Following Me Cover Reveal

It's finally here!!! OMG I've been waiting to show everyone my new cover, which I'm totally in love with.  Sarah over at Okay Creations really captured the feel of the book, which releases June 21st.

You can add it to your TBR here: goodreads

Blurb:

“I knew you were running the first time I saw you…"

Devon didn’t have a game plan when she decided to leave St. Louis on a Chicago-bound train for the summer. Just a reason.

One she couldn’t share with anyone.  Not Hadley, her best friend from college, who lets her stay in the guest bedroom; no questions asked. Or Brennan, the bartender at the local restaurant they frequent, who she actively tries to avoid. Or Garrett, Hadley’s boyfriend, who befriends her when she has no one else to turn to.

"I just didn’t know what you were running from...."

Desperate to hide at all costs, Devon plunges into her new life in the city. Everyone around her starts to reveal sides of themselves Devon never expected. And just when she starts to get comfortable, her world flips upside down…

"...but I think all along you were running toward me."

4 lives.
All connected.
All with secrets that just keep following them.

Excerpt:

Sweat beaded on Devon’s temple, and she wiped it off her forehead and out of her eyes. The party had been going all night, and it was nice to loosen up and get lost in the music and dancing. She hadn’t partied in so long, and she couldn’t resist when Amy had actually invited her out. Either she was getting over her hatred for the new girl, or Devon had just been there long enough that she wasn’t considered the new girl any longer.

People were packed into the club shoulder to shoulder, many even closer than that. The music was ear-splittingly loud. Crazy lights traversed the warehouse-sized room, and they alternated to strobes slowing everything down to slow motion. She hadn’t had much to drink, but she was dizzy with dehydration and the energy in the room. Her tank top was sticking to her back, and she had long since pulled her hair up off of her neck into a ponytail.

God, I need another drink, she thought.

Her eyes moved around the room taking in as much as she could from her vantage point. It really only ended up being the two feet encircling her. Amy had to be somewhere inside the building. How had she lost track of her?

Well, she knew how. There were too many damn people in the place. It was easy to lose track of one person, especially when that person was as short as Amy. Still, she should have done better. She didn’t like being alone in dark places. Whether she was surrounded by people or in a back alleyway at night, she was still alone.

She craned her head to look for her, but was having no luck. It felt like more and more people were being crushed into the space. How was this in line with fire code? Surely the place would be shut down soon.

Walking in the direction of the bar, Devon tried to find Amy in the crowd. Seriously it was getting harder and harder to maneuver through. She was literally having to elbow people out of the way. This wasn’t okay, and it wasn’t fun. They shouldn’t let any more people in. Things could get out of control.

Devon looked up over the heads of people in front of her and sighed. It felt like she was never going to reach the bar, and there was a huge line anyway. She thought maybe the bathroom would be a better alternative…at least there she would have some privacy.

She turned to walk the other direction and slammed right into a meaty guy in front of her, who glared at her as she lost her balance and tumbled to the floor. Someone stepped on her hand as she tried to get up. Devon swore and hissed pulling her hand away from the ground where someone else could do the same thing. She stood as best she could, cradling her aching hand. It wasn’t easy pushing through people with one hand pressed between her breasts to keep from someone else smashing into it. All it did was cause people to unknowingly smash into other parts of her. She hadn’t made it more than a few feet toward the bathroom, and she had already been elbowed in the arm, gotten her foot stepped on, and been drunkenly body slammed knocking the breath out of her. The club was getting dangerous.

A space opened in the crowd, and she took advantage, rushing forward through the throng of people. It took her closer to the bathroom but not close enough. Then she felt it. Eyes on the back of her head. She didn’t even know how it was possible. There were hundreds of people in the place. No one could be focusing that intently on her, but she could swear that someone was watching her.

What do you think about the cover?!  I hope you're all as excited as I am!!!

K.A. Linde

Behind the Scenes of Following Me Week 1: Devon

 
Welcome to Behind the Scenes of Following Me!

