​Before we start, how have you and your loved ones been during this COVID-19 time? 
My son and I cut ourselves off from the world for three months. Now we get out a bit, but wear mask and carry hand sanitizer when in public. As someone who used to dance three nights a week, I find it a bit depressing. On the bright side, my yard looks great and I did get a lot of writing done.
 
Someone asked me if I would ever write a book about it. Heck no! In fact, right now I am writing a YA Historical so it won’t be an issue.
 
Please tell us a little about yourself: Do you have a nick-name? Where are you from? What do you write? Tell us something about yourself that makes you, you. :-) 
I have lived in states from the West to the East coast. I currently reside in the sunny South. Besides writing, I love C&W line dancing, swing dancing, and bailando salsa and merengue. If I could dance every day I would.
 
How did you become an author? Please share a bit of your journey with us. 
I entered a Twitter contest to describe your life in a Tweet and won. It made me remember that as a child I dreamed of being an actress and a writer. I put my fingers to the keyboard and a few year later, well, here I am.
 
What are you working on now? 
I am working on a YA Historical Romance
 
Do you have a recent or upcoming release?
I have just signed a contract on my second novel, a YA fantasy.
 
What is the most challenging part of writing romance? 
I think the hardest part of writing is getting the initial story into words. Once the first draft of chapter is done, it is easier to revise and edit.
 
What kind of research do you do when you set out to write a new book? 
I sometime travel to locations. I also rely on the internet quite bit, though I always verify my sources. With my novel Cherokee Summer, I hired a Native American sensitivity reader.
 
Do you have a favorite genre?
I adore the YA genre. Young adults love, hate, and play hard in an arena where the
world shines new and the future burns wide open. When I’m writing YA, if I dig deep inside, I can recapture those intense, wonderful, sometimes painful feelings, and immerse myself in that world once again through my character’s lives.
 
Often times, I think as adults we don’t give our youth enough credit. Though still physically and mentally developing, teens have valid beliefs and concerns and deserve to be heard. I believe if everyone strived to be as pliable in his or her thinking as young people are naturally, together we could create a kinder and more brilliant world.
 
What are some of your favorite comfort foods? 
I learned to make Elvis Presley’s mother’s meatloaf on a video made at Graceland. It is so good.
 
Please share one piece of advice to aspiring authors - what do you wish someone would have told you? Or, what did someone tell you that you’d like to pass on to others? 
Practice, practice, practice and never give up. If you haven’t already, build an online presence and nurture it. Only a minute number of authors become overnight successes. There are general rules to writing such as the infamous “show and don’t tell.” There is no excuse for not studying as there are many online writing classes you can take on your time. Join critique groups. Listen to your critics and evaluate their opinions. Take what you like and trash the rest. Though, always keep your mind open and learn to take constructive criticism. My harshest critic helped me the most. After I finished crying over my bruised ego, I realized he was one-hundred percent right. Had I not listened, I might not be published today.
 
Speed round! What's the first thing that comes to mind?!

City, suburb, or small-town?
Moncks Corner

What is your favorite type of chocolate?
White

Cowboy boots, biker boots, or flip-flops?
Vintage Cowboy boots

Cake, cookies, or crumpets?
Tasty Cakes

Cats, dogs, or exotics?
Dogs 

January 21, 2019
Novel
​YA ~ Contemporary

When Ace leaves home to spend the summer in Cherokee, North Carolina the last thing she expects to find is a boyfriend—until she meets Cherokee Tribe member John Spears. As Ace and John's friendship blossoms, they find their life experiences mirror each other and they fall in love. Despite hurdles thrown by well-meaning family members and jealous frenemies, the star-crossed lovers remain committed to their mutual belief that the universe has drawn them together. However, when Ace sends John a strange text and then suddenly disappears, the two must rely on their trust in each other to save both their lives and their love.

Susan Antony is an IT at a busy hospital by day, hip-shaker and writer by night, artist whenever possible, and an Internet addict. She lives in the sunny south with her teenage son and two Cairn Terriers.

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My cat café series features a bakery and two fantastic bakers. This recipe is one of my favorites! The cookies are flavorful and delicate. You can use a decorative shortbread pan if you want to be fancy, or small cookie cutters, or simply make balls and flatten them a little.
 
This recipe is mentioned in Lions and Love at the Cat Café, a 35-page novella you get free when you sign up for the Kris Bock email newsletter. You’ll also get 13 of the recipes mentioned in the novella and books.

Lions and Love at the Cat Café is a free sweet romance novella complete at 10,000 words.
 
In college, Cheyenne and Nash were inseparable. Then she followed her dream, heading to Asia to work on big cat conservation. Nash stayed behind, protecting his secret: a phobia of all cats.
 
Fifteen years later, Cheyenne comes home. Can Nash convince her to stay and give him another chance?
 
