Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Welcome Daniel A. Kaine & a Tour Giveaway

Please give a warm welcome to author Daniel A. Kaine who sat down with to chat about his new book, No Angel.


To get us started can you tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?

My new book is called ‘No Angel’ and will be released with Dreamspinner Press on August 26th, and it is a contemporary romance with a side order of paranormal.

The story follows Josh as he is thrown out onto the streets on his eighteenth birthday, purely because he was born different. Josh and the other main characters were born with a condition that causes two hornlike stumps of bone to grow on their heads. And, unknown to the rest of the world, they also have magical abilities.

Josh is soon taken in by Sam, and taken to an abandoned house where there are others like him. As Josh and Sam spend more time together they grow closer, despite their different perspectives on life. But when the unthinkable happens, Sam’s anger toward the world takes over, and Josh has to make him see sense.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

Video games. Often, after a long day at work, I get home and writing feels like too much effort. I like to wind down by slaughtering virtual monsters. Only problem is I don’t realise how much time has passed while I’m playing, and then miss my chance to write altogether. Whoops!

Also, Ben & Jerry’s ice cream. I’m trying to be healthy and get in shape, but their ice cream is just so good that I can eat an entire tub without realising it. And then I have to find a way to work it off again.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Tough question. I would go with a tropical island where it’s nice and quiet, and I can relax while I get my work done. But I hate creepy-crawlies, so that’s out of the question. Not to mention I’d probably spend all my time looking like a lobster as my skin burns quite easily.

Austria would be a cool place to live. It’s so beautiful there with all those mountains and green fields.  As a bonus, there are lots of great countries to visit nearby as well. Lots of culture to take in too. And we can’t forget the hot snowboarding dudes.

Where do you find the inspirations for your stories?

Everywhere. I have story ideas that have arisen from listening to songs, watching animes, and even reading other books. Not too long ago I came up with an idea from reading one of the Sookie Stackhouse books. I loved those books up until around book 8 when I felt the series started to decline, and I wanted to try and recreate something similar, in the sense that the main character would have multiple partners before finally settling down with one. So I came up with the idea of a story revolving around amphibious shifters, and the inspiration for those came from World of Warcraft.

Do you have a book that was easiest to write or one that was the hardest?

‘No Angel’ was definitely the easiest book to write so far. It took me one month to write, and a couple more to proof and edit before finally submitting. I think this one was easier for me simply because I had more confidence by that point.

Hardest book so far was the second Daeva book, ‘Origin of Darkness’. Overall, it took two years to write. At first I struggled with the plot, and ended up scrapping the antagonist entirely, which meant having to rewrite a fair portion of the book. And also I felt a lot of pressure to try and make it better than the first book.

 If you could collaborate with one author who would it be? 

Hmmm, there’s so many to choose from. I would have to pick Aleksandr Voinov, purely because I love his books, and how they often have that dark, gritty style to them.

Coffee, tea or other drink to get you moving in the morning? 

Fruit juice for me. Usually, pomegranate or cranberry. I actually can’t drink tea or coffee because my body doesn’t react well to them. When I was sixteen I did a dare to drink ten cups of coffee in one hour. Didn’t do anything to me at the time, but it turns out I completely hypersensitised my body to caffeine. Even the smell of strong coffee nearby is enough to make me feel a bit queasy now. And if I drink energy drinks… Well, last time I did that I couldn’t stay still at work and was bouncing about just to burn off some energy.

When you begin your stories, do you go with the flow, or go with an outline?

Usually I’ll come up with a beginning, a major turning point, and then an end. How the characters get from one point to the next, I leave up to them. Sometimes I will plan in advance, like when I take part in NaNoWriMo or other writing events.



No Angel by Daniel A. Kleine
Dreamspinner Press
Available at Publisher

Born with a birth defect called Devil Syndrome, it is impossible for Josh Harper to hide the two small stumps of hornlike bone atop his head. If people also knew about his ability to create force fields with his mind, they’d lock him up for sure. Left to fend for himself on his eighteenth birthday, Josh tries to make it on the streets. When he’s attacked, he’s rescued by Sam Mitchell, who has an equally strange power—and a set of pure white wings.

Sam ran away from home a year ago, and the new life he’s built for himself includes living in an abandoned house and looking after three younger kids, all with Devil Syndrome. Then along comes Josh. After a rough start their relationship grows and the two young men find a haven in each other’s arms. But when tragedy strikes their newfound family, Sam’s hatred of regular humans spirals out of control, and Josh will have to make Sam see sense before everything he’s worked so hard to build is destroyed.

About the Author

Daniel A. Kaine was born and raised in the Land of Rain, more commonly known as England. Originally trained as a biology teacher, he was always unsure what to do with his life. That is, until he chanced upon a fanfiction site and began jotting down stories between his favourite anime characters. To this day, he still cringes at the mere memory of all that cheese.

In 2010, Daniel came across the NaNoWriMo boards and started work on his first original piece of fiction. Since then, his fingers have been unable to keep up with all the ideas and characters his brain keeps throwing at him.

When he's not writing, Daniel enjoys staying active, whether that be by running along the river banks near his home, or going to the gym. He also enjoys reading, playing video games, and learning new skills, such as image manipulation.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/danielakaine.fanpage
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shiki_boy
Website: http://www.danielakaine.com


Giveaway Information:  He will be giving away one copy of No Angel at the end of
the tour.Fill out the raffelcopter below to be entered.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

1 comment:

Ashley E said...

This is a fascinating idea for a story. I'm going to add this to my TBR!

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