From Scarlett Dawn comes the stunning, sexy, sensual, surprising, spell-binding conclusion to the bestselling first Forever Evermore trilogy.
Queen Shifter, Lily Ruckler, has found solace in brutal warfare. Her bloodied fists and bared fangs fill the holes left in her memory, the blank spaces that leave her soul aching and empty. Her only pleasure is in blood; her…
King Tomb By Scarlett Dawn
Releases October 8, 2014
I am so excited for this book! I can’t hardly contain myself now that I have seen the cover!
From Scarlett Dawn comes the stunning, sexy, sensual, surprising, spell-binding conclusion to the bestselling first Forever Evermore trilogy.
Queen Shifter, Lily Ruckler, has found solace in brutal warfare. Her bloodied fists and bared fangs fill…
REVIEWS of KING HALL and KING CAVE by Scarlett Dawn at The Reading Cafe: http://www.thereadingcafe.com/king-hall-king-cave-forever-evermore-1-2-by-scarlett-dawn-a-review/
The author of the sexy New Adult fantasy KING HALL talks to COBG's Rachel about Independent women, writing friendship over romance and even has some writing tips for our followers!
Author Bio:
Scarlett Dawn is drawn to all things quirky and off-beat. She believes there are no boundaries for an imaginative soul. Her love of the written word started from at an early age, when her grandmother would take her to bookstores every weekend. Dreams came alive within the books she found there, and now, she is thrilled to share her stories with others who have fallen under the spell of taking fantastical journeys. Scarlett resides in the Midwest with her family.
Interview:
1. You are being sent off into space on a 10 year mission alone, you can only bring three books with you, what books do you choose and why?
1A: The Bible. Obvious reasons.
1B: A book Kid3 has written. It would remind me of her.
1C: A fanfiction Kid2 has written. It would remind me of her.
2. What is a book you claimed to read, but you actually hadn’t?
Um…I haven’t. Boring answer, I know. But if I say I’ve read one, I have so I can give an honest review. <3
3. What motivated you to write “King Hall” and how was the experience of writing "King Cave" different once you had experience as a writer?
Honestly? It wasn’t a lot different. I wrote both of them a few years ago before I ever started subbing my work out. I wrote a few stories before those for my own enjoyment, so King Hall and King Cave easily flowed as the story unfolded in my mind.
4. On page one of “King Hall” Lily already has her mate which really makes “King Hall” stand out in the new adult world. Was it a choice to avoid the usual falling in love angst or was it a happy accident?
A happy accident.
When I began writing King Hall, I realized that Lily’s life was even more complicated than first imagined. She’s in love. She’s found her match. But what happens when it’s all ripped away? Literally. Never to return again?
Now that is where the real story is.
5. Lily is an independent character from page 1 and evolves from independent survivor to strong and steady leader. Can you talk about Lily’s journey and what work you did to make her standout in the oversaturated world of fantasy heroines?
Hmm. I’m a total pantster writer. I would love to say that I had plotted it all out to make her this ridiculously awesome character, but the truth is that I gave her real life situations. Real life issues. Then I made her react how a real person would. Not a fictional character where everything turns out rosy and sweet. I’m not even sure I can write that way! Lol
Oh! Kid3 interrupts: She can’t. She seriously can’t. If I didn’t know my mom, or know that a person’s writing doesn’t reflect the writer as an individual, I would’ve thought that she was heartless.
Ahem…laptops back in my lap. Kid3 is full of serious wisdom. Really. What she said couldn’t be more true of any writer.
Okay, so back to the point, I made Lily as real as possible. I think that’s what truly attracts a reader…even if I didn’t plan for that. Like I said before, I wrote for my own enjoyment. It was only after I was done writing the Forever Evermore Trilogies that I realized it was ‘publish’ worthy. Thankfully, Escape Publishing thought so too!
6. On COBG, we often discuss the lack of strong and healthy friendships in genre fiction. One of the reasons I loved your book is that friendship is the foundation of the story. Can you discuss building the relationships between the Rulers and why you decided to focus on friendship over romance?
Ah! An easy question.
