Straight Chatting from the Library: Kimberly Daniels

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Kimberly Daniels will be awarding a $10 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

READ THE INTERVIEW

Can you read in the car?

I definitely label myself as a road trip hater. So, if I have the opportunity to be a passenger in the car, I am all about reading a great book. It passes the time in such a great way. Being stuck in the car also reduces a lot of distractions, so I find it’s a place I can read in peace.

What makes you love a book?

Realistic characters definitely make me fall in love with a book. I want to be able to read a story and see myself or someone I know in that character. If that’s there, then I feel like these characters are people and that connection is so easily made to them and their stories.

How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

Being a newer author, I really try to steer clear of giving a negative review. I know the time and dedication writers put into their work. I really see authors as artists and their stories as fine pieces of art, and art is really subjective. Who am I to judge another’s perceptions or view of his/her fictional world?

What distracts you easily when you’re reading?

Two things distract me: my kids and my overthinking brain. I have two daughters, ages 10 and 11, and let’s just say constant tween drama overruns our home. Reading also tends to jumpstart my own writing mind. I tend to have new plot and character ideas flood my mind while I’m reading.

Favorite film adaptation of a novel?

My favorite film adaptation is definitely The Outsiders. I read the book in seventh grade and it opened up my love for reading. My teacher showed us the movie after we read the novel, and I ended up buying the DVD and watching it every night for weeks after. I loved it so much that I read and watch it with my own seventh grade English class each year.

Most disappointing film adaptation?

For nine months out of the year, I am mostly in the middle school world of reading, so I can definitely say The Percy Jackson movie adaptations are disappointing. I invest so much time reading and encouraging this book series to my students, and then when I show the movie, it’s a loud, unanimous “What was that?” I just feel like the movies took too much away from the details of the story.

READ THE BLURB

Cole Stevens thought he was finally given a second chance in life. With the woman he always loved now by his side, an adopted son who felt like his own since the day he met him, and a baby on the way, Cole could finally see his forever. And then his past showed up on his doorstep, threatening to take it all away.

Now forced to relive painful memories and bring dark secrets to light, Cole begins a downward spiral that leads him back to the place he spent years trying to escape. As the pain of his past collides with the present, he finds himself lost again, fighting for his family's future. How can he find the way back in time for his forever to be saved?

READ AN EXCERPT

I let go of him and he falters back. Dusty wraps his arms around me to pull me back and Camryn is begging me to stop. Her voice registers, sinking through the fury that just consumed me, and my head snaps up realizing where I am. Camryn’s hands are over her mouth and I can see her fighting back tears. And that’s when I see him, my little superhero, crying and shaking at Camryn’s side. My sweet little boy, my Gavin—how could I let myself get to this point?

I reach out to him and he shudders back, sinking into Camryn even more. At that moment, my heart shatters, seeing that my son, the one I vowed to protect, is afraid of the menace I just became. My gaze travels to Camryn and I see the pain in her eyes, which I am sure I put there. “Take him home, away from me.”

She reaches her hand and grasps my wrist, pulling me with her. “Come home with us.”

I pull my hand away and begin to back away from them. “Take him home without me. Right now, he’s afraid…of me.” I can’t bear to stay here and look at what I did to Gav and Camryn, to see that the old Cole has never really left. I rush off the beach, away from my family, the ones I disappointed again with my thoughtless actions. I try to grasp the realization that I’m no longer the superhero Gavin once thought I was. Today, I became the villain.

MEET THE AUTHOR

Kimberly Daniels is a middle school English Teacher who took the advice of her students to pursue her writing hobby as a career. When she’s not at her laptop dreaming up new happily-ever-afters, she can be found glued to the TV or Kindle consumed with a new show or book addiction. She lives with her husband and two daughters in in the suburbs of Philadelphia, spending weekends at basketball games, softball fields, and dance recitals.

Connect with Kimberly Daniels:

Website: https://www.kimberlydanielsauthor.com/
FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/kimberlydanielsauthor
FB Profile: https://www.facebook.com/authorkimberlydaniels
Twitter: https://twitter.com/authorkdaniels
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/author_kimberly_daniels/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/17942227.Kimberly_Daniels
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kimberly-Daniels/e/B07BPMLDY3

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