Allure Blog Tour: Guest Post & Giveaway!

I'm really excited to welcome author Lea Nolan to the blog today as part of the blog tour for Allure, the second book in the Hoodoo Apprentice series. This tour has been put together by Rockstar Book Tours and you can find the tour page HERE.

I read the first book, Conjure, last year and it was really creepy and good.  So I wanted Lea to write about something to do with the setting.  And I got lucky, I got an amazing guest post about the setting along with photos as well!

Let's welcome Lea to the blog!

Thanks so much for having me, Candace. It’s a great pleasure to be here!

Why the South Carolina Lowcountry is the perfect setting for the Hoodoo Apprentice series

My book, Allure, the second installment in The Hoodoo Apprentice series features three teens who use Gullah hoodoo magic to battle an ancient-soul sucking curse and a hideous monster that will stop at nothing to consume its prey. The series is set on St. Helena Island, South Carolina, one of the Sea Islands that lies between the Atlantic and the US mainland. This area is known as the Lowcountry, and it’s one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever visited.

In the right light, it can also be one of the creepiest which makes it the perfect setting for a series about good and evil, heinous crimes and retribution, and hopefully, with a little luck, salvation.

I don’t feel like I picked the location so much as the location picked me. Early on before I wrote a single word, I knew the ancient curses in the stories were created to punish a band of vicious pirates for a horrible crime. The first step was to figure out where those nasty pirates would most likely be lurking during the early eighteenth-century. A few clicks on the Internet told me that South Carolina was the perfect candidate.

After a bit more digging, I was reminded that the Sea Islands were also the home of the Gullah, descendants of freed slaves who developed their own culture and language. I also learned that some of the Gullah practice a unique brand of plant-based folk magic known as hoodoo.  With this rich history and the area’s amazing atmosphere and distinct features, it was as if the universe had handed me the perfect place to set this series.

I mean seriously, what’s more beautiful and spooky than dripping Spanish moss? The lowcountry is covered with this clingy, spongy stuff and it pops up all over the place in Allure and the first book in the Hoodoo Apprentice series, Conjure. This is a picture of my daughter on a recent scouting trip to St. Helena and surrounding islands. She thinks it’s as cool as I do.

And here’s a photo of one of St. Helena’s many gnarly live oak trees. Can you imagine walking through the woods at night, wondering if one of these things is going to reach over and grab you?

Any location with hundreds of years’ of history is likely to have really old cemeteries. In Allure, a private family graveyard is a huge set piece so you can imagine how happy I was to visit an eighteen-century abandoned churchyard that contained these gems:

These are so old and weathered, you can barely make out the names and carvings on the stones.

Check out these rusted iron motifs. They’re actually flowers, but from a distance they look like smiling skulls. Creep-tastic!

And this empty mid-nineteenth century crypt was equally squeal worthy—in a good way—because a certain crypt plays an important role in Allure, too.

With all these cool elements, I can’t imagine a better place to locate this series!

Thanks so much for having me. I hope you found this introduction to the lowcountry as fascinating as I do. So how about you? What types of places freak you out?

~Lea

Lea Nolan writes the kinds of stories she sought as a teen—smart paranormals with bright heroines, crazy-hot heroes, diabolical plot twists, plus a dose of magic, a draft of romance, and a sprinkle of history. She holds degrees in history and women’s studies concentrating in public policy and has spent nearly twenty years as a health policy analyst and researcher. She lives in Maryland with her heroically supportive husband and three clever children. You can learn more about Lea on her website, on Facebook, Twitter and on Goodreads. 

Worst. Summer. Ever.

Emma Guthrie races to learn the hoodoo magic needed to break The Beaumont Curse before her marked

boyfriend Cooper’s sixteenth birthday. But deep in the South Carolina Lowcountry, dark, mysterious forces encroach, conspiring to separate Emma and Cooper forever. When Cooper starts to change, turning cold and indifferent, Emma discovers that both his heart and body are marked for possession by competing but equally powerful adversaries.

Desperate to save him, Emma and her twin brother, Jack, risk their lives to uncover the source of the black magic that has allured Cooper and holds him in its grip. Faced with the horror of a soul-eating boohag, Emma and Jack must fight to resist its fiendish power to free Cooper long enough to join their strengths and face it together, before it destroys them all.

