Reading Addiction

Welcome to today’s stop on the Blessed Are Those That Mourn Virtual Book Tour – Hosted by Reading Addiction Virtual Book Tours.

Without further ado, let me introduce author, Kristi Belcamino.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m a newspaper reporter, crime fiction writer and Italian mama who bakes a tasty biscotti!

Each writer has their own rituals – some listen to music while others drink coffee. What do you do to bring on your muse?

I must have caffeine – usually a double espresso when I sit down to write. Other than that, I need a spot for my laptop and I’m good to go.

How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on their meaning or because you like how it sounds? What other things do you consider when naming your characters?

Names are very important to me. Before my first Gabriella Giovanni book was published, I was devastated to get a cease and desist order from a handbag company that was named Gabriella Giovanni! Luckily, the company’s claim (or concern) that it’s customers might be confused by the same name wasn’t a valid argument. Hard to mix up a fictional character with a handbag, right?

Thinking about your latest novel: If one of the supporting characters could step off the page and join you for lunch, which would you choose and why?

Chris Lopez. He’s the most badass newspaper photographer who ever lived! I love the guy!

Writers tend to spend a lot of time alone. When it comes to socializing, do you prefer a small group of close friends or large and rowdy party?

I love throwing small intimate dinner parties. If I have to attend a party, I am the one off in the corner having a deep conversation with one other person.

Which would you prefer: Hiking/Camping or Dinner/Movie

Dinner and movie. I got all the hiking/camping out of my system as a kid growing up in Northern California.

Everyone dreams but not everyone remembers their dreams. Do you remember your dreams and have they ever inspired a story or a scene in a story?

I remember my dreams, but they haven’t inspired a story. However, I have woken in the middle of the night with a breakthrough idea for my current novel. It’s why I keep a pen and paper on my nightstand.

At the end of your life, when it is all said and done, what would you want your tombstone to read?

Her family was her everything.

About her novel:

San Francisco Bay Area reporter Gabriella Giovanni has finally got it all together: a devoted and loving boyfriend, Detective Sean Donovan; a beautiful little girl with him; and her dream job as the cops’ reporter for the Bay Herald. But her success has been hard-won and has left her with debilitating paranoia. When a string of young co-eds starts to show up dead with suspicious Biblical verses left on their bodies—the same verses that the man she suspects kidnapped and murdered her sister twenty years ago had sent to her—she begins to question if the killer is trying to send her a message.

It is not until evil strikes Gabriella’s own family that her worst fears are confirmed. As the clock begins to tick, every passing hour means the difference between life and death to those Gabriella loves…

Author Bio:

Kristi Belcamino is a writer, photographer, and artist. In her former life as a newspaper crime reporter in California, she flew over Big Sur in an FA-18 jet with the Blue Angels, raced a Dodge Viper at Laguna Seca, watched autopsies, and interviewed serial killers. She is now a journalist based in Minneapolis and the Gabriella Giovanni mysteries are her first books. Find Kristi on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/kristibelcaminowriter or on Twitter @KristiBelcamino

Contact Information

Website: http://www.kristibelcamino.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kristibelcaminowriter

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kristibelcamino

Purchase Links

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Blessed-are-Those-Who-Mourn-ebook/dp/B00SG1ELNW/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/?ean=9780062389428&cm_mmc=AFFILIATES-_-Linkshare-_-MdXm68JZJz8-_-10:1

HarperCollins: http://www.harpercollins.com/9780062389428/blessed-are-those-who-mourn

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Fantasy

Date Published: March 2013

Rupert has lived his entire life under the cruel reign of the black squirrels. When he finds out that the artifact that causes the immortality of his enemies is missing, he is sent on a quest to find it and claim it for his own. Rupert is determined to overthrow the evil Emperor Venul and rule justly in his stead, but he is warned by the wise white squirrel Zirreo to be cautious, for countless things can go wrong when holding an object of magic.

Years later, the Dark Wanderer, a shadowy figure claiming to be the servant of the squirrel goddess Astrippa, is loose in Arborand. When friends Mae and Flor accidentally cross paths with him, they get more than they bargained for when they discover that the darkest, wildest legends are often true.

Meanwhile, Theo, an orphaned half-breed squirrel, finds a compass that doesn’t point north and is compelled by a series of disturbing messages to set out with his faithful chipmunk servant Parris to follow where it leads.

What if inequality threatened to take over the land?

What if the gods who ruled your childhood fears came to life?

Would you bow down, or would you fight?

What if fate gifted you with only one journey on which to find out?

Guest Post:

My Five Necessities for Writing (in no particular order)

I work best as soon as I get up, when it’s the first thing I do in the day. As the day goes on, it only gets harder for me to motivate myself to write. I have rare occasions where I’ll start writing again at night, but when I say rare, I mean rare!
This goes with number one to a large degree, seeing as the only time I drink coffee is in the morning and coffee really goes a long way towards empowering me to start putting words to the page.
A schedule. This is so, so important to me. I know writers who only write when they’re inspired, or who still function when left to their own devices with more wiggle-room, but I have to be strict with myself or nothing comes out. I try to aim for the same time every day, and a minimum number of hours to sit in front of the computer.
A lot of smaller goals leading up to the finish line. It really helps me to set myself weekly goals for word count- I make mine 10,000 words a week. This allows me to write less some days and more on others, but it doesn’t allow for me to slack off- at the end of the week, I can be assured I’ll be 10,000 words ahead of where I was the week before.
It’s not always possible, and I’m actually pretty good at working with white noise- say if I’m at a coffee shop or there’s a tv on in the background, but my ideal environment is quiet. I have the hardest time with music, particularly if it’s music I really like. I wish I was the type of writer who could make a nice playlist for my book and listen to it while writing, but alas, I am not. I get so caught up in the music and my imaginings that I can’t follow the train of my current plot and how to proceed.

Meet the Author:

C.A. Allen lives in the Northeastern U.S. with her family and one incredibly quirky corgi. She enjoys black coffee, thunderstorms, and the majesty of trees, which inspired the creation of Arborand. From a very young age she observed the secret life of squirrels in her back yard and decided they were an excellent subject for story-telling.