Black Opal Books: Torn by Christine Hughes

Welcome to BK Walker Books Etc. I'm so happy you could join me today the beach. I was so ready for the beach and some warm weather. Thanks for choosing the perfect place to chat :).

I'm so excited to chat about your new release Torn. I absolutely love the cover (see below) and it sounds amazing Christine.


BK: Please tell us a little about yourself...


Hello! Thank you for having me. First and foremost I am the mother to two beautiful little boys and the wife of an amazing husband! (Hi!) We live in central New Jersey (no, I don't know Snooki) and hope to one day live closer to the ocean.


As a kid, I moved all over the place. My dad was in the Army so traveled all over the United States. By the time I hit college, I'd attended 13 different schools! Because of this, I often lost myself in books and writing. My favorite books as a kid were the Christopher Pike and RL Stine novels. As a teen I would write angsty poetry of true love and broken hearts - you, know - the real WOO HOO! stuff of teenage minds. In college I majored in English and continued writing and reading. It wasn't until a couple of years ago that my husband made me realize I could do something with writing. 


My first novel TORN, a paranormal YA published by Black Opal Books, will be released in early June.


BK: Please tell us a little about your book....


When Samantha's father dies and she he was an angel because of what he was protecting,  she must join the fight between two groups of fallen angels, the Faithful and the Exiled, in a race to save humanity. In spite of the unforgivable betrayal of her best friend, the newly acknowledged love for her guardian angel, the face to face confrontation of the dark angel who killed her father and the growing need to allow darkness to take over her being, Samantha has been charged making the choice between fighting alongside the Faithful or succumbing to the darkness of the Exiled.


BK: What inspired you to pen this particular novel?


The song "All I Need" by Within Temptation. I was watching The Vampire Diaries (The Founder's Day episode form 2010) and Elena had to dance with Damon…that song came on and the whole story flashed into my head. It was crazy! I youtubed the song, downloaded it and played it over and over again until things began to solidify. Then I started writing.


BK: When did you first consider yourself a writer?


I didn't consider myself a writer until I was offered a contract with Black Opal Books. I don't know why but I didn't want to tell people I was a writer then have them ask where to find my books… I don't know. Just the insecurities of beginning, I guess. Now, I would tell anyone to sing it from the rooftops if you believe it. 


BK: How do you keep your story flowing?


I put together a playlist of music, usually a hundred songs or so, that I feel "gets" the emotion of the story. I hit shuffle and write. Sometimes I add songs, sometimes I delete them but it's always music that keeps me going.


BK: Do you ever run into writer's block, and if so, what do you do to get past it?


Writer's block and I know each other well though I can't say we are friends. To get past it, to push through, I listen to music. I shuffle, shuffle, shuffle until I get to that song or lyric that breaks me free. With TORN, the weather would shut me down. Rain, snow, dreary days…I wouldn't write. Couldn't write. It all has to be mental….Weird, but I remember a really bad case of black with a manuscript that took me days to get passed. It was Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" of all things. And it had nothing to do with what I was writing. I guess you never know what's gonna break it.


BK: What is your writing process like? Do you have any quirks, or must-haves to write?


My writing process apparently changes. With TORN, I pretty much sat outside on the deck, drank my coffee and wrote. Something about being outside in great weather made the darkness of the novel feel balanced. When I was writing the manuscript I recently finished, I would go to Barnes & Noble 2 or 3 times a week for hours at a time and just people watch, drink my grande earl grey and write. 


BK: Where do you hope your books/writing will be in the future?


I would love to have a long career. I'm not necessarily looking for Rowling, Meyers, or Collins fame (though, that would be nice). I just want to be able to do something I love, have it well received and life comfortably. My dream is that books will lead me to that.


BK: What do you hope readers will take away from your books?


I want them to be able to fall into the book, to escape reality - even if just for a little while. I hope they enjoy the stories as much as I enjoyed writing them. And, in relation to TORN, I want them to wonder if there is really a yin and yang relationship between good and evil, despair and hope. Hopefully they'll visit my FB page or my blog and open up a few (polite) philosophical discussions.