Lions and Love at the Cat Café is available in PDF, MOBI, and ePub. Get it free when you sign up for the Kris Bock email newsletter here: https://sendfox.com/lp/1g5nx3

The Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the workers and customers at a small-town cat café, and the adorable cats and kittens looking for their forever homes. Each book is a complete story with a happy ending for one couple (and maybe more than one rescued cat). 
 
These sweet romances will leave you with the warm feeling of cuddling a purring cat. Check out the series for free with this novella, or get books 1 - 3 at Kris Bock’s Amazon US page or Amazon UK page. (For other countries click here.) The first three books are available in The Furrever Friends Cat Café Collection.​

​Cheyenne stopped in front of the Furrever Friends Cat Café and gazed through the windows. A man crouched on the floor, holding a long stick with a string on the end. He waved the stick, and a cat leapt for the bundle of feathers on the other end of the string. The cat had to be adorable – after all, cats were – but she couldn’t look away from the man. His crouched position didn’t hide his long legs and broad shoulders. The curve of his cheek, the angle of his jaw, the dark hair falling over his forehead – they were more familiar than her own face.
 
But it couldn’t be Nash. Not here. He hated cats, always had, wouldn’t go near them. That had destroyed their relationship all those years ago.
 
Cheyenne stared, blinked, and stared some more. The sight didn’t change. The clean café windows and bright lights inside left no doubt. He might have filled out a little, gained a touch of grey in his dark hair, but it couldn’t be anyone else.
 
Her ex-boyfriend was in a cat café. Playing with a cat. It didn’t make sense.
 
The black and white cat pounced on the bunch of feathers and pinned it to the ground. Nash appeared to be laughing. He gave the stick little tugs until the feathers popped out of the cat’s grip.
 
Cheyenne’s eyes stung. At one point, she’d wanted little more than to know she might someday see this scene. But that was long ago. This came far too late. That made it worse than never seeing it at all.

​Kris Bock writes novels of romance, mystery, and suspense. Her Furrever Friends Sweet Romance series features the employees and customers at a cat café. Watch as they fall in love with each other and shelter cats.
 
Kris also writes romantic suspense set in the Southwestern U.S. If you love Mary Stewart or Barbara Michaels, try Kris Bock’s stories of treasure hunting, archaeology, and intrigue in the Southwest. Sign up for Kris Bock’s newsletter for announcements of new books, sales, and more. Visit the Kris Bock website or Kris Bock’s Amazon page.

Before we start, how have you and your loved ones been during this COVID-19 time?    
We’ve been doing as best we can, given the circumstances. I miss being able to hug my mother, and working essential retail has been hard, but it’s definitely easier than some peoples’ experiences.
 
Please tell us a little about yourself: Do you have a nick-name? Where  are you from?
I grew up in North Carolina and still live here. My pen name is my nickname. My family and my husband call me by my birthname, but anyone who’s known me for shorter than 15 years calls me “Kat.” I suppose that means that if I ever drastically change genres, I’ll have to pick a different pen name.
 
What do you write? Tell us something about yourself that makes you, you. :-)
I enjoy writing historical, time travel, and paranormal. From a very early age, I was interested in all of these things. The creepier, the better. Folklore is a special passion of mine, as well. I love incorporating my interests into my stories, and many of them are inspired by the things I’m obsessed with. I like to pair that up with characters who have complex, rich pasts, villains one loves to hate, and romance that’s both visceral and realistic.
 
How did you become an author? Please share a bit of your journey with us.
The first story I wrote was in third grade. When asked to write a Halloween story from the perspective of a pumpkin, the entire class wrote about being turned into a jack o’lantern. I was the only one to spin a tale about the pumpkin who was terrified of being carved up and ran away from the pumpkin patch. It hasn’t gotten any less strange or magical from there. In 2015, I sat down and wrote my first novel. It’s still in first draft form. The second one, Three Star Island, was the one I submitted to Soul Mate Publishing, and the rest is history.
 
What are you working on now? Do you have a recent or upcoming release?
Right now, I’m busy with the first round of edits and revisions I’m doing on the sequel to my latest release, Black Dog Rising. BDR is a paranormal romance set in modern England rich in folklore, magic, shapeshifters, and ghosts.
 
What is the most challenging part of writing romance?
Finding the proper balance between the action scenes and the character development/romantic relationship. I love the flirting and the romantic “dance”, but at the same time, I want to deliver excitement and danger, as well.
 
What kind of research do you do when you set out to write a new book?
That depends on the book. If I’m writing historical, I try to depict everything as accurately as possible. It’s not all about dates and famous people. It’s about dialect, slang, clothing, courtship rules, food preferences, etc. It can even go down to the nitty-gritty of trade agreements, weaponry, masonry, and sexual norms and mores. The trick is to insert this research as subtly and unobtrusively as possible, so that I don’t weigh the story down and make it sound like a textbook. A little bit goes a long, long way.

