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Posts Tagged ‘author interview’

The Rising Series by Holly Kelly ~ Author Interview and Giveaway

Posted: December 12, 2017 in Author Interview, giveaways, Series, YA Fantasy
Tags: author interview, fairy tales, giveaway, Holly Kelly, The Rising Series, YA Fantasy

The Rising Series Box Set
Holly Kelly
Published by: Clean Teen Publishing
Publication date: December 12th 2017
Genres: Fairy Tales, Fantasy, Young Adult

A magical underwater realm awaits! Own books 1-3 of the Best-Selling Rising series by acclaimed author Holly Kelly.

This value-priced boxed set includes the first three novels in the best-selling Rising series: Rising (with an exclusive bonus scene), Descending, and Avenging. Beautifully packaged with brilliant new cover art, this set is perfect for any fan of Greek Mythology and Mermaid Romance stories. Order the Rising series today and submerge yourself in an underwater world full of passion, romance, intrigue and adventure.

Rising: Contains a newly released scene! In a war between the humans and the inhabitants of the sea—humans will lose. Xanthus Dimitriou—the most lethal Dagonian to rise from the ocean—is on a mission to save mankind from annihilation. There’s just one thing standing in his way: the life of a beautiful young woman…

Descending: When Xanthus cashes in a long-standing favor, Kyros is faced with doing two things he thought he’d never do—protect a mermaid and live on land.
Avenging: Two thousand years ago, King Triton witnessed the slaughter and total annihilation of his merchildren. Devastated by the loss, he vowed to never again father a child. Powerful, handsome, and eternally youthful, Triton was no stranger to seduction—yet his resolve was unwavering…until he met Nicole.

Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo

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Enjoy the interview with Author Holly Kelly

1) Why Mermaids/Mermen?

I’ve always had a love for the ocean and had a fascination of the creatures that live within its depths. However, this book didn’t start with a lot of forethought. I was surfing online and came across—quite by accident—a picture of a mermaid with a flesh-colored tail. The thought hit me: what if a mermaid was born on land and she didn’t know she was a mermaid? She simply thought she was born horribly deformed. I started writing that same day.

2) What kind of research did you have to do?

I didn’t start out with any research under my belt. I would simply write until I came to a part where needed to know more about the mythological world. I then would do a search on the internet and find out what I needed to know. After the rough draft was written, I did read an in-depth book about Greek Mythology and made necessary changes. One thing I found in my research—Greek Mythology is filled with contradicting information. This actually worked to my advantage. I used the mythology that fit best with the story and then I also filled in empty places with my own version of the mytholog

3) How important are names to you in your books? Do you choose the names based on liking the way it sounds or the meaning?

The names are very important in my books. I choose based on meaning AND on liking how the name sounds. But then the names of minor characters I usually just pull out of my head. I hit a gold mine with Gretchen’s name. When I first started writing Rising, she was going to be a minor character and I just wanted a name that was a bit different for her, so I called her Gretchen. When I decided to write her as the main character in Descending, I looked up her name and found it meant pearl. That fit her character perfectly! And as she said herself about her name, “Life gave me a piece of dirt, but I’m making it beautiful, one layer at a time.”

4) How long did it take to write Rising?

I spent a year and a half writing Rising. But I didn’t write full time. I wrote when I got an idea or when I felt like writing. It wasn’t until it was published and I had a deadline for another book that I learned to write on a schedule.

5) How do you plot? Do you write it down, have a mood board etc?

I’m what you’d call a pantser. I’ve tried outlining, but I always end up throwing them away and letting the story take me where IT wants to go. Basically, it’s all about learning who my characters are, and putting them into challenging/impossible situations.

6) If you were a character in your book for a day what would you do?

I’d do some serious exploring!! I’ve always wanted to know what lurks in the deepest parts of the ocean.

7) How would you describe your book to get a reader interested in it?

A friend of mine once described my books as Twilight meets Percy Jackson. I think that describes them pretty well. And I’m never offended by people saying my books are like Twilight. I happen to love the series (the books not the movies) and am flattered when people compare them.

8) How many books will there be in the series?

At least four, but probably more. The way I have the stories set up—with different main characters in each book—it’s easier to keep the stories fresh and new. So I guess I’ll keep writing in the Rising world until I get tired of it.

9) What is your favorite genre to read?

I read a much wider variety of genres than I write in and it’s hard to pinpoint a favorite. I read fantasy and paranormal, mostly NA, YA, and middle grade—I’m not much of an epic fantasy gal. But I also read anything with an element of romance—historical, contemporary, comedy, crime, cloak and dagger stuff, who-done-it mysteries… You probably get the point. Basically, I love reading amazing books, no matter the genre.

