Welcome, Anise. Please tell us about your latest release.
ALL THE WOUNDS IN SHADOW is the second book in The Healing Edge Series, paranormal romantic suspense novels that blend the supernatural and the psychological. The first book, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, introduces Cate Duncan, a therapist who is struggling to cope after her mother’s death. Cate’s world is forever transformed when she learns that she is an empath and is recruited to work for the MacGregor Group, a clinic staffed by a unique group of alternative healers.
In this sequel, ALL THE WOUNDS IN SHADOW, Cate has just begun her paranormal training—and a romance with her magnetic new boss, Ben—when the MacGregor Group is called into action to help solve an attempted murder. An acclaimed neuroscientist has been poisoned. Cate and her colleagues must use their unique talents to unlock the victim’s mind, discovering who attacked him and why. But for Cate, the case reopens painful wounds and threatens to unravel her budding relationship with Ben. When an unexpected crisis hits, Cate must find the courage to trust completely in Ben’s heart and her friends’ gifts, or her own life will be in jeopardy.
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?
I don’t have a particular formula, but I do put a lot of thought into names. I spend an excessive amount of time on Wikipedia and baby name websites researching their meanings and histories, trying to find just the right fit. The process varies from character to character, however. For example, I could have given my two main characters any number of names that matched their personal qualities, but the deciding factor was that I liked the sounds that the names “Cate” and “Ben” made, both individually and together.
Do you have a formula for developing characters? Like do you create a character sketch or list of attributes before you start writing or do you just let the character develop as you write?
The central characters of The Healing Edge Series landed in my head more or less fully formed. I could see and hear them as whole, real people from the start. With secondary characters, I have a general idea of who they are, but they develop as I write, and they are more malleable; I feel more comfortable making changes to fit the demands of the plot as it develops.
What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
Truth be told, I have a lot of favorite scenes! But if I had to pick one, it would be the scene in which all of the members of the MacGregor Group are working together to try to help Cate through a crisis. Here is a little taste:
***
“But we can’t do this!” I cried out. “It’s going to be like the geese all over again!”
Ben stopped in mid-sock removal. “The what?”
“My mother told me in a dream that we were geese in a past life, and I got you shot!”
Ben shook his head and continued to remove his sock. “I don’t believe in past lives.”
Kai looked toward the ceiling. “Oh, please, Benjamin, don’t be an ignoramus.”
Ben put his bare foot on the floor and looked into my eyes, his focus intense. “Cate, look around you. Don’t you think you have enough things to worry about in this life without being concerned with what happened in other ones?”
I barely had the courage to whisper, “But if anything happens to you—”
“Listen to me.” Ben rested his hand on my knee. “Nothing is going to happen to me. We are going to get this done, and it’s happening right now. So come on. Nursery rhymes. Let’s go.” Ben started removing his other sock.
“Oh for the love of all that’s holy!” I tried and failed to close my eyes, unable to tear them away from Ben. Something tickled my chin. “Please don’t let that be drool,” I whispered before out of sheer mortification, I forced my mind back to nursery rhymes.
***
Can you tell readers a little bit about the world building in the book/series? How does this world differ from our normal world?
Some people don’t believe in paranormal abilities such as telepathy, aura reading, and mediumship, but for people who do, those aspects of the world in The Healing Edge Series are already part of our normal world. And although many medical institutions now incorporate complementary techniques such as acupuncture and Reiki, I had to imagine what it would look like if an alternative healing clinic also used paranormally gifted individuals, and worked in cooperation with Western medical providers. I also invented a piece of mythology for the series—a sort of origins theory for paranormal gifts dating back to the Bronze Age—but I’ll let readers discover more about that themselves.
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?
My goal has been to write each book so that it can be read and enjoyed either as a stand-alone or as part of the series. I’ve tried to include enough backstory so that a new reader jumping into the middle of the series won’t feel lost in any way. However, readers who prefer to follow stories from the beginning should know that the books cover three chronological weeks and build on one another.
Do any of your characters have similar characteristics of yourself in them and what are they?
I’ve heard people who interpret dreams say that every person who appears in your dream represents a part of yourself. I have found that to be true of the central characters in this series, as well. It’s as though I’m standing in a room full of mirrors, and in each mirror I see one of the characters, reflecting some aspect of my personality. Each character also has many aspects that are completely unlike me, of course, but they are all kindred souls.
What can readers expect next from you?
ALL THE LIGHT THERE IS, the third book in The Healing Edge series, is coming out in Spring/Summer 2017. Thrown into a completely different setting full of mystery and intrigue, the MacGregor Group faces down an ominous new threat. Meanwhile, Cate and Ben struggle to protect one another as their relationship deepens. I’m excited about all of the ways in which the various threads from the first two books are weaving together, and I look forward to sharing this final installment with readers!
