Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Interview, Excerpt and Giveaway: Divide and Conquer by Carmen Fox



What inspired you to become an author?

My nan. She liked my writing and got me started when I was younger. I simply never stopped.

Do you have a specific writing style?

Yes, or so I’m told. I tend not to use the simplest or most straight-forward sentence structure. Some readers love it, others struggle with it.

Do you write in different genres?

Just about everything I write is Urban Fantasy, but I write in different subgenres. Divide and Conquer is Urban Fantasy full of action with a healthy dose of romance.

If yes which is your favorite genre to write?

I’ve tried action, mystery and romance (all under the genre “Urban Fantasy”), but as long as there’s something supernatural going on, I’m your girl. I would like to try my hand at steampunk, though.

How did you come up with the title for your book?

Divide and Conquer is a play on words, as many of my titles are. Lea’s world and Nieve’s world are separated by a magical boundary called the Divide.

Do you title the book first or wait until after it’s complete?

Normally the plot and the title go hand in hand. Sometimes I think of a title and a plot forms.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Most immediately I’d say Mary Buckham, who has taught me so much over the years. Other writers I’ve learned from include Laura Baker, Anna J. Stewart, Celia Breslin… Honestly, the list is too long.

What book are you reading now?

I just bought a number of Sylvia Day books and can’t wait to get started.

What is your current “work in progress” or upcoming projects?

I’m close to finishing the second book in The Silverton Chronicles. Next will be a novella about a werewolf detective.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

My current work follows on from Guarded, book 1 of my other Urban Fantasy series. It’s about a charming vampire called Florian, one of my favorite characters, and his struggle to compartmentalize his different loyalties. He’s torn between his old vampire family, his best friend, his new werewolf family and a girl he can’t get out of his head. At its heart, it’s a romance.

Do you have any advice for other writers?

Yes. Read a lot and learn a lot. Many believe writing well is a talent, but regardless of your starting position, you can produce a good book if you address your weaknesses. In the beginning, I didn’t know how to create a plot that wasn’t episodic. After taking courses and learning from some amazing teachers and writers, I’m thrilled to need much less editing in this respect.

Divide and Conquer
Champions of Elonia
Book 1
Carmen Fox

Genre: Urban Fantasy with romance elements

Publisher: Champagne Books

Date of Publication: March 2, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-77155-175-5
ASIN: B00U0W2BIM

Number of pages: 377 print pages
Word Count: 97k

Cover Artist: Ellie Smith

Book Description:

Two women. One prophecy. Zero places to hide.

Flung from her mundane Seattle existence into a world of magic, scientist Lea struggles to make sense of a destiny she doesn’t want. The moment she finds comfort in the arms of a man who appreciates her inner nerd, a new magic sweeps the realms.

Nieve, Lea’s instructor, may be seasoned in the art of war, but she’s clueless when it comes to romance. To save her world, she allies herself with her enemy, a kindred warrior soul, who leaves no doubt he’s after more than her cooperation.

As each tick of the clock swallows another person’s memory, Lea and Nieve will do anything to hang on to theirs, but betrayal drives a wedge in their friendship. Can they reconcile and rally the troops before the magic wipes out their pasts?



Amazon     BN     Kobo

"Urban Fantasy doesn't get better than DIVIDE & CONQUER.  Action, excitement, and 2 kick-ass heroines to root for fill this rich, complex and dynamic world. Carmen Fox does not disappoint!"

~National & USA Today Bestselling author Anna J Stewart

Excerpt:

NIEVE

I dropped my magical defenses, allowing my luster to envelop me in a powerful light. Without the sun’s ready supply of energy, that meant using some of my precious resources.

“Holy crap.” Lea jumped out of her bed and squeezed against the far wall of the room.

Finally, some reaction. “It’s called luster.” I twirled to prove I wasn’t hiding a flashlight behind my back. “It’s a by-product of an Elonian’s affinity with light. Anyone sensitive to magic can see it unless I suppress it.”

In my mind, rows of thick bricks piled one on top of another around me, extinguishing my luster.

“A-are you an angel?” Her airless voice barely traveled the distance between us.

I kinked back my head and laughed. “Definitely not.”

She unglued herself from the wall and took a few steps toward her bed. “You said I’m an Elonian. Why don’t I shine?”

“You can’t see your own luster, but it’s there. Without the training to suppress it, you’re a living flame to the Shades. It’s the reason they call us Sparks. It’s also how they’ll identify you. You know, before they kill you.”

Lea picked up a sweater from the floor. Her focus went distant, no longer in this world. Something I’d said must have triggered a switch in her brain. Not a day too soon.

I trotted to the corner by the window and picked a collection of stuffed animals off the armchair. From the deep V between Lea’s brows, I concluded her thought processes weren't going anywhere fast. Once the toys occupied the windowsill, neatly arranged by height, I sat.

With her dark lashes, a tiny nose and a sprinkling of freckles, she looked so young and so…Kindred. Unexpected sadness ripped through my chest. The misery pressed onto my diaphragm, making me feel like I was an evil monster come to chop up her innocence like next week’s firewood.

Even though she was predicted to be my ally through the dark days, she was still a total stranger. Yet her pale, elfin face stirred something in me, some glimmer of recognition, of familiarity even. My childhood friend Belinda had a similar innocence about her. She’d chew the end of her pen for hours while pondering her words. Her poems were meant to bring joy to a war-torn land. They burned with her when Galleo invaded her village.

Lea would not share Belinda’s fate. I’d see to that. By the end of her training, she’d be able to take on a whole battalion of Shades by herself. I squinted at her short stature and took a sobering breath. If not a battalion, then a group of ten.


About the Author:

Carmen Fox is an Amazon no. 1 bestselling author in the vampire and werewolf mystery categories for her book Guarded (The Silverton Chronicles). Guarded was also the Amazon no. 1 urban fantasy novel in Australia.

She lives in the south of England with her beloved tea maker and a stuffed sheep called Fergus. An avid reader since childhood, she caught the writing bug when her Nana asked her to write a story. She also has a law degree, studied physics for a few years, dabbled in marketing and human resources, and speaks native-level German and fluent Geek. Her preferred niches of geekdom are tabletop games, comics, sci-fi and fantasy.


Twitter: @authorcarmenfox




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Also By Carmen Fox



Guarded
The Silverton Chronicles
Book 1
Carmen Fox

Genre: Urban Fantasy/Romance/Suspense

Publisher: Smart Heart Publishing

Date of Publication: July 31, 2015

epub: 978-0-9931992-0-2
paperback: 978-0-9931992-1-9
hardcover: 978-0-9931992-2-6

Number of pages: 276 print pages
Word Count: 104k

Cover Artist: Ana Grigoriu

Book Description:

When everyone's existence depends on the lies they tell, trust doesn't come easy

Ivy’s neighbors have a secret. They aren’t human. But Ivy has a secret, too. She knows. As long as everyone keeps quiet, she’s happy working as a P.I. by day and chillaxing with her BFF Florian, a vampire, by night. When a routine pickup drops her in the middle of a murder, her two worlds collide. While Florian knows how to throw a punch, deep down he's a softie. His idea of scary? Running out of hair product. It’s time Ivy faced facts. Even with a vampire on stand-by, one gal can only kick so many asses.

For help, she must put her faith in others. A human, who might just be the one. A demon, who will, for a price, open the doors to her heritage. And a werewolf, who wants to protect her from herself.

Torn between these men, Ivy must tread carefully, because one wants her heart, one wants her body, and one wants her dead.

Available at Amazon




Blurb Read by Voiceover Artist: http://youtu.be/6i3DmvcaMWs

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you so much for featuring my books. :-)