Urban Fantasy Archives - Page 11 of 15

Aug 15th Interview S.K. Gregory Author of Bloodlines

Give a warm welcome to S.K Gregory, author of Bloodlines. releasing today. Yippee!!

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about S.K. Gregory and her YA Urban Fantasy, Bloodlines, Book One of The Dark Fae Chronicles! Pssst… Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter at the end of this post.

What inspired this particular story?

Bloodlines started out as a story in a boxed set called Cursed Lands. We were to come up with an idea for an urban fantasy/YA/Dystopian novel or novella. I chose this idea because I wanted to write about the Fae and I thought it would be interesting to see what the world would look like if they took over the world. My main character is half Fae herself and is caught between both sides.

Why should we read this book/series and what sets you apart from the rest and makes your book/series unique?

Bloodlines and the other two books in the series, Battlelines and Borderlines, tell the story of a young woman in an apocalyptic world, struggling to survive after the Fae attack and wipe out a large percentage of the human race. I think there are a lot of dystopian novels out there but not many deal with Fae taking over. It’s something a little bit different, full of magic and intrigue.

Who is your favorite character of all of the books you’ve written and Why?

At the moment my favorite character is Persephone from my Gods of Chaos series. I have always wanted to write about the Greek Gods, although she was not the God I would have chosen originally. I wrote a short story about her and it turned into a whole series. She is strong, cynical and a survivor, which I think suits her story.

Did you tell friends and family that you were writing a book? Or did it take a while to come out and tell friends and family you were a writer?

My family have always known as I was forever carrying a notebook with me everywhere I went when I was younger. My friends found out after I was published. My grandfather likes to tell everyone he meets about it! I should hire him as my agent! Lol.

Tell us a little about Bloodlines, The Dark Fae Chronicles,Book One

When the Fae take over the world, only one girl can bring them down.

Nova and her mother take a trip to England, where Nova accidentally awakens an ancient Fae Queen. Now a prisoner to her ‘Uncle’ Phillip, Nova discovers the truth about herself – she is Fae too.

A new world order…

The Fae Queen unleashes her creatures on the world, seeking revenge on the humans and her brother, who imprisoned her. She will bring them to their knees, no matter the cost.

Nova is mankind’s last hope…

Nova escapes from her prison and finds that the world is no longer recognizable. Humans are struggling to survive, driven underground, they scavenge food where they can. Nova stumbles across some of the survivors who take her in, not knowing what she is. It’s time for Nova to make a choice. Side with the humans who raised her, or her true family – the Fae. As the only one who can overthrow the Queen, Nova may be the last hope of humankind.

Which side will she choose?

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A sneak peek between the pages of Bloodlines:

Asteria was asleep and dreaming of the war when the first drop of blood touched the Earth. Her eyes opened for the first time in a millennia, as she felt the vibrations through the soil.

Oberon’s blood. It has been shed.

Her kin started to awaken too. They lay below her, her subjects, the ones who followed her in her bid to become Queen. Even Oberon’s loyal followers were entombed with her. He showed them no loyalty to them, choosing instead to seal them all away until only he remained.

Selfish of you, brother, Asteria thought. She remembered that day on the battlefield, when she lay waste to all around her, smiting and cursing the humans because he preferred them to his own kind.

She was majestic, riding forth on her winged horse, her red hair, the color of blood, flowing behind her as she rode. She was well named. She held the power of the sun within her and was determined to scorch the Earth, rid the world of the human vermin and make it fit for the Fae once more.

She should have succeeded, but Oberon fought dirty. He knew he could never defeat her head on, so he used blood magic to open a sinkhole in the Earth. One by one, her brethren were sucked inside.

As she stared her brother in the eyes, she asked him – why? She didn’t expect to see pain in them, but it was there all the same.

She fought hard but the magic was too strong. She was sucked down into the ground, her body trapped by the layers of dirt. But Fae cannot be killed by being buried alive, no, they remained conscious, forever subdued, while the world above them carried on.