BK: What is one piece of advice you received that you carry with you in your writing?


Cyn Balog told me once, after I'd told her I finished TORN and had registered for the SCBWI conference, that I had" just set myself apart from the "want to's" and became an 'I did'." Now, no matter what happens in the future with this book or with others, I will always be an "I did". 


BK: What is one piece of advice you would give to new and aspiring writers?


Oh my goodness….Never give up. Really. I had at least forty rejections for TORN before it was picked up by Lauri at Black Opal Books. Those rejections are awful - especially the short "Dear Author/Writer" responses. Enter contests, network, go to conferences (virtual and physical), learn everything you can from everyone you can. Just don't stop. Not all dreams are easy.


BK: Are you currently working on any new projects? What can we expect from you in the future?


The manuscript I am currently shopping out is called Three Days of Rain. It's a contemporary novel written with a male protagonist. This story was hard to write - there are just so many emotions I wanted to convey and I hope I did. Time will tell...


BK: Where can readers find you?


Well, lately, I feel like I am all over social media - www.facebook.com/ChristineHughesAuthor; twitter - @HughesWriter; my neglected blog (I promise to fix that) http://christine-hughes.com; the Black Opal Books Author Blog www.somestoriestold.com; the YA Fest in Easton, PA August 4 and the Collingswood Book Festival on October 6. I will update more appearances on my blog shortly.


Thank you so much for taking time to chat with me today. It's been a pleasure having you and I wish you much success in the future.

When Samantha’s father dies and she finds out he was an angel because of what he was protecting, she must join the fight between two groups of fallen angels, the Faithful and the Exiled, in a race to save humanity. In spite of the unforgivable betrayal of her best friend, the newly acknowledged love for her guardian angel, the face to face confrontation of the dark angel who killed her father and the growing need to allow darkness to take over her being, Samantha has been charged making the choice between fighting alongside the Faithful or succumbing to the darkness of the Exiled.

Excerpt:

James English stepped out onto the sidewalk as a chilly fall wind stung his lungs and rattled his tired bones. Pulling his coat tighter and tucking the box under his arm, he kept to the shadows of the poorly lit street but he knew that wouldn’t be enough to hide from those he could feel were still watching him. Those who wanted what he had. Those who would kill to get it. Those who had killed trying to get it.

He devoted his life to protecting it, guarding it, and just as those who had tried in the past, the newcomer would test his limits. Without someone to keep it from falling into their hands, everything would end. The balance would shift and everything would tumble into chaos. Walking the blurred the lines between good and evil wasn’t an easy task. The thought shook him to his core and he hiked the box deeper into his grip and quickened his pace. A little farther and he would have time to think. He needed to think. And he couldn’t do it out here. Exposed.

Suddenly, he stopped walking and cocked his ear to the night. He heard nothing but the whistling breeze rustling the leaves that still clung to the trees overhead. But he could have sworn he’d heard something else. Something indistinguishable. Something ominous.

He found me.

He began to run. It drew louder, closer. The harsh flap of wings. But his feet couldn’t carry him fast enough. Not fast enough to get away from the one who had betrayed him.

This time he wouldn’t make it. He knew that, had come to terms with it the moment he discovered he’d been betrayed. His was a mission that could only end in death. His death. That decision was made long ago. But now it was all happening too soon.

There were so many things he had yet to do. He needed more time. More time to prepare, to train, to lay out the truth. He’d never taken the time to explain any of it to her. He feared without his guidance, she would not understand. She would not choose the path he had wanted to groom her for. It was a hard choice for him to make and knew his headstrong daughter wouldn’t embrace such a concept so easily.

But there was nothing he could do about it now. He just hoped the plan that he had laid in place would be enough. That they would be strong enough, good enough to protect her, to help her. He knew she was special the moment he laid eyes on her seventeen years ago. And now he would never get to watch her grow and develop the strength that lay dormant inside her. He would never be able to help her escape her demons, the demons he knew would come for her, as they came for him and those that came before.

