Spotlight: C.J. Burright, author of WONDERFULLY WICKED

I’m pleased to have C.J. Burright with me today. Her novel, Wonderfully Wicked, released on May 13^th and while I haven’t read it, yet, I’m looking forward to curling up with this one.

WONDERFULLY WICKED
by C.J. Burright
Publisher: Swoon Romance
Release date: May 13, 2014

Synopsis:
He haunts her dreams and embodies her nightmares…

A dreamcaster with the ability to channel creatures from her nightmares, headstrong and cynical Kalila Montgomery longs for a peaceful, picket-fence life…until the man literally of her dreams kidnaps her. Survival quickly becomes her number one goal, yet a growing attraction to the man in her nightmares is impossible to ignore. While she fears he will kill her, other, more terrifying enemies surround her, and Kalila succumbs to his scheme to escape.

She may be his one hope for freedom…

A deadly combination of power, cunning, and cold-hearted charm, Lydon v'al Endrian fears nothing. Feels nothing. Chained to a brotherhood of men with the supernatural ability to invade dreams, he hunts dreamcasters to be harvested for their dreams and killed. His target: Kalila Montgomery. But Kalila awakens an undeniable dark desire and a longing for a freedom long-lost. To gain everything he craves, Lydon must seduce Kalila before his plot is discovered…a hopeless challenge which, if failed, will earn him a death-sentence.

Caught up in a dangerous world of secrets and obsession, doubt and betrayal, Kalila and Lydon face the nightmare of their lives, where love will either deliver them—or destroy them both.

Please help me welcome C.J.

Cherie: Tell us about your novel, Wonderfully Wicked, in your own words.

C.J.:  Kalila Montgomery is a dreamcaster - her dreams consist of nightmares, and the creatures from those nightmares leak, which sucks big time. She wants nothing more than to be normal, but life gets weirder when the guy from her nightmare shows up at her favorite coffee shop. Which wouldn’t be a big deal, except he’d killed her in the nightmare. And loved her in another. She’s really not sure which is worse.

Lydon v’al Endrian (said nightmare guy) has been sent on a mission: to capture Kalila and return her to his master. He’s a V’alkara - a man who invades dreams and hunts dreamcasters to harvest their nightmares. His motives are nothing but deadly…until he meets Kalila. He senses she is the key to freedom from his master, but he has some serious scheming to do if he wants to escape his master, save Kalila (not to mention himself), and convince a skeptical Kalila to trust him. What could possibly go wrong? *author’s villainous laughter here*     

Cherie: Wonderfully Wicked sounds like the type of book I'll enjoy. Can you tell us what your writing process like?

C.J.:   Brain-flash, rush to computer, and fingers fly before I forget anything. Then, the snail-slow procedure of smoothing out said idea into something readable for other people. I need some sort of techie invention to capture the movies in my head and write them out on paper exactly as I see them. It would save so much time!

Cherie: What was your favorite chapter to write?

C.J.:  One of the most fun chapters included a dreamscape. With lots of spiders. I hate spiders. Why did I write about spiders? Gah. Kalila is tethered to her bed by spider webs, and luckily doesn’t mind the creepy-crawlies like I do. She soon faces an even worse nightmare:  Lydon. Charming her socks off.  Scary.

Cherie: I'm not a fan of those creepy crawlers either. Can you share with us something about Lydon that we don’t learn about them from reading the book?

C.J.:  He’s a diehard Imagine Dragons fan. Don’t know where he got that from … oh, wait. That would be me.

Cherie: What are you working on now?

C.J.:  The sequel to Wonderfully Wicked - Beautifully Burned, which tells the story of Daxen, a secondary character in WW. Yeah, he has about as much trouble with his dreamcaster as Lydon has with Kalila. J

Cherie:  Now that we know about your book and you as a writer, I have some fun questions for you. Try to answer in five words or less:

Favorite color? Black, red, purple, blue - equally. J

Secret crush? (It can be anyone real or fictional.) Alex Skarsgard. Love him.

Do you believe in love at first sight? Intrigue, yeah. Insta-love? No.

Who are you drawn to the good guy or the bad guy? Bad guy who’s secretly good.

If you had all the money and time in the world, where would your dream vacation be? All of Europe.

Are you a morning person or an evening person? Night all the way.

Guilty pleasures that get you through the writing/revising process?  Cheez-Its.

