Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Seleste deLaney - Featuring her Blood kissed Series!

PhotobucketOf Course I Try
Love is a wonderful thing. Unless you don't get a choice in the matters of your own heart.Jocelyn has loved Max since the day she met him. Even when he scares her enough to leave, she can't resist going back. No matter how many times she tries to break free from him, she ends up in his arms and bed again. Not this time. Jocelyn needs to be free and Max isn't going to stop her from walking away -- no matter how hard he tries.




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The Ghost of Vampire Present

Jocelyn has finally found her knight in shining armor in Chad, and ghosts are the last thing on her mind. Even when one shows up in her bedroom on Christmas Eve, Jocelyn's a bit more concerned about the other guests on the agenda. She'd prefer to never see another vampire, and the ghost tells her to expect not one, but three.

When the one from her past shows up even though he's supposed to be dead, she decides she's dreaming and suffers through the night. By the time dawn breaks, she's not so sure anymore.

But if it's not a dream that means her nightmare is far from over.




My Review:

Of course I try by: Seleste deLaney

From the beginning it draws you in, and it does not let you go. You instantly want to know what is going on. I am happy to say not in a confusing way. Jocelyn the main character is complex, and original. Max, lead male of this story brings mystery. Together they wrap this story in a blissful read. Seleste deLaney writing style is new and refreshing. I did not have a problem following the storyline. The pace is even flowing. The ending with leave you yearning for more. The book cover? Completely HOT! I found this to be a great offbeat and thrilling story. I recommend this to be a great quick read!!

Caution this book gets steamy!!

The Ghost of Vampire Present by Seleste deLaney

This book continues the story Of course I try. The beginning just throws you right into a whirl wind of masterful storyline that will not allow you to put the book down. The same originality, world, mystery and thrills continue in this one from the last book. If you thought Max from the last book was hot, Seleste deLaney throws in an even HOTTER man into the mix, and one not so much. The pace in this book picks up a lot more then the pervious book. This author really knows how to leave you wanting more in the end. I am dying to know what happens next! The Book cover… is pure delectable !
 
My Rating 5 Stars!!

Where you can find this book:

Decadent Publishing:
Decadent Publishing

Amazon:
Amazon - Of Course I Try
Amazon - The Ghost of Vampire Present

Barnes & Noble:
B&N - Of Course I Try
B&N - The Ghost of Vampire Present

Smashwords:
SmashWords - Of Course I Try
SmashWords - The Ghost of Vampire Present

All Romance:
All Romance Ebooks - Of Course I Try
All Romance Ebooks - The Ghost of Vampire Present




PhotobucketThe Interview with Author Seleste deLaney.


Can you tell us a little about yourself?

I’m a former lab technician turned high school science teacher, turned stay-at-home-mom of two, turned author.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Over the holidays last year, my mom gave me a paper she’d kept from when I was in school. It said (in my horrible handwriting) that I wanted to be a writer because I liked making up stories and sharing them. It was from third grade, so I think the interest has kind of always been with me.

What surprised you the most about the writing/publishing process?

The speed at which things happened. In May, I was an aspiring author like I had been for a few years. Then in June, I had not one, but two sales with two different publishers. I’m honestly in my slowest period since then as I haven’t submitted anything since November (eep!). Very soon I’ll have stuff ready again though.

How do you develop your plots and characters? Do you use any set formula?

My characters usually kind of spring to life in my head, then I like to find actors/models who fit my images of them so I can have physical pictures to use as reference (one of my best friends is really good at helping with this). As far as plot, I’m in between a plotter and a pantser normally. I like to have points I plan to hit, sort of like sights to see on a road trip. The journey between points, however, I leave open and let the story and characters take me where they will.

What, in your opinion, are the most important elements of good writing?

First and foremost is having a compelling story to tell. Without the story, there’s no point in anything else. Next is a love for your characters, even the bad guys. To my way of thinking, you can’t write them as interesting if you don’t feel anything for them. After that comes the grammar, spelling, punctuation and knowing to show instead of tell and all those other things that make the reader’s experience as rich as it can be, but it all starts with the story and characters.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?

