Giveaway and Interview: Knotted Strings by Allegra Keys

Knotted Strings by Allegra Keys

Angel Locatelli never considered her life exciting or unusual. That was until she spent the few months, before she went off to college, in Italy with her estranged Grandma. During her Italian summer Angel was presented with some dirty family secrets and met the man of her dreams, Niccolo. Niccolo was everything she never even knew she wanted, but between her disbelief in love and their family connections to each other, a relationship proved to be easier said than done. As soon as everything started going smoothly tragedy struck and she was forced to abruptly end her summer abroad. Months after the traumatic event Angel was given an ultimatum between true love and unstoppable power. Which one did she choose?

--The Twitter version: tell us about your book in 140 characters or less. What does one get when they combine love, drama, a hot summer, the mafia, and a crazy Grandmother? The YA romance novel, Knotted Strings.

--How did you get the idea for the story? This may sound weird but most of my story ideas come to me in my dreams. Since I wrote Knotted Strings between the ages of 14-16 (I’m almost 21) I’m going to go ahead and say the idea for my book came to me in a dream.

--Which character would you most/least like to have dinner with? I’d like to have dinner with Dominic, he’s a minor character but he’s very powerful. He’s my creation but I’d like to understand him a little better.

--Do you have any other works in progress? Any teasers or release dates? For the last few years I’ve been working on the first book of a series called, Shattered Human Nature, that I’d like to get professionally published. Please enjoy the Prologue.

--What are some of your favorite books? Do you still have much time to read? I am always reading something. Some of my favorite books are (this list is ever-changing by the way): the Host, Candide, my Name is Memory, 1984, and the Great Gatsby.

--If a fairy godmother told you could be put into the world of your favorite book for 24 hours, which book would you pick and why? If I was so lucky as to have that happen to me, I would choose to be in the world of the Secret Book of Grazia dei Rossi. For some reason I love Italy. I’m not Italian at all and I’ve never been to that country but I just love the history and the culture. Plus this book takes place during the Renaissance, which is a time period that fascinates me. I love history so that would be why I would choose to go into that world instead of a magical or futuristic one.

--Do you need anything to write (music, coffee, etc)? Are there any songs on your playlist- songs that inspired you or that were playing while you wrote? Honestly, I just need peace and quiet.

--If you could have any superpower what would you choose? The ability to rewind time and change events.

--Besides writing, what do you like to do in your free time? Besides writing, I love reading and going to movies. And when I have the money I love hopping on a plane that’s heading to my next travel destination.

--What is one thing you would tell your 15 year old self? Don’t fall in love with the first guy that says kind words to you because “all that glitters isn’t gold.”

--Is there anything else you want to add or say to your readers? I wrote this book when I was younger and the only thing I knew about love was what I had seen in movies and read in books. Once I grew up a little I thought Knotted Strings was too corny for the public. However, after reading many a corny ebooks I decided my work wasn’t too bad. If you don’t like graphic sex or crude language but still crave a sappy love story, this is the book for you. And might I add that I have a quite a few twist and turns, just in case I have any readers like myself that need a little more than just passionate love to keep them reading.

Lightning round: this or that?

Vanilla or chocolate? Neither

Edward or Jacob? Jacob

Hockey or soccer? Soccer

Ebook or paper? Paper

Salty or sweet? Salty

Beach or mountains? Beach

Phone call or email? Neither

Early bird or night owl? Night Owl

Dog or cat? Dog

Messy or neat? Neat

Ninjas or pirates? Pirates

Twitter: @allegrakeys

Facebook: Allegra Keys

Blog: AllegraKeys.blogspot.com

    Prologue
Year 2010
"Mommy where do babies come from?" It was that question no parent wanted to answer. The woman being questioned looked down at her six year old son then glanced over to her husband for assistance. Even though he was right there on the couch with his arm around her shoulders, he had conveniently tuned out everything that wasn't the
Sunday night football playing on their plasma TV.
Sighing overly loud she considered the approach most appealing to her. Was it time for "the talk"? Surely not, and she was leaving that up to her husband anyway. Could she fabricate some story about storks or swallowing watermelon seeds or whatever nonsense desperate parents used? She could not even remember how she had discovered the way babies were conceived.
Their son was becoming impatient and pointed at his mother's eight month pregnant stomach. "I wanna know how my baby sister got in there!"
Rubbing her stomach she said, "Babies come from two people when they love each other." That statement made her want to hurl, for it was far too cheesy and sugarcoated to agree with her tastebuds. Wanting her son to grow up knowing truths and not lies she quickly amended her statement. "Actually honey, babies come from this one thing that older people do." Now she knew her husband was listening because she heard him trying not to laugh. A quick, playful jab in the ribs with her elbow was enough to kill the laugh.
"What thing?" their son asked.
"Ask your father in a few years," she replied with a pointed glare directed to said man. Then she turned back to her son and said "Anyway, people who do...that thing either love each other or they don't."
"Don't you think that's a little heavy?" her husband whispered gently in her ear.
"Maybe, but you weren't helping."
"I will next time," he said before pecking her cheek and returning the game.
"Did you and daddy love each other?"
She smiled at his chubby face. It was almost startling the resemblance he shared with his father. "Of course and we still do."
***

Those were the days when the world was a happier and simpler place, with people functioning in the same way they'd always had. But there are always people who think they can fix something that is not broken, that they can drastically change a system that doesn't need changing. And those are the people that changed the world for the "better". Better is a relative term though, right?
Year 2435
"Mother where did I come from?" The nine year old girl who had asked the question was holding on to her mother's hand as they took their daily mandatory one hour walk through the community park.
Parks were by no means what they once were. There were no play grounds for the children to burn off energy. No thousand year old trees because during the wars, the extreme weather, and need for new land most of them had been destroyed. In their absences were long plastic cylinders that gave off oxygen just like trees used to.
"You came from me. I told you that already." Patience was not one of her mother's virtues.
"But you never said how." They were coming to the bend in the concrete path that would lead them back to their home. Surrounding the path was shiny light blue synthetic grass. Most people by this time had never seen real grass, plants, or trees; these lands were too barren.
"Well I'm sure something about that should appear on your ereader soon." The woman didn't feel like saying that she sent an application describing what she wanted her child to look like and answered a bunch of questions to measure her parenting skills. Lastly, a doctor took a few of her eggs and told her a baby would be ready in nine months. What happened in those nine months to actually form the baby she didn't know. But of course these were the times where only the specialists making the babies knew what those nine months involved.
         ***

There was a coldness about the world now. All the so-called improvements did nothing but destroy. Now that it really was broken should one even hope or try to fix it?

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