Author of the Month: Donna McDonald Interview + GIVEAWAY

 

Hi Donna!  Welcome to Mortality Bites!  I'm so excited to have you here with us today.

Thank you Alicia! I’m very excited to be here.
I love your blog’s name. . .and I agree.







THE INTERVIEW:

You write in several different genres.  Which is your favorite?

Wait until I stop laughing. Oh, okay--I’m better now. I knew this question was going to be asked one day.

I like all my genres and need them all to be a happy writer. I have two writer friends who are the same way. I didn’t know that about my writing self when I started publishing in 2011, but I definitely do now with 16 books finished.

I sincerely enjoy the contemporaries, which are mostly funny, because I like to make readers laugh. Plus, I wanted to show that sexy relationships can be terrific at any age and I have done that with my older characters. I had to self-publish my contemporaries because no traditional house thought they could sell them. My rejections were kind, but hinted frequently that my sex was too hot for people over 40. None of my readers think that is the case-lol. The five books of the Never Too Late series are my best selling titles at the moment.

However, I am here on Mortality Bites because my writer roots are in what started out in the mid-90s as “paranormal romances”.  Now that branches from paranormal into fantasy and the science fiction series that I’m having so much fun writing. I am home in these genres.

Now The Shaman’s Mate is a different book for me. I categorized it as fantasy because I tackled life after death, dimensional travel, energy and magic, a possible theory of angels, missing Native American tribes, and a host of spiritual topics in the story. Philosophically, it has a little of everything, but at it’s core is a broken man finding his life’s purpose and the woman he is meant to love and support. I have one more book with a similar theme that I wrote in 2010 which I hope to release next year.

 

At Mortality Bites we love all things paranormal/fantasy.  Can you tell us a little about your Forced To Serve series?

My blog for this work is called “Demons, Dragons, and Space Opera” because I intended to write a dragon book, but after a very detailed dream ended up writing a space opera with an alien demon in it. Until that point, I never even considered writing about demons.

Book 4, The Healer’s Kiss, just released December 4. I’m already getting excited about writing Book 5 in a few months. The first book in the series, The Demon of Synar, is a novella that covers the initial world building and introduces the characters. The rest of the books are larger stories and more complicated books, averaging around 100k words each. The Forced To Serve series is fun for me for many reasons. I get to write fight scenes AND alien sexual encounters. How great is that?

Who are your favorite characters in this series and why?

Malachi, the true ‘Demon of Synar’, is probably my favorite character. He is a non-corporeal being who was turned into “demon mist” as a punishment for the wrongs he committed on his planet. His punishment of serving the Synar family has been ongoing for over a millennia when the series begins. Because Malachi was such a tough case, he has a “demon master” among the Synar males who is responsible for him. The recent one happens to be my ship’s captain. Liam’s evil brother was supposed to be his master, but his father found out and gave Malachi to Liam, though the younger Synar was very reluctant to take the role of demon master.

Malachi’s situation seems to have little resolution, except in the most limited of ways. To have any sort of life outside of his energy-only form of demon mist, Malachi must live in a host, which is the heroine of Books 1 and 2, and his first female one ever. So far, Malachi’s ‘redemption’ is a running theme throughout all the books. Book 5 is going to be “The Demon’s Change” and I’m vibrating to write it.
My other favorite character is the ship’s second in command, Commander Gwen Jet, who is the only Earthling (well half anyway) on the ship. She is 35 when the series opens and quite the warrior. Nasty temper, but loyal with the heart of  a great leader. In ways, she is more a true leader than her captain. Her mate is Lieutenant Dorian Zade, the sexy Siren counselor onboard. My all time favorite moment in the series is a fight that happens between Gwen and Dorian in Book Two. I had a writer’s Zen moment of knowing it was great and perfect for the story.

I have kick-ass women throughout in the series, and the males they end up with are definitely put through the paces. There is a “type” for reader. I’m finding fans are writing to ask me now about what’s going to happen in future books.

In this series you have three books out right now.  Can you tell us anything about the next book in the series? 

