Kasper's Ramblings from Kasper Beaumont

Sci-Fi / Paranormal with a healthy sprinkling of romance. An interview with Sally Ember @sallyemberedd #FSFNet

4/17/2016

Sally Ember is an author of many talented, from her sci-fi novels The Spanner Series which combine a blend of paranormal and romance to her other roles as an educator, business manager, Vlogger and blogger. There is more to Sally than meets the eye.
With the elements of Buddhism and meditation she discusses, we get a sense that Sally is moving along the path to enlightenment.
I interviewed Sally today for the Fantasy Sci-Fi Network and uncovered some new information about this award-winning author.

Here are some of my favourite snippets from my interview with Sally Ember:
* Sally classes her genre as: 'sci-fi /romance/ speculative fiction/ paranormal/ multiverse/ utopian books for New Adult/adult/YA audiences.' Something for everyone there.
* She talks about her working relationship with Willow Raven, her cover artist
* We discover what 'vajras' are
* Sally admits to hearing voices ;-)
* Her friends and family might find some hints of themselves in her works
* Sally has a song list for her writing and how each song relates to characters and scenes
* Volume 4 of Sally's series is due for release in 2016
Click here for the full interview

Dr. Clara Ackerman Branon, 58, begins having secret visits from holographic representations of beings from the Many Worlds Collective, a consortium of planet and star systems in the multiverse. When Earth is invited to join the Collective, the holos choose Clara as liaison between Earth and the Many Worlds Collective to make the secret visits public and guide Earth's new leaders. While Earthers adjust their beliefs and ideas about life, religion, culture, identity and everything they think and are, rebellions and conflicts arise. The Collective works with Clara to create the Psi-Warriors who fight the leaders of the resistance, the Psi-Defiers. With multiple re-sets needed to revise the past and future to save lives, in which of the timelines in the multiverse does her love, Epifanio Dang, get to be with Clara? Over Clara's thirty-year term as Chief Communicator, Earthers must undergo major transformations.

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Interview with Tima Maria Lacoba, author of the Dantonville vampire Series @TimaMariaLacoba

4/23/2015

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Tima is a former ancient historian and archaeologist who accidently smashed a 3,000 Egyptian vase while on her first dig! The supervisor made her glue it back together again. It took a week. From there she went on to specialise in late Roman-British archaeology, and the military forts along Hadrian’s Wall, because buildings don’t smash as easily. Now she has combined a love of history with another passion—story-telling—to create a dark tale of Roman soldiers cursed by a British witch.

Tima has always been a storyteller, but it wasn't until five years ago that she seriously ventured into writing. The result was Bloodgifted. In 2011 it was shortlisted in the Atlas Award and eventually came fourth place. In 2012 it was listed among the top ten in the Choclit Search for an Aussie Star

Competition. In 2013, she was offered a publishing contract but declined in favour of going indie, preferring the idea of being in charge of her own creation.
Bloodgifted is just the start of a four-part series entitled, The Dantonville Legacy.
Book 2, Bloodpledge, was released four months ago, and Book 3, Blood Vault, is due for release June 2015. She also intends to satisfy her fans requests by writing individual books on the other characters in the series. So Terens, Cal Jake and Sam will each have their own story.

Tima currently lives on the Central Coast, an hour's drive north of Sydney in Australia. Her little house is surrounded by bushland, possums and seed-dropping Rosellas on one side, and waterways on the other.

Between bouts of writing, she can be found in the kitchen baking yet another chocolate recipe. This activity is responsible for forming more gothic, urban fantasy stories in her mind for future books

Book title: Bloodgifted, Book 1 of The Dantonville Legacy

Genre: urban/fantasy/paranormal romance

Synopsis:

Being unable to age is only the beginning.

Laura Dantonville is shocked to learn her strange genetic mutation, is linked to a dark family secret—a centuries-old curse that turned her Roman ancestor into a vampire. Now that she has come of age, she is the key to breaking that curse. But she’s also the prey of rogue vampires who inhabit the city’s frightening and violent underworld, as her blood gives them the ability to daywalk. For her protection she’s assigned a guardian—the handsome, sexy and dangerous Alec Munro.

And he wants nothing to do with her. If not for her family, Alec Munro would never have been transformed into a vampire. He owes them nothing, yet he also knows his own fated role in breaking the curse, and the unthinkable consequences should he not accept.

To the Brethren, the ending of the curse spells disaster.
Among a powerful few, malice grows . . .

Publish date: July 2013

Publisher: Tima Maria Lacoba

BLOODGIFTED EXTRACT

I spun around to face him, but as I was still out of breath all I could do was stand there, with my hands clenched by my side, and glare at him. He moved away from the door and came slowly toward me. I took a step back.

‘It occurred to me I don’t like the idea of becoming a single mother,’ I managed to say between breaths.

‘You should have thought of that sooner.’ He pulled his T-shirt over his head and dropped it on the floor.