Right this second I’m working on a young adult post-apocalyptic (I publish young adult work under another name). It’s very dark and emotional, and I’m very excited about it.

I have a nice time following you on Twitter. In 140 characters or less, sum The Ghost of Vampire Present for us.



More tagline than summary…

One thing Jocelyn knows for sure is that between the ghost and the vampires, this Christmas is going to suck.

How did you come up with a story that was such a whirl wind of events?

When I first imagined the story, I planned to follow Dickens’ A Christmas Carol much more closely. It didn’t take long to realize that wouldn’t work with Jocelyn’s world. So I went a lot looser and simply tried to parallel the ghosts as closely as I could with the vampires in Jocelyn’s life. I’ll follow up on this a in a couple more questions ;-)

These two books, Of Course I try and The Ghost of Vampire Present, were a great quick read. Which will leave the reader aching for the next book. how long did it take you to write it, and did you have any writer’s block along the way?

Of Course I Try was originally only the last scene. That was written for a writing challenge I participated in a couple years ago. The story was shelved until I decided to see if Decadent was interested. They were, but they wanted it longer. I took a couple days to think about how to do that and then worked backwards over the course of a weekend. Then it was to betas who helped me revise and tighten.

The Ghost of Vampire Present took longer. I think I wrote the initial draft in a couple weeks (part of which was while I was on a vacation with my two kids). That story I revised before sending it to my beta readers. Then I had to revise again before I submitted it.

Fortunately I didn’t have any issues with writer’s block on either of those stories.

Will we be seeing a following book to this stories?

I have a draft of another Blood Kissed story, but it needs a lot of work. One of my most loyal beta readers tore it up (very lovingly, but it means a lot of elbow grease is still needed before I can put it out to the world). Hopefully I’ll be able to get it shiny and have news on it before summer gets here. (Oh, and this one won’t be quite so quick. It’s the novel-length one people have been asking me for.)

I just love the men in books. Chad’s character I am absolutely in love with. How did you come up with the character Chad?

Chad started as just the side-note guy in Of Course I Try (the one who danced with Jocelyn at the club), but I knew there was more to him then, I just wasn’t sure at the time how he would come into play. When I planned The Ghost of Vampire Present, I was really excited to explore him. One thing I knew from the beginning was that he was kind of the anti-Max. Where Max is rough, Chad is polished. I wanted them to appeal to Jocelyn for different reasons (besides them both being hot that is).

I always must ask, If you could pick one actor to portray Chad and Max on the big screen who would it be and why?

Chad I always pictured as Jensen Ackles (Dean Winchester from Supernatural), and Max I see as a taller/slightly bigger Christian Kane (Eliot Spencer from Leverage, and Lindsay McDonald from Angel).
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Was there anything you find particularly challenging when writing these two books?
Consistency in Jocelyn’s character. She had to be different because what happened at the end of Of Course I Try, but she still had to be Jocelyn.

I about drooled on these covers. What were your feelings when you first saw the cover of your finished books?

When I saw the cover for Of Course I Try, I thought the cover artist must have snuck into my head and taken a snapshot of Max. The Ghost of Vampire Present went through a couple versions before we settled on the cover. They’re different from each other, but I love them both. And I can’t wait to see the next one.

Find this AWESOME Author at:

Author Links:
Website
Blog
Twitter
Facebook

3 comments:

Denise K. Rago said...

I love your tag line!

Gabby said...

Terrific interview and I love the pictures you have up of Christian Kane, I love him as Eliot from Leverage I could definitely see him as a book character. Sigh.

Yay a new author I can get hooked on!

Seleste deLaney/Julie Particka said...

Huge apologies for not commenting sooner, I was at the RT convention and my phone internet connectivity was horrid and I didn't have any in the room at all :( Thank you for the great reviews and for featuring me here!

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