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Blood Crescent
by S.M. McCoy
Genre: YA Fantasy Paranormal
Release Date: September 21st 2018
Summary:
While investigating her mother’s disappearance Crystal’s bloodline leads a supernatural council to hunt her down for her latent magic. Love, lies, and long buried secrets change her life forever.
Sixteen-year-old Crystal Dylan has been marked by the waning crescent due to her latent diviner heritage. The magic from her is a beacon to any nearby supernatural beings, especially energy serpents, vampires sent by the Divine Council to capture her. She never believed in the strange, the superstitious, or magical until she started looking for her long-thought-dead mother. Too many attacks on her aura have left her drained, dying, and vulnerable leaving Victor no choice but to try anything to help her, even the serpent’s kiss.
The Divine Council was looking for the lost heir, and Damien, a drawn class serpent, was their retrieval system with an agenda of his own. Crystal’s memories are being manipulated, and she struggles to find the truth about who she loves, what happened to her mother, who she is, and how to stay alive long enough to figure it all out.
Blood Crescent Author Interview
What initially got you interested in writing? It was my habit of ‘what-if?’ Every book I’d read, every movie I’d watch, every TV show I’d binge would leave me with an incurable what-if syndrome. Those what-ifs were funneled into writing, because my imagination would always take me into this zone of impossibilities and that syndrome would haunt me with but what if it were real?
What genres do you write in? YA paranormal fantasy, paranormal romance.
What drew you to writing these specific genres? My desire to feel like anything was possible. I like the escapism of fantasy. When I write, anything that’s written comes to life in my mind. I’d like to say I was in control of what happens, but once the characters are created they begin to defy me.
How did you break into the field? The only person that was stopping me was me. I wrote several books before I decided Blood Crescent was the debut. I looked at all of my misfits and realized that if I could read this one so many times and not be bored, I must be on to something. This was the idea to launch from. But what really broke me into the field was reading, lots of reading in my own genre. Not merely reading for readings sake, but carefully asking myself, “Why do I like this?” and “Why do I not like this?” so that I can implement that knowledge into my own work. Then the revising, and the editor, and the launch to go from unknown to known begins.
What do you want readers to take away from reading your works? I want them to escape, if only for a little while. Worry about someone else’s problems and forget about their own. Delve into the book, and be just as attached to the characters as I am that they care how they make it to the end. This series is all about self-discovery, growth, and overcoming that sense of overwhelming depression and anxiety that can prevent someone from realizing there is a big world outside of themselves. That even when it feels like everything is on your shoulders, and even if you feel powerless, there are always ways to overcome it and sometimes it’s okay to rely on others. And that’s all wrapped into a call to adventure and romance, of course.
What do you find most rewarding about writing? It helps me coop with my depression. I don’t want to put my characters in bad situations, but a lot of the time even small things in my life seem overwhelming like everything is out to get me. Then the what if comes in, what if everything were out to get me? Then instead of being overwhelmed it’s an adventure that I have to write myself out of. It distracts me from that spiral. I get the same release from reading other authors. The most rewarding part is when I get a review that tells me how they were in a reading funk and they were so happy to have found my book and taken a chance on it, because it let them get back to balance. Books do that. They balance a person. You read and get out all of the feels by empathy through the characters, and then all of a sudden things aren’t so bad anymore. Knowing my writing helps people escape and feel better is the greatest reward.
What do you find most challenging about writing? Overcoming that little voice inside your head that tells you that you suck. That you’ll never finish. I have to constantly remind myself that even if I only wrote 200 words in a day, that it’s 200 words closer to the goal. That even if later during revision I end up deleting a third of what I wrote it wasn’t a waste, it was words that I needed as an author to write the words that stayed. I have mini-victories that help me keep on track and still feel accomplished. That and I have to give myself pep talks telling myself how awesome I am, even if I don’t feel awesome that day. The idea for Blood Crescent came during 2007, I wrote 20k during NANOWRIMO. I didn’t pick that story up again until 2015. It took me until 2017 to have a completed draft, and finished up editing in 2018. I’ve been writing partial and completed drafts for years. Book two was started in 2018 and completed in 2018, currently with my editor. It’s all about persistence, and my writing and voice wasn’t ready until now. The first book is always the hardest.
What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field? It is more than just writing. Being an author is being a jack of all trades. And being an author doesn’t mean that you have to be published. You are an author the first moment you write. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. If someone asks what you do, tell them, “I am an author, I’m currently working on…” The reason you add I’m currently working on is because this bypasses the awkward moment when they ask what have you published, this question always makes new authors uncomfortable. Take charge, tell them what you love to write, tell them what you’re working on, and trust me when I say more than likely the only reason they ask what have you published after that is because they want to read what you’re excited about. This is great news that you should be proud of. Have a website ready, and a business card, and tell them to sign up with your email subscription so that they’ll know when it’s available. You’re email list is your BIGGEST asset, start building it even before you publish.
What type of books do you enjoy reading? All of the things YA paranormal fantasy and romance. I love magic and mystical creatures then add some romance in the mix and I’m sold! I love reviewing indie authors, because a review is one of the biggest thank yous that you can give an author. Big fan of Goodreads to keep track of my reading lists. Last book I read was a medieval fantasy adventure and now I’m stuck waiting for the next book… waits impatiently.
Is there anything else besides writing you think people would find interesting about you? I used to ballroom dance, which I thought would be a nice side add for the novel, since Crystal is also a ballroom dancer. I’m also super handy in the sewing room. When I find the time I like to design my own patterns and make my own clothes. At one point I thought I’d be a famous fashion designer. The awkward years when I tried to convince myself that I could do anything else besides writing to earn a living… it didn’t work. I continued to write, and here we are! My sewing machine is totally dusty now.
What are the best ways to connect with you, or find out more about your work?
www.steviemarie.com is my website, signing up for my email list is the best way to stay up to date. I have progress bars on my site to let people know where I am with the books in progress and I’m happy to add more question and answers to my Q&A page when they come up.
Also, Goodreads is a great way to see what I’m reading and following my reviews of all the books I read. https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5153248.Stevie_McCoy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorsteviemarie/
Twitter. @Authormarie
About the Author:
Stevie Marie is the author of young adult paranormal fantasy and the Divine Series. Born within the apex of another universe, where magic flows like leaky faucets, and forged from the fires of the Underrealm she dug her way to Earth and reluctantly participates in human society, secretly returning to her home world to relay the stories of her monsters, and the troubled love of her people. When she isn’t writing she’s crafting clothing in her sewing room, cuddling her significant-other creature, or pretending to adult by managing a portfolio of properties for an accounting business in the rainy city of Seattle, Washington.
• Website: http://steviemarie.com/
• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5153248.Stevie_McCoy
• Twitter: @authormarie
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorsteviemarie/
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