I am pleased to invite Kimberly Patterson to visit Acting Balanced today as part of her current book tour promoting The Three Month Plan a YA romance story!
1. Tell us a little bit about how you write your books: I would like to say that I am a very methodical writer, in the sense that I plan out my books before I actually begin writing them – but that would be a lie. I am the type of writer that basically sits down and just goes with an idea, and lets the creative juices flow. I feel that this is a great trait to have, at the same time as it is a flaw because it typically results in multiple rounds of editing. Apparently, I write the way that I casually speak sometimes. All of my books though stem from some of my personal experiences that I have weaved into the storyline to make them a little more personal.
2. How long have you been writing and what do you love about it?
I have been writing since I was very little. I think the first short story I wrote was in kindergarten about a bear going to get his haircut. I am sure I still have this story in a box somewhere in my garage. I would write newscasts and perform them in front of my cousins and family. I also would write and sing songs. And also plays. As a teenager, I entered a play into a play wright contest in San Diego and won. This was the turning point in why I continued to write. I love that readers can connect with the story and be transported into it. My goal in creating the fictional characters in my books was to create someone that the average reader could easily identify with. Plus, writing can also be therapeutic. In the case of The Three Month Plan, the storyline helped ease some of my frustrations with the dating world I was involved in at the time.
3. What hobbies/interests do you have?
I pretty much like everything. I get bored very easily, and I believe that you should experience everything you can in life, because it’s too short – so I tend to try new things all the time. I love riding horses and have been an equestrian since the age of 4. I have ridden in almost every discipline of English and western riding, trained horses and other people how to ride. I play the piano, love experimenting with makeup and am an avid reader. I am also a yoga instructor.
4. Something people would be surprised to know about me is…
Even though I grew up in the city, and very much near the beach I have always been a huge tomboy and country girl. I remember going to high school in Orange County and being one of the only girls there who rode horses and wore her cowboy boots and buckle to school every day. Even though I was extremely shy, I competed in rodeo queen pageants and held over 10 titles and competed at the state level. I still have all of my old belt buckles and trophy saddle. I guess you could say I’m very sentimental.
5. If you could invite 4 people (real or fictional, living or dead) to a dinner party, who would you invite and what would you serve?
The first two are easy. I would invite my grandmother and my mother. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about how they encouraged me to believe in my dreams and to write. I was truly blessed to have these two women in my life as role models, and I would love to have them there to show them the woman I have become and to share my writing with them. I would also invite my grandfather on my mom’s side that I have never met. He passed before I was born and it sounds like he was an amazingly funny man that I inherited my sarcasm from. I would also invite Elvis, no explanation needed.
As for dinner, I would have a five course meal. Heavy on the dessert.
6. I can’t live without…
My family. And of course, mascara. Tomboy or not, I still need to look good.
7. Tell us a little about this current book - what was your favorite part about writing it?
The Three Month Plan is a fun, quirky light read of a romance. Initially I wasn’t planning on making the book a YA read and was leaning more towards New Adult, but after suggestions from the writers group I work with we agreed that it would be best to keep it YA. The title of the book stemmed from a night out with dinner and drinks with a few of my girlfriends. We discussed our real life dating situations and our desire to change them in a limited time frame. Hence, the three months. My favorite part of writing the book was incorporating some of my own dating experiences and my friends into the storyline and manipulating the story to the way I wanted it to end.
8. Where can readers keep up with you?
Twitter @redrockbook
Facebook - www.facebook.com/kpattersonofficial
Email: redrocknovel@yahoo.com
Website: www.thethreemonthplan.com
Blog: http://wordpress.kimberleypatterson.com
Thanks so much for stopping by Acting Balanced today, Kimberly! It was great getting to know more about you! For those whose interest has been peaked, here's a little blurb about The Three Month Plan:
Kelly Callahan had everything going for her. Everything that is, except for a relationship. It wasn’t for the lack of trying, it just seemed like she was a magnet for all the wrong ones. But all of that was about to change the minute she laid eyes on Jake.
On a dare from her close friend, Michelle, Kelly accepts a challenge to date and become Jake’s girlfriend within three months. The consequence of losing is global humiliation, and she refuses to lose.
Enlisting the help of her childhood friend and confidant, Brian, Kelly manages to catch Jakes attention. She also unknowingly hooks Brian who tries to sabotage the plan. Kelly finds herself with a dilemma; take the final step with Jake and win the plan or follow her heart and reveal her feelings for Brian.
