EXCERPT and GIVEAWAY
Private Internship
(Art of Love Book 2)
(Art of Love Book 2)
by Kitsy Clare
Private Internship is the second book in Kitsy Clare's Art of Love series. Also available: Model Position.
Description
Sometimes sugar isn’t so sweet and secrets can be deadly ... especially with matters of the heart.
Sienna’s bestie, Harper warned her not to intern for famous bad boy artist, Casper Mason. After all, he just fired Harper who helped Sienna get the interview. But the moment Sienna sees Casper - or Caz - sweaty, practically shirtless and swinging from chains as he works on his sculpture, she’s hooked. He’s the richest, hottest artist in New York, and he lives in the fabulous Williamsburg Sugar Factory. But he’s also an incorrigible game-player, who seems to relish testing Sienna’s loyalty with a string of unsettling tests.
She knows she should get away fast. But by the time Sienna sneaks into his locked storage room and begins to unearth his dark and terrifying secret, she’s fallen way too hard for the handsome, charismatic Caz.
Excerpt
He locks his rich, hot-chocolate eyes on me, and studies my every curve and angle, seems to be piercing right through my skin into the alleys of my mind and heart. Curious, he’s so curious. I sense him asking where I’m from and why it took me so long to find him, and what kind of art I do, and whether I’ve ever sold it or gotten a review, or who I know, who I hang out with, and how much experience I’ve had in galleries, in school, in the world, in bed. My neck heats up. Did I just think that? Or was that something in his head that crossed wires and invaded mine? He’s close to me now, still staring boldly, when suddenly I feel his inner questions stop. And a wall, like one of those metal store gratings, clatters downward and slams. Closed for business, closed for questions, closed for good.
This, all before we’ve exchanged one word. When I come back into myself, I’m embarrassed to realize that I’m wringing my hands—the old-fashioned hysterical Victorian damsel in distress kind of wringing. I stop, immediately. Rub my sweaty palms on my dress. Buck up! I scold silently. And I extend my hand. “I’m Sienna. I’m your new intern.”
Casper Mason doesn’t take my hand. The nerve. He’s standing there, boldly, legs wide apart in some twisted warrior stance, arms folded across his wide chest. Jaw jutting out rebelliously, eyes daring me . . . to do what? So after an excruciating few seconds, I retract my hand.
“My new intern?” Caz mumbles as though an intern is a radioactive space rock or some otherworldly object and he never ordered one. “Well, it’s about time. That last one was a disaster.”
Praise for the Book
"Beautiful. Amazing. A fantastic read that left me wanting more." ~ XoXo Book Blog
"A juicy read full of passion and magnetic chemistry that will have you hooked from beginning to end." ~ From the Purple Matter Book Blog
Interview With the Author
Private Internship is all about artists who live, love and work in New York City (and Brooklyn). I know this scene intimately because before I turned to writing novels as my main passion, I showed my paintings in galleries for years. In book two, Sienna lands a high-level internship with a rich, famous, and very bad-boy sculptor, Casper Mason. I set the novel in a real sugar factory that I lived near in Brooklyn. The place fascinated me. Caz creates installations there, using the piles of leftover sugar.
Is this book part of a series?
Yes, it is the second in my Art of Love series. The first is a novella called Model Position where artist Sienna has trouble deciding whether to date Erik, a mysterious live drawing model or Dave, the well-connected nephew of a trendy art dealer. Who would you choose? You don’t have to read the series in order.
How do you choose your characters’ names?
I love thinking up names of characters and titles and I always think them up before I set to writing a manuscript. I choose very carefully, because it really does make a difference. The name has to be matched to the personality, to their purpose and quest. For instance, Sienna’s love interest in Private Internship is named Casper Mason, Caz for short. Why Casper? Well, he’s carrying a deep and shameful secret, and as a result he has become a ghost of his former self. The nickname Caz also fits because even though he’s troubled he has a fun, charismatic side for sure. Sienna was also chosen consciously. She’s a visual artist, and Sienna is actually a color - a rich earthy tone.
Do you write while you listen to music?
I rarely listen to music while I write, though I love to daydream about my characters with music as a backdrop. It’s odd to me, because when I used to paint I always listened to music. The acts of painting and writing are so similar in many ways (creative, visual, narrative), yet in that one aspect, they are different for me. That said, I enjoy thinking up playlists for my novels. A Private Internship playlist would include "Factory Girl" by the Stones, and Jena Irene’s version of "Bring me to Life" by Evanescence.
Do you write in other genres, or for other ages?
Yes, I write YA using my name Catherine Stine. I have a YA horror, Dorianna launching on October 24 with Evernight Teen. It’s a fresh twist for the Internet generation on Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. Just in time for Halloween, too! I like writing for teens and adults.
Tell me something about you that may shock your readers?
I’m almost a music groupie, and I’ve met many a musician. To name a few: Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Mark Anthony and Jamar Rogers from season two of The Voice. I’ve also gone to backstage parties with John McLaughlin, and the entire set of finalists for this year’s American Idol. Don’t believe me? Check out my recent Facebook photos. J
Do you have any advice for aspiring authors?
A writer’s first job is to entertain. A writer’s second task is to pull a reader in through the characters’ emotions. I tell my students when I teach workshops that each scene must have an emotional heart. This also holds true for the novel as a whole. Part of the craft is voice, and the other is the ability to make us care deeply about the fictional world. Sometimes the characters are too formulaic. But even if they are interesting, if there’s not enough action or high stakes to propel the story, we don’t care enough. One must examine plot, voice, character and stakes - all of it to diagnose issues and revise properly. Take your time and polish your manuscript completely. Good luck!
A hint of what you’re working on next?
Well, I am crafting the plot for book three in the Art of Love series. Who will Sienna end up with? That is the pressing question! Any guesses? Plus, I am halfway through writing an historical paranormal set in 1932 on the Jersey shore. The lead is a witch, but she doesn’t know it - yet…
About the Author
Kitsy Clare hails from Philadelphia and lives in New York. A romantic at heart, she loves to write about the sexy intrigue of the city, and particularly of the art world. She knows it well, having shown her paintings here before turning to writing. Model Position, her new adult novella is about artist Sienna and her friends. Living in a Bookworld says: "Beautifully written! We get to learn things about art & painting, which is refreshing. A colorful story from a promising new adult author." The next in her Art of Love series, Private Internship, has just been launched with Inkspell.
Kitsy loves to travel, draw, read romance, speculative fiction and teach writing workshops. She also writes YA as Catherine Stine. Her futuristic thriller, Ruby's Fire was a YA finalist in the Next Generation Indie book awards. Fireseed One, its companion novel, was a finalist in YA and Sci-Fi in the USA News International Book Awards, and an Indie Reader notable. Her YA horror, Dorianna, launches fall 2014 with Evernight Teen. She's a member of SFWA, RWA and SCBWI.
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