Thursday, September 27, 2012

Fair Feathered Excerpt

I know I am way overdue to give you guys a teaser from Fair Feathered because I'm sure some of you have wondered, "Hello! It's almost the end of September! Where is Fair Feathered?!" Unfortunately, a few things out of my control happened and they were completely unexpected and I had to take a few days to myself to get everything back together. So yeah, Fair Feathered will probably be out in October.

Actually, there is no 'probably' it WILL be out in October. I am crazily writing now that I had dealt with the issues and my goodness I am typing so fast that I am fairly certain my fingers will fall off. I'm wrapping up Fair Feathered and my editor is working on the things I sent her. Let's hope that everything can come together soon.

So for making you wait so long, here is an excerpt from Fair Feathered. It seemed only fair to you that I give you something to read while you wait for the next book to come out!

I was sleeping loosely in Gregory’s arms and thought I was dreaming until I heard a noise in my room. I stirred but I heard it again. Forcing my heavy eyelids open, I searched for the source of the sound. My phone was vibrating wildly on my nightstand and I reached over to grab it. Who could be calling me? The screen was too brightly lit for me to read who had dialed me so I just answered.
            “Hello?” My voice was thick with sleep. I most likely sounded like a zombie.
            “Don’t think that this is over.” Suddenly I was wide awake like someone had splashed a bucket of ice cold water on me. Her voice was too recognizable and could only belong to one person: Amelia. “Wherever you are hiding, I will find you and I will ruin you for what you have done.” I was still too stunned to speak. Even from a phone call she could instill fear in my heart. I knew this wasn’t a dream. Not even in my nightmares was her voice this chilling. “So listen here bitch, I will do whatever it takes to get my father back. It’s your fault he is where he is. I can’t even begin to tell you how much you will suffer for this. If only you knew…”
            I swallowed down the lump in my throat and tried to keep my voice from shaking. “Please leave us alone.” My voice was just barely above a whisper. What did she have planned? How could I protect everybody if she threatened them?
            She laughed coldly. “Leave you alone? What pathetic world are you living in? You stole the love of my life! You got my father arrested! You forced my mother and I to go on the run! You think that you can just sit back and destroy my life while you get to have Gregory and live your life? You are gravely mistaken.”
            With shaking fingers I ended the call and threw my phone on the floor, terrified. My breathing was erratic and my heart thumped along at a quickened pace. I didn’t feel safe anywhere anymore. Jumping out of bed, I flicked a lamp on and went over to the dresser, taking handfuls of my clothes and dumping them onto the floor. I ran to the closet and found my duffel bag to stuff my things into. Tears welled in my eyes as I blindly shoved pieces of cotton clothes into my bag; the faster I packed the quicker I could get away. Why was this my life now? Why did I live in constant fear? I jumped when my phone started vibrating violently again. I ignored it like it didn’t exist but it echoed in my head until I heard it stop. She was probably capable of reaching through the phone and strangling me to death.
            I felt arms encircle me and I screamed, not thinking of who it could be. “Livy, calm down.” Gregory’s voice whispered worriedly into my ear and I buried my face in his shirt, crying. “What’s wrong? Why are you so upset?” The two of us sat in a pile of my clothes as he pulled my face back to see my eyes.
            I pointed to my phone that sat across the room on the floor. My shaking wouldn’t stop. “Amelia called. She’s threatened to find me no matter what.” I was completely distraught until a thought occurred to me…was she calling to say she has one of my loved ones? Scrambling from Gregory’s arms, I crawled over to my phone and quickly dialed my dad’s number. I didn’t care if it was the middle of the night. Fear was the only thing I could feel.

Whooaaaaa! Intense! Like I said before, grab your popcorn because this book has serious drama in it! I hope this little teaser will hold you over until I finish wrapping up Fair Feathered. More excerpts will be posted to make you start thinking what will, could, when, where, and what will happen. I like keeping my readers on their toes!


Monday, September 24, 2012

Character Pictures!

Alright so after a few requests for me to find some pictures of what the characters of the Flightless Bird series looked like, I went on a search and found some people that looked pretty darn close to what I pictured in my head. Naturally, no one I found could perfectly depict the characters I picture in my head but these people came close enough! With a few adjustments like the characters wearing contacts so they have the matching eye color (green for Livy, hazel brown for Gregory) then they would almost be perfect. So here they are for you!

Livy Eckels
 
Gregory Mason

 
Damon Walker
 
Cecelia Mason
 
So these are the stars of the Flightless Bird series! This is how I would picture them but if you picture them differently, its all good! These people are about as close as I could possibly get so I am satisfied with my choices! I was looking one for Amelia but haven't found one just yet! What do you think? Is it was you pictured or did you picture them differently?
 

Friday, September 21, 2012

The Next Big Thing, Blog Hop

There’s this blog hop post thingy going around lately called WIP: The Next Big Thing. My friend, Robert, was awesome enough to tag me in his post along with some other great authors. Thank you Robert!