Find the Book:

Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Indie Bound | iTunes | Goodreads

Grand Prize- A Hoodoo Apprentice Prize Pack US Only

2nd and 3rd prizes of $25 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift cards International.

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Something Wicked Returns is in full swing, be sure to stop by  Rainy Day Ramblings for Laura Bickle: The Outside as well as Curling Up With a Good Book and her feature of Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by April Tucholke. Find the full schedule HERE.

Drain You Tour: Review & Give@way

Today I am featuring Drain You by M. Beth Bloom as part of the book tour.

Go to MundieMoms and Hobbitsies for the launch and list of stops, etc.

Drain You by M. Beth Bloom

Paperback, 400 pages

Published: July 24th, 2012 by Harper Teen

Source: Author

Every night I'd lie there in bed and look out at the hills behind our house, listening. I knew there'd be consequences.

Actions meant reactions. Sunrises meant sunsets. My fear was too permanent, lasting longer than eyeliner, something I wore every day and didn't wash off.

Quinlan Lacey's life is a red carpet of weird fashions, hip bands, random parties, and chilling by the pool with her on-and-off BFF Libby. There's also her boring job (minimum wage), a crushed-out coworker (way too interested), her summer plans (nada), and her parents (totally clueless). Then one night she meets gorgeous James, and Quinn's whole world turns crazy, Technicolor, 3-D, fireworks, whatever.

But with good comes bad and unfortunately, Quinn's new romance brings with it some majorly evil baggage. Now, to make things right, she has to do a lot of things wrong (breaking and entering, kidnapping, lying, you name it).

There's normal, and then there's paranormal, and neither are Quinlan's cup of Diet Coke. Staying sane, cool, in love, and alive isn't so easy breezy.

First of all I want to start out saying that this is definitely not a book for everyone.   When I was pitched the book for review I was told it was sort of a misunderstood book, and I think that's very accurate.  It's probably best to have an idea that it's a different sort of read.  

I don't know that it says in the book that it's the 90's but as I was a teenager in the 90's I thought it was obvious.  Very punk rock grunge feeling.  And I really loved the 90's vibe.  Quinlan dresses and acts the way I wanted to.  But instead of having absent parents like her, mine were ever present and extremely strict.  As I read I just kept thinking that Quin was so me, if I'd lived in a different place and had different parents.  She throws on crazy clothing and I got the feeling that sometimes it was for attention (I mean, who wears a bikini top to work at a video store?) but other times it was just her, it just all fit her personality.  And really, who needs pants? Shirts will suffice.  *wink*  I know I'm talking about her fashion here which totally shouldn't matter, but it did for me.  I loved it!

Quinlan is not the easiest girl to like, but yet I didn't dislike her either.  She's very teenag'y in her angst and her extreme emotions.  While sometimes characters like that annoy me, she didn't really.  She felt authentic.  And maybe it was the 90's vibe making me connect to everything so much better, but I really felt like I 'got her'.  Stupid decisions and all.  

Now this is a paranormal book, but the vampire stuff actually felt more background to me than the major plot.  I was really wrapped up in the every day stuff of Quin's life.  In her romance and friendships and family.  Her parent's are pretty absent, her friendships are really screwed up and when it comes to boys, she really doesn't know what she wants.  Oh she thinks she does, but she doesn't.  Not really.

I'll tell you right now, be careful in what you may be expecting, because you probably aren't going to get that.  This has some crazy case of instant love- but don't worry, it's just a little different than what you think.  There's a heroine that is messed up that makes stupid decisions and there's a love triangle.  Or is there?  See, not everything is clear.  There's not a love triangle, but yet there could be... it's different, I'll just say that.  And the book doesn't have a complete nicely wrapped up conclusion.  I'm a HEA kind of girl, but from the get-go I knew this wasn't a HEA kind of book.  Not that it's a bad ending, but we are kind of left hanging a bit.  If this is a series, that's fine, it's a good ending.  If it's not I think I would say that I would like a bit more resolution to things.  

Overall this was an enjoyable read for me and definitely brought me back to my teen years.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book for review purposes, all opinions expressed are my own and I was not paid or influenced in any way.

