Please
share a little about yourself, your genres, any other pen names you use.
I’m a southern girl with a city girl affinity for
spiced tea lattes. My love for science fiction/fantasy/paranormal started a
very young age, and my dad is probably to blame for that. He would always let
us watch scary, weird movies that we kids had no business watching because it
us all sorts of nightmares! Writing paranormal romance seems to be a natural
fit for me thus far, but maybe one day I’ll write a completely normal
contemporary romance. Maybe.
Is
there a theme or message in your work that you would like readers to connect
to?
The Dark Siren series really explores what truly
makes a family and the bonds within them. When the strength of those bonds is
tested, people are forced to make difficult choices that may not be for the
greater good. I wanted to see where the characters would go if they couldn’t make
the heroic choice, if they couldn’t make the sacrifices heroes typically make
in order to save the world. How would the chips fall then?
When
you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty
pleasures?
Unfortunately, I am an incorrigible television
addict. Netflix just announced that they are adding the entire run of Friends to their lineup in January 2015.
My social life is about to become nonexistent!
Is
there a genre(s) that you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet?
Yes! Lately, I’ve dabbled at writing a few chapters
of a steamy adult romance. I like the way the story has evolved so far and will
probably finish writing the full novel by the end of this year. This title will
published beneath a different pen name though. (Laughs) I’ve got to keep the
erotica separate from the teen fiction.
If
this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?
Banewolf
is the second book in a four part series. Books 1-3 are currently available on
all major online retailers. Banewolf
is immediately followed by Blood Chained,
which picks up right on the heels of where the story leaves off. The fantasy
world within the Dark Siren series
expands quite a bit, revealing more about where Rhane comes from, and that
really helps to explain many things about his character. Book 3 also answers a
lot of questions that are raised in the first two books. So far, reader
feedback for Blood Chained has been
great! So I’m excited.
What
is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in
progress?
I’m working on the fourth and final book in the Dark
Siren series. This word is probably overused, but the last book is going to be epic. Rhane and Kali have come so far on
their journeys together and apart. So much has happened since the two were
reunited—the final book has to lend justice to that. I’m determined to give
readers a satisfying conclusion to the story.
What
is in your to read pile?
Oh that pile is huge! I’m one of those bibliophiles
who will continue to buy books even when her shelves at home are filled with
unread selections. I’ll give you the list of the ones I’m really anxious to
read next. Abraham Lincoln, Vampire
Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith, Warprize
by Elizabeth Vaughan (This one is actually a re-read.), The Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans (Though after reading The Horse Whisperer, I know I’m in for heartbreak). I’m also eager to start
Karen Marie Moning’s Darkfever
series.
Banewolf
Dark Siren Series
Book Two
Eden Ashley
Genre: paranormal romance, young adult
ISBN: 9780989963237
ASIN: B00GTT3RDI
Number of pages: 395
Word Count: 90,000
Cover Artist: Nathalia Suellen
Book Description:
New enemies are made.
New allies must be forged.
Kali is beginning to regain her memories. In doing so, she discovers old secrets and betrayals that threaten to unravel her present and shake the foundation for Rhane’s belief in her innocence. While her maturing abilities present unique challenges, a bigger problem arises when Kali learns her ex-boyfriend has made a misguided deal with the enemy in order to win her back—a decision that may ultimately cost him his humanity.
Keeping Kali safe has become a full time job for Rhane. And struggling to gain control of the immortal Banewolf isn’t making that task any easier. The power to eliminate the growing threat against Kali lies at Rhane’s fingertips, but using it means risking his friends to the insatiable blood lust of a monster. So Rhane is forced to forge a shaky alliance with creatures he has sworn to destroy. Despite these new allies, the danger pressing on their borders intensifies, culminating in a heartbreaking and shocking finale.
The strength of the bond between young and ancient lovers will be tested…and if Kali and Rhane are to survive, they must find a way to be unbreakable.
Excerpt from Banewolf
I Want You to
Remember…
After seeing the
Cal who wasn’t Cal, Kali’s mind was far too harried to focus on class. Skipping
the last block of the day, she went to the swimming pool and sat at the bottom
for a long time. Her eyes were closed. Her body was motionless. The pressure of
the water became a loving caress, helping to relax everything except her mind.
Those anxious thoughts just wouldn’t let go. Even with all Rhane had revealed,
the past remained hidden like it had never existed.
But you didn’t forget.
That was right.
An entire lifetime…taken. And it wasn’t just her life with Rhane. Kali had
lived well over a dozen lives in stolen human bodies. Yet she couldn’t remember
a single one of them. Each of those little girls had been stripped from the
arms of a family who loved them, only to be replaced by a soul-sucking,
fire-setting siren. And for what reason? If Rhane knew, he wasn’t telling. Why
won’t he talk to me? I’ve proven my trust.
Well, she
amended the thought. I did push him away at first, but only for like fifteen
minutes. Then Gabriel showed up and started ripping more of my life to pieces.
