Janie will answer your questions if you leave them below in the comments!!

Oh my goodness, it’s so good to be back here with everyone.  If you last recall, the King sent a bodyguard my way, and well…we’ve been traveling the world and writing about it.  I have to say, I owe the king a solid.

But for now…guess who I have here in a brand new coffee shop in my town?  The folks here are kind and a lot of fun, and more importantly, they don’t know me.  Or rather, they don’t know about the Dark Protectors and how they keep ruining my interviews and food establishments in town.  But back to my main question…guess who’s here?

YEP!  JANET ISABELLA KAYRS.  Can you believe it?  Well, neither can I.  She’s all grown up now with long brown hair, intelligent blue eyes, and a kind smile.  She looks a lot like her mama, to be honest, and she didn’t get very tall.  We’ve already ordered coffee and it’s steaming in front of us.  Christmas decorations are all sparkly around us, and the music playing over the speakers is jolly.  But let’s get started.

ME:  Oh, Janie, I’m so excited to finally meet you in person.  I have to ask, how in the world are you here right now?

JANIE:  She gives a quick laugh.  That’s a great question, and I do understand what you mean.  Basically, how did I get away from a security detail, the Realm compound, and more importantly, my dad…to be here right now?

Me:  Exactly.

JANIE:  She shrugs.  To be honest, I started jogging by the cliffs and then kept on jogging.  Sure, we have sentries posted all around, but I know where they are, and I jogged into town and grabbed a taxi.

ME:  At this point, I wondered if the interview would kill me.  To be more exact, what was the king going to do to me if he found out I was sort of an accomplice?  Let’s not give the exact location – so far I’ve managed to keep my home town a secret.

JANIE:  No problem.  I totally understand secrets.  She glances toward the door.  Besides, we have plenty of protection.  I’m sure Max had guards on me the second I crossed the perimeter.

I turned to see two hulking guys at the front door.  As I watched, a young man in overcoat paused by the door, looked the guys up and down, and then scrambled across the street.

ME:  Oh my.  Please tell my your father isn’t coming.  Talen had demolished a restaurant once.  I swear.

JANIE:  You never know.  I’m sure the back door is guarded as well, so we can just relax.

ME:  Relax?  Yeah.  That’s a good one.  So…how’s it going?  I mean, the peace talks are about to begin, and that has to be stressful, right?

JANIE:  It really is, because if we could just broker peace, we’d finally be able to rebuild.  She turned and waved to one of the guys at the door, who waved back.

ME:  Okay.  That was sweet and not scary.  We might be okay here.  So you’re looking forward to the peace talks?

JANIE:  Well, sure.  The problem is, and don’t tell anybody because I’ve only told Garrett, but I don’t have any visions after the peace talks.  Nada, zip, zilch.

ME:  A shiver wound down my spine.  So you think that’s it for you? 

JANIE:  Eh.  I’m not sure.  It could just mean that fate is up in the air, which would be fine, except I’m not sure which way to go to make the fate I want.  You know?

ME:  Not really, but it sounds freaky.  What about Zane and Kalin?  Do you think you’ll meet them in person finally?

JANIE:  I’ve already met Kalin in person when I was a teenager during an attack on the headquarters, but I’ve never met Zane in person.  I do believe that will happen very soon, because I’ve seen excerpts around the net about it.  Sometimes being a fictional character gets weird, you know?  Other people right now know more about my life than I do, and I can’t wait to live it.

ME:  Reading between the lines here, you think you’ll live it when MARKED releases on Monday?

JANIE:  Sure.  Besides, if you really think about it, what makes you believe your world is the real one?  Maybe mine is, and we’re just playing out your story right now.

ME:  Okay, that’s waaaaay too deep for Izzy.  Do you love Zane?

JANIE:   I think so, but from the excerpts I’ve managed to uncover, he isn’t quite who I’ve made him to be in my head.  Of course, the guy is half-vampire, so you know he won’t be easy going.  In fact, one of the early reviewers stated:  “Zane was arrogant, possessive, stubborn, protective and the best freaking alpha male that I have read about in a long time!”