Bloom's first short story “Love And Other Catastrophes: A Mix Tape” was featured in Story Quarterly and selected by Dave Eggers for inclusion in The Best American Nonrequired Reading: 2003 (Houghton-Mifflin), which he curates annually. Bloom is the founder of underground dance label 100% Silk (profiled here in LA Weekly) AND the producer/lead singer of the band LA Vampires (written up in The Guardian as well as Pitchfork and Fader). Her next book will be published through HarperTeen.


M. Beth lives on the east side of L.A. where she indulges in raw fooding, magazine subscribing, thrift shopping, Sunday matinee'ing, and ladies book clubbing.

5 Copies of 'Drain You' signed by the Author, -$50 Credit at Wasteland (Quinn's favorite store), -Pages from Quinn's Notebook, -10 'Drain You' Bookmarks handmade by Quinn, -10 90's mixtapes curated and created by Quinn

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Rise of a Rector Tour with Heather McCorkle

The final novel in Heather McCorkle’s channeler series, Rise of a Rector, has released! To celebrate, and in the spirit of October, Aiden from the channeler series is here to tell us about a scary moment in his life. Take it away Aiden!

Aiden: The only girl I’ve ever truly loved was suspended a foot above the ground, my adopted brother’s hand around her neck. The glow of a bonfire outlined them both. It was dangerously close, the flames biting at her back. I screamed for him to put her down, begging the powers that be not to let him throw her in the fire. She fought him, got away, and I attacked him. With both power and fists we fought until we were pulled apart. I’m not sure I would have stopped if someone hadn’t made us.

Check out Heather’s blog for a new tour stop each day until November 2nd. To thank her fans, and future fans, Heather’s historical fantasy novel (a standalone novel that ties into the channeler series) will be free Friday November 2nd and Saturday November 3rd on Amazon. And if Heather gets over 1000 downloads of To Ride A Puca in those two days she’ll give away a $10 Amazon or B&N gift card! So spread the word, get ready to download To Ride A Puca, tell all your friends to download it, and drop by Heather’s blog now to enter to win the gift certificate.

You can find all three novels in the channeler series (The Secret of Spruce Knoll, Channeler’s Choice, and Rise of a Rector) on Amazon and B&N, as well as other retail sites. The channeler novella~and prequel to The Secret of Spruce Knoll~Born of Fire is currently free on Amazon and B&N and you can find a short story about Fane from the series in the FREE anthology, In His eyes. You can add Rise of a Rector to your Goodreads lists at this link.

You can find my review of The Secrets of Spruce Knoll (#1) HERE, and my review of Channeler's Choice (#2) HERE.

The Serpent's Ring Tour Kick Off & Giveaway!

The Serpent's Ring Tour is here! (Find my review HERE.) This is a fantastic book and will be an amazing tour!  There are fantastic giveaway's on many blogs (all open internationally!) and lots of fantastic excerpts with guest posts from things Harry Potter to information about Norse Mythology (an important bit of the book).  I hope you'll drop by the stops to learn more about The Serpent's Ring and H.B. Bolton!  On this stop you'll find the tour list and a giveaway!  And a big thank you to the author for allowing me to arrange this tour with CBB Book Promotions.

The Serpent's Ring by H.B. Bolton
Available in ebook and paperback from online retailers.
220 pages

Evan and Claire Jones are typical teenagers, forced to go with their parents to yet another boring museum ... that is, until something extraordinary happens to make their day a little more than interesting. After following a strange little creature into a closed exhibit, Evan and his older sister, Claire, discover the Serpent’s Ring, one of the magical relics formed from the shattered Mysticus Orb. Purely by accident, they have awakened its powers and opened a portal to Sagaas, land of ancient gods.

Before the siblings can comprehend what has happened, the Serpent’s Ring is wrenched from Evan’s hand by an enormous bird and flown back to Aegir, the Norse god of the sea. Evan and Claire, accompanied by a band of unlikely heroes, must retrieve the Serpent’s Ring before Aegir uses its immense powers to flood all the lands on Earth.

Find H.B. Bolton at her:

Website

Twitter

Facebook 

Find the book on goodreads.

This fabulous tour starts TODAY and here are all the tour stops running through the month.  Many of these have fantastic giveaways of the book which are open internationally.