Each week leading up to the release of my new book, Following Me, I am going to introduce you to the book with my new "Behind the Scenes" meme.  You'll learn about the characters, the set, the feel, the soundtrack.  I'm giving you an entire behind the scenes tour!  So sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy the show.

Week 1
Meet Devon
 

Devon Sawyer is the main character in Following Me.  She's a twenty-one year old college junior who leaves St. Louis for Chicago at the end of the spring semester.  I always pictured her to look a bit like Hayden Panettiere with the same blonde hair and build.  The soundtrack to Devon's life is Dark Paradise by Lana del Rey.

Quote:

Devon had been writing since she was really little, and as much as it was a release, she kind of hated it.  She felt like she relied on it to express herself, and when she thought on it, she figured it kept her voice subdued.  She didn't need to yell or scream or cry out at anyone when she could do that all on paper.  She could pour every emotion on the paper until it felt like it was bleeding.  It wasn't enough.  It was never enough, but it helped.  It helped keep her walls up.

Thanks for stopping by!  See you next next Wednesday for week 2!

K.A. Linde

9000 Likes Giveaway!

As a thank you for having 9000 fans like my facebook page, I'm doing a special giveaway!

Prizes include:

1 bundle of signed Avoiding Books (AC, AR, AI)
5 signed copies of Avoiding Responsibility
2 signed copies of Avoiding Intimacy

8 winners! Yay!

Thanks for all the love!  <3 you guys!

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Following Me Blurb

As a special treat leading up to my cover reveal next Friday, May 17th, I thought I would provide you with the blurb for my new book!

Add it to Goodreads HERE

Blurb:

“I knew you were running the first time I saw you…"

Devon didn’t have a game plan when she decided to leave St. Louis on a Chicago-bound train for the summer. Just a reason. One she couldn’t share with anyone.

Not Hadley, her best friend from college, who lets her stay in the guest bedroom; no questions asked. Or Brennan, the bartender at the local restaurant they frequent, who she actively tries to avoid. Or Garrett, Hadley’s boyfriend, who befriends her when she has no one else to turn to.

"I just didn’t know what you were running from...."

Desperate to hide at all costs, Devon plunges into her new life in the city. Everyone around her starts to reveal sides of themselves Devon never expected. And just when she starts to get comfortable, her world flips upside down…

"...but I think all along you were running toward me."

4 lives.
All connected.
All with secrets that just keep following them.

ANGSTFEST giveaway winners

Congratulations to the 10 winners of the ANGSTFEST giveaway winners!

Brandelyn Harris
Shayla Reynolds Johnson
Pamela Snyder
Christina Ackerman
Rebecca Cumming
Julie Mentry
Amy Eason Curtis
Jennifer Greenleaf
Paola Cortes
Andie Wardlow

Each of you will receive 1 ticket to Book Bash as well as 2 tickets to the ANGSTFEST after party with me and S.C. Stephens.  You will receive an email shortly with information about how to receive your tickets!  Thanks so much for participating!

K.A. Linde

Book Bash and Exclusive After Party with S.C. Stephens and K.A. Linde

I know you are dying to find out what this awesome headline entails, but bare with me and read the story first!

About five months ago, I went to my very first book signing in Seattle.  S.C. Stephens and I talked and decide we were going to have it in Seattle.  We got some other great chicks together (Tarryn Fisher, Kristen Proby, and AL Jackson).  I had no idea what to expect, but what actually happened far surpassed my expectations.

The signing was on the smaller side, as I've come to find out, with no more than two hundred people passing through the spacious hotel room we had on the first floor.  What I found though was that the readers were amazing, passionate, and excited to meet and talk to the authors.  I was floored and just as excited to finally get to see some of these readers in person as they were to meet me.  More importantly, I really felt like I got quality one on one time, and it made the experience all the more memorable.  I mean some people even flew in all the way from Tampa (Jessica and Lyndsay, here's looking at you), how could I not take the time to spend more time with them?  I loved being able to get to know my readers better, and I never wanted to forget how awesome that felt!

