Last week, I attended the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention and it was amazing! But this year was special, I had the lovely YA author Karen Y Bynum for a roommate. I cannot tell you guys how happy I was when she said yes to RT. *happy dance* Getting there was something entirely different. Our first flight was a death trap. It was hot, very loud and just plain horrible. Moving on.. We had dinner and drinks with Lucy D. Briand and her husband. It was great seeing them again. I took the plotting workshop with Cherry Adair and she is awesome! Her plotting method suites me...I like it! She started plotting her new book in class. There's only a few people who know the truth about my novel The Avenging Angel and she's one of them. It will stay a secret for now. So this year, I decided to dress up for the 30th annual ball. My gown was made by Jade Locke from The Secret Boutique. She did such an amazing job. I wanted to show you guys my gown. I'm deathly scared of showing my picture to anyone! Here goes! *drum roll*
Emi Gayle just wants to be young again. She lives vicariously through her youthful characters, while simultaneously acting as chief-Mom to her teenaged son and searching for a way to keep her two daughters from ever reaching the dreaded teen years.
Ironically, those years were some of Emi's favorite times. She met the man of her dreams at 14, was engaged to him at 19, married him at 20 and she's still in love with him to this day. She'll never forget what it was like to fall in love at such a young age — emotions she wants everyone to feel.
Demon crypts. Vampire lairs. Glowing angels. Sexy sirens. The stuff of fiction.
Or so Winn Thomas always thought.
Since being accepted into the fold of the supernatural, he knows better. None of what he imagined is true, but everything he feared is, and binding himself to his Changeling girlfriend until her nineteenth birthday will give him an education far beyond what he’d get at his human high school.
Luckily, Winn’s not giving up, he won’t back down, and he definitely isn’t going to run away with his tail between his legs. After all, only werewolves have tails. Right?
In this, the second of the 19th Year trilogy, Winn’s facing the challenge of one lifetime. If he doesn’t learn the truth about mythological creatures, his girlfriend Mac Thorne won’t either. That means, in six months, when she chooses her final form, she won’t know what to pick.
Winn, though, has his own ideas about Mac’s final selection—plans she knows nothing of.
He intends to have her pick human.
Whether she can or not.
Excerpt:
Demon crypts. Vampire lairs. Glowing angels. Sexy sirens. The stuff of fiction.
Or so Winn Thomas always thought.
Since being accepted into the fold of the supernatural, he knows better. None of what he imagined is true, but everything he feared is, and binding himself to his Changeling girlfriend until her nineteenth birthday will give him an education far beyond what he’d get at his human high school.
Luckily, Winn’s not giving up, he won’t back down, and he definitely isn’t going to run away with his tail between his legs. After all, only werewolves have tails. Right?
In this, the second of the 19th Year trilogy, Winn’s facing the challenge of one lifetime. If he doesn’t learn the truth about mythological creatures, his girlfriend Mac Thorne won’t either. That means, in six months, when she chooses her final form, she won’t know what to pick.
Winn, though, has his own ideas about Mac’s final selection—plans she knows nothing of.
He intends to have her pick human.
Whether she can or not.
Sitting in front of the twelve most powerful non-humans on the earth would have shaken a lesser guy. In my case, I’d almost thrown up. Twice.
‘Don’t worry,’ Mackenzie Thorne, my girlfriend, had said. ’'It’s just a formality.
She hadn’t known I’d have to go alone.
Only the intake and exhalation of air in the room made any sound. Eerie light flickered from the tips of candles mounted along dark, oak-paneled walls.
I refused to look anywhere but ahead of me. To the long, wooden, medieval-length table.
Waiting.
Watching.
Holding my own breath.
For a moment, it seemed the walls began to close in on me.
At almost midnight on the first day of the year, I prepared to accept a fate no other human had ever taken on, been given or even offered. In response, sweat pooled under my armpits as alternating cold and hot ran through me.
The scratch of wood against wood had heads turning. Mine included.
Nahir, the oldest of the twelve, rose from his chair. “Winford Richmond Thomas, please rise.” His voice had a gravelly, hoarse sound.
I did as requested, my knees pressing against each other.
Nahir moved closer to me, his grandfatherly, human form disappearing under protruding scales of deep green. His arms lengthened into dinosaur-like paws and hit the rock floor, making the room around us shake. Thick wings extended from his body, and a tail lashed out against the wall behind him, rattling the candles.
A dragon, in the color of tropical ocean water, stood before me, huffing air from horse-sized nostrils.
Oh. God. I’m going to die.
Not going to die. It’s part of the test. Remember, you have to see them all. Mac’s words flowed through my mind.
Keep breathing.
“Master Thomas.” Josie, a siren and one of the most beautiful women I’d ever met, rose, her long flowing gown matching the color of her reddish-gold hair. I couldn’t help but stare at her. “You’ve been asked by our current changeling, Miss Maya Mackenzie Thorne, to be her teacher. Have you willingly agreed to take on this duty?” As Josie talked, she stalked forward, shimmering, shifting, the already-pretty woman becoming deadly man-hunting female—according to the legends I’d read.
