Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Mia Thompson: On Stalking Sapphire's newest episode, fun in Helsingborg, and captive company with a literary hero.

Today, I'm visited by author Mia Thompson, one of my fellow writers at the Prose Cons blog. She's getting ready to release the latest title in her Stalking Sapphire series. I had the pleasure of getting to know her better and I think you're going to love her, too.

Welcome, Mia! Tell us about your series, Stalking Sapphire, and the latest installment, Sentencing Sapphire.

Mia: The series is about Sapphire Dubois, a Beverly Hills heiress/vigilante who secretly captures serial killers. Stalking Sapphire, the first book, picks up right before an inciting incident catapults Sapphire’s life into an irreversible change. Essentially, the books are about the two lives she leads and what happens when the wall she has put up between them starts to crack.  

We both write New Adult fiction. Recently, we chatted about my thoughts on the genre…let's talk about your view. What draws you to the audience and why do you write NA?


Mia: I love the boldness of NA. I don’t like to walk on egg shells when I write and, to me, New Adult is a genre that is meant to push boundaries. The readers, usually in their twenties, are now free of parental supervision and are pushing and breaking boundaries to figure out who they want to be. Writing for them feels natural for the way I write.

The ages-old question is "what came first: chicken or the egg?" Let's twist it and ask: what comes first, the story or the genre? Did you set out to write NA stories or did you develop your idea first then decide the best audience for it?

Mia: The story came first. I think I was twenty-three when I started it, so it felt more organic to build everything around a MC in her early twenties. Once I was writing it, and started researching books similar to it, I realized how few there were. New Adult had barely been coined back then, so I didn’t even know what my book was until my agent told me.

You were born in Sweden which automatically makes you cooler than me. Just so I can vicariously live through you, let's pretend I'm visiting Sweden and you are my travel agent. Tell me about your favorite must-see location, your favorite Swedish dish, and an activity I couldn't do better anywhere else.

Mia: Ha! I’d send you to Helsingborg, the harbor town I grew up in. It’s about 1000 years old, and only a twenty minute ferry ride away from Denmark. People often don’t even get off the ferry; they stay to eat good food and drink pilsner as the boat goes back and forth between Sweden and Denmark. It’s a phenomenon we call “Tura” and it’s a Must-Do in Helsingborg.

I’d send you there in August, just in time for the crawfish fest. Basically, we put on funny hats and eat crawfish that’s been resting in cold dill brine—delish. Every two minutes or so, someone will raise their schnapps and start singing a drinking song, at the end of which everyone around the table must empty their glasses. By the end, you’ll be full and drunk as a skunk. 

I think I'd really like that--it's been a long time I went on a crawfish binge. Never had them in a dill brine, though... dill is one of my favorite scents so I know I'd love it. Think I'll be Goodling a recipe later on today... 

Do you have a hero author? If you could spend a day with them doing anything you wanted, who would it be and what would you do? One caveat: you only have 100k to spend (so save it for bail money if necessary).

Mia: It’s a tough choice, I have several hero authors, but I have to pick Marian Keyes; I’ve devoured her books since I was a teen.

It would be a simple Talk & Tea session in her chic kitchen—I imagine her having a very chic kitchen—while we enjoyed some biscuits. However, five hours later, three of which she had spent asking me to leave because two hours is quite enough, I’d be hauled out the door by the police and charged with “Excessive and Invasive Brain Picking.” In which case the money would, indeed, become useful for both bail and upcoming fines. 

Well, that's only if she doesn't drop the charges. And, who knows, it might make for a good story after the restraining order is lifted...

Has anyone ever asked you if your stories are based on your own life? (I get asked that all the time, even though I write about vampires, werewolves, and other mostly-improbable creatures.) How do you answer them?

Mia: All the time. If I’m in a good mood, and they don’t know my books, I’ll respond: “Let’s hope not; I write about serial killers.” If I’m in a bad mood, and they do know my books, I’ll respond: “Yes, they are. I wrote them from prison.”

That would be awesome on a t-shirt :) Time to fire up PhotoShop!

I'd be a happy typer if being a writer meant 100% of my time went to, well, writing. (No such luck.) Do you have a tip for writer time management?

Mia: The bad news: Besides from prioritizing, I have nothing. The good news: I’m currently building a machine that freezes time for everyone but writers. As soon as I can get the cardulator, the dinklehopper, and other made up words to work, we’ll all get the writing time we need. Hell, we may even get to have a life!

I have a wild imagination, but even I have a hard time believing that "have a life" nonsense. This is all we get: writing, reading, and hanging out with other writers online as we muck on through. Where can we stalk find you online?

