Spotlight: BENEATH MANHATTAN SKIES by Emma Meade

Happy Tuesday!!!

…better yet, happy almost Turkey Day (no classes!!! (yet I still have assignments…))!

Today, I have the honor of spotlighting a new novella by Emma Meade, whose YA novel, Under the Desert Moon, won me over with its “light and fun read that took a new spin on the vampire/paranormal scene.”

This has to be one of my favorite covers of the year. Seriously, I love the blues and the city backdrop…gorgeous!

Book Blurb

November in New York is cold but full of possibility for college freshman Erin Harris. When her twin brother, Nick, shows up on her doorstep for a surprise visit, Erin is delighted. Unfortunately, Nick’s arrival coincides with the discovery of a body outside her apartment building, a body drained of blood. Right away, Nick assumes vampires are involved. He’s not exactly their biggest fan since Erin dated one in high school.

Juggling nosy roommates, a first date with a gorgeous guy from college and a brother on a Van Helsing kick is enough to keep any nineteen year old girl busy – And then Erin’s old flame walks back into her life.

Is Erin destined to be caught up in supernatural shenanigans, or will she choose a different path?

Buy Links:

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords

Add to your Goodreads list!

About the Author

Emma Meade lives in rainy Ireland. She loves vampires, slayers, witches, ghosts, aliens & shadow men (or at least the youngest of the Shadow Men), and regular people who live extraordinary lives (think Slayerettes and you’re on the right track). Books, DVDS & TV show boxsets take up lots of space in her home, and she collects all the Point Horror books she can get her hands on. Writing supernatural stories and watching marathon re-runs of Buffy are some of her favourite ways of escaping reality.

 Author Links:

Twitter | Facebook | Blog | Goodreads | Amazon Author Page | Website

 

Teaser

“My father wouldn’t be so understanding.” Erin frowned, not liking to think about her dad. “Did she have a boy or girl?” Erin shrugged in apology for not remembering.

“A boy. I feel sorry for my sister. She was surrounded by us growing up.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad. She had a cool big brother.” She groaned inwardly. Why did she have to say that?

Tommy looked at her. Erin thought she saw a hint of a smile hovering around his lips. Where the hell was Sadie with the drinks? That girl was in big trouble for setting this up. A blush rose in Erin’s cheeks. She was grateful for the dim lighting in the bar.

“So, I’m cool, am I?” Tommy said after a moment, smiling easily again.

The tension alleviated and Erin breathed normally. “I thought you might have noticed that. You have a motorcycle. That automatically puts you in the cool club.”

“I’d like to take you out on the bike.”

And the hard-to-breathe thing started again.

Whimsically Yours,

PnC

BLOOD BOUND Blog Tour: Interview with Author Keshia Swaim

Hello!  Today I’m excited to bring you my interview with author Keshia Swaim for the first stop on the BLOOD BOUND Blog Tour (Spencer Hill Press, October 8, 2013).

Meet Keshia!  Hello, My name is Keshia Swaim, and I am a book addict. I love reading, writing, and talking about anything related to books. 🙂 Blood Bound, my debut novel, follows Brielle Reed as she tries to start college, learn more about her mysterious father, and avoid being pulled into a war between the fae courts.

Hi Keshia, what is your favorite place to write? Anywhere with a door. 🙂 I’m a work-from-home mother, so privacy is a rare and precious gift. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything!  I have younger four younger siblings & now I’m at college so I definitely get that.

What is the first story you remember writing? The first one I remember was in elementary school. I don’t remember the title, but it was about a tornado (I’m from Oklahoma) that actually repaired instead of destroyed the landscape.

When did you first consider yourself a writer? I still don’t, really. I think of myself more as someone who got incredibly lucky. But when I received my ARC of Blood Bound with my name on the cover I started thinking maybe one day I can be a “real” writer.

What is the best piece of constructive criticism you ever received? In college, a professor told be that I was “concise to a fault,” meaning that I didn’t spend enough time explaining the details in my writing. It annoyed me when he said it, but he was right, and it’s still something I struggle with.

How do you overcome “writer’s block” ? I write (great advice!). If a certain scene is bothering me, I’ll skip it entirely and move on. Sometimes I end up deleting entire chapters later, but it’s better than the alternative. If I get stuck and stop, it may take me days to get back to my story line.

Are you a full time writer? Nope. I’m a full-time mommy and a nap-time writer. Eventually I’d like to write more, but right now I’m having too much fun with my babies.  Awww!

What was the publishing process like for you?– I got in with a great company, Spencer Hill Press, and they were really good at walking me through the process, but it’s still been right down nerve-wracking at times. But at the same time, watching my manuscript turn into a real novel has been one of the coolest things in my life.

What is some advice you would impart to writers who wish to be published? Do. Not. Quit. Publishing is hard, slow, and has quite a bit to do with luck, in my opinion. Everyone faces rejection (lots of it) but the only way to get past that is to keep going.

…okay, now for the real fun stuff 😉

Coffee or tea? Both.

Favorite animal? White tigers

Fun Fact about yourself most people don’t know? My original career plan was to be an archaeologist. I wanted to work in the Middle East. Then I started paying attention to current events and decided that was a bad idea.

