Lee Ann is a Missouri native. Although she emerged from the old neighborhood in her hometown of St. Joseph, Missouri to make her home in the rugged Missouri Ozarks long ago, she retains nostalgia for the hometown. Her first novel, Wolfe’s Lady, debuted from Evernight Publishing in December 2010 and her second, Love Tattoo, came out in March 2011 from the same publisher. She has three other novels due out in 2011 and two confirmed for 2012. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, Paranormal Authors Guild, Missouri Writers Guild, and the Ozark Writers League.
She now lives with her husband, three children, and one feisty Jack Russell terrier in what passes for the suburbs in a small town.
WEBSITE *** BLOG *** FACEBOOK *** TWITTER *** GOODREADS
KINFOLK by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy
The last thing that writer Katherine Vaughn expects when she flees California for her native Arkansas is to fall in love, especially not with a former Navy SEAL and her cousin’s widower. Nor did she expect that the thugs seeking retribution for her late husband’s drug debts would follow her back to Arkansas.As she and Ben Hatfield fall in love, their happiness faces trials that include an unexpected illness and his grandfather’s death. But Katherine has little time to mourn her own losses as the California drug lord’s minions kidnap her in a final effort to collect on the debt.
BUY THE eBOOK *** READ THE EXCERPT *** WATCH VIDEO
*Check out this Review!*
WIN - Leave Lee Ann a question today at her Cyber Launch Party and your name goes in the hat for an ebook of her new release KINFOLK plus a bag of bread mix from War Eagle Mill in Arkansas (it's mentioned in the book and it's a major tourist draw, a real working water mill that still grinds flour!)
Good morning Lee Ann and super congrats on the new release!!!
ReplyDeleteAnd I just read on your blog that this book was the first book you sold last July - my goodness what a year you've had!!!
Tell us a bit about your new book and what all has happened in your career in just this first year.
I wish you many sales for KINFOLK and hope you enjoy your cyber launch party - you have a lot to celebrate!
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes KINFOLK was the first novel that I signed a contract to sell last July. It seemed like that would be forever to wait so I kept submitting. Now KINFOLK is my fifth novel release, five eBooks and one (Love Never Fails) is now out in paperback as well.
Upcoming, I have a novella coming later this month, "The Marriage Cure" from Astraea Press, "Love Knots", the third novel in the series begun with "Love Tattoo" in August, another Rebel Ink title, a romantic suspense called "Witness A Protection Program" on October 15, a time travel romance from Champagne Books "Love Never Fails" in early November and two anthologies (so far) with Halloween theme stories from me, "Midnight Seduction" from Evernight and "Jack O Spec" from Raven Electrick Press. Both are love stories with a twist.
In 2012, I have "In Love's Own Time", a different time travel and ghost story romance out from Rebel Ink in February, "Long Live The King" from Champagne on May 12 and another Rebel title, "Miss Good Samaritan" also in May.
I am working on a Christmas release for Rebel and I just submitted another MS to Rebel, "Guy's Angel" that would be a 2012 release as well.
It's been a busy year and I've gone from being a substitute school teacher who also writes to being a full time romance author.
Exciting times!
What an incredible year for you Lee Ann. You do have a lot to celebrate and I hope you're enjoying every minute!
ReplyDeleteThe new book sounds like a romantic suspense or is that part of it just a small bit? It also sounds like a wonderful family drama...I love coming home stories.
I'm heading over to read the excerpt now and will check it out. Congrats on the release and here's to your second year being just as exciting as this year!
I'm curious as to what inspired you to write this particular story - some real life event you read about?
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your success this year - I sincerely hope it continues for you!!
Enjoy the launch party ~~
kacbooks(at)hotmail(dot)com
How wonderful for you Lee Ann! Congrats on another release! Kinfolk sounds good. I curious as to how they handle the drug lord and his minions. What inspired you to write stories? Thank you for sharing with us today and i wish you much success in the future!
ReplyDeleteshadow_kohler(at)att(dot)net
Congratulations on your new release. Do you ever use people you know or meet as inspirations for a character in your books?
ReplyDeletesstrode at scrtc dot com
Thanks for all the good words and thanks for coming by the party.
ReplyDeleteTo answer a few questions....While Kinfolk is technically romantic suspense, it's also part family saga or drama. There's a lot of family interaction hence the name.
What inspired me to write it was just the image of a woman returning home to Arkansas after a long absence, in fear for her life. It began with the image in my mind of a woman stepping off a bus in Fayetteville and grew from there. I have every respect for our military members and come from a family with lots of service people and veterans. So I wanted the hero to have a military background.
