Welcome Ryshia Kennie!

Did you choose your genre or did it choose you?

Romantic suspense found me.  Although I’m not sure why it didn’t find me sooner.  I was a cop’s daughter after all and growing up while other children were told not to speak to strangers, I was told to get a good description of the suspect and report home. 

Did you enjoy language arts in school? Did you have a teacher that particularly encouraged you to write?

I always loved anything to do with language.   I remember one teacher in grade school who encouraged us to write.  She was the first teacher to say that she loved something about my writing.  And what she loved?  My first line!  If I remember right, that first line involved a historic barber shop where the barber slit the customer’s throat in full graphic detail.  After that I was hooked and wrote in the margins of my notebooks all the way through school.

It’s five o’clock somewhere…Let’s have a drink! What cocktail best describes you and why?

I love that phrase.  “It’s five o’clock somewhere” hangs on a friends fridge.  It reminds me not so much to have a drink but to take life a little less seriously.  We only have one go around so lets have some fun.  So as far as a cocktail that best describes me – but I can’t think of a cocktail that so much describes me as one that describes a sense of place and time – a margarita.  Thinking of a margarita reminds of hot summer days and good friends.

On my desk I have a rhino that my husband gave me to remind me I’m rhino-tough, as you have to be in the business. Is there anything you have that you use to remind you of that?

I have a little bronze Buddha that reminds me to take a breath, remain calm and hang in – everything will work out.  And in case the little Buddha isn’t enough I have a rock from Mount Vesuvius that a friend brought back from a trip to Italy.  The rock isn’t a big piece  of that powerful volcano but it reminds me that while it might be small, the volcanic blast of its origins was mighty – keep writing.

I have two muses, Arwen and Bronwyn, they have very distinct personalities. Can you share a bit about your muse? 

Well my muse doesn’t have a name or even a sex.  It’s just that little voice that says you know there’s a story here and I think you should… and then the voice of reality breaks in usually my hubbie who is asking why I’m not listening to him but I’m listening to my muse.   Seriously, my muse is more a feeling, that excitement that demands I write those ideas down now, that I start the story, include this scene, flesh out this character.  And it all happens at odd moments like standing in Apache Junction listening to an elderly lady’s incredible enthusiasm for a small chapel in the middle of the remains of an early 20^th century town with “watch for snakes” signs and desert surrounding us.  She had enough stories to keep my muse fed for the next fifty years.  In fact, now that I think about it – maybe she should be writing the stories.  She was a character and my muse was awake and screaming for a pen.   The only reason I didn’t grab one was that it would have been rude to interrupt even to start writing anything down.  But let me tell you I was frantically making scattered notes as we drove away.

It seems we all endured English and/or World literature coming up in high school…What was the worst book you were ever forced to read and what about it turned you off? 

The worst book I was ever forced to read was Chaucer.  I think much of it was because we were too young, it was high school and I couldn’t connect with the foreignness of the old English words or even with the story itself, when the teacher patiently translated.  Whether age and knowledge would make a difference, I don’t know.  It’s one book I’ve never had a desire to pick up and read again as an adult. 

You have a million dollars that you must donate to one charitable organization. Which one would you choose and why? 

I would so badly want to give a small portion of it to an animal shelter but you’re not letting me split it up are you?  Okay – all or nothing.  Forget me not - I would give the million dollars to the Alzheimer’s Association.

Due to the world we live in, most editors will tell a romance writer they have the moral obligation to protect their characters from scary life altering things, thereby being obligated to the reader. What are your thoughts on this? Do you protect your characters and how? 

I don’t tend to protect my characters.  My characters face their own moral issues which are uniquely their own and not mine.  I suppose I’d never have my characters doing something I found morally objectionable but I’m not trying to impose my beliefs on the reader or for that matter, protect the reader.  In the end I just want to tell a good story and if my characters impart some wisdom in the process – that’s just a bonus. 

Romance has come a long, long way since Fabio graced the covers regularly…it seems the hinges are off the proverbial door. How far is too far in your mind?  

Too far is very subjective and I suppose what we like to read reflects in what one writes.  I think too far would be anything that involves situations where consenting adults aren’t involved. 

I’ve been asked, as has my husband, if we do “all that stuff in my stories.” Do you get asked this and if so how do you handle it? 