I focused on the friendship in King Hall, because of the tragedy that Lily is forced to endure. I just didn’t feel that an individual, who finds their one and only, just poof, gets over it in the blink of an eye. Plus, there are four different factions that are normally at odds with one another, yet they are supposed to rule together for a quarter of a century. To me, there needs to be a strong foundation of respect and trust for this occur.
7. The Mysticals are all different; shifters, vamps, mages or elementals. What sort of research did you do to create your lore and what was the most fun invention that you added to your mystical characters?
LOL What’s ‘research’?
No, really, I focused mainly on my own imagination. I wanted to create a story that was different from anything I had ever read. There are some books that I absolutely love, but at the same time I hate certain aspects of them. When I write, I go against the current and travel down the flow I pick.
It’s pretty simple. If you write for others, it won’t ring true. I merely wrote for my own tastes. Luckily, others seem to enjoy it too!
8. There’s this notion in the book community that New Adult fiction is just about sex. Sex seems to be a major theme in New Adult and the characters in “King Hall” are active in that department. What do you think New Adult Fiction is about and what made you want to write a fantasy novel about new adults, love and sex?
I love New Adult.
I adore the chaos that derives from even the simplest action a “new adult” takes, every step a minefield of individuality. But when I wrote King Hall a few years ago, I didn’t know anything about the “label”. I just wrote what I wanted, what stories came to me. This particular series really took hold, and I kept writing.
And writing…
Until I was done.
Even after writing the last sentence of the last book, I still knew nothing about New Adult. A few months later, when I started investigating on how to query, I read an article on NA. It fit. It was that easy for me. If it quacks like a duck, looks like a duck, then it’s most likely a duck. Same for The Forever Evermore Trilogies.
That said, I probably could have labeled this particular novel, King Hall, as upper YA (even though their ages are 19-22), but I had to think about the entire series as a whole. I didn’t want kiddies to get hooked on book one, only to have their minds blown by the erotic content of future books. I’m a mother of three wonderful teenagers, and while I’ve allowed them to read sections of King Hall, I would never allow them to read the entirety of the other books. It just gets too hawt for young minds. I was thinking about, not only my children, but other parents’ kids as well. So, long story short, the New Adult genre fit.
9. On COBG, we discuss books, but also give writing tips and advice. Now that you have successfully gone through the writer’s journey do you have any advice for aspiring authors? Is there anything you wish you knew when starting the process?
If you’re looking for an agent, write one hell of a query letter. Mine was not. Not the first draft. Or the second. My skills are more reserved for longer hooks, so I ended up taking my novel into my own hands after many rejection letters. I searched for publishers that accepted submissions without an agent. Go figure, I received a lot of positive response, but I found my perfect match with Kate Cuthbert at Escape Publishing, a Harlequin Australia imprint. Luckily, she liked King Hall too. (thanks, Kate) What I’m saying is that there are many avenues to becoming published. Each writer merely needs to find their own path.
Bonus Question: What should your fans expect from Lily and the other rulers in “King Cave”?
Love. Tragedy. Sex. War. All mixed up in one heck of a magical location.
*rubs hands together*
It’s good – hawt - stuff.
For more from Scarlett Dawn.
Website|Goodreads|Twitter|Facebook
Rh's Review|Escape Publishing
About the Book:
Official Synopsis:
A fresh, meaty, sink-your-teeth-in-and-hold-on-tight new adult fantasy series kicks off with King Hall…
King Hall — where the Mysticals go to learn their craft, get their degrees, and transition into adulthood. And where four new Rulers will rise and meet their destinies.
Lily Ruckler is adept at one thing: survival. Born a Mystical hybrid, her mere existence is forbidden, but her nightmare is only about to start. Fluke, happenstance, and a deep personal loss finds Lily deeply entrenched with those who would destroy her simply for existing — The Mystical Kings. Being named future Queen of the Shifters shoves Lily into the spotlight, making her one of the most visible Mysticals in the world. But with risk comes a certain solace — her burgeoning friendships with the other three Prodigies: a wicked Vampire, a wild-child Mage, and a playboy Elemental. Backed by their faith and trust, Lily begins to relax into her new life.
Then chaos erupts as the fragile peace between Commoners and Mysticals is broken, and suddenly Lily realises the greatest threat was never from within, and her fear takes on a new name: the revolution.
