What inspired you to become an author?
It started with being an early reader and grade
school storywriter. My Granny had a drawer of Stephen King and John Saul books
and once I discovered them, I never stopped reading. My love of horror remained
steady, soon accompanied by a young obsession with Harlequin romance novels.
When I read my first JR Ward novel in my late 20’s, Paranormal Romance became
my inspiration. It contained elements of what I love most about the two main
genres I read, and I wanted to write my own. It started with a paragraph.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I think I’d describe it as dark, romantic, and
emotional. I always write in third person, it’s something I’ve always preferred
in both reading and writing. I definitely don’t write feel good, light hearted
fare, I try to created charged, intense experiences for the reader.
If you had to choose, which writer would you
consider a mentor?
Definitely JR Ward. When I need to get rid of
writer’s block or just read something good, I’ll pick a page in one of her
novels and read for a while. Stephen King also can’t go without mention, he
uses some of the best similes I’ve ever read. His book, On Writing, can teach a
lot to the aspiring author.
What book are you reading now?
I’m reading The
Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks.
What books are in your to read pile?
The
King by JR Ward and Revival
by Stephen King. It seems between writing and marketing there is little
time left for reading unless I make the time. The problem is that once I start
I can’t stop until the book is finished.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
I’m working on Chasing
Dawn, the second book in the Hearne Family Saga. It focuses on Nicolai, the
youngest brother in the family. I hope to complete it by the end of the year.
Do you have to travel much to do research for your
books?
Luckily no, because world travel isn’t really an
option for me. Between the internet, print resources, and imagination it’s
possible to create a rich, layered, and authentic setting in a fictional
universe.
Who designed the cover of your latest book?
Bookkus Publishing gets credit for the design.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Keep writing, keep learning, and accept criticism
with a tough hide, keen eye, and grain of salt.
Do you have a song or playlist (book soundtrack) that
you think represents this book?
I’m someone that will listen to a song I like over and
over, and I gravitate toward intense or emotional songs. This is just a sample
of songs that inspired me throughout writing A New Day at Midnight.
Clutch
– The Regulator
David
Gray – Disappearing World
Johnny
Cash – Hurt
Lana
Del Ray – Video Games, Summertime Sadness
Loreena
McKennitt – Dante’s Prayer, The Old Ways, Ancient Pines
Passenger
– Let Her Go
John
Legend – All of Me
Sam
Smith – Stay With Me, Make It To Me
Sara
Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson – Winter Song
The Hearne Family Saga
Book 1
Michelle Hiscox
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Bookkus Publishing
Date of Publication: February 14, 2015
ISBN: 0991709497
ASIN: B00TGOODU4
Page Count Print – 264
Page Count Electronic – 268
Word Count: 92,691
Cover Artist: Bookkus Publishing
Book Description:
When Merik Hearne finally lays claim to the woman that betrayed him, she inspires much more than his need for revenge—but is her love worth dying for again?
Condemned to play host to a demon, the scarred Romani leader has amassed a fortune with only one goal in mind—to possess Hannah Worthington, the traitorous beauty that has eluded him for over a decade. With an exchange of coin, everything he has been striving for is within reach but nothing is as he imagined. The tender, sharp-tongued woman he encounters tests the bounds of his convictions and he is torn between the promise of reckoning and longing for a love that once destroyed him.
Exchanged for a purse of gold and informed she is to be a slave, Hannah vows she has not survived a lifetime of loss only to wither under the likes of Merik Hearne. And she will do everything she can to make sure he knows it. Despite his overbearing manner, his fierce scars, and her own determination to escape him, she begins to see that something beautiful might lie beneath…something that belongs only to her. She must discover the angle from which the great lord plays before his dark desires consume them both.
As they struggle to find truth amid pasts marred by sorrow and secrecy, they are unaware that a vengeful apostle orchestrates the rise of a forgotten god—and the end of their chance at a life together.
Available at Amazon Amazon.ca Amazon.co.uk BN
Excerpt 2
Hannah realized
Merik had left her doors unlocked. Again. Did he believe she would stay now
that she knew his true name and nature? She dare not utter the real question
plaguing her, but it invaded her mind nonetheless.