What/who do you like to read and do you have a favorite genre/author?
I love Ray Bradbury. I’ve been reading him since I was in fourth grade. He wasn’t just a sci-fi writer, but a man who could cross genre boundaries and make any topic relevant to anyone. His prose voice was so beautiful. He’s pretty much my writing hero.
 
Which of your own characters is your favorite?
Without giving away too much, Jack from Black Dog Rising is definitely my favorite. He’s complex, broken, morally ambiguous, and sly. He’s the quintessential trickster, and they’re the most fun, by far.
 
What are some of your favorite comfort foods?
Anything spicy. The spicier the better. If it burns the first layer of my mouth off, it’s good. I also love sushi, Indian, and Korean. Noodles are probably at the very top of the list. All noodles, all the time.
 
What hobbies do you have?
I pick up and put down hobbies all the time. I collect hobbies, in fact. That’s probably my main hobby. In all seriousness, I like to paint. I’ve done decoupage, shadow box making, and for several years, I painted papier mache skulls to sell around Halloween. I also like walking, which doesn’t sound exciting, but it provides lots of opportunities to get to know my town in a way that driving through it never would.
 
Time for the speed round! Say the first thing that comes to mind...
 
City, suburb, or small-town?
Small town, hands down.

What is your favorite type of chocolate?
Chocolate with cinnamon in it.

Books, movies, or shows?
All three. Can’t choose.

Alpha, beta, or both?
I prefer a complex, layered character who doesn’t fit under a label.

Romantic suspense, contemporary, paranormal, or historical?
Historical and paranormal. Maybe at the same time.

Wine, whiskey or punch?
Rum, absinthe, and Becherovka.
​
Hot dogs, hamburgers, or tacos?
All three, please?

July 1, 2020
Novel
Fantasy ~ Dark Fantasy ~ Paranormal ~ Shapeshifter ~ Folklore

Since arriving in England, nothing has made sense for Emma Aubrey. Forced to flee her ex-boyfriend and the vengeful ghost of his dead wife, she seeks refuge in Ninestone Downs, a sleepy country village where people still whisper of fairies and a hellish phantom canine prowls its streets.

Toby Deering has no more room in his life for the paranormal. He’s got secrets of his own, including a four-hundred-year-old curse and a past he can’t escape. The last thing he wants is a quirky American woman on his doorstep in desperate need of shelter, or the accidental touch that awakens a bond between them neither can ignore.

But ancient forces are stirring. When Emma finds herself the target of a shadowy stalker, will her bond with Toby be enough to withstand the evil Fae Court and the hellhound on her heels?

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Change is everywhere. As someone who likes simple comforts, routines, and certainty, change can feel scary or even downright dangerous. But change is also needed and a part of life, so maybe change can be a comfort in its certainty, like the change of the seasons.

Here in my part of California, we don’t get defined seasons like many other areas of the world do, so I have fun writing about places like Montana, where the seasons are more defined. In the fictional town of Loving, they have snowy winters, blooming springs, sweltering summers, and crisp falls. Each of these seasons—from holidays to hobbies to parades and weddings—gives the town’s meddling matchmakers and other residents new ways to connect and celebrate.
​
As we move from a hot summer to a hopefully chilly and fire-free fall, baking, one of my favorite ways to celebrate, becomes easier. This quick bread recipe is very simple to put together with different fruits. It’s adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, Simply In Season. Eating seasonally helps us eat more local produce, and helps the earth by cutting back on carbon emissions from trucking in foods. Plus, local, seasonal foods just taste better! Whatever season you’re in, I hope you’re finding comfort and a routine that fits where you are. Whether you chose to make this bread with peaches, like Dolly (the heroine of the latest Montana Matchmakers book), or with grated apples, chopped strawberries, or blueberries, I hope you enjoy!

​Hi Romance Lovers! I’m so happy to visit this cool space where romance lovers hang out.
 
How have you and you loved ones been during this Covid-19 time?
Thanks for asking. We’ve been mostly okay. We’ve followed all the health recommendations. It’s been so hard not to see family. There’s a lot of us! My mom had a mild Covid-related stroke and she’s recovering. I don’t want to complain. So many others have it so much worse.
 
Tell us about you and what you write.
I grew up in New York City and now live within a couple of subway stops of my childhood home. I’m the middle child of a large family and married into a large family. I mainly write steamy contemporary romance, though my most recent novella is a sweet romance set in the WWII era.

What makes me, me? I’m a bunch of contradictions. I’m a city dweller who also loves a quiet beach at sunset, an introvert who adores spending time with her enormous family, a lawyer who believes in romance and happily ever afters.
 
Please share a little of your author journey with us.
After I survived a health crisis I realized life is too short not to do what I’d always wanted: write romance. I’m thrilled to be in this world and I’ve never looked back.

Recovering lawyer Charlotte and her suit and tie wearing corporate warrior live in Manhattan with their last child, a black dog who thinks he's a bear. When Charlotte isn't reading or writing, she's dreaming of the beach.

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