A Hold on Me Blog Tour: Interview with Pat Esden PLUS Giveaway

Today we're joining the blog tour for A HOLD ON ME by chatting with author Pat Esden. Come get to know more about Pat and her book. And don't forget to enter the rafflecopter at the end of the post for your chance to win a cool prize.

Hi, Pat! Welcome to We Do Write. Tell us a bit about yourself.  

Thank you for inviting me to stop by. My name is Pat Esden and I’m the author of the new adult paranormal series, Dark Heart. The first book in the series, A HOLD ON ME came out February 23.

Tell our readers a bit about A HOLD ON ME.

A HOLD IN ME is a gothic tale of love and revenge.  The main character is Annie, a twenty-year-old woman who has grownup picking and dealing antiques with her father. When her father is diagnosed with dementia, his illness forces them to return to their ancestral home on the coast of Maine where their estranged family lives.

Once there, her father’s situation deteriorates and Annie’s longstanding suspicions about her family grow ever larger. She turns to an unlikely ally for support—Chase a dangerously seductive young groundskeeper.

How did the idea of the story come to you?

Johnny Depp and our shared love for the old TV series Dark Shadows inspired me to write A HOLD ON ME. I was writing a different novel at the time, but when I heard Depp was working with Tim Burton on a remake of the show, it struck me that having fun and creating something you’ve always wanted to try was important to me as well. However, I didn’t have any desire to create a campy remake of Dark Shadows. I wanted to write a gothic novel that had an atmosphere reminiscent of the show and also to the romantic suspense novels from the same time period—but with an updated flare and sizzle to make it appealing to contemporary readers.

That's awesome. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I’m a plotter. I begin with a story’s turning points, and then fill in the rest of the plot details. In the end, I have a fairly complete chapter-by-chapter outline. I also write a detailed synopsis before I start writing.

What’s the hardest part of writing for you?

The hardest part is writing the last third of the first draft. The beginning of the first draft is all about exploring the world and characters. It’s fun. The next third is about action building toward the climax. But when I hit the last third, I have a hard time pushing forward instead of going back to revise the earlier sections. Revision and later drafts are the part I love the most.

What do you absolutely have to have nearby when writing?

I have different ‘trinkets’ for every book, things that remind me of the story and give me luck. For A HOLD ON ME, I have an ancient coin with a bee on it and a small clay lamp from a dig site in Greece, and a seagull statue that I inherited when my sister passed away.

If you could have any super power, what would it be?

Puppy whisperer! I have a Golden Retriever puppy. I love her dearly, but having to change my daily writing schedule around her needs hasn’t been easy. I’d love to be able to lull her from wild-chewing-crazy-dog into sleepy-bundle-of-cuteness with just a couple words.

What's the weirdest thing you've googled?

This is a hard one. I’ve Google a lot of strange things. Lately, it probably would be ‘intimate massages during pregnancy’. I probably shouldn’t have used the word ‘intimate’. I got the information I wanted for the novel, but I also saw a few things I wish I could un-see.

Finish this sentence: If I'm not writing, I'm probably ...

at an auction, museum, out somewhere exploring something new, meeting new people, or asleep on the couch. Yeah, I’m a little like my new puppy: either busy doing something or I’m crashed.

Here’s the part where you thank the people who are supporting you. Let's hear your shout outs.

I belong to Waiting-On-2016 author group. I’d like to give a shout out to all the members. They are a fantastic and supportive group, and the books they have coming out this year truly open up new territories in the middle grade, young adult, and new adult categories. Check out our blog https://waitingon2016.wordpress.com or every other week there is a twitter chat where you can learn more about the authors, the topics that are important to them, and their books.  #WO2016  

Thanks so much for stopping by the blog, Pat! Good luck with your series!

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Book Blitz: House of Pawns by Keary Taylor

Today we're taking part in the HOUSE OF PAWNS book blitz. Take a look at this new adult paranormal and read an excerpt from the book.

House of Pawns
Keary Taylor
(House of Royals, #2)
Publication date: December 15th 2015
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal

The town of Silent Bend is about to explode into a war. Alivia swore to take the House from Jasmine after what she did, but it won’t happen without retaliation. The whole town is caught in the crosshairs of their manipulation and the body count is climbing.
The explanation for Ian’s change is one he just can’t accept. To Alivia, it should fix all their problems, but Ian has become everything he hates most. And Liv accepting her fate and position will test their relationship to the breaking point.
The threat of the King’s arrival looms just weeks away, and Alivia knows he will kill her as soon as he comes. She’ll need supporters at her side—immortal ones. And that means turning old enemies into loyal subjects…

Sequel to:

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EXCERPT:

Dirt stains my hands, freezes my fingers. There are streaks of it all over my jeans, caking the sleeves of my coat.

