Hey guys! Another Tuesday and another chance to read about a new author, about an author you already know and love and to win a great book!
This week I have here Julia Rachel Barrett. I’ve had the chance to read Julia’s book “Captured” and I had a great time. I am sure I am not the first one to say how much I want a sequel to that book =)
You can read my review of “Captured” HERE!
Giveaway deets at the end of the post!
Enjoy…
- When did you first start writing?
*I began writing poetry as a child and I was lucky enough to have a few poems published when I was in high school. I stuck with poetry through college and then I tried my hand at fiction. After several frustrating years, I set it aside and focused on raising my children and writing nonfiction - articles for medical and nursing journals. I resumed writing fiction again just three years ago, after the publication of my first nonfiction book - under another name - when a reviewer described the book as 'reading like a novel.' I thought that was pretty cool and I decided to give the genre another shot.
- Have you always liked Romance?
*I'm a big romantic at heart, but I can't say that I was a big Romance reader, although most fiction books touch on some aspect of romance - love, lust, loss. Reading is my passion and I joined the romance world several years ago. Here's what I tell everyone. Four years ago, I suffered a severe knee injury. It was actually so bad that I thought about having my leg amputated above the knee and getting a prosthesis so I could walk again. A friend took pity on me and she gave me a Linda Howard book, Kill and Tell, and I was hooked! Shortly after I read my way through Linda Howard, I got on the wait list for a great surgeon, and after much titanium and rehabilitation, I can walk like a normal human being - can't run or climb anymore, but who cares!
- Were there any Books, Movies or Writers that have inspired you?
*As I mentioned above, I'm a big Linda Howard fan. I think she has a great style and she can write a seduction scene like nobody's business. But, as far as inspiration goes, I get inspiration from my life experiences, which have been plenty weird enough.
- What is your favorite subject in the Romance Realm?
*If you had asked me this question three years ago, I would have said Romance/Suspense. But lately, especially after writing Captured and my coming four-part series, Daughters of Persephone, I have to admit I love the sci fi and futuristic romance sub-genre. I've always loved science fiction and fantasy and I think I've found my niche.
- The sex scenes in your books are amazingly hot. Where do you get your inspiration?
*Ooh! Thanks! I'm almost afraid to admit that I get my inspiration from real life...my cheeks are burning! My philosophy is this - if a reader takes the time to read my book, they deserve to be treated to a fantastic, hot, intimate, but still realistic, interlude.
- Do you find it hard to write them?
*No. I find it easy to write them, but I take my time. It's important to me that I get them just right because although I want to convey attraction and lust, I want the reader to sense that there is love and caring there too.
Favorites:
- Favorite Paranormal themed Movie?
*Lord of the Rings, the entire trilogy.
- Favorite Paranormal themed TV Show?
*My current favorite is True Blood, but my all time favorite is the new Battlestar Galactica,and maybe Firefly.
- Favorite Paranormal themed Book?
*I'm very fond of Karen Marie Moning's Highlander books - I especially like The Immortal Highlander. Adam Black is to die for!
- Favorite Author?
*It's a toss up between Charlotte Bronte and Louisa May Alcott.
- Favorite Romance Author?
*Linda Howard!
- Favorite one of your Books?
*Captured, hands down. The entire story came to me in a dream and I had to stop everything to get it on paper. I fell so in love with the characters and their story that I did not want to let them go. I wanted to, like, move in with them and spend my life with them. That I managed to do justice to Ekkatt and Mari's story still amazes me.
- Who is your favorite of your own characters? Why?
*Mari Damon, of Captured. As my husband says, she's me. When you read the book, you meet me.
- Which was the hardest to write? Why?
*The hardest book to write was Cara - still looking for a home. The book is autobiographical and there's some pretty dark stuff in there. As my publisher says, in difficult economic times, nobody wants to read a dark story. I plan to do a little rewriting and hold onto the book, maybe search for a publisher in a year or two. Honestly, writing it was very cathartic. I had to take a couple months off when I finished it.
- What would you be if not a writer? Why?
*I minored in Religious Studies and I'm a big history buff. Maybe I'd be a historian or a teacher. I've occasionally toyed with the idea of returning to school to study paleontology. Digging up dinosaur bones would be a blast!
Quickies:
- Coffee or Tea? Coffee in mega-doses.
- Up or Down? Up.
- Virtual or Real? Both.
- Right or Left? Oh, left for sure.
- Vampires or Werewolves? Vampires.
- The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? The Beatles, except for the Rolling Stones' song - You Can't Always Get What You Want.
