31 Days of the Paranormal. A new paranormal themed book every day for the entire month of October.

31 Days of The Paranormal is a month long blog fest, celebrating new, upcoming and recently released paranormal books written and published by Indie Authors. Some days, I will post about paranormal book I want to read as well. There are a few different options you will have for being featured in this event. The things I can post are as follows:

Cover reveals

Book Launch Blog tour stop ( I will accept HTML to post if you have it made up and if it fits the criteria.)

Author Interview ( My questions. Can be found below.)

Character  Interviews ( These you will send to me.)

Book Teasers

Book trailers

Author Interviews:

If you are choosing to do an author interview, The questions are below.

1. Name: 

2. The Title of Your Work or Group: 

3. Where are you from? Does not have to be the name of the place exactly. You can say Hick-ville Florida, for example if you are more comfortable with that. 

4. In your own words, what is your book about? If you were not the author and trying to explain this awesome book you just read to a friend, what would you say about it? 

Now here is where I stray from my normal line of questioning. It is October after all.

5. What is your favorite supernatural creature and why? Feel free to go into detail. Make us now proclaim that this is by far, our favorite supernatural creature.

6. If you  could be any paranormal/supernatural being, what would it be and why? Is it the same answer as number 5. If not, why not?

7. Tell me what the best current paranormal themed TV show is and why everyone who hasn't seen it absolutely needs to go and watch every single episode. Marathon style.

8. What is your favorite Paranormal book? Why is this one your favorite?

9. As everyone know (or should by now,) I am into Vampires. Who is your favorite fictional Vampire and why is this one your favorite?

10. Who is your least favorite fictional Vampire?

Back to your writing:

11. What is your writing style? Do you follow all guides and rules? Synopsis, outline etc. or do you just sit down at the computer and type to see what happens. 

12. Have you ever written anything and thought; " The world has got to see this!" ? 

13. Who is your favorite author. Not just someone that you read allot. I wanna know whose book you read that made you suddenly know that if you didn't do this for the rest of your life then you would never be happy. 

14. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

15. Do you write your characters or do they write themselves through you? 

16. Do you ever write yourself into the characters? 

17:  Is writing your full time job or are you "Keeping your day job"? So to speak.

18. If you could go back in time and meet one famous person or legend in history, who would it be? 

Now back to the fun stuff:

19: If you could have an hour alone with any fictional paranormal creature, who would it be and what would you be doing? Feel free to explain. ;P

20. Team Alcide or team Eric? (Screw Bill. He was a tool.)

21) Do you enjoy Halloween. Why or why not? What is your favorite part?

22.) Are you completely opened minded about the paranormal or are you a skeptic?

Okay. Now that my morbid curiosity is satisfied, back to your book:

23: What made you write a paranormal themed book? Where did the idea come from?

24: Do you only write paranormal books or do you write in other genres?

25: Who did your book cover? Are you totally happy with it. Do you feel it correctly represents your book?

27: There are millions of new books released every year. What in your mind makes yours stand out from all those millions in your genre? 

28. In the world of Indie, marketing is very difficult, especially if you don't have the funds to pay for it. Have you found a great free way to market your work that you think other Indies will benefit from? 

Now give me your links so we can get people to your book sites! 

Facebook Page:

Twitter:

Blog:

Website:

Amazon:

B&N:

Add any other links that you feel would be helpful in convincing readers that they absolutely must buy right this minute or they'll die. 

Make sure to include any material you would like included in the post. A picture of you or one to re[resent you. Your book cover, link to trailer and anything else you want added.

Guest Posts

If you are choosing to do a guest blog post, I am listing the topics below. Please follow these topics as they are paranormal in subject matter in keeping with the theme for the month. If you already have a guest post idea and it is paranormal in subject matter, send me an email at nicolehillauthor@gmail.com and I will let you know if it is acceptable.

Guest post topics are as follows:

1. What is your favorite supernatural creature and why? Feel free to go into detail. Make us now proclaim that this is by far, our favorite supernatural creature.

 2. If you  could be any paranormal/supernatural being, what would it be and why? Is it the same answer as number 5. If not, why not?

3. What made you write a paranormal themed book? Where did the idea come from?

4. Tell me about your writing style. Do you meticulously keep character plots, synopses notes etc or do you just sit around daydreaming scenes for six months until you are just about to sit down and tell the story?