But Asteria could still dream and she dreamed of the day she would escape and finish what she started. While she did not share her brother’s ability to see the future, she was able to see glimpses of the world above her. The humans grew in number at an alarming rate. They laid waste to the Earth, murdering each other over petty squabbles. At times she wondered if they would do her job for her, but no, they continued to flourish and breed.

Oberon decided to mark the spot where they fell, placing huge stones above them, as grave markers. The stupid humans would flock to the site to marvel at the structure.

If only they knew what lay beneath their feet.

She wanted to reach out and grab them, to strip their flesh from their bones and swallow it whole.

Today was one of the days they congregated here – the Solstice. Surprising that the fickle creatures remembered such sacred days. The Solstice was a rare time when she could feel the sun’s energy replenishing her.

She longed to bask in its glow. It was so cold down here, so dark. That was when she felt it. Some primal part of her reaching out to something familiar in the world above. What was that?

For a moment, a brief moment, she was connected to it. Oberon? He has returned. The connection broke as quickly as it came.

Oberon never came here. Even with her ability to reach out into the world, she never once felt him. Saw him. Perhaps he changed his mind? Could he have decided that she was right all along?

Then the blood dropped. Fresh, warm, it struck the dirt like the first drop of rain after a long drought.

He is here. He is releasing us. No doubt he had seen what this world had become and decided to join her against the humans.

All around her, the others were reacting to the blood too, eager to be free.

Patience, my pets, she thought. It would take time for the blood to reach them, but when that first drop touched her, this Earth would face a reckoning. There would be no more mistakes, no more truces with the humans. They would be wiped out quickly, without warning. Most would be consumed and the rest? Well, she’d had plenty of time to think of suitable ways to torture them. This world would be hers. If Oberon wanted to join her, so be it. She could work with her brother despite all that he had done. They could slay the humans together, help restore the Earth to the way it once was, so it could heal and the magic could flow freely once more.

And when it’s over, I’ll cut off his head and place him in a tomb of his own. Somewhere dark, cold, where he will be completely alone. When a Fae dies naturally, they enter the Summerlands, but she would ensure he never reached it. He didn’t deserve peace. She would trap his essence in a body that could not be used, for all eternity.

The blood began to work its way down towards her.

Come. Yes, free us, brother. It will be the last thing you do.

About the Author of Bloodlines:

S. K. Gregory is the author of several urban fantasy, paranormal romance and young adult novels. She runs a blog that supports indie authors by offering book reviews and promotions.

She is an editor and proofreader with JEA Press. With a background in journalism and film making, she recently worked on an arts based radio show called Lisburn Reads, with a focus on local writers.

http://www.facebook.com/authorskgregory

http://www.twitter.com/sam_skgregory

http://www.skgregory.com

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6574558.S_K_Gregory

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It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Bloodlines!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Dystopian, SK Gregory, Urban Fantasy, YA by Tena Stetler with 2 comments.

May 3rd Exile in Darkness by Annalisa Carr

Give a warm welcome to Annalisa Carr author of Exile in Darkness! Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Annalisa and her recent release Exile In Darkness! Pssst…don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway at the bottom of the post. Annalisa Carr will be awarding a $30 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Tell us a bit about Exile in Darkness.

Heritage and magic matter to the London covens.
Aristocratic witch, Isabella Pethany, has heritage but not magic.
Underworld powerbroker, amnesiac vampire Maldit, has magic but no heritage.
Lukas Sindis, coven sorcerer and famous psychopath, has both.

Isabella’s null magic status makes her an embarrassment to her family, but since her sister was murdered, she is all they have left. Guilt makes her willing to do almost anything to compensate for her lack of value, but her grandmother’s proposal to match her with Lukas, in a bid to bring strong magic back to their bloodline, is a step too far.

When Maldit rescues a strange witch from hunting vampires, his main concern is to limit trouble in his territory. Witches are notoriously troublesome, and this one is no exception. Her proximity slashes through his damaged memory, allowing him to catch glimpses of his forgotten past.