Breathless, he veered into an alley and dropping to his knees, slipped the box behind the nearest dumpster. He quickly muttered words that only he was privy to, words that had been passed down the line from the ones who came before him, words he had hoped to pass on to her.

But he wasn’t quick enough.

He felt another presence disturb the darkness behind him as the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. Despite his overcoat, a disguise meant to harbor his identity as well as block the chill, goose bumps now covered his body as he heard the intruder’s footfalls echo around him and a small chuckle float towards him.

He needed to protect the box, to try to hide it away from the one who was after it.

Unintelligible words frantically spewed from his lips and his whole being shook with the power he was invoking. With a flash of light, he threw his arms to the sky. Chanting the last words of his prayer, he was struck from behind with a force that no mortal could survive. He reeled forward, barely catching himself before slamming into the frozen pavement, his wings fallen bloody beside to him.

Gasping, on his hands and knees, he slowly turned his head to look behind him. A glittering black sword protruded from his back. He could feel the blade pressing painfully against his heart . Out of the corner of his eye, his assailant finally came into view.

“Sebastian,” he whispered.

“James,” Sebastian smirked.

He should have known. Once they knew the exact location of James and the box, retrieving it was a task that only Sebastian would handle himself. He should have been more careful.

“You had to know I would find you, James,” Sebastian’s said softly.

James quickly uttered a prayer for his daughter. A petition, asking, begging, that she would be the balance promised so many years before. He hoped it would be enough. As the sword slowly pierced James’ heart, and the last glimmer of life dimmed from his eyes, he sadly realized that his incantation to send the box away may not have been successful.

Pulling his sword from James’ chest, Sebastian walked over to the dumpster, shoving it across the alley with a mere wave of his hand. As he retrieved the box, a sadistic  smile played on his face , victory sparked in his pale green eyes and he knew that the first half of his mission was complete.

Thank you so much for chatting with me today. I had a blast at the beach and that was just the break I needed today :). Wishing you much success in the future.

A former Army brat, Christine Hughes moved quite often. She spent much of her time losing herself in books and creating stories about many of the people she’d met. Falling in love with literature was easy for her and she majored in English while attending college in New Jersey.

Not sure where her love of reading and writing fit, she became a middle school English teacher. After nine years of teaching others to appreciate literature, she decided to take the plunge and write her first novel. Now at home focusing on making writing her new career, she spends her time creating characters and plot points instead of grading papers.

Music has become an integral part of her writing process and without the proper play list, Hughes finds the words don’t flow. At least a few times a week she can be found at the local Barnes & Noble with her Mac and headphones working on her next novel. Her YA novel Torn will be released by Black Opal Books in June 2012.

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Black Opal Books: Throw Away Teen by Shannon Kennedy

Ten Things You Don’t Know about Throw Away Teen my first book for Black Opal Books

10. Throw Away Teen is the first book in my “Cheerleader” series. Set in and around a private school, Stewart Falls Academy, twelve girls deal with timely issues while they learn to interact and build a winning cheer squad. The life lesson their coach wants them to learn is that, “Sometimes you have to be your own cheerleader!”

9. Characters grow and change in a variety of ways which may surprise the writer as much as it does the reader. When B.J. Larson, a street-smart foster kid moves to small town Stewart Falls, she’s the Princess of Passing Though, but has she found a “forever” home, somewhere it will be safe to unpack and stay a while?

8. World-building in a contemporary teen novel can be as challenging as creating the setting of any other story. Stewart Falls may be a fictional town set around three small mountain lakes in the Cascade foothills of Washington State. It still required all the amenities from the local pizzeria to a down-home riding stable to make the book come alive.

7. Teen dialogue isn’t easy. It’s like learning a foreign language and at 50+ years of age, my brain synapses have been closed a long time. Good thing I had kids at the schools where I substitute teach and at the barn to keep my language real. B.J. refers to herself as “street trash” but nobody else better put that label on her. And calling her, Blow-Job will immediately get your butt kicked, as plenty of other girls have learned the hard way. And no, she doesn’t fight like a girl!

