Welcome Kira Sinclair!

Kira Sinclair, Awesome Author and Mom

1. Today I'm thrilled to have author Kira Sinclair here on with us at the Authorial Moms! Kira writes sexy Harlequin Blazes, and I'm dying to see the answers to some of her questions, so let's get to it! Welcome to the Authorial Moms blog, Kira! Tell us a little about yourself. How many kids do you have? How old are they? 

Thanks for having me! At first I read this question as how old are you…and my kneejerk reaction was to protest.  I’m currently wondering when I got old enough that I don’t want to share the number. J  Anyway, I live on a small farm in North Alabama with my wonderful husband and our two girls.  Sweet Pea is 10 and Baby Girl is 7. 

2. What do you write? How many books have you written/published? How old are they?

There’s that age question again. J I write for Harlequin Blaze.  My 5^th, 6^th and 7^th books (Bring It On, Take It Down & Rub It In) are out Feb, March and April of this year.  I sold my first book, Whispers in the Dark, in June 2007 and it hit the shelves in Aug 2008.  I guess that makes it…5 years old if you count from when I sold it.

3. Tell me about a typical day. How do you write with kids around? Or do you have to ship them off to school or grandparents’ houses to get anything done?

I’m not sure there is a typical day.  But I am sure that I’m very lucky! I have a day job, but I work for my dad and his partner.  While I often have to write at night and on weekends when I’m on deadline, I do get a lot accomplished at work during down time.  And for those days I absolutely have to work at home my husband is amazing.  He occupies the kids and does all the cooking.  I couldn’t do this without him!

4. Did you write before you had kids, or after? What changed with your writing when you had kids?

I started writing a month after my oldest daughter turned 1. She was becoming more and more independent and I found myself needing something for ME.  She came to the office with me for the first several years and I’d often spend her naptime with her asleep in my lap while I was typing away holding her.  I sorta miss those moments.

I did experience a period of writer’s block when I was pregnant with Baby Girl.  Although the words came back about the time she hit 6 weeks old.  You’d think having a newborn might have been tougher than being pregnant, but that didn’t seem to be the case for me.  And as the girls get older it becomes easier for me to find time to write even with them home.  They don’t want to sit in mommy’s lap and watch cartoons anymore.  They want to play their DS, Xbox, read a book or watch their own TV.

5. How old will one or more of your children have to be before they’re allowed to read your books?

Well, I’ve told them they can’t read them until they’re 18.  I started reading Harlequins when I was 12 or 13 though.  I don’t have any problem with them reading other Harlequin books – including books in the Blaze line – when they’re younger.  But I think reading Mom’s books just adds another layer I’m not ready to deal with.  J

6. Becoming an author means having a public persona. How do you combine motherhood with the demands of a public life? Do you feature your kids, keep them shielded under pseudonyms, or leave them out of the equation entirely? Have they asserted their opinion(s) on this matter?

I write under a pseudonym specifically because of my girls…although most everyone in their life knows that I write.  But I wanted them to have the option of telling their friends/classmates/teachers or not.  Middle school and high school can be difficult enough; I wanted to give them as much control over that as I could. Online I never refer to my girls by their name.  They have nicknames – Sweet Pea and Baby Girl – which I occasionally use in real life, but not often.  I never post pictures of them anywhere.  Even my husband has a nickname – Birdzilla (It’s a long story). And while I’ve given the decision to my girls, they’ve used it to tell anyone who will listen that their mom is an author.  My girls especially love starting a new school year and telling their teachers what I do.  Their enthusiasm humbles me.

7. Most Moms I know have a limited amount of free time. Give me a few reasons why they should dedicate some of that time to your characters. What’s in it for us?

Escape! My newest series – Island Nights – is set on a private Caribbean island.  I don’t know about anyone else, but most days I collapse into bed wishing I could be on some warm, sandy beach.  With this series I got to be there every day while I was working. And of course an emotionally satisfying Happily Ever After.  As a reader that’s what I’m looking for so that’s what I deliver.  The ability to go on an emotional journey with my characters and come out at the end smiling because they’re happy and I get to experience the same bubbling sense of joy right along with them. 

8. Let’s have a little fun with fill-in-the-blanks. “The floor of my kitchen is so ___ you can ___ it.”

The floor in my kitchen is so messed up you can see the subfloor through it.  Seriously.  Our dog ripped the linoleum up off the floor and I haven’t gotten around to fixing it.  I need to.  But at the moment I have a rug thrown over it so it’s the item on the to do list that’s out of sight out of mind. 

And I want to know why it was easier for me to tell y’all about my messed up floor than how old I was.

9. In what way have you turned into your mother? How are you coping with it?

Hmm…this is a hard one.  Honestly, I’m exactly like my mom.  Which is why we butted heads during my teenage years.  The funny thing is that my oldest daughter is exactly like I am…and I already know we’re going to have issues when she hits her teens.  I was a good kid and so is Sweet Pea, but I wanted to grow up so quickly and be so independent that I resented being told what to do.  All three of us are stubborn and opinionated and headstrong.  The same qualities that let me know my daughter will be fine no matter what happens in her life are the ones that will make getting through the years on our journey to those moments a little scary.  But I don’t resent the upcoming struggles at all.  They’re going to be worth it because both of my girls will be amazing women – just like my mom and just like I hope I am.

10. What’s up next for you?

In the near future my Island Nights series hits the shelves – Bring It On in Feb, Take It Down in March and Rub It In in April.  But I’m already at work on my next Blazes…a series of loosely connected books all set around a small Southern town.  I’m loving the chance to come back to my own small town Southern roots.  And I’m absolutely in love with my current hero – a wounded soldier.  There’s nothing I like more than a tortured bad boy who’s try desperately to be good…and failing miserably thanks to the temptation of a headstrong heroine. 

11. Where can we find you and your books online?

You can visit my website at www.kirasinclair.com or at www.writingplayground.com

And my newest books are available here:

Bring It On

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bring-it-on-kira-sinclair/1105027952

http://www.amazon.com/Bring-Harlequin-Blaze-ebook/dp/B006IIX1XQ/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1328201413&sr=8-8

Take It Down

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/take-it-down-kira-sinclair/1105680717?ean=9780373796762&itm=2&usri=kira+sinclair

http://www.amazon.com/Take-Down-Harlequin-Blaze-Sinclair/dp/0373796765/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1328201413&sr=8-12

Rub It In

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rub-it-in-kira-sinclair/1106937159?ean=9780373796847&itm=4&usri=kira+sinclair

http://www.amazon.com/Rub-Harlequin-Blaze-Kira-Sinclair/dp/0373796846/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1328201413&sr=8-11