Teaser from S.N. Garza's Upcoming Romance

New Release by Romance Author Laramie Briscoe

The newest installment in Laramie Briscoe's biker romance series is now available at Amazon.

Book Summary

Sister
Lone survivor
Scared, but tough

Christine Stone has lived through a lot since the day she was born. Her older brother left her without a backwards glance, leaving her with parents who wanted to use her to better themselves in their cult-like religious sect.

Days after legally becoming an adult, she’s given to an older man for an arranged marriage that will change her life forever. Escape is the only way her life can be saved. When she succeeds and sets out to make a new life for herself, she meets Travis Steel — communications and security officer for the Heaven Hill MC.

Loner
Protector of secrets
Level-headed and steady

Travis Steele has been on the periphery of the Heaven Hill MC for a long time. Quiet, he takes his job seriously. He is the protector of the group, in charge with keeping family and friends safe.

When one meeting with the sister of his friend turns into more, he struggles with where to draw the line. She needs a friend, and Travis prides himself in being what other people need, often sacrificing himself for others. As he discovers the life that Christine has been forced to live, it opens up old wounds, new wounds, and secrets that everyone thought long buried.

Turning a chance meeting into love is hard, especially when everyone has a dirty little secret.

Teaser from Laramie Briscoe's Upcoming Romance

New Release from Romance Author Chantal Fernando

Spin My Love by Chantal Fernando is now available at Amazon. Get your copy of the standalone romance today.

Book Summary
World renowned DJ Tane Miller returns to his hometown after leaving when he was eighteen and never looking back. When he runs into his beloved childhood friend Giselle, his life takes a turn he could never have anticipated.

 Giselle Reece has been in love with Tane ever since she can remember. After learning her lesson the hard way, she realizes that Tane isn’t the man she once thought he was. When he re-enters her life, desperate to make amends, Giselle needs to decide whether she can let down her guard and forgive the man she once adored, or is it time to finally let go?

Tane must now fight for what he wants, even though he isn’t sure he deserves it. The only question is, will it be enough? Or is it too late for him to redeem himself?

 **This is a stand alone novel**

New Romance by Debut Author Stella Hunter

The Strong One is the first release by a hot new indie author. Hurry up and grab Stella Hunter's debut romance for free on Amazon.

Book Summary
David Nobel has lusted over his sister’s friend Megan Scott since high school. Back then, she rejected the advances of the scrawny boy that he was. Now, he is a popular personal trainer and self-defense coach, which he credits to all the time spent in the gym after that fateful rejection. When David finds a scared, scarred Megan hiding out from her brutal ex-husband at his sister’s house, he must find a way to convince her just how strong she truly is—before his sister, Bethany, and her family get caught in the crossfire.

As David teaches Megan self-defense, his long-forgotten feelings return in force. The long sessions of close contact teach them both how to trust again. As Megan slowly takes back her life, David is left wondering if she’ll find any room in it for him.

With Megan’s ex-husband stalking her every move, David must show her that love is not a weakness, it is what makes her strong.

Interview with Romance Author Sera Bright

New Cover

Sera Bright is a new indie author of See Through Me. The romance novel was published in May 2014 and is the first of two planned for this year. Let's learn more about Sera and her writing...

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

Sera: I only started writing last year. See Through Me is my first novel ever. It was quite a steep learning curve, but I put time aside each day to work on my craft and just kept going. The biggest hurdle, though, was the constant self-doubt. Am I wasting my time? Is anyone going to want to read this? Etc. But it’s something you have to push aside and try to ignore. (I know, easier said than done.)

Angie: You published See Through Me in early May. Can you explain the idea behind the book? Where did the inspiration come from?

Sera: I was inspired by watching TV shows with all these interesting anti-heroes and villains, and began thinking about what would it be like if your parents were those characters? How would you view the world and relationships? What kind of disasters would happen in your life because of their choices? A story developed in my head about two kids growing up in that dysfunction and I ran with it.

