It's Day 2 of Summer Book Talk, an event co-hosted by Kindle and Me, Maji Bookshelf and Books of Amber! As promised, we've had a ton of fun stuff the entire week including some awesome giveaways .
If you're wondering what this event is all about, click here to see the post explaining it all!

Brigid Kemmerer was born in Omaha, Nebraska, though her parents quickly moved her all over the United States, from the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the lakeside in Cleveland, Ohio, and several stops in between, eventually settling near Annapolis, Maryland. Brigid started writing in high school, and her first real “novel” was about four vampire brothers causing a ruckus in the suburbs. Those four brothers are the same boys living in the pages of The Elemental Series, so Brigid likes to say she’s had four teenage boys taking up space in her head for the last seventeen years. (Though sometimes that just makes her sound nuts.)

Brigid writes anywhere she can find a place to sit down (and she’s embarrassed to say a great many pages of The Elemental Series were written while sitting on the floor in the basement of a hotel while she was attending a writers’ conference). Most writers enjoy peace and quiet while writing, but Brigid prefers pandemonium. A good thing, considering she has three boys in the house, ranging in age from an infant to a teenager.

While writing STORM, it’s ironic to note that Brigid’s personal life was plagued by water problems: her basement flooded three times, her roof leaked, her kitchen faucet broke, causing the cabinet underneath to be destroyed by water, the wall in her son’s room had to be torn down because water had crept into the wall, and her bedroom wall recently developed a minor leak. Considering SPARK, book 2 in the series, is about the brother who controls fire, Brigid is currently making sure all the smoke detectors in her house have batteries.

I'm absolutely THRILLED to host Brigid Kemmerer, author of the Elementals series. If you haven't read her debut novel Storm yet, you really should. I'm in love with all the Merrick brothers =) The second book in the Elementals series, namely, Spark, is out on August 28th, 2012 from K-Teen. One lucky winner will receive an ARC of the book in the giveaway following the interview.

Describe Spark in three words.

Hot, Sexy, and Dangerous.

What inspired you to write about 5 boys with different paranormal powers? I'll admit, it's unique and I love it but how did you come about the idea?

The first novel I wrote in high school was about four vampire brothers, named Michael, Nicholas, Gabriel, and Christopher. It was a silly story, but I still have most of it on paper. In my twenties, when I really began to take writing seriously, I wrote a few books but was unable to find a literary agent or a publisher. I couldn’t get those four brothers out of my head – but I didn’t want to do vampires again. I started tossing around ideas that would work with the number four. Four horsemen of the apocalypse. Four leaf clovers. Four, four, four. The four elements of earth, air, fire, and water seemed to work best—and I had a lot of ideas how I could make it fun. Who wouldn’t want to be able to control the elements?

When did you realize that you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve been writing stories ever since I can remember.

Do you base your writing on your own past experiences?

Not really. In Spark, Layne rides horses, which is something I did a lot when I was young. There’s a bit of me in all of my characters.

Where do you usually like to write or read?

I usually sit in the local Starbucks. It’s the one place my family can’t bother me.

What are some of your favorite books that you’ve read recently?

Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi, The Selection by Kiera Cass, and Sanctum by Sarah Fine, which comes out this October.

Any favorite movies and shows? Do you get any inspiration from them?

Unfortunately, I don’t have a lot of time to watch television. I love shows with great writing, like Friday Night Lights. A guilty pleasure is The Vampire Diaries – I never miss an episode.

In the future, do you think you might write a different genre for your books? Maybe switch over to contemporary or dystopia? Or even adult books?

I could definitely see writing contemporary YA, and the novel that landed me an agent was adult paranormal romance, so I could do that as well. I’m not big on dystopian or high fantasy, so I’ll leave those to the authors who write them well. (If you like high fantasy, be sure to check out Sarah Maas’s Throne of Glass, coming out in early August. It’s amazing.)

What is one thing that you can’t do without when you’re writing? Music, a cup of tea, etc

Music! I always blast music in my headphones when I’m writing.

How is the writing process for you? Do you sit and write until you are out of ideas or do you set a schedule for yourself?

I can’t set a schedule—I have young children and a day job. But I try to write chapters every time I sit down. I have a hard time picking back up in the middle of a chapter. That’s part of why I go to Starbucks: I need a good three hours to get a chapter down.

What are your plans for the next book? Which Merrick brother is it going to be about?

Spark is about Gabriel, and he gets into a lot of trouble when an arsonist starts setting fires in town. After Gabriel’s story is Spirit, which is about Hunter. Be sure to check out Fearless, the ebook-only novella, which will be released on July 31.

Thanks so much Brigid, for taking the time to answer my questions!
Make sure you guys add her latest book, Spark (Elementals, #2), to your TBR!

Spark (Elementals #2) by Brigid Kemmerer.
Audience/Genre : Young Adult/Paranormal.
Publication : August 28th 2012 by K-Teen.

Gabriel Merrick plays with fire. Literally.

Sometimes he can even control it. And sometimes he can’t. Like the fire that killed his parents.

Gabriel has always had his brothers to rely on, especially his twin, Nick. But when an arsonist starts wreaking havoc on their town, all the signs point to Gabriel. Only he’s not doing it.

More than Gabriel’s pride is at stake -- this could cost him his family, maybe his life. And no one seems to hear him. Except a shy sophomore named Layne, a brainiac who dresses in turtlenecks and jeans and keeps him totally off balance. Layne understands family problems, and she understands secrets. She has a few of her own.

Gabriel can’t let her guess about his brothers, about his abilities, about the danger that’s right at his heels. But there are some risks he can’t help taking.

The fuse is lit…

Giveaway Terms and Conditions :

• Giveaway is International.
  
• Giveaway ends on August 15th, 2012.
  
• Winner has 36 hours to respond or a new one will be picked.

a Rafflecopter giveaway Make sure to come back every day until July 31st to check out the rest of the posts of The Summer Book Talk and also, for a chance to win some fabulous prizes! Don't forget to visit Maji Bookshelf and Books Of Amber and check out their posts as well!

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