Blog tour stop: Dreaming Dangerously by Kathleen Harsch - author interview and Giveaway!

Dreaming Dangerously

Author: Kathleen Harsch

Release Date: September 10, 2011

Publisher: Createspace

Summary (Goodreads):

What if you could HEAR thoughts?

Thanks to her ability to mind-drop, Cassie can hear the thoughts of everyone around her. But sometimes her telepathy is more of a curse than a psychic gift, especially when it comes to Will Rossi.

Reason #1: He pushes his thoughts at her, whether she wants to hear them or not.

Reason #2: His sexy, vindictive ex-girlfriend.

Reason #3: His dimples are absolutely, 100% distracting.

To her surprise, Cassie feels drawn to Will's electromagnetic vibes. Yet, as she falls for him, she discovers their relationship has some serious side effects. She begins to have dreams about the future - dreams that come true in horrifying ways.

Cassie needs to learn to trust Will, or she won't be able to prevent the tragedy she sees coming.

You can buy it on:
Amazon
Barnes and Noble


Author Interview:


I had the good luck of being able to interview Kathleen Harsch, and you all have the good luck of being able to see what she says to these questions!

Kathleen: Thank you for the chance to be on your blog, The Book Lovers Report and for your interview! This is my first blog tour, and I am having so much fun talking to bloggers who love YA books!

Me: How did you come up with the idea of Dreaming Dangerously?


Kathleen: One night I woke up from a dream...I know, it's cliched, but that is really how it happened. When you get to the chapter "Mind Drop," in Dreaming Dangerously, from the beginning of that chapter up until they kiss, that was my dream. Basically, in  "Mind Drop," two teens flirt with each other and figure out that they both have special psychic powers. They celebrate this realization with a kiss that has some funny consequences. I don't want to give too much away, so I will leave it at that. I knew when I woke up from this dream that I had the idea for a novel and I just kind of stayed in bed, trying to remember as much of my dream as possible. Then, I got up and began writing non- stop for hours, developing that idea until I had the novel outline.
The idea for Cassie's dreams came a little bit later, about the second draft or so. I have always been fascinated by my dreams, and some of them have been pretty dangerous, too. I had a dream about my father's early death, and it happened within a month later. I didn't even know he was sick.

Me: What character do you feel closer to from Dreaming Dangerously?


Kathleen: Cassie is the main character, and sometimes, when she would let me, I got close to her. Cassie was a very difficult character to write. She did not want to reveal herself to me at first. She just didn't trust me, I guess. I read my old journals from high school to help me remember what it was like to be a teenage girl, but my problem was there were no computers and cell phones back when I went to high school. I had to figure out a way to naturally weave those things into the book and remain as natural as possible. I think I was closest to Cassie when she allowed herself to be closest to Will, during their quiet, mind-bending kissing scenes.


Me: What was the hardest and easiest thing about writing Dreaming Dangerously?


Kathleen: Dreaming Dangerously was my first YA book. Getting the main character's voice and mannerisms to be authentic to her character and personality was probably the hardest and took the most rewrites.She did and said things that I didn't really like. She's mean to people when they try to help her. She is her own worst enemy. So, Cassie plays the parts of both protagonist and antagonist.

The easiest thing about writing Dreaming Dangerously would have to be Cassie's dreams. I loved creating her dreams. Writing about them allowed me to paint this otherworldly scenery, and I could create this atmosphere of strangeness. Even in book two, Darkness Descends, Cassie's dreams were fun to write.

Me: How would you describe Cassie and Will in one word?

Kathleen: Cassie: pessimist; Will: optimist

Me: Where is your favorite place to write?

Kathleen:  Outside in my garden under this huge crepe myrtle tree in my front yard, usually early mornings or late afternoons, when it isn't too hot. Another favorite place is at a park on the Pithlachascotee River.  I live in Florida, so if it's not too hot or rainy, I like to be outside.


Me: Where can we find you online?

Kathleen: 
Dreaming Dangerously on Amazon
www.kathleenharsch.blogspot.com
Dreaming Dangerously facebook page

Look out for both Dreaming Dangerously and Darkness Descends, books 1 and 2 of the Children of the Psi series.

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