#Interview with @KelseyJSutton Author of Smoke and Key! @EntangledTeen ‏

Synopsis: A sound awakens her. There's darkness all around. And then she's falling...

She has no idea who or where she is. Or why she's dead. The only clue to her identity hangs around her neck: a single rusted key. This is how she and the others receive their names—from whatever belongings they had when they fell out of their graves. Under is a place of dirt and secrets, and Key is determined to discover the truth of her past in order to escape it.

She needs help, but who can she trust? Ribbon seems content in Under, uninterested in finding answers. Doll’s silence hints at deep sorrow, which could be why she doesn't utter a word. There's Smoke, the boy with a fierceness that rivals even the living. And Journal, who stays apart from everyone else. Key's instincts tell her there is something remarkable about each of them, even if she can't remember why.

Then the murders start; bodies that are burnt to a crisp. After being burned, the dead stay dead. Key is running out of time to discover who she was—and what secret someone is willing to kill to keep hidden—before she becomes the next victim… 
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About the Author:  Kelsey Sutton is a young adult and middle grade author. She lives in Minnesota, where she received a dual bachelor's degree in English and Creative Writing from Bemidji State University. She is currently working on a master's degree from Hamline University. Her work has received an Independent Publisher Book Award, an IndieFab Award, and was selected as a Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2013. When not writing, Kelsey can be found watching too much Netflix, ordering a mocha at the nearest coffee shop, or browsing a bookstore. You can visit her online at www.kelseysuttonbooks.com, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter @KelseyJSutton.

1.     Did you always want to be a writer? If not, what did you want to be?

I have been writing ever since I can remember. As a child I would come home from school, pull out my plastic bin full of markers and paper, and arrange everything around me in a circle. I would then fold some paper in half, staple the side three times, and proceed to fill the white spaces with words and pictures. It only got worse as I grew older.

2.     When did you first consider yourself as a “writer”?

I suppose when my first novel came out. Since then, I’ve learned that you don’t need to have anything published to consider yourself a writer, but until that point I wouldn’t let myself feel any sense of accomplishment.

3.     Did it take a long time to get your first book published?

Oh, yes. I wrote multiple books before Some Quiet Place. In fact, I started querying at sixteen. But Some Quiet Place was the book that landed me my agent at eighteen. We didn’t find a publisher willing to take my weird book on until I was twenty, and it came out when I was twenty-one. So if you count the time from sending that very first query to the day I signed a publishing contract, it would add up to four years!

4.     Do you work another job as well as your writing work?

Yes, I certainly do. My day job is a full-time position at a nonprofit. It also involves writing, but a very different kind. I did try being at home all day and found that I need to get out of my own head!

5.     What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarize it in less than 20 words what would you say?

My newest release is called Smoke and Key. How about thirty-two words? (I spent way too long on this and finally gave up on cutting it down.)

A girl wakes up dead and without memories. Soon the murders start. After being burned, the dead stay dead. Key races to find out who she was before she’s the next victim…

6.     Do you have a “lucky charm” or “lucky routine” you follow when waiting for your book to be accepted by a publisher?

I actually don’t! Now I’m wondering if I should get one or start one. All I do is enjoy the time on my hands, either by starting a new project or catching up on my gigantic reading list.

7.     How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?

Every book is different.

Some Quiet Place was three months, Where Silence Gathers was nine months, The Lonely Ones was two months, Gardenia was seven months, and Smoke and Key was four or five months. My latest project just passed the two-year mark.

How helpful was that answer? (Facepalm.)

8.     Which of your books were easier/harder to write than the others?

Out of my five, the easiest book so far was probably The Lonely Ones. I wrote it in two months and it came so effortlessly.

The hardest one to write was probably Smoke and Key, actually. The plot is so intricate that it took so much work during the revision process to make sure all the threads wove together.

9.     What can we expect from you in the future? More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?

This is always my favorite question. I am actually self-publishing for the first time this year! It’s an adult urban fantasy entitled Fortuna Sworn.

10.   Do you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series?

Yes, Fortuna Sworn will be the first in a planned series, actually. It’s already on Goodreads, and I’ll soon be putting it up on Amazon for pre-order! Here’s the synopsis:

Fortuna Sworn is the last of her kind. 

Her brother disappeared two years ago, leaving her with no family or species to speak of. She hides among humans, spending her days working at a bar and her nights searching for him. The bleak pattern goes on and on... until she catches the eye of a powerful faerie.

He makes no attempt to hide that he desires Fortuna. And in exchange for her, he offers something irresistible. So Fortuna reluctantly leaves her safe existence behind to step back into a world of creatures and power. 

It soon becomes clear that she may not have bargained with her heart, but her very life.

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Posted in: Entangled Publishing, Interview, Promo, Young Adult