Drugs have suppressed Lukas’s magic for almost twenty years, filling him with a reservoir of trapped power. When he escapes, his magic bursts free, falling like a tidal wave on Maldit and Isabella, sweeping away the spells paralysing both of them.

The dark secrets of the London coven are about to explode into the light of day.

A sneak peek between the pages of Exile in Darkness:

Isabella? Isabella Pethany?

Whispers of her own name floated through her mind. She pushed the pillow aside and sat up, pressing her hands against her ears. It didn’t stop the insistent repetition of her name.

Someone called to her, but who would do a thing like that at this hour of the morning? The family would all be asleep by now, and the only servant awake should be the doorman.

Her imagination was running riot. She lay down, closing her eyes, but the feeling of being summoned didn’t go away.

Isabella. Isabella. Isabella.

Her name echoed around her skull, louder now.

She sat up abruptly. Next to her, Alfie stirred, growling in his sleep. She ran the palm of her hand over his shaggy flank and switched the bedside lamp on, before walking to the window and drawing the curtain back.

Pools of dim light surrounded the bases of the old-fashioned streetlamps. Between them, the pavement was dark, and the trees in the square cast black shadows over the iron railings. She opened the window and leaned out.

“Isabella?” The voice was a seductive whisper from below. It was definitely real this time, vibrating through the air, rather than her mind.

She squinted into the shadows.

The vampire from the bar stood on the opposite pavement, his figure almost hidden in the darkness.

Maldit.

Her heart beat faster.

His face tilted upwards towards her second-floor window, green eyes glinting.

“What do you want?” She pressed two fingers to the point in her neck where the skin was thinnest. Her pulse hammered against them.

Buy link for Exile in Darkness: Amazon

About the Author:

Annalisa Carr lives in the English Lake District with her two cats. She writes in multiple genres, but has a weakness for paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

As a child Annalisa wanted to be a scientist, wear a white coat and explore outer space. She worked as a scientist for a very long time, but never got to fly a spaceship or even travel beyond the solar system. This was a huge disappointment given the reasons for her career choice, so eventually she made up stories instead. Probably just as well, as she is claustrophobic.

Exile in Darkness is set in the same world as the Children of Poseidon series; a slightly skewed version of London.

Annalisa also writes dystopian science fiction under the name ‘Anne Cleasby’.
https://annecleasby.com
http://www.annalisacarr.com
https://www.amazon.com/Annalisa-Carr/e/B00T1H0CQ0
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/10798535.Annalisa_Carr
https://www.facebook.com/Annalisa-Carr-1626840070925992

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It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Exile in Darkness!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Annalisa Carr, Exile in Darkness, Paranormal, Romance, Urban Fantasy by Tena Stetler with 7 comments.

Apr 25th Interview Chris Stoneheart Author of Unhuman Light

Give a warm welcome to Chris Stoneheart, author of Unhuman Light! Released February 7, 2019.

Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Chris’ Unhuman Light, book on of the Chronicles of the Light.

What inspired this particular story?

This world has been in my head for decades, in one form or another. When you look at the old mythologies, sometimes you can see how old tales from different civilizations are the same story as seen from a different culture. Jupiter and Zeus are the most obvious example, but there are a thousand others. However, in some mythologies, things seem contradictory. The vampire myths, for example. To me, it seems as if there are multiple kinds of vampire, else the mythologies don’t work. So, my story has three species of vampire. Two of the species “die” at dawn, the other can choose when to sleep or be awake but can’t handle direct sunlight. All of them drink blood, of course. One species is evil — the changing process turns them into a monster. The other two can decide whether to be good, evil, or something in between.

Where do your story ideas come from? If they come to you in the middle of the night, do you get up and write them all down?

If an idea comes to me in the middle of the night, I reach for my phone and send myself an email using the speech-to-text feature. More ideas come to me when driving than any other time though, and at least once a week I have to pull over and send myself an email. If I don’t, it’s probably gone forever.

Do you see yourself in your characters?

