GUEST BLOG + GIVEAWAY: Featuring Kim Boykin

Okay, to know what the sweetest thing is, you have to know what the NOT sweetest thing is. And as a newbie novelist, it’s having ONE book out there. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so FREAKING grateful to have a published book, sometimes, I just squeal for no reason. Or for that very reason. I didn’t have anything else for readers who say, “What else do you have for me to read?” And while I thank GOD for my fabulous editor at Penguin, sadly I’ve had to say to readers, “the new book will be out next AUGUST.” BTW, Palmetto Moon does come out 8/5/14. YAY!

But in a world when our baked potatoes can’t bake fast enough in the microwave, that’s too long for some people, I know it is for me. All of that changed today! Scratch that, all that changed at a cocktail party when I met the amazing author and rebel girl, Jane Porter. Being a rebel girl, Jane is making sense out of this crazy publishing business with her new company, Tule Publishing Group, which offers a better way. Like you can put out a book almost as fast as your can write it better way.

Jane’s first imprint is Montana Born Books, about a small fictitious town, Marietta, Montana, that is chock full of hot cowboys and heroines, with fabulous authors writing those stories like Jane herself, Lilian Darcy, Megan Crane, and C.J. Carmichael, and a whole bunch more!

When Jane suggested I write a novella for her, I laughed because I didn’t think I belonged in the same sentence with those lovely ladies. I’m still not so sure about that, and I’ll be the first person to confess I know nothing about Montana. Never been there, but I’ve seen pictures, and let me tell you it’s beautiful and now on my bucket list.

Anyhoo, Jane said, “write me a story about a sassy South Carolina hairstylist who goes to Montana for some reason.” Good thing Jane is a whole lot smarter than me, because this novella is a good example of an an editor, publisher, and friend giving you wings and then giving you a gentle shove off of the cliff. And that’s what it felt like writing Steal Me, Cowboy. Soaring.

With Jane’s vision and Rainey Brown’s great big sassy southern voice I was hooked and so caught up in writing Beck Hartnett that I found myself sighing A LOT. And when my husband gently reminded me I’d been writing for twelve hours and it was time to make dinner, I took one hand off the keyboard, just for a second, mind you, and shooed him away. Because, once Beck Hartnett gets hold of you, you really don’t want to let go.

And how should we celebrate all things Montana (and Beck Hartnett!), you ask?  Comment below for your chance to win a copy of Montana Born's first print anthology Love Me, Cowboy, a $10 Amazon gift card, and yummy chocolates!

Kim Boykin is a women's fiction author with a sassy Southern streak. She is the author of The Wisdom of Hair, Steal Me, Cowboy, and Palmetto Moon (Summer 2014.) While her heart is always in South Carolina, she lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, with her husband, 3 dogs, and 126 rose bushes.