Authors Supporting Authors #6!

"Your Side of Midnight"
By: K. Baldwin and  Lyra Ricci

“Nix had a few thorns in his side—and they all happened to be dead. The first thorn came when he moved into his brother’s haunted house, another happened to be his best friend, who thinks it was Nix who murdered him. Pulled between the two, Nix also has to deal with a young autistic son, a sister in law and two nieces, all of whom he has to protect from an entity hell bent on revenge.”

After reading that heart-pounding summary, I eagerly sought out the authors and asked them to tell me more about it!

[KB: K. Baldwin and LR: Lyra Ricci]
 
Please introduce yourselves, and tell me how you operate as a team.
KB: My name is K. Baldwin and my co-author is Lyra Ricci. We’ve been best friends for nearly ten years and our writing, much like our friendship, works like a well-oiled machine. I often finish Lyra’s sentences, and she often yells at me to pick a subject and stick with it! LoL
 
Those friendships are rare and the best to have! I bet the dynamic really influences how the book is written.
 
What was the inspiration behind "Your Side of Midnight"?
KB: Midnight came about as a desire for us to bring our characters to life. Billy, the lead Ghost in the book, has been a part of me for a very long time. I’ve written stories since I was a little girl, and he decided to pop up around the time I was getting bullied in middle school. His last name has changed several times over the years, but in essence, he hasn’t.
LR: Nix, the main living character is kind of an evolution/manifestation of characters I’ve had over the years and K said Midnight was a good opportunity to bring him into the real world. She liked him in some of my other stuff, so we wrapped the Midnight world around them.
 
It says book 1. How many books are you anticipating and when do you think book 2 will be released?
KB: I’m thinking perhaps at least four books, Book 2 is halfway through right now, and Book 3 is showing interest in wanting to form a plot. Sometimes we have to stop because Lyra battles depression and anxiety…it can really help or hinder us. So, don't feel bad if you're in her shoes and feel you aren't able to get anything written, just know it's normal, you're going to be okay, it's NORMAL.
LR: Sometimes you got to fight through it, eat the pain and come out the other side and use the experience.

That’s such a positive message, and I can relate/understand. I hope those out there are inspired by this!

What was the most fun part of writing Midnight?
KB: The most fun of writing this are the cut scenes that will NEVER see the light of day! And I swear, Lyra has the best ideas, too. A lot of the really dark humor in the book comes from her.
 
 What was the most challenging aspect?
KB: The most challenging part of the book was the ending. [Ever since] the first time we wrote it, it has gone through many re-writes, and it was 190,000 words long. We were just that green! We cut down a lot of it, and began the arduous process of editing and polishing, editing and polishing, and while we were doing that, letting Midnight rest, we wrote another novel called "Ink~Blood~Fire" that we’re hoping to have shopped out soon. We’re not too sure how that’s going to go  because it’s been to two small pubs and both are out of business as of today.
LR: The editing and polishing was like BIRTH, multiple times! Like we were the Octomom, but didn’t know it! “We got it out! Oh wait, there’s another one!” “Keep pushing, there’s more!”

Haha! That’s the best answer to this question I’ve ever asked, and yet, it is SO TRUE.
 
You've done fairly well on Amazon- I'm impressed with the reviews. Any tips to other authors?
KB:  So far we’ve gotten 13 wonderful reviews, and we appreciate all of them. Tips for writers? Never give up and don’t take no for an answer.
LR: Let your imagination run wild and build your world. The best characters are the flawed characters. Flaws make the characters more real. That’s why villains like Loki are so popular.
 
What are your hopes for your readers to take away from this book?
KB: We want them to love our characters and our world as much as we do. We want them to finish the book and turn around and start it over again. We want them to know that there are people out there who care about them, who have their backs and that you can find friendship in the most unconventional ways.
LR: I want to think of something semi-inspirational, but I can’t pull anything out of my ass. I can’t top K’s.
KB: That’s because I was speaking for the both of us. XD
 
Who is your target audience?
KB: Our target audience? Daydreamers like us!
LR: Anyone. Anyone who likes a good read and let their mind go.

...And in my opinion that should be just about anyone! I would like to thank K. Baldwin and Lyra Ricci for taking the time to stop by and chat. If this interests you, go ahead an get a copy asap!

Until next time,

SUPPORT INDEPENDENT AUTHORS! SUPPORT ONE ANOTHER!

*Peace*
J.E.

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TAKE ME TO AMAZON!