Interview with paranormal romance author Karen Hulene Bartell

Today’s special guest is paranormal romance author Karen Hulene Bartell to chat with me about Kissing Kin.

During her virtual book tour, Karen will be giving away a $25 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn participant. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!

Bio:
Author of the Trans-Pecos and Sacred Emblem series, Karen is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life, who writes multicultural, offbeat love stories. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved often, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her “mews”—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.

Welcome, Karen, please tell us about your new release.
Kissing Kin is the long-awaited sequel to Wild Rose Pass. A standalone read, Kissing Kin starts four generations after Wild Rose Pass leaves off. Some families inherit characteristics. Others inherit spectral characters…

Starting over after a broken engagement while she musters out of the Army, Maeve Jackson makes a detour into the past, only to spin out on black ice, and total her car.

When Luke Kaylor stops to help, they discover they’re shirt-tail cousins. A struggling vintner on a shoestring budget to convert his vineyard into a winery, Luke makes her a deal: prune grapevines in exchange for room and board.

But one eerie incident after another plague the twosome as long-forgotten ghosts (and recent exes) require their specific help in clearing names, righting wrongs, resolving misunderstandings–and ultimately finding peace.

Forgotten diaries and a haunted cabin kickstart a five-generational mystery with ancestors that have bones to pick. As carnal urges propel Maeve and Luke and into each other’s arms, they wonder: Is their attraction physical…or metaphysical?

Excerpt from Kissing Kin:
“Mind if I camp out ’til the roads clear?”

“Under the circumstances?” The clerk shook his head. “Not a problem.”

“Thanks.” He started toward the sitting room and nearly bumped into Maeve, leaning against the wall. “Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t.” She tossed her chin. “I was cat-napping.”

“Right.” He compared her guarded veneer to her sleeping-beauty persona. Which is closer to her true self?

“Couldn’t help overhearing.” Gesturing toward the clerk with her chin, she grimaced. “I’m responsible for you being out tonight–”

“No.” He shook his head. “This is just a freak storm.”

“You don’t have to sleep in a chair.” She took a deep breath and gave a quick, tight-lipped smile. “My room has two queen beds, and you’re welcome to one of ’em.”

Unsure of the extent of her invitation, he did a double take.

“Just so we understand each other, this is a bunk, a place to sack out. Period. Amen.” She spoke in a low-pitched, no-nonsense voice. “Nothing more, so don’t get any–”

“Got it.” He covered his disappointment with a laugh. “Thanks, I appreciate the offer, but I’ll be fine dozing by the fire.”

“Hey, I’ve bivouacked with soldiers in Afghanistan. We do what’s necessary under extenuating circumstances.” Shrugging, she glanced at the door. “And this blizzard qualifies.” Her face relaxed into a smile.

Her offer tempting, he compared sitting up all night to stretching out in a bed. Then he glimpsed the clerk.

“If you’re worried about my reputation, don’t be.” She laughed, the sound like sleigh bells tinkling on a crisp, wintry night.

What is it about her that conjures thoughts of other times–other eras?

What part of the writing process do you dread?
Ugh! Marketing is the nightmare to the dream of writing! Promoting my books is the hell to the heaven of authoring them. I’d much rather keep “plugging away” at finishing a chapter than “plugging” myself on social media.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, what do you do about it?\
No, I really don’t suffer from writer’s block. If my imagination starts to falter, I “play dolls” with several friends. By that, I mean I tell them my story up to that point and then say, “Go!”

Think of when you were a child, “playing dolls.” You and a friend would imagine what happens next, what your dolls do after that, where they go, and what they say.

Friends always give my stories twists and turns that I’d never dream of on my own! My counteraction to creative droughts–play dolls!

Do you ever wish you were someone else? Who?
Several times during my childhood and adolescence, my father asked me, “Why can’t you be like everyone else, Karen?”

His words made me feel barely adequate–certainly not good enough–that I lacked some essential quality possessed by everyone but me. His words hurt. My already low esteem plummeted each time he questioned me, and for most of my childhood, I tried to be a “good girl,” a “daddy’s girl,” who was just like everyone else.

However, apparently, I grew into a bit of a contrarian, doing precisely the opposite of what was expected. By High School, I became a Drama Nerd, dressing and acting the part, never quite “fitting in,” but endeavoring to be inimitably me. I also quit having conversations with my father.

So to answer the question, I never wanted to be any other particular person—but, during childhood, I did try to be just “like everyone else” for my father.

What did you do on your last birthday?
Moving–even a long-awaited move–is always traumatic, especially with three geriatric cats, a dog, a pick-up truck,  a car, and a moving van–especially when it’s your birthday–but it made for a memorable day.

My husband and I moved from the Hill Country of central Texas to the Piney Woods of northeast Texas last June. The week before we left, we ate “last-meals” at several of our favorite restaurants, then celebrated with dinner at a new restaurant the day we moved into our new place.

Feasting, packing, driving (while listening to a caterwauling choir of cats for 6.5 hours), unpacking, and then feasting some more are the highlights of my special day.

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