Lily Luchesi's Blog (formerly Kelly Smith Reviews): August 2013

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Ella J. Phoenix

One of the pleasures I get from doing what I do is discovering new authors and then bringing them to you, the reader. This interview is with the paranormal romance author Ella J. Phoenix (I reviewed her novels Dragon Heat and Vampire Thirst for Books Make Me Happy earlier this month)

Ms. Phoenix brought vampires, dragons and other various paranormal creatures to new life in her books, and I am honored to have gotten a look inside of her mind with this interview!

Read on and below will be links to purchase her novels and interact with her on the Internet!

1. You say on your blog that superheroes started your fascination with the paranormal? How so?

They were my first inspiration, my introduction to the possibility that there is magic in the world.

2. Your first attempts in the literary world were writing plays. What made you start doing that? And how did you transition from plays to novels?

Don’t tell anyone but I was an actress and theatre director in my past life. After a childhood on the stage, I got my BA, majored in Performing Arts. That’s when I started writing plays, children’s play (yeah, can you believe it?). But it was really my mother who lured me into writing novels. I call her “my catalyst”. She’s always been the one to say, “Go for it!”

3. You say you have lived on different continents in your life. Where and which places were your favorites and why?

Oh, there’re so many! Okay, if you twist my arm, I’d say: New York (USA), Sydney (Australia) and Queenstown (New Zealand). I absolutely love living in Sydney--it’s beautiful, with great food, wine, beaches, the lot. I also loved experiencing the kiwi life style when my husband and I spent 2 years in Queenstown--it’s possibly the most stunning place in the world. But the Big Apple is my dream city. It ticks all the boxes. Period.

4. In Dragon Heat and Vampire Thirst, you have your characters travel the world over--from Romania, to the USA to England and even Spain. Did that come from your travelling?

Oh, yeah. I believe the world is a better place when there’s tolerance toward other cultures. In my opinion, tolerance is truly achieved when you experience other cultures for yourself, when you feel it, taste it, breathe it. That’s when the ugly barriers of ignorance and hatred can be truly broken.

5. You say your mother was a great writer, but when the opportunity came up for her to write a paranormal romance, she told you to take it. Do you think you would've written Dragon Heat at all?

I believe our crazy Gods/God/Holistic Energy above place people and situations in our lives, to give us a hand in choosing the best path, to give us hints on where to go next. It’s up to us to recognize these signs and take the opportunity by the horns. My mom is my catalyst because of that. She was the one who sold me the idea of starting my own novel.

6. Were you not writing amazing books, what would you be doing?

Singing, in a cheesy musical. :O)

7. In your books, you have an index in front explaining what the different names are (Apa Dobrý, the Soartas, etc.), which is quite necessary! What made you come up with some of the things that you did?

I have no idea! When I started writing Dragon Heat, there was just this inherent need to create a brand new mythology, unspoiled by preconceptions. It just came to me…

8. What made you decide to focus so much on Sam and Hikuro in Vampire Thirst instead of focusing more solely on Zoricah and Tardieh?

I have a really short attention span. I get bored when I read stories with the same couple book after book.

9. Instead of making your books center around humans and one sole species, you combine numerous creatures to create your unique stories. Why did you decide to do that instead of making them exclusively about vampires, shifters, etc.?

Wow, what a great question! Well, the world is made of thousands of different cultures and races, I just couldn’t think of creating a world with just two or three.

10. What authors inspired you when you were young? What authors do you read today?

Believe it or not, Shakespeare. Yep, I know he’s hard to get nowadays but back in the day, he was a true representative of awesome popular culture, but he didn’t stop there. He didn’t write about a boy named Romeo who fell in love with a girl named Juliet. He wrote about the flaws and attributes of human nature.
And then, we have the new modern, amazing paranormal writers – Anne Rice, J. R. Ward, Nalini Singh, Gena Showalter… so many!

11. In Manataka, you write about the powers of the ancient Native Americans. What inspired you to take that route with your characters?

