HOWDY, Tracy Ball!
1. For those who might not be familiar with you, would you be a dear and tell the readers a little about yourself? How did you get your start in the writing business?
Tracy: As with most writers, I am a life-long book lover, but, once figuring out the story became a habit, the next logical step was creating my own. I have a fairly colorful bio which has exposed me to some unique characters. Everyone thinks their life should be in a book. I try to accommodate.
2. Do you ever suffer from writer’s block? If so, please share how you handle it.
Tracy: I stay too busy to notice. If I’m not writing, I’m editing, researching, rewriting, reading, marketing (I hate marketing), etc., or writing something else. I usually have at least three projects in need of attention at any given time.
3. Contrary to what some people envision about a romance writer’s life, it’s not all glitz and glam. Well not for the majority of us. With that bubble sadly busted, when you’re not writing, how do you spend your time?
Tracy: I read (of course). I paint. And, most importantly, I have an eighteen-month-old grandson.
4. I know many writers, such as myself, keep their pastime/career a secret. Do those close to you know you write? If so, what are their thoughts?
Tracy: Everyone knows I write. My family is more supportive than I deserve. Sometimes more critical, too. But I love it. They keep me honest.
5. Will you share with us your all-time favorite authors? If you’re like me, it’s a long list so give us your top ten.
Tracy: I tend to bounce between romance, fantasy, and young adult. These are not in any particular order:
J. R.R. Tolkien
George R.R. Martin
J.K. Rowling
Rick Roidan
Jenifer Blake
Sharon Kay Penmen
Karen Marie Moning
Christine Feehan
Clair Delacroix
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Kam: You and I have multiple authors in common. Maybe we need to start a book club and dish about them and their wonderful creations. 😀
6. If you could choose one book to go to the big screen, yours or otherwise, which book would you choose and whom would you love to see cast in the parts?
Tracy: KAYOS, definitely.
Lareina- Ajiona Alexis/ Keke Palmer/ Zoë Kravitz – Lareina
Christian – Alexander Ludwig/ Theo James/ Tom Felton- Christian
Commander Joffener – Edward Noton
Lieutenant colonel Briggs – Robert De Niro
I’m open if anybody wants to produce it (lol).
AREINA ELLIOT, guidance counselor for Presque Isle Academy, discovered her idea for making students loyal to the government is being implemented in the Excellence Program to further the war. It has become her life’s work to undermine that effort. When she is arrested for being a Revolutionary sympathizer, her brothers, KAIDEN, FISHER, and SILAS rescue her with help from three of Lareina’s top students; ALEC, ORION, and YUKIYO. On the run but armed with intelligence and more, they seek to learn how she was exposed and by whom.
CHRISTIAN DEVERELL, the agent assigned to Lareina’s case is relentless. She can’t escape him. It doesn’t matter that he and Lareina are on opposite sides of the law, or that their history is dirty. It doesn’t matter that he commissioned her adopted brother, Silas, to assassinate her. The only thing of importance is his love for Lareina and his promise to protect her.
Silas MCKADE, soldier elite, Lareina’s secret weapon. The man who never misses is on the Government’s payroll to do whatever he likes to whomever he chooses. He has a death warrant for Lareina—the woman who means everything to him—and a heart full of hatred for Christian—the man he wants to be. He’s either going to break Lareina’s heart or stop it altogether.
7. Would you care to tell us what you’re working on now? That is if it’s not top- secret information. If so, just whisper it in my ear. I swear it’ll go no further.
Tracy: I just finished a short story for a charity anthology – It’s a sweet fairytale. I am working on a romance. The tag for that one is: Hope Floats meets Castaway. And, I am drafting another dystopian romantic suspense after the fashion of Get Out and The Stepford Wives.
(Tracy) Dragonfly Dreams is my short story contribution to the Anthology. The Anthology is due to release on Feb 15th.
8. Where can we find your stories, and is there a particular reading order?
Tracy: All my work is on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, just about anywhere books are sold.
They are all stand alone with the exception of The Tiger & The Snake. That one is a tie-in to KAYOS. I offer it as a free download.
