Kate and the Kid by Anne Rothman-Hicks and Kenneth Hicks - Interview and Giveaway

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Anne and Kenneth will be awarding a $40 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

Hi, Ken and Anne. Welcome to It's Raining Books. Why do you write in your genre? What draws you to it?

Ken: Uh oh. I knew it! We’re going to mess up the very first question.

Anne: What are you talking about?

Ken: We don’t have just one genre. KATE AND THE KID, is mainstream; MIND ME, MILADY is a mystery; THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM, is a ‘tween novel. Darn it!

Anne: It’s okay, Ken. It just shows that we find a story first and then use the genre that is right for the story.

Ken: You’re a genius, Anne. Instead of looking stupid, you make us look smart.

Anne: You’re half right.

What research is required?

Ken: Let me handle this one. We regularly fly off for wild and wonderful weekends to the capitals of Europe to research scenes.

Anne: Ken, we never have done that. Ever.

Ken: I know, but it’ll make us look so cool!

Anne: Ken, all three of the books you mentioned take place totally in New York City. Our readers have remarked on how realistic all the descriptions are because of that. Don’t you think people will realize that you are telling a fib?

Ken: (Pouting). Maybe.

Name one thing you learned from your hero/heroine.

Ken: You can take this one. (Grinning because he thinks it’s really hard).

Anne: Thanks. We learned that it is very important to do what your heart is urging you to do. Kate’s friends and her boyfriend, Roger, all tell her that she should not be taking care of Jenny because Jenny’s mother is just using her and no good will come of it. They were all wrong. By helping six-year-old Jenny through a very bad time in her life, Kate was able to come through a crisis as well, and she learned things about love and giving that she might never have learned otherwise.

Ken: Have you got a tissue? I think there’s something in my eye.

Handing Ken a tissue. Any odd or interesting writing quirks, habits or superstitions?

Ken: I usually write standing on my head in front of the computer. It keeps the blood flowing.

Anne: Will you stop? We have no quirks, habits or superstitions.

Ken: Oh really? What about our writing together? Isn’t that a little quirky? Huh? A little odd-ball? How many people write together and, among those, how many would have stayed together for over forty years?

Anne: (Sighing) Precious few, I’m sure.

Ken: Exactly!

Plotter or pantser?

Ken: Take it away, Anne. I have no idea what she’s talking about.

Anne: She wants to know how we plan a novel. Do we have a detailed outline or do we make things up as we go along.

Ken: Yes.

Anne: It’s an either/or question, Ken.

Ken: But we’re not either/or people. We do a little outlining, then a little making things up, and a little more outline, and maybe another making it up session. We’re plotting pantsers!

Anne: Next question, please.

Look to your right – what’s sitting there?

Ken: Nothing is sitting there but a rug. Then there is another desk and a wall and on the other side of the wall is a bookcase and beyond the bookcase Anne is sitting in her chair.

Anne: What Ken is trying to say is that he writes at a desk in our bedroom. I sit in a chair in the living room where I do most of my work.

Ken: I’m glad you didn’t tell them about me sitting by the window and looking out all the time. It can give a wrong impression.

Anne: I wouldn’t want to do that!

Anything new coming up from you? What?

Ken: She doesn’t mean lunch, does she?

Anne: No, Ken. She means new novels, like our suspense novel, PRAISE HER, PRAISE DIANA, being published in September by Melange Publishing. It is available in paper and in digital format. It involves a woman who seeks revenge for a rape by killing men and turns New York City upside down.

Ken: Oh boy, another genre.

Do you have a question for our readers?

Ken: Yes! Have you read our books? Why not? What are you waiting for?

Anne: I think she may mean questions that have a little more substance, like “What do you think of the fact that we write in different genres? If you liked one book, would you take a chance and read another book in a different genre?

Ken: I’m very glad you’re my partner, Anne.

Anne: Yes.

KATE AND THE KID is about a young woman (Kate) who has just lost her job and had a major fight with her boyfriend (also arising from the trauma of being fired). At this very low point in her life, Kate is tricked into taking care of a sweet but emotionally damaged six-year-old girl (Jenny) who only communicates with adults through a doll she calls “Miranda.” As a result of an eventful night of babysitting, Kate begins to bond with Jenny, which causes a whole new set of complications with the people in Kate’s and Jenny’s lives. This book tells the story of how Kate and Jenny help each other to heal, grow, and navigate the difficult and sometimes dangerous world of New York City.

Enjoy an excerpt:

She began to press all the buzzers on the panel in the building’s foyer, one after the other, hoping that some kind soul among her neighbors would let her in. The headache that had started in the cab settled in for the night, pounding just above her right eye. At that exquisite moment, Kate saw the kid -- that ghostly, smudge-faced kid -- sitting on the staircase inside. A one armed Barbie doll was on the step beside her.

"Hi, Sweetie!" Kate said through the wired glass, exaggerating the enunciation of the words to make her meaning clear. "Would you come and let me in, honey? You remember me, don’t you? I live on the third floor?!"

The girl did not budge, apparently still trying for the grand prize in a zombie look-alike contest. At first, Kate felt a twinge of concern for the girl. Why on earth was she out in the hallway so late in the evening? Kate leaned her forehead against the cool glass and closed her eyes. When she opened them again, Jenny took the doll into her lap, whispered something into her plastic ear, walloped her twice across the bottom, and started up the stairs.

"Hey! Hey, where are you going?!" Kate shouted. "Hey you better come back here you little... Hey! Hey, did you hear me?!"
>br> And with the little darling thus doubly emblazoned on Kate's mind, if not yet on her heart, their second encounter ended.

About the Authors:

Anne Rothman-Hicks was born in New York City and, except for a brief exile to the suburbs imposed by her parents, she has lived there all of her life, the latter part of which she has shared with her co-author, Kenneth Hicks, and their three children.

Website: www.randh71productions.com
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kenneth-Hicks-and-Anne-Rothman-Hicks/622272714477979y
Buy the book at Amazon

a Rafflecopter giveaway >.