An insecure artist, a mysterious library in Oregon, and even the occasional hot guy or two: Impossible Intern

Coming Friday, April 17:

312 imminent in AOR. Special considerations: Multiple guests have RSVPed. Order hors d’oeuvres for small party.

New Month, New Project Report

Greetings,

So now that Osland is over, what's in store?

Well, the primary thing that I have been working on and is in store in the near future is a new YA UF series (yes, I know such a shocking departure from what I've already done).

The main protagonist in this new series is a bit older (18) and a high-school graduate, so there's be a bit less school hi-jinks this time around, but I think people who liked the Osland Trilogy will also enjoy this new series with the tentative title for book one of THE IMPOSSIBLE INTERN.

This series is going to be structured a bit differently in that it'll initially be a bit more episodic than what we I had in Osland, especially given the nature of the paranormal elements, but this doesn't mean I won't have a continuing plot, just that things may go on a bit more than three books depending on how things flow.

There'll be romantic elements, but they'll be a bit more slow burn than in Osland.

I'll note that despite the heavy hinting at other supernaturals in the Osland Trilogy, this series is not directly connected. I previously had an idea for another series directly connected, but for the moment, I wanted to start a new series with less setting baggage, though I may revisit the Osland world in the future (i.e., explore the mysterious 'information' contact that Miss Norris kept mentioning).

I'm working with a bit of a different protagonist type this time around. Typically, my protagonists tend to be very self-assured (more than a few have said cocky), whereas I'm going for a lead that's a bit more unsure herself at first. We'll see how it works out.

The Eternal City, Book 2 of the Osland Trilogy

Months after a shocking showdown, Gail Dorjee is doing her best to recover and settle into her new role as a Rift Watcher at Osland Academy. Her friends are distant, and she’s uncomfortable with her growing relationship with the handsome Nick MacEvoy. That’s all stressful enough, even before she wakes up one night to a ghost warning her about a powerful enemy coming to Osland to seek vengeance.

The suspicious and timely arrival of a too perfect foreign exchange student feeds Gail’s paranoia. It doesn’t help that killer shadows keep appearing.

At a place known for beautiful lies, she finds it difficult to trust anyone, even herself, but with the rift in danger, she has to risk her life and friendships to carve through the darkness and find her true enemy.

Now available at Amazon, Smashwords, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble.


For those of you who haven't read The Emerald City, the first book in the Osland Trilogy, I direct you to here.

The Eternal City Cover Reveal

Coming soon. Here's the cover:

Death Is Just The Beginning: An Interview with Paranormal Author Michelle Muto

Today I'm talking with paranormal Michelle Muto about her dark YA paranormal book, Don't Fear the Reaper.

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1) Please tell us about your book.

It's a novel about a 17-yr-old girl who finds herself trapped in purgatory after her suicide and her determination to find her deceased sister. In the afterlife, she meets a bounty-hunting reaper and sarcastic demon, both of whom have a hand in how and where she spends her eternity.

2) Please tell us about your main character.

Keely Morrison is a girl lost. She's overwhelmed with grief over the murder of her twin sister. But, she's is also tough and resilient. I think readers can relate to her if they've ever lost someone they loved.

3) What inspired you to write this particular book?

When I was querying agents with a different book, they asked for something darker, more edgy.

4) Your book is initiated with a character so overwhelmed by loss that she commits suicide. This is dark emotional territory. Did you find it difficult to plump these depths when writing the book?

Very difficult. To authentically write Keely's grief, I had to look into my own despair of having lost much of my family. While I was never suicidal during those times, the emotional pain was immense. Reliving those memories opened up old wounds.

5) What primary themes do you feel your book explores?

Grief, friendship, love, devotion, coming of age.

6) How is this book similar and different from some of your previous work?

Don't Fear the Reaper is similar to The Haunting Season in that it's for a more mature young adult audience. Both books are drastically different than The Book of Lost Souls, which is more upbeat, humorous.

7) Do you have any links to any excerpts you'd like to share?

People can read the entire first chapter of Don't Fear the Reaper on my blog.

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Thanks, Michelle.

If you'd like to learn more about Michelle, please visit her at http://michellemuto.wordpress.com/.

Don't Fear the Reaper is available for purchase at the following vendors:

Amazon US
Amazon UK
Barnes & Noble
iTunes
Smashwords
Sony
Kobo
Createspace (Paperback version, if outside of North America)

Every evil imaginable but hope as well: An interview with YA urban fantasy writer Nancy Richardson Fischer

Today I'm talking with Nancy Richardson Fischer about her YA urban fantasy, Pandora's Key.

Nancy has had an extensive freelance writing career in which she's written everything from sports biographies to a Star Wars Junior Jedi Knight Trilogy for LucasFilm, making Pandora's Key not her first foray into the world of YA writing.