Angie: See Through Me is the first of two books in the Lose My Senses series. When book two will be released?

Sera: Only Your Touch will be released in early August.

Angie: Katie is the heroine in See Through Me. What can you share with us about the character?

Sera: Katie returns to her hometown after taking the year off from college. She doesn’t want to be there. In fact, she doesn’t know what she wants at all out of life. She’s pretty lost as a character. Her one anchor was the boy next door, Ash. They had a brief relationship last summer, and he’s back in town looking for her.

Angie: Ash is the hero of the book and described as “tall, dark, and demanding answers.” What more can you tell us about his character?

Sera: Ash is sweet but intense. He’s struggling with his own issues. Katie was also his anchor to keep him grounded. But unlike her, he’s absolutely certain about what he wants out of life. He wants to be an artist and he wants Katie.

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

Sera: Romance was a natural fit because I’ve always read romance. I snuck my mom’s bodice rippers as a kid. I like the push and pull of the relationships. The character growth that has to come before they can get their happily ever after. How they have to earn the ‘I love you’ to make it believable to a reader. And, of course, the sexual tension. I don’t exactly believe in fade to black. Lol.

I do want to branch out, though. I can see NA going in exciting directions with fantasy and paranormal, and I’m eager to try some different projects out that I’m plotting.

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

Sera: *laughs* I was writing and realized I had to name these people and pulled their names out of thin air, assuming I could change it later. When later came, I realized that it was impossible to change their names since in my head they had developed as real people and those were now their names.

Angie: 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?

Sera: What I did was just write and let the characters, just to see what would happen. Then I would have to go back and think about the ‘why’ that was behind what they were doing and how it related to their character. It was an enlightening process, but also time consuming. I don’t know if I’ll do it that way again, to be honest.

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

Sera: My main characters are deeply flawed, both because of their past and personality traits. For instance, Katie lies constantly. I am more drawn to those type of characters than anything else. A story wouldn’t be any fun if everyone made all the right decisions.

But, on the other hand, I may have fallen a little too in love with them because I can’t shake the feeling I held back in See Through Me. I didn’t truly let enough awful things happen to them. I’m working through that right now as I finish Only Your Touch. Sad to say, bad things are going to happen in the sequel because what that’s what the story demands.

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

Sera: Ideas just sort of appear in my head and I scribble it on the nearest piece of paper. My husband knows not to throw any pieces of scrap paper out at this point. I do listen to music as I write, and go through different phases. Right now it’s the Divergent movie score.

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

Sera: Write immediately, figure out where it goes and why later

Angie: 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?

Sera: I recently dealt with this issue. On my early reviews, almost half of the readers expressed frustration about too many unresolved questions at the end. I do listen and appreciate all reviews, so I went ahead and added the next scene in the storyline before publishing. It did create a cliffhanger, but the response has been very positive about the changes.

Angie: 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?

Sera: *groans* I struggle with this. I want to be more diverse with my characters, but I don’t want to make it their whole identity, either. I personally dislike books that use someone’s disability or sexual orientation as their main defining feature. As a new writer, one of my goals is to work on developing more complex characterization that allows for sensitive, realistic portrayal of diverse characters.

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

Sera: See Through Me is my first official completed novel at 76K words, so I don’t have a large sample to draw from. I do know the sequel is likely going to be 50% longer, around 100-120K words.

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

Sera: I use Write or Die and force myself to write something, anything. It may be awful but at least there are words on the page

And I’m really more in my element when I’m revising. I actually like that part! I like expanding on ideas, mulling over word choice and phrases But none of that can happen until there are words on the page, so I do fast drafts of almost all my scenes using Write or Die.

Angie: What books did you enjoy most in 2013?

Sera: Broken by Megan Hart. Captive in the Dark by CJ Roberts. Strings by Kendall Grey. Life After Death by Damien Echols.