Book 4 is The Healer’s Kiss and just released December 4. In Book 2, the crew rescued a captive female mate who ended up helping them find the Peace Alliance ambassador they were sent to the planet to rescue. The accidentally rescued female is Boca Ador.  On the ship, Boca uses her skills to work in Medical, but on the side is training to be a warrior, which is a life career she always wanted.

She fights with knives and is a skilled assassin with them. The ship’s residential healer, Doctor Chiang, has a natural mating urge for her and keeps causing problems in her training as he pursues her. He was a warrior and gave it up, so you can imagine how many issues he has with Boca fighting. So this book is their romance, but it also is transitional for the series in adding new characters and losing others. The crew is returning to Boca’s old slave planet to rescue another female captive, and she is going undercover to help. Chiang insists on going along as well.

 

Your cover art is amazing.  Who does your design and was it fun getting to create them?

If I ever meet her, I will kiss the feet of Dara England of LFD Designs for Authors. Her work for me is amazing and I am grateful every day. Dara has done all of my covers. I think she reads minds. The Siren’s Call (Gwen and Dorian) and The Healer’s kiss (Boca and Chiang) are my first “couples covers”. I did help with those by picking out couples I liked that fit my characters. But my favorite cover of the Forced To Serve series is Book Two, The Demon Master’s Wife. You would not believe the magic Dara did with that one. I love it. It suits Ania’s character perfectly. I just got the cover for Book 5 a week ago. It is equally good.

 

 

I hear you are going to be writing  a book about dragons?  What can you tell us about that?

Yes I will definitely be writing a book about dragons. I love dragons. I get chills talking about them. It will be a fantasy. I don’t have all the details, but I am leaning to the female lead being other worldly. She will be forcing the dragon state on the hero who will not be pleased. I have several ideas, but commitments to readers to complete next books in several of the contemporary series. I don’t know if I will get to my dragon book in 2013 or not. I am waiting for the muses to decide.

 

You are one of the attending authors at the Indie Romance Convention next year.  What are you looking forward to the most about this convention?  Do you have anything special planned for us?

First, I’m looking to meet readers. I attended Lori Foster’s Reader-Author Get Together this year and loved meeting people. But also, two of the indie authors I regularly read are being featured as well, so I will get to meet them and I’m VERY excited. I hope my readers are half as excited about meeting me.

October 2013 seems so far away. I haven’t planned anything special yet, but I’m sure I can come up with something. If you have any suggestions, I’ll consider them.
 

 

 

Now for some fun

 

This or That

That. I use the word to point things out, fearful I guess of others missing what I am taking in around me.

 

Sweet or Salty

Sweet—Chocolate. Donuts. Cookies. Excuse me—I have to make a trip to kitchen. I’ll be back in a minute to finish this interview.

Polka Dots or Stripes

I bought a polka dot scarf to break up all the solid black and white in my wardrobe. Does that count?

 

Bath or Shower

Shower—when I’m in a hurry. Bath—when I want to slow down, or share my relaxation time.

Chocolate Syurup or Whipped Cream

BOTH. If you forced me to pick, I’d probably take the whipped cream. I have plenty of chocolate in my house.

Leather or Feather

Feathers if there are restraints. Leather if there are lots of fasteners and zippers. Wait—who’s going to be reading my answers? Just kidding. . . 

Lights On or Light Off

Lights on.

 

 

Thank you so much Donna for talking with us today!

 

 

 

A Signed, 2 Volume Print Book Set of Books 1 and 2,

The Demon of Synar and The Demon Masters wife

 

Enter via the Rafflecopter form below

Please see my Giveaway Policy for Rules

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Interview: Maggie Shayne + GIVEAWAY

Today we have for you Maggie Shayne!  She is a New York Times Bestselling Author of more than 50 novels.

The Portal Series is her newest trilogy!

You can find my review for Legacy of the Witch HERE and my review of Mark of the Witch HERE.





Here we go with the interview.


You bring a new meaning to the term opposites attract. A middle eastern woman and an American solider then a priest and a witch. Did you decide up front to make them so different or did it just happen?

