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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Join me on the Kinetic blog tour!!!

Today I am thrilled to be one of the stops on S K Anthony's blog tour for her debut novel, Kinetic. It's an excellent story, one that I enjoyed immensely and I'm going to share with you a few of my thoughts on it in just a moment.

But first, have you been checking the other stops on this tour? It's running 16th-28th September and if you want to see where S.K.'s been and where she's going check out this link for the details.

And, not only is S.K. on tour, but she's having a giveaway too, with lucky winners getting their hands on these lovely prizes:

• Two $25 Amazon gift cards {INT}

• Three signed print copies Kinetic + notebook, pen & bookmark {US only}

• One signed print copy of Kinetic + notebook, pen & bookmark {INT only}

• Ten swag packs of notebook, pen & bookmark {INT}

• Three bookmarks + pen  {INT}

 How great do these look?

If you fancy winning any of these fab prizes, head on over to this Rafflecopter page to enter. What have you got to lose? Go on, have a go!

And now, to the book! 

This story had me sucked in from the start. From that moment at the end of the first chapter when we are first introduced to Nick through his encounter with Annie, there was no way I could put it down for any length of time before finding out what would happen next.

The whole concept of the Luminaries and how they come to be, their covert operations for various government agencies and the different powers that each of them come to possess was a great setup for the main characters. 

Although there were a number of them, each character had their own individual traits that came across well as the book went along, and I found a fondness for each of them as their own stories developed, even Lisa!

Obviously, it was Annie's character that I got caught up in the most, and the inner battle she was fighting over Nick and Derek came across brilliantly. Personally, I was always rooting for Nick. There was just something about Derek that didn't sit comfortably with me, and whenever he had his more intimate moments with Annie I felt a shudder for her. This is definitely a credit to the writing to bring out such feelings in the reader.

It wasn't just the turmoil between Nick and Derek either, Annie was constantly wondering over Nick's sincerity too. She'd been led to believe some horrendous things about him and it was only natural that she would still have some kind of feelings towards him, given their history. She had all those factors to deal with alongside the bigger threat to both her and their organisation.

I have been so engrossed in this story and the whole world surrounding it that I've found myself thinking about it even between readings. In fact, I have had dreams about different people with different abilities, although sadly I couldn't remember what mine was or if I even had one! 

It's been such a pleasure to read this book, I am certain I will go back to it again and again. Even though I have it on my Kindle too, I love the cover so much I'll probably be buying it in paperback to sit proudly on my bookshelf.

I look forward to whatever comes next from the world of the Luminaries, and rest assured when I find anything out I'll let you know ;-)

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 Title: Kinetic

Author: S.K. Anthony

Series: The Luminaries #1

Publication: September 20th, 2013

Category: New Adult (NA)

Genre: Urban Fantasy (UF)

Synopsis:

 

Being strong is one thing. Being an unlimited source of power is quite another.
Genetically altered by the Organization, Annie Fox takes down criminals CIA-style with her luminary strength. With nothing to mend but her broken heart, she is relentlessly pursued by her boss Derek Lake. Just when Annie is about to give him a chance, her ex-husband unexpectedly comes out of hiding.
A wanted man, Nick Logan is a cold-hearted murderer who is considered enemy number one, and orders are clear: kill on contact. He is more powerful than ever and threatens the lives of those she holds most dear. His plan? Get his hands on Annie and use her Kinetic energy to destroy them all. When Annie finds herself with an opportunity to end him, she pauses, horrified by the scars covering the face she once loved. A split second that will cost her everything …

  Find Kinetic on Goodreads here!

Where you can buy Kinetic:

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Kobo

Smashwords

iTunes

Author bio:

 

 


S.K. Anthony is a writer, a reader and a make-stuff-up-er who lives in New York with her husband and toddler twins. She is a wine connoisseur, which just really means she knows she loves it, and a caffeine addict. When she isn’t busy with her family she finds herself being transported into the world of imagination. Well, either that or running away from spiders…she is convinced they are out to get her!

   LINKS:

Website: http://www.skanthony.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/S-Katherine-Anthony/403554526400225
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SKathAnthony
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/108410963044949736135/posts
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/skanthony1/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7133166.S_K_Anthony

Announcing the Kinetic blog tour!

Last month I was pleased to be involved with the cover reveal for one of my blogger buddies, S K Anthony.

The cover for her book, Kinetic, is amazing and it's due to be released next month.

To accompany this release there will be a blog tour from 16th-28th September, so you'll be seeing plenty of her and her book around the blogosphere.

I'm thrilled to be able to say I will be one of the stops on the tour, so keep your eyes out for that and all the other fun stuff she's got going on!

