Interview with Margarita Felices Author of Judgement of Souls

Hi Margarita, Tell us something about yourself and where you’re based.
I live in Cardiff. For all its modernisation, there are still remnants of old Victorian Cardiff. I love the castle in the centre of the city and the fact that you have the sea on one side and the mountains on the other side of Cardiff.  I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. 

Can you tell us a bit about your book?
I don't want to say too much, I'd much rather your readers found it out.  But to give you an idea, JUDGEMENT OF SOULS is a Gothic horror in which a naïve pure-blood Vampire is tossed into the mortal world. Rachel meets Daniel, a nightclub owner and his group of friends and after Daniel’s best friend is murdered by Max, becomes embroiled in the search for an ancient vampire book. Rachel tries to fight off her feelings for Daniel, even siding with her Vampire friend Arun to think again about Daniel’s involvement, but he’s her love and she’s going to protect him, no matter what.




When and why did you start writing?
I started writing in school.   My teachers used to limit me to ten pages per essay - it killed me to have a limit.  After that I wrote short stories for magazines, it gave me a little extra while at college.  But I've always had stories rolling around in my head. I can write about anything and some days I just look up at the sky and say 'thank you very much.' 

What inspires you?
Other writers who have been in the same place that I am now. I’m new to all of this; all their advice is valuable because you’ll never find your way in this business without them and their help. 

Are you working on anything now?
I'm working on the prequel to Judgement of Souls. It spans over 300 years so its quite a task.  I'm doing a lot of research and I have to get the date lines right or it'll read a bit odd.

Is there anything you don't like about being a writer?
How hard it is. It’s not just sitting down and writing. I had a hard hitting editor who returned my first draft and made it look like a bloodbath!  It was a surprise.  But the end result is something you can’t possible imagine, you’ve brought these people to life and you control their lives. I love it. And I think the worse is having that great idea and by the time you get to write it down, forgetting it! And marketing.   I’ve never contacted so many people, websites and groups since the book became LIVE on the 27^th December 2011.

What do you think of the ebook revolution?
I think it’s brilliant.  There are so many talented writers out there that miss out because traditional publishers won’t accept their work. I know it costs a lot of money to produce books these days, but really? Would it hurt to be a bit more flexible?  Ebooks mean no more carrying heavy loads of them on holiday, we save trees, long may it reign.

Is there anything you will NOT write about?
Zombies! Sorry to all my Zombie friends and authors out there. I hate them! Scare me silly!  And perhaps anything biographical, I just don’t think I’d do that person any justice. 

In what genre do you prefer to write?  To read?
I love writing anything Supernatural. Vampires and demons, unknown realms where you can just let your mind wander through and go wild. I’ll read the same type of stories too.

Can you tell us about any ups and downs in your writing career so far.
The downs are always the rejections. When you get a reply from a publisher and its just 'no thanks' scribbled on the bottom of the letter you sent them it makes you think ;why bother' but you have to. 

Do you have any suggestions for people who might be considering writing as a career?
Don't give up. If you have a story that is dying to be told, then work hard to tell it. But make sure you are doing your best work and you get an editor that can help you make the most of your manuscript.

Don’t give up even though you may get rejection letters.  If everyone thought like that there’d be no books, no films.  Keep writing, even if its dribble! Then read, re-read and edit.  Try and write a little each day.  One hundred words a day is seven hundred a week, twenty-eight hundred a month and one hundred words a day is so simple!

And carry a Dictaphone or a notebook and pen! 

Anything else you want to add?
This is a series of 3 books. I started at the end. There isn’t anyone who will be able to tell me why I did that. When these three are finished, I’d like to write some shorter stories about Daniel and Rachel and maybe their quest to find supernatural occult items and somehow tie them in to working for The Righteous.  That should be interesting!

Thanks so much, Margarita. It's been great having you here!

Margarita's links:
Facebook
Judgement of Souls on Kindle UK
Judgement of Souls on Kindle US

Thicker Than Blood Release Date

I'm happy to announce that book 2 in the Marchwood Vampire Series

will be released April 17th 2012

Chilling and fast-paced, Thicker Than Blood is the supernatural sequel

to Hidden. It combines passion and drama with a historical twist.

Aelia lives in 6th century Byzantium. She is sixteen years old and her life is about

to change forever. She doesn't yet know it, but she holds the fate of thousands

in her hands and her actions will echo across the centuries.

Fourteen hundred years later the lives of Madison and Alexandre are once

again plunged into danger. To save Madison, Alexandre is forced back to a

world he thought was dead and buried. But time is running out.

The chase is on...

On April 17th it will be available as an ebook from Smashwords and from Amazon for Kindle.
It may take a while longer to distribute to other outlets. The paperback will be available by the end of April.

First 5 Chapters -Try before you Buy (YA Paranormal)

Here's the next volume of First 5 Chapters available free from Smashwords

Read the first five chapters from these

YA paranormal/fantasy authors:

Hunting - S.M. Hineline
Hidden (Marchwood Vampire Series #1) - Shalini Boland
Coexist (Keegan's Chronicles #1) – Julia Crane
Progeny Of Innocence - Patti Roberts
Ties To The Blood Moon - Robin Waldrop
Fire Sprite - Lenore Wolfe


Click here to download for free

First 5 Chapters Blog Tour - Character Interview from Crossroads by Mary Ting

I'm taking part in a great new author initiative called First 5 Chapters, where readers can sample large chunks of  novels from their favourite genres for free before they buy them.