9/17- Candace's Book Blog Tour Kick Off Post & Giveaway
9/18-   The Non Reluctant Reader with a Guest Post and Giveaway.
9/19-  Shooting Stars Mag with a Guest Post. 
9/20- Reading Angel with a Guest Post.
9/21- Respiring Thoughts with Review & Giveaway
9/23- Big Book Little Book with a Guest Post 
9/24- I Am A Reader, Not a Writer- Interview & Giveaway
9/26- Vy's Blog with a Promotional Post and Giveaway 
9/27- Quinn's Book Nook with a an Author Interview
9/28- Geo Librarian with a Review, Interview and Giveaway
10/1- Lisa's World of Books with a Review and Guest Post
10/2- Beauty and the Bookshelf with an Interview and Giveaway
10/3- The Flyleaf Review with a Review and Giveaway
&
Love. Pray. Read.  with a Review
10/4- The Book Monsters with an Author Interview and a Giveaway
and
Imaginary Reads with a Review and Guest Post
10/5 Lizzy's Dark Fiction with Review, Guest Post and Giveaway
10/8- Buried in Books with a Review 
&
 Love. Pray. Read.  with a book spotlight and Giveaway
10/9- Maji Bookshelf with Review, Interview and Giveaway
10/10- Crystal Reads with an Interview
10/11- A Reading Kabocha with a Review and Giveaway 
10/12- Young at Heart with Giveaway
10/15- My Guilty Obsession with a Review, Guest Post and Giveaway
10/17- Young Readers with a Guest Post and Giveaway
10/18- Leisure Reads with a Review,  Excerpt and Guest Post
10/19- Love of Books with Excerpt 
Not yet known-  Comfort Books with a Review, Interview and Giveaway

Giveaway:
H.B. Bolton is giving away a paperback copy of The Serpent's Ring, a Rune Treasure box and a signed bookmark.
Open Internationally.
Must be 13 or older to enter.
Ends: 10/20/12
To Enter: Fill out the rafflecopter

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Channeler's Choice Tour- Interview with @HeatherMcCorkle

 Today I have Heather McCorkle on the blog as part of her tour for Channeler's Choice (my review will be up soon).  The first book, The Secret of Spruce Knoll was a great start to the series and you can find my review HERE.

Description:

Following the tragic death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knoll to live with an aunt she’s never met. Little does Eren know the entire town of Spruce Knoll is filled with “channelers”—a magical group of people who immigrated to the small Colorado town when they were driven out of their own lands.

Channelers are tied to the fate of the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they—and they alone have the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Soon, Eren learns she not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden, his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad though.

As Eren and Aiden’s relationship develops, so too does a mystery in Spruce Knoll. The town holds many secrets—and many dangers. It soon becomes apparent that the untimely death of Eren’s parents was no accident and that her life might be in danger too. Only time will tell if Eren can embrace her unwanted power and protect the only family she has left.

Without further ado, let's welcome Heather to the blog!

Can you describe your books (either or both) in 10 words for us? 

Legendary warrior or normal teenager, which would you choose?




When writing what is your biggest obstacle to overcome? 
Distractions! I love Twitter, Blogger, and have even been known to get sucked into Facebook on occasion.


In The Secret of Spruce Knoll and Channeler's Choice were there any scenes that you found to be difficult to write? Maybe a subject that you felt a little uncomfortable with and felt like you were stepping out of your comfort zone?
Several! *Spoiler alert!* The fall out from the abuse Aiden undergoes at the hands of his adopted father was heartbreaking to write. And Luke's attempt to rape Eren was really tough to write as well.


What character was the most difficult for you to write?
  In Spruce Knoll that would have to be Luke because he was so torn and yet on some level, part of him was good. In CC that would be Bridget because I just couldn't stand her.


Do you have your stories pretty well outlined before you write, or do you just let the story take over and you go with the flow (to a certain extend, I'm sure)?
Oh yeah, I'm a big outliner. However, I also believe it's important to allow the story to grow organically as I write.


Can you tell us a bit about the covers? (Who made them, why you chose this design, etc.)