Are there any types of books you don’t read? Mysteries - no detective genes here!

Thanks for having me on your blog, Cherie!

Thanks C.J. for being here!

Read WONDERFULLY WICKED today: Amazon

About the author:
C. J. Burright was born and raised in Oregon and loved it so much she never left. While she has worked for years in a law office, she chooses to avoid writing legal thrillers and instead leans toward urban fantasy, paranormal romance, or—since all things medieval and magic fascinate her—fantasy romance. A member of Romance Writers of America and Secretary for the Fantasy, Futuristic & Paranormal special interest chapter, C. J. also has her 4th Dan Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and believes stories should always include a gratuitous fight scene. In what spare time she has, she enjoys working out, reading, gardening, and rooting on the Seattle Mariners with a nice glass of wine. She shares a house with her husband, daughter, and a devoted herd of cats.

Connect with C.J. Burright

Facebook * Twitter * Burright's Blog * Goodreads

CHALLENGING DESTINY Free on Kindle!

CHALLENGING DESTINY is free on Kindle.

But hurry! This offer ends May 17, 2014.

Get your copy on:

       

Help me spread the word about this offer and you could win a $5 Amazon gift card or a copy of my young adult paranormal thriller/romance, Embrace.

Worldwide release of CHALLENGING DESTINY:  July 11, 2014

For more information on me or my books visit www.cheriecolyer.com or follow me on Twitter, Facebook and/or Goodreads to get the latest updates on her books.

Cover Reveal: WHO R U REALLY? by Margo Kelly

I'm excited to be able to be a part of the cover reveal for Who R U Really? by Margo Kelly. And to celebrate Margo is giving away TWO Advance Reader Copies of the book! Visit www.margokelly.net to enter by Sunday, May 11, 2014!

  

WHO R U REALLY?

by Margo Kelly

Merit Press -- September 18, 2014

Description:

Thea's overprotective parents are driving her insane. They invade her privacy, ask too many questions, and restrict her online time so severely that Thea feels she has no life at all. When she discovers a new role-playing game online, Thea breaks the rules by staying up late to play. She's living a double life: on one hand, the obedient daughter; on the other, a girl slipping deeper into darkness. In the world of the game, Thea falls under the spell of Kit, an older boy whose smarts and savvy can't defeat his loneliness and near-suicidal despair. As Kit draws soft-hearted Thea into his drama, she creates a full plate of cover stories for her parents and then even her friends.

Soon, Thea is all alone in the dark world with Kit, who worries her more and more, but also seems to be the only person who really "gets" her. Is he frightening, the way he seems sometimes, or only terribly sad? Should Thea fear Kit, or pity him? And now, Kit wants to come out of the screen and bring Thea into his real-life world. As much as she suspects that this is wrong, Thea is powerless to resist Kit's allure, and hurtles toward the same dark fate her parents feared most. Ripped from a real-life story of Internet stalking, Who R U Really? will excite you and scare you, as Thea's life spins out of control.

Pre-order Who R U Really?

Barnes & Noble | Amazon

About the Author:

Margo Kelly is a native of the Northwest and currently resides in Idaho. A veteran public speaker, Margo is now actively pursuing her love of writing. Who R U Really? is her debut novel and will be published by Merit Press in September 2014. Margo welcomes opportunities to speak to youth groups, library groups, and book clubs.

Connect with Margo

Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook 

When Walking Away Works: An IWSG Post

Hi everyone! 

Welcome to Insecure Writer's Support Group. We are a group writers who share our doubts and encouragements. I'd like to thank Alex Cavanaugh and this month's hosts. Learn more about the group here.



I started a new novel. Actually, I'm revisiting an old idea with a new twist. You see, while I was working on Entangled, book three in my Embrace Series, Nikki, the main character in an idea I had several years ago, popped into my thoughts. She wanted to know when I was going to get to her story. I can't call her impatient. She's been waiting at least three years for me to revisit what I had written all those months ago. Checking my draft, that was around 10,000 words. I only had to read a few pages to remember the different problems I had with the story. One being that I wasn't sure the plot was right for a teen audience. Nikki was kind enough to agree and push me to come up with a fix, because she was definitely a teen character. Not really helpful, but she successfully got me thinking about her again. That's when this guy poked his head into my thoughts and pointed out that I hadn't started the story in the right place, and that my dual point-of-views weren't from the right two people. Sure, Nikki's has to be there, but so does his. 