Angie: What trends do you hope die in 2014? Are there any you hope take off?

Sera: Less dystopian, werewolves, and vampires. More unique takes on paranormal and fantasy, especially in the New Adult category. And interesting sci-fi!

Angie: What are you plans for 2014 as an indie writer?

Sera: Getting Only Your Touch ready for release is my immediate goal right now. But I have a stand-alone NA contemporary romance, a fantasy NA romance, and an erotic urban fantasy serial all plotted out and outlined. (Those scraps of paper come in handy!) I work on different projects when I need to recharge a bit.

******

Find See Through Me at Amazon, B&N, and Kobo.

Follow Sera at her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

New Release by Romance Author Amity Cross

Undeniable: Unexpected#4 by Amity Cross is now available at Amazon.

Book Summary

Undeniable is a companion novella to the Unexpected Trilogy and can be read as a stand alone.

One part. One story. One Undeniable connection.

**************
Joe Fox is a floater. He's a coaster on the coffee table of life.

He rides the wave spread by the juggernaut of rock 'n' roll outfit, Affliction, claiming what he wants and sticking to his limits. On the outside he is the calm inside the hurricane. Underneath the surface he's struggling against his own brewing category five.

When Affliction goes on a long awaited hiatus, he finds himself alone in more ways than one. What's a man to do when he's got plenty to forget and all the time in the world to do it in?

Crash into someone beautiful and wild, that's what.

Someone so wild that they might be able to calm the storm within and awaken something undeniable...

WARNING: This book is an Erotic Romance. That means a LOT of descriptive sex and F-bombs.

It's approx. 120 print pages long.

One part. No cliffhangers.

Due to popular reader demand... Unbearable #5 (Sasha's story) is coming in July...

New Release by Romance Author Emilia Winters

Electric is the newest sizzler by Emilia Winters. Get it at Amazon today!

Book Summary

Release week price: $2.99! Price returns to $3.99 on June 7th!

He made her feel electric. Like volts of energy fizzled through her veins, racing, constantly stimulating. It was intoxicating and thrilling. And for the first time in her life, she felt truly alive.

Luke Branford.

Notorious womanizer.

Shameless flirt.

Heir to his family’s multi-million dollar business.

His motto? No love, no relationships. Just pure, carnal sex…no strings-attached.

When prim and efficient Kate Kennedy is hired on as Luke's temporary assistant, her no-nonsense attitude and blatant dismissal of his advances sparks a challenge he simply can’t resist. But Luke has demons of his own and a tragedy that happened years ago continues to haunt him. Once lines are crossed and rules are broken, will past secrets keep them apart…or bind them closer together?

New Release by S.N. Garza

Bound by S.N. Garza is now available at Amazon. Get your copy of the romance today.


Book Summary
Courtland spent his childhood watching his mother turn tricks and bow to her abusive pimp. It taught him a lot about relationships and how never to get involved in one. When he meets sweet Adelaide, his life is forever changed. Her gentle personality has his thinking maybe his vow to never commit is misplaced. Until she disappears out of his life.

Adelaide knew the only way to escape the darkness she’s lived her life in, is to go back to the one place that’s haunted her dreams. Home. Reuniting with Courtland is the last thing on her mind until she becomes helpless to his every kiss. Hopeless to his ever touch. And no matter how far she tries to run, her heart is irrevocably bound to him.

Interview with author Trevor Tomlin

Trevor Tomlin is the cool indie author behind the new urban fantasy novel Reflection. He talked to Indie Angie about his new book and the plans for the future...

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

Trevor: I’ve been writing for about five years now. I like the idea of indie publishing because of the control it offers. I can write whatever I want to write, choose my own cover and set my own price. However, it also means I have to do all my own marketing. And there lies the biggest hurdle – the one I always trip over.

Angie: In Feb 2014, you published Reflection. Can you explain the idea behind the book? Where did the inspiration come from?

