Book Description:
It’s her last summer before going away to college and Fiona finds herself facing more than she bargained for: A boyfriend she doesn’t want who has a strange hold over her, a friend pushing her to expand her boundaries, and a new guy named Ted whose presence is more than a distraction.
If that isn’t enough, Fiona is being haunted with horrifying nightmares of burning at the stake—nightmares so real, she feels as though she’s losing her mid.
Are they only dreams, or are they trying to warn her about this new guy she can’t help but want?
Book Genre:
Paranormal/New AgePublisher: Pagan
Writers PressRelease Date: November
27, 2013Audio Excerpt:
Excerpt:
The flames from the torches danced around her, creating a terrifying glow on the gathered crowd. The young girl struggled against her restraints in an attempt to escape the fate that awaited her. The jeers of the spectators echoed through her mind like a demonic chorus, sending chills down her spine.
The more she struggled, the tighter the ropes that bound her felt. She knew it was a futile endeavor—even if she did get free, she was in no condition to attempt an escape. Plus, contrary to their insane notions, she had no special powers. Her only power was her knowledge of the earth and how its resources could be used to cure ills. What good would that do against a mob such as this?
Her heart pounded and her breathing came quick and ragged as the men knelled down to light the kindle piled beneath her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, willing herself to keep calm. Her fate was sealed, but she could at least deny them the pleasure of seeing her fear. She opened her eyes, and her gaze settled on one of the spectators.***Fiona Stevens gasped as she sat up in bed. She took a deep breath and shook her head in an attempt to rid herself of the horrifying images that had begun to haunt her sleep. For the past week, she'd been having nightmares so real it took her a minute to realize who and where she was.
“Another nightmare?”
Her sister’s voice brought her back to reality. She was safe and sound in the bedroom she shared with her sister, centuries removed from the days when events like the one in her dream happened. Get a grip already. “Yeah, it’s no big deal.” She reached for the book on her nightstand and tossed it into a drawer. “I think I need to stop reading this stuff before bed. It’s just fueling my muse.”
Rebecca smiled. “Writers—you’re all insane.” The younger girl grew serious as she studied Fiona’s face. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’re white as a sheet right now.”
“I’m fine. Seriously; it's no big deal.” Fiona pushed the comforter aside and stuffed her feet into a pair of slippers by the bed. She stood, gra.bbed the robe lying on the end of her bed, and then wrapped herself in the soft, warm material. “I think I’m gonna go downstairs and get something to drink. Sorry I woke you; go back to sleep.”
Jamie White is an author, blogger, photo geek, music addict, editor, pop culture geek, paranormal junkie, and a pet servant.
She spent more than a decade as a Journalism student, geeking out over Pagemaker, layout design, and other stuff.
In college, she took it a step further and became the only student to be on all three of her college's publications, serving as Editor-In-Chief for two of them. Later, she went on to freelance writing and blogging.
Jamie began her journey into fiction writing in 2010 after joining a writing group. Since that first meeting, she has completed a bunch of short stories, five manuscripts, and several in progress. Her first novel, The Life and Times of No One In Particular, was released in 2012. She followed itb up with a story in the Lyrical Muse Anthology in 2013. The end of 2013 will see two releases with Pagan Writers Press.
When Jamie's not writing or blogging, she takes pictures, meditates, practices Reiki and chanting, watches favorite shows/movies, takes walks, and serves as a volunteer for the Florida Writers Association by running their social media and a writing group (Gulfstream Writers).
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Interview Questions for BK Walker Books Etc.
