Friday, March 1, 2013

Krystal Shannan Interviews - Stacy Gail


Please help me welcome Stacy Gail to the blog today with her book SAVAGE ANGEL!



Tell us a little about yourself.
SG: From the age of eight when I started figure skating competitively, I wanted to be a skating coach.  But I also wanted to be a writer, so at the age of fourteen I wrote my first 300-page romance. It was absolutely terrible, but I knew then that I had what it took to start—and finish!—a writing project.  I’m so lucky now that I have both of my dream careers.
Did you always want to be an author? What made you choose to write romance?
SG:  I’m such a weirdo—I’ve never had any doubt about what I wanted to do with my life.  At eight, I told my parents I would be a figure skating coach. At twelve, I discovered romance novels by reading Island of Flowers by Nora Roberts, and decided I’d be a writing figure skating coach.  And ta-daaa!  Here I am!

What is your favorite part of being a writer/author?
SG: I get paid to make up stories.  Seriously, that still freaks me out in the most awesome way imaginable. O_o

Tell us a little about your book. What inspired you to write it?
SG: First, here’s the blurb from SAVAGE ANGEL, Book 2 in The Earth Angels series:

Feel nothing. Sara Savitch's personal mantra has been hard to live by ever since her torrid one-night stand with army doctor Gideon Mandeville. Descended from the Seraphim, angels known as heaven's soldiers, Sara may be an expert fighter, but she's an amateur when it comes to relationships.
Physically unharmed, but still battle-scarred, Gideon has returned to Dallas in the hopes of regaining his faith in humanity--and in himself. Instead he's walked into a nightmare. His father is on a serial killer's hit list, and has hired a personal bodyguard--the very woman who has haunted Gideon's dreams for a year.
As Sara works to build an impenetrable fortress around her client, she yearns to tear down the one around Gideon's heart. With his bitter rejection of warriors, will he ever be able to accept her true nature? Sara must find a way to trust Gideon with her secret as the killer closes in...

As for the second part of that question, I’ve adored paranormal stories from the time I picked up my first X-Men comic book when I was a kid.  I wanted to take the biblical mythology of the Nephilim—human-angel hybrids—and show what descendants of those Nephilim might be like in the 21st-century.  In this four-part series I also tried to hit some of the more popular paranormal themes for the main characters—a super soldier with no social skills, a wounded warrior with a sudden loss of powers, a lover who must fight to save the world, and a masked superhero who wishes he could have a normal life.  Man, this series has been a kick to write. ;)

Here's a sneak peek....

“No!”

For a second he thought he imagined Sara’s scream even as the crash of the broken bottle filled his universe at the same time he hit the ground. That all-too-familiar whoosh that was the devil’s own breath erupted over him even as he did his damnedest to roll away from the wave of liquid fire that had to be reaching out to him.

Only it wasn’t.

Rolling to escape the flames, Gideon came to a stop only when he slammed up against a weedy sapling and could go no further. He waited for the insane agony of flesh burning to the bone, a scream bottled up inside his throat. Instead, his fierce grimace of anticipated hell on earth dissolved as a chaotic vortex of numb disbelief swallowed up his basic understanding of the world around him.
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Buy Links for SAVAGE ANGEL:
 
Amazon






Do you plot and outline or do you just write?  Plotter or Pantser?
SG:  Plotter, all the way!  I didn’t write the first book, NOBODY’S ANGEL until I had all four books outlined and a strong beginning, middle and finish for the overall story arc. ^_^

Can you tell us about the process of getting your first book published?
SG:  Heh. I kind of did it on a whim.  I had been hearing about these things called ereaders and wasn’t sure how it all worked, so while researching it I stumbled onto Samhain Publishing.  They were doing an open-submissions call for “sweet romances” for an anthology.  I didn’t know what “sweet” meant other than no sex, so I wrote a romance that had everything else except the actual intimate act! Naturally it didn’t get chosen for the anthology “it’s too spicy to be sweet”, but it was offered a contract as a stand-alone novella (and it’s still the only for-adults book I’ve written that doesn’t have a sex scene in it :D).