I stared open mouthed at his chiselled body, the rippling muscles of his torso and the sword and serpent tattoo on his left breast. It was identical to the image on the stained glass window. On impulse, I reached out and touched it.

‘All the men have one. It marks us as belonging to Luc’s clan,’ he said. ‘Does he have one too?’ ‘Yes.’ The look in his eyes intensified. ‘Keep touching me, Laura.’ My hands traced the hard planes of his chest, stomach and the delectable trail of dark hair that disappeared below the tops of his jeans. ‘You told me never to touch you again. You still feel that way?’ 

‘If I did, I wouldn’t be agreeing to this. It’s only sex, nothing more. A means to an end.’ 

‘Did I promise anything more?’ 

No, he didn’t. This was, as he so succinctly put it, a business arrangement.

Author Interview with Tima

Kasper: Hi Tima, welcome to my blog. I'm looking forward to learning more about the writer behind the exciting Dantonville vampire series. I read Bloodpledge last year and enjoy your writing.

What made you choose this genre?
Tima: Thanks Kasper, a pleasure to be here. Hi everyone, I enjoy writing urban/ fantasy/ paranormal as it gives more scope for the imagination, letting me delve into the realm of the supernatural. Hey, I fell in love with Bram Stoker’s Dracula when I was seventeen!

Which scene from your book do you like best and why?

The chapter entitled, Vampire Ball, was so much fun to write. I introduced historical figures who had disappeared—whose bodies were never found. It was too much to resist. Of course I had to make it appear that their disappearance was a result of them having to hide their being turned into vampires!

Which is your favourite character and why?

I love them all, but Laura—my MC—was fun to write. She’s an ordinary young woman placed into an extraordinary situation. She’s not the kick-arse type of heroine you find in many urban-fantasy books today. Laura’s the archetypal girl-next-door: she smart, funny, loving and loyal to those she loves, and she has no idea how to use a sword, dagger of any other type of weapon. She could be you or me.

Have you used any real events or places as inspiration for your writing?

Oh yes. While working on my Master’s thesis on Roman Britain, I came across an ancient Roman fort in the UK (Vindobala). It was abandoned in the mid 3rd century for no apparent reason. An idea popped into my head and I wrote it down. Ten months later I’d written Bloodgifted.

What are you working on now?

Currently I’m a third of the way through writing Book 3 in my Dantonville Legacy Series – Blood Vault. I’ve given myself a deadline of July this year.

Remind me to check that one out when it's published. I enjoyed book 2 and have posted my review here.

What do you do when you have writers’ block?

I hate when it happens, but it does, I do something physical like go for a walk, tend my garden, bake a cake or pick up a crafty project. The activity gets the oxygen pumping through my brain and the ideas eventually come.

Baking hey? I might give that one a try next time. I bet it makes you feel better too.

How did you go about developing your cover artwork?

I’m lucky to have a talented cover artist. She knows my books and chooses just the right images that reflect the stories within. Her name is Patti Roberts from Paradox Designs.

If you could only take three books with you through an interstellar portal, what would they be?

That’s a hard one as there are so many. But to narrow it down, I’d choose: (i) the Bible, (ii) Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, (iii) Gena Showalter’s The Lords of the Underworld series.

Who are your five favourite authors?

JRR Tolkien, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Charlotte Bronte, CS Lewis and Gena Showalter.

What is your favourite quote?

I love this one from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – “I love deadlines. I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly past.”

Which book character are you most like and why?

Alice in Wonderland, because my character of Laura was based on her: a girl who finds herself in a strange, and slightly frightening, place.

What’s your favourite line from a book?

“In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.”

Who would you choose to read your audiobook?

If dreams truly came true, I’d love to have Hugh Jackman read Alec and Cate Blanchette as Laura.

That would be awesome! I hope your wish comes true.

Thanks so much for stopping by today, Tima, to share your story with us. Best wishes for the Dantonville Series. I look forward to the next instalment.

This is the male MC, Alec Munro on the cover of Book 2 of the series, Bloodpledge

Here are the links to connect with Tima and check out her books:

Website/blog: – http://timamarialacoba.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook/TimaMariaLacoba

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads/TimaMariaLacoba

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/timamarialacoba

Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXg_aQvKXU0

Amazon: amzn.to/18mq9Bd

iTunes: - http://bit.ly/SpEXHs

Kobo: http://bit.ly/1DI8LW0

Barnes & Noble: http://bit.ly/1NZ9VMi

Smashwords: http://bit.ly/1iHUN6K

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Julian Coleman pops in to frighten us #FSFNet @JulianMColeman1 #interview

Sci-Fi / Paranormal with a healthy sprinkling of romance. An interview with Sally Ember @sallyemberedd #FSFNet

Interview with Tima Maria Lacoba, author of the Dantonville vampire Series @TimaMariaLacoba

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