ABOUT SUGAR RUSH:

Running and screaming will have to wait. A blood-sucking dead guy may be a vampire to you, but he's an alien/human hybrid to Ophelia and she really must examine his olfactory nerve under a microscope first.

Ophelia longs to be free, free of Diabetes, free of her ex-boyfriend, free to live. She loves Adrian, but she loved Martin once too. Something transformed Martin and made her his drug. If he has his way, she'll never achieve the freedom to learn his true nature and origin.

Adrian's the new guy in school. He faked his identity to get close to Ophelia, because he knew the monsters who took his Diabetic sister would try to take her too. Then, he'd have them. But, he knew better than to get too close.

Oh, yeah, he did. Seriously.

All Sweets are really beautiful, but when Adrian masks himself for a costume party Ophelia kisses him like he's the hottest boy on the planet. Then, her beloved, Diabetic father is murdered and he realizes she's next. He closes the distance fast, but it's complicated protecting a girlfriend who's into lightsabers and photon torpedoes. For instance, she totally does not get the whole vampire seduction thing. When one visits her bedroom at night, she addicts him to Nintendo DS.

KIMBER AN'S THOUGHTS ON SUGAR RUSH AND WRITING:

What defines your stories?

I wrote four novels during the four years I pursued publication. Looking back, I believe my stories are defined by a teenage heroine being faced with extraordinary circumstances which compel her to dig down deep, figure out what her strengths are, and become confident in using them. She inevitably falls for a really cute blond guy who is or wants to be a pilot. (My husband is a really cute blond pilot!) Common themes have been Achieving the Freedom to Live, the Root of True Courage is Love, and Self-Sacrifice is the Highest Expression of Love.

Why all the buzz?

I think Harry Potter and Twilight really have thrust YA Paranormal into the spotlight. I concluded while writing my third novel, a Time Travel, that I would not achieve publication until I wrote a book with a blood-sucking dead guy in it. But, before those mega-hits there was Star Wars (loved that) and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My story has been compared to Buffy, but the truth is I've never watched the show or read the books. I do hang out with a lot of people who love it though. I think that love rubbed off on my subconscious. And, of course, there was always Star Trek. I come from a multi-generational Trekkie family.

How long have you been writing and how long did it take for you to get published?

I wrote my first book when I was four years old and then moved on to writing The Bionic Woman fan fiction in elementary school. By junior high, I was creating my own universes. I didn't start trying to become published until my late thirties though. Once I started trying, it took me four years of steady, hard work, blogging, writing novel after novel, and pestering the pros for everything they could teach me.

How do you define your genre/subgenre?

In YA Paranormal you have teenage protagonists and something extraordinary happening to them. Often, there's a romantic element because this is the age of First Love. Up until recently, YA Paranormal was usually based in the Fantasy genre. I've always leaned more on the Science Fiction, so I was happy when more YA Paranormal came out leaning that way too. Now, we have Scott Westerfeld and Allegra Goodman. It's awesome.

What's your advice to aspiring authors?

Write! Also, being a blogging book reviewer has taught me an enormous amount of stuff I've found extremely helpful. First of all, an aspiring author needs to read constantly in his or her genre/subgenre in order to learn the form and what's hot. Book reviewers get sent most of their books for free! Reviewing has brought me into contact with agents, editors, publicity people, and authors. A lot of those authors have been extremely generous with their advice. For example, I stumbled onto Susan Grant's blog early on, because of my love of her book The Star King. She gave me great advice, but she also led me to Linnea Sinclair whose novel, The Down Home Zombie Blues, is one of my favorites too. Linnea provided tons of wonderful tips, but she also led me to Jacqueline Lichtenberg who helped save the original Star Trek and who has a huge backlist of published novels, including ones with scientific vampires in them. And Jacqueline provided me with the most enormous advice of all! On top of that, when it was time to upgrade my web presence in preparation for my first novel releasing, I easily snagged lots of guest bloggers from among the authors I've reviewed for over the years. So, my advice is to go with your strengths. If you enjoy blogging, go for it! If don't enjoy it though, it won't work for you. Try something else. I have a Writers' Resources page on my main site where I list everything that's helped me the most.

MORE ABOUT KIMBER AN:

Kimber An never had enough books when she was a kid and the ones she had didn't turn out the way she wanted. And so she started writing her own. She also loved babies a lot, but didn't know how to talk to boys. Instead, she became a nanny and took care of other people's babies. Finally, she moved to Alaska where she met a boy who understood getting whacked in the head with a wadded up piece of paper meant true love. She married him and now she reads books to her own babies, and is living happily ever after.

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