Trevor: Well, I’ve always been fascinated by the idea of clairvoyance. And I thought, what better vessel for seeing your own future than a mirror? It just made sense.

Angie: Reflection is your first urban fantasy novel. Do you plan to write more?

Trevor: Another UF story? Possibly. I want to branch out into some other types of Fantasy plots first, though.

Angie: Ben Clawson is the hero of Reflection. Can you tell us more about the character?

Trevor: Ben’s kind of an unassuming guy, a bit of an underachiever in many respects. He’s a twenty-something who kind of fell into that ‘lost’ category. He didn’t have a privileged upbringing, but he never had to work extremely hard for anything either. That leaves him feeling like he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. Enter a mirror through which he can see his own future.

Angie: What drew you to urban fantasy as a genre? Do you plan to branch out to other genres as your career progresses?

Trevor: I’m very comfortable working within city-scapes, especially big cities. I like how they’re at once full of life and hope, and also a little dystopic. As for other genres, I’ve begun writing a Victorian era Fantasy novel.

Writing in the time frame of the present seemed like a good first step.

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

Trevor: Quickly. I don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on names. I kind of think about the general nature of the character and then choose between a few names that pop into my head. Ben is a down-to-earth guy from the city. He wouldn’t have friends with names like Hunter or Mason. Calvin and Jonah seemed more appropriate.

Angie: 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?

Trevor: I began with the concept. It all revolves around the supernatural mirror.

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

Trevor: Although it’s a Fantasy piece, I still wanted the main character to feel real. I wanted him to have faults and experience ups and downs. It would be pretty easy to say – hey, with a gift like that, life would be perfect – but that wouldn’t be very interesting.

Angie: 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?

Trevor: I like to write while listening to music through a good pair of headphones, but that’s probably more out of necessity for focus than for inspiration. It’s hard to write with a lot of distractions going on in other rooms or even the same room sometimes.

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

Trevor: I write first. I usually have some places I want to go with it in mind, but I also like to let the story develop as it goes along.

Angie: 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?

Trevor: I always try to use critiques to improve. I try to learn from my mistakes in everything I do.

Angie: 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?

Trevor: Yes, sometimes. I’m not a person of color, so of course, I write what I can relate to. However, I’d be lying to myself if I said my Urban Fantasy plot was realistic when all the characters were white. In fact, they’re not. Calvin is a black character.

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

Trevor: It does mean something to me, and I struggle with word count. I had to push myself to get this one to two-hundred pages. The plot moves so much and there’s so much dialog that it’s difficult to have a lot of words.

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

Trevor: It’s not a huge deal but when it happens, I usually take a short break from writing – anything from a couple of days to a week.

Angie: What books did you enjoy most in 2013?

Trevor: I started reading The Fault in Our Stars. Amazing writing.

Angie: What trends do you hope die in 2014? Are there any you hope take off?

Trevor: The death lottery could be buried again for a little while.

Angie: What are you plans for 2014 as an indie writer?

Trevor: I have a two-part YA Zombie novella that I’m planning on releasing within the next couple of weeks. It will be called Escape from Zombie High. I’m also going to try to finish my Victorian Fantasy novel this year.

*****

Trevor Tomlin is the pen name of author Jonathon Kane.

Find Reflections at Amazon.

Contact Trevor here.

New Release from YA Author Aurora Smith

Check out Nightmare's Daughter at Amazon. The book is the first in a new series by Aurora Smith.

Book Summary

Justin Prevot is the pretty boy in school, the elusive type that no one gets but everyone loves to look at. Maya Justice is trying desperately to escape the reputation of her famous father. But when Justin shows up at Camp Neverwhere, a camp exclusively for the children of mythical creatures, Maya gets sucked into a fairy tale world she didn’t even think existed.

FREE Urban Fantasy by Trevor Tomlin

Check out this first book in a new urban fantasy series. Reflection is now FREE at Amazon.

