GIANT Character Interview with Ruthie Knox + GIVEAWAY!

Kame and I *love* Ruthie Knox's books, especially her Camelot series! (Don't believe me? Check out our reviews: book 1, book 2, book 3, and book 4). So we jumped at the chance of interviewing all the lovely characters from Camelot. I let Kame take the reins today; she came up with far better questions than I! The following interview is a bit long, but I had a blast reading it and I hope you do, too!

 

Plus, Ruthie's giving away 3 ecopies of Making It Last---check the bottom of this post for more information!

WELCOME BACK TO THE BLOG, RUTHIE! :)
 

Ruthie Knox figured out how to walk and read at the same time in the second grade, and she hasn’t looked up since. She spent her formative years hiding romance novels in her bedroom closet to avoid the merciless teasing of her brothers and imagining scenarios in which someone who looked remarkably like Daniel Day Lewis recognized her well-hidden sex appeal and rescued her from middle-class Midwestern obscurity. After graduating from Grinnell College with an English and history double major, she earned a Ph.D. in modern British history that she’s put to remarkably little use. These days, she writes contemporary romance in which witty, down-to-earth characters find each other irresistible in their pajamas, though she freely admits this has yet to happen to her. Perhaps she needs more exciting pajamas. Ruthie abhors an epilogue and insists a decent romance requires at least three good sex scenes.

Where to Find Ruthie:

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads

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Today on the blog we are going to do something a little different. Ruthie Knox, author of the Camelot series, has rounded everyone up, and we are having one big interview to celebrate the latest installment in the Camelot series – the novella Making It Last.

 

Kame: Hi Everyone, thank you all for joining us at TBQ's Book Palace today.  I can tell you TBQ and I are HUGE Camelot fans. I myself grew up in a small college town, but I ended up moving away when I graduated college.  Caleb and Katie, did you both always intend to someday move back to Camelot?

 

Caleb: Yes.

 

Katie (at the same time): No.

 

**they both laugh**

 

Caleb: You go first, Katelet.

 

Katie: Nah, you go ahead.

 

Caleb: I think, you know, I had the wanderlust thing, too, but it only lasted for about seven minutes of Basic Training. After that, I was Ohio boy to the other guys — they all called me Buckeye — and I bought the house a long time before I left the Army. I figured Camelot was home, and I went through all those months in Iraq and Afghanistan knowing exactly what I wanted to come home to. **he looks at Ellen and Henry** Although, I have to say, it's even better than I thought it was gonna be.

 

Katie: Oh my god, the sap. **she laughs, and Caleb shoves her shoulder** Well, unlike hearth-and-home boy, I never thought I'd come back. I thought I would stay in Alaska forever, or travel around the world with Levi, or go live in Paris—as long as I can remember, I was hatching some plan to get out. It wasn't until I'd been away from home about ... I don't know, five years? That I started to get really homesick. Now I can't wait to get done with school in LA so Sean and I can move home.

 

Sean: It's a guh-good place. I mean, anyplace c-can be good, if it's where yuh-you want to be.

 

Katie: And if you're with who you want to be with.

 

Sean: Yeah.

 

Kame: Okay, this question is to everyone but Katie….were you shocked to find out she had secretly married Levi?  Now I don’t know for sure, but I think I need to give credit to Tony and Caleb for not tracking him down and giving him a piece of their minds for how he treated Katie.

 

Caleb: I just keep reminding myself, "He has a mother," you know? Somebody loves him, even if he's a hopeless dickbag.

 

**Tony laughs**

 

Tony: Seriously, though, I think we were all shocked. For me, you know, Katie was in high school when me and Amber got together, and I remember when she left. Nobody was real happy about it. Except Katie, I mean. Amber was worried about her for a long time.

 

Amber (to Katie): Well, you never came home. It was hard to know how you were really doing, and we just had to hope, you know, that Levi would turn out to be less of a . . .

 

Caleb: Hopeless dickbag.

 

Amber: Yeah.

 

Katie (reaching for Sean's hand): It was a learning experience. I figure it made me stronger. And I'm glad Caleb and Tony managed not to go off on any revenge rampages, since they'd probably get their asses thrown in jail, and then we'd all have to figure out how to bail them out.

 

Kame: Katie – how are you enjoying life in LA? My sister lived there for seven years and when she moved back east she said she missed the seasons the most.  Did Sean do an okay job picking a place to live?

 

Katie: LA's okay. I like my classes, and Sean's having fun with the business end of stuff. It's so different, though, you know? I've been in Anchorage, but that's nothing like LA — LA just goes on forever. And the traffic. Oh my god. It rains, like, half an inch, and the freeway comes to a dead stop. You'd think acid was falling from the sky.

 

Sean: The traffic sssucks. B-but it's not like yuh-you ever drive, babe.

 

Katie: It's not like you ever let me drive.

 

Sean: Because you're ssuch a b-bad driver — you should sssee her in LA, she's like a m-maniac.

 

Katie: I'm not a maniac. I just like to take the offensive, whereas some people—

 

Caleb: C'mon, Kate. Answer the question.

