Second Book in the Christian Romantic Fantasy Series

Micah by Dakota Shepherd is now available at Amazon for 2.99. The second book in the Angelic Redemption series follows the fallen angels as they work to reunite Lila's pack and free their lost leader, Micah. 

The first book The Fallen is now .99.

Two more Angelic Redemption novels are expected in 2013. Keep an eye out for Scattered in October and Wounded Soul in December.

Follow Dakota at her blog.

Interview with author Anne Whitney

Anne Whitney is a new indie author who recently published The Art of Love. The New Adult romance has already enchanted readers. Let's learn more about Anne and her writing...

Q: How long have you been writing and when did you decide to indie publish? What was the biggest hurdle in going it alone?

A: I’ve been writing silly little stories for as long as I can remember. The only problem was I never really finished any of them. I’m a bit of a flake plus I had no idea how to actually write a book. You think it’s really easy when you start but suddenly you’re panicking and wondering why the hell you let yourself get into this mess. With this story, I just had an urge to give it a real ending and I pushed myself until it happened. I’ve been fascinated with the rise of self-publishing lately and how it’s opened up reading and writing for so many people. I wanted to get involved. Luckily, I have an amazing friend/publicist who steered me in the right direction and got me through this process. She deserves the Nobel Prize for Patience!

Q: In June, you published your first novel The Art of Love. Can you explain the idea behind the romance? Where did the inspiration come from?

A: I’m a huge geek for modern art and performance art. I’m totally fascinated by it. One night I was watching a documentary called “Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present”, which is about one of my favourite artists, the grandmother of performance art. I was totally obsessed with the film and Abramovic’s relationship with her ex-partner and fellow artist Ulay. I wondered what kind of person you had to be to dedicate yourself to the kind of art she does (which includes slicing pentagrams onto her stomach, stabbing at her fingers with knives and standing naked in public). I also wondered what kind of person would fall in love with an artist like that, so I wrote one. I also wanted a romance that wasn’t instant love, one where the heroine had her own struggles to deal with and one where love and lust aren’t the same thing. They’re both awesome but different!

Q: Marina is the heroine in The Art of Love. Can you tell us about her?

A: Marina is messed up and shy, but stronger than she, or anyone else, thinks she is. After a lifetime of abuse and neglect from her dad, she decides one day that enough is enough and she runs away to the one city where she feels she can completely lose herself, New York. Of course, it doesn’t work that way.

Q: The hero is a playboy named Fitz. What makes his character tick?

A: Fitz is that classic artistic mix of internalized parental issues, creative angst, irresistible charm, genuine sweetness and just enough ego to pull off public nudity and call it art. He’s been described as a bad boy but I don’t think he really is. He’s a touch self-absorbed and doesn’t entirely understand how privileged he is, but he loves the people in his life and when he meets Marina, he senses a kindred spirit who he might have more in common with than he cares to admit. I wanted a hero who was charming and far from perfect, because that’s just boring.

Q: What drew you to romance as a genre? Do you plan to branch out to other genres as your career progresses?

A: I love romance and laugh in the face of anyone who sneers at it. It is ridiculously hard to write a great and believable romance novel. Human relationships are tough to capture and even though my book is kinda ridiculous at points with its jumps in plot, I wanted the evolution of Fitz & Marina’s romance to feel authentic. Marina has no idea if she’s even capable of loving someone, much less falling hard and fast after only a couple of weeks. I would love to write in other genres, especially sci-fi, which I’m a total nerd for. I also have a few ideas for other genres, including a psychological thriller in the vein of Gone Girl with a touch of Bond. But my lips are sealed on that front for now!

Q: How do you come up with the names for your characters?

A: Marina was named after Marina Abramovic so that one was pretty easy. For Fitz, I needed something that screamed “privilege” but wasn’t too ridiculous (his full name, however, is totally over the top posh boy because it was just too good to resist!) Names are hard for me. They’re like titles in that I always struggle to find something that fits. Sometimes I ask a friend for help. With Derek, I just stuck that name there as a place-filler until I could come up with something better and it stuck!

Q: Chicken or the egg question. Do you create a character and build around him/her? Or do you imagine a concept and create characters which fit the idea?

A: It depends on the story. For The Art of Love, the concept came first, but with other stuff, I get an image in my head of a certain character and I just have to know what happens to them. I think creating characters is my favourite part of writing.

Q: How do you avoid writing a Mary Sue or Marty Stu when most writers can’t help falling desperately in love with their creations?

A: Oh man, we all struggle with that one! I can safely say that, while the main four characters do share a couple of characteristics with me, I am nothing like my heroine. It’s all about making sure she’s a well-rounded human being, one who is relatable but imperfect and whose decisions make sense, even when they frustrate me or the reader. I’m attached to Marina and Fitz and all my characters, but they’re not my babies. If I can’t control my characters then I’m not doing my job properly.

Q: Do you use anything to inspire you while you’re writing? Music, visual aids, etc? Also have you found ideas come to you more freely in particular places or at certain times of the day?

