And the Winners of the Blog Hop Are

And the winners of the Halloween Urban Fantasy Blog Hope are:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Winners will be contacted by email.

Halloween Urban Fantasy Blog Hop

In honor of Halloween and everything urban fantasy, I present this blog hop for your entertainment. Don't forget to enter to win the prizes at the end of the post, and then to hop over and check out all the other participants in the blog hop and see what they are giving away!

1.       What do you love about the urban fantasy genre (reading and writing)?

           I love everything about it - the kick-ass strong heroines, the sexy alpha-male heroes, the dark
           urban atmosphere and the fast-paced action. There's romance and a sense of danger and adventure. There are hot supernatural men and women who fight for what they believe in.
What's not to love?

2.       Who is the sexiest supernatural creature? Who’s the scariest?

          I think it really depends on the writing. A good writer can make just about any supernatural   

          creature sexy or scary. I have to say though, I love shifters and angels :) As far as scary - well  

          evil spirits aka The Grudge or Paranormal Activity. I'm not a big fan of horror like of that type.

3.       If you could make any supernatural creature, what would it look like and what powers   
         would it have?
          It would be a mix of a chamelion and a shifter (who could shift into any animal) and who could
         also turn invisible when needed. Hey, it would be cool to have a creature with all of those
         powers.

          

4.       Do you have any Halloween rituals?
          While I'm not a big fan of Halloween horror movies, that are constantly been shown on TV for a month prior to Halloween, or haunted houses, there's something I find fascinating about this holiday.  I don't have any personal rituals, besides it being the only time for me to eat candy corn, but our karate school always builds a haunted house for the neighborhood kids. My husband comes up with these elaborate designs and plans, and students and parents help for a day and a half to build the haunted house out of large carton boxes attached to each other. The whole thing gets covered with black tarp so it's complete dark inside, and you have to crawl through the tunnels, which are twisting, and come out on the other hand. Inside, there are scary blinking lights, talking heads and even people dressed in costumes who jump out at those crawling through or try to grab their legs. I'm usually the gatekeeper, letting kids (and adults) crawl in one or two at a time. Many times, the kids crawl right back because it's too scary, and then rope their parents into crawling through with them. Everyone always has a lot of fun, and the Dojo Haunted House became something of a staple in the neighborhood.

          

5.       Walking at midnight in a forest on Halloween – crazy, scary or adventurous?

          Crazy me would say adventurous. What do you say?

6.       What is your worst fear?
          Hmmm...I think I would have to say dying in a airplane crash. Also, becoming blind. Yeah,
          morbid stuff.

          

7.       What is one of your character’s worst fear?
          The heroine of my WIP is scared of heights. Oh, and of trusting man too much - daddy
          issues.

8.       What is your favorite Urban Fantasy novel?
           I love the Kate Daniels series by Ilona Andrews, the Night Huntress series by Jeaniene Frost
           and the Riley Jenson series by Keri Arthur (which, I believe, was the urban fantasy series I've
           read).

9.       Who is your favorite Urban Fantasy hero/heroine?
           I have a few that are fighting for that position: Jeaniene Frost's Cat, Ilona Andrews Kate, Keri
          Arthur's Riley Jenson and Rachel Vincent's Faythe Sanders.
 

10.     Which hero/heroine would you love to be on Halloween?

          I think it would be fun to be Kate Daniels, especially because she fights with a sword and I've

         always been fascinated with sword and katana prowess.

Now, scroll down and enter to win the prizes by filling out the Rafflecopter below (winners will be announced on November 1st) and then hop on over to the rest of the blogs to check out the answers by other writers and to enter all of the giveaways!!!

List of participating blogs:

Tina Moss

Heather McCorkle

Kristie Cook 

KH LeMoyne 

Lisa Nowak

Angelica Jackson

A.J. Locke

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Halloween Urban Fantasy Blog Hop - Coming Soon!

Check back on Wednesday, October 24th for the start of the Halloween Urban Fantasy Blog Hop. Fun questions and lots of giveaways are coming your way, so don't miss it!

If you're a writer interested in participating in the blog hop, please contact me through Twitter, Facebook or email and I will send you the details.

Writer Wednesday - The Next Big Thing

Today is my turn to write the Next Big Thing post. I was kindly tagged by my wonderful writing partner Tina  Moss. This is the 16th week (!) of The Next Big Thing Blog hop, designed for writers to connect with readers and reveal a little bit about their current work in progress.
So here goes...

What is the working title of your book?

The Ariana Chronicles

Where did the idea come from for the book?
I love urban fantasy as well as spy thrillers and adventure, so the idea to combine all of those floated in one day. Still have to see how it works out.

What genre does your book fall under?

Urban Fantasy

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

The heroine is of the Eurasian descent - Asian and Eastern European actually. I've been looking for pictures but haven't necessarily thought about actors. Maybe Kristin Kreuk for the heroine.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Lara Croft meets Indiana Jones with a paranormal twist. (Again, we'll see how that works out). The book is evolving as I write.

Born a powerful supernatural Tracker, Ariana must learn to control her powers while searching for a father she thought abandoned her long ago, learning to trust a sexy shifter and become part of a team on a quest to collect supernatural artifacts that can be dangerous in the wrong hands.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

It will be represented by the Literary Counsel agency. 

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I'm still in the process of writing it. I started over a year ago. However, I'm also working on other projects.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
I would say Ilona Andrew's Kate Daniels series but in more contemporary urban setting. I say this mostly because of how I see my heroine and the influence of mythological influences from many cultures intertwined in the story.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?
I was always drawn to mythology all over the world. I'm also fascinated with the Japanese and Russian cultures (my background is Russian) and exploring their mythologies is very interesting. I also love strong heroines who need  to find themselves.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?
There are a number of various supernatural creatures, as well as spies. And the hero and heroine get to travel different countries.


This was fun. Thank you for letting me talk a little bit about my work.

Next week (week 17), check out The Next Big Thing from:

Alexia Chamberlynn

Nicole Zoltack

Amber Kallyn



What are you working on right now?