After 54 (or something like that) novels, one thing I've learned is that the stronger the conflict, the more powerful the story, and the more rewarding the resolution. If their love is easy, there's no story. It has to be all but impossible to make the reader keep turning those pages.






Will each of the couples carry over into the following book?

Yes, although Tomas and Indy (MARK OF THE WITCH) don't come into book 2, DAUGHTER OF THE SPELLCASTER until near the end, in Book 3, BLOOD OF THE SORCERESS we'll see a lot more of all the sisters together, and there will be a reunion with Amarrah (from the FREE prequel, LEGACY OF THE WITCH) as well.

I enjoyed learning about the past alongside Indira and Ammarah. Will the other books follow the same path where these women don't know who they are until they start getting flashbacks?

Magdalena is a bit different in that she's been having visions of her past life in Babylon since she was a little girl. She (like me) has a collection of construction paper storybooks she wrote and illustrated herself with Crayola crayons. Most of my collection was stories I'd heard Captain Kangaroo read aloud on TV, which I then rewrote and "improved." (Usually by adding a ghost or monster.) Magdalena's stories are all about her past lifetime and her love affair with a prince. 





Any minor spoilers you can give us about the series as a whole?

Not everyone is who they seem. Book 3 seems to delve into figuring out why we, as spirit, decide to spend time in the physical world as humans at all. And love is the most powerful force in the Universe.



I read on your website that you are a practicing witch. What can you tell us about your experience?

Since I was maybe 19, I've been on a spiritual quest. I studied many religions, and used to sit with several translations of the Bible around me, along with a concordance that gave the word for word literal translations from the original Greek and Hebrew. I was convinced there was one truth and I was determined to find it. That passionate quest never ended. But I no longer think there's one truth to be found. I think there is what's true for me and what's true for you and that both of those truths are equally valid, equally sacred, deserving of respect, and above all, absolutely true. Religion seems to evolve to best serve the people who use it to connect to God. I can trace the Sumerian Goddess Inanna's evolution into Ishtar of Babylon, into Isis of Egypt, into Venus of Rome, into Yemaja of Nigeria, into Mary of Bethlehem. Not to say each of these wasn't real and true, just to say that each took the message of the former and found her own way to BE that message. There was a flood story two thousand years before the Bible's flood story, etched into clay tablets, with Utanapishtim in the role of Noah. Same messages of hope and a past cataclysm, evolving and being retold over and over.

In my quest, I eventually started developing my own philosophy about things. My study of ancient Mesopotamia (which comes in handy in writing a book with an Ancient Babylonian backstory) revealed that in the earliest written language we know of in Ancient Sumer, the word for God was also the word for Sky. (An) The word for Goddess was also the word for Earth. (Ki) They had an entire pantheon, but each of the oldest deities was also a part of nature. And it occurred to me that nature was the basis. The holidays we celebrate were originally celebrations of the changing seasons, the solstices and the equinoxes. I figured that religion had spread out from there, taking on more and more complexity, making many paths seem to be different, but that they all came from the same natural roots. The sun, the moon, the stars, the seasons. And I thought too, that all our great prophets and saviors came to further amplify the same message. All to point us in the direction of a simple, basic, universal promise that life always triumphs over death, lightness over dark, love over everything else and that every pattern we see in nature is repeated over and over again, from the tiniest imaginable scale of the nucleus of an atom, to the biggest we can imagine, galaxies, universes. All just the same way. "As above, so below." I had a lot of other insights, too many to list here, but the gist of it was that I stumbled upon Wicca and found a lot of the conclusions I had reached on my own, were reflected in its teachings and practices, and I felt at home there. I especially loved that the Craft teaches us that every religion is valid and must be respected. I've studied the Craft for most of my adult life. But I believe that it too, is a religion made up by mankind to help us relate to the Divine. I don't believe it's any more valid than any other religion. It just happens to work for me. 

Can you tell us a little about your upcoming non-fiction book The Magick of the Witches?

