THE DARK AWAKENING
The
Chosen Coven, #1
by D.L.
Blade
Date of Publication: October 2nd 2018
Publisher: Fifth Element Publishing
Cover Artist: Redbird Designs
Genre: YA Paranormal
ISBN: 9780578416458
ASIN: B07G22WH8H
Number of pages: 252
Word Count: 69,000
Tagline: Darkness is coming, and
she’s their last hope
BLURB
She's stalked, hunted, and a
villainous vampire desires her blood.
Mercy’s life is anything but
ordinary. A stalker lurks in the shadows, and a man rescues her from a
life-threatening car accident, but vanishes right before her eyes.
But this man who she thought was
a hallucination, tracks her down at a nearby cove, and claims they were once in
love from another time. Another century.
Mercy has no memory of this world
he shares, and instinctively doesn’t trust him.
He also reveals to her a
life-changing secret—she’s a powerful witch, vampires are real, and she's
destined to destroy them.
Mercy finds herself dragged into
a centuries-old battle against the undead, and a sadistic vampire leader has
set his sights on her. And he will stop at nothing until he claims Mercy as his
own.
She and her coven won’t go down
without a fight. She needs to discover the truth about her past, and the power
she holds, before it’s too late.
EXCERPT
They were there in the shadows
again. This was the third time this week I had thought someone was watching me.
The last few weeks, I’d heard the
rustling of leaves and the crackling sound of old fallen branches beneath
someone’s feet, or the hairs at the back of my neck would stand straight
because I knew someone stood silently behind me. Last night wasn’t any different.
I exited my car after an exhausting day at work and heard what sounded like a
low, deep exhale coming from the forest next to Lily’s house. I swiftly turned
around, fumbling with the flashlight on my phone, but when the light pierced the
darkness, the sound stopped.
Tonight, it was a silhouette
behind my aunt Lily’s fence in the backyard. It wasn’t someone walking by with
their dog or a neighbor taking out their trash. They were standing there,
staring, as I walked to the sink to rinse my dinner bowl. I wasn’t going to
tell her again. She’d just tell me what she’d told me last time I brought it
up. She’d say I was just seeing things and that it was normal to feel this way
after trauma.
“Your turn, Mercy,” Lily said.
Her voice pulled my gaze from the window.
“I’m coming,” I said, taking one
last glance toward the silhouette.
They were gone.
Author Info
D.L. Blade grew up in southern California, but relocated to Colorado with her family in 2014.
She always loved writing,
concentrating on poetry rather than prose when she was younger. That changed
however, when she had a dream one night and decided to create a story about it.
In her spare time, D.L. enjoys a
wide variety of hobbies, including reading, attending rock concerts and
volunteering at local animal shelters where she can indulge in her passion for
all forms of life.
In the future, D.L. hopes that
she can continue to write exciting novels that will captivate her readers and
bring them into the worlds that she creates using her imagination.
The Book Junkie Reads . . . Interview with D.L. Blade . . .
How would you describe you style of writing to someone that has never read your work?
I love to write fast-paced novels. I introduce the setting, the characters, and what’s to come, and then take off with it. I personally get pretty bored when a book is overly descriptive where my mind tends to wander off. I need action.
I want my books to grip my readers. I will bring a lot of action and twists to keep the reader wondering what will happen next. This series is young adult, so I wanted a story that our youth will get lost in.
I love twists and turns that keep you guessing. I love writing books with a fun villain that you’ll love to hate, and endings that will get you excited about the next book in the series. A lot of readers have described my writing style as a blend between The Vampire Diaries, Fallen, Twilight and The Mortal Instruments. I love the dark, so The Chosen Coven trilogy gets a weee bit darker as you go.
Do you feel that writing is an ingrained process or just something that flows naturally for you?
I wasn’t a writer growing up. I took several writing classes after I released my debut novel, The Dark Awakening, so readers have seen that growth throughout the series. The ideas are there, but it’s just a matter of getting it on paper and then tightening it up. My ideas come as I write. I will plan a little bit, but once I start typing, the story comes to me.
What mindset or routine do you feel the need to set when preparing to write (in general whether you are working on a project or just free writing)?
I will put on beautiful, epic music, or meditate before. I need a quiet space, so I have to write far away from my kids. I open up my notes, and start writing. First draft is always to get the story down, and then I’ll go through it several times and spice it up before sending it off to my editor.
Do you take your character prep to heart? Do you nurture the growth of each character all the way through to the page? Do you people watch to help with development? Or do you build upon your character during story creation?
A little bit of both. I see the character in my mind, but as I write the story, and different ideas come, those ideas will sometimes alter certain parts of the character where they may have different traits they didn’t’ start off with or their appearance is now a little different. So, I’ll go back and change it to fit. The story helps me create the character, and vise versa.
Do you have a character that you have been working on for a long time that still isn't quite ready, but fills you with excitement to work on the story?
My main character, Emalia, in my pirate book. She started off as a dainty princess, but now, she’s a bad-a** warrior siren. It’s been so fun creating this character and I’m excited to introduce her to my readers. She’s skilled with a bow and arrow and she also has this spunk about her, where she won’t allow others to talk down to her in this fantasy world I created. That part of her personality helps Emalia to succeed in protecting herself from the danger that’s coming.
Have you found yourself bonding with any particular character(s)? If so which one(s)?
In The Dark Awakening, I’d say Mercy. I traveled to East Greenwich, RI, where my book takes place, and I had to imagine for a bit I was her as I toured the town and got lost in the story that I had started, but not quite finished. She led me to places that brough the book to life. Every place in the book is a real place I’ve visited, and it’s quite the cute little town.
Do you have a character that you have been working on that you can't wait to put to paper?
So far in my pirate romance, I have the characters ready to go. I’m still developing my Fae queen, but I’ll get there.
Can you share your next creative project(s)? If yes, can you give a few details?
I’m not ready to share the title or synopsis yet since I am still developing it, but it’s the pirate book that comes out this fall. You’ll have everything from pirates, mermaids/sirens, dragons, fae, elves, evil king and prince and a sexy captain and his awesome pirate crew. Also, a creepy island with dangerous creatures. There will be romance between the captain (Lincoln) and the siren (Emalia)
What are some of your writing/publishing goals for this year?
I’d love to publish at least 6 books between now and 2023. I am going to dive into different genres and my end goal is to financially provide for my family, from my books. I also would love to learn to write my series as a screenplay and get it into the hands of producers.
Have you ever felt that there was something inside of you that you couldn't control? If so what? If no what spurs you to reach for the unexperienced?
Probably my desire for perfection. No book is perfect and I can’t tell you how many times I went over and over it before I published, even after editing, because I was so nervous about releasing my first book. After a while, I had to just let it go and publish it. It was ready.
If you could have dinner/dinner party with 7 fictional character, who would they be?
All the characters from The Vampire Diaries, especially Damon Salvatore. I’m a little obsessed with that book
If you could spend one-week with 5 fictional character, who would they be and where would you spend that time?
I’ll take Damon & Stefan Salvatore from The Vampire Diaries, Sookie and Eric from True Blood, Cardan from The Cruel Prince and take them to Italy with me. I’d love to pick their brains while we sipped wine at a Tuscany vineyard.
Where would you spend one full year, if you could go ANYWhere, money is not a concern? What would you do with this time?
Italy. Write books with no interruptions.
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/D-L-Blade/e/B07G1YF228/
Website https://www.dlbladebooks.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DLBlade_Writer
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