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PJ Interviews Cody Young and Becky Klimowicz‏

February 5, 2012 in Author Interviews

~ photo by PJ Schnyder

I met Cody and Becky at Tri-State Martial Arts.

They’re one of those couples you just have fun spending time around, whether it’s training or out having a few drinks or watching MMA fights.

Becky is warm and very open. She’s beautiful and of slight build, and has non-stop energy. When we’re working out, she never quits, never stops, and you just have to keep up with her. Even if you knock her down, she’ll always get right back up and pop in a few good hits of her own too.

Cody is a well-rounded, fierce fighter. He listens carefully when you have a question and never hesitates to help demonstrate a new move or give tips on how one could improve. He was one of my favorite people to ask for help whenever I was training at Tri-State.

The love they have for each other is the kind of thing that makes you believe in happily ever afters.

I don’t put people I know into my books. But the two of them, either together or individually, have inspired more than one scene or set of dialog.

PJ: Becky, can you share the story of how/why you started training at TSMAA?

Cody trains so much, I started taking classes at Tri State just so I could spend more time with him. (laughs) Just kidding… mostly. I started out taking the conditioning classes to get in shape. I was terrified at first (and pretty bad!) but everyone was so welcoming and I had a lot of fun so I stuck with it. Eventually, I realized I was actually learning skills and I wanted to improve my game, so I got into the Muay Thai and CSW (Combat Submission Wrestling) programs. Now I take about 7-8 classes a week.

PJ: Cody, you once told me that us girls were too nice to each other in MMA practice. Can you explain why it’s important for us to practice with partners who won’t be nice?

Well if you’re too nice to each other, you might be practicing defenses that won’t be effective when someone’s really coming at you. So in order to reinforce proper technique you need to make sure you have training partners that aren’t too nice, but still maintain control so you’re not hurting each other. Your partner needs to know how to make you feel uncomfortable without putting you in danger.

 

~ photos by PJ Schnyder

PJ: Becky, how do you feel about training with the guys? Especially the competitive fighters?

I am often the only girl in the class, so I have to work twice as hard to keep up. It used to be pretty intimidating training with the “big guys”. A lot of them are 6 inches taller and have 50 pounds on me, so I have a disadvantage from the start. But the guys are great. They understand the balance between going hard enough to push me, without overdoing it. I wouldn’t learn anything if they just went easy on me, so I like it when they push my limits. And sometimes that means I get punched in the face or kicked in the stomach, but I’ve learned that I’m a lot tougher than I thought I was.

PJ: Cody, what are the benefits of Becky, and any woman, training in mixed martial arts?

There are benefits for anyone to train in any area of martial arts. The beauty of mixed martial arts is that you’re gonna train on your feet and learn how to defend yourself standing up but also, especially for a woman, learning how to defend yourself on the ground with someone bigger and stronger than you. This is a benefit that you’d get from MMA that you might not get from a traditional form of karate or boxing.

PJ: Becky, can you tell me a little bit more about your passion for running?

I run about 20-25 miles a week, and it’s sort of my therapy, my time to block out the world and be alone with my thoughts. Ask Cody, I get very grouchy when I don’t have time to run.  I started running about 3 years ago, because it was something I hated to do and couldn’t do well and I wanted to challenge myself. Since then, I’ve run a handful of half marathons, and I just finished my first marathon in November – something I would have said was impossible if you had asked me two years ago. Now, I am looking forward to my next marathon, and probably an ultra in the near future.

 

~ photo by PJ Schnyder

PJ: Cody, what are your plans for your fighting career?

To win my next fight.

PJ:  Cody and Becky, anything you’d like to share/promote? (like upcoming fights, etc)

February 11, I’m fighting for Xtreme Caged Combat at the World’s Gym, 1100 Roosevelt Boulevard in Philly. I’ll be fighting Mike Rogers, hoping for my fourth win. Tickets are $40. (Contact Cody via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=42605527)

***

Mackenzie from Heart’s Sentinel survived a brutal attack by a crazed stalker. She found her strength and learned not to be a victim. Learning to defend yourself is incredibly important.