Kali took a
breath and then another, but not with her lungs. Her skin absorbed oxygen from
the water and exchanged it for carbon dioxide waste in her blood. The process
didn’t come automatically. It took a lot of focus to make underwater breathing
happen. In her two weeks on the lam, she’d discovered this new talent. And it
had proven very useful, practically allowing her to live in the water. Holding
her breath was certainly easier, but that came with time limits. After twenty
minutes, she had to surface.
She was
determined to master underwater breathing. Concentrating on the task left her
brain severely limited in the number of other things it could worry about. And
that was a plus.
Feeling the
faintest tremble in the water, she opened her eyes. The lights were flickering.
After a few cycles of an ebbing and surging glow, they went out completely. She
tried not to panic in the darkness, expecting the underwater lighting to
illuminate soon. But instead, there came a muted thud. All of the lights
suddenly flooded the pool arena. And Kali screamed.
Bodies were
everywhere. Hundreds of them littered the swimming pool floor. Parts of their
skin were burned. Charred chunks broke apart from decaying flesh. Tentacles of
black liquid snaked into the water. The body of a child rose up, a bloated mass
set adrift in a nonexistent current. Kali stared into the film of the corpse’s
dead eyes with absolute horror. Black hair floated around his head in a dark
halo of death. Even with blanched, greying and puckered skin, Kali saw in the
child a startling resemblance to Rhane. Bubbles spurted from her mouth as she
screamed again.
She kicked hard,
trying to get as far away from the corpse as fast as she could. When her back
slammed into solid concrete, she turned to scramble up the pool wall. Fingers
slipping on the wet ledge, she finally managed to pull herself out and flop
onto her stomach. Trembling with a dozen more screams welled up inside, Kali
shook with the effort of not releasing them.
Pushing to her
feet, she looked down into the water, needing desperately to believe she was
not going crazy. There were no dead people. There was no dead boy. The pool was
empty.
#
Icy water
pounded from the showerhead, streaming into her eyes as it washed the chlorine
from her body. All Kali could see was the boy. His lifeless face floating
before hers, dark and grey and distorted in death. It took both hands to
smother her sobs. She couldn’t understand what was happening. Was it possible
that the vision was a real memory like the nightmares of the horseman had been
real memories?
The lights in
the shower room flickered and went out just as they had in the pool auditorium.
Her breath caught in her chest as she waited for what would happen next. She
didn’t have to wait long.
“Kalista,” a
male voice sighed into the darkness.
She backed away.
She was naked and blind. And in the shower was a stranger who probably meant
her harm. The vulnerable state made Kali’s movements very clumsy.
“Darkesong.”
This time the
voice was closer. So close, she could feel the whisper against her skin. She
knew it was the thing pretending to be Cal. Kali bit her lip. She was too
frightened to scream. But screaming wouldn’t have helped anyway.
At first, his
touch was light. Kali reacted, flinching away violently. Then “Cal” grabbed
her. He was an irresistible force shoving her against the wet shower wall. His
hard body pressed against hers. The heat from him completely dispelled the cold
that fell around them.
Kali felt his
face against her skin. His hot breath steamed next to her cheek.
“Don’t,” she
whispered.
Strong fingers
slipped around her throat, but their hold was gentle. The lights partially
returned, and she could see him. Physically, everything was the same…except for
the eyes. Gone was the shocking blue of Cal’s stormy stare. In its place were
two red orbs that reflected abnormally in the dim light. She would have
recognized those eyes anywhere.
“Gabriel.”
He nodded. His
body still had her pinned. His right hand grasped her throat, while the other
rested idly against the wall. She waited for him to say or do something, but he
didn’t. Nothing happened. Open malice and rage emanated from Gabriel’s still
form, but Kali wasn’t entirely sure those emotions were aimed at her.
She inhaled a
shaky breath. The action squashed her breasts against his chest. “What did you
do to Cal?”
Another
unnerving smile slashed his face. “He’s still here.”
“What do you
want?”
Pressing his
nose into the curve of her neck, Gabriel inhaled a dramatic whiff of her scent.
Trembling, Kali tried to push away, wedging her body painfully into the wall.
When Gabriel’s left hand moved, she went rigid. But the hand never touched her.
It hovered next to her head, holding a tiny yellow stone.
“I want to help
you remember.”
The events that
followed would remain a blur of varying shades of grey darkness for some time.
When Kali came to, she was standing in the rain, completely drenched. Rhane
stood in front of her, lips moving soundlessly as he shouted, the words swept
away by an unforgiving wind. She had never seen his eyes so black or so deadly
focused as he leveled a gun directly over her heart.
.JPG)
About the Author:
Cynic, realist, and hopeless romantic all rolled into one, Eden was born and raised in a small, sunny town in South Carolina, but thunderstorms have inspired her best ideas. There are few things she loves more than curling up with a good book and a cup of coffee on a rainy day, (except maybe chocolate cake. She loves cake.) often reading into the wee hours of morning when something really grabs her attention. She pretty much loves anything with supernatural elements, so writing paranormal romance and fantasy romance seems to be a natural fit.
2 comments:
Happy new year!
I have so many books I want to read in 2015, looks like I have a new one to add to the list! thank you, sounds great.
Happy New Year to you as well!! Glad you enjoyed the excerpt :)
Post a Comment