Kelley York
He’s loved her. Killed for her. Yet he may not be able to save her.
Eighteen-year-old Archer couldn’t protect his best friend, Vivian, from what happened when they were kids. Since then, he’s never stopped trying to shelter her from everything else. It doesn’t matter that Vivian only uses him when skipping from one toxic relationship to another. Archer is always there, reeled in and tossed out, waiting to be noticed.
Then Evan Bishop breezes into town with a warm smile and calming touch, and Archer can’t deny his attraction to him. Evan is the only person who keeps him around without a single string attached. And the harder Archer falls for Evan, the more he sees Vivian for the manipulative hot-mess she really is.
But Viv has her hooks in deep, and once she finds out Archer’s dark secret, she threatens to expose the truth if she doesn’t get what she wants. And what she wants is for him to end his relationship with Evan...permanently.
Wow, pretty haunting cover right? And did you read that blurb? Hushed is most definitely on my TBR list. And recently I got to interview the author, Kelley York. So join us today for the Embrace launch celebration, and check out our interview. Don't forget to enter the giveaway! Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Kelley! Nice to meet you! Thanks for stopping by Pull up a chair and sit!
Well, thank you very much!
Can you tell us a bit about Hushed, what can we expect from this book?
What you can expect is a lot of dark, introspective looks into the minds of three individuals--Archer, Vivian, and Evan, and the way they push the plot forward with their actions. It has murder, redemption, psychological trauma, healing, and a little bit of romance.
This book sounds like it has a lot of nail biting action and drama to it! The characters all sound so amazing. Where did you get the inspiration for these characters? Are there any celebrities who might look like them?
I’ve always pictured Elisabeth Harnois as Vivian. She’s an underrated actress, beautiful, and talented, and awesome at playing sweet and dark at the same time. Archer would be Steven R. McQueen, and Evan would be Matt Lanter. I’ve also picture LEea Heady as Archer’s mother.
Do you have any behind the scenes tidbits about Hushed that you could share with us?
Archer Pond correlates to Archer’s Pond, which is a fun little ghost story you should look up. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this in interviews before but in my very, very initial ideas for HUSHED, Evan and Vivian were both innocents who were supposed to fall in love and Archer began to get jealous. Basically, he took on the role Vivian now has. Once I began to write, the characters took on lives of their own and obviously things took a different turn.
So Kelley, what is the best thing about being an author? And the worst?
The best is hearing that my story emotionally moved someone. I don’t even care if they hated the book: the fact that it did something to effect them so strongly that they either hated or loved it is an amazing feeling. Apathy is what I don’t want. The worst? Maybe the self-doubt and the constant thought that I’m not good enough. Alternatively, publishing goes so very slow and that drives me nuts.
Do you have any advice for anyone else who might be thinking of becoming an author?
(1) Keep writing. Don’t get caught up on edits and how crappy something is on the first draft. Alternatively, don’t assume your first draft is perfect and agents/publishers are going to jump for it just because you took the time to fix some spelling errors. I write extremely clean first drafts, and even I have plenty of work to do in edits.
(2) Don’t get caught up in one project. I see people focus on a single book so much for years...and yet they don’t write anything else. While you’re shopping one book, be writing another. If book one isn’t working then don’t feel like it’s going to waste if you set it aside. Not a lot of writers get their first book out there.
Are there any upcoming projects that you can tell us about?
Several, haha. DIRTY LONDON will probably see the light of day the soonest, and is another LGBT story about a gay girl trying to keep it a secret in her conservative school. More than anything, it’s a story about sisters and their relationship, though, so as usual with me, the romance happens around the plot and not the other way around.
Do you have a favorite character, out of all of your books, and why?
Ohh, I hate playing favorites and it’s hard to pick… Out of everything I’ve written, Noel would probably be my favorite, but that book hasn’t been published. Of the published stories, Archer is likely number one even though SUICIDE WATCH is my fave of my books.
Kelley, if you were tv/movie villain – who would you be?
Probably one of the zombies from The Walking Dead...
Would you rather have ten million dollars or ten extra years on your life?
Hard to say. Is that ten years making a difference between 30 to 40? Or, like, 80 to 90? If it’s the latter, I would take the money.
And if you couldn’t be an author, but could have any other job in the world – what would you pick?
I’m really into psychology and I would love to pursue a career into that.
Thanks so much for chatting with me today, it was nice meeting you!
Thank you so much for having me!
Once upon a time, Kelley York was born in central California. And it's there she still resides with her lovely wife, step-daughter, and an abundance of cats, while fantasizing about moving to England or Ireland. She has a fascination with bells and animals, is a lover of video games, Doctor Who, manga and anime, and likes to pretend she’s a decent photographer. Her life goal is to find a real unicorn. Or at least write about them.
Kelley is a sucker for dark fiction. She loves writing twisted characters, tragic happenings, and bittersweet endings that leave you wondering and crying. Character development takes center stage in her books because the bounds of a person's character and the workings of their mind are limitless.
Her first book, HUSHED, was released by Entangled Publishing in December 2011. Her second and third books, HOLLOWED and SUICIDE WATCH, were released in 2012, and her next Entangled book, MADE OF STARS, is slated for October 1st, 2013. Visit Kelley via her
Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/elixing
HUSHED Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11842962-hushed?from_search=true
EMBRACE…endless possibilities. A new adult imprint from Entangled, launching November 11th! You can follow them and get more information about future titles @EPEmbrace or their facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EmbraceImprint
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