Where can readers find you on the web?
I am most active on Facebook and Twitter. You can find all of my information and latest updates, as well as sign up for my newsletter, on AniseEden.com.
Would you like to leave readers with a little teaser or excerpt from the book?
Sure! Here are a couple of teasers
a Rafflecopter giveaway
ALL THE WOUNDS IN SHADOW is the second book in The Healing Edge Series, paranormal romantic suspense novels that blend the supernatural and the psychological. The first book, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES, introduces Cate Duncan, a therapist who is struggling to cope after her mother’s death. Cate’s world is forever transformed when she learns that she is an empath and is recruited to work for the MacGregor Group, a clinic staffed by a unique group of alternative healers.
In this sequel, ALL THE WOUNDS IN SHADOW, Cate has just begun her paranormal training—and a romance with her magnetic new boss, Ben—when the MacGregor Group is called into action to help solve an attempted murder. An acclaimed neuroscientist has been poisoned. Cate and her colleagues must use their unique talents to unlock the victim’s mind, discovering who attacked him and why. But for Cate, the case reopens painful wounds and threatens to unravel her budding relationship with Ben. When an unexpected crisis hits, Cate must find the courage to trust completely in Ben’s heart and her friends’ gifts, or her own life will be in jeopardy.
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?
I don’t have a particular formula, but I do put a lot of thought into names. I spend an excessive amount of time on Wikipedia and baby name websites researching their meanings and histories, trying to find just the right fit. The process varies from character to character, however. For example, I could have given my two main characters any number of names that matched their personal qualities, but the deciding factor was that I liked the sounds that the names “Cate” and “Ben” made, both individually and together.
Do you have a formula for developing characters? Like do you create a character sketch or list of attributes before you start writing or do you just let the character develop as you write?
The central characters of The Healing Edge Series landed in my head more or less fully formed. I could see and hear them as whole, real people from the start. With secondary characters, I have a general idea of who they are, but they develop as I write, and they are more malleable; I feel more comfortable making changes to fit the demands of the plot as it develops.
What is your favorite scene from the book? Could you share a little bit of it, without spoilers of course?
Truth be told, I have a lot of favorite scenes! But if I had to pick one, it would be the scene in which all of the members of the MacGregor Group are working together to try to help Cate through a crisis. Here is a little taste:
***
“But we can’t do this!” I cried out. “It’s going to be like the geese all over again!”
Ben stopped in mid-sock removal. “The what?”
“My mother told me in a dream that we were geese in a past life, and I got you shot!”
Ben shook his head and continued to remove his sock. “I don’t believe in past lives.”
Kai looked toward the ceiling. “Oh, please, Benjamin, don’t be an ignoramus.”
Ben put his bare foot on the floor and looked into my eyes, his focus intense. “Cate, look around you. Don’t you think you have enough things to worry about in this life without being concerned with what happened in other ones?”
I barely had the courage to whisper, “But if anything happens to you—”
“Listen to me.” Ben rested his hand on my knee. “Nothing is going to happen to me. We are going to get this done, and it’s happening right now. So come on. Nursery rhymes. Let’s go.” Ben started removing his other sock.
“Oh for the love of all that’s holy!” I tried and failed to close my eyes, unable to tear them away from Ben. Something tickled my chin. “Please don’t let that be drool,” I whispered before out of sheer mortification, I forced my mind back to nursery rhymes.
***
Can you tell readers a little bit about the world building in the book/series? How does this world differ from our normal world?
Some people don’t believe in paranormal abilities such as telepathy, aura reading, and mediumship, but for people who do, those aspects of the world in The Healing Edge Series are already part of our normal world. And although many medical institutions now incorporate complementary techniques such as acupuncture and Reiki, I had to imagine what it would look like if an alternative healing clinic also used paranormally gifted individuals, and worked in cooperation with Western medical providers. I also invented a piece of mythology for the series—a sort of origins theory for paranormal gifts dating back to the Bronze Age—but I’ll let readers discover more about that themselves.
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?
My goal has been to write each book so that it can be read and enjoyed either as a stand-alone or as part of the series. I’ve tried to include enough backstory so that a new reader jumping into the middle of the series won’t feel lost in any way. However, readers who prefer to follow stories from the beginning should know that the books cover three chronological weeks and build on one another.
Do any of your characters have similar characteristics of yourself in them and what are they?
I’ve heard people who interpret dreams say that every person who appears in your dream represents a part of yourself. I have found that to be true of the central characters in this series, as well. It’s as though I’m standing in a room full of mirrors, and in each mirror I see one of the characters, reflecting some aspect of my personality. Each character also has many aspects that are completely unlike me, of course, but they are all kindred souls.
What can readers expect next from you?