Write what you know, right? I put pieces of myself into characters, and pieces of family and friends, too. I was once a professional juggler, for instance, and Kaitlin knows how to juggle. I know what learning to juggle does to your brain and your reflexes, so using it in the book was a no-brainer (pardon the pun). Someone I’m close to was adopted from another country, and elements of her personality show up in Lauren’s character. I used to have a mixed-breed dog with a lot of Newf in him, so parts of his personality show up in Shadow, Kaitlin’s Newfoundland dog. I guess it would be more accurate to say that pieces of my life are strewn throughout my books, in no particular order.

What do you want your readers to take away from your books?

I can still remember the magic and awe I felt when I first read Tolkien around forty years ago. I want to give my readers the same feelings. His stories were of middle earth, but they were supposed to be our history. He gave us the original poem that turned into our “and the cow jumped over the moon” tale, and inserted other similar tidbits into his novels. It made his story more real, and there were lots of goose bumps. My books take place in our modern-day world, but I try to make the old mythologies make sense. It’s the reverse of the way he did it, but I hope I can evoke the same basic thoughts and emotions.

The Chronicles of the Light is urban fantasy, but if you enjoy fantasy of any kind, I hope you’ll take a chance and dive into my world.

Tell us a little about Unhuman Light.

Chronicles of the Light, book one…

Bodies keep piling up, but Kaitlin O’Malley refuses to back down, even when threatened by someone once worshipped as a god. Training for a battle between good and evil, she teams up with the Dragon King and a powerful lion, and finds herself protected by a Master Vampire who wants her in his bed.

With a vile enemy ready to destroy her, the men in her life lock her up to keep her safe, but Kaitlin will never let other people fight her battles. She’ll have to break free and venture out on her own, wielding a powerful weapon to protect herself — a weapon her enemies would kill for. To face the enemy alone, Kaitlin must view the world in an Unhuman Light.

In a supernatural battle of magic and strength, can an unlikely human prevail?

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Chapter One

“Aery, I need a shot!” I screamed, holding back the energy pulsing at my fingertips until he was out of the way. The instant he maneuvered to give me a clear path, I unleashed the fiery red energy and watched it streak through the air and slice into the grotesque monster who’d been holding his own in a fight with Aaron Drake.

My power drained from me as it hit our foe in the chest, melting through skin, bone, and more. I lifted my arm a few inches and the caustic light streaking from my hand rose like a laser. When it reached the hideous creature’s throat, I moved my hand right and left until he was decapitated, and then watched in horrified fascination while the body seemed to evaporate before my eyes.

My gaze swung to my friend, and I checked to be sure he was okay. I was used to Aaron totally dominating, no matter the species he was fighting, and the fact he’d maneuvered to give me a clear shot told me the ancient dragonshifter wasn’t sure he could’ve won. My heart settled when I saw he seemed okay. He’s hard to kill, but I had no idea what we’d just fought.

As far as I know, I’m the only person who can get away with a cute nickname for the sexy, tough-as-nails, bad-assed owner of Drake Security, but I never do it around other people. I wouldn’t have said it today while battling an unknown monster, but it slipped out. No problem though, the bad guy seemed to evaporate and turn to smoke once the life force left his body. I usually want to cry after a kill — even when it’s a really bad guy — but not having to look at a body made it easier. Either way, I couldn’t give into the guilt and soul searching until the op was over.

“What was that?” I asked Aaron.

“Not sure,” he said, barely out of breath. “I used to see things kind of like him a few thousand years ago, but not since we entered the Common Era. I’ll send a sketch to a few friends and see if they have any ideas. I was about to shift into dragon form and see if my fire would work, but your laser did the trick.”

I took a breath and pulled energy in from the forest around us. I’d used almost all my reserves with that one shot, and I’d be useless if something else came along. I leaned against a tree and tried to relax in the crisp, autumn air. It’s easier to absorb energy when you’re at peace.

Aaron, of course, noticed. “I can top you up. You know I have plenty.”

