An interview with Rachel Higginson! Striking blog tour.

As most of you have probably guessed by now, I am a huge fan of the works of one Rachel Higginson. Thanks to my Kindle, I read a lot of self-published works... And indie has a lot of variances in quality. Rachel's works, however, are the cream at the top that make the Indie genre worth reading.

To celebrate her upcoming release of Striking, cowritten by Lila Felix, I asked if Rachel would be willing to do an interview with me. 

I am a huge fan of all the female protagonists in your books. If you were sitting down to eat with Eden, Stella, Reagan, Ivy, Ellie, and the star of your newest book Cami, what would you ladies talk about? What would the girls think of each other? Who would you sit next to? And for goodness sake, what would you be eating?

Thank you so much Regan! And thank you for having me on your fabulous blog!

I love my leading ladies, so it’s great to hear that you do too! First of all, this would be the best afternoon of my life! I would love to hang out with all my girls and share a meal. Well, outside of my head…. J

I think the first thing we would have to talk about would of course be the boys!! I mean, some of them are in some pretty difficult places with men, and we’d of course need to work out those issues. And those who are settled into their happily-ever-afters already would be required to dish all the delicious details. That would be priority number one. Obviously.

Then I’d just love to hear a firsthand account of their struggles from their perspective. I’d want to hear Eden tell her plight to save Lilly the first time from her point of view. Or what it was like for Stella to be trapped in that locker room with Seth, surrounded by such palpable evil. And I’d want to hear Cami’s humble account of spending time in Tennessee and when she felt her life was changing. I foresee hours and hours of conversation in our future!

And it would be such a relaxed atmosphere. All my girls are adventurous foodies, so we’d sit down over Indian and share roti and vegetable samosas. We’d eat with our hands, and drink King Fishers and just laugh until we cried. I would need to sit by Eden- my literary BFF. But the other girls all come in at a very close second. And they would love each other. I imagine Cami and Ivy would get really close with their mutual love of fashion and ex-mean girl ways. And Reagan and Ellie have that sarcastic, dry humor thing in common. They would keep us laughing at everything they said! And Stella and Eden would hit it off right away too, since they have that whole saving-everyone-they-love thing going for them. I’d make Eden recreate the Morocco desert tent- only the less sexy version- and we’d just enjoy the most fabulous girls’ night out ever.

I used to work as a barista and you can learn a lot about a person by their regular coffee order. If you had to pick up coffee for the gang, what would their orders be? How about yours?

Striking, What a Beautiful Cover... Reveal.

How pretty is this cover?

So, by now you should know that I'm a huge fan of Indie Author, Rachel Higginson. You should be too. To help convert you, later this week I'll be posting an interview with the lady about her upcoming book with cowriter Lila Felix, Striking.

It has blacksmiths in it. Blacksmithing=awesome. So go on over to Goodreads (by clicking here) and put it on your 'to-read' shelf... along with all her other books. You won't regret it.

To tide you over until then, here's the synopsis:

Can two hearts be forged into one?

Cami Montgomery stole a car and smashed it into the front of a building in upscale Beverly Hills after a lousy date with the epitome of sleaze balls. The worst part, her parents are following through on threats after this latest plea for attention. Banished from her L.A. paradise and plunged into the Appalachian Mountains with her industrious aunt and uncle, Cami is about to find out how precious life really is.

Stockton Wright has been thrust into a hard life. He sacrifices everything to give his family and community what they need. He’s exhausted from life and work—and he’s only twenty four. What he needs is some change, and some sunshine. Even he will agree to that. He just doesn’t expect to find it in a stuck up, pompous, entitled Californian.

Cami bursts into Stockton’s life like wildfire, consuming all his thoughts and tangling him in her web. What starts out as a contentious rivalry evolves into a desire neither of them expected. When hammer meets metal, will they crack under pressure or be forged as one?

Cami and Stockton might just end up being exactly what the other one needs, but first their love will have to be drawn out in fire.

Love & Decay, Episode 3

We catch up with Reagan and company still traveling south, only this time they're on foot. And smelly. Well, Reagan is at least. And considering she shot a zombie in the head from zero feet away, it's understandable; being covered in rotting brain matter certainly doesn't make you smell like roses.

Luckily she has one completely drool-worthy man to wash her hair for her, though she doesn't feel lucky so much as trapped by Hendrix, and her own, feelings that have no place for the whole world-ending situation they were in. And having corpse washed out of your hair should not feel like an intimate moment, but I suppose the zombie apocalypse make's all sorts of weird situations seem normal...

Our group is going south on-foot, they're low on ammo, the only shelter for miles is a dilapidated shed, and some zombie too far to kill is screeching into night.

Or could he be calling for backup?

Reagan and Haley had been hearing rumors of organized zombies to the south. Zombies capable of working together; zombies capable of forming an army. And as our gang of bad-ass zombie killers are surrounded by a mass of rotting undead, Reagan can't help but think that this fight feels different.



Man, oh man. The tension between Reagan and Hendrix is just delicious. Higginson manages to create a lot of sexual tension in a very PG manner, and I'm not entirely sure how. Because nothing inappropriate is done or mentioned... but oh do you want it to be. Another great installment, and of course I can't wait for the next one. Which should be next Friday.

• Love & Decay, episode 3 is $.99 on Amazon
• a new episode in this novella series comes out every two weeks
• There is graphic violence, and a few swear-jar words, but appropriate for younger readers (13+)

Love & Decay, Episode 2

This weeks installment of Rachel Higginson's new zombie series takes place one week after the events in Episode 1, and our crew has settled into a (somewhat) comfortable routine of southward migration. Comfortable, that is, until they come across a road block of zombies... Of course, they're used to zombies.