Nancy is also giving away an eBook copy of her book. If you're interested, just leave a comment and a contact e-mail address. I'll pick a winner at random in two weeks.

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1) Tell us about your book.

Pandora's Key is a YA urban fantasy that revolves around a young girl's realization that she's the descendant of Pandora, the first woman created by the Greek Gods,and that she's both a pawn in the Gods' revenge against Pandora, and a deadly game of acquisition by men and women who will stop at nothing to acquirePandora's original box. Here's a bit more about the story:

When everything you believed about yourself is a lie, how do you unlock the truth…

Evangeline Theopolis has nightmares about the violent deaths of women she has never met. Her single mother, Olivia, suffers delusions she can’t hide. And Malledy, a brilliant young man, may have a disease that will leave him paralyzed and insane. Their lives are about to collide.

On Evangeline’s 16th birthday her mother gives her a necklace with an antique keycharm—a family heirloom, though no one knows what the key unlocks. Everything changes. Her mom is hospitalized. Her godmother attempts murder. An ancient Order tries to kill Evangeline, and a lethal sect to kidnap her.

Nothing makes sense—especially Evangeline’s own face, which has morphed from geeky to eerily stunning; the ancient key that feels strangely alive against her skin;and the magical abilities she begins to possess. Evangeline must use her wits andsupernatural powers to fight her deadly adversaries and discover her true identity. But can she accept who she really is and save the world?

2) What inspired this book?


I love Greek mythology and, in particular, the myth of Pandora. Add to that my love of fantasy, magical realism, and the young adult genre (which is insanely creative)and I knew I wanted to attempt a YA urban fantasy of my own. From there, I let my imagination take over, started to tell myself stories, until I was finally ready to start writing. I began with a screenplay version of Pandora's Key - to figure out all the elements of the story - and then set my sights on writing the novel.

3) YA Urban Fantasy is popular right now. What sets your book apart from others?

First, I'm thrilled that YA urban fantasy is so popular! In a world of reality TV, which I find pretty darn depressing, it's encouraging that both young adults and adults want to read fantasy and are willing to let their imaginations soar.

What sets Pandora's Key apart from other fantasies is that it's very much a story of magical realism - meaning that it's deeply grounded in reality with magical elements so it feels... believable. In addition, I rewrote the myth of Pandora and brought the story to the present so that the myth and characters are accessible to readers.

All that aside, Pandora's Key is a non-stop, action packed ride with empathetic, layered characters and a twisted plot that is intricate and full of big surprises BUT can be figured out by careful readers (because I hate reading books with big reveals that are impossible to figure out)!

4) Tell us about your lead.

Evangeline is... average, at least at the start of Pandora's Key. She's a pretty typical sixteen-year-old girl. She's waiting to fall in love; she's hoping she doesn't get taller or her feet bigger; she thinks her mouth is too wide and her eyes too bulbous; and she doesn't quite fit into her own skin. Plus she wishes she was as smart and pretty as her popular best friend. And then everything changes for Evangeline when she's given an antique key by her mother and her entire world falls apart.

A lot of teenagers would crumble and look to friends and adults to help them make sense of their world, and that's where Evangeline differs. She realizes that if she doesn't play the hero in her own life's story she will lose everyone she loves. So, despite that fact that she's terrified, she rises to the challenge and discovers that she's tougher and more fierce than she ever imagined.

5) The original Pandora legend has been interpreted many ways, some rather chilling: an explanation for evil, an excuse for misogyny, et cetera. Did any particular interpretation of the original myth influence you when you thought of this novel?

The myth of Pandora as an excuse for misogyny probably influenced me most. The first woman getting the rap for releasing all the evils in the world? Come on! Totally unfair, right? But I have to say, from that starting point I tried not to read too many more interpretations of the myth because I knew I was going to turn it on its headand I wanted my own interpretation of what happened when Pandora was sent down to earth with a golden box (or urn) fashioned by the Gods and housing the Furies to be original. Hopefully I gave the myth a breath of fresh air and effectively brought it to the present day and gave new fans of Greek mythology a desire to learn more about the Greek myths that have influenced so many books and movies.

6) Your book recently won an award. Can you tell us a bit about that?

Pandora's Key won the 2012 IndieReader Discovery Award for YA Fiction. I was really happy to win, of course (and it was incredibly cool that the winners were announced at this year's Book Expo of America), but also very grateful to be acknowledged. Indie authors live in a world where they must take a leap of faith that their book is indeed good enough to publish, and then wait to see if anyone out in the real world agrees. The silence can feel deafening at times - and I count so much on readers, reviewers and bloggers to keep me going - so to be acknowledged by IndieReader felt... wonderful.