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Title: Kinetic

Genre: NA Urban Fantasy

Release Date: September 2013

Cover Design: Mae I Design & Photography

Being strong is one thing. Being an unlimited source of power is quite another.

Genetically altered by the Organization, Annie Fox takes down criminals CIA-style with her luminary strength. With nothing to mend but her broken heart, she is relentlessly pursued by her boss Derek Lake. Just when Annie is about to give him a chance, her ex-husband unexpectedly comes out of hiding.

A wanted man, Nick Logan is a cold-hearted murderer who is considered enemy number one, and orders are clear: kill on contact. He is more powerful than ever and threatens the lives of those she holds most dear. His plan? Get his hands on Annie and use her Kinetic energy to destroy them all. When Annie finds herself with an opportunity to end him, she pauses, horrified by the scars covering the face she once loved. A split second that will cost her everything…

About the author:

 

S. K. Anthony is a writer, a reader and a make-stuff-up-er who lives in New York with her husband and toddler twins. She is a wine connoisseur, which just really means she knows she loves it, and a caffeine addict. When she isn’t busy with her family she finds herself being transported into the world of imagination. Well, either that or running away from spiders…she is convinced they are out to get her!

Goodreads:

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18072566-kinetic

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/S-Katherine-Anthony/403554526400225

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/SKathAnthony

Website:

http://www.skanthony.com

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1302 The Alpha Launch Day!!!

I'm so excited today, it's the launch for Christine Rains second novella in her 13th Floor series, 1302 The Alpha. I've just finished reading the first in this series, 1301 The Maquis, and it was excellent. Look out for the review of this coming soon. I can't wait to get started on this one.

I'm particularly excited about this launch because it's the first day of The Alpha blog tour and Christine has stopped by here for an interview.

It's been great for me to get to know someone further along in their writing journey.

Thanks Christine for stopping by my blog, and I hope you all find her experiences as encouraging as I do.



HM:  So, why did you decide to take the self-publishing route?

CR:  This was a big decision for me. I thought about it for a long time. I've always wanted to go the traditional route. I still might in the future, but right now, with my family being my number one priority, I decided self-publishing was the best path for me. It gives me the flexibility I need, and I love having control over my own work.

HM:  What advice would you give to anyone considering the same route?

CR:  Do your research and put out the best possible story you can. There are a lot of great sites out there that give advice on how to self-publish your work and then promote it. Both are equally tough jobs. It helps to have an excellent editor too.

HM:  What is your inspiration?

CR:  Most of my inspiration comes from dreams. I'm a vivid dreamer, and I remember at least a few dreams from every night. I also love to read about legends and myths. Plenty of sparks for stories there.

HM:  Are you a plotter or a pantster?

CR:  Pantser. I've tried to manage my muse and my time, but my stories have lives of their own. I love writing a story and being surprised by what comes out. Of course, this means I've gasped and laughed in public, but I can live with a little embarrassment.

HM:  When were you comfortable calling yourself a writer?

CR:  When I'm online, I'm comfortable with saying I'm a writer. Outside the web, I'm still not at ease with it. I don't often get positive reactions. Only a few people I interact with on a normal basis know I'm a writer. I'm very shy to begin with, and I rarely talk about anything personal. Writing is personal for me.

HM:  How do you fit in writing around a busy family schedule?

CR:  It's very difficult at times. I try to write when my son is napping and in preschool. Yet sometimes there are errands to do or something else pops up. I write when I can. Even if it's just for five minutes. One hundred words a day is better than none.

HM:  How long does it take to get from initial idea to a finished piece?

CR:  It depends on what I'm writing. Usually, I'm quick with first drafts. I can write a novel in a month or two. It's the revising that takes me a long while. It has to be done, but I don't like it, and I tend to procrastinate.

HM:  Have you learnt anything about yourself since becoming a writer?

CR:  I've learned that I do have the courage to put my stories and myself up in front of the world. It's like standing naked in front of millions of people. I never thought I could do it, but I've met so many brilliant and encouraging folks in the writing community.

HM:  Have you made any sacrifices for your writing?

CR:  Writing is my only hobby. I'd love to do other things like garden and paint, but I only have a little time to myself. I chose writing. I don't regret it, but I miss doing other things with my free time.

HM:  What does the future hold for you as a writer?

CR:  This year, I'll be writing and promoting the 13th Floor series. This is my big project for the year. After this, I'd like to revise one or two of my older manuscripts and query them. Perhaps I'll self-publish another one, but I'd like to see if I could get in with a small press.

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 S.C.I.F.I. The 13^th Floor series is her first self-published series. She has four novellas and eighteen 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

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