ALL THE LIGHT THERE IS, the third book in The Healing Edge series, is coming out in Spring/Summer 2017. Thrown into a completely different setting full of mystery and intrigue, the MacGregor Group faces down an ominous new threat. Meanwhile, Cate and Ben struggle to protect one another as their relationship deepens. I’m excited about all of the ways in which the various threads from the first two books are weaving together, and I look forward to sharing this final installment with readers!
Where can readers find you on the web?
I am most active on Facebook and Twitter. You can find all of my information and latest updates, as well as sign up for my newsletter, on AniseEden.com.
Would you like to leave readers with a little teaser or excerpt from the book?
Sure! Here are a couple of teasers
All the Wounds in Shadow
The Healing Edge
Book Two
Anise Eden
Genre: Paranormal Romance/Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Diversion Publishing
Date of Publication: August 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-1682302873
ASIN: B01G5Y6GO8
Number of pages: 240
Word Count: 81,645
Book Description:
For fans of Karen Robards and Shiloh Walker, Anise Eden brings us the mesmerizing sequel to her paranormal romantic suspense novel All the Broken Places.
Cate's enemies aren't just surrounding her―they're inside her head.
Therapist Cate Duncan has just accepted a job with the MacGregor Group, a unique collective of alternative healers. She’s excited by the prospect of honing her empathic healing techniques among others like herself―aura readers, telepaths, crystal healers, and more. The fact that Cate just started dating Ben, her magnetic new boss, is an added bonus.
Before Cate can settle into her new routine, the poisoning of a prominent neuroscientist draws the entire MacGregor Group into both a federal investigation and an even more insidious threat. Protected by Ben’s former Marine Corps unit, Cate and her colleagues must use their alternative healing methods to solve the crime as their patient clings to life. The responsibility of discovering crucial information falls to Cate and her parapsychological powers.
But for Cate, unraveling the mystery means reopening wounds that had just begun to heal―and in the environment of the Marine Corps unit, differences between Cate and Ben become clearer, straining their budding romance. When a new crisis looms, Cate must trust in her colleagues’ gifts and the strength of Ben’s love, finding the courage to confront her deepest and most terrifying demons―or her own life will be at risk.
ALL
THE WOUNDS IN SHADOW – Excerpt #1
by
Anise Eden
In my dream, only the crabs’ lives were in jeopardy.
Mom and I chose a spot on the pier that was shaded by a nearby oak, hoping for
some relief from the humid heat. The buzzing and clicking of crickets and
cicadas swelled as the summer afternoon ripened.
“Hold it perfectly still, Catie,” Mom whispered. “We
want them to think it’s just a strange-looking plant.”
“I’m trying.” But after an hour, my arm ached from
holding the crab net steady. “Maybe the bait isn’t rotten enough to attract
them.”
Mom jiggled the string with the chicken neck tied to
the end, making it dance just beneath the water’s surface. “Should I pull it
out so you can check it?”
“Ew, gross!” I grimaced. “No thanks. I believe you.”
Suddenly, her whole body tensed. “Look, there’s
one!”
The water was green and nearly opaque with algae.
Staring down, I could just make out the ghostly limbs of a blue crab swimming
up toward the bait.
“Wait until he’s really absorbed in what he’s doing
and then scoop him up,” she murmured. “Not too quickly, though. You don’t want
to scare him.”
“Right.” Once the crab started attacking the chicken
neck, I slid the net beneath him and slowly lifted it to the surface.
“You got him!” Mom jumped to her feet. “Pull him out,
and let’s have a look!”
“He feels really heavy!” We exchanged smiles of
victory as I raised the dripping net up to eye level.
“Oh, no,” Mom said. “It’s beautiful, a great catch.
But we have to throw it back.”
“Don’t say that!” I moaned. “Why?”
“It’s a female. It’s poisonous.”
I examined the crab. She was right: it had a full,
rounded apron. With a sigh, I tossed the crab back into the water. “Females
aren’t poisonous, Mom, just illegal to catch. You know that.”
“Whatever you say.” Mom walked over to the edge of
the pier and turned around to face me. “I have to go now. Don’t follow me.”
Before I could even grasp what she was doing, she had folded her arms across
her chest, closed her eyes, and tilted her stiffened body backwards into the
water.
“Mom!” I leapt forward, reaching the edge of the
pier just as she hit the surface with a sharp splash. Remembering my lifeguard
training, I got down on my belly, lay on the wooden planks, and thrust my arm
into the water. But she was already out of reach.
I grabbed the crab net and plunged the handle down
towards her, but she kept her arms folded, eyes closed. “Mom, grab the handle!”
I cried out, but she kept sinking. Within seconds she was nothing more than a
whitish blur.
“Don’t worry! I’m coming!” Screw lifeguard training, I thought as I kicked off my shoes and
prepared to go in after her. But just as I was about to dive, something dragged
me backwards by the waist.
I looked down to find a man’s arm wrapped around
me—a man’s arm in a blue suit jacket. A familiar voice said, “Oh no you don’t.”
“Ben, let go of me!” I struggled to free myself from
his hold. Then I realized that I was yelling out loud, awake and in bed,
thrashing about and wrestling with the python of sheets tangled around me. My
cell phone beeped and vibrated along the surface of the bedside table as the
alarm went off. Meanwhile, my heart pounded in my throat. In my mind’s eye, all
I could see was my mother sinking further and further into the river.
Goddammit, I thought, vigorously rubbing
the tears from my eyes. Would my dreams ever stop transforming into
nightmares—reminders that I had failed to see that my mother was in crisis,
that I had failed to save her ?
I strained to hear Ben bounding up the stairs to see
what the yelling was about, but there was only silence. Had I only cried out in
my dream? “Ben?” I called, loudly enough for him to hear me if he was awake.
Still no response.
So he was still asleep. That was odd. Ben told me
he’d never lost the early-riser habit he had developed in the Marine Corps. I
turned off my cell phone alarm, put on my robe and slippers, and padded down
the stairs. But he wasn’t on the sofa, where I’d left him the night before. In
fact, he was nowhere.
I scanned the first floor of my tiny row house and
found a note he’d left on the coffee table. “Had to go in early. See you at
work. Bring a bag packed for a few days.”
Well, that’s
cryptic, I
thought as a bud of irritation formed. I flopped down on the couch and breathed
slowly, trying to bring my heart rate back down to normal after the dream I’d
had. “Bring a bag packed for a few days.” But packed for what? Given how
focused he was on my training, I somehow doubted that Ben was planning a
romantic getaway.
I tried Ben’s cell. No answer. I tried Pete’s cell.
Again, no answer. Whatever was happening at the office, it must have been
keeping them both occupied.
At least I had another way to find out what was
going on with Ben. I sat cross-legged on the couch. With my hands resting on my
knees, I closed my eyes and took a few slow, deep breaths. Then I pictured the
filament of light that connected my heart to Ben’s, and focused my mind.
In an instant, the psychic portal between us opened.
As my consciousness reached out and touched his, I fell back against the couch,
struck by the intensity of his emotions. He was worried about something or
someone, and there was a definite sense of urgency. Still, there was no actual
fear. That told me that while some kind of crisis was going on, at least Ben
was safe.
Then his feelings for me crashed through the portal,
flooding me. Whatever else he was dealing with, I was on his mind. Once again I
was overwhelmed by the strength of his feelings. Although I knew the portal
only flowed one way, I tried to send my own feelings back in his direction. I
pulled my consciousness back into my body and opened my eyes.
My gaze immediately settled upon my right hand, and
the exquisite ring Ben had given me the day before. The gold band was carved to
look like two birds in flight, holding a luminous round piece of Scottish agate
with their beaks and the tips of their wings. He’d wanted to give me something
concrete to remind me of how he felt about me when he wasn’t there, to reassure
me when I had worries or doubts. A soft warmth bloomed in my chest as I twirled
the ring slowly around my finger, admiring its craftsmanship. We’d agreed that
I would decide when to tell people that the ring was from him—and that we were
dating. In the meantime, we were keeping both things a secret. I wasn’t quite
ready to go public with our new relationship, and Ben didn’t want me to feel
any pressure.
As I went upstairs and laid my
suitcase open on the bed, I thought about my disturbing dream. My mother’s fall
into the water was obviously a reference to her suicide three months before.
But the poisonous female crab? And Ben stopping me from saving someone’s life?
I knew he didn’t like it when I put myself in danger, but he’d never just let
someone drown.
Then
again, maybe there’s nothing to decipher, I told myself. Sometimes
a dream is just a dream. I tried to content myself with that thought as I
showered, dressed, and packed in a hurry. I was anxious to get to the office
and find out where we were going—and what crisis had made Ben leave that
morning without so much as giving me a kiss good-bye.
About the Author:
Author Anise Eden writes The Healing Edge paranormal romantic suspense series for Diversion Books. She spends most of her time tucked away in her writing nook imagining things that aren’t there. On those rare occasions when she emerges from seclusion, Anise may be spotted in coffee shops, staring at her laptop screen and silently moving her lips as she reviews bits of dialogue. Although Anise claims that she’s the one in charge, the characters in her head do sometimes make her laugh out loud at inappropriate moments.
Visit her online at http://aniseeden.com
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1 comment:
Thank you so much for having me, and for the great interview! I appreciate your help celebrating the release of ALL THE WOUNDS IN SHADOW! :)
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