Do you have a specific writing style?
It's
funny, Ashes is different from anything I've ever written before. It has a
darker, grittier feel, to the plot, the language, the characters. Ashes is not
light or fluffy, like other books I've written, but it does have the strong
vein of humour that runs through everything I write. Life needs laughter like
art needs light and shade, and I think that holds true with romances too. If a
book can make me laugh, it's got me.
How did you come up with the title for your latest
book?
Titles
are the bane of my life. I'd rather lick a sweaty foot than pick one, but
unfortunately it's part of the process. Ashes began life as the highly original
"Rising from the Ashes", but I made a face every time I told someone,
and kept labeling it Ashes for shorthand purposes. Eventually the shorter
version stuck!
Do you title the book first or wait until after it’s
complete?
I
have to have a working title, even if I'm not keen on it. I write key words that
describe the plot or themes and see if anything inspiring bursts to life.
Usually the title I come up with is the one I choose.
What books/authors have influenced your life?
The
first has to be Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Montgomery. The first book to ever
make me cry. Oh, Matthew... Oh, Gilbert.... *swoons*
Then
Nora Roberts' Angels Fall, which introduced me to adult romance and the
complexities of relationships and falling in love - and plots! Such a fabulous
romance, realistic characters, gripping suspense. One of my top ten.
Susan
Elizabeth Phillips taught me just how funny romances can be, how jam-packed
with emotion, how important staying true to your characters is. Even if that
means a plot twist that's harder than stale cookies to write your way out of.
And
finally Nalini Singh, Gena Showalter, Kresley Cole and Sherrilyn Kenyon
equally, who introduced me to paranormal romances and the wonders of a world
created for your own purposes. AND how hot alpha males can be... *shivers*
If you had to choose, which writer would you
consider a mentor?
Susan
Elizabeth Phillips. She weaves humour and emotions effortlessly through
sometimes quite serious topics (I.e. miscarriages), but still makes you smile,
laugh, cry, cheer, ache - and she creates men you wouldn't kick out of bed! Her
talent is amazing!
What book are you reading now?
Right
now I'm going through a historical romance phase and devouring Gaelen Foley's
Knight Miscellany series. They're seriously addictive, droll, emotional...
Excellent reading!
What books are in your to read pile?
After
Gaelen Foley, I'm planning on reading Shield of Winter by Nalini Singh (can't
wait!) And Larissa Ione's Revenant (also cannot wait - I only discovered her
books in November and am obsessed with her heroes =) )
What is your current “work in progress” or upcoming
projects?
Sapphy's
book has been acquired by Samhain Publishing to come next spring (!) So I'll be
writing the third book in the Divided Kingdom series and also the first book in
a new dark, sexy paranormal series that I hope readers like as much as Ashes =)
Is there anything you find particularly challenging
in your writing?
I
always find the journey to love the hardest, best thing to write. How two
people who, on the surface, seem to be opposites, fall in love is so hard to
capture realistically. Going from strangers to soul mates is the focus of the
book, why I write and why my readers will pick up the book, so I want it to be
as real to them as it is to me in my head. If they can fall in love along with
my characters, I'll pat myself on the back for a job well done.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Clichéd,
but true: Never, never give up. It took me seven years from the first novel to
Ashes, umpteen rejections, gallons of ice cream, but you have to believe
eventually you'll place the right book with the right team. And you'll learn
something from every book, so never stop writing, never stop believing.
Ashes
The Divided Kingdom
Book One
Sophie H. Morgan
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd
Date of Publication: 21 April 2015
ISBN: 9781619225756
ASIN: B00U3M5Z96
Number of pages: 318
Word Count: approx. 99540
Cover Artist: Kanaxa
Book Description:
Secrets can burn.
Reared from birth to rule the Phoenix territory, Ana fled her future and her past when her parents were murdered. Now she secretly leads a rebellion to stop the human ruler, Edward, from experimenting on supernaturals.
When she finds herself cornered by an assassin, she knows just what to do: Roast him and toast him. Then recognition sends blue-tipped flames licking through her veins. It’s Cade, the royal bodyguard who once rejected her youthful confession of love.
When Cade regains consciousness from the force of Ana’s punch, he’s still reeling from shock—and fury. He’d loved the princess, and for ten years he thought her dead. Though his inner jackal growls with desire for her, she is the key to completing his mission for Edward—hunt down the rebel known as Liberty.