Oh, Manataka is another completely different world all together! What made me start a new series, in the middle of writing Dragon Heat, was my obsession with history and mythology. The Native American cultures have amazingly rich folklore with several amazing heroes, great battles and terrible losses. The Last of the Mohicans! Say no more.

12. Will we see more from the creations you made in Dragon Heat and Vampire Thirst in the future?

Oh, yeah! Dragon Heat 3 is in the oven!

13. Is it hard to balance your personal life with your writing career or do they pretty much balance each other out?

Is there such a thing? Nah, it’s pretty hard, but hey, that’s “making your dreams come true”, right? It’s not supposed to be easy, otherwise we’d take it for granted. :O)

14. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

Living by the beach, with my awesome husband, writing paranormal novels full time.

15.Thank you for participating in this interview! Can you please leave the reader with three things that might surprise them about you?

- I can live off cheese.
- X-Men is my favorite superhero series.
- English is my second language.

Purchase Ella's novels on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Ella%20J%20Phoenix&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank

Purchase Ella's novels from Barnes And Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/ella-j.-phoenix

Visit Ella's Site: http://ellajphoenix.blogspot.com/

Add Ella as a friend on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellaj.phoenix

Saturday, August 24, 2013

Interview/Review Future Post Dates!

Hello, readers! I am writing this to let you all know what is coming up for me on this blog in the near future.

I have numerous book reviews and author interviews to get to, all of which I have neatly lined up in a schedule of one author's book and interview per week. The dates and names below are what I am working on right now. The ones that have TWO dates are the ones that will have both a review and an interview. The ones that only have ONE date are interviews only. Those authors have books I have already reviewed for the other blog I am associated with, Books Make Me Happy.

I post one per week to keep some order here and also to not crowd you, reader, in too much. Enjoy!

Also, let me add that I am ALWAYS open for new requests for books reviews and/or author interviews. I love reading new books and interacting with authors!

Contact me at notok02@hotmail.com if you awnt a review/interview!

8/28: Ella J. Phoenix

9/4: Ellen Schreiber

9/10: Peter Kassan

9/17: James DeSantis

9/24: Laura Thalassa

9/30-10/1: Beem Weeks

10/7-10/8: Rayne Hall

10/14-10/15: Regina Puckett

10/21-10/22: Lisa Calell

10/28-10/29: Stephen B. Pearl

Friday, August 23, 2013

BOOK REVIEW: "Exterminators: Infected (Volume 1)" by James C. DeSantis

Running this blog has given me an opportunity to read many novels that I might not have been able to enjoy before, simply because I wouldn't have heard of them.

James DeSantis contacted me via Twitter about reviewing his debut novel, Exterminators: Infected (which is volume one out of five) on my blog here. I have read but never reviewed sci-fi/fantasy before...until now.

Four young boys from all walks of life receive a mysterious letter...one that tells them to go to a specific address at a certain time. Once they've read the letter, it disintegrates.

Nick, a newcomer to New York City and a kid who misses his mother after she passed away a year ago, is one of them. A born leader, a bit awkward but levelheaded, is one.

Then you have Peter, a loner kid who gets good grades and doesn't really associate with people. He has two secrets the reader finds out about fairly quickly: he has a drunken, abusive father and a mental disorder. The doctors diagnosed him with sociopathic tendencies, meaning he does not feel emotions like a normal human.

Next, you have Fred, a geeky semi-Gothic gamer, who is overweight and an outcast. He is rich, but his parents are never around. His best friend deserted him at the beginning of high school and his only company is the people he interacts with when he plays online video games.

Meet that deserting friend, Marshall, who thinks he is a badass but is he really? he wanted to be popular; Fred didn't, so they parted ways. Now they are forced to work together again when all four boys gather at the appointed address at the appointed time to learn why they were called.