Vibes ebbed from her like the rocking tide. If she sang, throwing up would be the least of my worries. I’d be dead by sexual self-implosion.
With a rough cough, I gathered my wits. “Yes. I have accepted. Willingly.” Every nerve ending in my body urged me to go to Josie, to let her take me and do with me whatever she wanted. A groan built in my throat, tension straining my limbs, most particularly, my crotch. Not now! The need to shift what grew sent heat to my cheeks even as Mac’s words played through again. Force yourself not to react to any of them. They’ll think you’re stronger than you are since you’re only human.
Only human. Problem number one.
Interview How did you choose the title for the story?
Titles, for me, come automatically. I can’t force a title. I also can’t write a word of a story without a title. Day After was actually titled the moment I started writing After Dark. In fact, all three stories were titled before I wrote a single word of the trilogy!
How did you choose your character’s name?
They, like titles, come to me. I have, on a few occasions changed names, but generally not for a main character. Winn, for example, was Winn from the moment the story started. Now I did had the ‘ford’ part to be Winford and the Richmond as his middle name to make him sound a little extra nerdy.
What about the characters? What three words best describe Suze?
Quirky. Lost. Hilarious. He’s the silliest demon, silliest character I’ve ever written!
Which is your favorite book you’ve written?
So far, of all my books, my favorite is the book I’m writing at that time. Yes, yes, I know that’s a cop out and that I should pick, but my books are my babies. All of them. And as mothers we never openly admit we love one kid more than another.
If you were to write yourself into this book, what kind of role would you play in it?
I would be that proverbial fly on the wall who watches everything. Yup. I’d be like the bugs in the Madagascar movies.
Randomness:
Favourite tv show?
Big Bang Theory
Plotter or panster?
Pantser 100%
Paranormal or dystopia—which do you prefer?
I write them both. Oddly enough, dystopia is becoming a true fav.
Steak: rare or well-done—how do you like your meat?
Charred
Cats or dogs?
Cats!
And finally … in no more than three sentences, tell us why we should read your story? What about it will grip us by the shirt scruffs and drag us along for the ride?
So many people want to be something else, but in the 19th year trilogy, Mac has to be one thing for the rest of her life. And she’s only 18 years old. How in the world will she choose? How would you?
Now for the giveaway! Follow this link to the rafflecoptergiveaway. Also, you can go to Emi's blog gain entry by commenting.
I have never been nominated for anything so when I saw J.A.Belfield's blog post about the nominees. I was so ecstatic to be on the list. *happy dance* :)
So with that being said, I had to answer a few questions. Here goes! My Q's:
1.What is your favourite genre to read? I love Young Adult.
2.You’ve just won a competition and the prize is any pair of shoes in the world of your choice. Describe them. Black leather boots that go midway to my knees with a 4’ heel and a dragon that has rubies for the eyes.
3.Which fictional character would you most like to meet and why? I would like to meet Sean from the Holloway Pack. He has a mysterious, bad boy and soft side to him. The way his physical features are described I could sink into his arms...love!
4.The zombie apocalypse is upon us. Undead beings are beating at your door, slobbering over your freshly-cleaned patio windows, and you’re barricaded into your living room. Sticking to truth, what’s the most useful item you have to help you swing your way out of this somewhat precarious situation? If I had to use something it would be my snowboard that I keep in the coat closet.
5. I’ll never understand why mashed potato is considered a signature dish for a certain chicken restaurant in the US, so if you couldn’t have both, but had to choose, which way would you swing? Chicken or mash? This one is easy! I’m a vegetarian, so I would have to choose mashed potato’s but with garlic and cheese. I cannot stand plain potato's.
6. What is your most favourite accent in the world *cough* British *cough*? You should know my answer to this question. British all the way! I think its sexy!
7.If you could visit any fictional land (created world/situation/etc) from any book of your choosing, which world/situation would choose to play witness to and why?
Darkness Becomes Her by Kelly Keaton. I like worlds that have gods. And Sebastian is not bad either.
8.Slippers or socks? No, they're NOT the same! My vampire bunny slippers...please!
9.Favourite James Bond actor? Why, what’s so special about him, then? Sean Connery of course, he's sexy and has a wonderful accent.
10.Best (in your opinion) special effects for a werewolf film to date? (to the US folk out there, film = movie. :P) Underworld....my favorite! 11.And last but not least: Head into your mobile (mobile = cell phone *snicker*) scroll through your ‘favourites’ list of numbers, find the number that you dial the most ... Who is it? Can I have their number? ‘Cause they must be pretty cool if you ring them all the while, right? Wow, I don’t have any favorites. And I cannot give any numbers out. I do talk to one person everyday but not by phone. We use Skype or Kik. Can you guess who it is?
What d’you mean I can’t have it? Because you already have your number.
Hmmm, okay then, how about: What topic are you planning to write (or blog) about next? I’m going to be blogging about the books, swag and people I met at RT. While I was there I also brought signed books back for my followers. You know what that means, right? GIVEAWAY time!