 

Katie: There was another question?

 

 

 

Ellen: About the apartment.

 

Katie: Oh! Yeah, the apartment's nice. It's swanky. Sean was all, "We're going to live in the ghetto," but really it's, like, the nicest place I've ever lived. I had to buy new bookcases because my cinderblocks-and-two-by-fours looked really bad there.

 

Sean: Those fffucking b-bookcases. Took me ssix hours to p-put those together.

 

Katie: I told you, you should've let me do it.

 

Tony: What was wrong with them?

 

Sean: They were from Ikea. All those instructions, and hardware in little b-baggies . . .

 

Amber (to Kame): You should ask another question. If Tony gets going on Ikea, we're going to be here until next week.

 

Kame: Sean – So is the poster still up – or did she banish it to the garage?

 

Sean (grinning): Place of honor. Right over the bed.

 

Kame: I'm surprised Katie allowed it.

 

Katie (blushing): I had . . . sentimental reasons.

 

Kame: Tony and Amber – thank you so much for sharing your story with us in Making It Last. It moved me to tears. I know how hard it is to take time for you as a couple. Has it gotten easier, have there been some added benefits to your “plan” that you hadn’t thought of? How did you families respond when you started your plan in motion?

 

Amber: You're welcome, Kame. I think . . . I think it's maybe not easier, but it feels easier, you know? **she looks at Tony** It wasn't easy to sell the house. Probably it was harder for Tony, but for both of us, you know, we have so many memories in that house, and it's hard to close the door on that.

 

Tony: Would've helped if we didn't get reamed on it.

 

Amber: But the market being the way it is—

 

Tony: Yeah. I know, hon.

 

Amber: And the family's been so supportive. Way more than I ever . . . I guess we maybe should have asked for more help. In the first place.

 

Caleb: Anything you needed. You know you can always ask.

 

Tony: Thanks, Caleb. We knew that. I mean, there was never any question, but I guess we were pretty caught up in a lot of stuff, between my family and Derek being in the hospital, recovering, and all the work. We're trying to find the right balance with all that stuff now. I think we're getting better at it all the time.

 

Amber: Mom's been taking the kids, and Caleb and Ellen did once.

 

Caleb: I don't know how you put up with those monkeys twenty-four-seven, swear to God.

 

Amber (smiling): Tony and I got to go up to Toronto for a long weekend, which was . . .

 

Tony: . . . fucking awesome.

 

Amber: Yeah.

 

**they gaze at each other**

 

Katie: They do this now. All the time. It's actually kind of gross.

 

Amber: Bite me, little sister.

 

Janet: Language, girls.

 

**Katie and Amber laugh**

 

Kame: Caleb, what does Henry call you? Is he still helping with home improvements and maybe some fixes you do over at the apartments?

 

Caleb (leaning back, propping his head in his hands): He still calls me "Cabe." Ellen says it's gonna be a while before he can make that "ell" sound—

 

Ellen: Like a year, but that doesn't stop Caleb from trying to teach him all the time. "It's Caaaaayyyyy-luuuub."

 

Caleb: It worked on the pronoun thing.

 

Ellen: It so did not work on the pronoun thing.

 

Caleb (grinning): You just can't stand it when I'm right.

 

Ellen: If you were ever right, we could test that out.

 

Caleb (looking back at Kame): Point is, he'll get it one of these days. He's pretty handy with a screwdriver now. I take him over to the apartments most weekends so he can hang with me and Grandpa Derek and Ellen can put her feet up for a few hours.

 

Jamie: You mean "So Ellen can work," right? Because the idea of her putting her feet up—

 

Caleb: Nah, she doesn't work weekends anymore.

 

Jamie: You're kidding me. Ellen, is that true?

 

Ellen: It's true. Caleb talked me into it.

 

Jamie: What did he say?

 

**Ellen blushes**

 

Katie: Dude, when she says "talked me into it," she doesn't mean "talked." She means—"

 

Jamie (holding his palm up): I'm just going to stop you right there.

 

Katie: Probably wise.

 

Ellen: Caleb's a good dad. Henry adores him. And he's . . . he's a great husband. The best husband. In every possible way.

 

Kame: Do you have any interest in working in some sort of function for Camelot Security – it seems it getting to be the family business?

 

Ellen: Ha! No. No no no noooo.

 

Caleb: She's got her hands full saving the world.

 

Ellen: Plus, you would drive me cray-zee.

 

Caleb: Why? We could set you up with a little office next to mine. Have lunch together. Take turns working and hanging out with Hank . . .

 

Ellen: We would always be working. You would never, ever stop. At least now, when it's five, you come home.

 

Jamie: Where he finds you working.

 

Caleb: Exactly.

 

Ellen: I'm not that bad! I'm getting better.

 

Katie (to Kame): It would be such a disaster. It's just way better to have them overcompensating for the weaknesses of everyone else in the world in their separate careers. If you put them in the same office?

 

Sean: P-probably it would c-create, like, a quantum ssingularity.

 

Katie: Or a black hole.