Carl is a Bora, a mentor and a commander, whichever you want to call him. He works under this former teammate, Amanda Ross (the Gada, leader of the organization), as a trainer for new Exterminators. Carl is also an alcoholic, after something bad happened to the last team he mentored scarred him for life and made him not want to even be a Bora anymore. But now he has to train for new kids to be killers.

Now, they won't be like mercenaries; killing humans. No, nothing so horrific yet mundane in Mr. DeSantis's novel! Exterminators kill Unknowns: creatures from another realm that threaten the human world when they try to push through the barriers between realms and cause mayhem.

Think of this as the TV show Supernatural taken to a whole other level and combined with the craziest, most imaginative video game you've ever played, all mixed in with friendship, leadership, trust and values, all with a dash of romance for some of the characters.

I wasn't sure what I would think of this when I started reading it, but I kept an open mind as I turned page after page on my tablet. I couldn't put it down. From page one on down to the end, it was riveting.

I will warn readers, there is a decent amount of violence, so be prepared for fistfights, fires, stabbings and murder.

As a lifelong fan of sci-fi (if it is done right), I was highly impressed with this novel, especially considering it is a debut. Everything about it was innovative and riveting, from the creation of new monsters (Rockus; wolf-hybrids and killer scarecrows, to name a few), to the use of a demonic presence and realm-jumping.

In between the violence, you have four seventeen year old boys trying to cope with powers, train to be stronger, and deal with everyday life. Nick's schoolwork is failing, both he and Marshall have to lie to their respective girlfriends on a daily basis (or do they?), Peter is trying not to use his weapon, the Rod, to kill his father and Fred...well, after Fred nearly dies in his first battle with an Unknown, he starts to deal with the voice in his head...a voice that may be his undoing.

To sum it up: great novel, great characters and so unique, Sci-fi fans and people who may not be interested in this genre otherwise will want to get this novel and, once they finish, will eagerly await the next!

4/5: excellent!

Purchase Exterminators: Infected on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Exterminators-Infected-The-Volume/dp/0615819028/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377305543&sr=8-1&keywords=Exterminators+infected

Find James DeSantis on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExterminatorJ

LIKE the series on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ExterminatorsSeries

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

AUTHOR INTERVIEW: Barry Lyga

As I said when writing my previous interview from last week (Darren Shan), every book-loving teen has authors who shape those years with the words and images they put onto paper. Barry Lyga was one of those writers for me when I was younger. In fact, I can honestly say I reread Hero Type for the umpteenth time two months ago!

Barry Lyga is a New York Times bestselling author for young adults, older teens and children alike with his numerous novels (a few of which I enclosed photos of). His novels Boy Toy and The Astonishing Adventures Of Fanboy And Goth Girl were controversial and yet easy to relate to, dealing with sex, drugs, suicide and depression.

Yes, Mr. Lyga also deals in humor and comic books. Yes, comic books. In fact, one of the things I liked when I picked up Fanboy when I was about thirteen or fourteen was that it involved a kid who loved comic books, which is what you'll find a lot of in his writings.

I am honored to have been able to interview Mr. Lyga, who has always been kind to his fans (I should know!) and who has written so many amazing novels that kids, teens and even adults can enjoy.

I hope you all like the interview; it was a dream come true to do this!

1. Why did you choose young adult fiction as opposed to other genres/styles?

It wasn’t really a conscious choice. I just wrote a book about a teenager and then had ideas for more books about teenagers. I’ve also written middle grade and will probably have an adult novel out fairly soon.

2. You touch on some serious issues in your novels: murder, suicide, statutory rape, etc.. What do you want the readers to take away from your work about such things?

I don’t want to moralize or be pedantic about any of these issues, or about any issues at all. I write stories that I hope will make people see the world from a different perspective. And since those topics are pretty extreme, I hope that they will jar people out of their own viewpoint and make them receptive to seeing the world through new eyes.

3. Your books crossover from YA to being more universal. Was that your intent--for adults to enjoy them, too--or was it a surprise to you?

