What can you tell us about your new release, Edge of Magic?
Edge of Magic is the first book in a new urban fantasy series, the Tara Knightley Series. The star of the series, Tara, has always felt like an outsider because she has a bit of Fae blood (from the father she never knew), but the family she knows and lives with are all full human. When she was a teenager, she entered into a debt sealed by a blood oath with a Fae mafia boss named Grant Shaw to save her mother and half-sister's lives. She didn't fully understand it at the time, but the terms of repaying the debt to Shaw were very unfavorable for her, so now ten years later at the age of twenty-seven, Tara's not even close to paying off the debt. But she's not just obligated to Shaw. She also works as a contract retriever--basically a professional thief--because that's what pays the bills. Her busy three-generation household, which includes her mother, half sister Felicity, and four nieces and nephews, depends quite a lot on Tara for financial help. She loves her family and helps them unselfishly, but she's just about given up on the idea on ever having a life of her own.
But then Grant Shaw puts out huge bounty for a Faerie artifact--a legendary magical skull--and the payout would get Tara close to paying off her debt to him and finally breaking free of her indentured servitude to the manipulative Fae mob boss. To make things even better, Tara's got a big advantage in the hunt for the skull: her ability to sense magical objects.
Tara's all set to go after the skull when her childhood best friend and crush, wolf shifter Judah McMahon, shows up out of the blue. He and his business partner have run into trouble with the Fae, and he's come to Tara as a last resort. They haven't spoken since the falling out that ended their friendship ten years prior, and Tara seriously does NOT have the bandwidth to get involved with Judah's problems. Not to mention that doing so could get her in trouble with Grant Shaw. But how can she refuse when Judah's convinced she'd the only one who can help him?
Now Tara will have to make a difficult choice.
Fun side note: the Tara Knightley Series takes place in the same world as my bestselling Ella Grey Series. The Tara Knightley prequel, Oath of Blood, picks up right after the final events of the last Ella Grey book. I think urban/contemporary fantasy readers are going to absolutely love Tara Knightley!
What or who inspired you to become an author?
I've wanted to be an author since I read my first chapter books when I was around seven years old. I've always loved putting words on a page, and won awards for my writing when I was a teenager. But as a senior in high school, practicality took over, and I decided I'd go into science. I majored in Chemistry with a minor in Physics, and later went on to get a Master's of Public Health. I returned to writing fiction in my 30s, right when self-publishing was on the rise. My first few books (young adult, under a different pen name) got great reviews but never sold much. It wasn't until Stone Cold Magic, my first urban fantasy, that I started seeing commercial success. That was my 13th book. I'm so glad I didn't know at the start that it was going to take 13 books to finally be able to make fiction writing my full-time career!
What's on your top 5 list for the best books you've ever read?
I don't think I have 5, but I can definitely think of 3. In no particular order, my top 3 are: The Stand by Stephen King, A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card.
Say you're the host of a literary talk show. Who would be your first guest? What would you want to ask?
George RR Martin. I'd probably ask for advice around juggling the story lines of a large cast of characters.
What's your favorite thing about writing?
When a cool side character, plot twist, or facet of magic/worldbuilding spontaneously comes to me while I'm writing. It's magical!
What is a typical day like for you?
I run my own publishing company, so I spend a lot of the work day doing non-writing things such as analyzing sales, creating and optimizing ads, scheduling marketing activities, writing my email newsletter, coordinating with the awesome people I work with, and doing a lot of reading on the industry. If I'm in the writing stage of a book's production cycle, I spend about 15-20% of the day writing. I work full-time on writing and publishing.
What scene in Edge of Magic was your favorite to write?
I always love the action scenes--narrow escapes where Tara has to use all of her skills (she's a precision knife thrower and also uses a wide variety of shurikens, or throwing stars/"ninja stars"). But perhaps even more satisfying are the quiet moments between characters, where there are a few words exchanged that reveal so much about the relationships, motives, and dreams of each of them. Tara has those with her family, as well as with Judah.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
No motto that I can sum up into something pithy, but when it comes to writing and publishing, I work from a place of deep determination. If I hadn't been so stubbornly determined, I never would have "made it" in publishing because I wouldn't have lasted until that 13th book that finally made this a viable career. I'm also a big believer in the idea that whatever you do consistently (whether positive or negative) molds the quality of your life. Some of the things I do with almost religious consistency are keeping to my writing schedule, practicing meditation and mindfulness, practicing gratitude, cooking healthy dinners for my family, keeping to "clean" eating habits, and making time for daily movement/exercise.