Welcome to BK Walker Books Etc. I'm so happy you could join me today at (Your choice of location) home.BK: Looking out the nearest window, describe the scene you see.Nothing too exciting. LOL! I live in a city where the only scenery outside my window is the power lines and the back of the apartment building by my house.BK: Tell us about your office. Is it a mess like mine, or is everything in its place?I don’t really have a home office. I use a desk at times in the bedroom (which is definitely a bit of a mess…. working on that), but most of the time I am sitting on the living room chair with my laptop.A lot of the time, I retreat to the library to work because it’s so much more peaceful. Our fur babies don’t seem to understand the concept of “working” time. Can you imagine?BK: What is a must-have, such as coffee or a favorite pen, that you need to write?Normally, I really need a computer or laptop to write. I do write by hand here and there, but it just goes so much faster with a computer. The words seem to flow easier, too. Another must-have is noise. I love to listen to either music or meditation tracks while I work. It helps me focus and get into the right mood.BK: Do you like to write in silence, or do you need music or background noise?Definitely no silence. LOL. Even when I was a kid, I’d do my homework while belting out my favorite CDs.BK: Tell us a bit about your hero/heroine, and their development.Fiona is your typical teenage girl, about to leave for college for the first time while trying to figure out her romantic situation. She begins to suffer from horrible nightmares that lead her on a spiritual journey to try and understand what they’re trying to tell her. Over the course of the story, she begins to understand herself and her dreams more.BK: As a writer myself, I'm always curious how other writers get through stumble blocks. When you find a story not flowing, or a character trying to fight you, how do you correct it?Mostly, I set it aside and go on a walk or listen to music/watch TV to clear my head when I’m stuck. Other times, I read or move on to another project to try and get the groove back.BK: Using the letters of your first name as an acronym, describe your book...JourneyingAboutMysteriesIn theEveningBK: How did your writing journey begin?It began back in 2010, when I went to a meeting of a local writing club. I really enjoyed meeting everyone and telling short stories, and it evolved from there.BK: Using the letters from the word, Summer, how would friends and family describe you?I’ll let my husband answer that one…. Here is what he came up with:Supremely Underappreciated Musical Maven Exenplifying RealismBK: What is the craziest thing you've ever written about, whether it got published or not?Hmm. I’d say the craziest thing that I’ve written so far is the short story about a demonic doll that was based on a doll I actually had as a kid.BK: Tell us one thing you've done in life, that readers would be most surprised to know.Hmm. Well, here is a video I did for an event that has a bunch of different facts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjeT0KCS8LQThis or That...
- Coke or Pepsi? Neither.
- Night Owl or Early Bird? Definitely a night owl.
- Fantasy or Mystery? Mystery
- Pen/Paper or Computer? Computer
- Pizza or Burger? Pizza
- Rock or Country? Country (although I really love all genres)
- Chocolate or Vanilla? Chocolate
- Beach or Mountains? Beach
Thank you so much for having us as one of your stops today. It has been great getting to know more about you and your book, and wish you the best of success!
Inspiration is a funny thing;
You can’t manufacture it and you can’t know when it’s going to come. You just have to try and do what you can to help it along and be prepared to take advantage of the opportunity when it comes. There are ways to try and help it along but there are never any guarantees.
It’s funny. My husband is a writer and ideas flow from him like an exploding dam. For me? Well, let’s just say it’s kind of like trying to pull out my own teeth to get an idea for a story or blog post. When I signed up for the NaNoWriMo challenge this past November, I had no idea how I was going to actually get a 50,000 word novel done. I did learn some lessons, though, about inspiration and what works for me. Maybe some of these will work for you…
1) Deadlines are your friend. I studied journalism in school so I knew the fear of missing a deadline. This is something I have tried to keep with me even after I graduated. I found this is still true. It’s amazing how inspiring watching all my other writing buddies word counts go up was. I’m competitive by nature and I was not going to allow myself to be the only one on the list who posted a “zero” word count or one of the few who didn’t “win”. It was unacceptable.
2) Collaborating is extremely inspiring for me. Just talking about my idea with CP got my creative juices flowing and helped me to figure out some of the things I got stuck on along the way. RPGs I participated in years ago had the same effect. Playing off another person and their character and the immediacy of doing so in real time kind of forces you to step up and get it done.
3) Writing daily. It’s kind of cliché, but it’s so true. The act of writing the daily word count eventually made the process easier as the month went on.
4) Writing Soundtracks. Getting together a bunch of different MP3s or a few CDs and playing them helped shut the world out and get some words on paper. A few lines even inspired some poetry.
5) Writing Prompts. These have helped so much, even if it was just to get a journal entry down on paper to exercise the writing muscles.
Inspiration is so unpredictable and the juices that got flowing during NaNo have taken some interesting turns. Writing about a photographer as part of my novel actually got me to try it out. Now I am constantly taking shots and started a photography blog. You just never know what’s going to happen once you open up that door. So far, it’s been an exciting and fun experience.
writing processes.
I wish I could say I have some well thought out process, but I don’t. I’m a very indecisive person (hazards of being a Gemini), and am prone to having a hard time with the idea part. There are a few vital ingredients, however, that go into any story I write. I must warn you, I am a major pantser, so there will be no insight into outlining and story planning here…
1) The computer. I absolutely must be able to write on my word processor. I have the worst time trying to hand write stuff; my hands just can’t keep up with me head. Also, I need to be able to open up a game of solitaire here and there. Mindless fun helps me get focused when I’m having a hard time getting words out.