I’ll be at Tri-State Martial Arts for a free Women’s Self Defense Workshop on Feb. 25th from 2pm- 5pm.

If you’re in the area, you may see me or Cody or Becky there.

I’ll also be giving one attendee a signed print copy of my paranormal romance,  Heart’s Sentinel.

Tri-State Martial Arts Academy

1323 E. Lincoln Highway

Levittown, PA

 

~ photo by PJ Schnyder

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AAD Author Spotlight: Rosalie Lario

February 1, 2012 in Author Interviews, Contests

I am so excited to have discovered this next Authors After Dark 2012 Featured author, Rosalie Lario! She is new to me, and kindly agreed to let us interview her for this Spotlight. I can’t wait to check out one of her books! But before I get too carried away, let’s begin our interview…

What is the first book you remember reading and loving as a child?

Bunnicula, the series about a vampire bunny who sucked the juice out of carrots. Clearly I was destined for a love of the paranormal. *grin*

What is your first memory of realizing you were passionate about writing?

I’ve always been a passionate reader, ever since the days of the aforementioned Bunnicula obsession. But even though I fantasized about what it would be like to write, I never thought I could do it. It wasn’t until my son was born in 2008 that I decided to try. I realized I was hooked from pretty much the moment I sat down and typed out my first words.

When you need to find inspiration in music, what do you turn to?

It completely varies based on the tone of the scene I’m writing. Some of my go-to faves are: anything by Muse for sweeping scenes, Disturbed’s Down with the Sickness for fight scenes, I Put a Spell on You (I’ve been into the Marilyn Manson version lately) for romantic scenes, and Billy Idol’s Eyes Without a Face for introspective scenes.

Do you have a guilty pleasure on TV, and if so, what is it?

Oh yeah, I love my CW shows! My two favorite are Supernatural (I’m a Dean girl all the way) and The Vampire Diaries (love Damon)!

What is the first thing you plan on doing upon arriving to NOLA for AAD?

Exploring! Ghost and cemetery tours, here I come. I can’t get enough of that stuff.

Here are the books available in Rosalie Lario’s Demons of Infernum series:

Four sexy half-demon brothers battle personal demons while hunting down real ones in contemporary New York City. The last thing each of them needs is to fall in love…

BLOOD OF THE DEMON, Book One, Demons of Infernum Series

Entangled Publishing

Keegan lives to exact revenge on the evil demon who sired and abused him. When his father devises a plan to bring upon the apocalypse, he and his three half-brothers, inter-dimensional bounty-hunters for the Elden Council, are charged with capturing and delivering their father for punishment.

Art gallery owner Brynn Meyers has no idea that her abilities to read memories embedded in objects and drain people of their life force means she has demon ancestry. Unfortunately for Brynn, she’s also the key to raising an ancient zombie army, which puts her on every demon’s Most Wanted List.

And no one wants her more than Mammon.

Keegan must protect Brynn from his father by any means necessary, but he’ll have to learn to harness the other half of his genetics—the  far deadlier, uncontrollable side—when he starts to fall for the one woman standing between him and the vengeance he so desperately seeks. The one woman he’ll never be able to resist.

 

MARK OF THE SYLPH, Book Two

Entangled Publishing

Half-demon Taeg is desperate to free his pregnant sister-in-law, who is spellbound to an indestructible book that will create an army of the undead. He is convinced that an ancient sword can destroy the book and the spell forever, but this relic has been hidden for a millennia by a powerful glamour. The clock begins to run out on his search when an old rival goes after the book and Taeg’s family in his quest for revenge.

Librarian Maya Flores has a secret: she’s immune to magic and is well aware of the supernatural beings prowling the streets of New York City. Haunted by a brutal demon attack that took her family, she is on a one-woman mission to destroy the evil demons who did it—and any others who get in her way.