Ana can’t believe Cade doesn’t know the truth about Edward. If she can convince him of it, his blade could turn the tide of the rebellion. But first they must get beyond their past, or the whole kingdom could go up in smoke.
Product Warnings
Contains incendiary sex between a phoenix princess with a secret identity, and a jackal shifter who can take a lot of heat. Boys from the “hood”, a king jacked up on enhanced DNA, and killer heels. Anybody got a match?
Excerpt:
A smile played
over his lips, a knowing one. “You were mine, once.”
When his thumb
brushed her cheekbone, dipping down to rub her bottom lip, it was all she could
do not to purr. For whatever reasons, this man could get beneath her barriers.
He could make her lose control.
But he made her
remember the past, something that threatened the foundation of the life she’d
built for herself.
The door
swinging into darkness. Cold, oozing puddles that cling stickily to bare feet.
A young voice, wavering as she called out for her parents. Her locket a dull
gold, mottled with red where it lay.
With effort, Ana
jerked her chin away from his touch. “Get your hands off me, Cade.” With a thin
smile, she added, “Only the vampire has those rights.”
That flash of
anger. For some reason, the man in front still viewed her as partly his—the
jackal, maybe, claiming her. Except jackals were solitary animals.
A growl rumbled
through his chest. Keeping eye contact, he stood. When he leaned forward, she
flinched, unable to help herself. Whether she was afraid of being touched or
tortured, she didn’t know.
His arms flexed
with muscle as he worked at something about her head. Something clunked, and
the chains fell away from her with a heavy jangle. They lay on the bedspread,
innocent and coiled like a false snake.
Grasping she was
free, Ana slid from the bed. “Son of a bitch,” she spat, putting out a hand to
help steady her. “Iron?”
She lunged at
him, confused when her body refused to cooperate. Her biker boots hit the floor
as she landed, tottering, two feet away from her intended target.
Focusing inward,
she registered how cold her embers were. They barely glittered, a few
halfhearted sparks at her prompting. A breath hissed from her.
Phoenixes
radiated at around one hundred and twenty degrees; she’d wager she was
operating on about human temperature. The lack of heat in the room and lack of
food and water equaled her core running on empty. Even as she thought it, the
sparks began to disintegrate, sucking inward to preserve the embers at her
core.
Determined, she
fought through the weakness, charging Cade.
He allowed
himself to be thrust backward. “You’re too cold,” he commented. “Hungry. You
can’t hurt me.”
“You wanna bet?”
Her knee jerked
upward, narrowly blocked by Cade’s hand.
“Don’t even try
it.” He pushed her away, making her stagger from weak knees. “You’ll be on your
back quicker than an eager whore. Then again,” he continued, the jackal’s
obvious pleasure at the verbal sparring spinning through his wicked smile,
“maybe you’d enjoy that.”
With a vengeful
shriek, Ana went for him. She jabbed with her fists, using her elbows when that
didn’t work. He avoided all her blows, laughing with a gut-deep amusement.
When she used
her scissor-kick, she saw her mistake too late as he caught her legs and
flipped her to the dirty gray carpet. He was on top of her before she could
curse, lazy amusement swirling like phoenix smoke.
His arms caged
her as an old dimple flashed. “What did I say?”
His weight
suddenly pressed down on her abdomen slashes. A wince tugged at her face before
she could stop it, a hiss pouring from between her teeth.
His face changed
immediately. “Fires above, Alana, you should have said something.”
“I thought you’d
hurt me if it was necessary.” She shoved him off her. He let her, a hunter
tracking her as she stumbled away. She dropped into the chair he’d claimed
earlier, unwilling to admit her jelly limbs. “You’re all mouth.”
A slow smile
spread over his face while his eyes altered to a dark velvet. Damn. She’d
always been a sucker for the shadow-drenched eyes.
He stalked
nearer, the jackal’s satisfied rumble curling out of his mouth as strong hands
came down over hers on the chair’s arms.
She couldn’t
dislodge him. Curses spilled from her as panic, not for her life but for something
more prized, surged up her throat. “Don’t you come near me, Cade Lorin.”
“All mouth?” he
repeated, his voice that dark drawl he’d once whispered her name with. “I’ll
show you all mouth.”
About the Author:
Sophie H. Morgan is a paranormal romance author with a love for hot guys, sassy heroines and HEAs that seem impossible. Currently residing in England, Sophie divides her time between her two crazy spaniels and plotting how best to drive her characters into each other’s arms. Ashes is her first book.
@SophieHMorgan
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