I shook my head. “I’m not up for pain right now. Just give me five minutes with a few trees.” I could almost always find an old tree willing to give me energy. It might take a little time, but not as long as gathering it from the air around me. A waterfall would be faster, or even a creek or stream, but I didn’t hear running water.

“I won’t push more in than you can take, not during a mission.” Aaron said. “You used it to save me, the least I can do is top you back up.”

“Okay,” I relented, “but into my hands. I’ll route it to the right chakras.”

He didn’t argue, thank goodness, and held his hands out for me to grasp. I dropped my shields enough to let his energy flow out of his palms and into mine, and as it streamed up my arms and into my body, my heart seemed to need less energy to pump my blood.

I initially routed the power he gifted me to my first two chakras, since I primarily pull from those for my weapon, and then filled the rest. He truly does have plenty, but I never want to get used to depending on him.

During the few minutes Aaron’s energy filled me, I was at one with everything around me — totally at peace with the world, the universe, and perhaps even God. All energy is magic, but Aaron’s is a special kind of magic.

If we were romantically compatible, I’d be madly in love with him, but since we aren’t, he’s one of my best friends. I love him, but it isn’t the girlfriend kind of love.

When I was as full as I could get without feeling pain, I gently let go of his hands. When we do this as an exercise and he’s expanding the volume I can hold, he forces it in long past when I would choose to let go. This hurts about as much as I imagine a lightning strike would, and there’s a lot of screaming and crying involved on my part. I hate acting like a girly-girl, but he assures me he screamed and begged when his reserves were being stretched, too. Of course, that was thousands of years ago, so who could say how much he remembered of the pain?

Today, though, I felt warm and full and loved.

“Thanks,” I told him. Words couldn’t adequately thank him, so the single word would have to do. Besides, we were still on our mission and needed to focus, so I asked, “Do we circle back around and try the mystery cave, or try my idea?” I already knew venturing into the unknown cave wasn’t an option, but hoped he’d consider my Plan B. Aaron hadn’t liked it when I’d proposed it a few hours earlier, but we were running out of options.

He lifted his chin in agreement but showed no emotion. Aaron Drake totally rocks bad-ass. “Let’s pull Nathan in to help,” he answered. “I’m not comfortable using you as human bait with just me as your backup.”

I nodded and leaned against a tree, closed my eyes, and made Aaron’s energy my own while he texted Nathan our coordinates. Nathan wasn’t too far away, but was acting as lookout and would need to put someone in his spot before joining us.

We knew women were being kidnapped and taken to these woods just outside the boundaries of Prentice Cooper State Forest. Aaron is a weredragon and has an exceptionally good sense of smell, which had helped him find the women’s scents, but the trail had ended around ten feet from the cave’s entrance. I’d found narrow wheel marks leading towards the cave, and Aaron scented a few non-human male scents in the same area. Aaron couldn’t identify the species of the non-humans by smell, and wasn’t sure about them now that he’d seen one of them, either.

I theorized they might be putting the women into some sort of cart to get them into the cave, but Aaron didn’t want to go in without knowing what we were walking into. I understood the logic, even if it frustrated me. Still, Aaron was thousands of years old and hadn’t made it this far by being stupid, so I generally listened to his advice. Not always, but usually.

My Plan B had been to send me into the staging area as a bumbling, helpless female making a lot of noise, and hope someone showed up so Aaron could interrogate them and find out what was going on.

However, if we happened upon more of whatever we’d been fighting earlier, I wasn’t sure how we’d question it. Aaron and Nathan in human form and working together could probably subdue one of the creatures, but if more appeared they’d likely be forced to shift into their animal forms. Not a problem for Nathan, who shifted into a lion, but Aaron’s gigantic dragon form was hard to hide, as he tended to knock trees down and create a huge disturbance even when he didn’t take flight. He might’ve gotten away with it a hundred years ago, but with practically every American owning a camera phone today, he wouldn’t risk it.

