.

“Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” –Dylan Thomas

Stay connected with Norma Jeanne Karlsson

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