Winter Angelby Mia Hoddell Blitz

Winter Angel

by Mia Hoddell

Genre: YA Romance
Release date: 25th June 2014
Length: Novella

Blurb:

She was on holiday. He was tricked into returning. Neither of them wanted to be there, but neither could avoid it.

Amy wants to be back under the sun in Portugal. However, when her suggestion is overruled in favour of a skiing holiday, even she can't turn it down. What she couldn't have predicted is that the holiday could make her break the one, and only, rule she has: not to get into a serious relationship again.

When Amy first sees Luke, she knows something is wrong. He's struggling to cope with everything and her need to help people makes him the perfect distraction from the cold. He hasn't been to the Alps in five years and he swore to never ski again. But as his defences are broken by Amy's persistence, the winter paradise begins to reawaken his desires.

However, with constant flashbacks triggering his anxiety, he's torn, battling conflicting emotions as he becomes increasingly captivated by Amy. She has a rule though. She didn't go on holiday to fall for someone and the last thing she needs is to ignore her own advice. Whether or not she can move past her insecurities will depend on whether Luke can face his biggest fear.

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Excerpt

White. Gazing out of the small, circular window, it was the only colour he could see surrounding him. The bursts of light—which had broken through the heavy, grey clouds—were reflected back as the ground grew closer with each passing second. Not too long ago he had been blissfully unaware of the location his sister was dragging him to for a holiday. A bubble of excitement had surrounded him throughout the early morning as he got up, and stayed with him through travelling to the airport and catching the flight. However, it had burst as soon as the icy tips of the mountains appeared and the plane began its descent. Until that moment, he had hoped his guesses had been wrong.

His sister had carefully planned the trip, making sure to hide all clues as to where they were heading, and as she glanced across at him, it seemed as if she had been successful. Luke’s knuckles were white on the arm rests. He had claimed both of them, gripping them so hard they looked like they would snap under the force, or at least be moulded to the shape of his hands when he removed them.

Ellie watched as he took in a shaky breath, but she heard no exhale.

“Luke?”

The silence that filled the space around them was icier than the Alps they had just flown over. Her brother’s gaze remained fixed on the window, watching as the ground, and his fate, drew ever closer. Deep, ragged breaths steamed up the window, which was almost touching his nose. Desperately, he tried to control the tremors shaking his body, and his pounding heart, from the fear that washed over him in waves.

“Luke, please, say something.” Worry had crept into Ellie’s tone. She had thought her idea would do him good, that forcing him to face everything would turn him back into his old self. Ellie missed the brother she had grown up with and wanted him back. However, seeing his eyes wide with fear, his jaw clenched in anger, and his arms tense with both, suddenly she wasn’t so sure about her plan.

“You promised, Ellie. You swore you wouldn’t pressure me, and I trusted you with that. You know how I feel about this.” His voice was sharp and curt as he spoke through clenched teeth, trying to keep a hold on his emotions.

The urge to flee surged within him. He wanted to go home, to get off the plane and board the next flight straight back to England, but he couldn’t. Not only was the plane still minutes from landing—trapping him in the confines of economy class, which felt even smaller as realisation forced him to understand Ellie’s plans—but he also refused to waste more money on the pointless trip Ellie had conned him into taking. If he was going to use the money he had earned from before everything changed, it would be on his own terms.

“You’ll enjoy it when you’re there,” Ellie stated, brushing off his comments like they meant nothing to her.

“That’s easy for you to say. You don’t have to live with, or through, what I have.” Luke was trying hard to control his voice. Had they been in private, he would have already been shouting. The cramped environment meant that Ellie was getting off lightly, but he swore that when they reached their chalet, he would not hold back. She had no right to interfere with his life.

“Never tell me I didn’t live through it, Luke. I was there when it happened, in the hospital, and when you got home. I was there through it all. It may not have been me, but it wasn’t like it had no effect on my life,” Ellie hissed. It was the only way she could convey her anger without disturbing other passengers.

“Why though, Ellie? Why is this such a big deal to you?” Luke’s eyes were full of sorrow as he turned to face his sister for the first time, begging to understand her reasoning for putting him through something she knew would hurt him.

About the Author

Mia Hoddell lives in the UK with her family and two cats. She spends most of her time writing or reading, loves anything paranormal and has an overactive imagination that keeps her up until the early hours of the morning.