Summary

Reflection - an Urban Fantasy story of second sight.
For a young college graduate living near the heart of a major city, Ben Clawson’s life is less than eventful, short of fulfilling, until the day he discovers a mirror in an abandoned building through which he can see his own future.

As Ben begins using the supernatural mirror to his advantage and pieces of what’s to come are revealed, he soon realizes the inherent problem with peering into the future - satisfaction can never truly be had.

Wealth, power and respect become his, but at the cost of turning into something difficult to look at in the mirror. A girlfriend named Sera, who he's recently fallen for, as well as old friends and virtues are lost as he frequents the source of his visions more often. Ultimately, Ben must choose between an unscrupulous, material lifestyle and the people he truly cares about in his life.

 

***Trevor Tomlin is the pen name for Jonathon Kane.

"Toxic Girl" by Chantal Fernando Now Available

Best selling romance author Chantal Fernando has released her new sexy novel. Get Toxic Girl at Amazon today.

Book Summary

Everyone has secrets.

Finally, I had a fresh start.

I knew no one.

I could be anyone, or so I thought.

I wanted to be invisible, to blend into the background.
But it turned out keeping my secret wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be.

Enter Grayson Mills.

When Grayson noticed me, so did everyone else.
He wanted me. Bad.

And what Grayson wanted, he usually got.

New Release from Laramie Briscoe

Check out the new romance by Laramie Briscoe. Only the Beginning is now available at Amazon.

 

Book Summary

****BOOK #1 IN THE ROCKIN' COUNTRY SERIES****
Princess of Country Music
America’s sweetheart
Survivor of the scrutiny that comes with it all

Hannah “Harmony” Stewart has lived most of her adult life in the spotlight. It hasn’t always been easy. One heartbreak almost ruined her. Some days it’s hard to keep a smile on her face and stay positive,but there are a lot of people counting on her to keep it together. Just when it seems like she’s at the pinnacle of her career, her life takes a turn. She meets a man who challenges everything she knows about herself and makes her question if the life she’s living is for her or for the Nashville machine.

Heavy Metal’s bad boy
Hair trigger temper
Struggling to deal with pressure of the industry

Garrett “Reaper” Thompson is tired. Touring and keeping up appearances with his band “Black Friday” is beginning to wear him out. He’s ready for a change, ready for something different. When he meets Hannah at an awards show, he knows that she’s the one, he knows that he can’t live without her.

The problem?

Their own insecurities, their fans, her ex-boyfriend, and the media themselves. Can they look past it all and come through on the other side? For their story – this is only the beginning.

"Moon Dance" by V.J. Chambers Is Now Available

Check out the new book by V.J. Chambers. Moon Dance is the third book in the Cole and Dana series and is now available at Amazon.

Book Summary
Dana Gray loves her husband and her two-year-old daughter, but her life is far from perfect. Domestic strain weighs down her marriage, and her role as a stay-at-home mom cuts her off the rest of the world. It's a thankless, never-ending job, and her only escape is shifting into a wolf and running beneath the trees and sky.

When Cole Randall is captured again, he leverages his knowledge about a threat to the werewolf community in exchange for a pardon. And he's got a plan to neutralize this threat. He and Dana will go undercover. She'll have to pretend to be his prisoner.

Dana knows that her draw to Cole is irrational and unwise. She knows that her life is far more stable without him in it. And she knows this plan of his is dangerous--not only to her safety, but to her relationship with her husband.

But she can't resist Cole.

She can never resist him.

*****

Find Valerie's books at Amazon.

Follow Valerie on Twitter, Facebook, and her website.

Cover Reveal for "Moon Dance" by V.J. Chambers

Moon Dance: Cole and Dana, Book Three
 
Dana Gray loves her husband and her two-year-old daughter, but her life is far from perfect. Domestic strain weighs down her marriage, and her role as a stay-at-home mom cuts her off the rest of the world. It’s a thankless, never-ending job, and her only escape is shifting into a wolf and running beneath the trees and sky.
 