7) This is a trilogy. Can you give us a bit of insight into the sequels?

Sure! Book Two, The Key to Tartarus, has already been written and edited and will be published this Fall. You can read an excerpt on my website: http://www.nancyrichardsonfischer.com (click COMING SOON).

The Key to Tartarus is much darker than Pandora's Key, which feels appropriate since the first book ended on a heavy but hopeful note. In a world where anything can happen; where there are forces bent on possessing the key and box... happily ever after isn't a given. In Book Two Evangeline is forced to discover the depth of her powers, descend into the Underworld, and rescue the people she loves from the inescapable prison that is Tartarus. Along the way, she must battle both her own personal demons and shocking obstacles that threaten her friends, her future, andher sanity.

Book Three is in the works, but Evangeline's world is constantly changing and until you know whether she survives Book Two, I don't want to provide any spoilers!!

*J.A., I just want to add a BIG thank you for hosting Pandora's Key and taking the time to interview me. And thanks to all the readers who have written to let me know how much they love Evangeline and Pandora's Key. Your support means the worldand all of you are the reason I keep telling stories:-)

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Thanks, Nancy.

If you'd like to read more from Nancy, please check her webpage out:  http://www.nancyrichardsonfischer.com.

Remember to leave a comment with an e-mail address for your chance to win a copy of Pandora's Key.

Pandora's Key is available for purchase at Amazon in electronic and physical formats.

The Jinni and the Guardians: An interview with Liz Schulte

Today I'm talking with urban fantasy and paranormal romance author Liz Schulte about her book Choices.

1) Tell us about your book.

Choices is the second book in the Guardian Trilogy. The story picks up where the first book left off and dives back into the lives of the three main characters: Olivia, a new guardian who is heartbroken and confused; Holden, a jinni who is channeling his own heartbreak into a destructive path; and Quintus, a very old guardian who finds himself slightly out of his depth when he is tasked with mentoring Olivia. Meanwhile guardians are disappearing and possibly being murdered and all three of them have to find out who is doing this for their own reasons.

2) What inspired this book and the trilogy?

The original inspiration for this trilogy came from a dream, which is actually in the first book. But it has since grown into its own world with seemingly its own life and voice.

3) What are the fundamental themes your story explores?

There are several themes in the trilogy. It looks at love and whether or not love is truly enough. How much of another’s actions can be forgiven for love. Can love change you? It also looks at the idea of good and evil and whether it is as black and white as that. There is a lot of duality in the book. Where there is light, there is darkness. Where there is despair, there is hope. It also deals with destiny.

4) Urban fantasy and paranormal romance are popular, if somewhat saturated, genres. What sorts your books apart?

My characters while living in a paranormal world are very human. I try very hard to keep their reactions and responses believable and even at times maddening. Perhaps it is my background in psychology, but I very much like write characters who are tangible and who can be explored through their actions and words.

5) Oh the bad boy. As Bronte's Heathcliff demonstrates, this is a hardly a new phenomena. What's the enduring appeal of this particular character type?

I love the bad boys. Heathcliff is one of my favorites. I believe the notion started taking wind with Lord Byron and his Byronic heroes. There is something about the anti-hero that makes you root for them and girls weak in the knees. It’s that idea that someone so coarse, so rough round the edges can be so soft and gentle underneath because he has been touched by love. I think it appeals to the romantic in all of us.

6) What do you have in store after the completion of this trilogy?

I have my second mystery novel coming out next, round October. Then in December another trilogy will start called Easy Bake Coven that takes place in the same world, the Abyss, as the guardian trilogy.

7) What got you interested in writing to begin with?

The first I remember writing stories was in junior high school. I think most of those were inspired by R.L. Stine’s Fear Street series. I have always enjoyed making things up so this seems like a natural outlet.

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Thanks, Liz.

You can read more from Liz at http://www.lizschulte.com/.

Choices is available from Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble.

Vampires Who Don't Hang Out in Rural Washington: An interview with paranormal romance author Uzuri Wilkerson

Today I'm talking with Uzuri Wilkerson about her upcoming vampire paranormal romance, SWEET.

1) Tell us about your book.

SWEET is paranormal fiction set in modern-day Boston. Celia is a bartender at a hip bar-and-lounge downtown. She enjoys living life in the moment. Her current goal is to save up for a vacation with her boyfriend. Everything seems fine until she witnesses a man stabbed in the chest. Her simple life that is usually only complicated by her inability to find parking in front of her building soon becomes very complicated. Now she has to face the reality that her boyfriend is not entirely indestructible, confront her fears about the future of her relationship, and learn about her own mysterious abilities she had never bothered to think about before.

2) What inspired this book?