10) What are you working on now?

I’m actually working on a spin-off series for Rising called The Lost Gods series. This one takes place several months after Raging. The lost children of the gods are still out there, living lives not knowing who/what they are. This will be a series following those characters as they discover their powers, have adventures, and fall in love.

Quick Fire Round

Favorite drink

Hazelnut Hot Chocolate

Favorite color

Aqua blue—for obvious reasons.

Favorite movie/s

All the Harry Potter films, all the Marvel movies (esp. Thor), and I adore Up.

Favorite book/s

I love anything written by Amy Harmon, Julie Garwood, and Janet Evanovich. And I also love Harry Potter, Fablehaven, Percy Jackson, Iron King, and Twilight series.

Favorite place

Disneyland

Favorite TV show

That one is hard to pin down. I do like the superhero shows like Arrow, The Flash, Supergirl, etc.

Favorite food

New York style cheesecake

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Check out the excerpt:

He knew what he had to do, what he’d done countless times before. As a trained soldier, he had a sacred duty to protect his people, guard their secret, and uphold the law. This female’s presence here was not only a criminal act, but it also presented an imminent threat. And because of that, his course was clear.

He had to kill her.

His plan lay clearly before him. Blanketed in the shadows, he’d enter her apartment window. Moving silently, he’d strike fast. Before she could cry out for help, he’d have her throat slit wide open. With her blood flowing swiftly, she’d be dead in mere seconds. The fact that she bathed at this time added to the ease of the execution. Clean up would be simple. Before the night ended, it would be as if she’d never existed. The Dagonian threat of exposure would be wiped clean from the human world.

Xanthus stood, his feet rooted in place under her window. Her sweet scent surrounded him as he listened to her pitiful sobs. Then, in that moment, he did the most shameful thing he’d ever done in his life.

He hesitated.

No, he didn’t merely hesitate. He halted. Fingering his blade in his holster, he willed his feet to move, but they seemed unwilling to obey. Then his mind latched onto a thought. It was no crime to wait for a more opportune time or a more secluded place to strike. He didn’t need to act rashly. True, finding her here in the human world shocked him, but he needed to be clear-headed and sure when he killed her.

He made his way back to his vehicle and climbed behind the wheel. He leaned his head back against the seat, closed his eyes, and attempted to clear his head.

He’d be back and she would die. She deserved to die. She may have the voice of an angel, but that was a lie. She was a traitor, a threat to their people. No other explanation made sense.

Xanthus looked toward the little female’s apartment building across the street. Could she have found a more dangerous place to live? This Dagonian female probably felt at home with these bottom-feeders.

Probably? Aw Hades. He cursed himself and the doubt in his mind. He doubly cursed that he couldn’t seem to stop himself from caring about her welfare. He’d be killing her himself, after all. The traitor had to die, regardless of his feelings and no matter how appealing she was. Of course, if she died by a human’s hands then he wouldn’t…

No.

He shook his head at his own idiotic thoughts. If a human killed her, then her body would be taken to the morgue, for the humans to see. He couldn’t let that happen. He had to be the one to kill her and carefully dispose of her body. And he would, soon.

Just not tonight.

Author Holly Kelly

Holly Kelly is a mom who writes books in her spare time: translation–she hides in the bathroom with her laptop and locks the door while the kids destroy the house and smear peanut butter on the walls. She was born in Utah but moved around a bit, living in Kansas, Texas, and Hawaii where she studied marine biology. She’s now back in Utah–“happy valley”. She’s married to a wonderful husband, James, and they are currently raising 6 rambunctious children. Her interests are reading, writing (or course), martial arts, visual arts, creating Halloween props, and spending time with family.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

An Adult Thriller ~ Hearing Voices ~ Q&A with Author Axel Cruise and Giveaway

Posted: June 7, 2017 in Adult Fiction, giveaways, Interview, thriller
Tags: adult thriller, Author Axel Cruise, author interview, giveaway, Hearing Voices

Hearing Voices
Axel Cruise
(An Isaac Blaze Thriller)
Publication date: April 2nd 2017
Genres: Adult, Thriller

“You’re a dead man,” he yelled.
“That’s great. Now answer the question.”
–Isaac Blaze

Isaac Blaze.

A quick wit, zero allegiances, and every major government agency after him. He’s also got two voices in his head. Neither of which is particularly helpful. Or care to be.