With three poems published before the age of sixteen, Mia moved on to short stories but finding she had too much to tell with too little space, Mia progressed to novels. She started her first series (The Wanderer Trilogy) at the age of fourteen and since then hasn’t stopped writing. Elemental Killers is her second series and with an ever growing list of ideas, Mia is trying to keep up with the speed at which her imagination generates them.Mia Hoddell

Ideas Lead to Insomnia

Yes, I am once again not getting any sleep due my crazy writing time of 11pm - 3am. 

Now that I have finished college and exams, I am left with a year off and nothing to do but write! I have taken a break from editing and writing for a couple of weeks (I think I deserved one after having no social life for the past 5 months) but I'm getting back into things finally. 

Of cours,e while I am editing I am also planning Elemental Killers #3 so this means my head is constantly full of ideas that I am trying to weave into the book and therefore, I am awake until the early hours of the morning as I just can't switch off...

I have been told numerous times that I have an incredibly overactive imagination. Something that becomes most evident once I have watched a horror movie or read a scary novel and I’m lying awake for hours - because I have freaked myself out envisioning the characters are real. I must admit at this point it doesn’t seem like such a good thing to have, however when generating ideas for new books it comes in handy and I find myself lying awake due to all of the ideas in my head rather than fear.

The initial ideas for my books have various ways of coming about. Some are taken from dreams I have had while others are based on real life experiences. These two things normally only generate the main genre or theme of the novel though, for example in Deadly to Love I had the initial thought of a modern day romance but I wanted the main characters to meet in a different way that broke the stereotypical college romance. As well as this I also wanted a paranormal element which led me into some fun research.

However, because Elemental Killers #3 is a continuation of the series, the characters, world and general outline for the story is already there and I don't have to do all that again. I may have a few new characters to create but most of my sleep deprivation comes from the frequent 'eureka' moments that start off as a small addition about where I can take the book, before snowballing as one thing leads to the next. 

I get excited by the smallest idea which leads to my brain starting up again and if that happens there's no hope for me. Also, I have found that I will never get to sleep if I don’t write these down as I'm thinking about not forgetting it so much. Doing this then to leads onto another idea though so either way I'm not going to sleep.

This is what is happening with Elemental Killers #3 right now and as well as this I have the final book, and a new story I can't wait to write crammed into my head. I'm not complaining though as this it what I love and now that I have a year off these crazy nights don't have such a negative effect in the morning due to lie ins!

How Many Lives Does an Author Live?

For a few years now I have felt like I have been living at least a triple life. I'm not sure what it is like for other authors but I am constantly trying to balance tasks from my separate lives. Even though I love what I do and wouldn't change it for the world when it comes to switching between identities, I feel like I have even more than James Bond!

There are three main identities that I live under:

1. Normal Me – Family Life, College, Friends etc.

2. Author – Writing, Characters, Promoting, Formatting, Blogging etc.

3. Reviewer – Reading, Reviewing, Blogging etc.

Even though these lives interlink and blend into one I feel that what I do in each is technically a separate part of me.

While I'm just me I'm talking about normal issues, getting dragged to places I don't want to be and spending time with my friends and family. This is probably my social side (well as social as I get anyway). I also have to go to college, which leaves me with a load of work and distracts me from my novels… I won't get into that right now though. This side of myself is easy to lose amongst the chaos in my head, especially when the writer in me takes over.

When I am living in my author's world, anything goes. I find it incredibly hard to switch off once I am in this place as my mind is constantly thinking about possible novels or what is going to happen next in a series. Also I prefer to blend into the background instead of being the centre of attention so I’m always observing my surroundings for things that could be good in a novel.

While I’m writing, I guess you could say I'm living my characters’ lives too as I am technically creating what happens, what they think or do. However there are other sides to this version of myself. Due to the fact I am self-published I have to do everything, so under the identity of author there is also; publicist, blogger, graphic designer, formatter (probably not the official title) and editor (although I do outsource for this too). This is probably the identity I live under most as I love all aspects of writing. However, because it's not a normal job where you'd leave for the day at 5pm, my work follows me wherever I go, which make it increasingly difficult to stop due to the ideas in my head.

Finally there is also the reviewer side of myself. When I am not writing I love relaxing with a good book and a hot chocolate. This side of me is probably the most distant though as I like to keep everything to do with reviewing separate from my work. As well as this, because I read so many books I guess you could say I am living or experiencing that character's life too as I follow them throughout the novel and get immersed in the story.

Overall I would say that authors lead hundreds of lives and it only grows with the amount of books they read and write. Sometimes it gets confusing and I find myself asking "OK who am I now?" but I wouldn't change it for anything. I enjoy every aspect of being an author and I'm only growing to become more certain that this is what I want to do. If all fails though, at least I'd have a career as a spy...

Music - Some of the favorites

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