A: I’m a total geek for research. It’s helpful to have such stuff nearby for certain scenes. Since modern art features prominently in the story, I had an opportunity to go nuts and fuel my art love! There are a few references to modern art pieces and artists in the book. If you spot them, I’ll give you a prize! I can’t write to silence. I need music and I’m obsessed with making playlists for each book (yep, I’m one of those writers!) I actually have a playlist for The Art of Love here, which is made up of music that fits the mood of the story, or stuff I could imagine the characters listening to. When your cast includes a nude performance artist and a drag queen, that list can get pretty eclectic!

Q: When an idea hits you, do you start writing immediately or plot it out first?

A: I like to have at least a vague plot in mind – I also need an ending set out, otherwise it’ll just drag on and go off the rails – but I do like to give myself some wriggle room in case the story spontaneously takes a new turn.

Q: When you read less than fawning reviews, how do you know when to use the critique to improve your future writing and when do you chalk up the criticism as different strokes for different folks?

A: I don’t read all my reviews because I just don’t have the time for it but I try to take something from every review, be it good or bad. Everyone has their own opinion but no one view renders another null and void. I’m keen to grow as a writer and need reviews to help me. Anyone who took the time to buy my book, read it and put their thoughts into a review deserves my respect, even if they loathed every word I wrote. I have no time for those writers who dismiss all forms of criticism as the words of “bitter haters”. No, not haters, just readers, and if they were respectful of you then you owe them your respect. There’s a world of difference between bad reviews and bullying.

Q: I’ve read criticism from particular bloggers (Fangs for the Fantasy being one) about the lack of people of color and different sexual orientations in fiction. Do you take this lack of diversity into consideration when creating plots and characters?

A: As a white author, I am very aware of how privileged I am, and I think it’s hugely important to diversify your fiction. I would be a terrible writer if I wrote a story set in New York and populated it with nothing but straight white people. Fitz’s brother is gay, their best friend is half-Cuban and half-black, and I tried to diversify the side characters as much as possible. I didn’t want their race or sexual orientation to be their sole characteristic, and I didn’t want to resort to tokenism. It’s something that’s always in my mind when I write. If your stories don’t reflect the world in which we live in, even if they’re high fantasy or sci-fi, then there’s a big problem there.

Q: Do word counts mean anything to you? Do you find your books top out at around the same lengths?

A: I try to avoid worrying about my overall word count – I’d rather have quality over quantity – but I do try to keep to a daily word target when writing. My contemporary stuff tends to all come in at roughly the same length. One day I would love to go all out Victor Hugo and write a brick of a novel that you could use to prop your door open on hot days, but for now, I’m just all about the story and not the length.

Q: How big a deal is writer’s block for you and what do you do to shake it off?

A: I’m just getting over a huge bout of block, right in the middle of two projects which I’m writing simultaneously. It sucks! I try not to let myself go too crazy when in the funk of block because then it just becomes a vicious circle. My usual tactic is to walk away from the manuscript and just immerse myself in something that makes me happy, usually DVD boxsets of TV shows (I’m currently going through Game of Thrones). I know in the back of my head that the block will eventually go away. Once it’s gone, I just get back in the saddle.

Q: What books did you enjoy most in 2012?

A: Gone Girl basically consumed my soul. Seriously, I forced about half of my family and co-workers to read that book just so I could have someone to talk about it with! I didn’t read it until this year but a 2012 release I also loved was Easy by Tammara Webber.

Q: What trends do you hope die in 2013? Are there any you hope take off?

A: I’d like to see more non-contemporary romance NA take off (yeah yeah, I know, rich coming from someone who writes contemporary romance NA). New Adult’s still so shiny and new, and we’re all excitedly keeping up with the trends. I think once this strange creature that came out of nowhere settles down a bit, we’ll see some more risks being taken. Everyone has trends, tropes and elements they dislike but if they work for other readers then I can’t judge much. As well as diversity in the work itself, I hope we see more diversity in the discussion of the work. We as authors should be listening to our readers, even the ones who hate our work, because sometimes one person will spot something a hundred others didn’t and their view is just as important.

Q: What are you plans for 2013 as an indie writer?

A: I’m hoping to publish some more stories, including a sequel to The Art of Love and a novella centred on Derek and his life as well as a new book, which I’m currently billing as a New Adult version of Abbi Glines meets Two Broke Girls (but without the tacky racism of the latter). I’m also hoping to write something sci-fi since that’s my real love. Fingers crossed!

Find The Art of Love at Amazon and Smashwords.

Follow Anne at her blog, Twitter, and Goodreads.
 

Damaged and the Knight Now Available!

Now on sale at Amazon, the romance Damaged and the Knight by Bijou Hunter.

Summary
After he saves her from certain death, Tawny Smith falls for her knight in shining armor.

Judd O'Keefe isn't an easy man to love. As an enforcer for the Johansson family business, he hides his heart behind cold walls built from a lifetime of pain. Yet, his angel Tawny awakens a desire in Judd more powerful than he ever imagined possible.

Can a man with blood on his hands heal the damaged girl of his dreams?

Damaged and the Knight is the second book in the Damaged series. It is a full length novel with a HEA. Damaged and the Outlaw is scheduled for release in early autumn.

***Warning: This novel contains scenes of a sexual nature, violent themes, and coarse language. It is intended for mature readers.***