6. Just because the writer loves a phrase doesn’t mean the editor will and that the phrase stays through the revision process. B.J.’s mantra that she repeats whenever she’s scared made her “sound childish” so it went away. Okay, that was for the most part, but I snuck in a couple of reps when things got particularly stressful for her. Then saying, “I’m B.J. Larson and I’m tough,” made it possible for her to survive one more time.

5. The supporting cast doesn’t have to be human, but don’t forget the character arcs. B.J.’s new roomie is an eight-week-old, purple heeler-border collie puppy. He loves her unconditionally, but has a tough time staying on task in doggie class. B.J. wonders if he’s like her and has A.D.D. She learns that it’s normal for puppies to be easily distracted and she can teach him to stay focused. With the help of her tutor, she can learn it too. Okay, and a mocha helps!

4. Conflict needs to start at the beginning of the book with the introduction of the antagonist. B.J. doesn’t expect everyone to welcome her with open arms, but she also didn’t intend to have a “face-off” with her new foster parents’ adult daughter. B.J. may be 15 going on 40, but Jocelyn is 35 going on 12 at times.

3. B.J. discovers that the guy of her dreams isn’t just a pretty face ~ he comes with baggage even if he lives in what should be a picture-perfect small town. Nobody is a “pod” person even if he or she seems that way at first. Accepting yourself for who and what you are leads to being able to accept others.

2. Liz and Ted Driscoll, her foster parents aren’t perfect, but neither is B.J. While it’s fun to write a flawed character, it’s also a challenge to keep her true to herself. When she sets a time-frame for her visit, B.J. feels much safer knowing this home is just temporary. She also comes to know her new foster parents in ways she never expected.

1. Can the “Princess of Passing Through” learn to put down roots? Bounced from foster home to foster home since she was two, B.J. Larson knows life doesn’t have guarantees. Learning to trust others may be the largest risk she’s ever taken.

I’m delighted the Stewart Falls Cheerleaders found a home with Black OpalPublishing. I have a terrific cover and my own real puppy is on it. I still don’t know how we got him to hold still for the picture – he’s a whirling, horse-chasing, sister-puppy –attacking, cat-romping fellow at the best of times. But I have to admit that when he’s sleeping, he’s downright adorable. He loved our snow in January, but he does think that the cones I use to teach the kids to steer their horses are actually made for puppies.

I spend a lot of time with teens both at the family riding stable and as a substitute middle/high school teacher. I love hearing what they think and say – the books seemed to come about naturally out of both those venues. And of course, it’s always easy to find “beta” readers at the barn or the schools who are happy to tell me when I make a mistake and need to rewrite, sort of a “turnabout is fair play,” time.

In addition to writing young adult novels, I also write mainstream western romance as Josie Malone. Last week, BookStrand released my third mainstream western romance, A Woman’s Place and so my personal adventure continues. In other words, Yippee! I always dreamed of someday being a writer. Then I wanted to be a published writer and this is when I quote the cliché, “You’re never given a dream without being given the power to make it come true.” You may have to work for it however.

A Woman’s Place follows my first historical for BookStrand, A Man’s World. In that book, a woman masqueraded as a gunfighter in 1887 Washington (state) Territory – actually, Trace was a pretty good gunfighter – everybody just thought she was a man except the hero who figured it out and helped save her from the outlaw who stalked her. When A Woman’s Place begins, Trace and Zeb have been married for just over six months. Then renegades rob the bank she owns in the town of Junction City.

So, our hero, Rad Morgan, the marshal of Junction City sets off to capture the miscreants. Along the way, he meets his match, and Iraqi War veteran/homicide detective Beth Chambers takes no prisoners. She’ll fit right into 1888 Washington Territory. Of course, I had to figure out how to get a woman from 2012 to the Old West and why she was even there, but that was part of the adventure and the paranormal elements kept escalating. Much to Rad’s initial dismay, Beth and Trace become fast friends.

