Author Interview: Ina Carter with Crimson Snow

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Ina Carter will be awarding a $50 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Author Interview: Ina Carter

1. How did you choose your genre? What made you write this book?

Crimson Snow is at its core a NA sport romance, but I think it is not a novel typical for the genre. The story digs deep into human emotions and explores the effects of childhood trauma, loss, and overcoming adversity through the power of love. Romantic love is part of it, the main hero is a college baseball star, but those are only a few elements of Crimson Snow. I wanted this to be a coming of age story, where my heroes dealt with a lot of trauma as children but also learned how to overcome it. The book is about complicated family relationships, and it touches on some social issues like racial inequality.

2. Writers write what they know, and must observe the world. Are you a firstborn, middle, or last child, and how does this shape your view of the world?

I am a first born, and fit the stereotype of being headstrong and trying to direct the whole show (just ask my husband and my kids 😉) I have only one younger sister, but we were only eleven months apart, so in a lot of ways we were like twins – trading clothes, had the same group of friends, even though we went to different high-schools. The fact I was the older sister made me be the responsible one, and I think it shaped my views that there was no one else to blame for my failures.  

3. Where is your favorite place to write?

My favorite place to write is my living room couch. When I do research for a book, I print out images of the places I am describing or of people who look like my characters. I spread them all out on my coffee table and use them as inspiration. This year during the COVID quarantine, the living room got a little crowded, and my “happy place” got invaded by my kids. At least it gave me an excuse to finally convert our guest room into an office. It’s still a work in progress, but I hope I’ll find the peace and quiet I need to write without distractions. Here are a few pictures of my new office:

Pretty cool office!

4. How do you feel about killing your darlings, and what do you do with the remains?

The phrase “killing your darlings” means letting go. As authors, we get so sucked into our fictional worlds that every single detail, character, or line of dialogue has meaning to us. Editing out or cutting chapters is the most difficult process. The best advice I got was from my editor Jessica Tastet. She told me to read every chapter and ask myself the question, “Does it move the story along?” This worked for me, and now I can easily identify redundant chapters or places where my story slows down. Another practice I developed is to write two sentences summary of each chapter in a footnote. This helps me easily identify if the chapter is not contributing to the action of the plot, and in the end, I also have a short synopsis ready.

5. You are introduced to your favorite author. Who is it, and what is that one burning question you must ask them?

My favorite author of all time is P.G. Wodehouse. I read his books every time I feel dejected or miserable, and his dry sense of humor is my cure for everything. Even though I am absolutely curious to find out more about his motivation for writing a social satire in the early 20th century England, my one question would be of a personal nature. Was he a happy person? I know that for me, writing comedies is an outlet for my anxiety. When the sky starts falling, my one way to cope is to write something that would make me laugh. Many comedians would tell you that their humor comes out of pain. I am curious if Sir Wodehouse, who was a son of an aristocrat and obviously didn’t face hardship and poverty, had personal struggles that inspired his writing.   

6. Inquiring minds want to know…tell readers something about you that no one knows.

I lived half my life on another continent, and I am bi-lingual. I like to immerse myself in the world I am writing about (unless it’s a fantasy) and, when possible, travel to the places I describe in my books. This year travel was impossible due to COVID, so for the book I am currently writing (follow up on Crimson Snow), I spent days “exploring” Moscow and Florida through virtual tours and street view “drives” on Google maps.

7. You are stranded on a deserted island with only a backpack for company. What three items are in your survival pack?

I love this question! It might be simple on the surface, but it digs deep for me, making me question what are the most important things in my life that without them living is not worth it. As a practical person, I would say that #1 item to have on a deserted island is water. This is the survivalist instinct that likely everyone has. The rest is more complicated. My son, who is a young filmmaker wrote a short film asking a similar existential question: What would you do if you know you have fifteen minutes to live? Would you try changing the circumstances that would lead to your death or choose to spend a few more minutes with the people you love? So, if I am on a deserted island, I think I’ll bring a picture of my family and my favorite book (not sure which one, but it will be a comedy). Love and laughter are the two things that life is not worth living without. 

8. If you could have one super power in your existence, what would it be?

The one superpower I would love to have is time travel. I do it in my head all the time anyway, imagining places in the future and reading historical books. I am a big history buff and even wrote my college graduation thesis on the subject of the history of medicine. If I can visit those places in the past or the future, it won’t be simply to observe the changes in human progress, but most likely to search for the similarities and the things in humankind that never changed. 

