I am thrilled to have J.A. Belfield here today for
part of her Blue Moon tour! Click on the image above for a list of stops.
Let me just say that this woman is one awesome
author. Whether you enjoy reading paranormal romance involving wolves or not,
you MUST look into her Holloway Pack Series!! Check out my 5 star reviews of Darkness & Light
(HP #1) HERE and Blue Moon (HP #2) HERE.
2 big giveaways going on at the end of the post – enter
to win a paperback of D&L and some beautiful handmade Holloway Pack
jewelry!
Ok. Enough from me. Let's chat with Ms. Belfield.
So. Where
did your love of werewolves come from?
Seriously, I have no idea. Just like Jem, I’ve had
werewolf dreams for many years (hey, the ideas came from somewhere O_O), but my
early dreams, when I was still a child, used to terrify the heck out of me. I
guess somewhere along the way, either my dreams became less scary, or I became
less afraid. Now they fascinate me. The whole possibility of fitting into a
human society whilst you have that supernatural strength, those enhanced
senses, and the ability to switch forms and become one with your animalistic
side and nature itself?
Agony of changing aside, it sounds like an awesome
combination to me.
Totally
human, yet totally wolf, the characters are portrayed beautifully. How long did
you study wolf / dog packs to understand and convey their nature with such an
organic feel?
Thank you. But, honestly? I didn’t. Everything
within my pages has come from my dreams. Corny answer, but if folk want to ask
how I know what I do about werewolves, I’d say: my head told me. Simple as
that. ;)
I
mentioned in my review of D&L how much I enjoyed the British feel – flavor.
What made you stick with your roots and not Americanize as most authors tend to
do?
We actually almost didn’t. I remember when the
manuscript was first with the publisher, and the contract had been signed, and
the discussions then took place about the changes they’d requested. And during
that discussion, the word ‘whilst’ was brought up. Although the entire book is
full of the English way of speaking, and uses English spellings, whilst is the
one word that stuck out the most to the publishers with them being American
based. However, after chatting about it, my editor decided to let it stay as
they felt it would be wrong to lose the flavor of the book when it reflects
where it’s set. Whilst (ha!) altering the use of a singular word wouldn’t have
been a massive blow to the story, I’m still happy they left it in. J
Witches
& magic – what kind of research did you do for the craft? Where did you
find the ingredients for the spells?
Ah, now that’d be telling, wouldn’t it? LOL
Okay, okay, I’ll spill. My sister has an interest in
witchcraft and spells, and so she was naturally the first person I turned to
for help. If I needed a spell that could be used in X way to have Y affect, I’d
simply email her, tell her what I needed, and she’d go look it up for me and
email me back with some results. The awesome part, though, was that she seemed
to totally ‘get’ where I was going with each request and helped to expand the
idea with suggestions of her own. I couldn’t have asked for a better research
partner. Though most of the spells described in Blue Moon, I found myself
whilst perusing a tome of hers, which just happens to showcase a hoard of
traditional spells, their results, their histories—everything. It helped bring
it all to life in my mind so much more vividly during writing it. :)
I
love how Jess played a bigger role in this book. I love too the still
unanswered questions. I know you won’t give much away, but whose story is next?
I have my suspicions and I HOPE I’m right.
Actually, I have a 2.5 coming out before Holloway
Pack 3. :) Resonance is a novella, due for release April 2013, in which all the
loose ends from Blue Moon will be tied. I spent quite a bit of time deciding on
a title for it, because not only is/are the conflict/s created by echoes of
Blue Moon, but there is also some enlightenment shed, and certain parts play an
important role in paving the way to Caged: Holloway Pack 3. So Resonance seemed
like the best fit.
Of
course I have to ask – Ethan. Delish. Nom, I think you’d say. I hear there’s a
novel coming out in August with him as the lead man. Can you tell us a bit?
Tease just a smidge?
He does seem to have this affect on the ladies,
doesn’t he? Funnily enough, I never actually wrote him to be so … appealing. I
just wrote him how he sounded in my mind and Ethan’s what happened, LOL.
So, um … what can I tell you about Caged …………
without giving the game away ………… hmmmmmmm …………… Okay, the best I can give you
is a tagline I’ve personally handed over to Ethan as his catchphrase for the
book. Here you go:
‘How Strong Can One Wolf Be?’
And
lastly because we love personal tidbits to make us think we’ve got the inside
scoop on our favorite authors – what’s your go-to snack for those moments
you’re staring at the computer screen praying your characters will start
speaking to you?
My go-to snack? You mean I’m supposed to remember to
eat? Why didn’t anybody tell me this?
Okay, my go-to snack is usually whatever’s nearest
and doesn’t need cooking and won’t ruin the taste of my coffee too much.
Something like pain au chocolat, or toasted ciabatta bread with lashing of
butter. Nom. Damn, now I’m hungry …..
And one last fun tidbit (I just had to giggle at a guest post from her Make Believe blog tour) check out some pics of where Ms. Belfield's muse makes her slave away HERE.
Handmade Holloway Pack Jewelry (Pics can be found HERE)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Darkness & Light (Holloway Pack #1) Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks so much for stopping by & best of luck!!