Maya is Taeg’s best hope for uncovering the sword. Unfortunately, she wants nothing more than to kill him. As he fights for her trust and to save his family, she is forced to face the truth that not all demons are evil. And the worst part? She might be falling in love with one, too.

 

TOUCH OF THE ANGEL, Book Three

Entangled Publishing

After months of no work, interdimensional bounty hunter Ronin Meyers jumps at the chance to locate an incubus who’s using succubi as murder weapons. Faced with the possibility of being forced to return to hellish Infernum if he fails, Ronin and his brothers will stop at nothing to take out the incubus and anyone else involved—even the beautiful succubus who stole his heart, then nearly his life, during the most mind-blowing hour of his existence.

Night after night, Amara and her fellow succubi are forced to extract special abilities from the strongest Otherworlders for their psychotic master’s growing collection. When the gorgeous angel-demon hybrid she believed to be dead captures her, Amara is both stunned and elated. But the happily ever after she’s dreamed of will have to wait. Together, they must bring down the madman hellbent on destroying them…and become each other’s salvation in the process.

 

HEART OF THE INCUBUS, Novella 3.5

Available January 2012 from Entangled Publishing

Biochemist Cresso Taylor lives the sort of lifestyle most men would envy—he has wealth, natural incubus charm, and more women than he can handle. But it’s not enough anymore. Not after meeting Genevieve Russell, the sexy scientist who works with him at Elcorp Laboratory. And she wants absolutely nothing to do with him.

After her fiancé broke her heart, Genevieve has had enough of womanizers. She’s determined to steer clear of sexy-as-sin Dr. Taylor, despite the fact that his incubus allure makes her want to rip his clothes off. But when a secret admirer’s affection turns to the macabre with threatening notes and grisly gifts, Cresso appoints himself her protector. As she and Cresso hunt her stalker, she discovers there’s a lot more to the sensual incubus than she ever imagined.

 

Formally trained as a corporate and real estate lawyer, I practiced law for 5 years before finally admitting to myself that negotiating contracts wasn’t nearly as fun as dreaming up stories. As an avid reader of romances and supernatural stories, I knew I wanted to write urban fantasy and paranormal romance.  Tales of vampires, demons, and other supernatural beings ensued.

I’m currently working on the Demons of Infernum series, a series of paranormal romance novels featuring four sexy half-demon brothers and their reluctant heroines.

When not writing, I enjoy spending time with my husband and son in our home state of Florida, as well as searching out things that go bump in the night. I still haven’t found any, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

If I ever do find evidence of the supernatural, it remains to be seen whether I’ll jump around in excitement, or run screaming in terror (but I’m betting on the latter)!

To connect with Rosalie, she can be found on her website & blog, and on Twitter.

Rosalie has generously offered up an ecopy of her latest Paranormal Romance series release, Heart of the Incubus. To enter, simply leave a comment telling us … When it comes to your preferred hero… Demon, or Angel?

 

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The Placebo Effect Blog Tour With David Rotenberg

January 30, 2012 in Author Interviews

WLP: What is your favorite part of the writing process

DR: I’m a compulsive re-writer. It can be either very enjoyable or horrid. There are times that like a jazz musician who has pulled the chords too far apart, I lose the music. That’s the worst. Sometimes there are too many fingers in the fondue, that’s not so much fun either. The initial rush to paper in interesting-often foolish-but sometimes the best. I wait a long time before I remove anything, the oddest bit of info that’s in a scene for no particular reason all of a sudden becomes the plot turn that you need. When book two in The Junction Chronicles comes out, A Murder of Crows, note the section in the duct work when he couldn’t get the screw back in. I had no idea when I wrote that, that it would become an important plot point.

WLP: Would you want Decker’s “gift” of truth?

