Friday, September 13, 2013

Celebrating Author R.K Ryals


My interview with the lovely R.K.Ryals
1. Have you always wanted to be a writer?
I've always wanted to be a writer. I honestly can't think of a time when I have ever wanted to be anything else. There were times when I was interested in different things; astronomy, dinosaurs, history, etc, but I always wanted to write about them, to make up stories about amazing adventures.
2. How did you come up with the idea for The Redemption Series?
The Redemptions series was actually born off a flipping coin. While flipping a coin to help decide an argument, the lines "I wasn't just tied to the beast, we were somehow part of the same person. The freakishly opposite sides of the same fucking coin." came to me, and the entire series is built off those two lines. It's a story about good being connected to evil, about the grey area between good and evil.
3. What are you working on now?
Currently, I am working on Possessed, the second book in the Thorne Trilogy.
4. What do you think makes a great story?
World building, dialogue, characters, and emotion. It's easy to create characters, a setting, and even a plot, but it's harder to make those characters, the setting, and the plot into something three dimensional, taking it from your mind and molding it into very real characters with real emotions. I think if a story has engaging dialogue with convincing emotions and real surroundings (even if the surroundings are made up), then a story comes to life and carries the reader away.
5. Do you have a favorite author, or an author that inspires you?
Too many. I am honestly most inspired by classic literature. I think having a good foundation in literature and English is a great way to build better writing. It's no secret I'm a Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte fan. They truly inspire me. One molded modern romance, the other defined gothic romance. But I am also a fan of authors like Edgar Allen Poe and Dostoevsky because they wrote brilliant stories that take readers to wild places. As for modern authors, I like Maggie Stiefvater, Marissa Meyer, Karen Marie Moning, Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, and the list goes forever on. lol.
6. What is your fondest childhood memory?
This is a hard one. I have a lot of fond childhood memories, but I think my favorite is a Christmas memory, a Christmas when my parents were unable to buy us any gifts. My mother was such an amazing woman who taught me that life isn't about what we get, it's about giving and sharing, and about dreaming and dreaming hard. My mother made it the most beautiful Christmas ever that year. She decorated with whatever she could find, baked whatever she could, and played a ton of Christmas music and made a lot of hot cocoa. Christmas morning, my sister and I woke to find a ton of presents and food that had been left in the middle of the night by people who knew my parents. It was the most beautiful and amazing thing I have ever experienced and has stuck with me since. And it taught me that giving is one of the best things that people can do, even when they don't believe they have anything to give.
7. What were you like in high school?
I was a geek, plain and simple. lol. I was such a Star Wars, Jane Austen, coffee shop, writing, and book nerd, and I loved it. I was also pretty shy.
8. What are some of your hobbies or passions?
Writing, reading, coffee. LOL. I also like tattoos and sweets. I love old black and white movies, root beer, and eating icing like ice cream. I adore baggy sweatshirts (weirdly collegiate ones), love paranormal stuff, love history, and I love to cook.
9. Do you have a favorite restraunt or type of food?
I love Asian food and Italian.
10. Do you believe in "love at first sight"?
I believe in attraction and lust at first sight. I think that a person can know pretty immediately whether or not they have a connection to someone, but I don't believe it's possible to love someone just by looking at them. I think that comes with time, with conversation, hand holding, and shared experiences.
11. If you could have any supenatural power, what would it be and why?
To be able to grant wishes. I think it would be amazing to have the ability to be able to grant people's wishes.
12. What would your superhero name be?
Eeeeek! That's a hard one. Not sure I'd really want to be known as something like Superwoman or etc. Maybe something with the word Incredible in it. But NOT the incredible hulk. I love the color green, but wouldn't want to BE the color green. lol.
13. If you could pick one song to be your theme song, what would it be and why?
Brave by Sara Bareilles. I think it's an amazing song with an amazing message. It's about being brave enough to say what you want to say, to be brave enough to be you. Our words are one of the most powerful tools available to us.
14. Finish this statement: When people look at me, they would never guess I...
I had a twin. They would also probably never guess that I'm pretty quiet. On first glance, I look a lot more flamboyant than I am. lol. I almost always have colored hair (think pink or purple etc), and I dress fairly flamboyant. But mostly I am reserved. I don't know if I'd call it shy because I love talking to people, just not flamboyant other than through my clothes and hair.
15. If you could meet any book boyfriend, who would it be and why?
I guess it's because I recently read this book, but Sean from The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. There is something quietly beautiful about the way she wrote him. And Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice simply because it's Mr. Darcy.

Links:

Twitter: @RKRyals

A fateful car accident, a strange Abbey ruled by an even stranger Abbess, an insane Demon, a world where right and wrong becomes dangerously twisted, and a confident, rebellious teenager . . . .

Dayton Blainey is a foul-mouthed, grief-stricken young woman forced to live with a religiously eccentric aunt who favors her moral older sister. But when Dayton's life becomes intertwined with a dangerous stranger, she suddenly finds herself at the center of a war fought since the beginning of time. 

Trapped between what she believes is right, and a forbidden attraction, Dayton must come to terms with betrayal and her surprising lineage to stop a war before it even begins.



Vengeance is the path of the Damned. It is not a path taken lightly. For a Naphil, it could mean ransoming his soul.
~Bezaliel~

Dayton Blainey is caught between two worlds: Heaven and Hell. Bound to a Demon she's beginning to care about, she is thrown into an adventure she may not survive. 

But she will try.

Separated from her friends, she is forced to use powers she just discovered she had while surviving the wrath of a Demon queen. 

She will be tested.

And in the search for a ring that may unbind her from Marcas Craig, Dayton will discover that the bond between an Angel and a Demon goes much deeper than blood. 

She will endure.


Love can overcome many odds. And while this emotion is worth many trials and tribulations, it can also lead to death.

~Bezaliel~

It is a love that is forbidden . . .

Dayton Blainey is the only sane Naphil ever to walk the face of the Earth, and she's in love with a Demon she's been bound to by blood. 

Can love triumph over fate . . .

Marcas Craig is the Demon son of Lilith and Cain. He has a destiny he has turned his back on for Dayton. 

There is only one choice . . .

Kidnapped by Marcas' insane twin brother, Damon, Dayton has become a pawn in Damon's fanatical attempt at securing his own redemption. The Seal is now in the hands of a mad Demon, there is a civil war brewing in Hell, and Dayton and Marcas' love could destroy Earth. 

In the end, will love conquer all?


R.K. Ryals will be attending the Believe, Hope, Live Author Event , get your tickets and meet this wonderful author.
Redemption is currently free on Amazon.  FREE
And now for the GIVEAWAY!!  2 winners!!  1 winner will receive the ebooks Ransom and Retribution (Int.) and 1 winner will receive a Redemption Coffee Mug (US Only)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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