Zaidi Features: Interview with Krystal White and a Look at "Unforeseen" (Alessandra Powell series)



Welcome back for another Zaidi Feature! I had the pleasure of meeting this new, rather prolific author during our first Zaidi Features event on Facebook. If you haven't met Krystal White or read any of her books yet, you should definitely take a look. She'll tell us a bit more about what's available now, and what's coming soon in her interview, so sit back, enjoy my interview with Krystal, and leave an encouraging comment if you're so inclined :-)






Book description:

Alessandra Powell was raised by her grandmother. Not because her parents were dead, but rather because her mother didn't want her and her father wasn't even aware of her existence. 

When tragedy struck and her grandmother died, Alessandra was faced with an impossible decision. She could reach out to her father and convince him to help her or go into foster care until she’s 18. 
In this installment of the series we meet Alessandra and follow her life as she goes through all of these life altering changes.



Hello there!    


My name is Krystal and I love reading and writing! I doubt I could be without my kindle as I take it everywhere with me as every moment I can spear I spend it reading. 

I have always thought of myself as quite inventive and I figured it was time to put my creativity and imagination to work. That's when I decided to buy a smaller laptop that I could easily carry with me and furiously write whenever possible!

That's how late 2014 I began writing. I love it and I hope you enjoy reading my stories almost as much as I enjoyed writing them!


Happy reading,

Krystal

Interview


1.    When did you know you wanted to be a writer? What were some of your first steps toward making your dream a reality? How would you say most of your stories are conceived? Dreams? Research? Experience?

The idea of writing didn’t really take form in my mind until late 2014. I had some down time from work and was able to squeeze quite a few more reads in between appointments (as I carry my kindle with me everywhere). Towards the end of the year I began thinking how I would have written things differently if I were the writer of any given book and that’s how the idea was born.
I researched online how difficult it would be to publish and realize via Amazon wasn’t as hard as all the other venues. Then at the end of November 2014 I began writing.
I had no prior writing experience- other than the usual essays for college or reports for work.

2.    What 3 things would you like readers to know about you?

I love write. Even though I just started writing I do see myself writing for as long as my fingers allow me too.
I am a reader above all and if I don’t LOVE my own story I don’t publish it! Honestly, I do have about six written stories sitting in my document file waiting for me to figure out what is missing in order for me to love them. When I do, then I’ll publish them.
I am a mother of two wonderful children who are the center of my world.

3.    What role does your family play in your writing, if any? Any pets? If so, how many and what kind?

My husband works at night and doesn’t come home until midnight- which is perfect for me as I write at night. Typically my productive hours are from 7pm-11pm.
I sit down in my living room after my children and I have had dinner and write while they play.

4.    What are you doing when you’re not writing? Day job? Health concerns or caring for family?

Yes, I do have a full time job. Thankfully no current health concerns.

5.    Tell us about your books. Genre, titles, any favorite characters? What can we look forward to from you in the near future? WIP’s, upcoming releases?
So far I’ve published the following books and I consider them to be YA/NA:

A MOTHER’S SACRIFICE. It’s about a young Russian medical student who met the man of her dreams and he turned out to be her worse nightmare. She fled and left him and everything behind but feared for her life and that of her loved ones. When she realized she was pregnant with his baby she decided to give her up for adoption hoping he would never find out about the baby or go looking for her if he did.
This book takes us through the daughter’s journey and this installment ends when the daughter reads a letter her mother left for her to read on her 18th birthday.

NOTE: There’s alcohol, sex and male rape in this story. I have yet to begin writing book 2, but plan to do so this year.

SECOND CHANCE AT LOVE.  This is my one standalone and it has a HEA!
Melissa- who is the main character of this story- grew up alone and not thinking much about herself. It wasn’t until she was in her junior year at college that she began to grow as a person thanks to her new roommate who took it upon herself to help Melissa out of her cocoon.
I love this story because we see how Melissa grows as a person and how she fights for who she wants to be and what she ultimately deserves.  

The ALESSANDRA POWELL SERIES:
1-    UNFORESEEN 2- SUPERSEDED  3-SOLACE  4-VANQUISH
So far this series has been my favorite to write! I LOVE all the characters and I loved how the story turned out!
It is about a young girl who grew up with her maternal grandmother since her mom was a stripper and basically dumped her at her mom’s footsteps.
Alessandra knows who her biological donor is, yet he doesn’t know she exists. When her grandmother dies she is faced with the decision of either going into foster care or asking her father for help.
After this, the series is about her new life and everything she faces from that moment forward.

In this book you will find political drama, kidnapping, assassination attempts and a whole lot more!

I am currently working on book 5 in this series.

