Can you tell readers a little bit
about yourself and what inspired to write in this particular genre?
I’ve pretty much always
loved things that are a little spooky. Growing up my parents wouldn’t let me
watch the X-Files no matter how much
I begged because they thought the show was too scary for me. Sometimes, I’d
sneak and watch it anyway. Mom was right about it being too scary, but the
resulting nightmares were worth it. It seems that my love of the
supernatural/paranormal eventually migrated from determining my entertainment
choices to influencing my writing. The stories I love most always have a strong
romantic thread in them. I don’t know at what point I became a hopeless
romantic, but if there’s love and weirdness, I’m all in! So far, it seems to be
a natural fit for me to write the same kind of stories that entertain most me.
What inspired you to write this
book?
I’d read so many
books and fell in love with so many characters, my wildly overactive
imagination would create new scenarios for old favorites, and I could easily
spend hours daydreaming about what would happen if those same characters
encountered the situations I’d created for them. Eventually that evolved into
the invention of my own unique characters with storylines they could call their
own.
Please tell us about your latest
release.
My latest release
is actually a novel entitled Blood
Chained, the third book of the Dark
Siren series. It picks up a few months after the events that conclude Banewolf and answers a lot of questions
readers will be dying to know by that point.
Do you have a special formula for
creating characters' names? Do you try to match a name with a certain meaning
to attributes of the character or do you search for names popular in certain
time periods or regions?
While I wouldn’t
say that I have a particular formula, many times the names do end up with
meanings that accurately describe certain attributes of the characters. Sometimes that is intentional due to various
baby name websites, and other times it is a complete coincidence! For example,
I decided to name the male MC of the Dark
Siren series Rhane before I wrote a single concrete word. Later on, I
discovered that the Germanic meaning of Rhane is “deciding warrior.” I’m pretty
sure I pumped my fist on reading that. As soon as you meet the guy you see how
much that description suits him. But no matter what the name means or where it
originates from, I won’t use anything that doesn’t feel right.
Was one of your characters more
challenging to write than another?
In each of the
books the narrative is split between Kali’s POV and a character from the pack
POV (usually Rhane). It definitely took me longer to settle into writing from a
male POV, especially when trying to channel heavy sexual tension. (Laughs). I
interviewed a few gracious male friends and started paying closer attention to
other books written in a male narrative. Once I got down the basics, it started
to be a lot easier to shift gears in storytelling from Kali to Rhane.
What is the most interesting thing
you have physically done for book related research purposes?
I went to a shooting range and fired a gun for
the first time. That was exciting.
With the book being part of a
series, are there any character or story arcs, that readers jumping in
somewhere other than the first book, need to be aware of? Can these books be
read as stand alones?
The journey of
Rhane and Kali’s love and redemption is one big, tangled web of intricate and
interlocking threads. The story also evolves and matures with the female lead. Secrets
run rampant and the suspense is thick, promoting a gradual reveal of character
motivations, the worlds they come from, and the hidden pasts they protect. If
you’re going to read this lovely series, you’ll have to start with the first
book, Dark Siren, or you’ll be
chronically lost.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s
block? How do you deal with it?
I have yet to
suffer from the infamous writer’s block. I am curious as to what it feels like
and how I’ll handle it when it inevitably happens.
Do you have any weird writing quirks
or rituals?
While brainstorming, you might catch me waving my hands
around in public like I’m conducting an orchestra. Other times, I may just pull
some blankets over my head, emerging only when I have found the perfect words
or plot direction.
Where is your favorite place to
read? Do you have a cozy corner or special reading spot?
Oh man, I can read
anywhere. I have this uncanny ability to shut out anything and everything
around me whenever my head is in a book. I’m also one of those people who carry
paperbacks in her purse to sneak in a few pages at any chance she gets!
What can readers expect next from
you?
The fourth and
final book of the Dark Siren series, Primed Son, will be released fall/winter
2015. I’m also working on a completely different fantasy romance project.
Hopefully, I can get it done next year too!