I'm changing the title, and right now we're teetering between WITCHCRAFT AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTION or MAGICK AND THE LAW OF ATTRACTION. It will release in ebook format by Halloween and I'm shooting for a little sooner. (watch the website, www.ThePortalBooks.com from 10/15-10/31.) It's going to give a primer on the practice of magick, what it is and how it's done, but more importantly, why and how it actually works. That explanation is found in The Law of Attraction, which is a very scientifically based fact, (like the law of gravity) not a rule, like the law of "thou shalt not kill."

This law explains how we create our experiences with every single thought we think, and how we can learn to use that simple fact to take control of our lives, and make them what we want them to be. (So there will probably be a subtitle.) The book will tell you how to change your life, and get what you want, and also, why this witch has given up spells to banish or get rid of anything. Ever. In fact, there's only one "spell" any witch or anyone else, ever needs, and I'll lay that out for you in the book. This is an approach I haven't seen anyone take before, not in all the books written about the Craft of the Wise and not in any of the countless volumes written about the Law of Attraction. And yet the more I've studied LOA, the more I've kept saying, "Well, we've been saying that in the Craft all along!" THE SECRET was never a secret to the Witches.


EXTRA: I've had lots of questions lately about erotica. What's the difference between a steamy romance and an erotica novel? What's the difference between erotica and porn?


Romance, as a genre, is not about sex. It's never been about sex, despite the confusion that seems to be happening in the marketplace right now. The 50 shades books are about sex. They are not romances. Romance is a story about two people, their emotions, and their love, where sex is sometimes a part of the bigger picture. Erotica is a book about sex and titillation, where romance is sometimes a part of the bigger picture.

Porn is just about the sex, and mostly aimed at men. Erotica is a little tamer, though not much, and mainly aimed at women.

I don't write erotica or porn. I write romance. The sex in my books is usually limited to one or two scenes, and the point of it is not to titillate, but to show a powerful moment between two people and their emotional responses to it. Just thought you should know that going in.

I hope you enjoy The Portal Series. It's the deepest, most spiritual trilogy I've ever put together, and is more than just a set of stories.

Thanks so much for having me!

Maggie

On The Portal Series Website you can find out more about each book, check out Maggies online book of shadows, and even have her tell your fortune.

 

 

You can also find Maggie Shayne

 

 Website ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

 

 

 

Purchase The Portal Series

 

Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble

 

Maggie is giving away one ecopy of Daughter of the Spellcaster to one lucky winner.

 

Please enter via the Rafflecopter below.

 

 

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author of the Month: Deborah Court + GIVEAWAY

November Author of the Month
is
DEBORAH COURT

 

Deborah Court lives in a picturesque European small town. A health professional by day, at night she loves to write romances about elven warriors of deadly beauty, capable of making a woman die from sheer pleasure - or stories to awaken the deepest, most secret fantasies of her readers.

Deborah will be an attending author at the Indie Romance Convention. 

 

 

 Interview

 

Hi Deborah!  Welcome to Mortality Bites!  I'm so excited to have you here with us today.  I am so excited about your new Elven Warrior Trilogy!

Thanks so much for having me here, Alicia. I love your blog!

 Can you tell us what readers should expect to find in your book "Bound to the Prince"?

A story of love, adventure, boundless passion, sacrifice and fate. It's about an elven prince who lives in exile from the realm of the Fae, hidden in the human world. One night he encounters a human woman who stands on a London bridge, looking down with desperation in her eyes. He decides to abduct her and make her his pleasure slave. He doesn't know yet how much he will need her, to fight for her prince as he returns to claim his stolen throne …

Where did you come up with the names for your main characters, Elathan and Igraine?

Love that question!  Since I love the Arthurian saga so much, I used the name Igraine - she was King Arthur's mother, the wife of Uther Pendragon. It's a very romantic, feminine and medieval name; just what I wanted for my heroine.