Alright, let me explain how this 'blog hop' works: once you’re tagged in this blog hopping post, you need to do a few things. One of them is to thank the person who tagged you...THANK YOU ROBERT! The next thing is for me to answer the questions that go along with the post. These are about my WIP. A WIP, for those of you who don't speak author, stands for: work in progress. Lastly I’ll be choosing 5 other authors to tag in this post. Although, I don't know how to 'tag' people in a blog but I'm sure I will figure it out! If not, I will call Adrienne for technical support because she's really great at that stuff.

Here it goes!


What’s the working title of your WIP?
I am actually writing two novels. I know, crazy right? As everyone knows I’m finishing up the final touches for the third novel in my Flightless Bird series, Fair Feathered and I’ve also really jumped started this other book I’ve had on the back burner for awhile. The new book, or I suppose my new WIP, is called Chosen and its first installment of a brand new series. (Don’t worry Flightless Bird fans, there will be a 4th book in the Flightless Bird series!)

Where did your idea come from for your book?
I’ll focus on talking about Chosen since Fair Feathered is a continuation of a series. The idea for Chosen actually…I don’t know where it really came from! There were a multitude of things that sort of brought this story together, one of those things being a person named Adrienne and another one of those things being music. Looking back, it was about a year ago when I started dabbling with this story not sure where it was really going until I knew where it was going.

What genre does your book fall under?
Chosen falls under young adult paranormal romance with a dash of epicness and a sprinkle of awesome. There’s a little bit of an underlying romance in Chosen but it’s heavily laced with a paranormal aspect which I think makes the story more exciting.

Which actors would you pick to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Wow. This question is always really hard for me. It will take me awhile, days or weeks even to think of someone who is remotely close to who I would picture playing my characters. I’m very particular about how I picture them in my head. Hmm…let me work on this question and maybe in a blog later down the road I will have a blog with their pictures.

What is a one sentence synopsis of your book?
This is tricky but here it goes: When your not-so-average girl is thrown into your not-so-average thousand year old war, her fate, and the fate of the world may be changed forever. There isn’t much more I can say without giving things away!

Will your book be self published or represented by an agency?
Proudly self published! Woot woot! Being an indie author rocks because I have so much more freedom to write the story my way and publish it in a timely manner once I feel it has been perfected.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
I initially started Chosen about a year ago as a side project but I’ve started to really dedicate more time to it, so I’m on my third draft of it. But to finish the first draft I’d say it took me about six months. Sounds like it took forever but remember, at the time I started it was just a side project. But now it’s more of a full time project!

What other books would you compare this story within your genre?
This is a good question! My storyline is definitely unique in its own right with the majority of its aspects but comparing it to other stories I’d have to say something kind of along the lines of The Premonition Series by Amy A Bartol, The Saving Angels series by Tiffany King, and Demon Kissed by H.M. Ward. You’re probably thinking “Oh I totally know what your series is going to be about.” But guess again. I always enjoy taking my readers by surprise! I always throw a twist and turn that readers won’t expect.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?
It was hands down Adrienne (who is my bestie of besties if that is even allowed to be said publicly). I remember I practically blew up her phone one day in a fluster of words because I was so excited about this idea for Chosen. I just didn’t know where to take it. I remember spouting off about it because I was so excited and then Adrienne had to correct me on a few things concerning legends and what not. I’m so grateful I have her to correct me when I’m wrong or else I would make a fool of myself. But Adrienne never fails me and helped me flesh out a plan with the correct differentiations and BAM! A new story was in the making. (Adrienne is epic! But don’t tell her I said that...but I'm sure she already knows...=D)

What else about your book might pique the readers interest?
If you’re one for high tension romances then this one is for you and by highly tensioned I mean, crazy chemistry between two characters. The main characters have this intense attraction for one another but their personalities completely clash which makes for an interesting love story. The paranormal aspect in this book is a lot more engrossing and deeply rooted as well. Chosen has a lot more action scenes in it too and nail biting choices the main character must make no matter if the consequences are good or bad. I’m not sure what else I can really say without giving anything away but Chosen will be full of surprises. It’s like reality but with a twist of a dark romance, epic action sequences, and heavily themed paranormal aspects. Grab your popcorn people because this one will have drama!
Alright! That was the epic interview! More information about Chosen will be coming soon...after Fair Feathered is out! I now tag these awesome authors:
  • Rebecca Rynecki
  • Michelle Nicole
  • Alexandra Woods
  • Nancy Straight
  • Alexandra Diane

Also, before I go, in honor of a certain person who is kind enough to dedicate her time to read my blog, I have to give this epic shout out to Denise because she is AWESOME and also makes delicious no-bake cookies, apple cider, and muddy buddies!! I'm sending a giant hug your way!