- Friends or Seinfeld? Neither, but if I had to choose, Friends.
- Angels or Demons? Wicked angels and Demons with a conscience!
- Reading or Writing? Both.
- What is your favorite part of the writing process?
*My favorite part of the process is getting a scene that I visualize in my head described just right. Plus, call me crazy, but I love editing.
- What is your least favorite part?
*I think the toughest part is paying attention to point of view. Unless you write in first person, you must really know what each character can see, feel and think. It's harder than it seems.
- The Beauty and The Feast in your own words?
*Beauty and the Feast is my first contemporary. It looks at food from a sensual perspective and sex from a tasty perspective. This is the story of a female chef, Eva Raines, who wants a man as exciting as the food she prepares. Until she meets Gabriel Abbott, she isn't quite sure such a creature exists. Even then, she wonders if he's too good to be true. Gabriel, on the other hand, doesn't even realize he's looking for a woman like Eva until he tastes her food and once he makes up his mind to have her, he never looks back.
- Captured in your own words?
*Ah, Captured. Captured is both a love story and social commentary. That's how I dreamed it and that's how I wrote it. A human woman, Mari, is kidnapped by alien trappers for the meat market - not the sex market - the MEAT market. Ekkatt's species considers humans to be evolved to about the level of monkeys and while his people are vegetarians, they make good money selling humans to fine restaurants on planets where human flesh is considered a delicacy. When Mari unexpectedly wakes up from stasis during transport, she's terrified, but she grasps the situation and realizes she must make her captors see her as a sentient being or she's doomed. I won't give away any more of the plot, but Mari is a survivor who has to come to terms with unimaginable circumstances and worse, with the fact that she's falling in love with the man who stole her in the first place. Ekkatt too, must come to terms with his changing circumstances and the awful guilt he feels over sending sentient beings to their death. He risks everything to save this one human. Mari becomes his life.
- Any plans for a sequel to captured?
*Everybody's asking for one! I did have a brief dream about Tirrit, Ekkatt's younger brother, so he may be next. I think if I'd planned a series, I would give you a very definite yes, but since I dreamed the story, I worry about writing a sequel that simply can't compare.
- What is coming up next for you?
*Beauty and the Feast just came out with Resplendence. I have a nonfiction work releasing in April that I really need to spend some time with and then I have a bit of a break before Anytime Darlin' - a romance/suspense comes out with Siren in August and my futuristic science fiction series, Daughters of Persephone, is released with Resplendence in July and August. Anytime Darlin' involves a cowboy and a fabric designer and the evil man who wants her dead. Daughters of Persephone is all about a line of genetically enhanced females created by a secret cadre of scientists trying to save the human race. There's blood and time travel and sword fighting...you'll love it!
- What are you working on right now?
*Right now, I'm trying my hand at a sci fi menage - I have a reason for this. There's a paranormal menage, but not quite menage, that I want to write. It's hard to explain, and I don't want to give too much away, but I need to figure out how to be in several heads at once. I decided it was important to challenge myself. This isn't a genre I'm all that comfortable with, but one of my publishers actually asked me to try it. I agreed and so far, so good. I have another paranormal series in the works too - this one will follow the exploits of a reluctant psychic and it will be first person - also new for me.
- Do you have any advice or tip to those like me that want to become a published Author someday?
*I am so bad at answering this question because there is no one answer. I guess develop a thick skin. I have been rejected so many times. If I took every rejection to heart, I'd never pick up a pen or a keyboard again. My other piece of advice would be to watch the adverbs and adjectives. Keep it simple and clear. Oh, and any sunscreen over SPF 30 is a waste. LOL!
- Anything you would like to say to your fans out there?
*Thank you for buying and READING my books. I don't hear from fans as often as I'd like - I love feedback and I do answer emails. I write for you.
Thanks, Larissa!
The Giveaway!
You can win an eBook copy of Captured or The Beauty and The Feast!
Your Choice!
International!
To Enter:
- Leave a comment about anything on this post.
- Leave an EMAIL for contact! (if you dont feel comfortable leaving it here, email me at larissa@larissaslife.com)
Extra Entries:
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+1 Add all your entries! (including this one!)
Ends on April 26th!
Good Luck!
Don’t Forget to enter to win the Powerful Chicks Theme Prize Pack HERE!
My Paranormal YA Giveaway HERE!
For more info on the giveaway and links for each theme Click on the Image bellow!
All smaller giveaways end on May 16th!
International!
Thanks so much for tuning in and I’ll see you soon!
xoxo,
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