The Twilight movie was being advertised on television and I was surprised to find that there was a new vampire series I hadn’t heard of before. I read the books and thought I can do this. It was one of the easier ways that I have found inspiration. I always carry a notebook where I jot down ideas and quotations that come to me throughout the day. I usually refer back to the notebook when I need motivation. For this novel, I wanted a story set where I live involving a conflicted main character dealing with relationship issues like everyone else—except in this case, one of the complications is that the guy is a hundred years dead. There’s nothing too lovey-dovey, though. There is a turf war going on around them, which becomes a distraction as well.

3) Vampires are very popular, but that very popularity has led to a lot of competition. What sets apart your book from others in the genre?

SWEET takes place in an urban, inner city locale. A lot of stories take place in small or rural towns or in the early 1900s. There is also no set power system in my story. There are “areas” run by one lead vampire but no hierarchy, at least not with vampires…

4) Even in more modern times with more positive portrayals, they are still typically depicted as blood-suckers that are barely on the edge of self-control. What’s the continuing appeal of vampires?

I think it has a lot to do with them being secretive, superhuman beings. There’s also the sexiness of them. The exchanging of fluids. The “glamour” they use to entice and disguise themselves. Mysterious borderline dangerous characters usually intrigue people. They want to know what makes them tick. I tried to portray a range of characters and the challenges they faced with their existence.

5) Can you tell us what went into creating your male and female leads?

SWEET mainly centers around Celia and Victor. I wanted Celia to be strong-willed and opinionated but to also have a silly, relaxed side. She likes Victor but not when she’s forced to think of the future. That makes his “otherness” and her own mortality too real.

I wanted Victor to be handsome, of course, and smoldering. I always picture Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon with his angular, dark features. Victor holds onto his humanity by living and interacting with humans. But he is also old enough to be aware of the curse of his immortality. He’ll never have kids or feel the sun on his face and yet he still craves those things.

These attributes came about during the course of writing. As author Tess Gerritsen once described in a seminar I attended, I am more of a “seat-of-the-pantser” when it comes to writing. I sit at my computer and let the words come to me. Only when I am blocked do I revert to the “planner,” who has to look at her notes and outline what needs to happen.

To that end, when this story first came to me, I only had an image of a female main character talking to a hunter who was trying to stake her boyfriend. In this original vision, the main character didn’t know her boyfriend was a vamp and didn’t believe the hunter. I had the scene clear in my head: the two were in a park, under a tree, next to a park bench. It was nighttime and a small breeze rustled the green leaves of the tree. The story developed and evolved from there.

6) You have a background in screenwriting. Did this influence your novel at all?

Studying film helped me to see things visually. I try to be as vivid as possible to ensure that the readers see what I see. It’s a challenge sometimes but that’s the process I try to maintain. I only moved away from screenwriting and back to novels because I have more control and freedom when it comes to how much direction I have over the characters and scenery. There’s no fear of stepping on anyone’s toes because it’s just me and the input of my editors as opposed to producers and an entire film crew.

7) With all the world building involved in this story, sequels are easy to imagine. Do you have any planned?

This has always been a series to me. After finishing SWEET, I didn’t want it to end because I enjoyed the characters and there was more to add on and more that needed explanation. The problem I encountered was the direction of the series. I had been working on the fourth book when I found a publisher but I had been battling constant writer’s block with that story. I knew I needed an ending. Who cared about baby showers and how many drinks Celia served if none of that was about her development? I didn’t want it to drag on.

Having an end point also forced me to think about what was relevant to the big picture. I need those kinds of restraints because I have a tendency to be long-winded while writing. I had to scrap some of the minor characters as well as a few events that weren’t pertinent. I think that may be the hardest part of being a writer: finding the discipline to just stop. Stop editing. Stop nitpicking. Stop changing miniscule details. Leaving the series open-ended was why I had writer’s block halfway through. Now I have a focus and a goal.

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Thanks, Uzuri.

To learn more about Uzuri Wilkerson and to stay up-to-date on upcoming novels and contests, visit www.uzurimwilkerson.com. To enter and get a chance at winning a $25 VISA gift card, visit www.azizapublishing.com for the SWEET contest details.

SWEET can be pre-ordered from the publisher at www.azizapublishing.com.

The Emerald City On Tour (But Not On Ice)

Today I began my first blog tour to promote THE EMERALD CITY. It was graciously organized by Julie Ann Dawson over at Positively Published.

Monday 2/27: Interview at 21st Century Author
I discuss my admiration for Rushdie and my struggles with too many ideas among other things.

Tuesday 2/28: Guest Blogging at Samantha Warren, "Fiction is Truth"
My defense of fiction.

Wednesday 2/29: Guest Blogging at Jerry Hanel's Blog, "Fairy Killer"
Why would a die-hard skeptic enjoy stories about magic and the supernatural so much?