5.  If you could have an hour alone with any fictional paranormal creature, who would it be and what would you be doing? Feel free to explain. ;P

Character interviews, Book teasers, Synopses and Book Trailers can be included in any post. I will need your book cover and a picture of you or your avatar for every post. If you have a blog tour set up and already have the HTML code, I will accept that as well. Please check the calendar below and email me at nicolehillauthor@gmail.com with a couple of dates that you would like to be featured along with all the information. I will be assigning dates based on fa first come first serve basis. with the exception of October 31st. I will chose the book featured on that day based on what I like the most. I would like to feature a book releasing that day. 

#IndieSpotlight of Bella Swan @BellaSwannBooks. Author of The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty.

Name:

The Title of  her Work or Group: 

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty

Where she creates:

Canada

The genre that gets to claim her:

Erotica

In your own words, what is your book about? If you were not the author and trying to explain this awesome book you just read to a friend, what would you say about it? 

 The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Bella Swann is an erotic reinterpretation of the traditional fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty. There is dubious consent with submissive females and dominant males within my story as well as moderate BDSM. However, I don’t write extreme BDSM because my target audience definitely is more comfortable with moderate BDSM as part of their sexual fantasies. I was influenced when I was younger by Anne Rice’s The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, but her story begins when Beauty wakes up and involves a lot more pain for the characters than I am comfortable writing. I also wanted to write a more fantasy-based fairy tale of what Beauty’s life was like before she was put to sleep for a 100 years. Because I write erotica, I made her 21 years old so that she was over the age of consent and three days away from becoming Queen since I wanted her to be more mature than a 16-year old who is “pricked” by a spindle. Unfortunately for the powerful men of the Kingdom, Beauty is a headstrong young woman who can’t wait to take the reins of power but she does not really understand the responsibility that comes with being Queen. According to a magical Prophecy within the story, the Kingdom will only prosper if Beauty is a virgin when she becomes Queen. However, Beauty is exploring her own sexuality and is not “technically” a virgin because of her sexual exploits. She’s a spunky girl with a definite fondness for spunk. ;-) Thus, to be purified, Beauty will have to be put into a sleep for a 100 years. The Court Scholar and the Mage believe Beauty will wake up afterwards in a more submissive state of mind, ready to obey the rules of patriarchy and her Prince Charming who will become her King. Of course, in any sequel that I write, there is no guarantee that Beauty will wake up having been reborn as a sexual and political submissive. ;-)

What is your writing style? Do you follow all guides and rules? Synopsis, outline etc. or do you just sit down at the computer and type to see what happens. 

   I am an organized and analytical writer. I definitely try to do a little research on what I write on. For instance in this story, Beauty is fencing with her Warrior, Callum. I did look up proper fencing terms and moves in order to write that section. Of course, I then took many liberties with the facts in order to create a more erotic story. However, I do have an outline of what I want to happen in my story and definite ideas about endings and beginnings. I spend a significant amount of time thinking and planning the story out before I ever sit down at a computer to write it.

Have you ever written anything and thought; " The world has got to see this!" ? 

LOL. Yes, I think all writers feel that way about all of their writing. Sigh. If only the world could see what I have written, everyone would love it. I write many different types of erotic novellas because I feel if someone picks up just one of them, he or she will realize how great all of the stories are and then buy and read their way through all of them. Sigh again. Fantasies are the life's blood of every author. 

Do you have an editor and Cover Designer or do you do this yourself? 

 I edit my own work but I have a great cover designer – Melody Simmons at http://ebookindiecovers.com. She is really amazing and also did the eBook trailer promo for my erotica. 

Who is your favorite author. Not just someone that you read allot. I wanna know whose book you read that made you suddenly know that if you didn't do this for the rest of your life then you would never be happy. 

 That’s a tough question because I have wanted to be a writer my entire life. However, I think George Orwell’s 1984 andAnimal Farm are two of the books I read which blew me away with what they showed about how language, propaganda, and the power of the ruling class are intertwined. I would love to be able to write something that made that kind of impact on someone else that Orwell’s books made on me.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

Because I write mainly paranormal erotica, I am always be challenged to come up with creative new ways for characters to have sex. It’s fun to imagine but I don’t want to use the same phrases or descriptions in every book since that would be too predictable for my readers. Variety is the spice of life in erotica.