How sweet of you to ask. I designed the covers for both the special edition of The Secret Of Spruce Knoll (from Compass Press) and Channeler's Choice. I've always been heavily into graphic design and have just finally taken it to the next level by becoming a cover designer. The Compass Press edition of Spruce Knoll actually has the same model as the version from my first publisher. It was important to me to stay consistent that way. I chose the design for CC based off what felt right for the characters and the story.


What are some of your favorite things to do outside of writing?
Aside from graphic design, I love hiking, snowboarding, horseback riding, martial arts, and pretty much anything outdoors.


If you could travel anywhere in the world where would you choose to go?
Ireland, though I fear I'd have a very hard time leaving it.


If you could have any superpower what would you pick?
Channeling energy of course. ;) Oh you mean a traditional super power! LOL! I'd love to be able to fly.


Do you have a favorite author or maybe a favorite series?
So many it's hard to keep track! I love Saundra Mitchell, Karen Amanda Hooper, Judith Graves, Kitty Keswick, Elana Johnson, Susan Kaye Quinn, and Leah Cypess, Denise Grover Swank, to name only a few!


What do you have planned for future books, can you tell us a bit?
I have an announcement following this tour that I'm SUPER excited about but I can't dish just yet. Let's just say, it's HUGE. What I can dish about though is that the third and final book in the channeler series will be releasing late this year. I also have more exciting plans with Compass Press next year that involve some epic fantasy.

The future HUGE announcement has me all aflutter with excitement!  Can't wait to hear what it is!  Thank you so much for stopping by today Heather and I look forward to reading many more books by you!

About the author:

I am an author of young adult fantasy, in all its many sub-genres. Helping other writers and supporting fabulous authors is my passion. When I'm not writing or surfing my social networking sites, I can be found on the slopes, the hiking trails, or on horseback. As a native Oregonian, I enjoy the outdoors almost as much as the worlds I create on the pages. No need to travel to the Great Northwest though, you can find me here, on my blog four days a week, and Monday night's on Twitter where I co-moderate the #WritersRoad chat with my good friend TS Tate.

Find Heather on her blog, twitter, and goodreads. 

Heather has a huge giveaway going on on her blog.  She's giving away 6 books and some great swag so be sure to check it out!

Weaving a Message in Your Writing by Meredith Zeitlin

Today I have Meredith Zeitlin on the blog.  She's the author of the brilliant young adult contemporary, Freshman Year and Other Unnatural Disasters.  This is one of the few books that as soon as I finished I wanted to turn it over and start reading it all over again.  It's fun, hilarious and has one of the best characters I've ever read about.  Please be sure to check out my review, which I posted yesterday HERE.

About the book:

Kelsey Finkelstein is fourteen and FRUSTRATED. Every time she tries to live up to her awesome potential, her plans are foiled – by her impossible parents, her annoying little sister, and life in general. But with her first day of high school coming up, Kelsey is positive that things are going to change. Enlisting the help of her three best friends — sweet and quiet Em, theatrical Cass, and wild JoJo — Kelsey gets ready to rebrand herself and make the kind of mark she knows is her destiny.

Things start out great - her arch-nemesis has moved across the country, giving Kelsey the perfect opportunity to stand out on the soccer team and finally catch the eye of her long-time crush. But soon enough, an evil junior’s thirst for revenge, a mysterious photographer, and a series of other catastrophes make it clear that just because KELSEY has a plan for greatness… it doesn’t mean the rest of the world is in on it.

Kelsey’s hilarious commentary throughout her disastrous freshman year will have you laughing out loud—while being thankful that you’re not in her shoes, of course…

Weaving a Message in Your Writing

I'll be honest: I didn't think at all about weaving a specific message into my book. Anytime I've consciously tried to do that, the story – or article, or whatever – has ended up seeming contrived and preachy. (Shockingly, no one really seems to be into that stuff. Hmm.) I think the work that's most successful has messages that end up in there by accident... messages that boldly sneak in when the author isn't paying attention.

When I set out to write Freshman Year... I mainly wanted to create characters that were more relatable than those I'd seen recently in YA books. Girls who weren't necessarily polished, or uber-fashionable, or the prettiest in school, or rich... girls who were, well, normal.

