Christine Young Is Hosting Blood of the Dark Moon

Please welcome Adrianne Brennan author of Blood of the Dark Moon.  Adrianne will be awarding a $25 E-gift card to Amazon to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

Don't forget to leave a comment.

Blood of the Dark Moon

by Adrianne Brennan

1 1.     What or who inspired you to start writing?

When I was ten, I had an assignment for class to write a short story illustrating science concepts. I chose to write a science fiction comedy featuring sentient vegetables in outer space. It was the first work of fiction I had ever written, and once I did it I was hooked. I’ve been writing ever since, and I’m now almost thirty-five.

2 2.    How did you come up with ideas for your books?

Mostly from dreams with flashes of inspiration based on thoughts and ideas I get from things I’ve written or watched. I often think of alternative histories for what I read and watch, “what-ifs”, and roads not taken. Sometimes those ideas become ground for my own stories.

3 3.     What components are necessary for the genre of this novel?

For Blood of the Dark Moon, magical realism was important to me.  I wanted to write about a world where fantastical elements were brought vividly into life in such a way a reader would not question why they were there. I had a lot of fun with this and thought about how magic would be simply another form of technology.

4 4.     What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

I live a ridiculously full and insane life with a demanding primary career which has been extremely volatile albeit fulfilling and lucrative. I’m a geek who has been invested in science fiction, fantasy, and paranormal books, tv shows, and movies nearly her whole life. I am not your typical erotic romance writer by any means, and I often surprise people by how much I have a) going on in my life and b) interests in aside from writing. At this point, I technically have three careers. It is my dream to eventually drop the main one and focus on the other two which are my passions: my writing and fitness coaching.

5 5.     When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

I was writing Star Wars fan fiction with a few other women, mostly erotica and erotic romance. One of them decided to open her own epublishing company, and when she heard that I wrote original fiction in addition to fanfic, encouraged me to submit one of my works—even a partial—to her editors and see if it would be something they’d be interested in. That was my first submission, and it was accepted. The rest is history. That book is now with its second publisher as the first sadly closed its doors a few years ago, and I’ve been with them ever since. The book? Blood of the Dark Moon. It’s the first book I ever published, and as my first “baby” I’m quite proud of it. J

6 6.     What is the best and worst advice you ever received? (regarding writing or publishing)

The best advice I’ve ever received is to write, and just keep writing—and don’t give up.

The absolute worst was to treat your writing like a business and write regardless of “writer’s block” and to ignore your Muse. Forcing creativity is, in my humble opinion, a ticket to disaster. It’s how good authors get bad and their readers get disappointed with their future efforts. We all know of at least one author, I’m sure, who clearly suffered from burnout and kept churning out the works, presumably due to contract and/or business pressures, and the quality of their writing suffered as a result. I never wanted to become one of those sorts of writers, and I hope I never do.

7 7.     Do you outline your books or just start writing?

A little of both. I have an idea of where I want the character (or characters) to start, where I want them to wind up, and some ideas on key events in their life or lives that gets them there. From there, I just sit down and write.

8 8.     Do you have any hobbies and does the knowledge you've gained from these carry over into your characters or the plot of your books?

I have what may be argued as too many hobbies. I enjoy working out, helping others with their fitness goals (I’m a P90X certified fitness coach, currently working on getting certified as a fitness trainer), traveling, reading, cooking, making jewelry, knitting and crocheting, and many many other things. I could probably spend several blog posts on each of these alone.

9 9.     Do you have an all time favorite book?

I can name a few all-time favorite books and series which have greatly shaped my outlook, my life, and me:

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle

The Promethea series by Alan Moore

VALIS by Phillip K Dick

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende

The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony by Robert Calasso

1 10.  Have you started your next project? If so, can you share a little bit about your book?

It's the final book in the Oath series entitled "Union". I'm in the midst of edits for it and will be the very next book of mine to come out. It’s the conclusion of the tale of a young woman in the process of self-discovery, empowerment, and mastery through an intensely erotic series of rituals. It’s a fantasy work featuring magick, demons, and all sorts of supernatural events. Once finished I plan to have a sequel to the series in the form of a novella, something a bit longer for my readers to sink their teeth into.

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BLURB:

A dark flame of passion ignites between Amanda, a devoted follower of the Greek god Apollo, and Jesse, a handsome scholar who shares her love of both the classics and the occult. But little does Amanda know she is destined to fulfill a legacy that began long ago and ended in tragedy. Together, she and Jesse embark on a journey down a shadowy path that delivers Amanda into Jesse’s scintillating underworld of vampires, magick, and secret societies. Will she learn her true identity in time to help those she has grown to care for, and find happiness in her new life with Jesse? And will destiny finally be fulfilled?

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Excerpt:

I must be losing it. But as Amanda stared up into the sky, too many things fell into her mind, persistent in their logic. She had never seen Jesse during the daylight, had never seen him more than perhaps taste food, didn't know what he did for a living other than "freelance computer work", and now she couldn't hear a heartbeat nor him breathing.

"Jesse?" she queried, her hesitancy showing in her voice.

Feeling him freeze behind her, she wondered if he knew what was on her mind, and thought to phrase her next words with caution.

"You're not a normal guy, are you?  I mean," she continued, trying not to rush through her words, let alone sound nervous, "not that I'm…all that normal myself, and all, but…." Her voice trailed off.  Amanda did not know what to say, or how to say it.

Many moments passed without a response. With great deliberateness he ran his hands through her hair, and she delighted in the feel of his fingertips as they coursed through the strands, brushing against her neck as soft as silk.

In that moment she remembered their first dinner outing, when Jesse showed her the Latin magickal text which referred to strange allegories, symbols and various arcana. She recalled that the text kept referencing "blood" in some mystical context.

"Jesse?" Her voice was quieter, and she was no longer so certain that she was crazy.

YOUR TIME HAS COME.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Adrianne Brennan stumbled into her love of writing by accident at the age of ten with a creative writing assignment for her science class. The end result was a science fiction comedy featuring numerous puns regarding vegetables. Adrianne's works were previously published through Aphrodite's Apples Press and are now published through Freya's Bower, Love You Divine, Running Press/Constable & Robinson, and Torquere Press. In addition, she is a member of EPIC, Infinite Worlds of Fantasy Authors, the Midnight Seductions Authors group, and an alumnus member of Kappa Gamma Psi, a co-ed national professional performing arts fraternity. The author resides in Boston, Massachusetts with two cats and a car she has aptly named "the TARDIS." She assures her readers that people tell her it looks bigger on the inside.

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http://www.adriannebrennan.com

http://adriannebrennan.blogspot.com