But at least he’s never been caught.

Hell, he’s barely even come close.

So when finally a SWAT team does actually manage to take him in – and with such ease at that – they probably should’ve been asking themselves: why?

Too bad they didn’t.

A lot of people got killed.

Goodreads / Amazon

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Q&A with author Axel Cruise

RG: How did you get into writing? Is it that classic story of long-time reader who decides to pick up a pen?
AC: To be honest, I’m a TV man. Always have been. Right from when I was a kid. I’d come home from school and just sit and watch.

RG: Your parents must have loved that.
AC: Ha! Yeah, it wasn’t exactly a great hobby in their eyes—or my homework-hungry teachers for that matter. I frequently got the (wags finger) “Watching TV won’t get you anywhere” speech.

RG: I think we’ve all been on the receiving end of that one. So did you have to sneak in your TV time?
AC: Well, luckily I was a quick kid. So whenever I got the speech, I’d just calmly wait for the list of supporting reasons to come to an end—square eyes, kills brain cells, doctors and lawyers don’t watch TV—and then I’d say, “But what if I want to make TV shows?”

RG: Oooh, good answer. That must’ve driven them crazy!
AC: Yeah, you bet. But then again, I never got more than a derisory headshake. So I was pretty confident I was on to something.

RG: (Nodding whilst holding a copy of Hearing Voices) Seems you were.
AC: (Smirks) Well, all right, it was a little more than that. I mean, you have to understand, I wouldn’t just be sitting there. It wasn’t a passive activity for me. It was a whole experience. I’d really see myself in the show. As one of the characters.

RG: Any TV shows in particular?

AC: Not really. I watched pretty much everything. Anime, sit-coms, superheroes—I loved them all. Even stuff I was a little too young to understand. Like for example Seinfeld or Married with Children, when I was only five or six.

RG: OK, so it was through copious watching that you subconsciously picked up the fundamentals of story production?
AC: Yeah. Without knowing it, I was absorbing the dialogue, learning about story arcs, understanding how to pace your plot—all of it.

RG: I think Ben Stiller had a similar theory for himself. He wasn’t just watching TV, he was studying it. Were movies a big thing for you?
AC: Not really. But only because we (the family) never went.

RG: OK, let’s turn back to the written word. You’re an avid reader, so when did your love of books take flame?
AC: When I was about 16.

RG: 16? That’s late.
AC: Like I said, I’m a TV man. But then I really got into reading. Biographies and how-to books, mostly. My mum was always into bios and she encouraged me to read all the time. Eventually I gave it a try, and—surprise, surprise—I found I quite liked it.

RG: Which biographies?
AC: I read a lot of entrepreneurs—Alan Sugar, Richard Branson, Steve Jobs. I remember reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s in university. That was a definitely a game changer for me. If you need a kick up the ass to get going, read that. It’s called Total Recall.

RG: What about fiction? When did that start?
AC: When I picked up my first Lee Child.

RG: Which one?
AC: Number one. Killing floor. I was in a bookstore, leafing through the selection, and I found this orange book (the UK version) and I read, I was arrested in Eno’s diner. At twelve o’clock. I was eating eggs and drinking coffee. A late breakfast, not lunch… I didn’t put the book down. (Note: Axel can quote the first chapter by heart. He’s read it that many times.)

RG: Who are your favorite authors?
AC: (Blows air out of cheeks) Where to start? I mean, obviously, you’ve got the big guns: Child, Chandler, King, Cole…(coughs) Cruise…Elmore Leonard, Michael Connelly, James Patterson, Karin Slaughter; and then you’ve got the lesser known, but equally incredible: Alan Glynn, Chuck Palahniuk, and whoever wrote that creepypasta about the Russian sleep experiment—damn thing gave me nightmares for weeks!

RG: Are there any self-published authors you particularly look up to?
AC: All of them. Seriously. Because we’re all cut from the same cloth. We’ve been rejected, beat down, told “no”. Doors slammed shut, dreams taken away. But. We didn’t stay down. We got up. Grabbed on to what we want and we’re not going to let go. I’m extremely proud to be part of the self-published community.

Author Axel Cruise

Axel Cruise is the author of the highly acclaimed psychological thriller Hearing Voices—the first in the Isaac Blaze series.

Check out what Readers’ Favourite is saying here: https://readersfavorite.com/book-review/hearing-voices

Axel is known for his ability to craft fast paced interweaving storylines, but primarily it’s his ‘cool’ and ’compelling characters’ and ‘dialogues that read so naturally’ that draws in audiences, with readers and reviewers likening Isaac Blaze to icons such as Deadpool and Jason Bourne.