I felt like there was a major dearth of normal girls having normal experiences, and instead a whole lot of battles with supernatural creatures in suburban backyards and six-figure shopping sprees at Bergdorf Goodman's. Sometimes simultaneously. Which is fine, and even awesome... but certainly not normal fourteen-year-old behavior.

At least, it wasn't when I was fourteen. Or thirty. (But I digress.)

I think the message that snuck up on me – which I was happy to discover, and one I'm really passionate about sharing – is that it's okay, and even fantastic and funny and exciting (though sometimes exhausting and excruciating), to just be yourself. And that it's okay to screw up and not be perfect – all the time, or even EVER. It's something I have to remind myself every day, and something I treasured reading between the lines of my favorite YA books growing up. Not the world's most original message, to be sure, but such an important one. (It takes Kelsey awhile to get it, to be sure.) And I think what makes that message successful (I hope!) is that readers will be too caught up in Kelsey's and her friends' adventures to wonder what I'm REALLY trying to tell them about, like, life and stuff.

Ultimately, my sage advice on the matter would have to be: don't think about the message too much. If you have one, it'll come through your characters and what happens to them over the course of your story. THAT'S the part to focus on – the world you're creating.

You might even be surprised to find out what your message is – maybe it's totally different than what you initially started out thinking it would be. And different readers might have wildly varied opinions about it. Which, in my opinion, anyway, is how you know you've succeeded.

What do YOU think?

About the Author: 
Meredith Zeitlin is a writer and voiceover artist who lives in Brooklyn with two adorable feline roommates. She also writes a column for Ladygunn Magazine, changes her hair color every few months, and has many fancy pairs of spectacles. In case you’re wondering whether any of Kelsey’s experiences are based on Meredith’s own, the answer is NO WAY. When she was fourteen, Meredith looked and behaved perfectly at all times, was never in a single embarrassing situation, and always rode to school on her very own unicorn.

Author's Websites:
Meredith Zeitlin’s Twitter:
@zeitlingeist

Meredith Zeitlin’s Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/FRESHMANYEARBOOK

Meredith Zeitlin’s website:
www.kelseyfinkelstein.com

Meredith Zeitlin’s blog:
http://www.kelseyfinkelstein.com


FRESHMAN YEAR AND OTHER UNNATURAL DISASTERS by Meredith Zeitlin from Anne Walls on Vimeo.

Tour: The Secret of Spruce Knoll by Heather McCorkle & Giveaway Info!

A special edition of Heather McCorkle’s The Secret Of Spruce Knoll is releasing from Compass Press this month and she’s doing a special tour to go along with it. The special part, a percentage of the proceeds from every special edition sold (in every format) between its release date and 12-12-2012, will go toward Heather’s favorite charity that protects endangered species. Her goal is to make at least $10,000 for the charity.

Of course there are prizes during the tour which goes from December 1st through the 17th. Prizes include a symbolic endangered species adoption of the winner’s choice (a $50 donation by Heather to the charity for the endangered species of the winner’s choice, and cute stuffed animal for the winner!), signed copies of her novels and great swag. For full details, and to enter, go here.

For the tour Heather has asked each blog host to pick their favorite endangered species and she will tell us a fun or interesting fact about that animal. I picked the orca cause they've long been a favorite of mine.

Despite their nickname of killer whale, orcas are actually the largest of the dolphin family. They have to consume 5% of their body weight in food a day. It may not sound like a lot but when you consider that they weigh several tons, that's a lot of food. Declining food source is one of the main reasons they are threatened.

Buy links for the books:
Amazon
Barnes & Noble


I haven't yet had a chance to read the book because of Post Office issues but it's on it's way to me and I'm very excited to read it and share my thoughts with all of you!

Following the tragic death of her parents, Eren Donovan moves to Spruce Knoll to live with an aunt she’s never met. Little does Eren know the entire town of Spruce Knoll is filled with “channelers”—a magical group of people who immigrated to the small Colorado town when they were driven out of their own lands.

Channelers are tied to the fate of the world. As the world slowly dies, so do they—and they alone have the power to stop the destruction of Earth. Soon, Eren learns she not only lives among them, but she is one. When she meets local boy Aiden, his charm convinces her that being a channeler may not be all bad though.