9. Would you please share how your present and future fans can contact you?
Tracy: Facebook / Twitter / Webpage
10. Before we conclude this enlightening interview, do you have anything else you’d like to share? The stage is all yours.
Tracy: Most of my stories tend to be genre-bending because I write about love. When, where, and how it happens. Sometimes that’s on a farm or boat, other times it’s during the last Civil War or next one coming. Some of it is fluffy-sweet and some of it is rolling in heat and muck. But all of it is tough love because none of my main characters belong together. Their stubborn hearts refuse to listen.
**I know Tracy A. Ball is one helluva author but check out what others are saying about her.**
Reviewer K. Coly(5⭐): “I’m a huge fan of Kayos, by Tracy Ball. I couldn’t pass up the chance to revisit the world of mind games, conspiracy, and romance. The only disappointment was that the story wasn’t longer!!!! The glimpse we get into the couple’s tumultuous past is riveting and nothing like what I was expecting. If you’re tired of the boring romance where everything works out just as predicted, The Tiger and The Snake is definitely worth the read. Without getting into spoilers, the witty banter and unabashed manipulations make this couple a welcome change. You don’t have to read Kayos to love this, but you’ll want to read (or re-read) Kayos when you’re done. Hopefully this just the beginning of what would be an amazing series.”
Reviewer Bruce Logan (5⭐): “Set several decades into the future, this book is reminiscent of, and every bit as avant garde as was George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four when released in 1949. For the fan of dystopian fiction, it’s a feast and for and for anyone interested in a good yarn with equal doses of love and warfare, it’s a page-turner. This work is exceptionally well written by an author with a lively imagination. A spirited read. Well done, Tracy.”
Reviewer J.L. Cook (5⭐): “Such a brilliant way to tell a futuristic love story. Even amid a dystopian society, love wins! This book captured my attention from the beginning, and left me wanting more (in a good way) in the end.”
This prequel to KAYOS: The Bad & The Worse is the need-to-know origin of Lareina and Christian’s impossible relationship and includes the how and why the members of KAYOS are who they’ve become.
Print Length: 40 pages
Love thy enemy. Thoroughly.
“Oh, Lord. He’s back.”
Lareina and Christian had the love of a lifetime, a lifetime ago. Now, they’re frienemies with not enough benefits for either of them.
Christian wants to get past their problem, but Lareina is not having it, or him. Until a desperate call and a fateful day changes him; changes her; changes everything. Love has forced them to play a dangerous game called KAYOS.
Lareina hated Christian. She hated loving him. She hated being her best, happiest self with him. She hated how he made her laugh…and cry. Damn the man. Why did he ever make her cry?
An amazing dinner. A perfect moonlight stroll. His touch was electric and his kisses held every promise she ever wanted. But…
He was working. The evening was a carefully crafted delusion meant to fool an observer into believing they were in love. She wasn’t his woman. She was bait. It didn’t matter what he made her feel. Tonight, she was bait.
Other than to indicate the men following them, and when a team member happened to be near, Christian said very little about his game or her part in it. Being herself was all he required from her. She toyed and flirted and let him see the depth of her feelings. Promising him tomorrow would be an altogether different day.
“How will we know if this is working?” She asked on the way back to the hotel. She curled up under his shoulder as he drove.
“We won’t. You’ll have to spend the night with me to be sure they believe I’m fully distracted.”
“In your wildest wet dreams.” She used the opportunity to rub his crotch. “And, you are fully distracted.”
“Do it again. I dare you.”
“Nope. But only because you want me to.”
“Coward.”
“Absolutely.” Over their quiet laughter, she said, “You have me for one more hour, Christian. Once we’re done here, you are going to stay away from me for the rest of the weekend. Understand?”
“You know better. One, I’ve put you out there, I have to protect you.”
“I can protect myself.”
“I have to protect you. Two, avoiding me would blow my cover. And three, you don’t want me away from you any more than I do.”
“You’ve got one hour. Make it special.” She squeezed his leg and slid out of his reach.