I never really think about the audience when I write, but of course I was aware that my books were being tagged as YA, sold in YA sections, sold to teens, etc. Given that all of the marketing and promotion was geared towards teens, I was very pleasantly surprised to find adults discovering and reading them, too!

4. Many of your novels revolve around superheroes (Archvillain) or, at the very least, superhero-lovers (Fanboy And Goth Girl) and you have claimed to be a comic book fan. What were your favorites and do you still enjoy comics today?

My favorite comic as a kid was LEGION OF SUPER-HEROES, which, sadly, has just been canceled. I still enjoy comics today, but not with the obsessive verve of my youth!

5. Kirkus reviews called you a "YA Rebel Author" at one point. Do you think of yourself as a rebel to the common YA novelist?

I think if you start calling yourself a rebel or thinking of yourself as a rebel, that automatically disqualifies you. I was surprised when Kirkus said that. I just sort of keep my head down and write the stuff I want to write. It’s for other people to decide if I’m a rebel or not. I guess I should buy a cool leather jacket…?

6. Each character you create has his/her own distinct look, personality and thought process. Were any of them based on real people or did they come straight from your head to the page?

Most of them have at least some basis in a real person, but there are certainly characters that popped right out from my head. Fanboy is pretty much me at that age, and Kyle Camden is a grotesquely exaggerated version of me as a young kid.

7. Out of your eleven novels, do you have a favorite story and/or favorite character? Why?

I tend to like the extreme characters, the uncomfortable ones. So Eve from Boy Toy and Billy Dent from I Hunt Killers rank up there. So, too, does Kyra [Sellers, the anti-heroine of Fanboy And Goth Girl and Goth Girl Rising].

8. A bulk of your stories takes place in the same high school in Maryland. Why did you choose to have the stories all use the same town, school and teachers (thus giving them a common link though the stories were different)?

Easy answer: I thought it would be fun! I’m a comic book guy, so I’m used to stories that interconnect and cross into each other, and I thought it would be fun to build my own sort of universe. When readers discover the little references, they get that same little thrill I used to get when I would recognize a comic book character from one book crossing over into another. And for the readers who haven't read enough of my books to get the "joke," it's harmless -- they don't know they're missing something.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Interview With Horror Writer Darren Shan

As a big reader since early childhood, I devoured every book I could get my hands on...especially if it was vampire-based!
When I was 12 I went to my local bookstore with my gift card I had received for my birthday & went in search of new things to read. By chance I picked up A Living Nightmare, the first novel in Darren Shan's Cirque du Freak book series. I was hooked ever after!
Mr. Shan's books got me through middle & high school years with their laughs, thrills & chills. I am honored to have been able to interview him for my personal blog here, & for thevampiresource.com. This is a dream come true, to have a look inside the mind of such a genius! He is still writing hugely successful horror books for adults, young adults & children, his most recent being the Zom-b series.
Enjoy...

1. You never wrote unless it was for homework until you purchased your first typewriter at fourteen years of age. What changed to make you want to start writing fiction?

I had always wanted to be a writer, and had actually started writing stories in my spare time the year or two preceding my purchase of the typewriter. But having a typewriter spurred me on to work even harder. I found I could write more quickly when typing, and also it felt more “legitimate” – I now had the possibility of submitting my work to publishers, since it was typed, whereas I knew I could not send in handwritten work.

2. You completed your first novel when you were seventeen, but it was never published. Do you think that your fans will ever get to see some form of that novel for sale one day?

Possibly. I’ve written lots of unpublished novels, especially early in my career. I plan to return to many, maybe even all of the books, and re-write and edit the, then publish them for readers to read, even if only in an eBook format. But I can’t guarantee that I will return to them all. I will only publish them if I think they are strong enough to justify publication, and I suspect some of them might not be.

3. You started writing adult horror (I myself particularly enjoyed The City Trilogy's Hell's Horizon) but transitioned to children's and young adult novels with your Cirque du Freak series. What made you make that transition?