SHANNON KENNEDY/JOSIE MALONE BIOGRAPHY: 

As a child, I loved to dream away the days in an old cherry tree on my family’s pony farm. In my imagination, the tree became a beautiful Arabian stallion, a medieval castle and even a pirate ship. I got in trouble for making my little sisters walk the plank, but hey, they never broke any bones. On rainy days, I headed for my fort in the hayloft. While the rain thudded on the cedar shingled roof, I read books, eventually trading Carolyn Keene for Georgette Heyer. I used the setting of the pony farm for my second romance from BookStrand. The Daddy Spell is a finalist in the Colorado RWA Award of Excellence contest.

Today I live on the family ranch in the Cascade foothills of Washington State in what was once a summer vacation cabin. It’s been modernized and even has indoor plumbing – woo-hoo! I share the cabin with my two cats or maybe, they share it with me. I usually write at night after a long day on the ranch. Some days are longer and harder than others, but I still write from 8PM to 2AM, seven days a week. As a substitute school teacher, I love the school breaks but I’m just as busy, since there are 36 horses to look after, along with other assorted animals.

With all the critters on the ranch, I don’t have time for a husband. As for kids, I have to give back the ones who come to learn how to ride at the end of each day. Now, I’m teaching the kids and grandkids of the ones I taught way back when we started. I’ve had a lot of adventures over the years – and in my next 50 years, I plan to write all about them. I hope you enjoy reading about them! 

http://shannonkennedybooks.com/books.html

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Black Opal Books: Basement Level 5:Never Scared by L.R. Wright

Flashback, Who’s That?

Thanks for having me BK! I appreciate the opportunity!

Speaking of flashbacks, I absolutely love them. There is something to be said about getting into a character’s mind a few months ago or even a decade earlier. I love delving into the past.

As the plot of the novel evolved, I began to imagine the characters as teenagers, young adults, even new adults. In Basement Level Five: Never Scared, I use flashbacks to tell a parallel tale. It’s almost a story within a story. There is a lot of action in the past for these characters that have a direct link to what is going on in the present. I felt it was important to show it. The flashbacks in the book are deliberate and hold clues to the mystery.

Above all, I wanted readers to see the contrast between the characters at young ages and what they have become as adults—why they made the decisions they made.

I hope readers enjoy the Martinez clan as much as I enjoyed creating them.

Basement Level Five: Never Scared will be released APRIL 28, 2012. You can pre-order your copy starting Saturday, April 14^th through Black Opal Books (www.blackopalbooks.com).

About me: I’m a devoted wife of many years and mother to 3 wonderful children who inspire and motivate me to follow my dreams. In addition to writing, I love romance novels, fine wine, and hanging out with my friends and family. I crunch numbers for a living, and plan events for fun.

Website: www.thebasementlevelfive.blogspot.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/LeslieWrightAuthor

Twitter: @LWrightAuthor

Blurb

Alexa Martinez was raised to believe that murder, deceit, and lies were a part of life. A trained killer, she follows in her father’s footsteps, specializing in political assassinations for Martinez Security—contracted through the CIA. She thrives on the power, money, respect, and—most of all—the adrenaline rush.

Despite the danger associated with her profession, Alexa strives to give her children a normal life. But when her past catches up with her, they become pawns in a deadly game of revenge. Operating from a secret base five levels below ground, Alexa struggles to unravel the puzzle, uncovering secrets that will alter their lives forever. Now she must make a choice—is she willing to die to give her children a life outside the bullet proof glass?

Excerpt

Alexa was so excited she ran across the street to Dro’s house. She sprinted into Dro’s room smiling. It was her thirteenth birthday and her mother had straightened her hair. It was almost as long as she was tall.

Dro looked up from his schoolbook. “What are you smiling about, Alexa?”

She was glad everyone had stopped calling her lady. Her father started it when he nicknamed her ladybug. As she grew older, she dropped the bug from her nickname and became known as lady. Now that she was thirteen, she wanted to be called by her true name.

She smirked as she sauntered over to him and perched herself on the edge of the desk. “I got my birthday present from Daddy.”

He removed his glasses and set them on the desk. “What did he get you?”

She pulled out her brand new Sig Sauer .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol. “This. I’m going to call her Lady.”

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