DR: Yes and no. In my work with staring actors I use some of what Decker is able to do. I’m extremely good at telling a person’s age, background, where they were education, how many siblings they have etc. I can also detect prevarication in a second. But as for knowing profoundly when something I true or not-nah, don’t have that-and don’t think I’d want that. Having run some pretty big institutions, a theatre and a theatre department, I think it’s important to slide on the little lies to allow things to move forward-but, you must never slide on the big lies.

That business about semblant order is something that I’m particularly good at.

WLP: If not, what gift would you want to have?

I remember sitting on a bus in New York City when I lived there and looking at all the different folks there, and wondering, what could possibly appeal to so many different kinds of people? I still wonder that, and would love to have the gift that answers that question.

David Rotenberg can be found on his Website

More on The Placebo Effect on S&S

Read an excerpt of The Placebo Effect here

The Placebo Effect on Facebook

Pixie gives The Placebo Effect:

A definite must read of 2012! Action packed & extremely intriguing. 

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Mitch Interviews Shiloh Walker About The Ash Trilogy

January 14, 2012 in Author Interviews

After I read and reviewed the first two books in Shiloh Walker’s ash Trilogy, she was kind enough to answer some questions for me about the series and her writing. If you missed the reviews yesterday, go check them out! Then come back and read the interview. Then go buy the books. ;)

How did you get the idea for the Ash Trilogy? Did it start with the characters, or the plot?

Lena. It all started with Lena… by now, it’s not a secret that the heroine of the first book is blind. I kind of kept that quiet because I didn’t want her blindness to define her. It plays very much into the story, I know, but it’s a story about a woman who just happens to be blind…not a story about a blind woman. Her blindness doesn’t define her and I didn’t want that to color anybody’s opinion of her before they started the story.

So it all started with her…and the scream she heard. That was my idea and it all evolved from there.

Ash is like a real town! Do you live in a small town, or have you?

LOL…kinda sorta, yes, no…maybe? I’m definitely familiar with small town life.

Lena is such a strong character! Do you have a blind friend, or did you research blindness to write her?

Well, I spoke to several friends online who are blind. I’m in the Louisville area and close to the Kentucky School for the Blind so I contacted them, asked if I could visit, speak with some of them. They were very helpful…I mentioned the ladies I spoke with in my acknowledgements.

Hope changes so much between the first and second books, it’s great to see her find her strength and identity. Was it hard to create the romance between her and Remy without making it seem like she’d been rushed?

Not really. Certain…incidents forced the change. She was tired of seeing herself as a victim, you see. When you get tired of seeing yourself a certain way, you have to do what it takes to make the change. That’s what she did.

The first two books had dirty cops, and hints near the end of  the second book indicate there’s a very dirty cop in the third book. Was it intentional to make that connection in all of the books?

No comment…you’re trying to get clues out of me…

The killer goes through a sort of transformation, his focus in the second book is different than in the first. Will he change again in the third book?

No comment. ;)

This is the first series of yours I’ve read that has the same bad guy in all 3 books. Is there a reason you decided to connect the stories that way? Was it a challenge to draw out the bad guy and connect him to all of the other plots in each book?

Not at all…the hard part would have been doing it any other way. That’s the way the story needed to be told.

Do you think you might write more series that draw out the way Ash does with the evolving mystery?

It’s entirely possible. It’s fun to get that involved in a series. You get to know the characters more, get to spend more time with them.

I agree!

Anyone who follows you on Twitter (@shilohwalker) knows you’re a Pinterest addict. Any pics you’ve found that might feature in coming books?

Yes…absolutely. If you look at this board, it’s the one that has people that may well end up as characters…

http://pinterest.com/shilohwalker/characters/

Any other secret projects coming up this year that you’d like to share with us?

Secret? Well, if I tell, then they aren’t secret. There’s the next idea I’ve turned into Ballantine, called STOLEN. It’s set in Alaska and it’s…ah. Weird. Yeah. Weird. About a writer. It was inspired by something that happened on twitter.

