Guest Author Day and Giveaway for Wicked Bite

Good morning and please give a warm welcome to author Evi Rhodes who is dropping by the Reading Nook blog today to chat about their new book, Wicked Bite. Please remember to enter the giveaway below as well as Evi Rhodes will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.The tour is sponsored by Goddess Fish Promotions and you can find all the tour stops HERE.

An Interview with Evi Rhodes.....

Thanks for stopping by to talk a little about your writing! Let's jump right in.

When did you begin writing and why?

I first started writing when I was in grade school and created a children’s story about a foal who gets lost and is trying to rejoin with his family. I then picked writing up again, more seriously this time, in high school and would write down everything from world ideas, character development ideas, quotes and even short poems. As much as I loved to write my real focus at the time was training and competing to make the Olympic team in the equestrian sport that I love and therefore sat writing aside. I picked it up again when I had to give up on my dream of competing; it gave me something to really sink my teeth into once more (no pun intended); but it also served as a form of therapy. It is a common issue with anyone that has been hyper-focused for a very long time on one particular goal to feel lost when they must give that up, this seems to affect athletes in particular. I have been writing every day since then.

Do you have a favorite genre? Is it the same genre you prefer to write?

I read most genres and simply love to read anything that has a great storyline, but my absolute favourite is paranormal/romance. This is what I read the most and it is what I prefer to write.

Do certain themes and ideas tend to capture your writer’s imagination and fascinate you?

Dark vs light, good vs evil and the battle within oneself, as well as everyone’s personal stories have always fascinated me. I love the ability to create interesting human like characters and yet throw fantasy-world-based issues at them. What can they do? How will they react? Etc… I find making my characters flawed, like we all are, makes them more relatable, believable, lovable, and captures the attention of my readers. Throw in the fact that they have to face terrible and unusual circumstances is just icing on the cake for the creative mind.

How do you balance long-term thinking vs. being nimble in today's market?

I try to make sure that what I’m writing about can transcend most generations. Although some themes such as vampires/shifters rises and decreases in popularity they never fully disappear from the market. We seem to be fascinated by the paranormal as a whole which certainly helps balancing long-term vs today’s market. I like to use items such as vehicles that are considered classic, don’t use dates unless necessary and my characters experience issues that tend to have history repeat itself. The world the characters live in as well as what they face could be from now, twenty years from now or even twenty years into our past. I like to have characters that are all different and even something as basic as the language/slang/terms they use will be different depending on personality and what generation the character was born in or relates to.

How do you find readers in today's market?

It’s hard finding readers. There are hundreds of thousands of books published a year and as a newer indie author it’s a constant battle to get people’s attention and build a following in a sea of so many. Social media has been a big help as it is relatively cost effective and can span the world as well as allow those that love your work to help by sharing your name. Bloggers and reviewers such as yourself play a very important role in helping get the word out there and I still find that word of mouth is a big help. If everyone that loves an author’s work told even two people to give this book/author a try, people are more likely to trust the person who recommended the book, then purchasing by simply seeing a post.

Do you come up with the hook first, or do you create characters first and then dig through until you find a hook?

For me it’s all about the characters. I love to create the characters, likes, dislikes, physical description as well as anything else I can think of and then from there decide what would really work story wise for this particular personality and then build the world and situations out from that point. Because Wicked Night is the first in a series, my characters and their stories each have a hook which is different from one another and are revealed over time.

How do you create your characters?

            I start with why I am building this character. Are they a main character or part of the supporting cast? Are they a hero or a villain and what makes them so? Then I build what they look like, everything from hair, eyes, body type, tattoos, scars etc… Then it’s their personality, likes and dislikes. I prefer to base characters off of people that I know or have met in passing as it helps give me context for what that type of personality is really like and how they would respond to jokes, challenges, love and so much more.

What's on the top of your TBR pile right now?

J.R. Ward’s The Savior

Tell me a little about the characters in Wicked Night.

Wicked Night gives you a glimpse into a much larger cast of characters, but the few you meet and really interact with are Gwen, Wicked, Craze, Kayden, Hauk and Ice.

Gwen is our protagonist and she is who you follow through the entirety of the series. We are introduced to her and not really sure what to make of her. She comes of annoying, rude and a little self-pitying, but underneath all the bravado she is a whole lot more. Gwen learns to slowly show her true self to not only the characters around her but also to the reader and that is when you learn to like/love her. She is very important to the future of the race and her journey to get there is not going to be an easy one.

Wicked is our hero and once more when we meet him, we are just not sure what to make of this handsome yet egotistical male. Like Gwen though he is hiding a lot under the surface, he is tormented in ways he slowly begins to see and want to change as their story continues. Being the next king comes with huge responsibility, can he hold up and what will be he be able to break down the walls that stand in his way.

Hauk and his story is yet to come, but he is Wicked’s brother and the good brother of the two. Older, wiser and much less volatile he comes across as the perfect male, but like all my characters, Hauk has flaws. As the journey continues you learn more about Hauk as well as why there is so much tension between him and his brother.