Where can readers find you on the
web?
Banewolf
Dark Siren Series
Book Two
Eden Ashley
Genre: paranormal romance, young adult
ISBN: 9780989963237
ASIN: B00GTT3RDI
Number of pages: 395
Word Count: 90,000
Cover Artist: Nathalia Suellen
Book Description:
New enemies are made.
New allies must be forged.
Kali is beginning to regain her memories. In doing so, she discovers old secrets and betrayals that threaten to unravel her present and shake the foundation for Rhane’s belief in her innocence. While her maturing abilities present unique challenges, a bigger problem arises when Kali learns her ex-boyfriend has made a misguided deal with the enemy in order to win her back—a decision that may ultimately cost him his humanity.
Keeping Kali safe has become a full time job for Rhane. And struggling to gain control of the immortal Banewolf isn’t making that task any easier. The power to eliminate the growing threat against Kali lies at Rhane’s fingertips, but using it means risking his friends to the insatiable blood lust of a monster. So Rhane is forced to forge a shaky alliance with creatures he has sworn to destroy. Despite these new allies, the danger pressing on their borders intensifies, culminating in a heartbreaking and shocking finale.
The strength of the bond between young and ancient lovers will be tested…and if Kali and Rhane are to survive, they must find a way to be unbreakable.
Excerpt from Banewolf
I Want You to
Remember…
After seeing the
Cal who wasn’t Cal, Kali’s mind was far too harried to focus on class. Skipping
the last block of the day, she went to the swimming pool and sat at the bottom
for a long time. Her eyes were closed. Her body was motionless. The pressure of
the water became a loving caress, helping to relax everything except her mind.
Those anxious thoughts just wouldn’t let go. Even with all Rhane had revealed,
the past remained hidden like it had never existed.
But you didn’t forget.
That was right.
An entire lifetime…taken. And it wasn’t just her life with Rhane. Kali had
lived well over a dozen lives in stolen human bodies. Yet she couldn’t remember
a single one of them. Each of those little girls had been stripped from the
arms of a family who loved them, only to be replaced by a soul-sucking,
fire-setting siren. And for what reason? If Rhane knew, he wasn’t telling. Why
won’t he talk to me? I’ve proven my trust.
Well, she
amended the thought. I did push him away at first, but only for like fifteen
minutes. Then Gabriel showed up and started ripping more of my life to pieces.
Kali took a
breath and then another, but not with her lungs. Her skin absorbed oxygen from
the water and exchanged it for carbon dioxide waste in her blood. The process
didn’t come automatically. It took a lot of focus to make underwater breathing
happen. In her two weeks on the lam, she’d discovered this new talent. And it
had proven very useful, practically allowing her to live in the water. Holding
her breath was certainly easier, but that came with time limits. After twenty
minutes, she had to surface.
She was
determined to master underwater breathing. Concentrating on the task left her
brain severely limited in the number of other things it could worry about. And
that was a plus.
Feeling the
faintest tremble in the water, she opened her eyes. The lights were flickering.
After a few cycles of an ebbing and surging glow, they went out completely. She
tried not to panic in the darkness, expecting the underwater lighting to
illuminate soon. But instead, there came a muted thud. All of the lights
suddenly flooded the pool arena. And Kali screamed.
Bodies were
everywhere. Hundreds of them littered the swimming pool floor. Parts of their
skin were burned. Charred chunks broke apart from decaying flesh. Tentacles of
black liquid snaked into the water. The body of a child rose up, a bloated mass
set adrift in a nonexistent current. Kali stared into the film of the corpse’s
dead eyes with absolute horror. Black hair floated around his head in a dark
halo of death. Even with blanched, greying and puckered skin, Kali saw in the
child a startling resemblance to Rhane. Bubbles spurted from her mouth as she
screamed again.