Shiloh has graciously agreed to answer any reader questions today! (Although she won’t answer anything that might be a spoiler, as you can already see from me trying above.) So if you’re wondering anything else about the series, feel free to ask in the comments. :D

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13 Wicked Days of Christmas With Nicole Peeler

December 25, 2011 in Author Interviews

Next up we have my personal favorite author that I love to stalk, er um, fangirl over! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting her twice, and am so pleased I will get to see her again at AAD in NOLA!! Ladies and Gents, allow me to introduce Nicole Peeler!!!

What’s next for you book-wise in 2012?

Tempest’s Fury is coming out in the summer, which is book five. And I’ll be writing book six! Denise Townsend has some stuff coming out with Samhain, too, so if you like paranormal erotica you should check her out. She writes the naughty selkies!
What is the worst gift you’ve ever received or given?

I think one of the odder things I’ve ever received was a huge, leather bound set of Winston Churchill’s speeches. I actually enjoy reading them, now, but what made it odd was I got them for Christmas when I was eight. Looking back, I’m thinking there was some rather desperate regifting involved in that scenario.

What is your favorite Holiday food?
I love those damned marshmallow-corn flakes wreathes. They’re like rice crispie bars but with corn flakes? I love those. I also love Christmas cookies.
What is your least favorite Holiday song?
I loathe all holiday songs. I about keeled over and died when I had to do body pump to a Christmas mix. It was torture. Well, more torturous than usual.
Do you have any Holiday traditions?
Not really, to be honest. I’m from a very secular family and we don’t really stand by a lot of ritual, of any sort. We do usually have a big Christmas party which is always a lot of fun.
Any favorite Holiday memories?
I have a lot of rather hazy holiday memories. My aunt and grandparents used to drink old fashioneds, and they’d let me eat the fruit after it had been soaking in booze for hours. So looking back, I think I was slightly sozzled for most of my first Christmases. Which probably explains a lot.
If you could share one lesser known fact about yourself with our readers, what would it be?
In case you weren’t convinced I had no soul, besides Christmas music, I also hate ice dancing and musicals.

NO SOUL!

The Jane True Series is one of my most cherished Urban Fantasy series out there. Here is more information about her books:

 

Cover for Tempest Rising

TEMPEST RISING – Jane True #1

In the tiny village of Rockabill, Maine, Jane True—26-year-old bookstore clerk and secret night swimmer—has no idea that her absent mother’s legacy is entry into a world populated by the origins of human myths and legends.  It is a world where nothing can be taken for granted: vampires are not quite what we think; dogs sometimes surprise us; and whatever you do, never—ever—rub the genie’s lamp.   For Jane, everything kicks off when she comes across a murder victim during her nightly clandestine swim in the freezing winter ocean.  This grisly discovery leads to the revelation of why she has such freakish abilities in the water: her mother was a Selkie and Jane is only half human. With this knowledge, Jane soon finds herself mingling with supernatural creatures alternately terrifying, beautiful, and deadly—all adjectives that quite handily describe her new friend Ryu.  When Ryu is sent to Rockabill to investigate the murder, he and Jane fall hard for each other even as they plummet into a world of intrigue threatening to engulf both supernatural and human societies.  For someone is killing half-humans like Jane.   The question is, are the murders the work of one rogue individual or part of a greater plot to purge the world of Halflings?

Wicked Lil Pixie review

 

TRACKING THE TEMPEST – Jane True #2

Peeler_Tracking-Tempest-MM2

Tracking the Tempest begins four months–and one eyebrow sacrificed to magical  training–after the close of Tempest Rising.  During that time, Jane’s been busy  honing her supernatural powers and enjoying her newfound sense of confidence.    Rockabill may  not yet be heaven, but she’s realized it’s home.  Valentine’s Day is  fast approaching,  however, and Ryu–Jane’s bloodsucker boyfriend–can’t let a  major holiday go by without  getting all gratuitous.  This time his shenanigans  involve a last-minute ticket to Boston  and a hefty dose of direct interference in her  life. But Ryu’s best laid plans inevitably create  more upheaval than even he can  anticipate, and Jane winds up embroiled in  an investigation involving a spree of  gruesome killings committed by a being of  tremendous power . . .