The creature I’d killed had looked like an amalgamation of goat, ape, and the Incredible Hulk — minus the green. It’d been tan and brown, with long curved horns and vertical slitted eyes with flaming red irises where they should’ve been black. Creepy was an understatement, and he’d scared the bejeebers out of me even before I knew he was almost too much for Aaron to take on in human form.

As a human who can’t magically heal like the shapeshifters, I only use my metaphysical laser to kill from a distance. Attempting to wound a powerful supernatural creature would likely only get me killed, once they saw I was a serious danger. I could cut limbs off with my laser, or deliver a kill shot, but couldn’t do much else. However, we’d need to capture the next one so it could be questioned, which meant I could only act if I thought there was no other choice.

I was full of energy now though, and if I portioned it out I could probably kill two with what Aaron had given me.

Nathan, as always, startled me when he appeared in front of me. He walks as quietly in human form as when he’s a lion, and he’s just as ill-behaved, arrogant, and stubborn as any grumpy house-cat, so we didn’t exactly get along. I trusted him with my life on a mission, I just didn’t like being around him. Too bad he’s gorgeous.

Ignoring the fact he’d startled me, I told the men, “I need to hand off my gun and mags to one of you. The goat monsters will probably be able to smell them, and I’ll lose my helpless female vibe.”

Nathan held his hand out, choosing to remain nonverbal as usual when around me. I held my tongue, pulled my nine millimeter from the bellyband and handed it off, then the three extra magazines. He put my weapon in a zippered pocket on the side of his thigh, and slid my mags into slots on the inside of his military style tech-vest.

No matter how much of an ass he might be, he’s still built like my ideal man and I always have to work to keep from lusting after his more-than-perfect human body. He can smell emotions and physical reactions, and I endeavored to give him nothing. It was more likely he didn’t care what I thought or felt, but just in case he did, I wanted to keep as much feedback from him as possible.

We were about a half mile from the staging area Aaron had found, and I started walking to it, knowing Aaron would map out a plan with Nathan and they’d both be in position long before I arrived.

Walking away from them, through the woods, towards danger without my gun was terrifying, but I breathed through my fear and tried to keep my physiological reactions to a minimum. Both for my own pride, to keep Aaron and Nathan from smelling my fear, but also because it wouldn’t do for the goat-people to know I was terrified before I saw them. A lost human can be expected to smell a little scared, but not out-of-her-mind frightened.

About the Author:

Chris Stoneheart lives in a fifty-year-old house smack dab in the middle of The South, with what promises to soon be a full-fledged herd of retired racing greyhounds. Chris read The Hobbit in elementary school, and The Lord of the Rings in middle school, and has been addicted to fantasy ever since. (It’s probably best we don’t talk about what Chris read in high school.)

Chronicles of the Light gives us a world where weredragons, werewolves, werelions, three different species of vampires, and a variety of other mythological beings exist.

Stay up to date on new releases by joining Chris’s mailing list at http://eepurl.com/gcNe7v

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It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with Unhuman Light!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Chris Stoneheart. Chronicles of the Light, Unhuman Light, Urban Fantasy by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Apr 18th Interview L. A. McGinnis Author of The Moon

Give a warm welcome to L.A. McGinnis author of the Moon, book two of The Banished Gods Series! Pull up a chair, grab a drink of your choice from the cooler, a Chocolate Chip or Peanut Butter cookie from the plate, and let’s find out a little about Laura and The Moon!

What defines you as an author? My creativity and ability to craft a story. As a person? Are they one in the same? Yes, but as a person, it extends into art as well.

What inspired this particular story? Well, I’d always wanted to set a book in Chicago because it’s one of my favorite cities to visit. It started out as a story about fallen angels banished to earth, but once I switched the main characters over to the Norse gods, I liked the way everything was working out much better. And I had a vision for an apocalyptic series where the characters could move between worlds, like the Nine Realms. Once I began writing book four or five (I can’t exactly remember) and began playing around with moving back and forth between the realms, and the series seemed to lean towards the urban fantasy genre, all the elements just seemed to slip into place perfectly.

What makes you laugh out loud? My cousin Vinny- still!

