GIVEAWAY!! Paranormal Romance~"The Lure of Shapinsay" by Krista Holle Gives Selkies Special Charm!

Author:  Krista Holle

Genre:  Fiction/Paranormal Romance

Ebook Format Currently

Summary :

Ever since Kait Swanney could remember, the old crones of the village have been warning her to stay away from the selkies. They claim that like sirens of old, the seal men creep from the inky waters, shed their skins, and entice women to their deaths beneath the North Sea. But avoiding an encounter becomes impossible when Kait is spotted at the water’s edge, moments after the murder of a half-selkie infant.
Kait is woken unexpectedly by a beautiful, naked selkie man seeking revenge. After she declares her innocence, the intruder darts into the night, but not before inadvertently bewitching her with an overpowering lure. She obsesses over a reunion deep beneath the bay and risks her own life to be reunited with her selkie. But when she lands the dangerous lover, the chaos that follows leaves Kait little time to wonder—is it love setting her on fire or is she being lured?

Interview with Krista Holle :

Hi, Krista.  I'm so happy to have you join me at A Bookish Libraria so my readers can get to know you better.  Thank you!  And, here are some questions for you.

1)  Please tell us a special something about what makes you "tick."  When you aren't writing what are you doing?  When real life kicks in and I'm not writing, I'm a critical care nurse.  I'm also the mother of four daughters.  I love watching movies, reading, walking, and collecting seashells.  I'm also a cheapskate and a do-it-yourselfer.  I once taught myself to reupholster a sofa so I wouldn't have to buy a new one.

2)  You chose a specific genre, a place and time to write about, what made you choose it?  Romance is the most popular genre in modern literature.  There's a reason for this.  We love the feeling of being in love--falling in love--and experiencing that first kiss.  It's my theory that the Twilight books were a huge phenomenon because of the old-fashioned love story, not the vampires.  All my books whether YA, historical, or paranormal all  have a romantic thread.

The Lure of the Shapinsay is a paranormal romance because I wanted to write a book about selkies, wonderful but seldom heard of mythical creatures.  In a nutshell, they are beautiful men and women who live as seals in the sea but occasionally shed their skins to come on land.

3)  Please share with your readers where you like to write.  Do you have a particular space or desk?  What can you see from your desk?  Do you have props you use to write from?  What about special "charms?" 

I started my journey writing in a "dungeon," aka the family's basement.  After that I graduated to the "tower," the loft of the house.  That is where I keep all my research books and scribble notebooks.  That being said, I'm a bit of a roamer.  I like total silence when I type, so I migrate with my laptop to the most silent room of the house.  As far as charms, hmmm, a friend bought me a Twilight poster that hangs on the wall in the loft.  It's not really a muse, but I do like to look at Robert Pattison.  With the publication of The Lure of Shapinsay, I framed my cover art and some other selkie artwork.  They'll both go above my desk after I buy some hooks.

4)  In your opinion, what makes a book a good one?  I heard somewhere that there are three secrets to writing a great novel.  The problem is, nobody knows what they are.  Now that I have that off my chest, I suppose it's a great story, mixed with great writing, mixed with the perfect amount of factor X.  Nobody knows what factor X is.

5)  Which author(s) most influenced your love of books from childhood?  While all the other kids were reading contemporaries like Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary, I was scouring the library looking for old fairy tales from around the world.  I couldn't get enough of them.  I fashioned The Lure of Shapinsay to read a bit like a grown up fairy tale.

6)  Read any good books in the past 6 months?  I've enjoyed reading Hereafter by Tara Hudson and The Heretic Queen by Michelle Moran.

7)  Please share with us the underlying message of your book.  What would you like  your readers to take away after having read your book?  I think too many books try to cram messages down our throats.  After you read The Lure of Shapinsay,  I hope my reader feels like they escaped to Shapinsay where they experienced love and adventure.  I hope they're 100% entertained.

8)  Were you able to keep your original title?  What was it, if not?    I really wanted my title to be simply "Lured" but the title was already taken and I wanted my book to be unique.

9)  Is there a song or music in general that might best represent your book as a theme song?

Hmmmm, tough one.  Maybe Killer's Brandon Flowers' "Crossfire."  It describes the torment of a relationship that shouldn't be consummated.  He's from the sea, she's a land dweller--they're just out of each other's reach.

10)  If you could write your book again, what would you change?   I might add an epilogue.  More than one reader told me they couldn't get enough, that they wanted me to expound on what happened after the end.  Maybe there will be a sequel.

11)  What was the worst distraction you had to fight through while writing your book?

I wrote The Lure of  Shapinsay while the kids were at school so it was pretty easy for me to stay focused.  If you asked me that question about the book I'm currently writing, I'd say Twittering, advertising, Facebooking, and general promoting.  It gobbles up huge amounts of time and quality writing becomes more and more difficult.

12)  What did you feel or think when you held the first copy of your book in your hands?  

The Lure of Shapinsay is an e-book, so I'll let you know when it gets paper published, but seeing that cover image for the first time and realizing I'm now a published author was very surreal to me!

13)  Tell us a secret about your book we wouldn't otherwise know, please!

The reader will want to know, was Kait ever in love or was she lured.  Eamon himself answers this question on the very last page.  It's a big fat clue for those that need definitive answers.

Thank you so much, Krista, for taking time to answer so many questions!  I think everyone will be more than interested in reading your book....which can be found on Amazon, Barnes & Noble...just for starters!

GIVEAWAY  !!!!!

Krista is offering a copy of her e-book

to those who enter here:

International and domestic entries included!

Simply leave your name and your email with a comment to enter.

All entries welcomed...please tell your friends to enter!

This giveaway will run the duration of "The Lure of Shapinsay" Book Tour...and the winner will be announced February 14th

The Book Tour:

For reviews and more giveaways, including a t-shirt with selkie symbols on it...please go to http://darkmindbooktours.blogspot.com/

Deborah/TheBookishDame