Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Character Interview and Huge Giveaway: Into the Mist by Judith Ingram




INTERVIEWER: Welcome, readers. This is Mae I. Askyou, and I'm sitting here with Ryan Ashton, hunky star of the time-travel romance trilogy, Moonseed. What a pleasure to meet you, Ryan.
RYAN: Same here, Mae. Thanks for having me.
INTERVIEWER: I must say, you are every bit as handsome as the story describes you. I confess, it's a little distracting. (Interviewer laughs lightly.) So, Ryan, you start out married to one woman and then fall in love with the woman who takes her place. What was that like for you?
RYAN: Uncomfortable.
INTERVIEWER: Yes?
RYAN: My life was in order. I thought I knew what I wanted, where I was going. I'd married a woman who fit that future. Victoria was beautiful, poised. Her family had rich friends who could help me in my architectural business. Call me selfish because that's exactly what I was. Aggressive. Self-absorbed. Then she came along and changed everything.
INTERVIEWER: Katherine, you mean.
RYAN: Yeah. I fell in love—okay, in lust—with Victoria's beauty, but it was Katherine who brought her beauty to life, as if she had been meant for Victoria's body all along. Like Fate had somehow righted itself.
INTERVIEWER: But the two women have to change back at the end of the year. Right?
RYAN: A lot can happen in a year, Mae. Or in a novel.
INTERVIEWER: I suppose you can't give our readers a sneak preview of how the story resolves itself? No? Well, okay, then let's talk more about you. Where did you grow up?
RYAN: California.
INTERVIEWER: California, where?
RYAN: A backwater place. It's not important. (He shifts in his seat.)
INTERVIEWER: Any brothers or sisters?
RYAN: One brother. We've lost touch.
INTERVIEWER: Parents?
RYAN: Gone.
INTERVIEWER: I see. Okay. I understand you were married once before and have a daughter.
RYAN: Stephanie. (His face brightens.) Yeah, she's great. She ice skates. Growing up way too fast.
INTERVIEWER: And your first wife?
RYAN: Not much there, Mae. We met at Berkeley, had some classes together. We eloped against the advice of everyone who knew us, all pumped up on hormones and ambition. I can't say Gina was a mistake because it gave me Stephanie.
INTERVIEWER: Did you always want to be an architect?
RYAN: Believe it or not, I always did. I knew it when I was a kid drawing sketches on the back of my homework. It's not only the creating but the orderliness of design that appeals to me. Renovating someone's house brings focus and beauty out of confusion. It restores promise. (He suddenly smiles, and my interviewer's heart flips in my chest.) I love the idea of building a structure where people can live out their dreams, whether it's a company or a family. Gina never understood that. She resented any passion that didn't have herself at the center.
INTERVIEWER: What about Victoria? Did she understand your passion for your work?
RYAN: Hard to say with her. Victoria kept so much to herself. (He shrugs.) To be honest, I didn't give her much to hold onto. We've both had our secrets.
INTERVIEWER: Secrets about your past?
RYAN: Yeah. (He sits forward and drops his hands between his knees.) See, that's the trouble with being in a novel. All the world gets to know your secrets. (He grins.)
INTERVIEWER: You've mentioned your need for order several times. Did that need grow out of this secret past you're hinting at?
RYAN: Aw, Mae, that would be telling. (His grin softens.) It's all there in the story. You should read it.
INTERVIEWER: That would be the Moonseed trilogy. Book 1, Bridge to the Past, Book 2, Borrowed Promises, and Book 3, Into the Mist. All are available in paperback or e-book versions.
RYAN: Let me know what you think of them.
INTERVIEWER: I will, Ryan. In fact, I could call you, maybe have coffee … well, perhaps not. Umm, well anyway, thanks for stopping by, Ryan. I've enjoyed our conversation.

