VBT Tour - H.C. Paye

Hi All

I'm participating in a virtual book tour (VBT) group again and looking forward to meeting all the different authors out there. Allow me to introduce January's VBT guest, H.C. Paye.

H.C.Paye grew up in a small town in Arizona. She has been writing since 2001 and taking up every challenge that comes her way.

Please tell us a little more about your book A Gift from Above.

Celia Meyers gets everything that she wants, but when she requests a sibling and gets it, it's not all that she expected at all. Her parents ignore her, threaten to send her to a "summer camp" and the worst possible things happen to her all of the time. Finally she can't take it anymore, so she confides in her best friend Tommy Hanson, about searching for her long lost nanny Milicent Potter. But when she finds Millie, she learns some disturbing facts that she's not quite sure what to do with.

Celia visits with Tommy and discovers his true feelings towards her. At the ending Celia becomes somewhat of a hero as she saves a young boy in a car accident.

The book starts out when she is 8 and progresses through her life until she is 16.

What inspired you to write this story?

I would say that my younger siblings were certainly a source of inspiration in writing this story, my little brother especially. A lot of the troubles that I had with my brother are somehow refected in "A Gift From Above".

Who is your favorite character in your story, and why?

My favorite character would have to be Tommy Hanson. He's like Edward Cullen to me, he is that comforting, nice, kind guy that you become addicted to.

What was the hardest part about writing this book?

I wrote it for a contest (see details at http://www.nanowrimo.org/ ) where I had to write the entire thing in one month. So that was one of the hardest things. One thing I remember that was particularly hard about this was my laptop broke in the middle of writing in the competition, so I had to take it completely to pen & paper, which slowed me down exceedingly, and on top of everything I had to write it from the paper back on to a computer, since it was the family computer I couldn't be on it all the time. But, everything I wrote about my story was on my laptop, so I didn't have anything that I wrote except for the last few words that I memorized. Luckily my uncle got the information out of my laptop for me with one day to spare. My laptop was totaled, but the half-written book was the gold that I was looking at.

What was easiest?

Definitely the entire plot. I knew exactly what was going to happen as I wrote it, I didn't have to stop for awhile and ponder what was going to happen next. It was all really natural for me to write. Which is rare for me to do, usually I have to stop for an hour or two - or even a day - and ponder what I was going to write next.

What's next for you?

I'm currently working on a fantasy series of nine, I have the first in the series complete and it's currently being looked over by a publisher. The second in the series is still in the writing stage. And this November I'm going to participate in that contest again, NaNoWriMo, and attempt to write a novel about a girl who turns into a werewolf, no title yet.



Below is where readers can buy H.C. Paye's book, A Gift from Above.



CreateSpace - https://www.createspace.com/Customer/EStore.do?id=3375222




Amazon Kindle - http://www.amazon.com/A-Gift-From-Above/dp/B002BA5VTM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244574595&sr=8-1




Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Gift-Above-H-C-Paye/dp/1441498389/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1244574833&sr=8-3




Target - http://www.target.com/dp/1441498389/sr=1-1/qid=1248630986/ref=sr_1_1/184-1615249-0525141?ie=UTF8&search-alias=tgt-index&frombrowse=0&index=target&rh=k%3AH.C.Paye&page=1



Thanks for stopping by H.C. I wish you much success with your book.

Sweet Reviews

I just received two new reviews of my books at the Children and Teen’s Book Connection. After all the work that went into these books, it’s really great to hear some positive remarks from others.

To read the full review of The Sister Exchange, please click the link below.

http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/the-sister-exchange-by-kevin-mcnamee/

To read the review of If I Could Be Anything, please click on this link.

http://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com/2010/01/23/if-i-could-be-anything-by-kevin-mcnamee/

While it’s great to get a professional review, my favorite reviews to date come from kids. My wife is a teacher and read The Sister Exchange to one of her classes. They all wrote letters to me about the book.

They all had the same favorite character, Toecheez, and quite a few of them were upset that I didn’t dedicate the book to my wife. This particular book is dedicated to my nieces who gave me the idea for this story.

I took my constructive criticism in stride and have made a mental note to myself to include more “wife related” dedications in my future books. I also received some rave reviews that this was the BEST BOOK EVER!

I’ll take their word for it. After all, who am I to argue with them? ;-)

Great Reviews and a Great Start to the New Year

I received a great review of my two books from Dixie Philips at Writing4littleones that I want to share here. In her review Ms. Philip’s says:

“I am fast becoming an avid fan of children's author Kevin McNamee. I was trying to think exactly what it is about his two new children's books The Sister Exchange and If I Could Be Anything that won my heart. I believe I know the answer - His writing keeps the reader grounded as to what is of utmost importance in life. Before you read the last sentence of his books, you realize, more than you ever did before, just how precious and important family and loved ones are.”

I think that’s the nicest thing I’ve heard about my writing in all the years I’ve been doing this. To read the full review of If I Could Be Anything and The Sister Exchange, please go to:

http://writing4littleones.blogspot.com/2010/01/if-i-could-be-anything-by-kevin-mcnamee.html

What a great start to the New Year!