Is he right? A
large ember escaped from the iron latticework in front of the fire, landing on
the rug at her feet. She watched it smoulder.
Smoke curled up
in delicate tendrils, disappearing before reaching the high ceiling. She stared
for several long moments, willing the flame to grow, to consume her. It held
the colour of Merik’s eyes, burning gold and crimson. A small flame flickered
to life, hungry for progress until she stamped it out with the heel of her
foot.
Rising from the
fire to flop on her bed, she stopped short as an echo rang through the hall.
Certain her battered senses played tricks on her, she pulled back her covers to
lay down but heard it again.
Whether it was a
call of rage, grief, or agony she could not distinguish. It came from Merik’s
quarters, echoing deep within the shadows of the hall. Padding to her door, she
warred between anger over his treatment of her and the desire to ease his pain.
She could not
ignore the fact he’d told her the truth. Pulling a robe about her shoulders,
she kicked off her charred slipper. Without consulting her mind, she made the
decision with her heart. She rested her hand on the door, opening the barrier
between her and the unknown.
“Shit. Shit,
shit, shit. What am I doing? I can stay in my rooms. There is hardly any need
to go out there.”
Another tortured
cry rose in the air, strengthening her resolve to help Merik.
Lighting a
candle, she forced herself to go into the hall. Another cry rang through the
air, and as she got closer to Merik’s chamber, she finally understood what he
was saying. Her name.
“I’m coming,
Merik.” Running to his room, she entered through the open door to see an empty
chamber. Desperation overrode the fear hammering her heart against her chest.
The room smelled of blood, of sickness. Could Vetala even get sick? Could they
die?
“No, please no,
not again. Merik? Merik, please call my name.”
He groaned. As
she followed the source of the noise, the candle shook in her hand. The hot wax
stung her flesh when she stopped several steps in front of a half-open door set
in the wall.
“Merik?” The
smell of death clung to the entrance and she gagged. The candle wobbled in her
hand. She steadied it, saying a quick thanks to God it did not go out. She
could not bear to go forth in the darkness without light. Setting the candle on
the floor, she swung the door wide. The candle flickered as she picked it up.
Fear twisted her guts and no matter how she tried, she could not stop her hands
from shaking. She took another step.
“Merik?” It took
her eyes several moments to see more than a foot from her face. When she saw
him in the dim light, she gasped. He now stood in front of her. It took her
several more moments to realize he was not standing of his own volition, but
rather restrained by chains embedded in the stone wall. When he lifted his
head, she covered her mouth to stifle a scream.
Eyes of molten
gold and crimson stared back at her. His jaw and facial bones were distended,
his hands curled into claws. The changes were much more severe than the few
instances she attributed to the loss of her mind.
“I…I…” Stepping
back toward the entrance, her gaze never left Merik’s. She turned her back on
him to commence a rather spineless retreat, but could not get her feet to
cooperate.
“Hannah?” The
voice held much more than pain. What? Desperation? Hope? She could not move as
her heart and mind waged war. Despite his appearance, she knew beneath the
angled bone protruding from his flesh, his distorted face, and the fangs
visible in his mouth, Merik stood in front of her. The man she met a decade
before. The man looking at her with the same single focused intensity with
which he always did. The man she loved.
Taking another
step and hearing nothing but her own harsh breathing, she took one more.
About the Author:
Michelle Hiscox is a Paranormal Romance fan and author who hails from Drumheller, Alberta. The dinosaur bones buried in the hills of her hometown inspired the first stories she ever wrote, and she feels blessed to walk those same hills with her daughter today. Crocus flowers and dust bowls full of cactus never fail to inspire.
While her little girl and husband provides many welcome distractions to writing, it's something she always finds her way back to. Michelle is the proud, and slightly crazy, owner of two dogs and three cats, all animals she loves more than she reasonably should. She's been reading voraciously since she was a child and, one night, pulled her nose from a book to start writing her own.
Website – http://www.michellehiscox.com
Amazon Author Page –http://www.amazon.com/l/B00VO2K990
1 comments:
Thank you so much for the interview and spotlight on your website!
Michelle Hiscox
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