2) Music is my lifeline and helps me get into the right mindset. Sometimes I even put on the songs I’ve chosen for a project and sing along with them for awhile, letting myself get lost in the emotions in the lyrics. That helped so much with my latest project.
3) Getting out of the house is also a huge help. When I’m home, the furry brats are demanding attention or I’m getting twitchy because there is a mess somewhere to clean up. That is really not conducive to a good writing session, so sometimes I am forced to head to the library or Starbucks. Those green tea frapps are great fuel for my muse!
4) Deadlines are also important. Maybe it’s the journalist in me, but just thinking about missing a deadline makes me sick. There is nothing like knowing my story is due the next day to get the word count up.
So what is your writing process like? Are you a pantser like me, or do you need to outline? What’s your favorite writing retreat? Comment and let’s chat about it.
On Writing Groups
If you’ve happened to follow my author blog at all, you probably know that I am a huge advocate for writing groups. I even wrote a post about them once. While I touched on some different reasons why it’s important to find the right group, as opposed to any group, I thought I could touch a little more on the subject.
I’m currently involved in three in-person writing groups as well as a number of online ones and groups not devoted to writing, but entrepreneurship instead. Here are some of the biggest things I have learned about groups over the past few years…
1) Don’t just join a writing group, join the right writing group. An online group that consists of nothing but fellow authors sharing their book links is a waste of your time. Even if you post your own link there, it mostly likely won’t be seen--the other members are already busy posting the same link in one of their other groups and won’t be back until the next time they have a release or sale to promote.
2) Don’t be afraid to share in a critique group. It sounds obvious, but so many people panic when the spotlight is looming and shy away from sharing their work. What if it sucks? What if they are secretly judging me? If it’s the right group, that won’t happen. They exist solely to help you polish that manuscript (and if it’s a first draft, it likely does need work but that’s okay). They want to help you… you just have to take a deep breath and jump in--it’s an amazing learning opportunity that will only help you get better.
3) Don’t be afraid to ask “stupid” questions. Many of the people running these groups started knowing very little and I can pretty much guarantee that any questions you have will be the same ones they asked once. They won’t judge you for it but instead will be glad to see another engaged and curious writer in the group to help it grow.
10 Things You Didn't Know About Stains
I want to start by saying thank you for hosting me today. I appreciate the chance to get to chat with everyone about my novella, Stains on the Soul, published by Pagan Writers Press. I was asked to share some facts about Stains you might not know. Here’s a little peek behind the book…10) The main character is named after the lead character in the Disney show "So Weird". Ever since I saw that, I have liked that name and it seemed like a natural choice.9) The book started as a YA novel set in a High School. I later switched it to New Adult and had to re-write almost the entire thing, not to mention a good chunk of the second.8) This is the first story I have written where I just started writing off a vague image and decided to see where it went with no planning.7) The part dealing with the Shaker movement was written completely by chance. I started searching for towns that actually existed in the '20s to try and find a setting. Shaker Heights happened to be one of the first that came up and when I saw the background of the people that lived there, I decided to go with it.6) Originally, the Sloane character didn't exist.5) Fiona's sister, Becca, wasn't in the original version either.4) The original draft was written over the course of a Camp NaNoWriMo3) Fiona's experiences with dreams were inspired by my own.2) While writing this manuscript, I listened to Kelly Clarkson's "Stronger" and Lady A's "Own the Night" almost non-stop.1) I intended for this to be one long novel, but it turned into three novellas.Hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse into the process behind putting a story together. I really enjoyed writing this novella and I hope you'll check it out or stop by any of my sites to chat if you want to know more or want to connect. Thanks for reading. :)
July 13 - Author Interview at My Life, Loves, & Passions
July 13 - Guest Blogging at Coffee, Books, Art
July 13 - Spotlight at Paranormal Romance and Authors That Rock
July 14 - Spotlight at IndieWritersReview
July 14 - Spotlight at Debbie Jeans
July 14 - Guest Blogging at Reader's Cubby
July 15 - Spotlight at 3 Partners In Shopping! Nana, Mommy & Sissy Too
July 15 - Author Interview at PubSlush
July 16 - Spotlight at Black Lilac Kitty
July 16 - Guest Blogging at Mythical Books
July 16 - Author Interview at Deal Sharing Aunt
July 18 - Guest Blogging at Lori's Reading Corner
July 19 - Guest Blogging at Wise Words Book Blogger
July 19 - Guest Blogging at The Avid Reader
July 19 - Guest Blogging at Kinky Vanilla Romance
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