Racing Savannah Blog Tour - Interview with Miranda Kenneally

As part of the blog tour for her upcoming book Racing Savannah, I have the pleasure of having author Miranda Kenneally here on the blog today to answer some questions about her books and her writing process. Without further ado, here is what she had to say!

All of your characters, and what they go through, feels incredibly real. How much is taken out of your own experiences or from the people around you?

Ideas and jokes from all over the place have definitely made their way into my books in some form or another. I can't say that I've ever met a girl football player, but Jordan's feelings for Sam Henry are definitely pulled from crushes I've had in the past.

Real-life experiences inspired Things I Can't Forget. The situation wasn't anywhere near the same, but I did have a friend get an abortion and it affected me more than I thought it would. 

To make my books feel "real," I imagine the scene in my mind as I'm putting words on paper. I've found that helps my book pop.

Except for Things I Can't Forget, your books all have a sports element. Why did you choose to write about female athletes and those specific sports that aren't typically associated with girls.

To show girls they can do anything they want to do as long as they work hard.

What is your writing process like: do you outline and do a lot of research or just start writing and see where the story takes you? Or is it different for each book?

It depends on the book. Before I started writing Racing Savannah, I did research for two months and even took a trip to Kentucky to visit some big farms. With Catching Jordan and Staling Parker, I just started writing and did tons of drafts. For Catching Jordan, I researched football and went to some college and NFL games along the way. With Stealing Parker, I played softball for 8 years, so that made things easier. Things I Can't Forget had an outline, and I actually stuck to it for the most part. I didn't have to research camping at all because I'm foot at that, but I did do research on Planned Parenthood and other family planning issues. I sort of outline each book, but I rarely stick to it. I just go wherever the story takes me. 

Can you tell us anything about what you're currently working on or what we can expect from your future book(s)?

Yes! My July 2014 book, most likely titled BREATHE, ANNIE, BREATHE, is about a girl training to run a marathon in honor of her boyfriend who died. Before he passed away, he had been training for a marathon, and now Annie is going to attempt to finish on his behalf. But it will be hard because she can barely run two laps around the high school track.

Emilie: I personally CANNOT WAIT to read this!

How would you describe your Hundred Oaks books to someone who has never heard of them before?

My books are teen romances featuring a girl football player, a girl horse jockey, and a slightly naughty, misunderstood former softball player who goes after the school baseball coach.

Can you describe Racing Savannah in five words?

Badass girl horse jockey rocks!

About the Author

Miranda Kenneally is the author of CATCHING JORDAN, STEALING PARKER, THINGS I CAN'T FORGET, and RACING SAVANNAH. Her fifth book, most likely to be titled BREATHE, ANNIE, BREATHE, is doing out in July 2014. She enjoyed reading and writing young adult literature, and loves Star Trek, music, sports, Mexican food, Twitter, coffee, and her husband.

Find Miranda online on her Twitter or visit her website to find out more about her and her books.

Racing Savannah by Miranda Kenneally

Title: Racing Savannah (Hundred Oaks #4)

Author: Miranda Kenneally

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: December 3, 2013

Source: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

They're from two different worlds.

He lives in the estate house, and she spends most of her time in the stables helping her father train horses. In fact, Savannah has always been much more comfortable around horses than boy. Especially boys like Jack Goodwin--cocky, popular and completely out of her league. She knows the rules: no mixing between the staff and the Goodwin family. But Jack has no such boundaries. 

With her dream of becoming a horse jockey, Savannah isn't exactly one to follow the rules either. She's not going to let someone tell her a girl isn't tough enough to race. Sure, it's dangerous. Then again, so is dating Jack...

I absolutely adore Miranda Kenneally and everything she writes. So when Racing Savannah landed in my inbox, I couldn't help myself, I just had to start reading it right away. And unsurprisingly, I tore through the book and loved every single page of it.

Savannah has always loved riding horses and working with them. When her father gets a job as a trainer at one of the most prestigious stables in the country, Savannah is ecstatic. If she's lucky enough, she might even get to ride the horses. As it turns out, the horses are easier to deal with than boys. No sooner has Savannah arrived at Cedar Hills Farms does she run into Jack Goodwin. And Savannah knows better than to get mixed up with the owner's son. But resisting Jack's charm is proving to be more difficult than Savannah thought. 

Have I mentioned that I loved Miranda Kenneally? Because I really, really do. She writes these stories that just completely grab my attention and steal my heart. Racing Savannah quickly had me hooked. The story is set in the Hundred Oaks world but takes place a few years after the first three books. In this sense I was introduced to new characters, but also had the opportunity to get a glimpse at some old ones. And that was reason enough for me to love the book. But beyond that, I loved reading Savannah's story and discovering the world of horse racing through her eyes. Seeing how that world worked and how hard it was to break into just made me admire Savannah that much more. But like with all of Miranda Kenneally's books, it's the romance aspect of the story that completely stole my heart. Seeing the romance between Jack and Savannah develop just warmed my heart, even if at times it wasn't always smooth going. But at the end of the day, I knew that it would all work out for them and that's what I love about Miranda Kenneally's stories. 

Savannah was a character I came to really admire. Miranda Kenneally often writes about girls the are breaking the mould. That's exactly what Savannah was trying to do when it comes to horse racing. All she really wanted was to be able to be a professional jockey, but pretty much the entire world was against her. But I really admired her dedication, her perseverance and her stubbornness when it came to getting to where she wanted to be. And it helped that she eventually had Jack in her corner, even if at times I wanted to slap him and make him come to his senses. But he eventually came around and by the end I no longer had the urge to slap Jack, so that was good. I have to admit I also loved that I got to meet and get to know some of the previous characters' younger siblings. But more than that, I love that I got to see where the characters I already know and love now are. I won't reveal anything but there are some Will/Parker, Kate/Matt and Sam/Jordan moments that will just melt your heart.

Racing Savannah has only serve to solidify my love for anything Miranda Kenneally writes. Her stories are just the perfect mix of fun and romance, but also so much more. If you haven't picked up one of her books yet, you are seriously missing out!