British born, Axel grew up ‘pretty much in front of the TV’, and, in much the same way as Quentin Tarantino with films, Axel credits his incredible consumption of TV shows for his extensive knowledge of story craft. Some personal favourites include: Spiderman TAS (‘the best thing Marvel ever made’), Seinfeld (‘the best show ever made’), Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dragonball Z.

Of course, Axel is a voracious reader, too. His prefences for reading and writing are expressed well in a recent interview and the question of plot vs character:

“Look. Plot’s important, yeah. But really, I just want to see cool characters doing cool shit.”

You can check out the full Author Interview with Axel, here: http://www.axelcruise.com/interviews

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

For a list of my reviews go HERE.

For a list of free eBooks updated daily go HERE

To see all of my giveaways go HERE

Blogger Interview ~ Come meet Ella Medler!

Posted: June 19, 2013 in Author Interview
Tags: author interview, Ella Medler, Publishing, writing

I’ve had my blog for about a year and a half now and met some really awesome people. Some who have become friends.

What better way to introduce you to some of them then by putting them in the spotlight.

For today, I’ve dragged Ella away from important work to tell us a few things about herself. She has her blog here . Make sure to go by and say hi. I hear she has some yummy cake! I hope she brought some with her:)

Ella Medler – Author
Goodreads Facebook Twitter Blog

She’s also an author, co-author, and a woman of many writerly talents:)

Ella is so busy, I’m convinced she’s a robot. That, or a vampire!

Please make Ella welcome!

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Hi, Laura.

Hi yourself, Ella.

I know you’re very busy and I won’t keep you long. especially as I’m waiting on your next new book! So, let the fun begin.

Please tell us a little about yourself. Inquiring minds want to know 🙂

I am currently working on my fifth book, a thriller. I don’t count the books I’ve started but don’t intend to finish. My head if full of books that will make it. Of the four published books so far, the first one was traditionally published by a small publisher, and the other three are all self-published. Of these, two are co-authored with Kristie Haigwood. When I’m not writing, I’m usually editing. I prefer content editing, but I’m one of those people who enjoys nitpicking at grammar, so I end up doing a combined job. And when I’m not editing, I’m reading and reviewing, hosting author features or writing articles related to the publishing industry. Beware, I do hold opinions.

Why did you start blogging and what were your plans for your blog?

At first, I simply wanted a website. I bought myself the software and a domain name, and then spent two weeks learning how to build a website from scratch. I did manage it, but my original hope that I would be able to keep freshening up the content on an almost daily basis fizzled out pretty soon. I found having a blog on my website incredibly cumbersome. So then I researched other ways to build a blog. WordPress came top of the list, so that’s where you can find me.

In terms of articles for my blog, I wanted a place where I could be myself. Yes, I know I get to do that through my writing, but writing a whole book takes a bit longer than writing a blog post. My posts are about writing and authors, though I will admit to have vented once or twice on publishing in general and the prejudice against indie authors in particular. Can’t help it. I’m a fair minded person who strives to see a situation from all points of view. I strongly believe in fair chances.

Being an author yourself, do you receive a lot of review requests and how do you choose which ones to review?

Yes, I do. To start with, I didn’t have much of a system. If I liked the sound of a book, I went for it. Funnily enough, until I became an author myself, I didn’t see the purpose of leaving a review. Now I do. It’s so obvious why we should! At the moment I work in batches of about twelve titles I commit myself to reviewing, and the authors know what position they are in my list. They know if they’re first on the list, the review will be posted this week, and if they’re last, it won’t be out till some time in July. I used to think I only enjoyed one or two genres, but then I tried others, and the more I tried the more I discovered books I enjoyed. Sticking to a narrow field was certainly a mistake. I review all the books I read cover to cover, though I haven’t published all my reviews on my blog.

How do you feel about scheduling your posts? I do this, but I miss pushing that publish button and watching the post go live. Guess that’s why I don’t always schedule them.

push the button photo: Push The Magic BUTTON thmagisbutton1.gif

Ah. Yes, you knew what question to ask, didn’t you? I have extremely itchy fingers. Once I’ve written something, I want it out there. It’s one of the reasons why I decided to self-publish. I’m impatient. I like to see the fruit of my labours right away. I’d probably make a rubbish gardener. Right now, I only have four draft posts, but there are posts scheduled for almost every day this month. I’ve printed out my calendar and I keep scribbling on it, rearranging things.