Mia: You can find me at...
http://authormiathompson.com
http://twitter.com/mia_thomp
http://facebook.com/authormiathompson

You can also find me at wattpad.com/user/authormiathompson where I’m currently running the book clubs for both Stalking Sapphire and, the second book, Silencing Sapphire.


stalking sapphire, series, NA

About The Author
Mia Thompson is a Swedish-born author living in Sacramento, California. Her international bestsellers, Stalking Sapphire and Silencing Sapphire, were published in 2013, and followed by the third book in the series, Sentencing Sapphire. Mia is currently working on completing the series’ last two installments, due out through Diversion Books in 2016 and 2017.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Early Halloween Fun: Upcoming NOR Hallowpalooza! #booklovers

Hallowpalooza I'm one of the sponsors of the Night Owl Reviews HALLOWPALOOZA Scavenger Hunt.
 
During this event I'm going to help you find some great new books. Make sure to check my featured title out along the way. :)
 
The grand prize is a $100 Amazon Gift Card. The total prize pool is $1,000 with 113 winners.

Contest begins October 1st so put a reminder in your calendar.!


Enter soon at:  https://www.nightowlreviews.com/v5/Blog/Articles/Hallowpalooza-2015

And if that isn't enough excitement for today...

The Heartbeat Thief comes out in paperback tomorrow!

Here is a special offer just for this blog's readers. I won't promote it any other way so you guys are the only ones who will know about it!

Stop by tomorrow's post about the paperback release and leave a comment about the book cover art (I reeeaaalllly love the cover and hope you do, too.) Everyone who comments and leaves their email address will receive a signed poster of The Heartbeat Thief... and I've been known to slip special swag into random envelopes *wink*

I'll collect winners right through the end of next week (since I'll be blog touring Monday through Friday).

Thanks for hanging out this week... have fun with the scavenger hunt and hope to see you on release day! 

The Heartbeat Thief Print Release!

 
The Heartbeat Thief is out in paperback today--
grab it, hug it, never let it go.
 
You can still get the Kindle version here.
 
New release means...time to tour! Can't wait to meet new bloggers and new readers. Be sure to stop by next week!

 
Book Tour Schedule with Xpresso Book Tours
 
September 21st
Authors You Want to Read >> Guest Post
Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books!  >> Review
A British Bookworm’s Blog >> Excerpt
 
September 22nd
Book Briefs >> Review
Here’s to Happy Endings >> Review
Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile >> Review
-In Wonderland >> Review
 
September 23rd
We Do Write >> Interview
Mythical Books >> Review
Fangirls Read It First >> Review
 
September 24th
The A P Book Club >> Review
CBY Book Club >> Excerpt
 
September 25th
Pieces of Whimsy >> Interview
Bookalicious >> Review
Reader Girls  >> Review
Bookwyrming Thoughts >> Guest Post
 

Monday, September 7, 2015

The Heartbeat Thief: Giveaway and Quickie Sale

The paperback is nearly here... The Heartbeat Thief will be available in print on Friday, September 18, 2015!

This week, The Heartbeat Thief is sponsoring a giveaway over at The Kindle Book Review.

Enter to win an Amazon gift card... and take advantage of the impromptu 99 cent sale to get a copy (or gift one to your best friend.)

And, if you haven't yet entered to win, throw your name into the hat at this Goodreads giveaway--the very last ARC is going up for grabs! Ends Monday at midnight so don't delay...
 
http://amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=Heartbeat+Thief%2CB00UZC9W7U

Here's a new 5 star review from someone who was deeply touched by the story... she had to put it down and walk away because she became quite emotional. (She couldn't stay away for long, though.)

Read her thoughts and find out why she found it so powerful.

Upcoming book tour!

To celebrate the paperback release, we'll be embarking on a week-long blog tour. Join us for interviews, guest posts, and reviews! Tour details will be posted soon.

Have a great week!

Saturday, September 5, 2015

September already?! Good news & a great sale

I can't believe it's September already.

I look around my yard and think about all those ambitious plans I made...for June. lol Let's just call it #yardfail and move on.
viewBook.at/thief

One thing that did get done, however, was the launch of my latest novel, THE HEARTBEAT THIEF. It released on Kindle in June and zoomed to bestseller status (something that blow my mind.)  And the good stuff just seems to keep happening...

The Heartbeat Thief audiobook (2016)
First off, the paperback version will be available on September 18. If you like to hug books in between reading them, then you'll get your chance for some physical book love in only 10 days or so. There will be a week-long book tour the following week so watch out for guest posts, interviews, and giveaways (as well as pictures from my upcoming trip to Boston to see all the Edgar Allan Poe attractions. Calloo callay!)