Since Bound to the Prince is much influenced by Celtic legends, it wasn't easy to find a fitting name for my elven prince. I searched for old Celtic names but never found one I particularly liked. Then I read about Elathan, a Formorian prince from Irish mythology. When I saw that he was described as a "beautiful Miltonic prince of darkness with golden hair", I knew that I had found the name of my hero. According to the legend, Elathan (pronounced "E-la-han") came to the woman he loved across the sea, on a vessel of silver.  I loved that image so much that I actually used it in the novel.

 Do you ever have trouble writing the sex scenes?  I think it would be hard not to get too repetitive?

It's funny but for me, sex scenes are quite easy to write. I don't plan them because I don't want them to sound constructed, or repetitive. I just zap myself into another realm by listening to music that gets me in the right mood (funnily, it's not romantic music but faster titles, hard rock will do the trick) and just try to feel what my characters would wish to do at that point in the story. I think the readers will sense if such a scene is coldly planned after a scheme, or if it's "real writing".

What was your favorite moment in this book?

Besides some love scenes that deeply moved me, it was a scene where Igraine finds a lovely clearing with a pond in the Enchanted Forest and meets the water nymphs. Can't tell too much without giving the scene away. And I'm most proud of the moment when Elathan fights off the grass demons. Action scenes are the hardest to write for me.

Can you tell us anything about the next book in the series? 

It's Calatin's story - Calatin is a character from Bound to the Prince, Elathan's cousin and a powerful elven sorcerer. Always the charming womanizer, let's say that he has an affair with the wrong woman who is revengeful enough to throw him into the human world, bereft of all his magic.

You are one of the attending authors at the Indie Romance Convention next year.  What are you looking forward to the most about this convention?  Do you have anything special planned for us?

Meeting my readers, of course! I'm so excited about this event. So far, I can only tell that there will be book signings, parties with the authors/bloggers and some interesting workshops for people who'd like to learn more about writing. Check out the convention's website for regular updates. 

This or That

Sweet or Salty   Salty

Polka Dots or Stripes    Dots

Bath or Shower     Shower

Chocolate Syrup or Whip Cream   Whip Cream

Feathers or Leather   I'm a leather girl.

Lights on or Lights off     Erm … off! I'm a creature of darkness *LOL*

Purchase your copy of Bound to the Prince

 Amazon ~ Nook ~ Smashwords  ~ Paperback

 

 

Two lucky commenters will each win 1 ecopy of Bound to the Prince.

Enter via the Rafflecopter below.

Please see my Giveaway Policy for rules.



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Jessica Andersen: Interview and Giveaway

 

Today I have a special treat for you! 

 

 

Jessica Andersen is the best selling author of the Nightkeepers series and one of my all time favorite authors.

 

 

She has agreed to hang out with us here at Mortality Bites today to answer all your burning questions. 

 

 

 

 

Be sure to leave a comment or a question for her and you might be lucky enough to win a signed copy of Spellfire!

 

 

 

I have had the pleasure of meeting Doc Jess several times and she is not only an amazing author but she is a wonderful person. 

 

Find more about Jessica Andersen

and

The Nightkeepers series

 

Website  ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook

Interview

 

Can you tell us a little about Rabbit's Book?

Well, it’s four hundred and some-odd pages long, has this great cover, and … LOL. Just kidding. Well, as you mentioned, SPELLFIRE, which is the finale of the Nightkeepers’ series, is Rabbit’s book.

For those of you who haven’t been along for the ride yet, the Nightkeepers are a group of modern-day men and women who are the only thing protecting us from the fall of the barrier separating the earth and a terrible underworld. Raised among us, the Nightkeepers only recently learned that they have incredible magical powers that follow the laws of ancient Mayan mythology. Now, it’s up to them to save us from the December 21, 2012 doomsday, using magic based on blood sacrifice and powered by sexytimes and love.

 

This is the eighth and final book, and in it, the most powerful Nightkeeper of all, Rabbit, must escape from a dreadful imprisonment, knowing that he has betrayed his teammates and nearly killed Myrinne, the woman he loves. But with the doomsday countdown in its final few weeks, the Nightkeepers have no choice but to rely on his powers. That doesn’t mean that they—and especially Myrinne—have forgiven him, though, or that they’ll trust him when the final battle begins.