When Cole Randall is captured again, he leverages his knowledge about a threat to the werewolf community in exchange for a pardon. And he’s got a plan to neutralize this threat. He and Dana will go undercover. She’ll have to pretend to be his prisoner.
 
Dana knows that her draw to Cole is irrational and unwise. She knows that her life is far more stable without him in it. And she knows this plan of his is dangerous—not only to her safety, but to her relationship with her husband.
 
But she can’t resist Cole.
 
She can never resist him.
 
Learn more on Valerie's website.

Cover Reveal for "See Through Me" by Sera Bright

Check out the cover reveal for See Through Me by Sera Bright. The sexy NA romance will be released in May. Be sure to check out the giveaway below.


Book description

There's only one person I want to see when I return home. But I know he won't be waiting. It's the reason I feel safe enough to come back.

I’m so wrong.

Ash Townsend isn't the same quiet boy from next door. He's tall, dark, and demanding answers. He wants me, but he doesn't trust me. Who can blame him? When his own family tried to break him down, he still sheltered me in this town full of liars. And I repaid it by leaving him without a word.

Because I'll do anything to protect Ash. I have the scars on my wrist to prove it.

*****

Author Bio

When I’m not plotting elaborate schemes in my head, I’m having a fabulous time with my own real life story. That’s what happens when you have three awesome kids, two fluffy (useless) cats, and one very patient husband. Currently, we live in the mountains of West Virginia. You can contact me on Facebook, Twitter, and my website.

A Rafflecopter Giveaway

Shooting the Shit with author V.J. Chambers

V.J. Chambers is a prolific young indie author who recently published Out of Heaven's Grasp. Last week, I talked to Valerie about her writing. Now, let's learn more about her as a person...

Favorite Food and Drink

 

Anything pasta… I adore pasta

Blue Sky Root Beer—best root beer in the universe

 

Favorite Books

 

Okay, so hard, because I have too many. Let’s go with The Lord of the Rings, Wuthering Heights, Ender’s Game, The Shining, and The Forest of Hands and Teeth.

 

Favorite Music

 

I’m a big fan of eighties hair bands, and my favorite is Guns N’ Roses. More recently, I’ve been really digging on a band called Future Islands.

 

Favorite Movies

 

Ultimate favorite ever: The Princess Bride. Runners up to The Lost Boys, Fight Club, Scream, The Empire Strikes Back, and Children of Men.

Favorite TV

 

Oh man… So currently, I’m watching The Vampire Diaries, Reign, The Tomorrow People, Supernatural, The Originals, Star-Crossed (just you know whatever’s on the CW, basically) aaaand The Walking Dead, Teen Wolf, Bates Motel, Hannibal, Twisted, and True Detective (best show in the universe!!) I like other shows too, but they’re currently on hiatus or have been cancelled.

 

Best memory from childhood

Uhm… Yeah, nothing’s really sticking out. I didn’t have a bad childhood or anything, but I was always one of those kids that knew deep down I was going to be a better grownup than I was a kid.

 

Best memory from adulthood

 

Well, so when I was first getting to know my boyfriend, he came back to my house after a party and we talked until three or four in the morning, and then he slept on my couch. (I know! I was like, “Does this guy even like me? Why isn’t he trying to sleep with me?”) Anyway I remember that when I woke up, I came out into the living room, and he was still there. And I was so glad he was still there, so happy to get to spend more time with him. I think it’s my happiest memory ever.

 

Life of the party or stand back and observe?

 

I’m, you know, fairly outgoing at parties. I can get pretty introspective other times, but to everything there is a season.

 

What makes you rage?

 

Female genital mutilation. Sexism (against both genders). Hypocrisy. Atrocities committed in the name of something “noble.” Lies, especially the ones we tell ourselves.

