Please welcome Karen Amanda Hooper, author of Tangled Tides: The Sea Monster Memoirs, to the blog!
Karen, How long did it take you from idea to publishing your novel?
It was long and winding road. I started writing Tangled Tides (although it had a different working title) about three years ago. I wrote it, had critique partners read it, and revised it within a year. I queried agents for about 6 months, but received no offers of representation so I shelved it and worked on a different project. A year later I discussed self-publishing Tangled Tides because it broke my heart to know it was collecting dust. My friend suggested I submit it to her publisher, Rhemalda, and a few weeks later I had a book deal. Less than 5 months after signing the contract it’s being released. I went from no track to fast track. It’s been crazy, but exciting
That's great you took up her suggestion. :) Are you a plotter or pantser?
I’m a pantser all the way. Plotting ahead of time brings my creativity to a halt. Just thinking about creating an outline makes my head hurt.
As a plotter, I sometimes don't understand you pantsers, but that's okay. We can still be friends. What are you writing now or have forthcoming?
I’m working on book 2 of The Sea Monster Memoirs (the follow-up to Tangled Tides).
I also have a different supernatural series that I’d like to see published in the future, and two other book ideas that I’ve started. I’ve got so many story ideas that I can’t keep up with all of them.
Yay for a sequel. I know what you mean about having so many ideas. I always find it interesting to learn what other authors are reading. If you could recommend a book—not your own—what book would that be?
Ooooh, that’s a tough one because I’ve read some really great ones lately. One book that isn’t getting the attention it deserves is Solstice by PJ Hoover. I loved her twist on mythology and the romance is hotter than Hades.
I've heard very good things about PJ Hoover's Solstice. I need to add it to my TBR list. I look forward from more works from you and wish you the best, Karen.
Tangled Tides: The Sea Monster Memoirs
Karen Amanda Hooper
Rhemalda Publishing (November
25)
Description: Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea
monsters—until she becomes one.
When a
hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself
tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies.
Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and
opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it
should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something
far more precious.
Treygan, the
stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice
everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as
Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has
her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she might open the gateway
to a love that’s deeper than the oceans.
Young Adult
fans of Mermaids, Selkies, Sirens and Gorgons will love this tale of the
sacrifice one makes for genuine love. Love that could be lost at any moment to
the ever-changing tides.
Karen was born and bred in Baltimore, frolicked and froze in Colorado for a
couple of years and is currently sunning and splashing around Florida with her
two beloved dogs. She's addicted to coffee, chocolate and complicated happily-ever-afters.
Karen has been making up
stories for as long as she can remember, but it wasn’t until her late twenties
that she wrote her first novel. Due to her strong Disney upbringing, she still
believes in fairytales and will forever sprinkle magic throughout all of her
novels.