She kicked hard,
trying to get as far away from the corpse as fast as she could. When her back
slammed into solid concrete, she turned to scramble up the pool wall. Fingers
slipping on the wet ledge, she finally managed to pull herself out and flop
onto her stomach. Trembling with a dozen more screams welled up inside, Kali
shook with the effort of not releasing them.
Pushing to her
feet, she looked down into the water, needing desperately to believe she was
not going crazy. There were no dead people. There was no dead boy. The pool was
empty.
#
Icy water
pounded from the showerhead, streaming into her eyes as it washed the chlorine
from her body. All Kali could see was the boy. His lifeless face floating
before hers, dark and grey and distorted in death. It took both hands to
smother her sobs. She couldn’t understand what was happening. Was it possible
that the vision was a real memory like the nightmares of the horseman had been
real memories?
The lights in
the shower room flickered and went out just as they had in the pool auditorium.
Her breath caught in her chest as she waited for what would happen next. She
didn’t have to wait long.
“Kalista,” a
male voice sighed into the darkness.
She backed away.
She was naked and blind. And in the shower was a stranger who probably meant
her harm. The vulnerable state made Kali’s movements very clumsy.
“Darkesong.”
This time the
voice was closer. So close, she could feel the whisper against her skin. She
knew it was the thing pretending to be Cal. Kali bit her lip. She was too
frightened to scream. But screaming wouldn’t have helped anyway.
At first, his
touch was light. Kali reacted, flinching away violently. Then “Cal” grabbed
her. He was an irresistible force shoving her against the wet shower wall. His
hard body pressed against hers. The heat from him completely dispelled the cold
that fell around them.
Kali felt his
face against her skin. His hot breath steamed next to her cheek.
“Don’t,” she
whispered.
Strong fingers
slipped around her throat, but their hold was gentle. The lights partially
returned, and she could see him. Physically, everything was the same…except for
the eyes. Gone was the shocking blue of Cal’s stormy stare. In its place were
two red orbs that reflected abnormally in the dim light. She would have
recognized those eyes anywhere.
“Gabriel.”
He nodded. His
body still had her pinned. His right hand grasped her throat, while the other
rested idly against the wall. She waited for him to say or do something, but he
didn’t. Nothing happened. Open malice and rage emanated from Gabriel’s still
form, but Kali wasn’t entirely sure those emotions were aimed at her.
She inhaled a
shaky breath. The action squashed her breasts against his chest. “What did you
do to Cal?”
Another
unnerving smile slashed his face. “He’s still here.”
“What do you
want?”
Pressing his
nose into the curve of her neck, Gabriel inhaled a dramatic whiff of her scent.
Trembling, Kali tried to push away, wedging her body painfully into the wall.
When Gabriel’s left hand moved, she went rigid. But the hand never touched her.
It hovered next to her head, holding a tiny yellow stone.
“I want to help
you remember.”
The events that
followed would remain a blur of varying shades of grey darkness for some time.
When Kali came to, she was standing in the rain, completely drenched. Rhane
stood in front of her, lips moving soundlessly as he shouted, the words swept
away by an unforgiving wind. She had never seen his eyes so black or so deadly
focused as he leveled a gun directly over her heart.
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About the Author:
Cynic, realist, and hopeless romantic all rolled into one, Eden was born and raised in a small, sunny town in South Carolina, but thunderstorms have inspired her best ideas. There are few things she loves more than curling up with a good book and a cup of coffee on a rainy day, (except maybe chocolate cake. She loves cake.) often reading into the wee hours of morning when something really grabs her attention. She pretty much loves anything with supernatural elements, so writing paranormal romance and fantasy romance seems to be a natural fit.
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7 comments:
I like the plot! Sounds like Cal will be an interesting one....
What an interesting excerpt. Would love to read the whole novel. Thank you for hosting.
Glad you enjoyed it, John! Thanks for dropping by!
Oh yes. Cal is full of surprises... ;)
Good luck with the giveaway!
sounds like a great book
Oh yes. Cal is full of surprises...
Thanks for the giveaway!
Finger crossed
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