3xA MA: Kasie West

I feel like authors deserve so much from the readers. I believe that authors are people who really connect with us. It was actually an author who I "sorta" owe my life to. Authors and their words make us feel and they can help us.
In this event, I want to get to know the authors. I’d like to get interviews or blog posts about THEM in connection to their book. Who is the mind behind each author?

For each post, I leave links to connect with the author. Please take the time to use one of those links and leave a message for each author, if you can. It can be towards the book or it can be something as easy as “I love the post you wrote on Out of Time! <33”

I adore all of Kasie West's book. She got all the (deserving) hype for Split Second which just came out. I just really like how contemporary her books are, but still have something deeper than fluff! I have no idea how I got her here, but I'll take it! :D

Writing Influences - With Kasie West

I didn’t know I wanted to be a writer until fairly recently but my love of books dates back as far as I can remember. I am one of five children and when we were young, my brothers and sisters and I would pile onto my parents’ queen size bed and listen to my dad read aloud to us. I’m sure there was a lot of kicking and hair pulling, but I don’t remember those things. I specifically remember vivid scenes from The Hobbit and The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe. They come to me in my father’s voice—deep and clear. When he wasn’t reading to us, I’d often find him reading alone. A pile of books always rested on his nightstand.

All the kids had their own library cards and we visited the library often. He and my mom instilled in me a love of books that I will always cherish. These memories mean the world to me, especially after losing my dad at a very young age, quite suddenly. I wasn’t prepared to lose him. I thought I had years left with him. He died before he even knew my dream to become a writer. I often think of him when I write now and hope that he’d be proud that I decided to share my stories with others. And I know that it is because of this deep seated love of books and reading that I became a writer at all.

I didn’t start off writing this as a tribute to my father. I was just going to share a story about my childhood and reading. But that’s what took over. Probably because I know that I am who I am today because of him. Probably because I can’t think about books without thinking about him. Probably because I still miss him fiercely and I am grateful every day that I got to be his daughter.
This is so sweet. It's short and sweet and just perfect. My parents got me a library card very young and I think they kind of regret it because I go crazy with it, but it's definitely a moment. I don't really have someone to encourage me, but usually, I'm the one encouraging :D

Enter the giveaway below! Thanks for checking out my blog and remember:  
Be kind to one another. - Ellen

 

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I write YA. I eat Junior Mints. Sometimes I go crazy and do both at the same time. My debut novel, PIVOT POINT (HarperTeen) came out February 12, 2013, and will be followed by its sequel in 2014. I also have a contemporary, The Distance Between Us, coming out July 2, 2013 with HarperTeen. My agent is the talented and funny Michelle Wolfson.

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