Do you write your characters or do they write themselves through you? 

I do start off with an idea of who my characters are, but sometimes they refuse to be the people I thought they were. For instance, I had created the character of Rapunzel in The Claiming of Rapunzel in Xanadu a bit too submissive for her tastes. Then I had to go back and rewrite the beginning of the story because the submissive Rapunzel needed to be spunkier if she was going to run away from her tower and into the dangerous woods. I think by listening to my characters as they move through the story, I create a better story overall.

Do you ever write yourself into the characters? 

Bella blushes and then winks. I write erotica, Nicole, so that would be a bit too telling. I will say that my heroines may feel the desire to be sexually submissive, but that does not always mean they want to be submissive in all areas of their lives. They just enjoy the pleasure that comes with giving up control and allowing themselves to be the object of someone else’s attentions whether the more dominant partner is male or female or monster. The orgasms are always intense although sometimes the pleasure is intertwined with pain and some humiliation. However, the pleasure is always the strongest element of my heroine’s “happy” ending.

 Is writing your full time job or are you "Keeping your day job"? So to speak.

Writing is not my full-time job although like many writers, I dream of a time when all I have to do is write. I do have a day job that takes up a lot of my time and energy but I love it as well. I’m very lucky that I love both my day job and also get to be a writer.

 If you could go back in time and meet one famous person or legend in history, who would it be? 

First, I would love to meet Cleopatra because she managed to control or play off two of the most powerful men in Roman History, Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony in order to try and keep her power. However, I would also like to meet Zenobia of Palmyra because she conquered Egypt and went to war with Rome after her husband died and the Romans tried to annex her Kingdom. She was eventually defeated, taken back to Rome as a captive, but ended up marrying a Roman senator and perhaps having a happy life after all. I admire both of these women very much because they didn’t play by the rules of society but made their own.

 There are millions of new books released every year. What in your mind makes yours stand out from all those millions in your genre? 

Erotica is a tough genre to crack into and be successful because there are so many great erotica writers out there. However, I think my books stand out because I try to fill them with constant, non-stop hot action, so that the readers might need to take breathing breaks every chapter or they might reach their “happy ending” too early. I also strive to make my writing as hot, descriptive, and sensual as possible. I even deliberately choose covers for my erotica that are beautiful and sensual, but not sexually explicit. What’s beneath those covers is a sexually explicit, highly erotic story, but my reader never has to feel embarrassed if anyone sees the cover of the book he or she is reading. I am very proud of my erotica and I think my attention to detail in every aspect of my stories including the covers makes my books stand out from all the millions of new books released every year.

In the world of Indie, marketing is very difficult, especially if you don't have the funds to pay for it. Have you found a great free way to market your work that you think other Indies will benefit from? 

 I have a Facebook page and an Author page on Smashwords and Amazon but that’s about it. I recently joined Twitter where I have made connections with some reviewers and bloggers, but I haven’t done a lot of marketing for my books. I do have a YouTube trailer and I blog sometimes on Goodreads.com as well as review the books of other writers both erotica and non-erotica. I believe in helping out other Indie writers by buying and reviewing their work because I believe in karma and that the good we do will come back to us. However, the main thing I try to do is just keep writing and publishing my books so that there is a body of work that my readers can buy and read. I don’t want to be so caught up with marketing that I forget the most importatnt thing a writer should do is write.

Places to find and follow Bella's work:

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Bella.Swann.Erotica

Twitter: https://twitter.com/BellaSwannBooks

Watch the trailer:

Blog: 

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7540921.Bella_Swann/blog?format=rss

Purchase Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com//B00EWX3HD8

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/bella-swann?store=allproducts&keyword=bella+swann

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/470082?ref=BellaSwann

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/the-claiming-of-sleeping-beauty-2

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/bella-swann/id711150925?mt=11

Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/4967146

Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Bella_Swann_The_Claiming_of_Sleeping_Beauty?id=nYRYBAAAQBAJ

#IndieSpotlight of AriaAvondale (@AriaAvondale) #Author of Her Spy.

Name:

Aria Avondale

The Title of Your Work or Group: 

Her Spy

Where do you create? 

I live in Washington, north of Seattle where is always grey.

In what genre do you write?