 

What makes you giggle?

 

My cat. Mostly I laugh at my cat. Also episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

 

*****

Find Valerie's books at Amazon.

Follow Valerie on Twitter, Facebook, and her website.

Interview with author V.J. Chambers

V.J. Chambers is a prolific young indie author with over a dozen books already published. Her newest is the romance Out of Heaven’s Grasp. Let's learn more about Valerie and her writing...

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

 

Valerie: I’ve been writing forever. I’m one of those people who started writing as soon as she could make words. I think I wrote my first story at six years old, and it was about a hippo named Chubby.

 

I wrote as kid, I wrote as a preteen, I wrote Anne-Rice-esque vampire stories as a teenager… There was a brief period of time in college where I didn’t write at all. And then, after I graduated, I decided it was time to get serious, and I wrote my first complete novel when I was twenty-three. (It was terrible.) I wrote eight other books over the ensuing six years, shopped them around to agents and never even got a request for a partial. I started self-publishing in 2009, but primarily on my website. I would post two chapters a week of my book with a link at the end of each chapter to purchase the whole book.

 

Pretty much no one bought it. It took five more books and two more years before I started to make any real money self-publishing.

 

I guess I feel like all authors really go it alone, no matter whether you’re indie published or not. I don’t think it’s possible to really make it at this if you don’t have an irrational belief in your own greatness. So, I guess the biggest hurdle would be insecurity and doubt. Trying to keep believing in yourself when no one else does.

 

Angie: In February 2014, you published Out of Heaven’s Grasp. Can you explain the idea behind the book? Where did the inspiration come from?

 

Valerie: Well, I guess I’ve been fascinated by polygamy ever since I saw the show Big Love. I’ve been reading and watching things about it ever since. I watched Escape from the Prophet, the short-lived TLC reality show, and picked up Flora Jessup’s autobiography, detailing how she got free of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, and then I just got sort of addicted to those kinds of autobiographies. I read Rebecca Musser’s, Carolyn Jessup’s, Elissa Wall’s, etc. And I just started thinking that these were dynamite stories, and that I wanted to write a story about escaping from a cult, and I wanted there to be a romantic element.

 

So, I made up my own polygamous religion. It draws heavily on the FLDS, but it also takes its cues from The Family International, the Amish, and my own experiences growing up in a fundamentalist religious sect (which was in no way polygamous).

 

Basically, the story is about a young couple who starts to fall in love, but—before they can really even get to know each other—are punished for interfering with “God’s” plan for them. He’s kicked out and she’s forced to marry an old man with three other wives. The story is about their separate struggles, and then about the two of them finding each other and getting free.

 

Angie: What is the story behind Abigail “Abby” London?

 

Valerie: Abby is an eighteen year old girl who wants to do the right thing. She wants to please her family and please the elders in her religion and ultimately to please God. So, she’s really conflicted about her feelings towards Jesse Wallace. She thinks that it’s wrong for her to be attracted to him, and she tries to fight that attraction, but it simply proves too strong for her.

 

Angie: How about Jesse Wallace?

 

Valerie: Jesse’s also eighteen. He’s not as well positioned in the community as Abby is. His father only has two wives, which means he’s not as favored by the elders (and they claim, by God). His father is also physically abusive to his children and his wives. Everyone in the community knows this, but no one does anything about it. So, Jesse knows that it’s really important that he follow the rules as closely as he can, because he risks his father’s rage, and he risks lowering his family even further out of favor. So, he really should stay away from Abby. But… he can’t resist her either.

 

Angie: You write in many genres. Can you tell us what draws you to your subjects?

 

Valerie: It seems as if all of my ideas come from television shows or books or movies. I always see things, and I think… “Oooh, if I were doing that, I would do it this way.” And then before I know it, I’ve got some crazy idea that barely resembles the thing that inspired it. But the genesis usually comes from some other form of entertainment.

