Tell us a little about yourself and your background?
I’ve always loved to write. I’ve done bits and pieces here and there. Several years ago I decided to fully commit to a book. To really see if I could do it. I got 20k words in, realized it wasn’t working, and started over. I got 30k in and decided to look for a book cover. That got me into making book covers which took over everything. I got so booked up that I dropped out of college to focus just on writing and making book covers. Now I have my first published work coming out on Halloween and my first full-length book coming out soon after.
How do you make time to write?
Lol about that. I’m a wife, mom to a 2-year-old, and take care of my disabled mother and uncle. I do my book cover business in the middle of the night and write using Google docs on my phone usually during naptime instead of doing the million other things that I should have been doing. It’s definitely been a balance of learning that priorities have to shift sometimes to make everything possible.
Do you believe in writer’s block?
Absolutely!
Tell us a bit about the genre you write and why you love it.
I write high fantasy. I’ve always used books as an escape and when I escape I need to do it from everything. Plus I’m a sucker for fae, dragons, magic, and retellings
How are you publishing your recent book and why?
I had initially planned to do traditional but the more that I learned as a book cover designer the more I realized that I would prefer indie. I like making the choices myself, I like marketing (I know I’m weird) and my book cover business can cover my editing and hiring someone to do formatting and a cover so I thought why not? I can do this.
Are you an Introvert or an Extrovert? How does this affect your work?
Honestly, this really depends on the day. I’ve become much more of an introvert over the last few years than I ever was which has helped me focus on writing, but I still get my extrovert vibes from social media and marketing myself.
What is your favorite motivational phrase?
We always judge our worst self to someone else’s best as they do the same to us.
I think as writers this is especially true. It’s hard not to compare especially since how someone views are book is so personal to them.
What advice would you give to aspiring writers?
Always stop writing while you know what’s next. Stopping even mid-sentence can completely change if you get anywhere the next day and get those juices flowing to keep going through writer’s block.
Where can readers find you on the World Wide Web?
Do you have an excerpt you’d like to share with us?
Excerpt of the Black-Backed Mirror by Jamie Dalton from the Season of the Witch Anthology
Kalob shook himself as he snapped out of his memory. “Not yet. I want to see something first. Every mage can do any spell, but most have one or two types that they are naturally attuned to. Let’s figure that out for you first so I can see what we should focus on.”
Before she could even process what he had said, a stone smacked her square in the face.
“What on earth was that for?!”
The laughter that erupted from the bent-over wizard only fueled her anger.
“I’m sorry. Truly I am.” Wiping tears from his eyes, he picked up a stick. “You’re definitely not naturally attuned to earth, or that wouldn’t have hurt you. Don’t worry about the blood. I will patch you up when we’re done.”
She glared at him as she wiped her lip and eyed the stick with distrust. “What are you doing with that?”
A twinkle in his eye told her she wasn’t going to like this. The stick poking into her side told her that that assumption wasn’t wrong. After investigating the end of the stick, another jab followed into her hand.
She jerked herself away and screamed, “What is wrong with you?! Stop stabbing me!”
He shook his head and ignored her fury. “No, You’re definitely not attuned to be a nature mage. The stick would have sprouted leaves if you were.”
Claire could practically feel the steam coming from her head. “And you had to poke me twice to figure that out?”
He turned his head towards her, and with a shrug of his shoulders, he casually replied, “I didn’t hit skin the first time. I had to be sure. Give me a minute. I need to get something for the next one.”
The thought of escaping crossed her mind as she watched him turn the corner toward the back of the cottage. She walked to the edge of the clearing and into the forest. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she noted the chirp of birds overhead and a family of rabbits carrying the spoils of Kalobs garden towards their burrow. Wouldn’t she have noticed by now if she had a magical ability? She certainly wouldn’t have let herself become a victim if she had found a way to protect herself. She could only hope that once he was through with this testing, things would be quieter. This really wouldn’t be the worst place to live.
A chill rushed from her head down her spine as water crashed against her body. Droplets flung from the tips of her hair and edges of her skirt as she rounded on the culprit. “What in the nine realms are you thinking?!”
Kalob ducked behind a nearby tree to create distance between them. “I swear I needed to do that. You’re definitely not water attuned. In fact, it’s almost like water is your weakness.”
She shot daggers from her eyes while wringing out her hair. “It took an entire bucket of water to figure that out?”
“Probably not, but you smelled pretty terrible as well, and this took care of that.”
The pendant was solid gold, with a stylised oak tree and some symbols and dots she recognised as Ogham, the ancient language of the area. She frowned, turning it over in her hands.
Daniel took his seat in the Academy dining room with a few of the boys from his dormitory. Each table sat six, with a permanent place for a dorm master or table monitor. Each month, the boys rotated tables, assuring they spent casual dining time with their dorm master and others and learned proper table manners. Usually, Daniel enjoyed meals with his young charges. They were more willing than the older students to talk about what happened during the day, and he often picked up on budding problems by listening to their conversations. For this reason, even though late afternoon-early evening was the part of the day he had free, he usually liked to attend dinner.
ALL IN FOR LOVE: A Lucky 7 Anthology
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