First of All, thanks for having me at Dawn’s Reading Nook. I’m Katie Groom — dogmom, reader, hobbyist musician, and author of the Cardinal Moon Saga. My latest novel in the series — the finale of the main novel trilogy — Rising Moon, is available anywhere that books are sold.
As you may have guessed from the title of the series and novel, I write in the paranormal fantasy genre (mostly cozy adventures with a little bit of gentle romance), and with any genre, there are pros and cons to it.
Biggest Pro:
I can make up whatever I want.
There’s no rules for this genre because whatever I write is fantasy. It’s fiction. No one can tell me that it “didn’t happen” or “couldn’t happen” because that’s the entire point of it. Whereas Science Fiction has an element of reality to it, Fantasy, especially paranormal fantasy, can be anything that we want it to be.
While it still needs to make some sort of reasonable sense and there needs to be rules and stakes, they can be anything that I want them to be when I write them. For example, Hugh is a werewolf, but the werewolves in the Cardinal Moon Saga don’t follow the typical rules of werewolf lore. And that’s okay because — to our knowledge — werewolves don’t actually exist, so who can tell me that I’m wrong?
I mean, I made up an entire world within ours, and since all of us are mortals, no one can tell me that this immortal realm does or does not exist in the manner that I’ve created it?
Only Con I Could Think Of:
It’s very saturated.
I will admit that it is very difficult to break out and be a top seller. Paranormal Fantasy and its subsequent genres have a massive amount of entries that come out every single day.
Sure, I could print my books and then pray that something happens to get me on the best seller list. But it actually takes a lot of work. With so many other authors in the genre — I could call them competitors, but we aren’t competing; we’re lifting one another up — and social media, it requires constant engagement. New posts daily — sometimes multiple times a day. And that means that it isn’t just writing that is required of writers. We’re having to be so much more than that, and it can be draining. There was a time that this took the fun out of writing for me, but for some, this may be part of the thrill.
Final Thoughts:
All that being said, it doesn’t matter what genre someone
writes in. There’s pros and cons to each. Just find the genre or art that you’re
passionate about and create. If you create something that’s authentic to you,
you’ll find your audience. That audience may be small, but it will be mighty.
:)
RISING MOON
Author: Katie Groom
GENRE: Paranormal
Available at Amazon
Reunited
with his mate Zoie and having taken revenge on some of his immortal enemies,
werewolf Hugh has new goals for revenge and justice: Ruin the lives of his
remaining foes and end their reign.
The
powerful Council of the immortal world has been imprisoning those who oppose
them. But now, Hugh is one of the Council and perfectly poised to take the
Council from the inside with the help of Zoie and their friends.
While
Zoie is busy working on her witchcraft—studying and practicing so that she can
protect her loved ones, Hugh probes for the secrets that have kept them in
power for so long.
Investigating
both openly and in secret, Hugh uncovers more than just the public terror. Even
without the mock trials, those who disagreed with the Council often found
themselves in the dark, lonely purgatory of being a gargoyle. Trapped and awake
for all of eternity, in a rapidly expanding graveyard that ages all who enter.
Even immortals have things they fear more than death.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt
Two:
There was no one in the house but Zoie. Hugh had left to
handle some Council business, and, while Cade had a key, they didn’t use it
unless it was an emergency. She was using the time to catch up on some
reading—for pleasure.
Since effectively coming back from the dead, Zoie had been
reclassified as a missing person, but there was still some work to be done for
her to get her life back. The legal red tape to bring a person back to life was
more complicated than any of them had thought it would be. Sure, Hugh had
connections that could forge documents, but bringing someone back to life who
was never actually dead—nearly impossible in the eyes of the government.
Between researching that and taking action on it, Zoie was
also studying magic and practicing and getting better at her skills. It was
slow going because, to Zoie’s understanding, because she had let her powers lay
dormant for so long, she had to work much harder to get to the level that she
would have been at otherwise. No amount of natural skill could make up for
practice. But, sometimes, Zoie felt as if she was practicing herself to the
point that it was having the opposite effect. It was beginning to feel like a
job. A job she didn’t want to do some days.
So between all of that and trying to figure out what she
wanted to do with her life, plus balancing a life with Hugh and Silas, Zoie
wasn’t left with much time for fun things. So, she was taking this rare time
when Hugh was out and Silas was actually with him— and she couldn’t wait to
hear how that went for them—to read. She had decided to go back to a simpler
time in her life and read a childhood favorite: Anne of Green Gables.
Since Hugh had been technically working two jobs—his role as
professor in the English Department and Council Member of the Supernatural
World—Zoie had also settled into the role of housewife, and it was another
thing that felt like a job that she hated. She had just settled down for
another break from her tasks while the laundry was rolling around in the dryer.
Placing the bookmark on the table, Zoie curled up on the
couch with her book and a throw blanket. She took a sip of her tea and then
turned the page, engrossed in the book to the point that she didn’t even hear
the buzzer go off, signaling the end of the cycle.
What did take her out of the book was a loud argument from
behind her. It almost made her question her own sanity because she hadn’t
noticed anyone entering the house.
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AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Katie Groom grew up in rural Pennsylvania, where she received her bachelor’s degree in Business Management from PITT and her master’s in Employment and Labor Relations from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. In 2016, she decided to move to Alabama in order to avoid as much snow as possible (and to advance her career in Human Resources).
When she isn’t working, Katie enjoys reading, writing, jokingly critiquing movies and TV, and campaigning that the plural of moose should be meese. She also loves to take in live music (especially Hanson) and traveling, with the goal of reaching each of the continents. Katie’s favorite pastime, however, is spending time with her beloved Shih tzu, Delta.
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/katie_writes_
3 comments:
We appreciate you featuring Katie Groom and RISING MOON.
Looks like a good read.
This looks really good. Thanks for sharing.
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