Hey everyone! We're very lucky to have been included in Kathleen Tucker's 10 days of Anathema blog tour and Kathleen graced us with her presence in form of an amazing guest post. For those of you who haven't read Anathema or would like to find out more you can read Jaime's review here. After Kathleen's guest post we will have some exciting contest news so keep reading ;) So without further ado here's Kathleen's guest post....
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Hey, Jaime and Patricia (a.k.a Two Chicks)! First I’d like to thank you both for hosting me on your awesome blog for Day 2 of my book tour. Jaime – you were the first reviewer to sign up for a review of Anathema and you’ve been in my corner with bucket-loads of support since finishing it. I am forever grateful to you. Every author needs a book blogger like you in their corner. Or a hundred.J
Jaime asked what inspired me to write Anathema and what inspires me to write in general. That’s a big question. I’ll try to answer it as best as I can.
What inspired me to write Anathema? It’s pretty simple and not very poetic. Three months’ into a year-long maternity leave with my second daughter, I was having trouble thinking. I felt stupid. I couldn’t focus. I wasn’t using my brain and I was mentally tired because of it. This had happened to me during my leave with my first child as well. I knew it would be harder to shake the longer I let it go on. I needed to find a way to kick start things up there.
In addition to my baby brain, I was facing considerable daily stress. My newborn had a temper and set of lungs to rival any banshee (she still does) and my older daughter was recently identified as a ‘special needs’ child - needs we are still learning about and certainly didn’t have a grasp of two years ago. For these reasons, I needed an escape.
So I began thinking about writing a book. I’ve had my nose in books from a very young age and I always did well in my English classes. It sounded like a great challenge and way to keep my brain from going dormant. It was something I could take on while the kids napped and after they went to bed. So… I jumped in with both feet. I’m like that. I get an idea and I run with it. Anathema began with a very simple question: “What would happen if vampires took over the world?” I spent the next year- and- a- half answering it.
From that need for sanity and brain stimulation, I stumbled upon a true passion. I’m beginning to think it’s what I was meant to do all along (no need for those painful Economics and Calculus courses, after all). The biggest inspiration for me to write is hearing how much my readers loved the worlds and characters I created for them in Anathema. I was so so so nervous when my ebook was first published. What if people hated it? What if I couldn’t write my way out of a paper bag? I prepared myself for the worst in hope of avoiding the bitter shock of that sort of reader response. When I received my first review by a blogger and it was super-positive, I couldn’t stop smiling. I was pumped. Now, each new positive review gives me a shot of adrenaline, both for validation of my hard work and because I am genuinely happy that I can give something enjoyable to book lovers out there. For me, there’s nothing better than getting lost in a fictional world and bonding with the characters. Now I’ve given that to others and it inspires me to give them more. Like Book 2, perhaps. J
What else inspires me to write? My need to make the most of my time on this planet and leave my mark. Not a huge mark. Just a mark. That’s never been such a big push for me before. Up until recently, I’ve been satisfied with the practical path – finish school, find good job, get married, buy house, have kids. And then… what ? Well, now that I’ve had a taste of what it’s like to write and publish a novel, I’m addicted for life. I’m in a rush to do as much as I can before my time runs out and I wish I had started sooner. I love stretching my brain creatively. I love inventing worlds and people and storylines. I could easily spend my days in my lulus and fuzzy socks, scheming. I love to ‘scheme’ as my husband calls it. Apparently I’m a natural – it sounds manipulative and sinister but it’s a wonderful trait to have when you’re developing plots with bad guys J
Thank you to Two Chicks on Books for inviting me here today to talk about my new obsession. I hope your followers get a chance to read the outcome of my quest for sanity and fall in love with the worlds and characters I’ve created.
Isn't Kathleen awesome? Ok so you all probably want contest details now right? Well here we go!
Kathleen is giving away a signed, print copy of Anathema to one lucky winner at the end of the blog tour. Anyone can enter by visiting her site at www.katuckerbooks.com (read giveaway rules posted). Do you want up to 10 extra chances to win? Visit each blog stop for an Anathema Quiz question. Answer it correctly and your name is entered! Simple!
Here's your quiz question for today, Blog Stop #2: What thank-you gift does Sofie give to Evangeline for coming to NYC?
To submit your answer, click here http://www.katuckerbooks.com/10-days-of-anathema-grand-prize-entry-form.html
And if you haven't read Anathema yet... what are you waiting for?!
Also Kathleen has given one e-book to give away on the blog! All you need to do is comment on this post to be entered and don't forget to leave your e-mail so we can contact you. We'll leave the contest open until midnight pacific time and as always we will draw names from a baseball hat because that's how we roll ;) Good luck!
Synopsis from Kathleen's blogEvangeline has spent her teenage years in obscurity. Her foster parents have the emotional aptitude of robots and her classmates barely acknowledge her existence. About to turn eighteen and feeling like a social pariah, she is desperate to connect with someone. Anyone.
When Evangeline meets Sofie after literally stumbling upon her café, she believes she’s found that connection. Willing to do anything to keep it, she accepts a job as Sofie’s assistant and drops everything to fly to Manhattan, where she is thrust into a luxurious world of Prada, diamonds, and limitless cash.
With such generosity and kindness, it’s easy for Evangeline to dismiss certain oddities . . . like Sofie’s erratic and sometimes violent behavior, and the monstrous guard dogs. She’s even willing to dismiss her vivid dreams of mob-style murders, beautiful homeless people living in caves, and white-eyed demons that haunt her each night as figments of her imagination—especially when one of those figments is the gorgeous Caden. When she wakes up with bite marks on her neck, the fairy tale quickly turns into a nightmare. She slowly unravels the mystery surrounding Sofie and friends, and the reality of the bites and the “dreams.” What she discovers is far more mysterious and terrible than anything she could have imagined.
In a world where everyone has motive to lie for personal gain, Evangeline must decide which deception is least likely to get her killed.
Pick up your copy of Anathema at Amazon, Smashwords, and Barnes & Noble