Thursday 3/1: Guest Blogging at Fantastic Adventure, "Our World Versus Their World"
Contemporary/urban fantasy versus second world fantasy

Friday 3/2: Ten Random Facts at Bards and Sages Group
Ferrets and North Korea!

Inspiration from a Musical, Cover Controversies, and Interrogations from Cypriots and Martian Lovers

I'm zooming around the internet promoting THE EMERALD CITY. One of the more pleasant ways to do that is via interviews. Here's some I did in the last few days:

Over at Chrystalla Thoma's blog, I discuss, among other things, how a cover controversy over a book I didn't write made me decide to alter some aspects of my lead's background.

Over at Cindy Borgne's blog, I discuss, among other things, my favorite characters in the story and some of the underlying themes.

Please stop by and join the conversation.

Look, I released a book!

Followers of my blog might have noticed I was a bit quiet last week. I spent last week finalizing the release of my young adult urban fantasy, The Emerald City:

THE EMERALD CITY
Young Adult Urban Fantasy

In this loose re-imagining of the Wizard of Oz, Kansas teen Gail Dorjee has tried to escape from the pain of her parents' death by retreating into a hard shell of anger and sarcasm.

When her aunt and uncle ship her off to an elite Seattle boarding school, Osland Academy, she spends her first day making enemies, including the school's most powerful clique, the Winged, and their leader, the ruthless Diana.

Social war and the school's uptight teachers are only mild annoyances. Mysterious phone outages, bizarre behavioral blocks, and strange incidents suggest Osland is focused on something much more sinister than education.


Gail has to survive at Osland with a pretty pathetic assortment of potential allies: her airhead roommate, a cowardly victim of the Winged, and Diana's cold, but handsome, boyfriend, Nick.

The Emerald City is currently available in ebook format at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Smashwords. I hope to have it available soon at other outlets.

Just so you know, I have several other novels that will be coming out over the next few months. I've done a lot of writing in the last few years, but the editing, proofreading, and all that takes time.

At the end of February, I'll be releasing a sweet Regency paranormal romance, A Woman of Proper Accomplishments. No bodices are ripped. That may make you more or less likely to want to read it depending on what you want out of your romance.


At the end of March, I'll be releasing a fantasy novel, Mind Crafter.


For those who are fans of my Heian entries, please note that this autumn, I'll be releasing a non-fantasy thriller set during the Heian era.

With that release handled, I'll be returning to my regularly scheduled themed content this week along with some nice author interviews.

Coming Soon: A Tibetan in Oz and the Regency with a touch of magic

In my zeal for my research involving my historical products, it's sometimes lost that I'm working on other projects. Two of these writing products are coming to fruition (i.e., on the final stages of editing and proofreading). Now that I have the cover for one, it's starting to hit me that I'll be releasing books soon. Let the panic begin! It's all well and good when you're in the self-flagellation of writing-self-editing-beta reading-editing-rewriting and all that, but actually sending your precious baby to the harsh world of the general public is a bit unsettling.

At the end of January, I'll be releasing a book that I've previously discussed on my blog, The Emerald City. The story is a somewhat loose and modern young adult urban fantasy reinterpretation of The Wizard of Oz centered around a Tibetan-American teen from Kansas who ends up at a more than a little strange boarding school in Seattle.

It's actually a bit surprising, when I think about it, that my first release is going to be a young adult urban fantasy. Although I read plenty of young adult books, I never had any intention, when I began writing, of producing young adult work. Mostly, I intended to produce work in my favorite genres: historical fiction (as one might have surmised by my main blog content), historical fiction with magical elements, and adult fantasy.

I happen to really enjoy musical theater, though. In the course of satisfying that particular interest, I had the opportunity to see Wicked. So, I ended up inspired to write a reinterpretation based on another reinterpretation. The Emerald City will be out at the end of January. This book also benefited from being written after I'd written several other manuscripts. The old saying is that it takes a million words before you produce something worth reading. In my case, that's pretty much true.

The finishing proofreading and editorial touches are also being put on my sweet Regency paranormal romance, A Woman of Proper Accomplishments. Alas, I don't have my cover yet for that one. It was fun, but also a bit challenging, producing a Regency story where a type of reliable supernatural ability exists that still preserved the social atmosphere of the Regency period that interest readers. I think I succeeded (at least some of my beta readers claim I did), but I suppose the general reading public will have to decide here come February.

While I'm on the subject, I have an adult fantasy project, Mind Crafter, coming down the pipe, but it is still in first phase of editing.

Of course, I have a wonderful (I hope) Heian mystery coming out, hopefully, in fall of 2012.

Honor is more important than power: An interview with urban fantasy writer Coral Moore

Today, I'm talking with Coral Moore about her urban fantasy, Broods of Fenrir

1) Tell us about your book.