I’ve seen your latest posts and you are insanely busy. Care to tell us what you’re up to these days?

I’ve just released book two in the Eternal Series, Eternal Immortality, co-authored with Kristie Haigwood, on May 10, solar eclipse day. It’s doing so well! we are very proud of how its been received. It’s a paranormal action/romance, a completely original take on witches and vampires with a humorous twist.

Right now I’m writing book two in my Hunter thriller trilogy – Blood is Power – and very much enjoying the process. As I write, new ideas occur to me, and the story twists in ways I certainly didn’t see at the beginning. I’ve re-written the first half three times so far.

I have just finished editing a YA book, and soon I’ll be receiving my next edit, a contemporary fantasy by an author I admire. At the same time, I have packed as many book reviews and author spotlights into my blog as possible.

I’m uncertain about what to write next, so I’ve put a poll on my blog. I’ve asked my visitors to vote, and so far a sci-fi project is winning. You can still cast your vote, it’s anonymous, so why not have your say? Here’s the link to the poll: http://ellamedler.wordpress.com/2013/04/28/2013-week-17-and-a-poll/

Once Blood is Power is out there, I’ll take a couple of weeks off from actual writing to plan and produce a series of visual aids – authors’ resources, for want of a better description – which will be available free on my Custom Writers’ Services page on my blog.

As and when I find a minute, I research trends in the publishing industry – top genres and figures, and sometimes news to do with established publishers. These percolate through into my blog posts because I just can’t shut up if I feel strongly enough about a subject. I have to speak my mind, or I will explode.

Did I tell you I’m learning to play the piano? It’s something I’ve always wanted to do as a child, but not managed to fit it in until last year. I couldn’t even read music when I started. My fingers seem to be in the driving seat, though. They line up nicely when I have to play Schubert, but won’t let me do a recognisable Jingle Bells.

Have I missed anything? Oh, yeah. I have a family. There were a couple of teenagers and a husband around the house, last time I looked, and nine pets of assorted sizes and descriptions.

Do you have a favorite genre you read?

I used to stick to mystery, crime, thriller – that sort of thing. But then one day I read a book about zombies and I liked it. Then a sci-fi (which I used to be hooked on in my youth) and I loved it! From there, I decided to just read any book I like the looks of, and now I don’t have boundaries. If it’s a book, chances are I’ll love it.

One last question and then we’ll get to some fun short ones! Is your blog how you wanted it to be when you began?

No, it’s better. I didn’t have a clear idea, on day one, about its definite direction. Now, the onus is on producing material that is useful to authors, whether self- or traditionally published, in whatever way I can. This trend is going to continue, but it will focus even more on actual, practical advice, tips and mentoring so that more writers can produce high-quality material and, once they have that, find an easier way to publish and promote their books effectively.

Now for Five Fun Shorts!

1) Who is your favorite book character?

Rover from the Giggler Treatment, by Roddy Doyle. He’s a dog who knows more about humans than the humans know about themselves.

2) Do you have a phobia?

Probably not, though I do hate dusting with a vengeance.

3) What’s a famous one liner from a movie that stayed with you?

“You just did!” – from Pretty Woman, when Vivian Ward (Julia Roberts) has just been told by heartthrob Edward Lewis (Richard Gere) that he’d never called her a prostitute.

4) If you could be any creature in the ocean, what would you like to be?

jellyfish photo: jellyfish JELLYFISH.jpg

A jellyfish. Useful, in fact indispensable to the ocean’s health, flexible and pretty to look at (see what I’m doing here?), still able to teach scientists something new experiment after experiment and, best of all, can sting when circumstances warrant it.

5) If you could pull anything out of your hat, besides a rabbit, what would it be?

alarm clock photo: clock Alarm_clock.jpg

Time. I am constantly on the lookout for those spare minutes, or seconds even, to finish a project.

And a Dare!

Say the first thing that pops into your head! I dare ya!

Zohan! (oops!)

Any last words for our readers?

Follow your dream, because “I have spent a good many years since–too many, I think–being ashamed about what I write. I think I was forty before I realized that almost every writer of fiction or poetry who has ever published a line has been accused by someone of wasting his or her God-given talent. If you write (or paint or dance or sculpt or sing, I suppose), someone will try to make you feel lousy about it, that’s all.” ― Stephen King, On Writing.

Thank you, Laura. This has been way more fun than an interview has the right to be!

I loved having you here Ella. Now get back to work! lol

Just kidding, kind of:) Waiting for some more good reading!

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Books by Ella Medler