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~ Kim Rees/Kim Knox ~

Kim is a dual personality, writing under two names for Samhain Publishing and Whiskey Creek Press Torrid. She is also a founding member of the Daughters of Circe.

As Kim Rees, she writes emotion-charged contemporaries with heroes that are just effortlessly sexy. And as Kim Knox, her fantasy romances brim with magic and science. There’s always mayhem and usually a heroine whose world has just imploded.

Speaking of which, she must go and detonate a building.

Isn't writing fun?

 

Hello Kim. Thank you for joining us today..

Thanks, Deborah and thank you Sensual Reads for inviting me.

For those readers who are not familiar with the work of Kim Rees or Kim Knox, could you just differentiate between the two for us please?

Kim Rees writes sensual contemporary romances, with hot alpha males and quietly strong heroines. Well, so far. I’m new to writing contemporaries and I’m still exploring. But angst is an absolute must *grin*

Kim Knox writes fantasy with a twist of romance. I love to play with myth and the past… but also take my characters into the far future. The heroine is more the focus in these stories… though the hero is, of course, yummy, LOL

Did you make a conscious decision to separate your work between Rees and Knox? Or was the process a natural progression for you as a writer?

I made the decision last year when I realized I was actually going to have a job as an author!

My contemporaries have a proper HEA, it’ll be tough getting there, but those characters do make it.

With my fantasy stories, the romance is… different. The relationship is integral but not always the main focus. Sometimes saving the world really has to come first.

You have said that Jane Austin's Persuasion is the book that initially sparked your interest in romance. Could you tell us why this book is so special to you?

I first read Persuasion at college… 18 years ago. Eeep. Discussing it, writing essays actually staying awake in seminars LOL made me appreciate the wonderful central relationship of Anne Elliott and Captain Wentworth. Anne sitting at the piano, unnoticed and very aware that she is only ‘useful’, while Wentworth enjoys the attentions of numerous younger more attractive women always tugs at me. He’s not being intentionally cruel, just a wounded man, trying to protect himself from more hurt. I’ve lost count how many times I’ve read it, but that scene still gets to me.

Anne is a quiet steady heroine and Wentworth the bitter, untrusting man from her past. Hmmm… yes, that sounds very familiar, LOL

Are the old-fashioned values of that by gone era, something that you try to incorporate into your own work?

It’s not so much old-fashioned values as lives being played out in public; the constrictions that imposes on the characters and how it forces them to act. Reputation is often important in my books. How they are seen by society and the masks they have to wear to protect themselves is fun to write. Then of course the masks are stripped away and the fun really begins, hehe

You have, as Kim Rees, received fantastic praise for, Buying Mackenzie's Baby. How do you feel as an author, when you are congratulated for tugging at the heartstrings of your readers?

The success of Buying Mackenzie’s Baby caught me completely by surprise, LOL I write emotional stories and I feel proud, honored that something I wrote can affect people so deeply.

With feelings running so high in your stories, do you ever get emotionally involved with the situations in which you place your characters?

It’s slightly embarrassing, but if I’m writing a strongly emotional scene, I do cry. I then use that, the feeling, the physical reaction to add to the story. I’ve read through Buying Mackenzies Baby, and more recently Past Lies, for the first set of edits and got a real hitch in my chest at times, LOL I’m hoping if it works on me, it’ll work on others!

You have admitted to having "an obsession", with good-looking men and claim that your hero, "is the key" to your stories. When writing, do you ever find yourself falling in love a little with your heroes?

Yes, I’m far too attracted to battered, wounded alphas, who are striking and cursed with a wry sense of humor. Too much work in real life, but yummy to write and read. I’m creating a man for my heroine to fall in love with. And if the woman who created him doesn’t love the poor man, how can she?

Your first book was published only last year. How has life changed for you since then?

I have a job! And it really is one. Other authors tell you that your life will change when you’re published but you’re never really prepared. Well, I wasn’t, LOL Suddenly there are art forms, blurbs, edits, promotion to do, more stories to write… But it’s all worth it for the buzz of release day. And with Buying Mackenzie’s Baby, getting to hold my book and stick my nose in it, soaking up that new-book smell. I know. I’m odd.

What upcoming project are you most excited about?

Can I cheat and have two? I have a contemporary, Past Lies, coming out in April. Anna and Zach’s story has been a long time coming, but so worth it.

And in May, my first fantasy release is coming out, Nimue’s Price, with Merlin, as you may not have thought of him before… ;-)

2006 was clearly an amazing year for you, Kim. Can you tell us what hopes you hold for 2007?

I really want to… finish more books. A 5yo and a soon-to-be 3yo tearing about the house cause chaos with my writing time. LOL I have two contemporaries and a fantasy I should be writing. As well as my children re-enacting the final scenes of Star Wars, in which I play the Emperor, I also have a recalcitrant Welshman who’s not doing as he’s told in the latest WIP, LOL
Also, my first fantasy novel is currently under consideration. I would love that to be accepted this year. I definitely love the hero of this one – Jarod Vae… *sigh* ;-)

Thank you so much for chatting with us today Kim. May I wish you success with all your future projects.

Thanks, Deborah. It’s been fun! *grin*




Interview conducted by Deborah Kimpton
March 2007
Sensual Reads & Reviews
 

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