The ANABELLA SUMMER SERIES:
1-    FORTUITOUS is book one of the series and so far this is my naughtiest one! The sex is steamer, a bit more graphic- even though I don’t go into too many details as I think that’s what erotica books are for- and the alpha males are more demanding here.
One of my readers said: “it was like 50 Shades, but without the graphic sex”. I don’t know if I completely agree with her as there’s no submission or domination; however, as I said the alphas are more controlling.

2-    LIFE AFTER LOVE is book two in the series. It is mostly finished and I expect to publish it by July 2nd in order for my readers to have a new story to cozy up to for July 4th. 

The KING OF ALPHAS SERIES.
This is my venture into shifters. I had one basic idea for it and now it has taken a life of its own! This is my best selling series.
1-    ALPHA QUEEN is book one and here we meet Princess Lexi Valentina Lyon who has always been different than everyone else and when she meets the man of her dreams her grandmother finally confesses why Lexi is so different.
**SPOILER***
Lexi is the direct descendant of King Leonidas- who was the last King of Alphas. Now she will give birth to the man who will become the King of Alphas nearly a thousand years after Leonidas.

2-    SUPREME ALPHA is book two of the series and here Lexi is already married to Prince Raven and has given birth to the future King of Alphas. Since its been so long without a supreme ruler there are shifter kingdoms that oppose the idea of having someone above them and will do everything in their power to rid themselves of Lexi, her son and anyone who wants him to rule.
An all-out war is inevitable and in book three we will see who wins!

I am currently writing book 3 and it will be published late July.

UPCOMING RELEASES:

UNBROKEN is book one of a new series. I don’t know how many books it will have yet as I am still writing it.

WIPs: I currently have about 18 novellas in different stages sitting in my computer. The moment I feel they are complete and I LOVE them I will go ahead and publish them J

My favorite character so far is Alessandra Powell. Second favorite Anabella Summers. I am writing about some very cool kick-ass girls that will make it difficult for me to choose a favorite later on.

As far as WIPs that I can talk about now I began writing a new series called Taming Her. It is a mixture of stories about strong independent girls that intimidate the men who know her and it takes a certain kind of strong alpha male to come into their lives and make them see that equality and love are achievable in a relationship.

I am super excited about book three of my King of Alphas action shifter series as the battles will continue and some epic extinct shifters will be revived using dark magic! It’s shaping out pretty great!

Then I began writing a sexy shifter series with a lovely leopard as the female character that I am having fun with ;-)

All in all, lots of exciting stuff and a bit of everything to please all (or most)



6.    Is there a common thread in your books? How do your values show up in your writing? Jungian philosophy? What do you want readers to take from your writing?

Common thread? YES! I LOVE writing about strong women. I don’t really like clingy crybabies. I like my main girls to be strong women. Yes they make mistakes, but they own them, learn from them and ultimately move on. Also, there’s cheating, death and sex in my books as that is all part of life.

One of my readers pointed out that on my series I LOVE cliffhangers! And I’ve got to say that I do, but since I tend to publish the next installment rather quickly it shouldn’t be too painful for those of you who hate cliffhangers.

A takeaway would be that we all have problems. We all experience pain, heartache, loss, betrayal and many other awful things; however, at the end of the day we are still here and we must persevere.

7.    What do you look for in a good book? In what ways would you say your books exhibit these qualities?

I want a book that draws me in! I hate to read something that may be too predictable or that the story takes too long to develop. That is why I take all of this into account in my books. I do keep them somewhat short and sweet!

8.    What are some things you know now about writing and being an author that you wish someone had told you at the very beginning?

I still consider myself a new author as I’ve only been writing for six months; however, it seems that having a team to support you is a must and I hope to have help soon J

9.    Along that same line, what are some of your favorite resources?
     
So far I’ve written what comes to mind. I call the creative side of my brain KRYSTALVILLE as I write what the characters who live in this part of my brain want me to.
Believe it or not, I don’t write anything down! Whenever a new idea comes to mind I grab my laptop and begin writing. I have no idea beforehand what the book will be about or what my characters will do or where will they live or what will they do. When the story begins, I am simply the medium my characters use to have their stories told. I LOVE not knowing where my stories will take me. Everything from the characters names, where they live, what happens to them and how the story ends is new to me.

10.What lifts your spirits when you’re discouraged?

My children!

11.Other than writing, what’s your passion?

Reading and watching TV – if I can. I DVR everything that I like and try watching an episode or two whenever possible. Mostly, I write and play with my children.

12.Not limited to writing, what do you believe are some of your greatest accomplishments so far?

              Definitely my children and helping my dad get some very important items from his bucket list before he passed away.




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