As Eren and Aiden’s relationship develops, so too does a mystery in Spruce Knoll. The town holds many secrets—and many dangers. It soon becomes apparent that the untimely death of Eren’s parents was no accident and that her life might be in danger too. Only time will tell if Eren can embrace her unwanted power and protect the only family she has left.

Guest Post With Jennifer T. Alli {Elemental Passions}

Blog Guest post – Interview with a vampire

Morning guys! Thanks for having me. This is my first book blog tour so you’ll have to excuse me if I make any mistakes. But I’m sure all of you people are quite lovely. Anyway, enough with my ramblings.

I suppose I should tell you a little about me. My name’s Jennifer T. Alli, feel free to call me Jen J. I write paranormal romance novels and am getting quite prolific. Not anywhere near as many as Kresley Cole or Gena Showalter who I adore, but still…I have 5 books under my belt and a sixth on the way. I realized the other day that I’ve written over half a million words and I think anyone would agree that’s a lot.

I think that’s probably quite enough from me we’re here to have an interview with a vampire not listen to my ramblings. If you’ve not read anything in my Elemental Passions series then I suppose I should introduce you to Sara. This little spitfire always amazes me. She’s a little over 5ft 4 and yet somehow manages to keep the world’s most powerful vampire in check. I don’t know how she does it but there’s a glow in her bright blue eyes that let’s me know she’s not to be underestimated. Still, she was easier to pin down for this interview than Lucian ever was so let’s get started.

JTA: “Evening Sara, how are you tonight?”

Sara: “I’m good. But it is night time so I think Lucian is going to start looking for me soon. Why couldn’t we have done this during the day?”

JTA: “I was really busy. It couldn’t be helped. Is this going to be a problem?”

Sara: “Well it’s not a problem for me but I know that you have issues with Lucian. It can’t be helped. He doesn’t really do much to make people like him. He has a reputation as a bad arse for a reason.”

JTA: “You don’t need to remind me. I interviewed him before. I’m not going to be making that mistake any time soon. He’s rude.”

Sara: “I can’t really argue with you there. When I first met him he left me unconscious in the street even though he knew I was his bride.”

JTA: “And yet you managed to forgive him?”

Sara: “His war is important to him and he thought he couldn’t multi task. Have a bride and win his war. In his defence he had been fighting his war for hundreds of years and had only seen me for a few seconds…and I wasn’t exactly at my best. I thought I was going to burn a city down and was just reaching out blindly for someone to help me. It was just fate that it was Lucian that found me. If he hadn’t I’d be dead by now.”

JTA: “Dead? Why?”

Sara: “I was cursed. I had, well I technically still have, a spirit inside me that wanted to burn the world to ashes. She’s not so bad now. She still has her moments where she just wants to burn things for no particular reason but I’ve got her under control now. When I first met Lucian control was only something I could dream about. Touching Lucian was the only thing that brought her into line.”

JTA: “Why exactly would you want to touch him? He seems more inclined to bite your hand off than let someone hug him.”

Sara: “You seem to be forgetting the fact that Lucian is also HOT! He might be difficult but he makes my blood sing. Plus, it’s fun to tease him. When I craft swords I have to wear as little as I can and whenever I walked around outside of my forge wearing those clothes he looked like he was going to have a heart attack…and kill everyone that laid eyes on me. I didn’t even know I was his bride but I was determined that he was going to be mine. I knew he wanted us to be together but like I said he’s stubborn…so he needed some help. I was more than happy to give it.”

JTA: “I’ve never had a vampire bite me. Can you tell us what it feels like?”

Sara: “It’s amazing! He always tells me that a bite between a vampire and his bride is different and it had better be because the things I feel when he bites me…Let’s just say it’s not something I’d want him to do in public. After that first bite I couldn’t believe he’d kept it from me for so long.”

JTA: “He didn’t bite you as soon as you met him?”

Sara: *shakes her head* “When a vampire bites their bride it links their strength to their bride. He was so intent on winning his war that he thought if he bit me that he’d be giving himself a weakness. One that he couldn’t afford to have.”

JTA: “So you’re his weakness?”

Sara: “I’d love for someone to try and test that theory. People look at me and they think I can’t look out for myself. They think I need protecting but I’m very good at looking after myself. I don’t like killing people but I’ve done it before and even if I don’t kill people, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. Between my skill with swords and Seraphina, I’m not someone you want to make an enemy.”

