I'm delighted to welcome Claire Davon to the blog. Claire, please tell us a little about yourself.
I am best described
as a multi-genre writer, although my publishing focus is romance. I write
across horror, fantasy and science fiction genres, as well as my contemporary
and paranormal romance novels.
I love firsts, so tell me about the moment when
a publisher told you they wanted to publish your book.
Oh this is a good one, since it just happened. In March of this year I
pitched the first in my Elementals’ Challenge series to Samhain and they wanted
to see it. Then they asked for some revisions (if I was willing). On September
of this year they offered me a contract! I was, and remain, over the moon. The
book will be released Jun 21, 2016.
Excerpt
from Fire Danger (Samhain release June 21, 2016) (no buy link yet):
“Stay back!”
The whoosh of his
wings manifesting startled Phoenix, knocking him off-balance. They gathered
behind him, sticking up from his body. Phoenix immediately crouched into a
defensive position, trying to identify the cause of the danger.
His wings had so
consumed his attention that it took him a minute to realize there was a voice
in his mind that rang through like a bell. He jerked to a standing position.
“Get away from
me!”
The mental voice
was shrill and panicked. His wings unfurled fully, looming like large orange
and red shadows above him.
“Dogs. Scary
dogs. Too close. Snarling. Stay away from me.”
Not his danger.
His workout DVD
was no longer an option. Rising, Phoenix pressed stop on the player,
simultaneously reaching out with his mind to find the source of the signal.
“Big dogs. Too
big. Run. No, don’t run. They’ll chase you.”
The voice inside
his head consumed his attention. Phoenix opened the large plate-glass door that
led to the patio of his hillside house and sought a direction.
The voice was
female.
She was in
trouble.
She was mortal.
Love the excerpt. I'm not surprised they decided to publish it.
Other than your own, who are your favorite /writers
in your genres?
In contemporary romance I love Elizabeth Lowell. Her book Tell Me No
Lies is my second favorite romance. My first favorite contemporary romance is
in The Midnight Rain by Barbara Samuel, writing as Ruth Wind. My poor paperback
copy of this book is heavily dog eared. Paranormally I enjoy Marjorie Liu,
Nalini Singh, and of course Sherrilyn Kenyon and Christine Feehan.
What is the most exciting moment, so far, in
your writing career?
September 29, 2015 when Samhain Publishing made all my dreams come
true. I am so happy for you!!!
What is your favorite pastime, other than
writing?
I like reading. I do animal rescue. I have a full time job that I enjoy
that keeps me hopping. I love to learn about science facts and the amazing
things that exist within the mundane.
How do you motivate yourself when inspiration
takes a vacation?
I keep writing. It may sound counter intuitive but if inspiration
vanishes but I keep plodding through I find later that the stuff I wrote in
that so-called barren moment isn’t so bad. If nothing else I will go to the
Internet and pull out location stuff to add to the story. I do that too. Sister!) There’s
always something to do.
Any advice for new writers just starting out?
Keep at it. I read somewhere a few years ago when I went back to
writing that it takes two years to get good. While I don’t know if I believe
that I do think that the only thing that makes you a better writer is to just
keep at it. Write a book. If you can’t do that, then write a short story.
Submit it. My shorts have been a good way for me to learn more about my craft
and accept the process of rejection and also acceptance. Just keep at it. Keep
writing, keep learning, keep going. It’s only if you stop then you are
guaranteed to fail.
What genre or genres do you write?
My
novels are romance of some sort or other (contemporary, urban fantasy,
paranormal) but my short stories are anything from ghost stories to quiet
horror to dragon fantasies to straight SF. I love answering submission calls
and stretching my imagination.
Tell us about your latest release.
The last thing I self-published was a bundle of my four Urban Fantasy
“Time” series together in one place. It’s a combination time travel, end of the
world, wish fulfillment romance.
What’s your current WIP?
I’m doing NaNoWriMo so I’m working on a past lives romance story in two
parts (with a lot of past lives cut into the main two plots) in a very rough
first draft. I’m also revising the second Elementals’ Challenge story for when
Samhain and I have that conversation. In addition, I’m doing final edits to the
first Elementals’ Challenge story, called Fire Danger. You are awesome. Congratulations on doing NaNoWriMo this year. I’m skipping
because I have two previous NaNo books to revise.
And finally, where can we find you?
I love to hear from people!
Thank you for being here Claire.
Claire is offering a copy of Beginning Time, The first book in her Time travel series to one lucky reader.
Here's an excerpt:
Fiona eased out from the doorway, hands in
front of her. She could still hear the peculiarly even sounds in the
distance, seeming miles away instead of feet in front of her.
“Hello?” she called, inching forward, prepared to check for
life signs if she stumbled across a body.
The cessation of sound and light was as shocking as it had
been the first time. It was as if a vacuum had sucked everything out
of the area when she spoke, leaving nothing but fog and herself in its wake.
Nonetheless, she called again. “Hello?”
The reply, if that is what it was, was not
reassuring. “What the hell!”
Abruptly the fog vanished, leaving Fiona blinking and
disoriented. The brightness blinded her for a few seconds and she
closed her eyes, bracing herself for what she’d see when she opened them.
When she did, Fiona sucked in a breath, her stomach
roiling. It was impossible. It should have been
impossible.
Thank you for stopping by. Enter below. Happy reading.
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