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Author Interview - Storm and Shadow by Valerie Storm #YAFantasy
Tell us a little about your latest or upcoming release.
My upcoming release is Book 3 of the Demon Storm series, titled The Storm Darkens. Following right off the heels of book 2, The Storm Darkens deals with the aftermath of Kari (wolf demon) meeting Raven (Shadow Witch & utter sociopath). Raven has decided Kari is the one she’s been looking for for years, and that she will do anything to claim the hidden power Kari has inside of her.
Have you ever based your book or characters on actual events or people from your own life?
I have a character that is based on an old friend of mine, to an extent. At the most, my characters take pieces of personalities rather than get based on whole people OR events.
When you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?
When I’m not writing, I’m working, reading, watching tv, or playing video games! I’m into Pokemon, Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy…various anime on the tv side of things, as well as a menagerie of Korean Dramas.
Of all the characters you’ve ever written, who is your favorite and why?
My favorite character is absolutely Raven, my main villain of the Demon Storm series. She is cruel but calculating, and I rather adore her backstory. In my mind, she is the perfect antagonist, especially for someone like Kari, who is so very uncertain of herself.
If this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?
The next book for Kari’s series is book 4, Heart of the Storm. There will be some blasts from the past, and a whole ass new foe for Kari to face! That’s about all I wanna say about it right now. It is one of my favorites in the series, and features my main male villain that I made purely for my pleasure.
What is next for you? Do you have any scheduled upcoming releases or works in progress?
I’m currently in the middle of some rewrites for Book 6, after which I’ll get started on a rather bigger rewrite for Book 7 I’d considered a few months ago. While I’m doing THAT, I’ll be preparing for Book 4’s (Heart of the Storm) release!
Storm and Shadow
Demon Storm
Book Two
Valerie Storm
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing
Date of Publication: 11/13/2022
ISBN: 978-1-956883-06-0
ASIN: B0BHYWJNKD
Number of pages: 317
Word Count: 88352
Cover Artist: Ginka Jack
Tagline: The shadows call. Will the lightning answer?
Book Description:
Kari was dead—and then, she wasn't.
But for the wolf-demon with lightning in her fists, resurrection is no reprieve from exile. After old witch Zina revives her, Kari must conceal her true nature better than ever before, lest her slayers find her breathing and put her down for good. And since she can no longer return to what she once knew, Kari finds herself adrift—in search of purpose.
She gets it when Zina entrusts her with the Lapis Anima, a gem imprisoning the soul of wicked woman, Raven. This brings Kari into conflict with Raven herself, who's still very much a threat without her soul…and has devious plans in mind for Kari's destructive abilities.
Will the wolf-demon succumb to Raven's cruel temptations?
Or will Kari turn to an unlikely ally for help—the very man who killed her, one year ago?
Before she could
answer, Raven’s words filled her mind. Such needless fear and
indecision. There is nothing wrong with wanting to survive, Kari. The only ones
who will blame
you are the ones who deserve to die.
Kari staggered
to a stop and ripped the necklace off. She held the gem in a hand, fingers
wrapped so tight the jagged edges cut her palm.
Kari’s vision
swam. She recalled the redheaded woman leaning closer, her eyes glowing embers,
her smile long and large. I’ve thought of the most wonderful plan.
“You!” Kari
shouted.
“Oh,” the Fire
Witch said. “And I thought my day would be dull and dreary.”
“You!” Kari
yelled again. Her legs were numbly locked in place, but her chest was
aflame. Lightning crackled to life at her fingertips. She mouthed exclamations,
insults, but her
voice failed. The woman was here, the one who had ruined everything!
She extended a
shaking hand. Zina dropped the gem into her palm, where it flashed as it
touched her skin.
“Since you have
taken it of your own will, you and the gem are now Bound.” As she said
the word, the air around Kari stiffened. Magic. “Should you die an unnatural
death, the gem will
shatter, destroying the soul within.”
The palm-sized
crystal tumbled to the ground and began to bounce. Kari watched, her eyes widening.
Dark smoke issued from the gem, curling over the ground, swirling until it took
the form of a kneeling woman. Her features coalesced: long, dark hair to match
her wintry robes and contrast her ivory skin. The woman lifted her head,
looking about with eyes cut from obsidian.
Her pale-pink
lips were uplifted in a sneer, betraying little surprise.
The woman spared
Kari no attention as she stood to her full height and looked around. She faced
the nearest patch of darkness and raised a hand, curling her fingers into a
fist. The shadows stretched away from the trees, bending toward the woman in
lazy snake-like wisps.
They lifted off the ground and twisted around her fingers.
About the Author:
Valerie Storm was raised in Tucson, Arizona. Growing up, she fell in love with everything fantasy. When she wasn’t playing video games, she was writing. By age ten, she began to write her own stories as a way to escape reality. When these stories became a full-length series, she considered the path to sharing with other children and children-at/heart looking for a place to call home.
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