RYAN: A pleasure, Mae.
Into the Mist
Moonseed Trilogy
Book 3
Judith Ingram

Genre:  paranormal romance

Publisher: Vinspire Publishing, LLC
Date of Publication: July 30, 2015

Number of pages: 
Word Count:  91,500

Cover Artist:  Elaina Lee/
For the Muse Designs

Book Description: 

For the past six months, time-traveler Victoria Ashton has been living life as Katherine Kamarov on a ranch in rural California, circa 1890. A contrast to Katherine’s brash personality, shy and gentle Victoria has won the hearts of Katherine’s family and particularly her cousin Michael. Despite her deepening love for Michael, she has rejected his offer of marriage and sent him away, knowing that she must return to her own time on the night of the new spring moon.

In this third and final book of the series, sinister forces threaten Victoria’s new family, her property, and even her life, testing her for courage and ingenuity. A confident new self emerges, and when Michael unexpectedly walks back into her life, she questions whether she must remain a victim of fate or can find a way to determine her own future.

Meanwhile, Katherine has been living a parallel year of exchange in Victoria’s modern-day life, married to the handsome but remote Ryan Ashton. Hardened by her past, Katherine nevertheless falls for Ryan and, like Victoria, begins to search for a way to defy fate and keep the life she has come to cherish.

As the night of the new spring moon approaches, both women must search their hearts to discover how to hold onto what matters most, even if they should be forced back through the barrier of time.

Excerpt:

He didn’t hear her slide the door open and step out behind him. Her arms circled his waist, and the faint scent of ginger spice shot twin arrows of joy and pain through his body. Wordlessly, he turned and brought his mouth down on hers. Enveloped in the soft twilight hush, they shared a kiss that was deep and long and achingly sweet. When they pulled reluctantly apart, Ryan let his eyes linger over her, already naming the vision being etched in his memory. This is how my love looked in twilight.
She was wearing her white robe, and her blond hair curled softly, just brushing her shoulders. It’s gotten longer, Ryan thought. He suddenly wanted her to cut it again, as if keeping her hair short would somehow help her to keep her claim on this body—on this life—and prevent Vicki from coming back.
Tori moved to the rail and stared out over the city deepening into dusk. “It’s started, Ryan,” she said quietly.
He moved to stand beside her. “What’s started?”
She turned and leaned an elbow on the rail, holding him with a steady gaze. “What we’ve dreaded. I dreamed about the bridge.” She lifted a shoulder. “It’s only a week away. I should have expected it.” She drew in a breath that trembled. “She was already there, standing on the bridge. Waiting for me.”
At his look, she put out her hand and covered his. “Don’t hate her, Ryan. She didn’t ask for this to happen any more than I did.” She smiled faintly. “I would have, though, if I’d known you would be here. I wouldn’t have missed this time with you for anything. No matter what happens, I’ll carry you in my heart until the day I die.”
Ryan couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe. He could do nothing but stare at her in mute despair.
She turned her back on the glittering city and leaned both elbows on the rail, staring through the glass doors into their living room. The soft light of the table lamps was growing imperceptibly brighter as the dusk surrendered to night.
“Do you ever wonder, Ryan, what Victoria will be like when she comes back?”
“She’s not coming back.” His voice cracked.
“She’s had a whole year, Ryan, just like me. A lot can happen in a year. She may surprise you.”
“She won’t get the chance.” His jaw tightened. “I’m not letting you go, Tori. I can’t. Vicki doesn’t belong here anymore. This is your home, with Christina and me.” He covered the crack in his voice with harshness. “How can you stand there and calmly talk about Vicki coming back while you just up and vanish from our lives? Like it’s already decided, like it’s so easy for you—”



About the Author:

Judith Ingram weaves together her love of romance and mystery as well as her training as a counselor to create stories and characters for her novels. She is also the author of a Christian guide to forgiving and posts weekly devotionals on the role of forgiveness in healing relationships. She lives with her husband in the San Francisco East Bay and makes frequent trips to beautiful Sonoma County, where many of her fiction characters reside. She confesses a love for chocolate, cheesecake, romantic suspense novels, movies that require three hankies, and all things feline.

Website, blog and free weekly devotional: http://JudithIngram.com




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1 comment:

Judith Ingram said...

Thanks so much for hosting my book on your beautiful blog, Wenona. BTW your book, The Everything Green Wedding Book, sounds really interesting! --Judith