Broods of Fenrir is about a man who just wants to be left alone. The brutality of his own people disgusts him, and he really just wants nothing to do with them. When he finds out a woman is murdered by one of them in his town, he resolves to find out who killed her and make sure it doesn’t happen again. There are two side-by-side struggles he deals with throughout the story: his inner conflict with his own feral nature, and his outer conflict with the members of his race that don’t want to change from their primitive roots.

2) What inspired this book? Have you always had an interest in werewolves?

My interest in werewolves is relatively new. In fact, if you had asked me when I started writing almost two years ago if I would ever write a werewolf story, I would have said it was unlikely. It’s a bit of a tired trope, but I had a few ideas while I was working on another story that just kept coming back. The more I tried not to think about Brand (his name came to me very early on), the more scenes kept writing themselves while I was driving or showering or trying to sleep. Finally I just decided to just start writing it, and I hoped that I would work it out of my system, but the whole book happened rather quickly. The first draft was done in less than four months, and I’ve made it through the entire process in just over a year.

3) Werewolf-based urban fantasy is extremely hot right now, but that same popularity can make it hard to stand out in the crowd. What distinguishes Broods of Fenrir from other books in this genre?

Two werewolf differences and an addendum afterwards. First, my werewolves are not infected or cursed. They are a separate sub-species that can blend in seamlessly with humans most of the time. Second, my wolves aren’t very magical. There are some unknown forces at work obviously, but rather than mystical I’ve gone more natural. Think of my werewolves as shamans where others are sorcerers. The addendum is that my story is darker than most of the genre. I’ve gone for grit rather than magic and that gives the book a different feel from most UF.

4) Why did you choose to incorporate Norse mythology elements?

I was doing research for a completely unrelated story. While glancing over the Wikipedia page on Fenrir (to this day I don’t know how I ended up there) I came across the phrase broods of Fenrir. It was translated from a Skaldic poem and used as an alternate name for Fenrir’s two offspring, Skoll and Hati. The phrase really resonated with me and I don’t think it left my head for a month afterwards. There’s a little bit of history I’ve worked up for them that you can find here if you’re interested: http://www.chaosandinsanity.com/stories/broods-of-fenrir/broods-of-fenrir-history/

5) What would you say is your protagonist's greatest strength?

His unwavering adherence to the line that separates right from wrong. It gets him into a lot of trouble, but it truly does define him. His struggles all stem from his inability to compromise on this one point.

6) What would you say is your protagonist's greatest weakness?

He’s single-minded. When a problem presents itself, one solution occurs to him and that’s the only one he’ll consider. Even when another character (or his author!) thinks another way is probably better, he goes his way.

7) What two key themes do you think define your book?

Friendship will succeed where strength fails. Honor is more important than power.

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Thanks for stopping by, Coral.

If you want to read more from Coral, you can find her at http://www.chaosandinsanity.com, Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5341919.Coral_Moore or Twitter: http://twitter.com/coralm.

Broods of Fenrir is available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Why doesn't CarFax talk about ghosts? An interview with paranormal romance and romantic suspense author K.A. Jordan

Today, I'm talking with K.A. Jordan about her paranormal romance, Swallow The Moon, which I recently reviewed over at Good Book Alert.

1) Tell us about your book.

Swallow the Moon is the story of a witch and a soldier vs. the ghosts of a stripper and a DEA agent. It is also a story of love, redemption and sacrifice.

In many ways, it is more of a Gothic romance than a Paranormal Romance. I think the new cover reflects that style – it's not a 'clinch' cover – a moody, chilling cover.

2) What inspired you to write this book?

My husband's into motorcycles – sometimes I see his Suzuki as a rival for his affections. I'm sure I'm not the only woman who feels that way. The opportunity was too good to pass up. ;-)

3) Swallow the Moon is striking in that both your hero and heroine aren't particularly distinguished by their abilities or appearance in a genre often known for beautiful and special people, yet at the same time are defined characters as opposed to blank slate audience surrogates. Why did you choose to develop your characters this way?

I love the old Gothic novels. Barbara Michaels is a good example of the Gothic style. I found her blend of the real and paranormal utterly captivating. My goal is to write a story that will pull readers in the same way. Therefore, the emphasis is on the setting instead of how the characters look.

As for special abilities, I didn't want to deal with a cliché 'Hollywood witch' – I felt it would be too easy. Instead, I use 'Magic Realism.' This way, everything is more difficult, the dangers are more real. In the end, June and Eric both sacrifice what is most precious to them. By using a very light hand in world-building, I have an open-ended universe to continue my series. I can do almost anything inside this framework.

It's very exciting.

4) Some authors put a little (or a lot of themselves into their character). Some don't. How are you similar (if at all) to June? How are you different?