Ice is our villain and yet in some ways you just can’t help but feel sorry for her. She is blinded by love and hurt, causing her to not only become our villain but also someone that you pity. She has a lot more to her and her character that we learn as time goes on, but for now she is out to get our protagonist out of the picture so go ahead and hate her.

Kayden is Wicked’s best friend. They have been through just about everything together and have saved one another’s lives more than once. Kayden has some dark demons that he wrestles with that are the type to never fully go away. His story is very closely entwined with our main two characters and as time goes on the reader will emotionally be all over the board where this particular character is concerned.

Last but certainly not least is Craze. What can we say about this character…he is the practical joker of the crowd and also one of the most talented and feared warriors. He quickly becomes Gwen’s friend and as the series continues so does their bond. He is much wiser than he makes himself appear but he is always in it for a laugh if he can. Craze is the friend we all wish we could find and never let go of, the one who will always have your back.

Where’s the story set? How much influence did the setting have on the atmosphere/characters/development of the story?

The mansion and therefore most of the story takes place in the very lush area of Catskills, NY; many of the scenes also take place in the downtown core of NY city as well as Manhattan.  The setting didn’t have too much to do with the characters initial creation process but it did help with the ongoing continuing development. I wanted to make sure that my area had everything that I needed for secluded forests with scenic landscapes to the hustle and bustle of a large city. My characters are able to easily fit into both and like and dislike both for various reasons depending on the character.

If you had to write your memoir in five words, what would you write?

Always did what I loved

How often does your muse distract you from day to day minutiae?

All day long. There is not a day that passes that I’m not caught day dreaming and staring off into my own little world. I love to think over scenes a million times and see how I can better the story or the characters or even how I could have improved something that is already published. The passion to write and create can easily become an obsession lol!

What do readers have to look forward to in the future from you?

The second book in the series is already out, Unusual Night which introduces many new exciting characters and takes us on a whirlwind journey with Gwen, Wicked, and the challenges they still have to face. The third book in the series, Orion’s Night, focuses mostly on the character Orion. He is a very interesting character and we get to see Gwen and Wicked as well as the turmoil surrounding them from a different POV. As with all my books I like to touch on serious topics as well as the hot romance and of course this one is no different.

GENRE: Paranormal romance/urban fantasy

Follow the journey of a strong, independent, yet caring woman as she navigates the supernatural world she is thrust into. Gwen steps out of a dysfunctional family life and into a world filled with danger she never realized lives at every turn, fiery passion, and a love that is ever binding. How will she handle her strange new surroundings as well as the man with the intense and overbearing personality who threatens to destroy the emotional barriers around her heart?

Wicked, the next in line to become the vampire king, is caught off guard when he grudgingly agrees to take on a charge, something he never wanted to do. He is unsure how to handle the fierce and vibrant woman with the unsettling green eyes. It doesn't take long for them to clash, but will it end passionately or burn down around them?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Excerpt

They had gone only a short distance when they burst into a large room, ready for battle, but what they found made them pull up short.

A weight settled on the men’s chests as they stared at the gruesome tableau before them.

            “It’s a torture chamber, dear Goddess,” Orion whispered and all the men began crossing themselves with the sign of the Goddess as they looked around at the carnage.

The smell of rotting flesh mixed with recent death was almost unbearable to their heightened senses; there was a constant hum of flies as they buzzed near pools of blood covered walls and, there was a large metal table in the centre of the room with chains and bits of what was left of vampire remains hanging from the restraints. There were stainless steel chains on the walls, all of which had been recently used, as fresh blood dripped from the cuffs. It felt like the Dark Prince himself lived here; it was as if they had all walked through the veil of evil into the shadows where things that go bump in the night lived and you screamed as you ran from things that your mind could not comprehend.  Wicked walked towards the large barred-off area in the back of the room, not really wanting to see what he knew he was going to find, while Orion and the others followed a few steps behind.

BUY LINKS

Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Wicked-Night-Warriors-Evi-Rhodes-ebook/dp/B07KXZCQQY/

Barnes and Noble

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wicked-night-evi-rhodes/1129961878

Indigo

https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/wicked-night-a-warriors-promise/9780228802853-item.html?

Review the book on NetGalley: https://www.netgalley.com/widget/194639/redeem/38dc465999c386117d31d27c1162d96f65c565c65d330bb76f40f139c8659ffc

Giveaway Information:

Evi Rhodes will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Evi Rhodes has always had a passion for writing and likes to spend as much time as possible hanging out with the array of rescue animals on her farm in Ontario, sipping on a cup of coffee and typing on her laptop.

In addition to getting her degree in business as well as competing in her favourite equestrian sport, dressage, she is an entrepreneur, and has coached many of a riding enthusiast, but she has always found herself coming back to wanting to write full-time.

“I just want to be me and to be authentic. To tell a story that others can immerse themselves in and enjoy is what I have always wanted.”

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS

Website: www.awarriorspromiseseries.com

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/evirhodesauthor/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evi_rhodes/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18662575.Evi_Rhodes