Do I use real people for inspiration? Sometimes - but mostly for secondary characters. Pop in the story is based on my own grandfather who I called Pop. Mine didn't get to live as long as Ben's grandfather but he was also a Navy veteran so there is some similarity. Ben is based on several men I've known, a few I've even loved but he's not based on just one man.
I started writing stories as a young child and never stopped. I made up very elaborate plots for our games of "house" and such. I scribbled out my first effort at a novel in the fifth grade and just kept writing until I actually got decent at it!
I have truly had an amazing first year as an author and I hope that it continues. I love writing novels and hope I just just keep on writing stories that people enjoy!
Thanks for all the good words and thanks for coming by the party.
ReplyDeleteTo answer a few questions....While Kinfolk is technically romantic suspense, it's also part family saga or drama. There's a lot of family interaction hence the name.
What inspired me to write it was just the image of a woman returning home to Arkansas after a long absence, in fear for her life. It began with the image in my mind of a woman stepping off a bus in Fayetteville and grew from there. I have every respect for our military members and come from a family with lots of service people and veterans. So I wanted the hero to have a military background.
Do I use real people for inspiration? Sometimes - but mostly for secondary characters. Pop in the story is based on my own grandfather who I called Pop. Mine didn't get to live as long as Ben's grandfather but he was also a Navy veteran so there is some similarity. Ben is based on several men I've known, a few I've even loved but he's not based on just one man.
I started writing stories as a young child and never stopped. I made up very elaborate plots for our games of "house" and such. I scribbled out my first effort at a novel in the fifth grade and just kept writing until I actually got decent at it!
I have truly had an amazing first year as an author and I hope that it continues. I love writing novels and hope I just just keep on writing stories that people enjoy!
Kinfolk sounds wonderful! Did you have a say in the cover?
ReplyDeletegreenduckie13 at gmail dot com
It is an amazing cover and I love it! But other than filling out what's called a "cover art sheet" with some suggestions, I can't claim any credit for it at all. The artist, Trisha FitzGerald, did an awesome job creating a woman who looked like my heroine, Katherine, and autumn woods that have a very Ozarks look to them!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great story. Do you base any of your stories on real life people?
ReplyDeletelead[at]hotsheet[dot]com
Good question, Virginia. Sometimes I do but it's usually one of the secondary characters. In KINFOLK, Ben's grandfather, Pop, is based on my own grandpa who I also called Pop. Aunt Ruby is more of a combination of several of my aunts and one of my grandmothers rolled into one.
ReplyDeleteSound like a great book! Putting it on my TBR list I love romantic suspense!
ReplyDeleteWhat made you decide your "hero" should be a former SEAL? I love those alpha SEALS!!
Congrats on the new release!
Congrats on the release. It sounds like a great story. Are there any authors who are auto buys for you?
ReplyDeleteGFC follower: June M.
manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com
I love Navy SEALS too...and Army Rangers, any Special Forces. They rock! So I wanted Ben Hatfield to be one of them. Although I'm an Army kid (my dad was in the Army) and married to an former Air Force member, I have a speical place in my heart for Navy guys, probably because of my grandfather who was a Navy vet. And I wanted Ben to be able to handle whatever trouble Katherine draws back to Arkansas and I knew a Navy SEAL could do the job!
ReplyDeleteSome of my favorite authors that I buy as soon as they come out with a new one include Deborah Smith, Nora Roberts, and Diana Gabaldon. I'm really into reading Laurel K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series right now. I also have a lot of favorite eBook authors and I buy their books - Cassandre Dayne, KT Bishop, Lila Munro, Emma Shortt, Anna Keraleigh, Carolyn Rosewood, Vivian Kees...and several more. It's not romance but I love William Meikle's books - they scare the crap out of me but I love them. All good reads!
the book sounds wonderful,i can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeletewas there a reason that you made the heroine a writer?
trvlagnt1t@yahoo.com
Thanks, Tammy. I made the heroine a writer because at the time I wanted to use an occupation that I knew a little bit about. I also wanted a career that would be plausible for her to have lived on the fringes of Hollywood and celebrity society but that she could continue once back home in Arkansas. There is a scene in the novel when Ben learns - as he's reading one of her books - who Katherine Vaughn really is (she uses a pen name) that was one of the first I envisioned when I wrote the book.
ReplyDeleteSuper Congrats !
ReplyDeletereginamayr@att.net
Thanks Regina!!
ReplyDeleteHi, Lee Ann.
ReplyDeleteI have recently discovered your works and look forward in reading them; they sound great.
Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com