June loves her home and wants a husband and a family. She's strong and courageous, but she's not aware of that part of herself. She's an introvert, works very hard and doesn't want to draw any attention to herself. She has 'Second Sight' and is descended from a long line of 'Wise Women.'

We are similar in that I grew up in Ashtabula. June's house is my childhood home. I worked on Bridge Street and partied at the Iroquois Club. I live on a small farm and raise chickens.

On the other hand, I'm outgoing. I joined the theatre in high school and college. I used to party with a bunch of actors and musicians and I can handle myself in rough situations. I ride with my husband on his Suzuki M109R – a huge cruiser.

5) Dying Rust Belt small towns aren't exactly glamorous such as a city like New York or exotic like quirky supernaturally-infested small towns in Louisiana. Why did you choose this setting?

Dying cities make great Urban Fantasy settings, so it would make sense that they would do well for Paranormal Romances. Any place that has the dark atmosphere of Batman's Gotham City has a certain romance to it.

Ashtabula was settled by Europeans over 200 years ago, the city's history is similar to New England – which is the setting for many Gothic novels.

6) If you were going to sell your soul for a motorcycle, what kind would it be?

If I were to sell my soul for a machine – it would be a 1969 Shelby Cobra in royal blue with white racing stripes.

I ride behind my husband on his Suzuki M109R from time to time, that's his dream bike. I'm sitting on his bike in my author photo.

7) Your other recent novel, Let's Do Lunch, is notable in its lack of supernatural elements. Do you think Swallow the Moon would appeal to Let's Do Lunch fans and vice versa? 

Sure – because I handle characters the same for both genre. My women's fiction tends to have more plot twists. But anyone who likes my writing will like both books.

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Thanks, Kat.

You can find more from Kat at her blog: http://katjordan.wordpress.com/ and http://jordanscroft.blogspot.com.

Swallow The Moon is available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Let's Do Lunch is also available for purchase at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Six Sentence Sunday #20: There's something in the water

Please check out other samples from participating Six Sentence Sunday authors at  http://www.sixsunday.com/.

For today's Six Sentence Sunday, I'm remaining with my YA urban fantasy WIP, Osland. Here, the protagonist runs into a rather odd new restriction at her new school:

After we passed a few fountains, I said, “This school is f. . .this school is f. . .this school is messed up.” The f-bomb wouldn’t come out—more than a little weird. While I’d like to think I wasn’t super-foul-mouthed, on occasion, I did let a few colorful words slip out. Sure, I’ll admit after Mom and Dad died, the f-bombs started dropping a bit more often, but I never had trouble pushing the words out. Now I could barely even think of them. Did the teachers drug the water or something? 

Six Sentence Sunday #19: A Very Tortured View of Labor and Frontier History

Please check out other samples from participating Six Sentence Sunday authors at  http://www.sixsunday.com/.

For today's Six Sentence Sunday, I'm flipping back to my YA urban fantasy WIP, Osland. Here, we see the oft-confused Lydia Wray offer her rather fanciful theory to the main character, Gail, on why cell phones don't work on their Seattle boarding school campus:


“But there’s a rumor that a hundred years ago some Indians killed these striking union guys, so now the union guys are ghosts and haunt the school blocking cell phones.” Lydia blinked. “Not Indians. I mean not like Leandra. I mean Native Americans.”

How do you even respond to something like that? 

Virtual Book Tour-Guest Blog: Zachery Richardson-Author of Chronicles of the Apocalypse:Revenge,Everything is Nothing.

Today, I'm hosting urban fantasy author Zachery Richardson as part of his Virtual Book Tour for his urban fantasy book Chronicles of the Apocalypse: Revenge, Everything is Nothing. Click on the graphic above to check out the rest of his blog tour.

Today, Zach is going to share with his thoughts on books and Hollywood.

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Books & Hollywood: An Author’s Dream and Nightmare

Before I get into this, let me say that I am an avid lover of Hollywood. Though I’m an author by trade, I was raised on more movies than books. This was largely due to my ADD, but that’s another story for another time. I love movies, and the only industry that gets even half as much of my money is the video game industry. And because of the love I have for you, Hollywood, we need to have a long talk about how you treat authors.

Specifically, you need to adapt our material more faithfully.

Don’t get me wrong; you’ve done great work before. Lord of the Rings and the Twilight Saga are the best book-to-film adaptations I’ve ever seen. With Rings, you took an enormously detailed world and managed to not only capture the richness of the world, but you condensed and streamlined the narrative in such a way that one could (and I would) make the argument that the films are largely better than the books, particularly if

we’re talking about the extended cuts. Even more faithful to the original novels are the Twilight movies. Sure, there wasn’t nearly as much history or detail to the world, but the books themselves were big and seemed to scream “massive cuts incoming!” You stayed truer to the source material with those books than I ever expected. And sadly, there’s a reason for that.

