Guest Author Interview: Hope Welsh + Giveaway

Please welcome today's guest author Hope Welsh.  Hope is the author of Forbidden and Once Bitten, The Storm Within, and Linked.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Hope:   I really don’t remember a time when I wasn’t writing. I wrote a play when I was eight. A Christmas play. My sister got married the night it was performed. I’ve never forgiven her for that, because I missed my own play—lol, being a flower girl. I’m pretty sure I frowned at her throughout the ceremony. I remember trying to convince her to get married the following night.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Hope:   I have always enjoyed paranormal books. The first ones I read were back in the late eighties/early nineties. Authors like Teresa Medeiros were my staples back then. Linda Lael Miller and her vampire books—I was hooked. When I read, I want to escape from reality. What better way to do that than to read about angels, vampires, time-travel and shapeshifters?

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Hope:  I’ve actually thought about this. When I was a child, I desperately wanted to be clairvoyant. Of course now, I can’t imagine the horror of seeing horrid things before they happen. (Although I love writing about clairvoyance.) When I was a young wife, I dreamt that my husband’s plane went down into a lake during a flying lesson. I convinced him to postpone the lesson. That afternoon, a small plane went down in a lake.

Now, as someone that is a little older and hopefully a little wiser, now, I’d love to be an empath. The thought of being able to help others in pain would fit me to a T. I spent years as an EMT and as any EMT will tell you; they’d give a lot to be able to really help their patients.

I’m actually working on a book—The female protagonist is an empathic EMT. In Linked, the female protagonist is a clairvoyant woman that doesn’t want a thing to do with her abilities.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Hope:   I’m really bad at this kind of question. My best answer, I suppose, would be that I try very hard to make my novels allow a reader to escape into a world that is not black and white. I want them to feel what my characters feel. I want them to see and believe what my characters see and believe. I’ve always thought that if a novel can make a reader feel an emotional response to the book that the author has succeeded in doing her job.

In Linked, Lana Summers watched the hell her mother went through with her visions of the future. She wants nothing at all to do with her own abilities, and tries to disregard them totally.

When her mother’s murderer threatens her life, Cole Willams comes to the rescue. In the book, she’s forced to either accept her abilities in order to solve an ancient prophecy to thwart an ancient evil, or deny them and watch the world as she knows it change forever.

Any good story should answer this question: WHAT IF? Linked does that—in spades, I think.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Hope:   I can’t write a book without seeing my characters. The Evil One would be the guy that played in The Crow, Michael Wincott. He’s got the voice to pull him off. Can’t you see him playing an arrogant ancient evil? I sure can!

Lana Summers could be played by Olivia Wilde (from House) I think she has the personality to pull off Lana. Lana is a strong woman, and from what I’ve seen of Olivia’s acting, she does that type of character very well.

Hugh Jackman for Cole Williams. Cole is a character that is a fixer. I can see Hugh Jackman as the type of man that would want to fix everything. Cole’s character would need someone that can pull off a dominant personality.

Linked by Hope Welsh.

Evil is watching and time is running out. Tara Summers wants an ordinary life--and nothing to do with anything paranormal. She shuns her own paranormal abilities. When her home is broken into, Cole Williams comes to the rescue--and he's much more than he seems. Will they be able to stop the evil or is their joining going to be the cause of evil taking control?


Thank you Hope for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

**Hope Welsh Ebook Giveaway**

We are giving away three ebooks by Hope Welsh, Linked, The Storm Within, and Forbidden and Bitten, to one lucky winner!

To enter, please leave a comment on this post including your email address (so we may contact you if you win).  You do not have to be a follower to enter (though I always appreciate a follow!).  This giveaway is international.  Giveaway ends March 22nd midnight EST.