My stories aren’t that sexually graphic so I haven’t had anyone ask that question.  However if some day I should write such a story I’d like to say I have a witty comment ready and waiting.  Hmmm – are you saying I should come up with one just in case?

I had an editor early on that showed me the way…have you had anyone in particular that gave you a gentle **ahem** nudge in the right direction? How did they do that and how did you react? 

 I did have an editor give me the nudge in the right direction.  In my first attempt at a romantic suspense, she pointed out that I was writing two genres in one book.  However I think I needed slightly more than a nudge.  It took me a a while after that to finally get it right.  But I’ll always be grateful for that pitch where she gave me much more than the allotted time and was the catalyst for a lot of things that changed in my career including getting an agent.

Wine or beer?  Beer on a hot afternoon.  Wine just doesn’t make the cut.  However, when the sun goes down or really from supper on - Wine. 

Satin or cotton?  Satin - unfortunately I have to make due with cotton.

Fries or tots?  Fries

Cake or pie?  Cake unless, of course you’re talking Saskatoon pie or possibly peach pie or...

Steak or burgers?  Steak every time no matter the time.

Candle light or pitch dark?  Candle light of course, haven’t you ever read a good horror lately?  There’s shadows in the dark.

In the heart of the jungle lies more than just the hint of death. 

Leading a scientific excursion into the Borneo rain forest is a life long dream for entomologist, Garrett Cole.  But when her guide turns up dead and headless, her abilities are tested.  As the dense foliage pushes her team further from the river, they are lost.  Every shimmer of sound is a threat, and when a blonde haired, half-naked giant emerges from nowhere, she wants to run.   But there are no options – she needs help.  

Raised in the lush cradle of the Borneo jungle, Aidan is as unconventional as the fact that he has no last name.  While the city is home, he returns to the jungle for peace and solitude.  As a PI, how can he ignore the mystery this group and their dead guide poses?  Leading them in a convoluted trek in a bid for answers he soon finds himself in a clash of wills with their alluring leader and answers that slide dangerously close to the tribe he loves.   

In the jungle’s torrid heat they find unexpected solace in each others arms.  But faced with death and betrayal, in a battle of wits that puts lives on the edge, can anyone be trusted?    

Excerpt: 

Aidan moved vines back, exposing his face. They only had to look in his direction. 

He was so close he could have reached out and touched her. She was delicate, out of place here in the midst of this wilderness. Her skin, even beneath the sweat and exertion-stained flush, was fair. She wasn’t built to be here, she was too slight to survive, too weak, too . . .

She glanced up. A frown immediately seared her face. 

“Who the hell are you?” she snarled.  

He bit back a smile. She should have screamed. She hadn’t. All tiny limbs and fragile beauty, and yet she attacked first.  

He let his gaze rove over the group, refusing to be corralled by her attack. 

One of the men looked panicked, the others seriously stressed. He shifted his spear to his other hand and waited, taking the warrior advantage of time and observation. The silent often learned much about their enemy.  

“Put that down.” She gestured to his spear.  

His fingers loosened for a millisecond before gripping the spear tighter. Was she out of her mind? Green, innocent, and totally forest-illiterate, but she was feisty.  

Feisty? She was seething, hot, absolutely pissed—about what, he wasn’t sure. Her anger didn’t make much sense. Nothing about this afternoon made much sense.

Ryshia Kennie is the author of two published romances.  From the Dust, is a romance set during the Great Depression.  Her second book, Ring of Desire, was set against a backdrop of magic and mystery, in medieval England.  An award winning author, her recent novels now focus on  suspense and women’s fiction – always with a hint or even a dollop, of romance. The Canadian prairies are home where she lives with her husband and one opinionated Irish Terrier.   

Visit her website at http://www.ryshiakennie.com.

Author blog:  ryshia.blogspot.com

Author on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/ryshia.kennie

Author on Twitter:  twitter.com/ryshia

Author at Goodreads:  www.goodreads.com/author/show/1400598.Ryshia_Kennie
 

At each stop, Ryshia will award one commenter an ebook copy of From the Dust, a historical romance set in Depression Era Saskatchewan. The grand prize for the tour will be an autographed copy of From the Dust, a book unique bookmark, and a Region 1 DVD of East of Borneo, a 1931 B&W movie.

The tour dates can be found here:

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/12/virtual-nbtm-tour-fatal-intent-by.html