Q+A with Gina Marie Long (Rocked)

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Gina Marie Long.  Gina is the author of Rocked.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Gina:  Back in high school, I mostly received A’s on essays with positive notes scribbled in the margins from the teachers, so I felt I had potential. Throughout my teenage years, I wrote nearly 50 poems. I realized I had an interest in writing a book about 20+ years ago (oops-showing my age!) and toyed with the concept at that time. Nothing came of it. Several false starts. In 2009, I vowed to myself that I would write a full-fledged novel. I was frustrated with life and wanted to sell my small-town beauty salon (I was the sole owner and operator) but needed another job or career. I thought, what the heck? I finished my first novel, Unknown Touch-Werewolf Series-Book 1, in 2 1/2 months and was published in October 2009. Rocked-A Chelsie Valdar Saga 1 is my third novel.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Gina:  I have always loved paranormal, supernatural, scifi, and fantasy movies, TV shows and books. I vividly recall reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy as a teenager. I can never get enough of werewolves, vampires, witches, werecats, Bigfoot, demons, psychic stuff, aliens, and ghosts. Authors who've inspired me: Anne Rice, Amanda Hocking, Stephenie Meyer, Christine Feehan, Jacquelyn Frank, Suzanne Collins, Karen Marie Moning and many more. There are too many shows and movies to list that influence my writing...but what just popped into my mind first are the Underworld series and Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV show).

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

Gina:  It would be nice to heal people with my touch. So many of my friends and family have died or are fighting life-threatening diseases and illnesses. Especially cancer.

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

Gina:  I'm like a mixture of Amanda Hocking and Stephenie Meyer - I write young adult thrillers mixed with supernatural creatures. Rocked focuses on Chelsie Valdar, a modern-day Viking warrior teenager. Throw in Bigfoot who shape shift into humans, an abandoned werecat, the search for a weapon, a stalker, and the clock ticking down to the impending Apocalypse-in one week. Whew! Of course, I left out what kind of Apocalypse...kind of makes you wonder, huh?

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

Gina:  That is a tough question. I have Chelsie as the main character (written in first person, present tense) and several important characters involved with her. Hmm... Kristen Hager (plays Nora on Being Human - Syfy) would be the character Chelsie Valdar because when I look at her, I actually "see" Chelsie. She's tough but has a soft side and physically looks the part. Next, Ksenia Solo (plays Kenzi on Lost Girl -Syfy) would be the character Jessie in my book. The actress probably wants to avoid being another sidekick, but she is so quirky, cute, petite, and the darker hair are the reasons I'd pick her. Jared Padalecki (plays Sam on Supernatural - CW) would be the character Bo because he physically looks the part and his personality fits. Ian Somerhalder (plays Damon on The Vampire Diaries - CW) completely looks like my character Lucas...but could be taller! His expressions, mesmerizing gaze, cocky attitude fit the part. And Dylan O'Brien (plays Stiles on Teen Wolf - MTV) would be the character Alex because he's able to pull off being funny, cocky and I could see him flip to deranged in a heart beat, becoming totally unstable. His facial expressions, realistic acting and timing are perfect.

Rocked (Chelsie Valdar Saga #1) by Gina Marie Long.

The Apocalypse is coming...in one week. Chelsie Valdar and her brother are modern-day Viking warrior teenagers. They must find a mystical sword belonging to their ancient ancestor and flee to safety at a secret shelter, if they hope to survive. As the clock ticks, several Bigfoot and an outcast werecat become invaluable friends helping with the search for the sword and offering supernatural protection. Misfortune haunts their every move. Conflicts delay their progress. Especially when a devious and deranged enemy is infatuated with Chelsie and hungers for the sword, desperate to escape to the shelter with Chelsie by his side. Time is running out.

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

To learn more about Gina Marie Long and her books, please visit her website.

Q+A with Jaimie Admans (Afterlife Academy)

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Jaimie Admans.  Jamie is the author of Afterlife Academy.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Jaimie:  I’ve been writing since I was young, and writing seriously for about twelve years now. I always knew I loved it and I wished I could make a career of it but didn’t think it would ever be possible. About seven years ago, I wrote my first novel, and I realised that people could and did make careers and earn a living from doing just that. That’s when I started to really concentrate on writing novels and started to take writing seriously, with the intention of writing something that could one day be published.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Jaimie:  I love reading paranormal books, so I think it was only natural that sooner or later I would end up writing one! It wasn’t intentional as such, I just write the ideas I have and worry about the genre later, it just so happens that quite a few ideas have been paranormal!

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

Jaimie:  I’d love to be a ghost. I think it would be quite fun to be anywhere you wanted and know that no one could see you! You could people-watch until your heart’s content, you could spy on people you liked (you could get in the shower with Johnny Depp!) and if anyone had annoyed you, you could haunt their house as revenge!

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

Jaimie:  I hope readers will enjoy it because it’s the story of one girl who learns to question the life she thought was perfect. Riley starts off as the pretty, popular girl, but after she dies, the tables are turned on her, and suddenly she’s in a school where she’s the outcast and the geeky boy she’s always picked on is popular. It’s her journey into death-after-life, with a bit of romance and comedy thrown in!

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

Jaimie:  I think Jennifer Lawrence would make a really good Riley. She’s not perfect and she’s a bit awkward, isn’t she? She’s very popular at the moment, and she’ll always be Katniss to me, and you’ll just have to ignore her age because she’s a bit older than Riley is in the book!

And Anthony is really easy to cast as I had this guy in my head while I was writing him – Jamie Campbell Bower. He plays Caius in Twilight and I knew him as Anthony in Sweeney Todd (the name may be why I pictured him when I was writing it!) Again you’ll have to ignore his age as he’s a bit older than Anthony is supposed to be!

Afterlife Academy by Jaimie Admans.

Even being dead isn’t enough to get you out of maths class.

Dying wasn't on sixteen-year-old Riley Richardson's to-do list. And now, not only is she dead, but she's stuck in a perpetual high school nightmare. Worse still, she's stuck there with the geekiest, most annoying boy in the history of the world, ever. In a school where the geeks are popular and just about everything is wrong, Riley has become an outcast. She begins a desperate quest to get back to her perfect life, but her once-perfect life starts to unravel into something not nearly as perfect as she thought it was.

And maybe death isn’t really that bad after all...

Welcome to Afterlife Academy, where horns are the norm, the microwave is more intelligent than the teachers, and the pumpkins have a taste for blood.


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

To learn more about Jaimie Admans and her books, please visit her website.

Real Vampires Know Hips Happen Giveaway Winner

Congratulations Cassandra L. winner of our Real Vampires Know Hips Happen Giveaway at From the Shadows.  Cassandra will receive a paperback copy of Real Vampires Know Hips Happen by Gerry Bartlett.

Thank you to all who entered!

**Giveaway winner selected using Random.org**