Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Guest Author Day with Margay Leah Justice


Welcome to Dawn’s Reading Nook, Margay Leah Justice. Please let my cabana boys/girls get you a drink and make yourself at home. Comfortable? Great…now let’s get down to business.

So tell us about yourself. What got you interested in writing? Who are your publisher(s)?

I have literally been writing my whole life, even before I knew there was a name for what I was doing. But it really solidified in junior high when my English teacher encouraged my writing and told me to keep on writing. So I did. It has always been something I loved to do. I am currently published by Muse It Up Publishing.

How did you start your writing career?

I started out writing for me, writing the stories I wanted to read but didn’t see out there. It took awhile before I ever considered publishing what I wrote.


Tell us about your favorite character from your books.

All of my characters are my favorites! I really do like Shiloh, though, because she is still something of an innocent and definitely a fish out of water, but she is a fierce fighter when she needs to be.

Where do you dream of traveling to and why?

I have always wanted to go to Paris, ever since I started taking French in school. I just love the language and the food and the culture. I’d also love to visit England, Scotland, Ireland, and check out where my ancestors came from.

Tell us about your current/upcoming release. What inspired it?

Sloane Wolf was originally just a couple of scenes in my head related to a book/movie I had enjoyed, about how I wish it went. But then I saw a call for a writing contest with a theme of wolves and decided to give it a shot. The only trouble was, I only had those few scenes in my head and nothing to connect them into a story. Until I read an article about the sightings of gray wolves in Massachusetts after a 150-year absence. Suddenly, everything fell into place and the legend of the wolves was born!

Has someone helped or mentored you in your writing career?

I always credit my seventh grade English teacher, Miss Black, with being my mentor. She is the one that put a name to what I was doing for m (writing) and she really nurtured me all throughout that class. She also told me to keep on writing and that was a huge encouragement to me. Another mentor was an English professor in college who told me that my writing was “easily publishable.” With praise like that, you have to press on with it, don’t you?

Who are some of your favorite authors/books?

Julia Quinn – I could read anything she writes and usually do! Jane Austen – Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion And so many more!

What was your first sale as an author?

A book called Nora’s Soul

When in the day/night do you write? How long per day?
Lately, I’ve been writing a lot at night, I don’t know why. But I usually put in at least an hour before bedtime.
If you could visit any time and place, where and when would it be and why?
Regency England. For some reason, I really love that time period and place, which is probably why I love Julia’s and Jane’s books so much!
If you could be any shape shifter, what form would you take and why?
Probably a cat because I love cats and because, if you look up my name in the dictionary, you will see that it is a type of wild cat.
What else would you like readers to know about you or your work?
Hmm, interesting question. Perhaps that I am avid reader myself and as such, I try hard to provide a good story that they can get so wrapped up in, they forget they have other things to do that day!
Who's more fun to write: bad boys or perfect gentlemen and why?

Oh, probably bad boys because you can make them do anything and they relish it!

If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be and what would you do together?

Elizabeth Bennet – and we’d attend a country ball together so we can spend the night dancing with friends.

Out of all your books, do you have a favorite one? If not, then which one is closest to your heart?

All of my books are close to my heart, kind of like my children, so I love them all equally.

What character out of all your books is the closest to your personality?

That’s hard to say. I think there is a little bit of me in all of my characters, to some extent. But maybe Shiloh comes the closest.

Anything else you would like to add?

I just want to thank you for having me here today. I really enjoyed it!


 Sloane Wolf by Margay Leah Justice
MuseItUp Publishing



Smahwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/116104



For more than a hundred and fifty years, the gray wolf has failed to roam the hills of Massachusetts, leading to the belief that they are extinct. But with a spattering of sightings across the Berkshires, the legend of the gray wolf comes to fruition. The product of that legend, Micah Sloane will go to great lengths to protect his kind from the threat of outsiders, who seek to exploit the legend for their own interests. One thing he didn’t count on, however, was finding his soul mate in the company of such men.