 

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

 

Valerie: I use baby names books. Oh, and I usually search my hard drive to make sure I haven’t already named someone important that before.

 

Angie: 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?

 

Valerie: Generally, the concept comes first. The characters, for me, anyway, fit the story and not the other way around.

 

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

 

Valerie: Honestly, I think that Mary Sue concept is something best worried about if you’re writing fan fiction, which is where the idea first originated. Obviously, if you’re reading fan fiction, then you want to read about the characters in the show, not the author’s wish fulfillment fantasy of inserting herself into Star Trek or something.

 

In actuality, I’d say some of the most compelling characters are ones that make it easy for the reader to sort of graft themselves onto. We all want to be able to identify with the main character of a story and vicariously experience things through them. I’d say characters like Harry Potter, Bella Swan, Bilbo Baggins, and Luke Skywalker are all “Mary Sue/Marty Stus.” And that’s probably a good thing.

 

In my case, though, I tend to write really flawed characters, and that’s mostly because I feel flawed as a person. I like stories about imperfect people because I feel imperfect. And so I naturally write about people who drink too much or have too much sex or are compulsive liars or what have you. I haven’t actually been imperfect in all those ways, but I feel like I can easily identify with weaknesses in characters.

 

Angie: 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?

 

Valerie: I do like to make specific playlists for certain books. I’ve also been known to procrastinate seek inspiration by making Pinterest boards.

 

Time of day and/or place is totally irrelevant to me. But I do need to have my super awesome Kinesis Advantage keyboard if I’m going at it for a while, or it’s tough on my hands and wrists.

 

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

 

Valerie: Usually plot it out.

 

I think that I plot out books because I get scared that I’m not going to be able to figure out the whole story, make it long enough, unravel the plot, or a host of other things. Writing an outline soothes my fears. Sometimes, though, I don’t outline at all—or at least very little. Those are stories that I’m less afraid of, ones that tend to just flow right out of me.

 

Angie: 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?

 

Valerie: When they say something that I have already worried was a problem, then I know I was right and it is a problem.

 

Anything that has to do with being offended by the language or horrified by character’s actions, I ignore. (Actually, I think those reviews are funny.) Anything that speaks to the way the story is crafted, and does it in a way that provides some clue as to what’s wrong, I listen to. (Sometimes people just say, “This is stupid.” And there’s not much to discern from that, you know?)

 

Angie: 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?

 

Valerie: I have to admit I have trepidation about trying to write from the point of view of African American characters. It feels so… I don’t know, great-white-hope and condescending of me. What right do I have to think I can truly understand that struggle? That means, of course, that most of my black characters are in supporting roles, which creates another sort of issue of relegating people of color to the fringes or something, so it’s not great in any respect.

 

I do deal a lot with sexual orientation in my series The Helicon Muses. There’s a main character in that series who’s an androgyne. He’s biologically male, but doesn’t fully identify with either gender and thus struggles to determine whether or not he’s straight/gay/bisexual or anything. I also dream of writing some m/m romance, but I haven’t gotten to it yet.

 

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

 

Valerie: Yes, I totally make goals and write to them. I sometimes come up short, but mostly I succeed at making the book the length I want it to be.

 

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

 

Valerie: I think writer’s block stems from trying to make writing into work instead of play. The best way to shake it off is to throw out all the rules and give yourself permission to have fun.

 

Angie: What books did you enjoy most in 2013?

 

Valerie: Um, probably Gillian Flynn’s books. Especially Dark Places.

 

Angie: What trends do you hope die in 2014? Are there any you hope take off?

 

Valerie: I guess I really wish that trends themselves would die off. It would be cool if there weren’t this glut of same-old-same-old trailing in the wake of every hot new thing. 

 

Angie: What are you plans for 2014 as an indie writer?

 

Valerie: To rule the world, of course. J

*****

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