What they aren't used to are settlements that use zombies as a blockade AND test for would-be visitors (or passers-through). Settlers that have very particular ideas on the role that a women should play in this new world. And it's not a role that sits right with Reagan, Haley, OR the Parker brothers.

It especially doesn't sit well with Hendrix. He of the smoldering eyes and not-so-subtle hints of feelings that are far too inappropriate for an apocalyptic setting. While his brother may be fine with elementary-style flirting his way into the heart of Haley, Hendrix is willing to wait for Reagan to realize, what in his mind, is inevitable...

But, while Reagan in unequivocally drawn to Hendrix despite his infuriating attitude and over-evolved sense of protection, his older brother Vaughan is making a confusing situation even more difficult with his easy jokes and genuine good-guy attitude...

Who knew that the end of the world would have so many hunky bachelors to choose from?

Fun facts

• This is the second installment, and is due to release the weekend of July 26th
• episode 2, like the first one, will only cost $.99
• This series is modeled after t.v. shows.... 12 total episodes (novellas), one released every two weeks, and a small hiatus after all 12 are 'aired' before the next 'season' starts. So you don't have long to wait until the next installment.

Nomad, a review

50 years in the future America is ravaged by a dictator, towns have been reduced to war zones, and the few people brave enough to overthrow the new order are out-manned, out-gunned, and fighting a battle they can never win. If only there were a way to kill the dictator before he comes into power.

Raven. Her name is the only thing she knows about herself. She finds herself walking alone, on a highway, covered in blood that isn't her own, carrying a backpack full of cash and a plasma gun. Her memories of how and why have escaped her mind with everything else.

After piecing clues from the items in her backpack together with the few memories she has regained, Raven knows what she needs to do; she needs to travel to New Haven to assassinate college student Logan Carraway, future Dictator of the United States of America and the man that will one day be responsible for thousands of deaths and the ruin of a nation.

Written by J.L. Bryan, Nomad is a spectacular addition to my book-shelves. I was instantly sucked into this story, the story of this young girl that has been shaped by a war-ravaged country and how she struggles to do the right thing, gambling with her very future in a quest to prevent the near apocalyptic environment that she grew up in.

I don't typically read science-fiction. Not that I dislike the it, but it's not the genre that I naturally gravitate to.

That being said, Nomad is one of those books that I'm glad I didn't pass over. Really glad. J.L.Bryan wrote an approachable time-travel book, one that doesn't make the reader feel stupid for not knowing the theories behind time travel... one for people that might not know what flux capacitors or red phone booths have to do with traveling through time. It adds in a little romance, but nothing that will give you a toothache. 

Fun Facts

• Nomad is due to release this Friday, July 26th
• There are no plans for a sequel, but that doesn't mean there won't be at a future time
• Not appropriate for a very young reader (12-13 and under) because of some sexual content and violence
• J.L. Bryan is a self-published author. Visit is website at http://www.jlbryanbooks.com/
• Buy his books at Amazon

Want a copy of this book? Like my Facebook page or follow me on Twitter for a chance to win... or do both for two chances!

AoW: An Interview with JL Bryan

About a year ago I came across a really interesting book, called Jenny Pox (read my review), by an Indie Author I'd never heard of before, JL Bryan. While I haven't read all his work since then, Jenny Pox has stuck with me as a very clever and unique addition to the YA Horror genre. I was lucky enough to be able to read his newest book, Nomad, which is due to release this Friday... And I really mean lucky because it is phenomenal.

In celebration of JL Bryan's awesomeness I have decided to make him the Author of the Week, and he decided to take the time to do an interview with me.

When did you first realize you wanted to write?

I've been writing stories since elementary school, and had pretty well made up my mind that I wanted to write them for a living by the time I was seven or eight. I wrote my first novel-length story when I was 12, I think.

Any pearls of wisdom you want to share with other aspiring writers?

Read very widely and write every day. Work hard to develop your craft. Everything else is details and luck

What are your favorite books? What are you reading right now or most recently?

Right now I'm reading MIND ON FIRE, a biography of Ralph Waldo Emerson. I typically read more nonfiction that fiction, as it feeds my imagination more.

Any sneaky lessons in your books that you hope the readers will learn? What do you want readers to take away from your writing?

I don't really try to work in lessons. I'm not didactic, I'm not out to push a certain viewpoint. Fiction is a good way to explore questions that don't have any clear answers, so that's what I'm usually doing.

How much research do you typically do for a book?

Tons, partly because I enjoy the research. It might take a few hours of research to get one sentence or one paragraph right--to find the one or details that really adds something to your story.

Out of all of your books, is there a character that you relate the most with or which one is most like you?

I think all the characters have some of me in them, but I'm not sure that there's one that's most like me. Certainly there was a strong emotional connection with Jenny from the Jenny Pox books.

Can you tell us a little bit about your new book Nomad, which is due to release on July 26th? It's pretty different from your most recent works; was it hard to leave the worlds of the Paranormals and Songs of Magic to write something new?

Nomad is a story about a young woman who travels back in time fifty years (to our year, 2013) to try and prevent a dystopian future. I definitely don't have trouble trying out new stories and ideas. I'm not very good at sticking to one specific genre at all, which is what you're supposed to do if you want to sell a lot of books.

Where did you get the idea for Raven, your main character? Can we expect to see more of her in the future? Will we get to learn a bit more about Eliad, the mysterious boy from an alternate future?

I enjoyed writing Raven because she's a little bit of a sensitive soul who grew up in a harsh, violent, decimated sort of world. I really don't have plans to write sequels right now, but that doesn't mean there won't eventually be a sequel. It all depends on what I get inspired to do.

Thanks for having me visit your blog, Regan!

9 Places That Scream for a Good Book