I liked children’s books, even in my late teens and early twenties. (Indeed, I still do.) I had planned to try writing a book for children at some point, purely because I thought it would be fun. Then I had the idea for Cirque Du Freak. I didn’t see it as a career-changer at the time, but I really enjoyed writing it, and after I’d finished it I had more ideas for books for young adults, and it all just grew from there.

4. What made you decide to write a four book spin-off of Cirque; The Saga Of Larten Crepsely?

I hadn’t planned to write about Mr. Crepsley’s early life. But after I’d finished the Cirque Du Freak series I kept thinking about him and wondering what his life was like before he met Darren, and what had happened to him over the space of two hundred years. My interest in his story grew, even though I wasn’t actively pursuing it, and eventually I felt compelled to sit down and start writing.

5. I must ask, why vampires? While in recent years the monsters have become popular in modern fiction worldwide, you took them on when fewer people were interested, which I give you a lot of credit for!

They’ve always been my favourite monsters, ever since I was five or six years old. I never think about the market when I’m writing. I just go with stories that I feel interested in.

6. What made you decide to adapt Cirque du Freak into manga? Are you, personally, a fan of Japanese entertainment?

I love Japan, its movies and manga and anime, but my Japanese publishers were the ones who instigated the manga adaptation. My books were hugely popular out there (they regularly topped the overall bestseller charts) and they thought the story would work well in manga form. I chose the artist, but after that I had nothing to do with it until it was later translated into English for its release in the USA and UK. When that happened, I went through the translation and made some tweaks to the text where I felt it was appropriate.

7. What was it like seeing Darren, Larten and everyone else come to life in The Vampire's Assistant movie?

I always like seeing how people interpret my characters and the world I create, whether that’s as fan art, a manga, or a movie. Nobody ever captures all of the characters exactly the way I picture them, but that’s what’s so special about books – every reader creates a unique visual world inside their own head. I enjoyed the movie. It wasn’t very faithful to the books, but on its own terms I thought it was a quircky, fun little film that served as a neat introduction to the world of my books for those who had now read them.

8. Though you often travel to London for inspiration to "get the juices flowing", you normally only write when you're at home in Limerick, Ireland. Why do you choose to do that instead of write on the fly?

I’m a creature of habit, and I prefer to write when I’m “in the zone.” Of course a writer can write anywhere, at virtually any time, but I like to lock myself away at home and do most of my writing there. I find it focuses me – “This is work time!”

9. You're a self-professed film buff. Would you like to see any of your other novels portrayed on the silver screen in the future? If yes, which ones?

I’d love to see ALL of them filmed! I’m always open to TV or movie adaptations, as it’s a great way to reach new readers and entice more people to give the books a try.

10. What made you love horror and things that go bump in the night so much?

It’s just something I’ve always enjoyed, ever since I was a young child. The darkness – not just physical darkness, but the darkness of the human mind and soul – has always fascinated me.

11. Each of your YA stories, from Cirque to The Demonata and even Zom-B are so different from each other, yet all are so frighteningly wonderful. Aside from trips to London, where do you get your inspiration?

From all over the place – books, comics, movies, music, travel.

12. If you had to choose, would you write children's books or adult horror for the rest of your career?

If I had to choose only one, I would choose children’s books. But thankfully I am able to work in both fields, and I plan to continue juggling them as I go forward, although I will probably start relasing my adult books under a different name from this point forward, as I’ve never felt overly comfortable writing for adults and children under the same name. Expect an announcement about that to be forthcoming on my web site in the very near future...

13. What would you be doing if you were not a hugely successful horror writer?

I would be trying to be a hugely successful horror writer!

14. Where do you see yourself and your career in the next ten years?

Hopefully I’ll continue chugging along nicely on the children’s front – it will be another couple of years before the last Zom-B book is released, and I have had some ideas for a new series after that. I also want to release more adult books and get things moving on that front – I’ve written lots of books for adults which I never published because I didn’t have the time to go back and work them up into final shape. Now I’m making that time, so I hope to release a lot of those over the next few years, and then continue onwards with new material.