JTA: “Seraphina?”

Sara: “The spirit of fire. She makes me the strongest fire elemental alive. She acts like a spoilt child most of the time but when it comes to protecting what we care about, she’s a star.”

JTA: “If you had to describe Lucian in a word, what would it be?”

Sara: “Determined. When he’s decided that he wants to do something nothing is going to change his mind and he’s got a will of iron. If he wants something you can believe he’s going to get it.”

Lucian: “That is true and right now I want my bride.”

JTA: “What are you doing here?”

Lucian: “I woke and found that Sara was missing, I came looking for her and am glad that I did. Whenever I leave you by yourself you always attract some sort of trouble. I’m just glad it’s only one person I have to get rid of. You’re getting much better. I don’t have to start any wars to get you back today. That’s a definite improvement. There are more important things she could be doing than talking to you.”

JTA: “Like what?”

Lucian: “She could be in our bed and out of those ridiculous sword crafting clothes. Come Sara, let’s go.”

JTA: “Wait a minute! I haven’t finished.”

Lucian: “You have now.”

JTA: “Just one more question and then you can go.”

Lucian: “Ask your question?”

JTA: “Are you always so arrogant? It’s not going to get you anywhere you know.”

Lucian: “That’s where you’re wrong. It gets me whatever I want. Now let’s go.”

JTA: “That wasn’t my question!”

Lucian: “You said one more question, you asked it. We’ve fulfilled our agreement, we’re leaving.”

Sara: “Lucian, calm down. Let her ask her question.”

Lucian: “Sara.”

Sara: “Yes?”

Lucian: *groans* “Fine ask your question.”

JTA: “What would you say the best thing about being a bride to a vampire is?”

Sara: “That’s an easy one! I get to spend eternity with Lucian.”

Lucian: “Are we done?”

JTA: “Yes, we’re done. You can go.” *Waits until they’re both gone* “I think I’d rather be dead than tied to that man for all eternity…to each her own I suppose.”

So that’s enough from me for the moment. I’ve loved being here and hope you’ve enjoyed having me. I do love hearing from readers so if you ever want to get in touch then just drop me a line.

I’m on: Facebook, twitter, goodreads and I have a blog too!

Though I have to admit it’s probably easiest to catch me on my blog as I get alerts for it ;)

If you want to check out any of the books in the Elemental Passions series then they’re available here:

Seared by Desire

Rocked by Passion

Whirlwind of Pleasure

The Iron Knight Book Tour: Q&A with Julie Kagawa

Today I am super excited to have Julie Kagawa on for a Q&A.  This is just one stop on The Iron Knight book tour.  You can find my review of this fabulous book as well as an excerpt HERE.  I'm a huge fan of this series and if you haven't started it yet, what are you waiting for?!  Get on that right away!  But for now let's welcome Julie to the blog!


You’ve written a few novellas in the series. Which do you find harder to write, the short stories or the full novels and why?
They’re both challenging for different reasons. The full novels, by virtue of their length, take a lot of time to plan out, plot, and write. But strangely, it’s the lack of length in a short story that makes it harder to write; you don’t have a lot of time to get what you need done. I don’t really have a favorite of the two, though the novellas are a little less work overall.


You are an admitted gamer. If approached, would you prefer a movie version or a gaming version of your Iron Fey series?
As much as I love gaming, I would have to say movie. (Because if the movie is a success they’ll make a game anyway, right?)


When writing about the Fey, there are a lot of tricks and loopholes involved, especially where Grimalkin is concerned. How do you manage to keep them all straight?
Thankfully, my husband is very good at catching inconsistencies. He is the first to read the finished book, and will always tell me if something doesn’t work or make sense. (He’s also threatened to rip the semi-colon key off the keyboard, for all the semi-colons he’s had to take out, lol!)


Do you find it harder to write battle scenes or love scenes?
Oh, love scenes, definitely. I have such a hard time with romance, believe it or not. Give me a good sword fight or bloody, violent battle any day.

Thanks so much for stopping by Julie!  Now this is where I once again put in my plea, I want Puck to have his own story!  He deserves it after all he went through!