“What the hell are you doing?”

My heart leaps into my throat and I whip around.
Sheriff Luke McCoy stands five yards behind me, hands on his hips, a look of confusion and horror on his face.
I don’t have an answer for him, so I go back to my task.
“Alivia.” I hear him walking toward me. “What are you doing, and why does it look like someone crawled out of that grave?”
“Because someone did,” I huff. My hands are numb now, making it difficult to maneuver the dirt. Thankfully, it’s still freshly turned enough that it’s not packed yet.
“And who might that have been?” he asks and his voice hardens with each syllable.
“Circumstances change people, you understand that, right?” I’ve got the hole half filled back in.
“What are you talking about?” Sheriff McCoy, now that he’s caught on to what this hole means and its implications, joins me in filling it.
“I told you a few months back that I was a good person. That I wanted nothing to do with the House.” My lungs burn from the effort of breathing hard in this cold air. “But circumstances change people.”
“What happened, Alivia?” he demands.

Author Bio:
Keary Taylor grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now resides on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two young children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night. She is the author of THE EDEN TRILOGY, the FALL OF ANGELS trilogy, and WHAT I DIDN'T SAY. To learn more about Keary and her writing process, please visit www.KearyTaylor.com.

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GIVEAWAY:

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Book Blitz: House of Royals by Keary Taylor

Today we're joining the HOUSE OF ROYALS  book blitz. Check out this new adult paranormal, and don't forget to enter the rafflecopter at the end of the post.

House of Royals
Keary Taylor
(House of Royals, #1)
Publication date: June 21st 2015
Genres: New Adult, Paranormal

If you loved BRANDED, you won’t want to miss HOUSE OF ROYALS, Keary Taylor’s newest dark, romantic read.
Every town has its history and skeletons, but Silent Bend, Mississippi’s are darker than most. Ruled from the shadows by the House—the immortal Born and their aging, enslaved Bitten—everyone knows not to go out after dark and that the police will never look into crimes involving blood.
Alivia Ryan didn’t know the man who claims to be her father through a will even existed until she inherits the Conrath plantation. Instead of the sleepy house she expects, she finds a mansion and a staff who look at her with fear in their eyes.
Ian Ward tried to kill Alivia the first time they met, and then insisted he train her to defend herself against the House, who he claims will try to manipulate and take her in for their own political reasons. And the growing attraction between them will threaten their lives—Ian is a sworn enemy of the House.
In Silent Bend, people disappear, the threat of a demented King and the legend of his resurrecting Queen hang over everyone’s heads, and proving loyalty means far more than blood. You’d better watch who you trust in this town…

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EXCERPT:

“What are you doing here?” he hisses, pulling me close. His lips tickle my ear. His hand on my waist slips low and his fingers dig into my skin just a little.

The breath catches in my chest and every nerve ending in my body goes crazy. The music surges, and this night suddenly feels too big for me to breathe.
“I’m not lying down and taking a fate I didn’t ask for,” I manage. My fingers cling hard to Ian’s shoulder. I can feel the muscles beneath his clothes tense and tighten. And suddenly, I’m back to the days at his cabin, when he’d come walking out of the shower with only a towel and I pretended not to look. I know what his bare skin looks like, and I’m craving another glimpse.
“They won’t care about a show of good faith,” he says. “Do you have any idea what this party is even for?”
My silence is his answer.
“They throw this party once a year and offer massive amounts of alcohol so that people won’t remember the blackouts that come from being fed on.”
My eyes dart to that door at the back of the room. The blood on the woman’s shoulder. The blood in the corner of the man’s mouth.
“They’re feeding on the party attendees,” I say.
Ian nods. His scratchy cheek brushes mine. “The bite numbs and makes you forget, but people tend to realize they blacked out. A party like this with this much booze, you brush it off. It’s the one time a year they feed freely upon the townspeople. It’s the only way to keep people from asking too many questions.”
It’s terrifying and horrifying, and I’m suddenly wondering if the man was asking me to dance as my turn to be fed upon.
“It’s bad, but I have to do something, Ian,” I breathe.
“Walking into the fire isn’t the way to do it,” he whispers into my ear.

Author Bio:
Keary Taylor grew up along the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where she started creating imaginary worlds and daring characters who always fell in love. She now resides on a tiny island in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and their two young children. She continues to have an overactive imagination that frequently keeps her up at night. She is the author of THE EDEN TRILOGY, the FALL OF ANGELS trilogy, and WHAT I DIDN'T SAY. To learn more about Keary and her writing process, please visit www.KearyTaylor.com.

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

GIVEAWAY:


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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