. . . who, much to Jane’s surprise, happens to be another halfling.

Wicked Lil Pixie review

 

 

TEMPEST’S LEGACY – Jane True #3

After a peaceful hiatus at home in Rockabill, Jane True thinks that her worst problem is that she still throws like a girl – at least while throwing fireballs. Her peace of mind ends, however, when Anyan arrives one night with terrible news . . . news that will rock Jane’s world to its very core.

After demanding to help investigate a series of gruesome attacks on females — supernatural, halfling, and human — Jane quickly finds herself forced to confront her darkest nightmares as well as her deepest desires.

And she’s not sure which she finds more frightening.

Wicked Lil Pixie review

 

 

 

EYE OF THE TEMPEST – Jane True #4

Nothing says “home” like being attacked by humans with very large guns, as Jane and Anyan discover when they arrive in Rockabill. These are professionals, brought into kill, and they bring Anyan down before either Jane or the barghest can react. Seeing Anyan fall awakens a terrible power within Jane, and she nearly destroys herself taking out their attackers.

Jane wakes, weeks later, to discover that she’s not the only thing that’s been stirring. Something underneath Rockabill is coming to life: something ancient, something powerful, and something that just might destroy the world.

Jane and her friends must act, striking out on a quest that only Jane can finish. For whatever lurks beneath the Old Sow must be stopped…and Jane’s just the halfling for the job.

Eye of the Tempest will be available from all fine retailers from August 1, 2011, onward. North American readers can click here for links to Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Chapters/Indigo, and Indiebound.

Wicked Lil Pixie review

 

TEMPEST’S FURY – Jane True #5 – OUT JUNE 2012

Jane’s not happy. She’s been packed off to England to fight in a war, when she’d much rather be snogging her new boyfriend. Unfortunately, Jane’s enemies have been busy stirring up some major trouble—the kind that attracts a lot of attention. In other words, they’re not making it easy for Jane to get any alone time with Anyan, or to indulge in her penchant for stinky cheese.

Praying she can pull off a Joan of Arc without the whole martyrdom thing, Jane must lead Alfar and halflings alike in a desperate battle to combat an ancient evil. Catapulted into the role of the most unlikely hero ever, Jane has to fight her own insecurities as well as the doubts of those who don’t think she can live up to her new role as Champion.

Along the way Jane learns that some heroes are born, some heroes are made, and some heroes are bribed with promises of food and sex.

 

 

Thanks so much for taking the time out to visit us and answer our questions! We can’t wait to see you again next year in New Orleans at Authors After Dark 2012!

 

Nicole D. Peeler received an undergraduate degree in English Literature from Boston University, and a PhD in English Literature from the University of Edinburgh, in Scotland. She’s lived abroad in both Spain and the UK, and lived all over the USA. Currently, she resides outside Pittsburgh, to teach in Seton Hill’s MFA in Popular Fiction. When she’s not in the classroom infecting young minds with her madness, she’s writing Urban Fantasy for Orbit Books and taking pleasure in what means most to her: family, friends, food, and travel.

You can find her blogging here, as well as at the League of Reluctant Adults and Pens Fatales. She’d love for you to add her on Facebook (Nicole Peeler), and on Twitter (NicolePeeler). If you’d like to send Nicole a message, the best way to do so is through email, at IHeartSelkies(at)gmail(dot)com. The worst way is through Facebook Messages, as they tend to get eaten, and Nicole loves hearing from all of you.

Finally, go ahead and ask Nicole a question on Formspring. She’ll eventually collate all these together for an author FAQ.

Nicole is giving away any MMPB (any author) from Amazon (under 7.99)! Just leave her a comment!

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