  

Are you sad that it it over?  Is there any chance of a Nightkeeper spin off series?

 

I’m sad it’s over, but I’m proud to have finished the Nightkeepers’ story. While each of the books can be read alone, if you put them all together it tells a larger story of the war between good and evil, and the romances between the warrior-mages fighting it. I love that I was able to tell the whole story, even though it’s hard saying goodbye.

 

As for a spinoff, that’s not in the works right now. However, never say never … I do have some ideas for a pair of near-future stories with the twin sons of Patience and Brandt, all grown up and ready to whoop some demon butt.

 

I love your Typos from Hell on facebook.  They are hilarious!  What made you decide to share those with us?

Aww, thanks! I love the responses I get from them (for those of you just joining us, lots of them are also posted over at www.jessicaandersen.com). I can’t say it was a real decision, more that I sometimes make myself laugh, and liked sharing that with my Facebook friends. They got such a great response that I just kept going … and trust me, I make a lot of typos!

 

From facebook ~ Jessica Andersen 

From the typo desk (to my editor re: awesome new cover art): The colors and images really poop!

 

You have wrote several books.  What genre is your favorite to write and why?

Honestly, my favorite is the one I’m writing at that moment. If I don’t absolutely, utterly love the story I’m working on, then I need to be writing something else. And, yes, I’ve ditched projects before because I didn’t love them enough to put everything I had into them. I don’t like reading lukewarm stories, and I sure as heck don’t want to put one out there for readers like me!

 

I know you have a new series planned.  Would you be willing to share anything about that? PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.... We are not above begging!

LOL! Well, since you asked …

Brace yourselves, because it’s not anything like the Nightkeepers. It’s so not like the Nightkeepers that I’m even writing under a new pseudonym, so people who are used to Jessica Andersen writing running-screaming-adventure-romance books won’t pick these up expecting the same thing.

As of 2013, under the name Jesse Hayworth, I’ll be writing contemporary Western romances set at a family-run dude ranch in Wyoming. I’m drawing from twenty-some years of horse and farm ownership, a love of the outdoors, and a new, gentler world view that comes from being well loved by my new hubby, and not wanting to blow up the world anymore. And, yes, there are lots of puppies and kittens in these new books (horses, etc.), but there’s also plenty of laughs and romance, too. They won’t be for everyone who loves the Nightkeepers, admittedly, but I hope you’ll give them a try! The first one, SUMMER AT MUSTANG RIDGE, will be out in June.

 

 

You can check out her new series and read the first excerpt at Jesse Hayworth Website

 

 

Just for Fun

 

Favorite movie: Brendan Fraser’s Mummy.

Favorite TV series: Love me some Bones!

Favorite singer/band: Hubby got me into Mumford and Sons before it was cool, though I’ll admit that watching Rock of Ages the other week got me on a hair band ballad kick.

Sexiest fictional hero: Diana Gabaldon’s Jamie Fraser.

Favorite fictional villain: Dr. Evil. LOL.

Favorite fictional heroine: Sass from Linnea Sinclair’s Games of Command.

Your secret beauty tip: Shoulders back! It’s a silly little thing, but when I’m feeling dumpy and blah and want to change it rather than applying chocolate and wallowing, I make a point to stretch up tall and not slouch. I breathe better, feel better and look more confident, which makes me be more confident.

 

Thanks for having me! I’ll be giving away a signed copy of SPELLFIRE to a randomly chosen commenter, so have at it!

 

 

Purchase your copy of Spellfire

 

Amazon ~ Barnes and Noble

 



 

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Author Interview and Giveaway with Susannah Noel

Thank you so much Susannah for stopping by Mortality Bites to talk with us today.  

 

Susannah Noel is the Author of Word and Breath (Wordless Chronicles).

 

 

Susannah wrote her first paranormal novel when she was twelve years old--a time-travel romance written in a spiral-bound notebook that eventually starred all her friends. Since then, she has been writing romantic fiction of all varieties, including paranormal, contemporary, and historical. She can usually be found working on her laptop.

