Monday, July 20, 2015

BOUND IN BLACK: Interview with author, Juliette Cross




Bound in Black
The Vessel Trilogy
Book Three
by Juliette Cross

Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date of Publication:  July 21, 2015

Genevieve Drake is on a dangerous mission to find the soul collector, Lethe, and enter the deepest, darkest level of the underworld. No one has ever returned alive from the belly of a soul collector, but she will let nothing stop her from going after the precious treasure Lethe stole from her.

As she is tested against demon spawn and foul creatures of the underworld, each triumph strengthens her Vessel power—and drags her closer to a breaking point that could forever doom her to the abyss.

Meanwhile, with the full prophecy hurtling toward completion, the Dominus Daemonum strategize for the day Gen will battle Prince Bamal’s Vessel to the death, when the Great War between heaven and hell will begin.

But Bamal has a secret weapon. When he reveals it—and Thomas reveals his own hidden agenda—Gen may not have the strength to resist the temptation to fall into darkness, forsaking the fate of the world for her broken heart.

Warning: Contains malicious demons, sinister spawn, and a vengeful heroine with plans to send them all back to burning hell.

                                 AMAZON    BN    Kobo    Samhain



INTERVIEW!

Pat: Hi Juliette, welcome and congratulations on the release of BOUND IN BLACK, the third book in the Vessel Trilogy. First could you tell us a bit about this book and the trilogy?

Juliette: Thank you, Pat! Glad to be here. Well, while The Vessel Trilogy has the overall plot of good vs. evil, angels vs. demons, heaven vs. hell, this is ultimately a love story between a scarred demon hunter harboring dark secrets and a college co-ed crossing the threshold into womanhood. The trilogy begins with Genevieve Drake’s 20th birthday at a Goth club in New Orleans where she is nearly killed in a back alley by a demon. In steps Jude Delacroix, and the story really begins. J

Pat:I absolutely love that your books come with warning labels. How about you? What does your warning label say?

Juliette: Warning—Contains a neurotic writer in constant need of caffeine who may at any moment be plotting her villain’s demise with a sword or dragon fire so don’t cut her off in the car line or at Starbucks.

Pat: Are all of your books new adult? What do you think makes NA distinct from other categories—such as young adult and adult fiction?  

Juliette: The Vessel Trilogy is more NA, but I believe some of my books set in the Morgon world could be crossover NA/Adult. To me, NA is about the heroine who is beyond the teen angst and first love phase, but hasn’t quite established herself as a woman of the world. She’s in that transition phase where she might still be discovering who she truly is and/or dealing with hang-ups from her childhood and trying to overcome those conflicts.

I specifically wrote Genevieve as a carefree college girl in book one, FORGED IN FIRE. She has a sad history regarding her mother, but is really just more girl than woman in her outlook on life. By book three, she has experienced serious loss and heartbreak, and finally transforms into the strong, independent woman she is meant to be in order to protect those she loves. I find that it is when we, boy or girl, are faced with adversity and are forced to make difficult choices that we finally cross the threshold into adulthood.
Pat: BOUND IN BLACK is the third book in a series that has extensive world-building and backstory. How do you keep track of all those details and work them into later books without overloading the reader and slowing the stories’ pace?

Juliette: Wow. Good question. Am I doing this okay? To keep track, I have a “Notes” file for every book. And I know the full arc of my overall plot in a world, no matter if I haven’t written that part of the story yet. For example, I already know who is going to kill the big villain in WAKING THE DRAGON and how he’ll die, but I’ve got at least five books planned before we get there.

I also write backstories for characters, even if those backstories may not appear in the books. It’s important for me to know everything about a character for them to come to life on the page. As far as pacing, I do my best to work the world-building into the story itself so there isn’t a major info dump on the reader. This is difficult, but very important. In my current WIP, I find the world-building is coming out through dialogue and action, which I wasn’t planning. Just happened that way.

Pat: Demons, angels and dragon-hybrids all appear in your books—what is your favorite brand of bad boy and why?

Juliette: Okay, so I’m a total cliché. I’m drawn to the dark, brooding, scarred bad boy who would do anything to protect his woman. I’m also fond of the hero who finds a woman’s mind as sexy as her body.

Pat: If you could describe yourself using only one book (not one of yours) as a reference, what would it be? 

Juliette: Jane Eyre. Hands down. Perfect Gothic love story, in my humble opinion. I model my heroes after Mr. Rochester quite often. And Jane is the best kind of heroine, who never fails to stay true to herself.

Pat: Thank you so much for being a good sport and letting me barrage you with a mishmash of questions.  Would you mind stopping back throughout the day and answering any questions which readers might have?

Juliette: Absolutely! I love talking to readers about any and all books. And bad boys. Really sexy ones. ;)

If you liked to find out more about BOUND IN BLACK and Juliette’s other books and series, check out her WEBSITE: 

Be sure to follow her on TWITTER  FACEBOOK  PINTEREST



About the Author:

Juliette calls lush, moss-laden Louisiana home where the landscape curls into her imagination, creating mystical settings for her stories. She has a B.A. in creative writing from Louisiana State University, a M.Ed. in gifted education, and was privileged to study under the award-winning author Ernest J. Gaines in grad school. Her love of mythology, legends, and art serve as constant inspiration for her works. From the moment she read JANE EYRE as a teenager, she fell in love with the Gothic romance--brooding characters, mysterious settings, persevering heroines, and dark, sexy heroes. Even then, she not only longed to read more novels set in Gothic worlds, she wanted to create her own.

Juliette is a multi-published author, including her Nightwing series with Kensington Publishing and The Vessel Trilogy with Samhain Publishing.



$20 GC & Ebook Package of FORGED IN FIRE & SEALED IN SIN a Rafflecopter giveaway 

5 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for having me on today, Pat! :)

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  2. My pleasure. I loved having the chance to find out more about you and the series. Happy Book Birthday! (well, a tiny bit early).

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  3. Thanks for the wonderful post and exciting giveaway!

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    1. Thank you for stopping by, Sapphyria. I'm dying to get my hands on this book!

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    2. Me, too. I just added the series to my TBR on Goodreads.

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