15. Thank you again so much for agreeing to do the interview, Mr. Shan! Can you please leave the readers with three things that may surprise them about you?

I love Disney and Pixar movies. I love karaoke, even though I’m a terrible singer. And even though my books have been translated into more than thirty different languages, I only speak English – I was always terrible at languages in school!

Find Darren Shan at the following places online:

Darren's Official Site

Darren On Twitter

Darren's Facebook LIKE Page

His books are available for purchase from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever awesome books are sold!

Friday, August 9, 2013

National Book Lovers Day

I am writing this in honor of National Book Lovers Day. The pic is of what books I have been able to purchase since losing my entire collection in an arson fire (my collection, along with my home). It was a hard time and I am still getting over it, but the first thing I went to buy back were as many discounted/used books as money would allow.

I love books, I love to read and I love to write. I run this blog to write book reviews and give author interviews because I want to share the love of words with everyone I possibly can,

If you are an indie author, i want to get your name out there! If you are an established author, I want to post about how you influenced my life.

Since starting this blog, working with Dark Media Online and Books Make Me Happy, I have been blessed to be able to interact with authors who shaped my teen and adult years like Darren Shan, Terri Garey and Ellen Schreiber, plus more! I never once thought I would be able to have these oppoerunities to speak with, review and interview these people who inspired me.

Now, I want to inspire YOU. Get out there, buy a new book, discover a new author, get the word out there about your own work...just do something to help spread the love of words we all have here.

I started reading at about 2 and a half years old, no joke. I loved being read to as a kid. I started writing when I was eight years old, but composed my first poem at the age of three. By 14 I had finished a manuscript. Words--be they poetry, lyrics or especially books--have always been my refuge along with God.

I love that people are LIKING my posts on all the sites of which I am a part. It means a lot to have my appreciation of art appreciated by other art lovers. Thank you all.

Wednesday, August 7, 2013

EXCLUSIVE: Lisa Kessler's Moonlight Blog Tour Makes A Stop At KSR!

As a fan of paranormal romance, I am honored to have Mrs. Lisa Kessler (author of the Night Series [vampires] and the Moon Series [werewolves/shifters]) have her Moonlight Blog Tour make a stop here at KSR!

She is one of my personal favorite writers of this generation, and brings heat and danger to an already sexy and dangerous genre. Enjoy my exclusive interview with her below, and also, there are links here to purchase Moonlight, the first novel in the Moon Series (also, be on the lookout for Hunter's Moon coming soon!)

1. Thank you very much for allowing me to interview you for your blog tour, Mrs. Kessler. It's a pleasure to have you here! What got you started wanting to be a writer?

What got me started was actually Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles. I was crazy about that series, but there were HUGE gaps between book releases so I started writing my own vampires while I waited! :)

2. What books/authors did you enjoy growing up and what do you enjoy reading today?

I've always loved fantastical and scary stories. As a kid my favorites were The Phantom Tollbooth and The Mythical Beast, and as I got older I read Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Anne Rice, and John Saul... These days some of my favorites are Kelley Armstrong, Patricia Briggs, Angie Fox, Sherrilyn Kenyon and Jeri Smith-Ready.

3. Your novels deal with vampires and werewolves, respectively. What made you decide to do paranormal romance as opposed to other forms of romance?

I actually got my start publishing horror short stories. I love to be scared and I also love romance, so paranormal romance is perfect for me! LOL I've tried to write something contemporary but some sort of paranormal being always ends up showing up.

4. What supernatural creatures would you like to write about in the future?

I'd love to take Across the Veil and expand it into a Fae series. I love magical things and it would be fun to give Fae magick my own twist... :)

5. Your first novel, Night Walker, was released in August 2011. How did that feel to see something you worked so hard on finally released to the masses?

