League of Strays Blog Tour: Character Excerpt + Author Interview + Giveaway

Today it is my stop in the League of Strays Blog Tour. We have a review (read here) Excerpt, interview and a blog tour giveaway from the author.

The Book: League of Strays

Series: Stand Alone

Pages: 288

Published: 1st Oct 2012

Buy: Amazon UK I Amazon US I Book Depository

Description:

When a mysterious note appears in Charlotte’s mailbox inviting her to join the League of Strays, she’s hopeful it will lead to making friends. What she discovers is a motley crew of loners and an alluring, manipulative ringleader named Kade. Kade convinces the group that they need one another both for friendship and to get back at the classmates and teachers who have betrayed them. But Kade has a bigger agenda. In addition to vandalizing their school and causing fights between other students, Kade’s real intention is a dangerous plot that will threaten lives and force Charlotte to choose between her loyalty to the League and her own conscience.

Character Excerpt: Kade Harlin

“What happened to your parent?” Nora jumped right to the point. She was either refreshingly direct or hopelessly tactless, I hadn’t made my mind up yet.

“Just your typical nasty divorce,” Kade said, reaching for a bag of potato chips. “You know, spiteful custody battle. Lawyers who pay off their law school debt with my future inheritance. That sort of thing.”

“His uncle owns the building. He lives upstairs,” Richie said. 

 “It was ludicrous, all the time my parents spent arguing over who wouldn’t get me,” Kade told us. “But my uncle said as long as I didn’t throw any loud parties or burn the place down, I could crash here.”

I was so stunned I had to tell myself to close my mouth.

“He’s the perfect guardian because he leaves me alone,” he added.

About The Author

Interview

1. Have you always been a writer or did the writing bug strike at a certain age? 

 I believe that writing is a gene that can be handed down. My grandfather and grandmother were writers, too. For me, it struck early, although I lost sight of it a few times as an adult. I wrote awful short stories on my mother’s typewriter, often stolen story lines from The Brady Bunch episodes. My daughter, age 11, writes 1,000 times better than I did at her age. My older daughter is too busy with homework to tell but she did finish a 50,000 book in one month last year. I’m pretty sure they have the gene, too! 

2. How did you come to write about this particular genre?

I didn’t chose contemporary, the plot chose me! I also like to write paranormal, although my next book that I’m working on is also contemporary, so maybe I am leaning in that direction. I do like exploring what my teen characters might do in a situation that could be real. I’m into human behavior and why we do what we do.

3. Did you have any significant high or low moments while writing the book/series?

This was the first book I ever wrote, so my writing wasn’t very good originally. It took a long time to find an agent and then a publisher. But I’m very persevering, and I refused to give up on it. I revised and revised and revised until it was polished enough for print. As for the high moments, this book gave me chills when I wrote it, which is always a good sign. 

4. What is your favorite part of the writing process?

When I get into the zone and seem to channel the characters. It feels like they are speaking through me. I don’t even feel like a writer at those times, but more like a secretary.

5. What else are you working on? 

 My next book is about a girl whose mother abruptly moves them out to California. She needs to unveil the secrets and lies that shroud her family, including the reason why her mother told her that her grandmother was dead. What she discovers could alter history and everyone she loves. Oooh, I’m having fun writing this one! 

Thanks for hosting me on your site, Siobhan!

Giveaway

This Giveaway is from the author, we are just hosting it.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3

Seers Blog Tour: Author Interview and Giveaway

You have read my review, now it is time to meet the author and have a quick interview aswell and a US ONLY giveaway!!!! Are you excited?? 

Siobhán: Have you always been a writer or did the writing bug strike at a certain age?

Heather: I confess, I’ve always been a writer. I finished my first novel when I was 12, and haven’t stopped writing since then, though I didn’t become serious about publication until I was 14 or 15. I got my first rejection letter when I was 18, and my first acceptance at 21.

Siobhán: How did you come to write about this particular genre?

Heather: I normally write young adult fantasy, both with and without magic. So Seers was very different for me because I’d tried—and failed—to write in the modern world before. So initially when I was inspired with the idea of Guardians and Demons and I began sorting things out in my head, I was more than a little dismayed to realize that this story couldn’t be told in a fictional world. I kept trying to convince my characters that we could do it, but they were adamant. So naturally I dragged my feet for a week. I did the research, figured out that Patrick would be from Ireland, and Kate would be in New Mexico, where the rest of story takes place. But I was unwilling to start writing because I knew it wasn’t going to work—it never had before. The story wouldn’t leave me, though—I was obsessed with it, and I wanted to write about these fascinating characters. So I sat down one afternoon and started writing, just to prove to them it couldn’t be done. I wrote the prologue, and then chapter one . . . The rest is history.

Siobhán: Did you have any significant high or low moments while writing the book/series?

Heather: The whole experience was pretty amazing. I got the idea for the Seers trilogy Summer 2010, and had all three drafts completed before that Summer ended. I’ve never written as quickly, and with as much inspiration. The words flowed easily onto the page, and everything just clicked and made sense.

Siobhán: What is your favorite part of the writing process?

Heather: I love developing characters! So I’d say the brainstorming is my favorite part of the whole process, though the actual writing is generally a blast as well. (Sometimes, though, when I see a scene perfectly in my head but I can’t get it to translate into the written word—that’s extremely annoying!) But I love seeing everything come together on the page.

Siobhán: Was there a particular book that influenced you as a teen?

Heather: Not really. I read so many books, and I was able to take something away from each one, so it’s hard to pick one quintessential work. But Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, really made an impact on me. So much so, that when asked my favorite book—hardest question in the world, in my opinion—I generally say Jane Eyre. I love it for a lot of reasons, but it was really one of the first books that got me interested in romance. As a teenager I mostly stuck to reading fantasy, and avoided romance unless it was the minor subplot. But with Jane Eyre I realized that romance could be beautiful, and more than a bunch of senseless kissing scenes. Jane is strong, ordinary, and she is always true to herself. I wish we had more heroines like her.

Siobhán: Is there anything else you would like to add about yourself or the books?

Heather: Just that you can learn more about me and—more importantly—my books by visiting my website, HeatherFrost.com, and stay up to date with all things Seers by liking the official Facebook page.

Giveaway is now closed

 

8