Jenna Maclaine Interview and Bound by Sin Giveaway

Q: How long have you been a writer? What was your first published work?

A: I’ve always written stories and poems. Wages of Sin was the first book I ever finished, though. Unable to find an agent, I self-published it in 2006. Surprisingly enough, my agent found me about a year later when she bought Wages on Amazon. St. Martin’s Press gave me a contract for three books and Wages of Sin was rereleased in July of 2008.

Q: Is the Cin Craven series the only books you’ve written or do you also write under another name?

A: No, Jenna Maclaine is the only name I write under. This series keeps me busy enough! I won’t start another one until I’m finished with Cin.

Q: So tell us a little about Cin, where did the inspiration for her come from?

A: Cin and The Righteous sort of created themselves. I didn’t just sit down and think her up one day. She just came to me, all snarky and demanding like she is, and wouldn’t go away until I wrote her. Maybe she was a product of my vampire-deprived brain. Buffy and Angel had both gone off the air, I had run out of vampire books to read and I was just falling asleep one night when this scene floated through my head. It was like a 30-second clip from a movie and I woke up and thought to myself, what was that? I knew it wasn’t really a dream because the girl wasn’t me, the guy wasn’t anyone I recognized, and it didn’t feel like a dream. It felt like something I should be doing. So I laid there for a very long time and thought about it… and that’s how Cin Craven and The Righteous were born.

Q: What do you have in store for Cin in the future? How many books do you plan to be in the series?

A: I plan five or six more books for Cin, so eight or nine total for the series. As far as Cin’s future goes, she’s going to be facing some major challenges ahead. After the events in Bound by Sin she’s very confident in her power so I think it’s time for me to pull the rug out from under her a bit. As we move through the twentieth century in the coming books she’s going to have some problems, both with her magic and Michael. She’s going to falter at times, but she’s strong and she’ll eventually find her way. She’ll also finally understand what Morrigan wants from her and she’ll rise to the occasion.

Q: Tell us a bit about your latest release. Feel free to share an excerpt.

A: Bound by Sin is the third book in the Cin Craven series. Cin has been a vampire and a member of The Righteous (the police force of the undead) for nearly fifty years. She’s the first witch to ever retain her powers after being turned and that’s been both a blessing and a curse for her. During a previous battle with a dark mage she became infected with black magic and she tries very hard, sometimes unsuccessfully, to keep those darker urges buried.

In Bound by Sin, Cin and her husband Michael must travel to America to rescue Cin’s cousin Claire, who was kidnapped in London. Saving Claire from a human seems easy enough at first, until Cin and Michael locate her on an island steeped in voodoo which calls inexorably to the darkness inside Cin. With the interference of a snarky ghost, meddlesome gods, determined humans, and one powerful voodoo queen, things go downhill from there.

This is, I think, my favorite book in the series. Cin has to deal with some hard issues in this chapter of her life. She has to come to terms with losing some of the people she loves (because that’s what happens when you’re an immortal with ties to the human world) and she is also forced to finally face the dark magic that has haunted her for decades. You can find excerpts from all three novels and my latest anthology here: www.jennamaclaine.com/Read.html

Q: Do you have any books planned in the future other than the Cin Craven series?

A: I think when this series is finished I might spin off some of the secondary characters into their own series. There are several of them I’d like to explore further; I’ll just have to see who yells the loudest for my attention when the time comes.

Ok now onto a little more about you…

Q: Do you have a “day job” or do you write full time?

A: My family has a farm so I don’t “go” to work— I wake up and it’s already here! My “day job” is a 24-hour gig 365 days a year. And I do love it.

Q: I read that you live on a farm with over 80 animals, so is it a working farm or do you just love to take care of the animals? What kind of animals do you have and which ones are your favorites?

A: We do have a working farm. We have sheep, llamas, alpacas, one old Highland Cow, and more than our fair share of dogs and cats. All my animals are my “favorites.” They each have their own unique little personalities and I love them all.

Q: What are some of your hobbies besides writing and taking care of your animals?

A: I read when I can (though not as much as I’d like to these days) and I enjoy going out dancing on the weekends.

Q: I read somewhere that you are a Buffy fan, so Angel or Spike?

A: Huge Buffy fan! I think that was some of the best writing ever on television. I like Angel fine but I’m definitely a Spike girl. I loved his irreverent humor and always looked forward to whatever would come out of his mouth next! And then there’s the fact that he’s just gorgeous. Can’t forget that!

Q: Do you watch any of the new vampire shows or movies like True Blood, Vampire Diaries or the Twilight movies? What’s your take on sparkling vampires?

A: I do watch True Blood and the Vampire Diaries. Right now I’m enjoying the Vampire Diaries more. I have read the Twilight series and saw the first movie. I’m interested to see if the special effects are better in New Moon, but I’ll wait for the DVD. Sitting in a movie theater with a bunch of screaming teenagers is something I can pass on. I wish they’d done a better job on the sparkling vampire special effects in Twilight. That could have been amazing and it just sort of fell flat. I do prefer the traditional burning-in-the-sunlight vampires, though. I often tease my barn cats about being “sparkly vampire cats” because they like to roll on the gravel drive and they pick up bits of mica in their fur. One of my barn cats is Spike (named by my dad because as a kitten he was the Big Bad— and still is!) and I’ll say, “Spikey, you’re all sparkly. That is so wrong! You’re the Big Bad. Big Bads don’t sparkle!”

Q: Name three things readers would be surprised to learn about you.

1. As a teenager I showed horses competitively, both English and Western.

2. I can use a spinning wheel to spin wool into yarn.

3. I’ve been to Scotland twice. On my first trip, we left for the UK the day after Princess Diana died. It was a very moving and emotional time to be over there, especially for the two days we were in London.

Q: Ok to end the interview can tell us what are you working on right now, like what’s on your computer screen or your to-do list today?

A: On my computer right now: my email, my facebook page, and a webcam site for a Bald Eagle nest with two babies in it at Blackwater Refuge in Maryland.

Yet to do today: well, the day is pretty much over so all I have left to do is take my Jack Russells out for a walk and do evening chores at the barn. After I get all the critters tucked in I’m going to go out and have fun with some friends.

Thank, you, Roxanne, for the great interview and I hope you and your readers have a wonderful weekend!

Now it's contest time!

I have a signed copy of Bound by Sin that Jenna has offered to one lucky reader

Would you like to be that lucky winner?

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