Today I am so pleased to welcome K.A. Mitchell to Joyfully Jay. K.A. has come to talk to us about her latest release, Put a Ring on It (Ready or Knot Book 1). She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Put a Ring on It Blog Tour

Confessions of a Serial Addict 

Lucky Charms would absolutely be my choice for last meal, none of your off-brand nonsense either. Though lately I’ve been partial to Raisin Bran Crunch.

Oops. Wait. That’s a different blog.

Sorry. I’m also addicted to puns.

As a consumer of fiction, I’m pretty much like everyone else. When I find a series, a world I like, I binge. I inhale all the books or TV episodes there are to find in that world. I fall in hard. If I’m really addicted, I go digging for fanfic. I’m the kind of person who—pre-ereader days—would take a bit of personal time from work for an “appointment” which was actually me being at the bookstore on Tuesday when the next book in a favorite series came out. (I needed He Shall Thunder in the Sky so desperately after the agony of The Falcon at the Portal.)

But as a writer, my serial experience has been really different. The first time I ever wrote a sequel—or a connected book for a series—it was because Joey Miller would not. Shut. Up. (If you’ve met Joey, you know how seriously impossible shutting him up is.) I’m very glad I didn’t make him stop because I got to enjoy telling that story, and it’s one of my bestselling books. Thank you, Joey and readers. You’re the reason for the Florida Series. I had another Joey-moment with Bad in Baltimore. There was a single story about Nate and Kellan and then there was Eli, and this time I knew better than to tell him to shut up. Eli led me to other characters who also needed to be part of this found family, and I kept returning to that theme. Five books later, I’m still not done with them.

But both those series were really random, characters who floated in on an association with another character and took form in my head. I wanted to write something where the players were all there at the beginning, the bonds of the family of friends already in place. I wanted to give myself and my readers that anticipation of a building story, where there’s something coming, and you kind of know what it is but not what it will be. I knew if I could find the right story, I could have that thrill of waiting breathlessly for the next book, and I hoped I could give it to my readers too.

At the same time, marriage equality was spreading from state to state. My wanting to tell that kind of story connected with the new opportunities for couples to get married. I saw a scene unfold and chomp! The plot bunny bit!

The scene played out in my head. It was a delightfully angsty trainwreck and I had to dig in and find out why and how it happened. After some digging around, I knew I had the opening to the last book in the series, and I knew it took place at a wedding ceremony. Now I had to figure out how to get there.

While wandering around online, I saw a video of a flashmob proposal and chomp went another bunny. This would be the opening scene for the first book. I worked on the characters, digging deep into their back stories and finding out what they wanted and what they were afraid of. I knew how they’d all met and their complicated history as friends and lovers.

But just because it was my first planned series didn’t mean I didn’t still have a lot to discover. Even people you think you know surprise you, and the guys had lots of surprises for me. I’m working on the third book now, and I’m so excited to tell this story.

In fact, I can’t wait to share these new characters with you. You’ll meet the four of them on the first page of Put a Ring on It. I hope you’ll be as interested in seeing how things work out for them as I am. And thanks Theo, Jax, Dane and Gideon for filling my head with a whole series like this. You guys are awesome imaginary friends. I think I’ll keep you.

I’d love to give away a $7 US gift card to the e-book retailer of your choice (assuming that retailer offers them). Comment below and tell me what you like about book series in order for a chance to win.


Blurb

Put a Ring on ItKieran Delaney-Schwartz—adoptee, underachiever, and self-professed-slacker IT guy—lives his under-the-radar life by the motto: Don’t try, don’t fail. His adopted siblings are all overachievers thanks to his driven, liberal parents, but Kieran has elected to avoid disappointing anyone by not getting their hopes up. He’s coasting through his early twenties when he’s hit head-on by Theo. The successful decade-older Broadway producer sweeps him off his feet for a whirlwind thirteen months that are pretty sweet, until it all comes screeching to a halt on Valentine’s Day, with an unexpected proposal via an NYC Times Square flash mob.

Now everyone wants in on the wedding, except the grooms….


Bio

At a very early age, K.A. Mitchell decided that Ken and G.I. Joe made a much cuter couple than Ken and Barbie and was perplexed when invitations to play Barbie fell off sharply. Today she still loves hanging out with imaginary friends and making up stories. Even better, people pay her to read about them. Now the author of over twenty gay romances, she guarantees happy endings for even the surliest of heroes, despite all their baggage.


Giveaway

K.A. has brought a $7 gift card to the eretailer of the winner’s choice to give away to one lucky reader. Just leave a comment at the end of the post to enter (KA would love to know why love book series). The contest ends on Saturday, September 12th at 11:59 pm EST.

  • By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
  • Winners will be selected by random number. No purchase necessary to win.  The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning.
  • If you win, you must respond to my email within 48 hours or another winner may be chosen. Please make sure that your spam filter allows email from Joyfully Jay.
  • Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
  • Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize.
  • All book prizes are in electronic format unless otherwise specified.
  • By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
  • Readers may only enter once for each contest.  Duplicate entries for the same giveaway will be ignored. In the event of technical problems with the blog during the contest, every effort will be made to extend the contest deadline to allow for additional entries.
  • Void where prohibited by law.
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