ME:  Oh my.  How do you feel about that?”

JANIE:  My gut feeling is that I’ll probably try to kick his ass.  Vampires need that sometimes, you know.

ME:  I actually did know that fact.  You keep calling him a vampire, and I have to ask, do you suspect his other half?  The big secret of what he is?

JANIE:  I have my suspicions, to be honest, but I truly don’t know.  Yes, I’ve heard that the first chapter of MARKED is up on the net, and Zane is revealed in it, but I don’t want to find out that way.  I’ll wait until Monday.

ME:  It seems like everyone is expecting you to fulfill fate and meet whatever destiny holds for you while still expecting you to keep yourself safe.  That must be tough.

JANIE:  Takes a deep drink of coffee, her gaze intensifying.  It’s not easy, and I don’t think even fate knows what I’ll do to protect my family.  I can tell you that she, meaning Fate, better stay the hell out of my way if our interests don’t mesh.

ME:  Wow.  I remember Janie as a little girl sometimes, and I had no clue she’d turn into such a warrior. 

The door opened.  The atmosphere changed.  Holy shittzballs.  I knew.  I mean that I KNEW who’d be there.  Sighing, probably loudly, I turned around.

Talen  Kayrs.  Yep.  The one and only. The strategic leader for the Realm, the most Alpha of the Alphas to the point of being a true pain in the butt, and Janie’s dad.  He moved toward us, all predatory grace and harsh angles.  Being three and a half, almost four centuries old really agreed with the badass.  He looked thirty, tops.

JANIE:  Damn.

ME:  Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn Damn.

TALEN:  Is this a new coffee shop?  He glances around.  I like it.  Festive.

ME:  I pretty much stop breathing.  Uh, hi.  How are things?

Talen pierces me with a golden gaze.  Crap.  He didn’t even try to hide his vampire eyes, now did he?

TALEN:  Pretty good.  Nothing much going on.

ME:  Try to force lungs to breathe.  That’s funny.  Um.  Haha.

TALEN:  Rolls his eyes.  Janie?  Perhaps we should finish our coffee and go prepare for the peace talks, considering they start in a couple of days.

JANIE:  Dad, relax.  Have a coffee.  It’s really good.

ME:  OMG.  Did she just tell Talen Kayrs to RELAX?  Oh my. 

A scuffle sounded by the door, and I turned just in time to see all of the Kayrs women, led by Cara, shove past the body guards and approach our table.

TALEN:  Holy hell.

CARA:  There’s a new coffee shop we haven’t demolished.  Excellent!  Coffee all around.

ME:  Glance sideways at Talen, who has kicked back in his chair, apparently admitting defeat.  Well now, isn’t that a sight?  I smile and gesture around for chairs while leaning toward Janie to whisper:  Things are probably about to go south, and we both know it.  Will you answer any questions put here on the blog?

JANIE:  Her eyes twinkle and she gives a short nod.  I’ll check my computer and answer any questions if there are any.  Then she glanced at the troop of Kayrs vampires approaching the door.  Yep.  South and soon.

So, if you all have any questions you’d like to ask Janie, here’s your chance!

 

Hi all!  I was contacted by Bob at Webucator to answer a few questions about being an author, and since I’m in blog mode right now with the blog tour and promo sweep for Marked, which releases on the 22^nd, I figured now would be a good time to answer these.  Here it goes:

What were your goals when you started writing?

You know, it’s funny.  I think that with any endeavor, your goals change.  At first, I just wanted to finish a book.  Then I wanted to get an agent and a contract, which I did.  Then, really, all I wanted was to see the book and hold it.  That was a very exciting day, and the book was Fated, which is the first book in the Dark Protector series.  The tenth and final book, Marked, will soon release.  After that, well…then I wanted to write another series, so I wrote the Sin Brothers and the Maverick Montana series.

Right around the time that the fourth Dark Proctor book released, one of the publicists at my publisher mentioned that it might hit a list.  Well, I have to be honest.  I’d never even considered hitting a list.  We hit the USA Today list.  At that point, of course, I reeeeaaaallly wanted to hit the New York Times Bestselling list by myself with a book (instead of in an anthology or group set).  We hit the Times last March.