Great idea right!

You download the volume of your chosen genre and can then decide which books you love enough to buy. The first volume features six authors who write YA Fantasy:

Carolyn Hockley - Arazi Crossing
KaSonndra Leigh – When Copper Suns Fall
Mary Ting – Crossroads
Starr West – Tomorrows Child
Lenore Wolfe – The Fallen One
Patti Roberts – Paradox – The Angels Are Here

                                                                                                                          I've been lucky enough to snag Mary Ting, author of bestselling novel, Crossroads, for an interview with one of the main characters in her book.






About Crossroads:
Claudia Emerson has a good friend who shares the same first name and last name. That friend unfortunately dies in a tragic accident during homecoming dance. Claudia is distraught at the loss of her friend, but is even more disturbed by her dreams, which seem to take her to another place called Crossroads. Unknown to her, Crossroads is like a second heaven, a place between heaven and earth. It is where the souls of humans in comas or near death experiences may wander.

There, Claudia meets Michael, a nephilim, a half angel, half human, whom she often meets in her dreams. It turns out that this isn't her first visit to Crossroads, which is an enigma for no human can ever travel there until Claudia. Now the fallen and demons are after her, suspecting she must be special and it is up to Michael and the other nephilims to protect her.

Can Michael fight his growing feelings for Claudia and protect her as a guardian angel should? The answer awaits you. Follow the exciting path to Crossroads!

Character Interview with Austin

We are so glad to be able to talk with you, Austin. Before your story began, what were your hopes for the future?

I really didn’t have any hopes for the future besides being the leader of the venators. My mother, Katherine, she is very proud. She hopes one day I will take a seat by her side as one of the Twelve.  

What is your biggest fear?

My biggest fear is that I would disappoint my friends. When I say friends, I mean the venators. They are the only friends I have besides Andrew. You can’t really count him because I don’t get to see him that often and he doesn’t know who I really am. 

What music do you listen to most and why?
I listen to all kinds of CDs. Currently my favorite songs are Good Life from One Republic and Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO.

What one act in your past are you most ashamed of?
I don’t know if I’m ashamed of it. I guess I shouldn’t have done it. You see… we can project our thoughts into your mind, creating a mental picture of what we want you to see. I kissed Claudia in her mind and I wanted her to know how it would feel like if she kissed me back. “Short cough” Hmmm…I think she liked it. “Wink”

If you were a regular person, what would you do with your life?
I would go through the school system, date girls, find a job and get married I suppose. 

What went through your head when you first saw Claudia? 
I could tell right of the bat she was sheltered. Very innocent and sweet. She has this natural beauty and her smile lights up the sky. Or I should say, her smile lights me up. I really can’t describe it. She was like a magnet, pulling me in. I couldn’t think of anything or anyone besides her and that was unlike me. I couldn’t think straight. Thoughts of her consumed my mind. 

Do you have any feelings in general that you are disturbed by? What are they? Why do they disturb you?
I don’t agree with everything the Twelve says or does. I’m not sure what we did to Claudia was right. My gut feeling tells me she’ll find out one day and I don’t know what she’ll do or think. We all played a part, whether we thought it was wrong or right. I guess we’ll have to find out what happens. 

What is something about you that no one else knows? 
I enjoy watching sports. My favorite color is black. I love my car. “Chuckle”

Thank you!!! Is there anything else you need?
This was fun. Thank you for having me. Would you like me to fly you around? “Wink”

That would be awesome! *winks back*

 * * *

Don't forget, you can read the first five chapters

from Crossroads and the other YA fantasy novels for free!

Just download to your ereader from here.

First Bitten by Samantha Towle

Walking home after a night out drowning her sorrows with her best friend, Carrie, Alexandra Jones stupidly takes a phone call from her cheating ex-boyfriend, Eddie, and in her anger hurls her phone into the forest before her.

But when Alex goes to retrieve her phone from the undergrowth, she and Carrie come face-to-face with a monster they never even knew existed, a Vârcolac (a nightmarish vampire-werewolf hybrid) and he's in search of fresh blood. The next thing Alex knows, she is staring at the impossibly handsome but mysterious Nathan who has helped bring her back to life, but not to the life she left.

To her horror, she discovers she has now become a blood-drinking Vârcolac herself and  is the only female of her kind, with the potential for breeding a whole new army of Vârcolacs if they can only track her down and press her into service.

And while Alex gets to know Nathan and his shape-shifting family as they offer her the protection she so desperately needs, unbeknown to all of them, the Vârcolacs are getting closer

What I thought:

I'm ultra-excited to have found such a brilliant new series! First Bitten is Book 1 in The Alexandre Jones Series and I devoured it in a day. I don't want to give anything away, so all I'll say is it has all the elements to make up the perfect urban fantasy: a very real and sympathetic main character, a terrifying supernatural situation and the hottest love interest you could imagine. It's all these things, without being  at all predictable and I can't wait for Book 2!

Congratulations, Sam Towle, looks like you've got another page-turning bestseller on your hands.

Links:

Samantha's Blog

First Bitten on Amazon.com

First Bitten on Amazon.co.uk

The Forever Girl Giveaway Winner!

The winner of The Forever Girl Giveaway is Janelle Madigan!

She gets an ebook and a beautiful scented candle,

courtesy of author Rebecca Hamilton.

Hey Janelle, can you use the 'Contact Me' page to send over your email and address

so we can get your prizes to you. Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who entered! xxx