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Blurb:
For
centuries, countless adventurers have searched for the Fountain of Youth. Those
who found it thought they would gain eternal life. Instead, they find
themselves murdered by its guardians. There was, however, one, lone
survivor—Fae Miller. As an infant, she not only survived the Fountain, she took
its power.
Twenty-two
years later, Fae is hiding in plain sight at a local college. She’s is
determined to leave the past behind her and live a normal life. But for one
dying man, the search for the Fountain of Youth continues, and he is leaving a
trail of blood and mutilated bodies in his wake. Unfortunately, that trail
leads directly to Fae. Her only hope is a young, new college professor, also known as
Special Agent Nick Chase of the FBI. Nick is determined to do two things: keep
Fae alive, and keep his relationship with his student professional. Both of
these jobs prove difficult—especially when love and magic get involved.
Excerpt:
They
ate their dinner in silence. Fae realized in those quiet moments that she had a
major problem.
She’d
not only kissed her professor, she desperately wanted to kiss him again. No.
Desperate was not a strong enough word. It took supreme effort not to jump out
of her seat and throw her arms around him.
“Um,”
she said and cleared her throat, “that probably shouldn’t happen again.”
Nick
didn’t answer. A scowl settled on his face.
“I
mean,” Fae continued, “This could complicate things. I don’t want you to feel
you need to give me a good grade, just because you might…”
“Might
what?” he asked when she didn’t’ continue.
“I
don’t want to put words in your mouth,” she said.
“Right,”
he said. He seemed want to say something, but paused to consider his words. “How
about I tell you how I feel? That way you won’t be putting words into my mouth.”
“Okay.”
He
looked her directly in the eyes. “I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve
ever laid eyes on. So it goes without saying that I’m attracted to you. And
I’ve had enough experience with women to know you’ve had little experience with
men. Rules aside, I’d still move slowly with you.”
Fae
swallowed and gave a shaky nod.
“But
the truth is I am your professor. So
this relationship cannot move further than what it is now. That is until the
end of the term. And no, I won’t be giving you any grade you don’t deserve.”
“But,
once the term ends,” he continued, “all bets are off. I intend to pursue a
relationship with you. I expect keeping my hands off you will be difficult in
the meantime. I think we are both reasonable adults and have enough self-control
to keep things at a professional level. Right?”
Fae
nodded, feeling a bit relieved. “I do have one question,” she said.
“Yes?”
“You
said our relationship couldn’t go farther than it is.”
“Right,”
he said.
“And
we’ve already kissed.”
A
frown settled on his face. It looked like he could guess what she was about to
say. Warmth flooded her cheeks. She asked in a small voice, “So, can I kiss you
again?”
He
closed his eyes and shook his head as he groaned and gave a weak chuckle. “You’re
going to make things difficult, aren’t you?” When he opened his eyes, he stood
up, pulled her out of her seat, and wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes
widened and heart pounded as her body melded against his. He looked down and
gave her a smoldering look as the scent of his cologne teased her senses and
made her mouth water.
“I can’t think of any alternate reality where
I would ever say no when you ask me that question.” With that said, he leaned
forward and kissed her so thoroughly, she could scarcely remember her own name.
Author Interview
How long have you been writing?I’ve been writing regularly for about eight years. Eight years ago, I decided to try my hand at writing a novel. I finished it and soon realized I had a lot to learn, but I loved writing so much, I couldn’t seem to stop. Five years later, I got my first novel, Rising, published (though it was the fourth novel I’d written).
What genre do you read the most and who are your favorite authors from that genre?I read all kinds of genres, but I prefer a book with a bit of romance. My absolute favorite author is Amy Harmon. She writes mostly contemporary, but also some paranormal. She has such emotion packed into her books. I also really enjoy Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series, Tamara Grantham’s Fairy World MD’s series, and A.G. Howard’s Splintered series.
What made you decide to switch to self publishing? That’s a simple answer. It’s so I could have more control what happens with my books. It’s not that I don’t love my publisher, they’ve been amazing to work with and I have plans to publish more through them. But for this series, I’d like to spread my wings and take charge. I will still have an editor, but the cover design and formatting will be all me and my husband (who knows more about Photoshop and Illustrator than I do). I look forward to new horizons.
What does a typical writing day look like for you?
I’ve got a lot going on in my life—with six kids and being a small business owner during the day—it makes it difficult to find time to write. So I don’t find time, I make time. For me, writing starts somewhere between 4 and 6 o’clock in the morning. I’m able to write until my kids need a ride to school at 8:00. Then I come back and often write some more—until about 9. That’s my writing time.
What's your process for writing? Do you outline first or are you more of a write-by-the-seat of-your-pants author?I’ve tried outlining on several occasion, but it simply doesn’t work for me. Most of my best ideas come as I’m writing. So I’m a 100% write by the seat of my pants author.
Do you have a street team or Facebook group that you run or can recommend?I do have a few things I manage on Facebook. I have a group called All Things Paranormal, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Horror, and Awesome; I have an author page http://facebook.com/authorhollykelly; I have bookstore page called Clean Paranormal http://facebook.com/cleanparanormal (The bookstore can be found at CleanParanormal.com); and then for those who are aspiring writers, there’s the Author’s Think Tank on Facebook (it’s a place where authors come together to help one another). Any of these places are great!
What inspires you to write a new book/series?I get inspired by all kinds of things. Most of my stories come from my mind thinking, “what if?” Like what if a mermaid were born on land, but she didn’t know she was a mermaid. Instead she thought she were horribly deformed? (The premise for my first published book—Rising.) Or, what if the Fountain of Youth wasn’t really a fountain, but a person? And people could gain youth from her blood? (Cursed by the Fountain of Youth.) Or the next book in the series—what if the reason the headless horseman could still ride around and cause trouble, was because his head is still alive, talking, and breathing (for the body)—due to a witch’s curse. And then, what if a beautiful, young woman stumbled on it—and not knowing what to do with a live, severed head—kept it around, talked with it, scolded it, and ended up falling in love. What a crazy beauty and the beast story that would be! I actually have more story ideas than time to write them.
Do you have any writing advice or tips that you'd like to leave with us?
This one’s easy. There are two things you need to do if you want to be a writer: 1) Read (a lot!) 2) Write (consistently). That’s it. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to read books on writing (especially written by authors who are successful).
About the Author:
Holly Kelly is a mom who writes books in her spare time:
translation--she hides in the bathroom with her laptop and locks the
door while the kids destroy the house and smear peanut butter on the
walls. She was born in Utah but moved around a bit, living in Kansas,
Texas, and Hawaii where she studied marine biology. She's now back in
Utah--"happy valley". She's married to a wonderful husband, James, and
they are currently raising 6 rambunctious children. Her interests are
reading, writing (or course), martial arts, visual arts, creating
Halloween props, and spending time with family.
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