Secondly, I can finally announce that the audiobook version of The Heartbeat Thief will be coming in 2016! It will be produced by Hannah Platts. If you check out her voice reels on her website, you will get an idea of what Senza Fyne is going to sound like.

on sale for 99cents on September 6 & 7...

Because I want to celebrate all the wonderful things that are happening this month. If you haven't yet read The Heartbeat Thief but love print and audio books, you can pick up the ebook for less than a dollar before making the commitment to a pricier format.

Hope you'll stop by the upcoming blog tour hosted by Xpresso Book Tours. They did such an amazing job hosting the Kindle release and I knew I had to get their help for the paperback release. Details coming soon!

Until then, grab a 99cent novel and dream about hugging print books and listening to Senza's tale and all sorts of Poe in Boston goodness :) I know that's exactly what I'll be doing...


Friday, September 4, 2015

The Conquering Earworm

You know what an earworm is, right? It's a song that gets into your head and will not vacate the promises, not even after to listen to it, over and over and over.

I have an entire playlist of earworms, it seems. And a disturbing number of them come from the shows my kids watched.

Some of them aren't so bad. The Scooby Doo movies usually had good tunes--like The Witch's Ghost (I'm a hex girl and I'm gonna put a spell on you...) And Josie and the Pussycats never did anything but rock.

But some shows had downright evil songs. Not only were they full of earworms, they were scary clown earworms. Ever watch The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald? Please don't, I'm warning you. They will break you.

And every once in a while, there came along shows that had music that seemed so innocuous, so innocent, that I thought "No earworms here. I'm too cool to keep these songs perpetually in my head, long after my kids are too old to remember the shows."

And in classic Ash Krafton style I was, of course, blaringly and devastatingly wrong.

I speak of Veggie Tales.

I know, I know. You're thinking: Huh. Weird. Why is that Poe-obsessed fantasy and horror writer talking about Veggie Tales?

But know this, gentle reader: Veggie Tales is the cruelest earworm generator of them all. And the whole family is afflicted with them.

Each morning, you're likely to hear someone sing out "Oh, where is my hairbrush?" And walking past a fruit stand someone is bound to remark upon the Grapes of Wrath (or at least make the sound effects). I almost sang the Cheeseburger Song at my friend's wedding (until I realized it would actually affect our friendship. But that is an AWESOME song and I sing it in my heart every time I see her.)

But one song has been burrowed through our heads these days. One song so relevant that it's inevitable. The mere mention of our upcoming vacation inspires an immediate chorus followed by shoulders slumped and heads hung in defeat because, once again, the Conquering Earworm emerged victorious.

veggie tales
He's never sniffed a stink bug.
I'm speaking about The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything.

This is Elliot the pirate. He's really just Larry the Cucumber in a pirate suit but DIG THAT FACE HAIR. Inappropriate hawtness for a contemporary gospel figure, if you ask me. But, hey. That's why I'm here--to take good and innocent things and point out all the inappropriate stuff so that you can never look at them the same way again. (I'm a spec fic writer. I took an oath.)

Besides looking Van Dyke hawt, Larry sings the best verses.

Larry: "Well, I've never plucked a rooster and I'm not too good at
ping-pong, and I've never thrown my mashed potatoes up against the wall,
and I've never kissed a chipmunk and I've never gotten head lice, and
I've never been to Boston in the fall!"

Pa: "Huh? What are you talking about? What's a rooster and mashed
potatoes have to do with being a pirate??"

Mr. Lunt: "Hey, that's right! We're supposed to sing about pirate-y
things!"
 
 
This particular earworm has been infesting me for years. It's not only crept into my head...it's in my heart, too. (Awwwww.) That's why I'm eulogizing it. In a few weeks, we'll be in Boston for the first time, in the Fall, no less.
 
And part of me thinks that once  we're there, my favorite earworm will perish and descend into the oblivion of the past.
 
Not that I'm planning on plucking roosters or kissing chipmunks because those things are stupid. Boston in the Fall is the whole catch phrase. And I'm going there. It will murder my earworm.
 
Where better to do it than the birthplace of Edgar Allan Poe? (You knew that this was where it was going, right? I dropped a big hint back there.)
 
I will go to the corner of Boylston and Charles Street South where stands the statue of the Master and his Raven, and I will lean close to his ear, and I'll darkly whisper the words to that song one last time, exorcising it, forever.
 
In pace requiescat.
 
Then Edgar will have his own earworm to bear. Hope it won't drive him to madness.
 
Muhahahahaha.