What are your goals now?

Now?  Honestly, now it’s all about the writing.  I want to keep improving and making each book better than the last. That’s the key.  Also, I just signed with a film/tv agent for a new series called The Scorpius Syndrome, which will debut next year.   Going to film/tv is more of a dream than a goal, though.  Still…it’s nice to dream.

What pays the bills now?

I’m fortunate in that my husband works hard and can always cover the bills.  However, to be honest, writing is paying well and has been since almost the beginning.  My first book came out in 2011, and in 2012, I replaced my salary as a college professor.

Assuming writing doesn’t pay the bills, what motivates you to keep writing?

I’d keep writing even if it didn’t pay, because I don’t think I could stop.  Once you open those floodgates, you’re always thinking about the next story.  That’s just the way it works, I think.

And optionally, what advice would you give young authors hoping to make a career out of writing?

Don’t give up!  Seriously.  I know several fantastic authors who just gave up instead of powering through.  Power through and keep on going…it’ll all work out.

Thanks for the Webucator gang for the fun questions!  Just a quick reminder that the Marked blog tour is going on right now, and you can enter daily for a chance to win $50 at Amazon.  There’s also a fun interview of Zane Kyllwood over at BooksnKisses today, and he’s giving away a couple of books.  Under the Covers interviewed me, and the raffle copter to win the gift card is on their site right now.  Drop by and say hi!

Hi All!  I can’t believe December is here and that MARKED releases in less than two weeks.  Janie’s story is finally here.  If you preorder, you get the lowest price between now and release day, FYI!

To celebrate, we have a really fun lineup of articles, blogs, and interviews in a couple of tours.  For one of the tours, you can enter to win a $50 gift card, and you can enter once a day.  There are also other gift cards on stops as well as some books (earlier Dark Protector books) being given away.

To kick things off, today there’s a really fun interview over at GraveTells about the characters and the process of writing Marked.  There are no spoilers in the interview (I promise), so drop on in and get the scoop.  And there’s also an awesome review that doesn’t contain spoilers.

Tomorrow, the link goes live with a character interview of Zane Kyllwood.  Kelly at Books-n-Kisses tried really hard to get him to reveal who and what he is, but I’m afraid he may have outfoxed her.  This was a fun one, and I promise there aren’t any spoilers in it.  I’ve put the link in here, but I don’t think it’ll work until tomorrow (which will be 12/10).  I’ll also be at Under the Covers tomorrow with a cool interview tomorrow.

Here’s the button and link to the tour, and good luck on winning!!!

UPDATE:  CONGRATS to Missy Jacobs and Barbara Johnson for being randomly chosen to win the books.  We’ve contacted you via email for your physical address.  Thanks to everyone who entered!

Hi all!  I’m back from the Lyrical High Notes launching at the Books-A-Million store in York, and it was a wonderful signing!  Thank you to everyone who attended, especially my wonderful and wild Realm Runners.

I thought it’d be fun to celebrate the launching and my new website look (we’re still tweaking, but this is the look) with a giveaway.  Leave a comment below, and I’ll draw two names, one to win a signed print copy of CONSUMED, and the other a signed print copy of SHADOWED.  The contest is open world-wide.

If you don’t win, remember that you can buy either print book exclusively from Books-A-Million at the lower price point.

So, would you rather be a feline shifter or a vampire? 

Hi All!  If you’re anywhere near York, PA today (Saturday, November 8th), please drop by the Books-A-Million: 3000 Whiteford Road from 2:00 to 4:00.  We are having a huge launching party for the BAM-Lyrical High Notes Program.  I’ll be signing CONSUMED and SHADOWED, and M.Q. Barber will be signing PLAYING THE GAME.

There will be Door Prizes!  Bookmarks!  SWAG!  And of course, baked goods!!!  I’m hoping for cookies, but anything baked gets my vote.  Please drop by and say hi.  🙂