The point of this post, and how it ties in with insecurities, is that sometimes it's necessary to put an idea away for awhile. Stew over the plot. Get a better idea of who the characters are. This way, when you come back to the story, you'll be ready to roll up your sleeves and write the story.

Hopefully my new found energy for this story will last for at least 60,000 words.


Do you talk to your characters? Ever revamp an old idea into a new story?

Cover Reveal & Excerpt: BLOOD OF A MERMAID By Katie O’Sullivan

I'm excited to be a part of Katie O'Sullivan's cover reveal for Blood of a Mermaid. Plus, Katie shared an excerpt. Enjoy!

BLOOD OF A MERMAID
By Katie O’Sullivan
Coming from Crescent Moon Press, May 2014

About the Book:

Mermaid blood.

When Shea MacNamara fell into the ocean for the first time, he found he could breathe underwater. The son of a mermaid, the sea is in his blood. Literally. The best part of Shea’s new life? His girlfriend Kae, who also happens to be a beautiful mermaid.

But darkness lurks under the sea. When evil mermen kidnap Kae, the king reminds Shea that having royal blood means making tough choices. 

An Arctic dungeon, a fiery plane crash, the legendary halls of Atlantis…and narwhals?

Having mermaid blood just got a lot more complicated.

Excerpt:

Shea grimaced. He knew firsthand the damage wind could cause. He’d witnessed tornado destruction back in Oklahoma, when he’d lost his dad and their farm. Wind could be devastating. And deadly. He needed to focus on something else. Maybe curtains and wallpaper weren’t such a bad thing to talk about after all. “Tell me again about this lady who hired your mom to decorate? Why is it she can’t pick out her own curtains?”

Hailey laughed. “Decorating is about more than curtains, you troglodyte. It’s about creating a whole look and feel for a home.”

A deep male voice crackled through the overhead speakers in rapid Greek, followed by English. “Attention, passengers. This is your captain. Please keep seatbelts fastened as we try to steer clear of this turbulence and find a pocket of better air.”

“A pocket of better air?” Hailey shook her head. “What does that even mean?”

Chip leaned back across the aisle and grinned. “Maybe this air is broken?” The light streaming through Hailey’s window shifted as the plane changed direction and Chip’s grin faded. “It looks like he made a ninety degree turn. That seems kind of drastic.”

“I’m sure the pilot’s done this a million times,” Hailey snapped, looking out her window again. “Ooh, look at that lightning over there! It’s like a fireworks display!”

Shea resisted the temptation to look out the window. His stomach already felt queasy enough, and now a storm? A slow tingling sensation engulfed his toes. “How close?”

“Oh, look out there now,” Hailey interrupted. “Water spouts!”

Shea felt the blood drain from his face. “Water spouts? Like, tornadoes on the ocean?”

Hailey glanced back at him and gently patted his knee. “This isn’t Oklahoma. I’m sure everything’s going to be fine,” she said as she pulled the plane’s information card out of the seat pocket in front of her. “But I guess it never hurts to review a plane’s emergency procedures.”

As she removed her hand from his knee to point at the diagram, Shea felt the tingling course through his legs, zinging from his toes up into his stomach. It was as if some switch in his body had flipped into high gear. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped down his back. The air inside the airplane cabin suddenly felt like it was clinging heavily around him, as if it were charged with electricity and Shea was the only magnet on board. He’d felt this exact sensation before, back at Plainville High School.

On the day of the tornado.

SON OF A MERMAID, book one in the series, is on sale for $2.99!
Get your today: Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author: 

Katie O’Sullivan lives with her family and big dogs next to the ocean on Cape Cod, drinking way too much coffee and inventing new excuses not to dust. A recovering English major, she earned her degree at Colgate University and writes romance for young adults and the young at heart. Her editing column, “The Write Way,” appears in the Literary Women section of CapeWomenOnline magazine.

Living next to the Atlantic influences everything she writes. Her YA mermaid series begins in Nantucket Sound with SON OF A MERMAID, and continues the undersea adventures with BLOOD OF A MERMAID, coming from Crescent Moon Press in May 2014. Her latest contemporary romance from The Wild Rose Press is MY KIND OF CRAZY, a Cape Cod story of second chances and starting over.

Connect with Katie

Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter

Goodreads | Amazon AuthorPage