Oh I cried when I finally got my hands on print copies! I had such a long, hard, rejection-filled road to seeing that book in print that it was a joy to see it go out into the world. And after all the reader reactions, I'm so glad I sent it out on submission one more time! LOL

6. Did you always intend to make it a series or did that come about as a surprise even to you?

When I was about 2/3 of the way through with Night Walker, it occurred to me that Kate had been reincarnated more than once, and I knew Calisto's maker had been Mayan. I started doing more research into Mayan creation mythology and then I had the ideas for the rest of the series.

7. Your characters are all very different from each other and from the "normal" types of vampire and femme fatale. Were you inspired by real people or are they wholly imaginary?

Thank you!!! I try really hard to make each character unique. I've never added in character traits of people that I know, at least not on purpose! LOL As I get to know the character better they become their own person.

8. You released a novella, Night Thief, in 2012. What was the difference writing that as opposed to writing another full-length novel?

At first I struggled writing Night Thief because I kept worrying that what I was planning would make it end up too long. I'd never written anything that length before. But once I got over that and trusted myself, the novella really wrote itself. Kane and Rita had so much spark right from the beginning that it was pure pleasure to write it! (Plus I loved being able to have a vampire vs. Night Walker fight... So fun!)

9. Werewolves have transformed in recent years from hairy, smelly murdering creatures to sexual, rugged and handsome men. In your opinion, was this transition too quick or was it not a moment too soon?

I think it was a natural progression. Maybe it's something to do with that old cliche about "All men are dogs!"... But I think it is really sexy to write strong, hot-blooded men who protect their family and the women they love... Yum! :)

10. Do you know how many books the Moon Series will spawn?

I have 8 books planned for the series. So far I'm only contracted for the first 3 so I hope I'll get to finish the series the way I have planned... *fingers crossed* :)

11. Jaguar shifters are not the "usual" types of villains you find nowadays. What made you choose something so unique instead of going the "Sanguinarian VS. Lycan" route?

It came about while I was writing a bunch of short stories. The opening chapter of Moonlight was actually the initial short story, and when I wrote it, I had been thinking, what if someone was a shifter and had no idea that's what was happening to them. And what if they weren't a werewolf and shifted on the opposite cycle of a full moon? Then I thought about cats seeing well in the dark so it made sense that jaguars would shift during new moon. The book was finished about six months later... :)

12. The romances in some of your novels, including Moonlight, start out as mutual dislike between the characters that transforms into lust/love. Is that theme of slow-burning passion something you think will continue to be a theme in future novels (as it is quite enthralling to read)?

I do love the push and pull of mutual dislike until they get to know each other better, but I'm also a fan of friends becoming more like Gretchen and Lukas in Night Demon and you'll see that in the third moon book, Blood Moon. For me, it's really up to the characters. They tell the story, and I just write it down... :)

13. With the werewolf pack in the Twilight movies and the new CW TV show Beauty And The Beast making such a splash in the mainstream, are you glad to see that werewolves are now in the spotlight and not things to be feared?

I started out a huge vampire lover and never really paid a lot of attention to shifters, but after I wrote Moonlight they won me over and then I met Alcide on True Blood on HBO.... Shew!!! There is something to be said for body heat... (But I still love vampires too! LOL)

14. What are your other passions aside from writing spine-tingling paranormal romances?

Music is a huge passion for me. I'm a singer and now my son is in college studying voice so it's fun for me to have that to share with him. I'm also a crazy Disney fanatic! I go to Disneyland as often as I can and my Disney pin collection is a little scary to a non-Disney-aholic! LOL

15. Thank you again for allowing your Blog Tour to stop here at KSR, it is much appreciated! Can you reveal to the readers three things that they wouldn't guess about you as a person and writer?

I think people are sometimes surprised to discover I grew up on a horse ranch. Writing Adam as a horse trainer was a SUPER fun walk down memory lane for me! :) Thanks for having me on your blog Kelly!!!