What advice would you give new authors?  What have you learned about the business?
SG:  Sit down and WRITE.  Don’t talk about it.  Don’t think it to death.  Just do it.  And once you’ve completed a project, sit down and DO IT AGAIN.  Simple, really. ;)

Do you have another book in the works?
SG:  You said the magic words!  The third book in The Earth Angels, WOUNDED ANGEL, will be released May 27th of this year.  I’m also debuting a small town contemporary romance series called Bitterthorn, Texas sometime in July.  Both of these books are being released by Carina Press.

What do you like to do in your free time, besides read and write of course?
SG:  If I’m not under the laptop, I’m on the ice.

Where do you dream of going on vacation?
SG: Greece! I have so many story ideas that simply HAVE to take place there.

Boxers or Briefs?
SG: Boxer-briefs. :P

Cookies or cake?
SG: Cookies, allllll the way. 

Pizza or hamburger?
SG:  Hamburger.  No carbs, please.  I’m leaving that for the cookies. :D

Beer, Wine, or mixed drink?
SG: Mixed drink.  Amaretto sours are divine. *drools*

(Hero/Heroine Character Questions)
What were your first impressions of each other?
Gideon:  “When I first saw Sara, I was 24 hours away from being shipped out to Afghanistan and damning the luck of running into a knock-‘em-dead woman just when I had no time to make her mine.  Maybe that’s why I took her up against the garage wall during my going-away party.”
Sara: “Um…” *shuffles feet before hitting a parade-rest stance* “I’d rather not say.”

What’s your favorite characteristic of each other?
Gideon: “Sara might be the ultimate soldier, the true badass member of the Nephilim—after all, she’s descended from Heaven’s warriors, the Seraphim.  But it’s her cute awkwardness in social situations that completely unravel me.  For a woman who can set the world on fire in the most literal sense, she’s my sweet shy girl who needs a hug.”
Sara:  “…Gideon’s my everything.  That is all.”

What are your plans for the near future?  
SG: I’m going to my first convention *happy dance*  If anyone’s going to RT Con this year, drop in to say hi! (And who knows? I might have chocolate :P)

Where to find you:
SG: Yes!  Come find me! Friend me!  I’m loneeely!

Stacy will be awarding a $25 Amazon GC to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour, and a second randomly drawn commenter will be awarded a $10 Amazon GC. A $25 Amazon GC will be awarded to a randomly drawn host.

So please leave a comment!!!! I want to win too :-) Plus you should really go read her book!!! You know you want to!

Follow her other stops on the Tour Here



15 comments:

  1. This series sounds really awesome.

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  2. I love how eloquent Gideon is and Sara is just....awkward :) You really get a feel for the characters! :) thanks for sharing!

    andralynn7 AT gmail DOT com

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  3. The characters sound great, I can't wait to read the story.

    Kit3247(at)aol(dot)com

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  4. Thanks for the chance to win!

    hense1kkAT cmich DOT edu

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  5. Really you like cookies more than cake, any special cookies?


    lennascloud AT gmail DOT com

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  6. Sounds like a great series! I love the cover! Thanks for sharing!
    -Amber
    goodblinknpark(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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  7. Thanks for the giveaway - you book sounds awesome! theresa.esterline@gmail.com

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  8. I love the cover, the woman reminds me of someone, I assume that is Sara?

    lyra.lucky7(at)gmail(dot)com

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  9. Great excerpt, will there be other books featuring characters from this book?

    hopefull1978ATgmailDOTcom

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  10. I think it's wonderful that yours dreams came true.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  11. Gideon sounds like an interesting character, I'm looking forward to read more about him!

    emiliana25(at)web(dot)de

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  12. I hope you have a great experience at RT Con. Conventions can be great fun...and overwhelming. You'll have a blast.

    SO...You knew you wanted to be a writing figure skating coach? How mature and prophetic.
    catherinelee100 at gmail dot com

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  13. You'll have chocolate???? I'll be there!!!! ;-)
    Fun interview!

    justforswag(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

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  14. Thanks for the giveaway! This is a great interview!

    mestith at gmail dot com

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  15. thank you for the great interview and for hosting this tour ^^


    sunshine_pinkystar(at)yahoo(dot)com

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