 

Sean: A black hole that wuh-would eat humanity.

 

Katie (laughing): Yes.

 

Kame: My last question is to everyone – I know I don’t want to see the Camelot series end, and I know the story I would love to read; but I am wondering what your thoughts are.  Should Ruthie write another book about Camelot, and if so what story needs to be told?

 

Janet: If she could stop torturing my children, that would be great.

 

Derek: She wasn't torturing them, hon, she was—

 

Janet: She made them cry! All of them.

 

Caleb: Whoa. I never cried.

 

Janet: You moped. And when men mope, it's worse than crying.

 

Ellen: God. Yes.

 

Katie: I second that. You weren't an attractive moper, Caleb. Wandering around bleeding from the knuckles for, like, a week.

 

Derek: He threw a screwdriver, too.

 

Ellen: You threw a screwdriver? At what?

 

Derek: Off the roof of the apartments.

 

Caleb (to Ellen): Sweetheart, it was a bad few days. Let's not talk about it.

 

Amber: There's definitely no more books coming about Tony and me.

 

Tony: We're done being book-worthy. Unless she just wants to write a bunch of sex scenes, which—

 

**Amber smacks his arm**

 

Tony: What? You always let me do the good stuff when she's writing a book about us.

 

Amber: Shut up.

 

Janet: You children. You have no class. It's like you were raised by wolves.

 

**Derek howls**

 

Amber: I think, though, seriously, she should write a book about Patrick.

 

Tony: Nah, hon, I don't—

 

Amber: Really. Because she could give him a happy ending, and if anybody deserves a happy ending, it's your brother.

 

Tony (to Amber, after pulling her into his chest and kissing the top of her head): You're good people, you know that?

 

 

 

Amber: Let's hope. You married me.

 

Janet: Just so long as we're done with the Clarks.

 

Katie: We're done with the Clarks, Ma.

 

Sean: You ssure? Yuh-you haven't let me m-make an honest wuh-woman of you yet.

 

Katie: We'll get there.

 

Sean: We better.

 

Janet: So that's that. She can have Patrick. Hands off my kids.

 

Kame: Thank you all for stopping by today – this was so much fun. I hope you enjoyed it too!

 

Caleb: Thanks, Kame. I think I speak for all of us when I say it was . . . interesting.

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Making It Last by Ruthie Knox

Publisher: Loveswept (July 15, 2013)

Series: Camelot, 4

Genre: Contemporary Romance

 

RITA finalist Ruthie Knox returns with a brand-new eBook original novella, the finale of her delightfully sexy Camelot series!

 

A hotel bar. A sexy stranger. A night of passion. There’s a part of Amber Mazzara that wants those things, wants to have a moment — just one — where life isn’t a complicated tangle of house and husband and kids and careers. Then, after a long, exhausting “vacation” with her family, her husband surprises her with a gift: a few days on the beach . . . alone.

 

Only she won’t be alone long, because a handsome man just bought her a drink. He’s cool, he’s confident, and he wants to take Amber to bed and keep her there for days. Lucky for them both, he’s her husband. He’s only got a few days in Jamaica to make her wildest desires come true, but if he can pull it off, there’s reason to believe that this fantasy can last a lifetime.

 

 

 

 

Where to Buy*:

Kindle | NOOK | ARe

More Info:

Author's Site

Add it on GoodReads! | Find the Series

Read our Double Review HERE--Kame and I both loved this book! :)

 

 

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Ruthie is being AWESOME and giving THREE lucky readers an ecopy of Making It Last!

How to Enter:

 

Leave a comment, answering Ruthie's question (or ask one of your own!). Please leave some way to contact you (email, Twitter/Facebook/Goodreads name, etc).

Giveaway Rules:

 

Open INT.

Giveaway will end July 25th.

Winners will be picked via Random.org.

Winners will be announced on the blog (as well as FB and Twitter) July 26th OR 27th.

Winners will have 48 hours after the day of the announcement to either email me OR reply to the email I send (only applies if you leave an email addy in the comments).

Three prizes = three winners!

GOOD LUCK!

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Thanks for such a fun day, Ruthie! :) I loved seeing the Camelot gang all together like this; we'll have to do it again sometime! And a big thank you to Kame for doing the interview--great job!

Don't forget Ruthie's questions--answer them all, or pick one:

Who do you want to see more from in Camelot?

 

Or do you have a fave moment that stands out in the whole series, or a favorite character?

I think you already know what I want to see from Camelot--PATRICK! :D Otherwise, wherever you take the series from here, I'll happily follow!

* NOTE * : I have heard from some readers that they are having problems leaving a comment. I'm terribly sorry; I'm not sure what the problem could be, if it's on my end, Blogger/Disqus' end, or a problem with the browser readers are using. I am looking into it though, and I hope that everything is soon fixed. Until then, if you are unable to leave a comment, PLEASE email me, with your comment, and I will manually add your comment (this also allows you to still be entered for the giveaway!). The_Book_Queen (at) yahoo (dot) com

 

Thanks!

Enjoy!



Until Next Time,


 


*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!