She has a PhD in British literature and teaches at a university in Virginia. She is currently working on the second Wordless Chronicle.

 

You can find our review of Word and Breath HERE.

 

 

 

THE INTERVIEW:

 

1      MB:  I like that books are now being labeled New Adult. We needed a space between YA and Adult. What do you think about the New Adult category?
 

 

SN:  I really like the New Adult category. I think there has always been some crossover between YA and Adult, and the New Adult category provides a natural space for it. I also think the 18-22 age range is a really exciting time in real life, so it’s fun to explore that age in fiction.

Riana, the main character of Word and Breath, is living in a different world than ours, so her situation is a little different than a 22-year-old’s from our culture. She started her job as a Reader at age 14, so she’s been working in her career a while. But she’s still trying to figure out who she is, how to have adult relationships, and what she wants from life, so in many ways she really fits into the New Adult category.

 

         MB:  This book is amazing! Why in the world did you self publish? Agents should be knocking down your door!

SN:  LOL. Thank you! I’ve actually had agents before, and they’ve been wonderful to work with. But the message I consistently received from publishers—when I approached them directly or through agents—was that my writing is great but my books aren’t the right “fit” for them. I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard that!

I wrote this book several years ago and queried agents with it. Several of them really liked it but weren’t sure they could sell it. This was before Hunger Games and before dystopian literature became so popular, so the book was really in between niches in a lot of ways. A few months ago, I reread the old manuscript and thought it still had a lot of potential. I’d been wanting to try self-publishing and thought this was a good book to experiment with. So I prepared the manuscript for publication and released it to the wilds. It’s been really fun so far.

 

           MB:  I loved that this was a new type of paranormal book. How did you come up with Soul-Breathers?

SN:  I’ve always loved paranormal characters. There is so much an author can explore about real life through vampires, werewolves, and other creatures that aren’t quite human. But I wanted to do something particular with my book, and none of the regular paranormal creatures really did what I needed them to do. So I just made one up to suit my needs!

Mikel tells Riana in one scene that Soul-Breathers are like “revved-up” humans. That’s what I was trying to convey—they have mostly human characteristics, just intensified a thousand-fold.

 

4       MB:  Are we going to be seeing a love triangle in the next book?

SN:  Well, love triangles are always tricky! J I will say that Connor is going to do an increasingly poor job in hiding his feelings for Riana, and Mikel isn’t going to appreciate it. At all.

 

5       MB:  I don't think I will ever get enough of this series! How many books do you have planned?

SN:  I’ve got three books planned out, and I think that will be enough. I don’t like to extend series past the point of developing characters, and I think the arcs for these characters will be completed after three books. I do have a few ideas for other books set in the same world, so I might look into that for the future.

 

6       MB:  Oddly enough I'm hoping for a HEA for Largan. I liked him. Will he still be around in future books?

SN:  Yes, Largan will be a significant character in all three books. In fact, the four perspective characters will be the same throughout the series. I like Largan too. It’s funny. He started as just a stodgy bureaucrat, intended mostly to develop plot elements I couldn’t get to in any other way. But he took on a life of his own, and there’s a lot I really like about him now. I’ve got plans for him in the future!

 

7       MB:  Are there any spoilers you can give us about the next book?

SN:  I don’t want to give too much away, but the titles are chosen very carefully.  Connor always represents the “Word” side of the equation, and Mikel represents the other side. So there might be a few hints there.

In general, Riana and Connor will keep working on the language-mystery, and Mikel will keep trying to be a part of Riana’s life without getting sucked into the rebellion. That will get harder and harder for him to do.

 

 

 

Thanks so much for having me as a guest on Mortality Bites!

 

 

You can find Susannah at the following links:

Website ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

Purchase your copy of Word and Breath

 

Amazon

 

 

 

One winner will receive one e-book copy of Word and Breath.

This one is International!

To enter fill out the rafflecopter form below
check out my Giveaway Policy.

 

 

 

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway