The 13th Floor Collection - author interview!

I have great pleasure in being one of the stops on Christine Rain's tour today. Throughout the whole of October she is celebrating the release of her wonderful 13th Floor series which is being released in one complete collection.

And as part of the celebrations she has been under my interview spotlight once again.

HM: Hi Christine, great to have you back. I first interviewed you way back in January, when you were near the beginning of your 13th Floor journey. How does it feel to have made it to the end and be celebrating with a collection of them all?

CR:  I keep going through a whole cycle of emotions over and over again. Excitement about its release, relief that I'm done, anxious about how well it will do, sad it's done, and eager to start on a new project. I love the 13^th Floor series, and though I'll miss it, I can't wait to fall in love with something new.

HM:  It's been a tough decision for me to decide which is my favourite in the series. Which is your favourite character to read, and which was your favourite to write? 

CR:  Oh, tough question. Xan and Lois together are my favorite to read. They make me laugh. My favorite to write was Harriet. She's such a sweet soul yet cursed. Nothing was simple with her. She has so many layers. It's tempting to delve more into her life and write more.

HM:   I'm definitely going with The Marquis as mine, Marc is just my kind of guy. I see him as a Wolverine sort of character, very rugged and sexy. 

 

Do you have an image in your mind for each character? Are they based on well known characters, or straight from your own imagination? 

CR:   I'm a visual person. I have a definite image of each character in my mind. Marc came right from my imagination as did his lady, Mae. A few of the other characters have appearances similar to well known ones. I imagined Xan to look like Alexander Skarsgard (Eric Northman from True Blood) and Meira like Morena Baccarin (Inara from Firefly).

HM:   One of my favourite things about this series is how they overlap with one another, with characters appearing in different stories. Did you outline these overlaps from the start of your writing process to all coincide? 

CR:   I'd love to say I planned it all out, but I didn't. I'm a pantser through and through. I knew I wanted them to all happen during the same period of time, but I wasn't sure how it was going to work. I just let the stories take me along as they happened.

HM:   What have you learned on this 13th Floor journey, both about yourself and about your writing? 

CR:   I learned I can write a lot when under pressure. I learned to trust my stories and let them take me where they need to go. I've also learned how to more objectively edit myself. Sometimes it's difficult to critique your own work, but I've gotten much better this year.

HM:   Is there anything you would have changed about how you brought The 13th Floor into the world over the past year? 

CR:   I would have written the entire series before I started to publish them. I was a bit crazy to write them as I went along.

HM:   What has been the most valuable thing that has got you through all the hard work for this project?

CR:   The most valuable things are my critique partners and beta readers. They had to work as hard as I did. I'm forever thankful for all their work. I promise never to set myself on a schedule like that again!

HM;   Will you be taking a well-earned rest after the tour or is it straight on to the next
project?

CR:   I'd like to say yes, I will be, but I'm already starting on the next one. My drive has only increased with the release of the collection.

HM:  Thanks for being here and sharing your thoughts with us on your hard work throughout the year.

CR:   Thank you so much for hosting me today, Heather. I've had so much fun!

The 13th Floor Collection is released on 13th October 2013, only two days away!

Title: The 13^th Floor Complete Collection

Author: Christine Rains

Genre: paranormal romance

Blurb:

Six supernatural tenants

Living in a haunted apartment building

On a floor that doesn't exist.

Six novellas telling their tales.

A retired demon acquires a price on his head.

A werewolf is hunted by her pack.

A modern day dragonslayer misses his target.

A harpy challenges Zeus for the soul of the man she loves.

A vampire is obsessed with a young woman he can't find.

A banshee falls in love with someone who's death she has seen in a vision.

And a sweet ghost must battle a primal monster to save them all.

All the stories take place at the same time intertwining their lives together on the 13th Floor.

Includes “The Shadow,” a bonus short story.

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18460150-the-13th-floor-complete-collection

Author Bio:

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she's not writing or reading, she having adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of Untethered Realms and S.C.I.F.I. The 13^th Floor series is her first self-published series. She has eight novellas and twenty-one short stories published.

Connect with Christine:

Website

Blog

Facebook

Twitter

Goodreads

Purchase Links:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Smashwords

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Book Thoughts on Thursday: The Ghost, Christine Rains

Book Thoughts on Thursday is somewhere that I like to share with you all some of the books I've been reading lately, and why I liked them. Not officially reviews per se, but nevertheless they may inspire you to pick up something new.

 

 

This week:

The Ghost, Christine Rains

A friendly warning: Although not intentional, I may give away some aspects of the story that you may not want revealed. I know I hate it when spoilers ruin my experience of a story, so feel free to halt your reading here until you've read it for yourself.
Then you can come back to see if you share my thoughts!

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Chiharo Black lives with six supernatural tenants in a haunted building's mysterious thirteenth floor. Of course, no one knows she's there except the cats. Being a ghost can be a bit frustrating and lonely, but it isn't as bad as her mother made it out to be.

 
Until another ghost intrudes on her territory. Jeremy Emerson wants revenge on the vampire that killed him and won't stop until he has it. To top it off, a nightmarish shade sneaks in and leeches the energy from the building's residents before setting its sights on Chiharo and the thirteenth floor. She can't decide which one is more frightening: the one wanting to eat her soul or the one who might win her heart.

 
Chiharo must convince Jeremy to stand with her against the hellish parasite. If they cannot work together, the greedy fiend will not only drain their energy but everything that supports the thirteenth floor's existence.

 

 

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The Ghost was a wonderful conclusion to The 13th Floor Series. Not an actual resident of the floor, Chiharo roamed the entire building in which she has been trapped since her murder.

 

When we first meet her, she is contemplating her existence in a world where she cannot communicate with or even be seen by others.  This triggered something within me that made me wonder quite how would someone cope with this kind of solitary confinement, which it is as good as in every sense.

To be alone with only your own thoughts which you cannot share with another, drifting from one floor to the next and observing all of the lives around her without ever being able to be included in any of them. This is surely enough to send anyone crazy. But somehow she has coped.

 

The introduction of Jeremy into her existence was a shock for her, and the natural response was to get rid of him. Having been on her own for so long she seemed unable to deal with such an unexpected social dilemma.

 

Seeing her fondness and attraction grow for him though was very sweet. Having only ever been on one date, she was going through the same emotions as any other teenage girl, regardless of being a ghost. 

 

The fiend that was in pursuit of her was truly terrifying. It made me sit up in shock more than once as this unseen terror plagued the floors of her building. It was an excellent backdrop for her developing relationship and blended into the tale well.

 

My favourite part of the story, when her and Jeremy were finally visible to the rest, was a wholly satisfying end to the entire series of novellas. Having all of the residents come together in the hall for one final mention was a lovely touch, and it was nice to finally learn what Meira's final mission was.

I hope Chiharo and Jeremy find what they are looking for and stay happy together.

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If you've enjoyed reading through my thoughts on this series of novellas, then make sure you head on over to Christine's pages for more information on all of the characters that live on The 13th Floor. Trust me when I say, you won't be disappointed with any of them. I'm still trying to decide on my favourite!

 

In October Christine will be on tour to celebrate the release of The 13th Floor Collection in its entirety, and will be making a little stop by here to answer a few questions about her work.

 

Don't miss it!

 

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Book Thoughts on Friday: 1305 & 1306 The Oracle and the Vampire, Christine Rains

Book Thoughts on Thursday is somewhere for me to share with you some of the books I've been reading and really enjoyed. I'm a day late with this edition due to feeling under the weather this week, so for one week only (I hope!) it's Book Thoughts on Friday!

 

This week:

1305 & 1306: The Oracle and the Vampire, Christine Rains

A friendly warning: Although not intentional, I may give away some aspects of the story that you may not want revealed. I know I hate it when spoilers ruin my experience of a story, so feel free to halt your reading here until you've read it for yourself.
Then you can come back to see if you share my thoughts!

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Having fallen for her gorgeous neighbor might not be so bad if Harriet McKay wasn't in her hideous banshee form every time Kiral saw her. Such is her curse. True, he's a vampire struggling with a drug addiction, but he's a good soul. Yet no one could love a cursed witch, especially one not even her cats respect.

After having a vision of Kiral's death, Harriet makes it her mission to save him. Never before has she attempted to change fate, but so strong is her love. 

Kiral Ozdemir struggles to make it through every day. The craving for blood laced with drugs directs his every thought until he tastes Harriet's potent blood. The magic immediately addicts him, but she disappears. He's desperate to find her, racing blindly out into a city in chaos.

How can Harriet convince Kiral to see past her vile appearance and return her love? If only she can force him to listen to reason coming from a raving crone, perhaps she can save him from the demons hunting him and from himself.

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I was looking forward to reading this installment of The 13th Floor, particularly as Kiral featured in The Marquis and managed to escape from the roof and the sun. I was itching to find out how that happened!

One of my favourite elements in this book is that Harriet and Kiral each have a huge attraction to the other and as a reader I was rooting for them to be happy together, but it seemed like something destined to elude them forever. He is a vampire so can't go out during the day, and at night she turns in to a wailing crone. It certainly doesn't make for an obvious match.

When Harriet first has her vision about Kiral's death, of course we as readers know what happens to him and that he escapes, which makes it interesting to watch her work through the puzzle for herself. Whenever she had doubts about whether or not she could actually save him, when she didn't believe she could make it in time, I was willing her to know that it would all turn out alright and to just keep going.

Of course she did, and had the added roller-coaster of listening to Kiral reveal his feelings for her 'granddaughter' Harriet. On the one hand she was obviously elated to know his feelings, but she had to hold herself back to protect him from whatever was after him.
I was wondering when and how she would reveal herself to him, and thought it worked wonderfully when she changed in front of his eyes as the sun was coming up. This is how I hoped it would happen and wasn't disappointed. It was a truly uplifting scene for me when he finally realised her truth.

Immediately after though when they were both working to release him, even though I knew the outcome I still had my own doubts about whether he would actually make it. It made me wonder if I'd misread something in The Marquis and that he'd actually perished, but I was filled with relief when he made it inside in time.

There's is truly going to be a difficult relationship, with many things out to test them, but I hope they last together. They'll make a good team using her visions to save those they can.

Another great read in the series.

The Oracle and the Vampire is the fifth in The 13th Floor series of novellas, and the author Christine Rains will be on tour in October to celebrate the release of the series as a collection. Make sure you check it out!

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Friday Celebrations - Cover Reveal Edition!!!

Today's Friday Celebration is all about one thing, a brilliant cover reveal from one of my favourite writers in the blogoshpere.

For the six weeks leading up to October I am featuring a very special novella series from the one and only Christine Rains.

She has put so much work in this year to get her six novellas out into the world, and I have enjoyed everyone of them. They have just the right amount of action, thrills, suspense, and best of all romance.

To celebrate she has put together all six of these stories together in one collection, available next month, and I'm privileged to be able to reveal to you all her fabulous new cover!



Ta daaaa!!!!!

  

Title: The 13^th Floor Complete Collection

Author: Christine Rains

Genre: Paranormal romance

Release date: October 13^th, 2013 !!!

Blurb:

Six supernatural tenants

Living in a haunted apartment building

On a floor that doesn't exist.

Six novellas telling their tales.

A retired demon acquires a price on his head.

A werewolf is hunted by her pack.

A modern day dragonslayer misses his target.

A harpy challenges Zeus for the soul of the man she loves.

A vampire is obsessed with a young woman he can't find.

A banshee falls in love with someone who's death she has seen in a vision.

And a sweet ghost must battle a primal monster to save them all.

All the stories take place at the same time intertwining their lives together on the 13th Floor.

Author Bio:

Christine Rains is a writer, blogger, and geek mom. She has four degrees which help nothing with motherhood, but make her a great Jeopardy player. When she's not writing or reading, she having adventures with her son or watching cheesy movies on Syfy Channel. She's a member of Untethered Realms and S.C.I.F.I. The 13th Floor series is her first self-published series. She has eight novellas and twenty-one short stories published.

Website: http://christinerains.net/

Blog: http://christinerains-writer.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorchristinerains

Twitter: https://twitter.com/@CRainsWriter

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4017568.Christine_Rains

 

  

Isn't it fantastic?

Well done Christine on another great cover, it really captures the essence of The 13th Floor.

I'm definitely looking forward to October when Christine will be on tour. See you there!

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This post is part of the 'Celebrate the Small Things' blog hop hosted by VikLit, and is for celebrating even the smallest of victories during the week. Head on over to her blog to check out more people taking part in this hop, and to sign up yourself too.

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