Flash forward about two and a half months later and step out into Boston's frigid February temperatures.  (My heart goes out to the people injured in the terrible bombing at the Boston Marathon.)  I now had a certain expectation about what the signing would look like and again it was shattered.  Some of you came out and stood in line in the cold for up to FOUR HOURS!  I met so many people who loved the books, screamed at me at my table, asked me sign paperbacks and bags and kindles.  It was a madhouse!

I got some personal time with the people there, but I felt like I just didn't get ENOUGH time with everyone.  It all went too fast!  I wanted to hang out with you more...

Sooooo...without further ado,  S.C. Stephens and I started tossing around the idea of making that happen!  And what we came up with is ANGSTFEST!!!  A small exclusive after party for a few of our fans after the signing on Saturday in Orlando where we get to hang out with YOU!

Yeah, I know.  Get to the point right!  Here's the point!

We know we don't know EVERYONE on our author pages.  So we put together this little giveaway with tickets to meet us, hang out with us, even drink with us if that's your thing!  Plus, the wonderful host of the Orlando Book Bash, Maryse over at Maryse's Book Blog, has offered us 10 SOLD OUT Book Bash tickets.  So you can go to the signing or give your friend a ticket to the signing!

Book Bash Tickets!!!
An Exclusive After Party!!!
Meeting some of your favorite authors!!!

Now I know what you're thinking.  SIGN ME UP!

Well, we would love to, but we don't have enough for everyone.  So, enter below on the Rafflecopter and good luck!!!  We really really want to meet you!


Best,
K.A. Linde

Special Instructions:  Each entry puts you in the contest for 1 Book Bash ticket AND 2 Angstfest After Party tickets (1 for you and a friend).  10 winners will be drawn for this contest. Good luck!




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Labels, Fluff, and Other Things I Don't Understand

I’ve never done this before, but here it goes.  Steph Campbell makes me want to be mouthy too.

I don’t write traditional romances.  I place the contemporary romance/new adult label on the book because Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc. request that you label your book before publishing.  I don’t think my books are romantic or a romance or even necessarily a love story.  I’ve never pretended like they were.

I know TONS of readers really like the contemporary romance genre as it currently stands and I’m happy to be included in it!  But I just feel like the labels don’t apply in the same way to every book.  I like that my books make you angry and uncomfortable.  I don’t write them for all the readers to escape the real world, because sometimes it’s nice to see the real world from a different point of view.  My point of view might be a bit (a lot) angsty and you might want to pull your hair out, throw your kindle across the room, and reach into the book and throttle someone.  I LIKE that!!!  Those are the absolute best responses to my books, because if you feel that…you got it.

Since releasing my first three books, I’ve realized I can’t write the books any other way.  I don’t see my books as situations that can be neatly tied up with a bow.  I think there should be loose ends and sometimes there isn’t always a happy ending.  I love you doesn’t mean everything has been fixed, it just means that you’re giving yourself a chance to feel it and go from there.

I love you.  Yes, you.

I feel like Jenn Sterling might have prompted part of this discussion as well, because like her I’ve never done this for the money…ever.  I started writing for fun on Fictionpress starting in 2004 and never stopped. (Admittedly, I was writing before that, but it’s when I first put it up so others could read it.)  I never intended to publish AC and AR and in fact, gave them away for FREE for nearly 3 years.  Your enthusiasm and trust in my stories even way back then put me here today.  And I can’t change it now.  I know that probably makes me stubborn, but someone is probably going to like it….maybe?

Either way, thank you for reading and appreciating my books.  Thank you for supporting indie and traditionally published authors who try something different.  You’re the ones allowing us to follow our dreams.  And while sometimes I think I just really want to write a happy and fluffy and care free book (because let's be honest they're great, and sometimes you really need one), my heart is never in it, and I’d never give you something I haven’t put a piece of my soul into.  (It’s like a reverse horcrux.)

You guys rock!  End rant!