New Release Wednesday + Give*Away!

 Please help me welcome my friend and debut author (read: very talented, new favorite of mine), LILIA FORD! I think you all will LOVE her novel, THE HEARTWOOD BOX. It's an Epic Fairy Tale, written in wonderfully descriptive way that will transport you to another (sensual) world filled with 3 very sexy brothers ;)

Lilia will give away 1 e-copy (from Amazon) to a lucky commentator so be sure to leave your email addy ;)

Thanks for being here today, Lilia! :)

   

    Where is your favorite place to write?  I hate to admit this, but I do 95% of my writing in bed.  It’s very un-feng-shui, but I got into the habit in graduate school when I literally didn’t have room for a desk and a bed in my room, so the bed became the desk. 

    Do you have critique partners?  My sister is a writer in Hollywood, and I literally could not do this without her.  Though he’ll probably howl if he reads this, my husband—he’s more of a supporter than a critic.  I recently read a piece on Writer Unboxed called “The Bipolar Writer.”  I think many writers will recognize this: one day you’re chugging along, incredibly happy with your work and then the next you’re convinced that, “I suck. To be more precise, I suck in ways that no other human has ever sucked.”  I am susceptible to this affliction.  My husband is extremely good at using humor and remarks like “stop it—you sound like a complete loon,” or “you sound like my mother” to snap me out of my pity-fests.

   What music are you listening to lately?  Right now my absolute favorite band is Kasabian from Leicester, England.

Tell us a little about your WIP.  I am about 240 pages into my second novel, A Biddable Witch, which is set outside Prague, the wizard capitol, 400 years earlier than the events in The Heartwood Box.  In this world, each wizard has a witch who is his destined consort.  Normally witches are sent at a young age to special “Coven Seminaries,” where they are brainwashed to be completely submissive to wizards.  (I should add here that wizards as a group are tall, “insufferably handsome,” and naturally dominant.)  Prosper, our hero, has never found his destined witch, leaving him with far less power than he should have.  A tip leads him and his (extremely hot) apprentice, Sebastian, to a remote farm, where they discover our heroine, Laura, who is passing as a human.  As it happens, she is his consort, and Prosper is not about to let her go.  Unfortunately, Laura’s experiences growing up in a human orphanage and working as a farm-laborer have not turned her into the meek, obedient, well-mannered creature that Prosper was expecting.  

 What is your favorite dessert/food?  Homemade mac n’ cheese—I could eat it every day.  Actually….

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Blurb: 

BEWARE THE GIFTS OF THE FAE.  Battered by the attacks of the demon king, the Fae Queen, Titania, promised her greatest warrior, Declan, that his line would never fail.  To keep her promise, she made a bargain with a human village.  She would gift each girl with a magical heartwood box.  When it came time to marry, the girl’s box would change color to reveal her true love.  But there was a catch: in each generation, one girl’s box would turn black.  She must give herself as a bride to a member of the Black family.

After his brothers failed to find brides, Damian Black knows he must be ruthless.  If he fails to marry, Faerie may fall.  The moment he sees Genevieve Miran, he path is clear.  Marry her and get her safely locked up in his castle before she can escape him.  The shy Genevieve can’t resist when the gorgeous warrior does everything he can to charm her.  But Damian never dreamt that he might have rivals for Genevieve’s love—or that the rivals might be his own brothers.

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You can find the e-book edition of The Heartwood Box: A Fairy Tale on Amazon.  The print edition will be available any day!

Excerpt:

“My captive may speak only when given permission,” Damian drawled.

Genevieve’s eyes widened in a delicious-looking panic. As in the past, she seemed helpless to resist him. Her lips were pursed, her breathing short, a lovely blush spread over her body. In the three days since he’d met her, she’d already lost some of the unhealthy pallor she’d sported at the Bridal Week picnic.

Damian reached over his head and picked up a basket. He glanced inside and then popped a cherry in his mouth, giving her a lazy smile. He pulled out the pit and tossed it in the hearth. He ate several more in the same leisurely fashion as her eyes narrowed furiously.

Finally, he held a cherry just above her lips. She breathed in, as if trying to master her rage. He dangled it above her until she lost the battle with temptation and stretched for it. He pulled it out of the way a few times teasingly and then finally allowed her to put her plump lips over it. After she’d eaten it, he held out his hand for her to spit out the pit.

He continued to eat cherries, every minute or so allowing her to have one. Every time she stretched for the cherry, her breasts would peak through the covering of honey-colored hair. Finally, when he’d had a dozen and she’d had only five, he put the basket down against her knees—so close and yet entirely out of reach. If she’d been kneeling properly, with her knees as far apart as they could stretch, he could have placed the basket in an even more tantalizing spot. All in good time.