Saturday, June 16, 2012

Interview with Joleene Naylor author of Ashes of Deceit





June 15 - Top Shelf Books - http://www.the-top-shelf.com/
June 16 - Ron D. Voigts - http://rondvoigts.blogspot.com/
June 17 - Barbara G. Tarn - http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com/
June 18- Stephannie Beman - http://stephanniebeman.com/blog/
June 19 - The Williamson Vampires - http://julihoffman.wordpress.com/
June 20 – Lariats and Lavender - http://www.lariatsandlavender.com/
June 21 - I Smell Sheep - ismellsheep.blogspot.com/
June 22- Reena Jacobs - http://reenajacobs.com/
June 23 - Lindsay Downs - http://ajessicasalesnovel.wordpress.com

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A book blurb tells a lot about a book. Can you tell us something about your book?

Katelina is a human woman whose fate has become intertwined with Jorick, a dark, enigmatic vampire. Ashes of Deceit is the fourth book in the Amaranthine series and picks up where Ties of Blood left off. Katelina and Jorick are supposed to be readying for a trip to the tropics. Instead, they have to rescue a vampire who’s been captured by humans. But how could humans have captured a vampire? Meanwhile, Jorick’s vengeful fledgling, Oren, plans to attack The Guild. Though Jorick refuses to help him, he and Katelina find themselves drawn into a battle of confused loyalties. Can they rise from the ashes, or will they be consumed by the inferno of destruction?

Though there is romance in the series (and sex), I wouldn’t call it a primarily romance series. Since romance novels sell the best, I might be shooting myself in the foot with that statement. 

Covers are the first things that get seen when book shopping. Can you tell us about your cover’s design?

The covers for the series are kind of a mixed blessing. Normally, a vampire cover is black. There’s usually a girl or a “hot” guy, a full moon, a cross, etc. Instead, mine are white with an “anime-style” drawing. Though I’ve gotten some derogatory comments from PNR fans, I do attract anime/manga fans and readers who say “I don’t normally read vampire books, but…” I’m also an anime lover and, though I love vampires, I’m not crazy about most of the modern vampire books. Like a lot of authors, I started the series for myself, and since those are my credentials, that’s my target audience. So far the covers seem to be attracting that audience, despite the dogging they get.

For me the first few paragraphs tell me if I want to read the book. How does your story open?

From Ashes of Deceit:

Katelina walked out of the truck stop and eyed the dented, ugly carpet van. It stared back, like a dragon that wanted to swallow her whole. A blast of winter wind rattled her and she brushed her blonde hair from her face. She’d been volunteered to drive to Michigan and the Institute of Supernatural and Unexplained Sciences to help rescue a vampire, while Jorick and his fledgling, Oren, were going to sleep in wooden boxes in the back.

She wondered if it was legal to transport vampires over a state border. There should be a law about that, she mused silently. Maybe there was. The Guild, the vampires’ government, had laws for everything else, and they used the Executioners to enforce them. As the name implied, there seemed to be only one penalty for misconduct.

How have you been marketing your book? What works best for you?

I ran a ten day contest on my blog, giving away different items every day (t-shirt transfers, stickers, etc.), that pulled in some blog views, though I can’t say if it gathered new readers and I am currently in the midst of my first blog tour. I’ve also made a new facebook author page. The best promotion tools are ones you enjoy. If you hate doing it, that’s going to show, and that’s why I don’t do much with Twitter. My main promotions include my blog(s) because I love to blog and read blogs, and free short stories because they are so fun to write. I have eight or nine of them on Barnes and Noble and I’ve gotten emails that say “I enjoyed your short story(s) so I’m going to buy your full length novels now!” I actually sell as many, if not more, books through B&N as I do Amazon, and I’m sure it’s the freebies that do it.

What are you now working on? Can you give us some hints what to expect?

My current projects are finishing up the Vampire Morsels collection – these are the aforementioned short stories about some of the side characters in the Amaranthine universe. I am going to bundle them together and release them as a collection. I am also working on a novella about Patrick, which is a prequel to the first Amaranthine novel, and of course the fifth Amaranthine novel, tentatively titled Heart of the Raven. I hope to the have Vampire Morsels published this summer, Patrick by early autumn (if not sooner) and the novel finished this winter. (whoo!) 

Heart of the Raven picks up where Ashes of Deceit ends and *should* see Katelina and Jorick travel to Munich, Germany to see the True Council. After that, they *should* meet Jorick’s up-to-now-unknown fledgling and *should* run into the treasure hunters, who will be looking for the heart of the raven (this is an “ancient vampire artifact”, believed to be Lilith’s heart). I say *should* because the characters don’t always do what I want them to.

When you are not writing a book, what do you do for fun?

When I’m not writing, working on the Terrible Turtle Conspiracy web comic, creating book covers for other authors, formatting, or playing Sims on facebook, I like to take photos, play Final Fantasy, watch anime and Dr. Who and splash in rain puddles. Sadly, it doesn’t rain a lot in southern Missouri, so I don’t get to do that as often as I’d like. I might try to talk my husband into a kiddie pool.

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Joleene Naylor is an independent author, freelance artist and part time photographer. Her published works include the fun eBook 101 Tips for Traveling with a Vampire and the Amaranthine series available at Amazon. She's also written a slew of short stories and poems, and has been published in The Blue Turtle Crossing eZine and Target Audience Magazine. Her photographs have been featured on travel sites, cooking sites and have even made the homepage of Digg.





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16 comments:

  1. I would pick Ashes of Deceit because I love this series and it the only one I don't already have yet. crystaley73 at yahoo dot com

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    1. Hi Crystal! Thanks for stopping in and good luck! :D

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  2. My nick name is puddles... didn't know that about you though or that youu photos have been featured in so many venues. In 3 years when all this writing is complete then what will you do?

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    1. Yeah, it's from putting them up under a CC license. (creative Commons) so that anyone can use them - it;s a great way to get exposure - though I do it because I like to share them :)

      When the writing is done then I shall write some more - assuming the apocalypse doesn't take me out first!

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  3. Was wondering if you feel that the vampire genre is running its course or if vampires will inhabit all genres in the future?

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    1. That's an interesting question, Rick! I think there will always be vampires in a variety of literature because there are a lot of people who like them, but as far as main stream goes something new will rise up and take its place. Zombies really seemed poised to do that, but they're sort of hanging on the cusp, still waiting for that super "hit". Adult vampire books are already considered a niche genre.

      Thanks for commenting!

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  4. Nice interview. I learned some things here. Of course, I'm a huge fan of Joleene's works.

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    1. Hey Donna! Great to see you here! Thanks so much for stopping in! :)

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  5. well i llike the book there and if i could win it i would blog on it

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  6. Great interview, especially getting a peek at what "should" be happening in the next book.

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    1. Thanks, Jenn! heh-heh, yeah it's hard to tell if they will do what I tell them to or not. They're all so temperamental.. ;)

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  7. Joleene is the BEST! I have read all her books but the last! My fav is reading the interviews w/ all the characters. I only know a few others that do that and I think its awesome! The book I would pick would be Ashes of Deceit! Thanks Joleene for the the chance to win!

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    1. Thanks so much! So glad to know you enjoy the interviews, I have a lot of fun with those :) And it soothes some of the characters when they get unruly, LOL!

      Good luck!

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