Today, I'm happy to welcome Naya Nikki to Girl Who Reads. She is currently promoting her new novel
Familiar Ties which comes out May 21st from InkSpell Publishing. To see my thoughts on
Familiar Ties, see my review
here.
Give a warm welcome as Naya shares her favorite characters and then read an excerpt to get a glimpse of the characters.
Favourite Characters
My favourite character will always be Little Miss Gracie. She is
stuck between wanting a proper family with her Mum and Dad yet secretly wanting
her mum and Uncle Max get together. She was the most fun to write because she is
so curious and fiercely independent at such a young age, however she still
wants to follow in the footsteps of her best friend. I also love Grace’s
chemistry with Max and Jack, because you can see that even though one is her
father and the other is an Uncle she has completely different relationships
with each of them, and you get to see who she is more comfortable with.
However my favourite character to write was Max as he holds a
soft spot in my heart as many of his characteristics were based on my own dad.
Also his relationship with Phoebe and Grace is much like mine with my dad so it
was fun to write about him, so that everyone can see how wonderful he is.
About the Author: Born and raised in London, England, Naya Nikki is a student who’s spent most of her life taming her creative streak through writing short stories. She’s signed her first contract with InkSpell Publishing to publish her first book “Familiar Ties.” The story follows the journey of two single parents whose daughters want nothing more than for them to become a happy family.
She is currently earning a degree in English with a minor in Creative Writing that will allow her to build her writing career. When she isn’t at the university, Naya loves nothing more than spending time with her parents and grandparents as well as meeting her friends for gossip sessions over some hot cocoa.
Excerpt:
“Amy,” Max warned, “You’re not going to just take pictures.”
He chuckled as he stood behind Amy, who was trying to figure out the new camera. Grace and Phoebe were posed perfectly on the sofa like little angels, big smiles showing rows of shiny white teeth, with the odd one or two missing. “You see,” he showed her. “There's this new, fancy thing called a timer. This means that all of us can be in the picture, including you.”
She playfully swatted him, as he jumped back, “Oh zip it.” She laughed, “I look a mess. Anyway I want a picture of you three for my desk, not me.”
Grace sat up as she swung her little legs off the edge of the sofa, her feet not even scraping the floor. “Come on, Mommy! Pwease?” She was missing her two front teeth and therefore she couldn’t pronounce her L’s properly. Amy thought it sounded so cute and secretly hoped that they’d never grow back.
How could she possibly say no to her little darling? She watched as Grace began to pout and bat her big, grey eyes at her. It was her infamous look that could make anyone fall for her, including her mother and her Uncle Max.
“No, not the pout,” she joked. “Anything but that, Gracie you know I can’t resist that cute little pout of yours.”
Once Max finished setting the timer, he curled his fingers around Amy's pale bangle covered wrist and pulled her towards the girls and the sofa. As they both sat down, on either side of the girls, he leaned over the girls’ heads to whisper, “I taught her that pout.”
“Yes, I know,” she replied. “Because that’s how you got Anna to fall for you.” She was about to laugh when she realized what she’d said. There was a moment of silence as both contemplated the loss of Anna. “Sorry,” she whispered to him. “I shouldn’t have said that."
“It’s fine,” he whispered back, before he could say anymore Phoebe crawled onto his lap. He smiled and saw the splitting image of his deceased wife staring back at him. He didn’t mind that Anna was gone, because she’d left him the most precious of gift. Amy smiled as she lifted Grace onto her lap. Both parents shuffled closer together as a unit.
“How long do we have, Daddy?” Phoebe asked, as she snuggled into her father’s chest.
“Thirty seconds,” he answered. “Can you smile big for me?” he asked.
Phoebe nodded as she smiled her massive toothy smile and reached for Grace's hand. “You too, Grace!” Phoebe instructed her friend. “Smile really, really big!”
For a moment, Amy remembered Anna again. They’d both been only eight years old when they’d sat and posed for a different camera. Amy still had that picture on her bedside drawer, next to one of Phoebe and Grace as babies. 'Smile real big,' Anna had said as she’d tilted her head against Amy’s to become one.
The smile on Amy's face wasn’t a sad one anymore. She was fortunate that she could feel Anna’s presence, through her charming daughter.
As she looked at the camera, she hadn’t realized that Max had put his free arm around her waist, pulling them closer. The camera started to blink, indicating to be ready. “Ready?” she asked them. “On the count of three, okay? One…Two…”
“Three,” they all said together, smiling big for the camera, to produce the perfect family photo, to anyone who didn’t know them.
More Info:
Author website:
http://nayanikki.weebly.com
Twitter:
@NikkiNaya
Pre-Order The Book:
http://www.inkspellpublishing.com/4/post/2012/01/familiar-ties.html
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