1. Originally, the story was set in New Orleans, LA. I love NOLA. I was fourteen the first time I visited. My drill team was there for a Mardi Gras dance competition. Wow, talk about an eye opening experience! I found Mardi Gras to be an interesting den of iniquity that both terrified and intrigued me. As much as I New Orleans, I decided to change it in Rising Shadows to a no name location since I wanted each reader to imagine it in their own area. (I’ll be heading back to New Orleans October 2014, woo!)

2. Rachel had several name changes. I can’t remember them all but I know one was Tessa and another was Sarah.

3. The hero’s name is Sebastien Bonvillain, he prefers to be called Bastien which is a nod to the main character in The Neverending Story. The last name Bonvillain translates to ‘good villain’. I am forever misspelling the whole families name’s wrong.

4. I started book one and book three at the same time. I couldn’t decide which book came first for almost a year. Trying to figure out the timeline made me crackers.

5. It took five years to finish Rising Shadows because I kept taking breaks to have kids and move houses. That’s all stopped so books are written much faster now.

6. Cleary Neil and Varian Caina are my favorite characters that you’ve met. I love how unpredictable and eccentric they are; If those guys think it, they say it. They are the easiest to write for because they don’t hide anything.

7. Rachel had a cat! I couldn’t find a way to reunite her with her cat in a plausible way so I wrote him out. It made me sad to think she might never find out what happened to her cat. I’m an animal lover. I am owned by a pug, a boxer, four cats, and two ferrets.

8. Winter Summersun was meant to have a small walk on role and then go away. Instead she’s a main character with a fan following. Her name is symbolic of her conflicted political status.

9. I got the idea for Rising Shadows from a daydream.

10. Livia and Rachel’s relationship was central to the story in every draft I wrote. I never changed their bond, it’s the catalyst for every move Rachel makes.

Rising Shadows

World in Shadows

Book One

Bridget Blackwood

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Date of Publication: February 1, 2014

ISBN: 1494891751

ASIN: B00I6U2ARW

Number of pages: 107

Word Count: 32,404

Cover Artist: The Killion Group

Amazon Nook

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Book Description:

Rachel Ryan wakes up with no knowledge of where she is or how she got there. Thrown into a world she thought only existed in myths, she finds more questions than answers.

Shape shifters, faeries, and vampires hide in plain sight among humans. There’s a war quietly brewing in the shadows. Rachel stands between mankind and those creatures that live in the darkness.

Enhanced with power she doesn’t understand, she’ll tip the scales, but who is the real enemy?

Excerpt #1

Gates is in the center of the club. I follow behind him curious to see what happens next. I should grab Livia and run. I look up at the loft. People are lined up against the railing watching the display below. My eyes are drawn to one man in particular. From my angle and with the low lighting, I can’t tell much about his features or height. His clothes and hair are dark, he rests one arm on the top rail and holds a pool cue in the other hand. His gaze is a penetrating green and I swear they glow, I have to make myself look away.

“Guns are not appreciated here, sir,” says a young woman behind the bar.

Liquid courage, come to mama! Moving around Gates, I walk over and take a seat in front of her. “Can I get a drink please?” I ask politely.

“What do you think you are doing?” Gates grinds out through clenched teeth. He is standing directly behind me.

“You folks had me locked up playing lab rat. I just want a few minutes of me time before the shit hits the fan.”

Gates doesn’t know what to say to that. Patrons watch me curiously. Let them. I am past the point of caring. The bartender grins at me. She has hair that’s a silvery lavender dancing around her shoulders. Her eyes are a mesmerizing shade of purple. She doesn’t seem real. I am spellbound. Not a shifter, what is she? I have to stop myself from reaching out and touching her.

“What would you like?” She asks me breaking the trance.

Back to reality, in a room full of doom. “What would you recommend for a woman’s last drink on earth?”

About the Author:

Bridget Blackwood is a hopeless romantic and a fan of happily ever after. She grew up in East Texas where she met and married her high school sweetheart. Together they moved to Southern Illinois, it's been home for over a decade now. Bridget began telling stories at an early age, she writes in self-defense because the characters in her head are loud and bossy. A social butterfly by nature, Bridget loves to talk and laugh. When she isn't writing she enjoys watching horror movies, playing video games, and not cooking.

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