First, I want to thank the many readers who picked up a copy of Soul Avenged while it was 99 cents! Hope you enjoy the read! Recently I was tagged by the lovely Krista Walsh to participate in this little Q&A about current projects that’s been circulating the blogosphere. I’m actually pretty excited because I get to chat about my upcoming release, Soul Resurrected, due out sometime in October.
And so on to the questions …
What are you working on right now?
Well, on a non-writing topic, I’m running a cover model contest for book 2 and asking my readers to choose the face of my character, Logan. That begins June 14th and I’m REALLY excited about it. I’m also opening the Sons of Wrath store in a couple of weeks too. As far as WiP’s, I’m working on edits to Soul Resurrected, the second book in my Sons of Wrath series. And if I keep to Krista’s format with this, then I get to share a snippet from the book! Yay!
Here’s a short scene from book 2 with Calla and Logan:
“Draven killed my brother. I intend to kill Draven.”
“You referring to the little prick that stabbed me? He’s my kill.”
“My kill. My kill,” she mocked. “You sound like some kind of prehistoric hit man.”
Logan’s cheek dimpled as if he tried to subdue a smile. “Let’s just say that I let you have a go at him—”
“Let me?” She leaned back against the window and crossed her arms. “What makes you think I’m asking your permission first? I get a kill shot, I’m taking it.”
His once-over, tits to legs, followed by a lick of his lips had her squirming on the inside.
“You’re fucking cute as hell when you’re feisty.” His gaze swung toward the road then back on her.
Warmth tingled in her cheeks at the same time her stomach fluttered like she’d ingested a brawling swarm of butterflies. She snapped her head to the side, diverting her attention toward the window, hoping he didn’t catch the sudden flush.
“What would you do? If he was yours to kill. How would you do it?”
She glanced back and frowned. “Why are you asking me this?”
“I’m a demon. A sick fuck. This shit turns me on.”
“He’s the reason my brother is dead.” Calla twisted to face him again, her jaw tight as she spoke, “Jake suffered a slow and painful death. So will Draven.”
How does it differ from other works in its genre?
I think a unique element of this series is the violence and gore. It’s a dark world with a variety of supernaturals, and humans often unwittingly find themselves caught in the middle. Yet, as it’s a paranormal romance, I like to tie everything up with HEA at the end. This book is steamier than Soul Avenged too.
What experiences have influenced you?
Just about every little detail in my life has some level of influence over my writing. A bad day can translate into a really violent scene. Hahaha! People I meet can give rise to heroic or villainous characters. It depends. Other writers have played a huge role in my writing as well. Their encouragement and feedback really pushed me to publish Soul Avenged (I originally hadn’t planned to do anything with this series).
Why do you write what you do?
If I didn’t write, I think I’d go nuts. A lot of what I do in my day is analytical, number crunching. I crave creativity. Paranormal romance and urban fantasy is the perfect genre to let my imagination run wild. I can create worlds, supernaturals in those worlds, and rules that they must follow. It’s fun and allows me to break from the madness of my day to day.
How does your writing process work?
My writing process is not ideal. In fact, I’m sure most writers would roll their eyes at the way I approach my stories. I can’t outline and plot or do anything organized like that. I put the earplugs in and as soon as my fingers hit the keys I’m typing what my characters tell me to write. As fast as I can, I’ll get the bare bones of the story onto paper, er, computer screen. Then its layer upon layer. I like to flesh out the main storyline first, which happens to be the blossoming romance between the H/h. After that, I fill in holes and add subplots. Then I probably take about 1-2 months of intense editing before I feel okay enough to pass it along to betas.
What is the hardest part about writing?
Cutting it off! My current WiP is 140K words because I just couldn’t stop. Now I’m tasked with having to cut 20K or more from the manuscript, while making sure all the meaty parts of the story are still in tact. I’m also very critical of my own work.
What would you like to try as a writer that you haven’t yet?
I actually have an idea for an erotica written down. Not sure if I'll do anything with it. I’m very closely bordering romantica in this current WiP. I’d also like to try horror sometime.
Who are the authors you most admire?
My favorites are Anne Rice, Poe and Kresley Cole. I also have a lot of respect for paranormal romance and urban fantasy author J.A. Belfield. That woman is incredibly strong with all she’s been through and writes brilliant stories. She also happens to be my editor and I think she’s just a whole helluva lot of awesome.
I also have enormous respect for the indies.
Who are new authors to watch out for?
Some authors that I think readers should check out are: J.A. Belfield (mentioned above), Colin F. Barnes, Narcisse Navarre, KL Schwengel, Krista Walsh, Candice Bundy and Terri Rochenski.
What scares you?
Spiders and failure.
As this is a blog chain, I'll leave it open for anyone who'd like to participate and discuss a current WiP!
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