What makes you angry? People who bully other people, just because they can.

Why did you choose the cover concept you did? My cover artist and I went back and forth between a couple different concepts, but we settled on this because of the strength of the images- each one is tied to the main theme of the book, and leaves an indelible image in the readers head (hopefully).

Why should we read this book/series and what sets you apart from the rest and makes your book/series unique? I don’t think outside of the Avengers movie series much attention has been given to the Norse gods, one of my dearest loves since I was about six of seven years old. I’ve always been fascinated with them, and I wanted to give them a modern twist and introduce them to a new audience. Especially some of the lesser known gods, like Fenrir, Mir and Tyr. Pus, each book has a wonderful love story at its core, with a damaged hero and sometimes an equally damaged heroine trying to piece their lives back together.

Who would you recommend this book to and what should readers be aware of before reading it?

Anyone who loves Karen M Moning Fever series, or Laura Thalassa’s The Bargainer series would find these books interesting. I’d categorize them urban fantasy romance, but as the series goes on, there is a definite post apocolytic/dystopian theme woven through as the characters fight to stop the world from coming to an end.

Tell us something about yourself and allow us to get to know you. I started writing seriously in 2007, and then took a lampworking (glass making) class that summer on a lark. By the end of that year I had a side business in glass going, and by 2009, I was running a full-fledged online art business. Now it’s my only fulltime job, but it derailed my writing career for about 6-7 years until I found a balance between my full time job, my art business and writing.

What secret do you use to blast through writer’s block? I usually switch gears to something less glamourous- like research on another book, or outlining my next project, or editing. I usually have 3-6 projects going at a time, so there is always something to do. I think the trick is not to get bogged down, then you get frustrated. By the time I get to start writing again, I’m happy to be able to sit down and get new words on paper.

Who is your favorite character of all of the books you’ve written and Why? In this current series, it’s Ava Burke, because you’re going to see a huge character arc for her from book one to book seven, and she is going to blow your mind.

What inspired you to write? I’ve been reading voraciously since I was about five, but it wasn’t until my kids were in middle school that it occurred to me it was something I might want to do. I actually got in an argument with my youngest son over an assignment, which turned into a competition between the two of us (I won), and I found I really liked writing.

How long have you been writing? Since 2007, but 2010 was when I began to take it seriously and started going to conferences, joining local writing groups and figuring out the craft.

Did you tell friends and family that you were writing a book? Or did it take a while to come out and tell friends and family you were a writer? Oh, it took me a really long time. I think my husband thought I was up to something because I was sitting up late at night on the computer for months and months. But when I finally told him he was super supportive.

Do you see yourself in your characters? Of course, there’s a little of me in every one of them!

What do you want your readers to take away from your books? That you can survive anything. That you can heal and move past even the worst of situation, and there is always something better waiting for you, if you’re willing to work for it.

Where do your story ideas come from? If they come to you in the middle of the night, do you get up and write them all down? I’ve had those, and they are usually so terrible that I’ve stopped getting up in the middle of the night to write them down! I have found writing a series is easier than a stand-alone, at least for me. I like how the main plot holds everything together, but you can build up each book onto that, and the idea do come more easily when you have much of it already set out in your head.

Do you find it easier to write from a male or female point of view? Why? I like to write both, and I don’t find either easier or harder. For me it comes down to character. I find it’s harder for me to write conflict and love scenes than anything else!

Why do you write what you write? Contemporary, paranormal, suspense, etc. I’m not sure. I started out writing literary fiction, then moved to YA fantasy, then paranormal, now I’m in urban fantasy, I think it’s just a natural progression of growth and

If writing is your first passion, what is your second? Art- I love to paint!

What do you like to do when you are not writing? I usually am reading!

You’ve got a time machine, a cloak of invisibility, and one hour. Where would you go, and what eavesdropping would you do? I would love to visit Nuremberg, Germany in the late 1400’s and see Albrecht Durer, one of my all-time favorite artists!