If you could have breakfast with anyone dead or alive, who would it be and what would you eat? Tolkien. I’d love to get inside his head. The man was a genius. And I’d let him pick the breakfast. Whatever would keep him at the table longest. 🙂

If you could be any character from a book, movie, play, or musical who would it be and why? Elizabeth Bennett from Pride and Prejudice. As to why (Other than happily ever after with Mr. Darcy) I Ioved how intelligent and independent she was, in a time where women weren’t supposed to think for themselves. *snaps* to that!

What is your favorite movie(s)? Pride and Prejudice, and Disney’s Aladdin. Random, I know.

If you had/have an animal spirit which animal(s) would it be? A tiger, I guess. They are majestic, beautiful, and extremely dangerous if you make them mad. 🙂

What is your favorite childhood book and/or author? I’ve always been an obsessive reader, so it’s tough to pick one. But I did go through a huge R.L. Stine phase. I think I read every Goosebumps and Fear Street book ever written

What is the next book you want to write? I’d love to continue Brielle’s story for a while, but I’m also working on some historical fantasy.

Imagine you are writing your memoir…what is its title? Gah! Titles are the bane of my existence. Hey! maybe that would be the title. 🙂

Last words??? That sounds like I’m about to die, which I hope isn’t true.  Haha, oh no, I’ve never actually thought of it that way…oops!  I hope you enjoy Blood Bound!  And don’t forget to download “Family Ties” the story that inspired my book. And, if you have time, visit me on Facebook, Twitter, or my blog, The Book Addict.

Thanks for having me! –Thank you for letting me interview you, Keshia!  It was a great one 🙂  I loved reading Brielle’s story and can’t wait to read the continuations as well as that historical fantasy!!

Don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway for a chance to win a signed copy of BLOOD BOUND & a swag pack!

Whimsically Yours,

PnC

Endings and Beginnings

Today is the end, well almost nearly the end, of the first semester of my Sophomore year in college.  And, it feels great!  Why?  Because I know every ending is really just a new beginning sad thing is it can often take a whole semester to learn/remember that.

But honestly, aside from all the downs it has been a great semester for in this one semester I have increased my blog following to almost 500 followers from probably around 100 (if not less) as well as completed and started querying one manuscript and started several others.

However, as you may or may not know, I’ve been having quite the writer’s block lately but with a little help, I’ve figured out the source.

You see when you have a book that you pour your all into, the one you think is THE one.  And you face rejection in relation with that book, it effects you, even if you don’t think it does.  And well I, while I had no problem starting new projects, I couldn’t/haven’t been able to finish them because, even though I didn’t realize it, I kept comparing them to the feeling I felt when I was writing BLOOD OF ISIS.  And well, to be honest, that same feeling wasn’t there.

And now, well, let’s just say I have a new project, one that I love just as much, if not/probably more than BLOOD OF ISIS.  But this time, I’m ready, I know it’s going to be a long road but I also know that this one is the one I’m meant to write, plus I’m getting help from my genius (see the previous link) so that I’m not in this alone.  

For now, I’m calling it Whimsically Yours, a semi-autobiographical story, it’s different from what I usually write…just what I need, and well that’s about all I’m sharing for now.  It’s funny because as hard as I tried during NaNoWriMo to write about 1,700 words a day, I couldn’t.  Now I write about 1,500 words a day without even thinking about it.  I just started it but by then end of this week i should be at/near the 15,000 word mark so how about, if I get there I will post a working blurb of ze project!

As for the other things in my life, well, they are clearing up for as my father once said to me, “Tomorrow is a new day and the sun will rise, the real question is whether or not you will rise with it?”  So I urge you to give yourself one final push to end the year strong but don’t worry about pushing yourself too much because sometimes what we really need is a break.  And remember, regardless of how this year, month, week, day ends…tomorrow will be a new day and a new beginning 🙂

How has your year been, what goals do you have for the end of the year???

Whimsically Yours,

PnC

Randomness…

As I sit on my bed looking around the room of my childhood I realize this room while comforting no longer holds the same importance (for lack of a better word) it once did.  Then I realize I’ve grown up, maybe not entirely, but I have matured.  This doesn’t mean I’m not still creative or don’t have childlike qualities but I don’t need this space as much as I once did.  It’s a very bittersweet feeling.

These last few days at home have felt very strange, I can only liken it to visiting a favorite place and realizing while you’re at the same location the place itself has changed so much it’s not the same.

Tomorrow I go to Alabama to visit my sick/recovering great-grandmother and as happy as I am to see her, for the first time in 6-7 years & for what could possibly be the last time, I clearly remember how boring Montgomery,  Alabama is.  It’s not where I would want to spend my Thanksgiving break and I say that in the bluntest, most honest way possible.  But I think when it’s all said and done, I will be glad I went.  Also sometimes we have to do things not because they are “super fun” but because they are necessary 🙂

What else…hmm..my life is very stressful right now, but more because I am letting things pile up thus am creating more dark corners where the stress monsters can hide out.  It seems like everything from relationships, to schoolwork, to family, to an old, plain & simple fear of change and not needing old things anymore is colliding.