Eragon.

I thought about adding Harry Potter to the list, but though I have many problems with the film series, they are small and the films have remained genuinely faithful to the source material. I can’t say the same for Eragon. Seventy-seven documented changes were made from the book to the film and most of them are significant. Six characters that play important roles in subsequent books were cut out of the film entirely. Still others have their personalities changed significantly, and of the other changes, forty-three of them were made to the plot itself, and many of those changes directly contradict events in later books! Because of this, the film not only bombed at the box office thanks to bad reviews and terrible word of mouth from fans of the book but also made it virtually impossible to adapt Eldest, the second book in the series. Had the movie been truly faithful to the source material, it would have allowed Hollywood to adapt the other novels as well, and most likely create a film series on the level of Lord of the Rings.

As both an author and a lover of film, I would dearly love to see my novel, Chronicles of the Apocalypse: Revenge, Everything is Nothing, brought to life on the silver screen. With its brisk pace, numerous action scenes, and story of both revenge and redemption, I feel like it would be a great candidate for a summer blockbuster. But I know Hollywood’s track record with books, and it’s filled with more Eragons than Twilights.

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Check out Zach's book (available both in print and electronic formats) at his website here:

"When you sacrifice the lives of your wife and children to prevent the world's most powerful clan of assassins from unleashing the Apocalypse, what does that make you? And what do you do when you learn that it was all in vain? For Jin Sakai, that sacrifice turned him into a mere shell of a man, filled only with guilt and hatred. When he learns that it was a sacrifice made in vain, he instantly sets out on a violent one-man war to tear the assassins' clan down around their ears. After all, who better to destroy them than the man who brought them together?

Things soon turn down a darker path as Jin uncovers the disturbing truth behind his family's sacrifice; a truth he was never meant to learn. Undone by the revelation, Jin is consumed by doubt and confusion and very nearly loses his life. It is only later when he meets Leah Lawson, a woman who overcame her own dark past, that his doubt and confusion vanish and he begins to see a path that will not only lead him to his revenge, but to his redemption.

Unfortunately, there is far more going on behind the scenes than Jin realizes. Forces are at play that have been manipulating the course of his life ever since he was born. By setting out on his quest for vengeance, Jin unknowingly cements his destiny as one of the key warriors in the apocalyptic war that’s brewing just beneath the surface."

You can also find him on YouTube.

Thanks for sharing, Zach.

Six Sentence Sunday #7: Redefining "Closed Campus"

This week, I return to my Young Adult Urban Fantasy WIP, Osland. After a series of strange events, the protagonist, Gail Dorjee, is convinced that her boarding school, Osland Academy, is a about a lot more than preparing kids for college. When she asks to leave the school grounds to go sight-seeing in Seattle, her dorm manager forbids it, but she decides to sneak out anyway.


The moment of truth comes as she works her way through some trees toward a wall at the edge of the school grounds:

I reached out and pressed my palm against the brick. A fog clouded my mind. After I stepped back, I shook my head in a feeble attempt to clear it, but I couldn’t even remember why I’d even wanted to touch the wall. A little bit of concentration cleared out the mental mist, and my purpose resurfaced. I eyed the wall.

“Now, that is just not right,” I murmured.


For more snippets from many authors far more fascinating than me, please visit http://www.sixsunday.blogspot.com

The Emerald City

THE EMERALD CITY
Young Adult Urban Fantasy


When her parents die, teenager Gail Dorjee retreats into an angry, sarcastic shell. She hopes it will ease her pain, but all it gets her is a one-way trip from Kansas to a Seattle boarding school, the elite Osland Academy.

As soon as she arrives, Gail clashes with Diana, the leader of the school's most powerful clique. The Winged make Gail's life hell until she find allies: her airhead roommate; a cowardly fellow victim of the Winged; and, bit by bit, Diana's boyfriend--the seemingly heartless Nick.

Gail soon has bigger problems than Diana. One of her teachers hates her. Glasses shatter and fountains erupt around her. She can't swear no matter how hard she tries. An unseen force is keeping her on campus. And worst of all, she uncovers a plot that will give one person a precious gift at the cost of thousands of lives. Now Gail and her friends must stop the plot--not just to save lives, but to win a brain, the nerve, a heart and a home in this modern urban fantasy take on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

THE EMERALD CITY is currently available in ebook format at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, iBooks/iTunes, and Smashwords.

ALL J.A. BEARD RELEASES

YA Urban Fantasy

The Osland Trilogy

The Emerald City

The Eternal City

The Final City

Impossible Intern

Fantasy 

Mind Crafter

Regency Paranormal Romance

A Woman of Proper Accomplishments