Okay, you’re casting the movie version of your novel – who would you choose for the main characters? We’re talking dream cast. Oh wow. So I have them in my head, but no one who is famous…But a young David Gandy for Fenrir, Lee Pace (with white hair) for Odin,

What’s your favorite part of being an author? Just those occasions when I get to sit down and write, which are becoming rarer and rarer, sadly. But I do love when I start a new project, and there’s nothing in front of me but white paper!

If you could have one superpower, what would it be and why? I would love to be able to time travel, I think that would be valuable.

What’s your approach to writing? Are you a plotter or follow your characters flow (Pantser)? I am a total pantser, I can’t stick to an outline past chapter one, even when I try.

Tell us three things we’d find if we looked under your heroine’s bed? How about the hero’s bed? Haha, well, the heroine does have something hidden under her bed. But she’d have a secret box, a baseball bat and a pile of journals, and the hero would have a silver neckchain, a book and a dagger.

SPEED ROUND FOR A LITTLE ADDED FUN:

Speed Round (one word only answer): Yep, I know torture for a writer!<evil laugh>

Favorite movie: Blade Runner
Favorite book: Dandelion Wine
Last book read: The Immortalists, by Chloe Benjamin
Favorite color: green
Stilettos or flipflops: both!
Coffee or tea: Coffee of course!
Ebook or audiobook or paperback: e-book
Pencil or pen: pencil

Favorite song: The Emotion by Bjorns

Streak or not: nope

Favorite dessert: Tiramisu

Favorite junk food: donuts

Favorite thing to do to relax: go to the beach

Champagne or gin: rum

Paranormal or Historical: paranormal

Wonder Woman or Top Model:

Favorite TV show: The Umbrella Academy (for now)

Hot or cold: hot

POV: first

I’d die if I don’t have: music

Review or Not: yes!

Tells us about The Moon.

It’s always darkest before the dawn.
But they’ve never seen the place I came from.
For four years, life has been good for Celine Barrows.
But when the God of Chaos comes calling, Celine must answer. Her one chance at salvation is a stranger who makes no promises, and leads her on a journey into the very darkness she thought she had escaped. As the world shatters around her, and war looms on the horizon, Celine discovers that sometimes it takes a monster to defeat a monster.

A peek between the pages of The Moon.

There were many things that Celine had overcome. Poverty, for one. Hunger for another. She’d learned how to go for days and days without eating. How to fill her stomach with water so it didn’t ache so sharply. How to steal, first, out of desperation, then out of simple need, but never without regret. She’d learned to lie, and to manipulate. She’d learned to fight, to use weapons to defend herself against men bigger and stronger than herself. To survive in a world where it seemed everyone wanted to hurt her.

And finally, how to construct a carefully organized world to keep all of these dangerous memories at bay.

But there were some things that she had never fully left behind. Things that were meant to stay locked away in the darkness. And the biggest, baddest of those was currently sitting in this room, face to face with her.

“You’ve grown to be quite beautiful.” Her father stood, glancing at the man behind her. “I see Buchanan wasn’t exaggerating, when he told me what you looked like.” The quaking probably started somewhere around her knees, she decided, before moving up through her body, and by the time David Barrows towered over her, circled slowly around her, fear consumed her completely.

About the Author:

From the very first time she picked up a book, Laura was hooked. When she wasn’t running through the woods or rescuing animals, she could be found curled up in the backyard reading, escaping to even greater adventures.

But then came high school, boys and fast cars, and somewhere in between, her dream of writing the really, really big story got lost. Until finally she walked into a classroom at KSU , discovered Old English and Norse Mythology and her love of writing began anew.

An In’D’Tale fantasy finalist, Laura lives in northeastern Ohio, at the edge of a national park with her husband and one very spoiled German shepherd, writing paranormal, fantasy and dystopian romances.

It was wonderful having you with us today. Please feel free to stop by anytime. Good Luck with The Moon!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog and tagged Dystopian Science Fiction, L.A. McGinnis, The Moon, Urban Fantasy by Tena Stetler with 3 comments.