Currently I’m having more than writer’s block, something I’m usually able to cure by simply writing, I’m having writer’s depression (does that exist or did I make that up?).  It’s not that I cannot write rather all the things in my life are preventing me from sitting down and writing because every time I do, I get distracted/my thoughts run off in other directions.

The Solution = I need to get my personal life in order, usually I’m able to separate the personal from the professional or at least turn the personal issues into fuel for the professional but this time that’s not happening.

Or maybe it’s as simple as stopping trying and doing.  Again, it’s not that I can’t write (haha, I’m doing that now), it’s just that I can’t write about what I want to write about.  Also I’m restless, writing is the one thing I have done all my life (with some minor/major long breaks during some rough patches in my past).  But writing has been the solution to all of my problems…what happens when THE solution or the cure no longer works???

Or maybe I’m thinking too much, my dad has said before that I like to think I’m deeper than I really am, he has been right in the past, he probably is now…

…Okay well I’m giving myself until December 1st…that’s the night of my literary society’s (like sororities with more of an academic focus) formal.  Now off to doing…wish me luck 🙂

How do you solve your personal/professional problems???

Whimsically Yours,

PnC

Off, Off & Away

The day is August 31, 2012, and my clock currently reads 1:19 AM.  By the time you read this post I’ll already be a plane, halfway to Boston to begin my sophomore year in college.  But that’s not why I’m writing this post, sure I could write about my family, and valuing every minute with others, and saying goodbye, yada yada yada but I’m trying to steer out of the pit of emotions that I often live in.

Instead this post is about my summer and all the things I’ve accomplished and you can accomplish in three months.  

My summer officially started after my last final exam sometime in mid-late May of 2012.  I was so excited to come home but when I got here I found that life hadn’t changed that much (go figure).  Well, my dad took my brother, sister, and I on a vacation to South Padre, it was amazing and a great way to destress from college.

I’m not positive but I think that’s when I started or at least when I really got into writing my (now, first completed) manuscript, BLOOD OF ISIS.  

In classic Patrice style, I told no one, and I spent time (whenever I wasn’t at the beach) writing.  I actually began and almost finished BLOOD OF ISIS completely by writing it by hand in a few notebooks (it was such a pain to type it!).

Then I began my summer job, I hated it, all of that paperwork, copying, &completely mundane tasks but if it were not for that job two things wouldn’t have happened:  1) BLOOD OF ISIS might not be/ever have been finished 2)I would have never started Diary of a Paper Pusher.

1. I had so much free time during that job, in fact (especially towards the end of the summer) 75% of the time I was doing nothing 7 what better use of my time than writing, so write I did.
2. You might but you probably don’t know about Diary of a Paper Pusher, but in short it was my way of dealing life as a bored intern.  And seriously, what better way if there of dealing with anything than satirizing & writing about it 🙂  If you click on the link above you will see that it didn’t exist for very long & it’s full of horrible grammar.  However it gave way to Whimsically Yours and that is what’s important…maybe I’ll make a book out of it one day (?).

During the time I was writing BLOOD OF ISIS, I started this blog (on June 25th).  At the time I had started many blogs, had recently created another one, however I never kept those blogs more than a couple weeks.  Somehow a combination of frustration over starting and never finishing blogs (TBH I don’t think I was inspired enough by those) and frustration over feeling like no one was listening to/valued my opinions led me to starting this blog.

I could quote statistics: page views, followers…but none of that is truly important what’s important is that I validated myself.  I gave myself faith in me which after the many ups & downs of my first year in college and previous years in high school, was exactly what I needed.  Honestly, had it not been for this summer I don’t think I would have ever wrote a book, started a blog, created a writer website, started writing two new WIPs, got closer to family & friends, fell back in love with reading, and made some amazing connections with fellow writers, bloggers, and so forth.

So I just want to say to everyone reading this, you can do it.  You really can.  What’s important is that you keep trying.  I am no where close to where I am to be I’m only touching the tip of the life boat.  I still have to figure out how to get in (without toppling it over), get to the shore, and back on my feet again.  But the important thing is that I have begun the journey.

If my life was an epic fantasy, say LOTR, Gandalf has already come knocking, I’ve found out about the ring, I’ve decided to begin the journey, I’ve got to Bree, and I’m currently at Rivendell where the Fellowship of the Rings has just been formed.  This is not me knocking down my accomplishments, rather it’s me being realistic and accepting the fact that I still have a long way to go before I reach Mordor.  However at this point I do realize that there’s no turning back; Shire life, for me, is no more.   Am I scared?  A little I would be a fool not to be–fear is what keeps us fighting for those dreams to come true and goals to be reached–but more than anything I’m excited, I can’t wait and most importantly I’m proud of myself which is something I haven’t been in a long time.

(I hope I didn’t confuse you with my analogy–if I did first click here & buy & read it, then click here (because you’ll still probably be confused/won’t remember everything) and if all else fails watch the movie) 🙂

What are you summer accomplishments, future goals, dreams aspirations???  And if you really want a challenge–how far are you on your epic journey (liken it to a book or movie for funsies)? 🙂