9. Favorite snack?

My favorite snack is simple – veggies of any kind – raw and without any dipping sauce or condiments. My kids hate them, so more for me 😊

10. Indy 500 – Do you know how to get where you’re going or do you drive the speed limit?

I never go slow, always push the speed limit, but I am also prepared and know how to get to my destination. Even in the literal sense, I do study my routes before I drive off, trying to memorize all the turns and plan the actions I have to take in my head.

Crimson Snow

by Ina Carter

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GENRE: Contemporary romance

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BLURB:

The Greeks had seven words for LOVE. I felt all of them for ONE MAN…

My name is Lauren, and I was a stolen baby.

They found me in a trailer park in rural Texas when I was eight years old. My childhood wasn’t perfect, but then I had Kevin. He was my everything…

When they returned me to my biological parents, we were torn apart.

My new family desperately tried to fix me, make me forget him… My father kept me on a short leash and controlled every aspect of my life. The one thought keeping me afloat was to find Kevin, but he vanished without a trace.

I searched for him for twelve years, but the man I found was not the boy I lost. He is a college baseball star, tattooed, moody, and dark… And he hates me.

Can Kevin help me defeat my demons, or does he have too many of his own?

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NOTE: The book is on sale for $0.99.

Excerpt:

I was taken to another room with a big table and many chairs. A woman came in, sat across from me, and started telling me things about how Mamma was not my real mom and neither was Daddy. She said Mamma told Stacy she stole me when I was a baby from some hospital in the California State. I knew those were lies, and I told her Stacy is a liar. All I could think of was Kevin, not about Mamma and Daddy. She was trying to tell me he was not my brother, either. When I heard that I had to go with her and stay for a while with some nice people, I started crying.

“Is Kevin coming too?” I sobbed.

“No, sweetheart. He would have to stay in another place.”

I tried to run away from the room. All I wanted was to get back to my brother. The officer must have been guarding the room from the outside because he grabbed me before I could get away from him.

At the same time, I saw another man taking Kevin out of the doctor’s room. My brother looked at me, and I would never forget his eyes. Desperate, fearful, broken. His whole face was distorted by the pain. It was radiating from his whole being.

I kicked and screamed. Called Kevin’s name. I bit the hand that was holding me prisoner. Kevin was also pulling away, trying to kick the policeman keeping him captive.

I don’t know why, but they let us go. We ran to meet in the middle of the corridor and collapsed down to our knees, wrapping our arms around each other. And we cried.

“You are my sister, Jules. My friend. My… everything,” Kevin sobbed, and his words were echoing my exact thoughts.

“Please, Kevin! Don’t let them take you away from me! Please!” I begged him.

But they were already pulling him from my arms, breaking our souls, ripping away from me the one person I loved the most in this world.

“I’ll find you, Jules! I’ll come for you!” Those were the last words he said to me…

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Ina Carter has always been an avid reader. She discovered her love for writing at an early age when her first poem was published in a literary magazine at age twelve. As a lifetime collector of inspirational stories, Ina believes that love is the most powerful force in the Universe. She writes in multiple genres – romantic comedies, contemporary and paranormal. Ina lives in Southern California with her husband, two kids, and one very temperamental cat. You can find more about Ina and future book releases at www.InaCarter.com.

Twitter :@inacarterbooks

FB: https://www.facebook.com/ina.carter.3591

Amozon purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088KQKNZJ

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In The Key Of Love

I should have known I would end up here... Give me a good book and I'm in heaven. Especially romance, mystery, mayhem, the fantastic and the fey. Give me a laptop and I'm writing any one of these, and not in any particular order.

8 thoughts on “Author Interview: Ina Carter with Crimson Snow”

  1. You mention bringing a comedy with you to a desert island and reading PG Wodehouse, yet Crimson Snow seems quiet dark (definitely the excerpt). Being a romance, we know there will be lightness (?) eventually. Are there comedic elements?

    1. Thank you for your question, Anne! There are two sides of me as an author – one is sarcastic and quirky, the other one is more contemplative. My other published novel is a romantic comedy, but I also enjoy writing more emotional books like Crimson Snow. I know the excerpt is from one of the more dramatic scenes in the book, but there are funny and light moments as well. It is a romance novel with a great HEA ending.

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