**Blog Tour ~ Author Interview ~ Bait ~ K.C. Blake**

It's my pleasure to welcome K.C. Blake to the blog today. K.C. is the author of Bait, which I reviewed in July. If you missed the review, you can read it here. Today, I have an interview with K.C. where you'll learn all sorts of interesting stuff about her. :)

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My Interview

Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by, K.C. Can you tell us a little about yourself? 

I was born and raised in California, and that’s where I fell in love with books.  The Outsiders made my want to write.  Now I live in the Midwest with my cat Blanca, a dog, four ducks, and some cows.  When I’m not reading or writing, I enjoy hanging out with friends, shopping, and watching Supernatural, the most awesome show in the world.

Why are readers going to love Bait?

They will love it because it is action packed, has some romance, and there are cool supernatural creatures including wraiths and border monsters.  I think they will root for Bay-Lee as she trains at her father’s school for hunters in an effort to become good enough to kill the werewolf pack that took her mom from her when she was five.  I also think they’ll love bad boy Nick Gallos who would rather be touring the country with his rock band and killing vampires than hanging out with Van Helsing’s daughter.

Can you tell us about the research you did for the novel? Any particularly interesting you learned? Why Van Helsing? :)

I had to research a lot of things like New Zealand, ancient weapons, wraiths, and reapers.  Van Helsing just seemed like the perfect fit.  I was going to create my own great hunter to be founder and leader of the school, but Van Helsing is THE name in vampire hunting, so I decided to use that family lineage.  Also, it’s interesting to see what it’s like to be born and raised in a family like that where you are expected to become a hunter whether you want to or not as in Bay-Lee’s case.

Is there a particular scene that you enjoyed writing? Or a scene that was difficult to write?

There are so many scenes I enjoyed.  It’s hard to pick.  I love writing action so the Mock Battles were fun to do.  The scenes between Nick and Bay-Lee were fun too.  I also enjoyed writing for Mike because he is such a smart mouth.  As for difficult scenes, there aren’t any that stand out in my memory as hard to write. 

Do you have a favorite character from the book? Why?

Well, you have to love your main characters or what is the point?  Bay-Lee is strong, focused, stubborn, and I love how she plunges in even when she is afraid.  That is one tough girl.  Nick is cool too because he is an angry, bitter character who doesn’t think he can love anyone.  Boy, is he wrong.

Since this is your debut novel, do you have any advice to give aspiring writers?

This isn’t my debut novel.  I used to write for Harlequin, and I have five other novels out including Vampires Rule, Crushed, and Witch Hunt.  I can still offer advice, especially since I’ve been on both sides of publishing, traditional and indie.  Whether you want to get an agent and go the traditional route or do it yourself, you need to start with the best book you can write.  Don’t rush it.  I’ve seen so many writers crank out books just as fast as they can and it’s a mistake.  After a book is done I like to sit on it for a while because new ideas will come to me.  Then I change scenes, add scenes, etc.

What are you currently working on?

I just finished the second book in this series, Hunter, which is the follow up to Bait.  My beta readers are reading it as we speak.

Can you tell us a bookish memorable moment you've had either as an author or a reader?

Sure.  When I was writing Vampires Rule, I thought it was going to be a stand alone book, not a series.  I worked on it all day long, seven days a week.  My dreams were about these characters almost every night.  Then one night I woke up, startled.  It was so cool.  I can’t give you details because if anyone is going to read the books in that series it would give away a major twist.  Suffice to say I knew it had to be a series then.  Love it when I dream about my characters.

Thanks again, K.C.!

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About Bait

Title: Bait
Series: Spirit of the Realm #1
Author: K.C. Blake
Genre: YA Paranormal

**I received an ecopy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis from GoodReads:

At sixteen, Bay-Lee Bishop is not a typical girl.  The last thing she wants is to be popular, but flying under the radar is nearly impossible when you’re the tallest kid in the eleventh grade.  She works hard to maintain a steady C point average, never raises her hand in class, and avoids extra-curricular activity of any kind.  The other students would be shocked to learn she’s living under an alias, relocating at her uncle’s whim, and hiding from monsters who want her dead because she’s Van Helsing’s daughter.   

Life is weird.  Then everything changes.  A reaper uses her closet to cross over from the Spirit Realm right before her father whisks her away to a new school.  This is the school she was born for, the school where she will learn to hunt and kill monsters, but it isn’t what she imagined.  Students hate her, her mentor refuses to help her, and wraiths are murdering hunters on their birthdays.  She is laser-focused on training.  Love is not an option for her, but try telling that to her heart.

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About K.C.

Born and raised in California, I fell in love with writing while reading The Outsiders. Then I fell in love with Stephen King's writing style. I enjoy reading many types of books, but YA Paranormal is my favorite. I used to write for Harlequin under a different name. So that's my background. Exciting, no?

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