Romance

In your own words, what is your book about? If you were not the author and trying to explain this awesome book you just read to a friend, what would you say about it? 

Imagine a James Bond movie but from the perspective of the "Bond Girl", that is what HER SPY is. It is the story of how an every-woman meets and falls for a British super-spy and how her life is turned upside-down because of it. The book is filled with action, suspense, emotion and sex as Jessica finds herself falling in love with a spy.

 What is your writing style? Do you follow all guides and rules? Synopsis, outline etc. or do you just sit down at the computer and type to see what happens. 

This was my first attempt at a book. I have written a few short stories before just for fun so this was something very different for me. Honestly I am still trying to figure out what my writing style is. For HER SPY I came up with the idea, jotted down some notes for a story then started writing. I wrote the whole first quarter of the book before I stopped and figured out the rest of the plot and the ending. I wanted the character to feel real before I figured out the rest of the book. With a few more plot points to know where it was all going, I just started writing and let my heroin guide the rest of the process.

 Have you ever written anything and thought; " The world has got to see this!" ?

Honestly, no. I write for myself and a few friends and family. Would I like to have the world see my writings? Some of it, like HER SPY, but I try to write for myself and people like me for my own enjoyment and sanity. 

Do you have an editor and Cover Designer or do you do this yourself?

I do it all myself. I took a few journalism classes in college including copy editing. So while I am by no means a professional, I know what to look for. I also restructure as I go so by the time my second draft was done, the flow had been reworked and tweaked at least a dozen times.

9. Who is your favorite author. Not just someone that you read allot. I wanna know whose book you read that made you suddenly know that if you didn't do this for the rest of your life then you would never be happy.

Ursula K. LeGuin fits this description for me. I have read most of her work and a few of her books are ones I will read over and over again as long as I can. The book that really inspired me to start coming up with my own stories was "Tombs of Atuan". I loved the characters and the progression of the heroin. Her ability to take a simple setting and build a whole complex world outside of the tombs with rich, deep histories and cultures is simply inspiring. And the whole time she keeps the characters and their own personal journeys in the spotlight. 

 Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

The first stories I wrote were screenplays. With screenplays, a bulk of the content is dialogue and action - not descriptions. When I would write a scene, I would just put a simple descriptor like "a warehouse" or "a park", know that if it was ever filmed the directors, producers, and artists would provide the full details of the location. Same with the characters. Directors, producers and casting agents would decide what the characters looked like, not me. Writing a book really tested my patience when it came to the detail. All I wanted to do was get the lines and story going and so I had to (and still am in the process of) figure out a good way to work that does not disrupt my natural flow and still ends up being a book and not a script.

Do you write your characters or do they write themselves through you? 

I write them. Before I ever actually write anymore than a plot outline, I take a good few weeks to work through a character in my head. Then, I will try to take a whole day and think about my character on their most boring day; what they do, who they see, what they say, what they think, etc. If I can make it through the whole day without becoming bored of the character then I know I am ready to write their story.

Do you ever write yourself into the characters? 

I think a part of me is in all of my characters. I do look for inspiration in friends, family, history, etc. but ultimately I am the one creating the characters so I think a little part of me is in all my characters- even the villains!

Is writing your full time job or are you "Keeping your day job"? So to speak.

I have no plans to quit my job any time soon. I have too many bills that need to be paid and my cats are not going to go to the store and buy food to feed themselves!

If you could go back in time and meet one famous person or legend in history, who would it be? 

Jane Austen to just sit with her and talk about what love is.

There are millions of new books released every year. What in your mind makes yours stand out from all those millions in your genre? 

I wrote this book like it was an action movie for the romance audience. What does an action movie have to have that makes it a good movie? A solid plot, a relatable and believable character, and action! HER SPY is written to be an action/romance movie with a strong story, a very real heroin, and lots of action (both espionage action and bedroom action)!

 In the world of Indie, marketing is very difficult, especially if you don't have the funds to pay for it. Have you found a great free way to market your work that you think other Indies will benefit from?

Not yet, but I am trying to keep my eye out for a good way to spread the word about my book where I do not have to spend any money. I think that what you do with this author spotlight is a great way for me to share a little about myself and my book.

Now give me your links so we can get people to your book sites! 

Twitter: @AriaAvondale

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Her-Spy-Aria-Avondale-ebook/dp/B00MQAU84A