Please help me welcome the talented, PJ Sharon to the blog today! (Love this cover, PJ. It's gorgeous. )
You can learn more about PJ and all her books at http://circlepad.com/pjsharon
PJ wanted you to know 2 of her books are FREE on SmashWords through March 10th.
Thanks for being here today, PJ.
Thank you for having me Jennifer. I’d love to give
away an ARC of SAVAGE CINDERELLA to one of your readers.
Q:
Do you believe in love at first sight or just lust at first sight?
A:
I do believe in love at first sight, though it isn’t nearly as common as lust
at first sight, LOL. I think that when we meet a soul mate, our intuitive
nature takes over and our spirit guides us in a way that is different than just
a chemical, physical attraction. The first time I met my husband, I was
literally struck by the sense that he was “the one.” There was just something
so familiar and special about him, that my heart was immediately drawn to him. Unfortunately,
he was married to someone else at the time. It took fifteen years, a marriage
and a divorce on my end, and an eventual divorce on his end before we found
each other again. But when we did, it was a fairytale romance that is still
growing and thriving ten years later.
Q:
If you could time travel, would you go forward or back?
A:
Great
question! I sometimes think I was born in the wrong century. I would have been
perfectly fine living in a time before electricity and modern conveniences. I’m
an avid camper and outdoorswoman and I really enjoy the simplicity of roughing
it. I don’t mind hard physical work and to me, nothing tastes as good as food
cooked on an open flame. Having said that, I would not have wanted to live in a
time where women were considered property and had no freedoms or choices. I
feel quite blessed to be an entrepreneur, a business owner, and a published
author, all roads that might have been impossible a hundred years ago. I do
like the idea of traveling to the future, if only to see what becomes of
mankind. Being that the bestselling vehicle in the US is still the Ford F250,
I’m afraid we haven’t learned anything about global responsibility. We’re
clearly doomed. The future is a bit scary these days. I’m hoping enough of us
have evolved that there will be survivors.
Q:
Tell us a little about your WIP.
A:
As
the perfect segue from the last question, I’m planning a dystopian trilogy for
later this year. THE CHRONICLES OF LILLY CARMICHAEL is about a sixteen-year-old
girl living in 2048. She is the first generation of genetically engineered
children who were bred to survive the plagues that wipe out three quarters of
the Earth’s population. Her genetic modification not only makes her resistant
to the plague, but gives her the ability to heal quickly and an intuitive
ability to heal others. Her thirteen-year-old brother Zephron is a Gen-2 and
has the opposite capability which is to take life with just a touch. Their
mother died during Zeph’s birth and their father was killed by a government
agency called the Industry, an organization trying to capture these Gen-1 and
Gen-2 kids to use them to create an invincible army. Lilly and Zeph live with
their uncle in the North East Sector, and their goal is to remain hidden from
the Industry. But when a young drifter named Will is caught in a trap on their
property and Lilly decides to heal him, their secret is
bound to get out.
Q:
Do you have critique partners?
A:
I
have several awesome critique partners. I usually run ideas by them, then a few
chapters, and then have a brainstorming session to work out plotting issues
before diving into the whole manuscript. The problem I have lately is that all
of my critique partners are getting publishing contracts and are as busy as I
am, LOL. It’s a good problem to have.
Q:
What is most difficult for you to write: Characters, conflict, or emotions?
A:
I
would have to say that all of those elements have their difficulties. Conflict
is king, however. If I am clear about what the central conflict is, the rest
comes easier. I find that if I spend some time getting to know my characters by
compiling a character and conflict grid, the emotion evolves naturally. Making
characters multidimensional and layering in the internal conflicts is what
brings them to life.
Q:
Favorite Romance movie?
A:
Twenty-Seven
Dresses comes to mind. I love romantic comedies. Maid in Manhattan, Maid of
Honor, My Best Friend’s Wedding, LOL…you get the picture. I LOVE the romance of
a big wedding and all the hoops our romance couples have to go through to get
there. Ironically, I had a very small wedding—me, my groom, a JP, and two
witnesses. Maybe I’ll do something grand when we celebrate our tenth
anniversary.
Q:
What is your favorite dessert/food?
A:
Anything
with dark chocolate and coconut. Give me a Mounds and a Red Bull and I’m good
to go! I’m generally a healthy eater and live a fairly wholesome lifestyle, but
put those flavors together and I’m done for.
ON THIN ICE Blurb-
Seventeen
year old figure skater Penny Trudeau has secrets. She’s not perfect, as hard as
she tries to be. With a mother who is dying and a father who treats her like
she’s invisible, Penny has every reason to lie. To escape the life that is
spinning out of control, she falls into the arms of an older boy. But when she
lies about her age and he finds out the truth, Penny loses the one good thing
that has happened in a long time.
Carter
McCray is the hockey hunk she falls for, but Carter has his own family drama,
and he’s not looking for trouble. Penny proves to be the exception, until the
truth comes out and he can’t get past the betrayal—or her father’s threats.
Can Penny find her way back into Carter’s heart, or
will she have to face the harsh realities of life on her own? Penny’s choices
lead her down a dangerous road and the secrets she’s keeping will change her
world forever.
ON THIN ICE BUY LINKS
Hi PJ! Just stopping by to share the love, darling! I absolutely love 27 Dresses! Even younger son will watch it with me. I can't wait for Savage Cinderella. I want to know how it ends!
ReplyDeleteGreat interview, Ladies!
ReplyDeleteAnd that cover is totally awesome!
I agree, PJ, that characters, conflict and emotion can each be dicey. Gotta have all three in order to make your story compelling.
Thanks Casey. Love Katherine Heigle!Only a week away for the book! Yeehaw!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lynda. I love the color and contrast that makes the skater really pop on the cover. The mountains are somewhat metaphorical being that the story takes place in Connecticut, but I was able to write in a scene where Penny is "daydreaming" about skating on a pond in the Rockies. Oh, the joys of indie publishing:-)
On Thin Ice sounds fantastic! Great interview :) All the best with your books!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kellie. It's the book of my heart and is getting wonderful reviews, so I'm very happy about it. Thanks again for stopping by.
DeleteHi, PJ! Savage Cinderella sounds awesome! And I'm another who believes in love at first sigh. Happened with me and my DH, too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Alicia. Early reviews of Savage Cinderella are great, so I'm hopeful that readers will love the story. More than anything, I want readers to get that no matter what trials you face in life, there is hope and an inner resilience that each of us can find.
DeleteSo glad you found your soulmate. i do believe there is someone out there for each of us if we are open, willing, and ready.
Hi PJ. Good to 'meet' you here. Both your books sound intriguing. Savage Cinderella has an especially interesting hook. Best of luck with both of them.
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by, Barbara. Savage Cinderella came about while I was out hiking in the woods with my dog and I got to wondering what it would have been like to grow up in the wild. Of course then I began the questions of why and how, and the stroy came to me fully formed. Six weeks later, I had 60,000 words written. It's taken three years and a lot of revisions to get it where it is, but I'm very proud of Brinn's story.
ReplyDeleteIt's wonderful to 'meet' you Penny! I downloaded both your books and can't wait to read On This Ice! Oh- I'll share my next Mounds or almond joy with you. :) I lad a small wedding too. DH, me, the JP with dh's cousin and my baby bro as witnesses.
ReplyDeleteHi, Calisa. Nice to meet a kindred Mounds lover! Enjoy the story. If you love it, don't forget to give it a review on Amazon so others may find it:-)
ReplyDeleteAND THE WINNER IS............KELLIE K!
ReplyDelete