From the first time she predicted a stranger’s imminent death when she was little more than a child, Shiloh Beck knew she was different. Wishing to cultivate her gift, her parents made the fateful decision to enroll her in a private school for paranormally gifted children. Unbeknownst to them, the school was just a front for a research facility simply called the Institute, whose secret board members weaned gifted children from their families to exploit their gifts. Shiloh has spent the better part of her life trying to escape the Institute and reunite with the family she was told had abandoned her.

From their first meeting, Micah and Shiloh share a connection that goes beyond the normal to bond them in a way that love alone cannot. But before they can build a life together, they must deal with the fall-out when the legend of the wolves collides with the men behind the Institute.

Hot Teaser Excerpt:

Shiloh nearly leapt off the sill as his hand touched her knee. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to remain seated and appear undaunted by the gesture. “I am…much better now…thank you,” she said, becoming more unnerved by the presence of his hand by the minute. Oh, this was not good, not good at all. The longer it remained there, the stronger her impulse to bolt became. Oh, no…

What was it about this man that rattled her so and with so little effort on his part? Sharing the same air with him was enough to send her pulses to the moon—and her mind somewhere else, something new for her. Being this attracted to a man was beyond her realm of experience. She didn’t know what to do with it—or about it. Should she do anything? Should she pretend indifference? And why wasn’t he so deeply affected? It wasn’t fair.

Still confused, she gave him a weak smile, intent on backing up her previous claim with the gesture. She feared it failed miserably. When Micah returned her smile and lifted his hand from her knee, she felt precisely one second of relief before he shook her world again by caressing her face in parting. She stumbled
back against the frame of the window, her lips parting on a startled breath as a lightning bolt shot through her at his touch. Something flickered in his eyes at her reaction—pain, perhaps—and he retracted his hand, balling it into a fist as he turned away from her, preparing to depart.

In an instant, she realized her mistake. Along with it came the knowledge she couldn’t let him go away angry or upset. After everything he and his family had done for her, she owed him that much. She grabbed him by the shirtfront to stop him, and a shock of awareness shot from her hand directly into his heart, just beneath it. She could see it in the gaze he leveled on her then, could hear it in his breath trapped within his lungs, feel it in the missed beat of his heart. But then, all sense abandoned her, and her heart skipped a beat as he held her hand firmly to his chest with one of his own and lifted the other to her head, anchoring it against the window frame. Slowly, his eyes never straying from hers, he leaned across the space separating them. His lips brushed hers, like a whisper, before he withdrew, tilted his head to the side, and advanced again. This time the kiss was fuller, penetrating her every defense, both physical and emotional, but still not long enough for her. He retreated once again after a fraction of time and hovered before her, scarcely an inch away. Watching her. Waiting.

Her heart beating a frantic tempo now, Shiloh abandoned all of her reservations and her good sense to swoop in for a more vigorous kiss. So vigorous, in fact, she knocked him off his perch through the open window. Only quick reflexes honed to perfection at the Institute prevented her from tumbling after him.
Bracing herself against the sill, she leaned out the window as far as she was able and watched his descent from the slanted roof to the ground below. She lost sight of him the moment he slid beyond the reach of the light from her window. But then she heard him land with a thud —and a howl—on the ground in front of the back porch when he failed to catch himself on the roof edge. She clasped a hand over her mouth to silence her reaction and waited. When he didn’t rouse right away, panic shot through her and she leaned out another few inches.

“Micah? Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he answered after a few moments, appearing beyond the overhang of the roof as if to prove it to her. “Nothing hurt but what’s left of my pride.”

Relief coursed through her at his statement, and she allowed herself the laugh she’d literally held back before. Her mirth was cut short, however, by his next words.

“Hey, Shiloh! We’ve got to stop falling for each other like this.”

His laughter followed her as she ducked back into the room. She could still hear it even after she closed the window, though not as well. Oh, Lord. She rested against the cool pane of glass and touched her still-tingling lips with shaky fingers. Was she? Falling for him? Was that what this crazy-mad feeling inside of her was?

The question plagued her long into the night.

 Where to find Margay:
http://margayleahjustice.blogspot.com/

http://moonlightlacemayhem.blogspot.com/

http://twitter.com/Margay





1 comment:

Margay Leah Justice said...

Once again, thank you for having me on your blog. I really enjoyed it!

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