I'm very pleased to have a chance to interview a Agnes Jayne about her new paranormal release, The Problem with Power. CONTEST ALERT: One lucky commenter will win a digital copy!
In your paranormal novel, The Problem with Power, Emily VonPeer hopes that she never meets the man of her dreams. For years, she's been haunted by visions of an unknown lover destined to die in her arms. When her aunt's death brings her home to her family's estate in Upstate New York, she meets Nicholas Flynn, an agent of Paladin, an enterprise dedicated to the study and eradication of demons, and the hero of her nighttime fantasies. How does Emily recognize Nicholas as the man from her dreams?
The story begins when a teenaged Emily VonPeer, the last and least talented member of the VonPeer family of witches working a love spell to attract the attention of a guy in her senior class. The spell doesn’t work, and instead she is rewarded with sexy dreams of a man she’s never met.
Years later, she is called back to her childhood home to claim her legacy as the mistress of Laurel Grove, the ancestral dwelling of the VonPeer family. When she returns to her old home and her old bedroom, the dreams of this man return, with a scary twist.
Nicholas arrives on her doorstep seeking answers for a slew of magically-related murders tied to the VonPeer family. Does he also recognize Emily either by sight or by some other power?
The recognition on his end is more of a kismet thing. Nicholas is instantly drawn to Emily. This is a bad thing for his investigation. On some levels, the plot is really traditional with regards to the love story, but I throw in some curves to keep readers entertained and guessing until the end of the book.
Although his intentions are suspect, Emily follows Nicholas into the investigation, hoping to spare him the fate promised by her premonitions. What are some ways she might be able to spare him that fate? Does she share the content of her dreams with him? What makes his intentions seem suspect to her?
Emily’s visions provide her with a possible clue to Nicholas’ fate. Her dreams have given her some insight to Nicholas’s future, a future that she wants to prevent.
When Nicholas and Emily’s exchange with a demon goes awry, Emily sustains an injury that threatens to turn her into a monster. What sort of monster might she become? Since Nicholas was her dream lover, does he fight to help her or leave her to save himself?
I am going to quote Aunt Maeve, a character in the book, on this one. “Dreams never turn out in quite the way that we expect.”
Nicholas and Emily end up being responsible for each other. Whether they act by fate or by choice is really up to the reader, but from my point of view, it’s a little bit of both.
Emily’s transformation places her in the crosshairs of sorcerers, senators, and a seductive stranger who promises eternity. How does the seductive stranger complicate her relationship with Nicholas? What risks does Emily face when meeting each of these types of people?
Well, to put it most simply, Emily is in an unstable position with all of the other characters in the novel. I tried to create complex characters that are a little bit good and a little bit bad on every level. This means that you’re never really sure of what’s going to happen to anyone in the story at a given moment. Emily herself is not really sure of her fate.
Briefly describe the magical systems of your world. How do those who are empowered gain their abilities?
My world is the normal world set alongside a world where people have the ability to see and perform magic. The magical world operates quietly alongside the normal world. Many magical people, like Emily, Steph, and Jessie, hold mundane jobs and live and work in the real world.
Paladin, by contrast, is a magical agency charged with keeping the world safe from malevolent magical forces. Specifically, they guard the ley lines that open doors to other worlds and eradicate stray beings that pass through them with the intention of causing harm to Earth. You’re largely born into the Paladin organization then educated by them. They are a sort of self-appointed race of people who claim that their powers are divine in nature – this plays out really heavily in the sequel that I’m working on right now.
Most of the modern non-Paladin magicals are extremely suspicious of the Paladin because the Paladin have a long-standing tradition of being trigger-happy among the magical communities. Likewise, the Paladin are a little suspicious of the non-Paladin magicals because they have a history of being unpredictable with their magic.
I hope I’ve answered enough of your questions to interest you in the novel. I really enjoyed writing the book, and I hope that you enjoy reading it.
The Problem with Power
Agnes Jayne
Agnes Jayne
Genre: Paranormal
Publisher: Crescent
Moon Press
ISBN:
978-1-937254-63-6
978-1-937254-63-64-3
ASIN: B008BKAUQA
Number of pages:306
Word Count: 96,000
Book Description:
Emily VonPeer hopes that she
never meets the man of her dreams. For years, she's been haunted by visions of
an unknown lover destined to die in her arms. When her aunt's death brings her
home to her family's estate in Upstate New York, she meets Nicholas Flynn, an
agent of Paladin, an enterprise dedicated to the study and eradication of
demons, and the hero of her nighttime fantasies. He arrives on her doorstep
seeking answers for a slew of magically-related murders tied to the VonPeer
family.
Although his intentions are
suspect, Emily follows Nicholas into the investigation, hoping to spare him the
fate promised by her premonitions - at least, that's what she tells herself.
When their exchange with a demon goes awry, Emily sustains an injury that
threatens to turn her into a monster. Her transformation places her in the
crosshairs of sorcerers, senators, and a seductive stranger who promises eternity.
Short Excerpt:
Emily watched from
the kitchen window as the lights from the far shore played on the waves of the
river. She heard the ghost of a voice whisper to her, but she ignored it. The
voice would wait until morning. Maybe the sunlight would settle her, stop the
spinning in her soul from the flight, the funeral, and the horrible ache that
came from the realization that for the first time in her life, she was truly
alone. Even the moon had abandoned her, its thin light concealed by the clouds
overhead. She rubbed the bridge of her nose, willing the loop of events to stop
flashing through her mind, yet the pictures remained sharp as blades, begging
her to remember, to fight, to avenge. But she didn’t know how or where to
start. She only knew why. A single word popped into her mind.
Even now, the idea pulsed like blood in
her head, but there was nothing that she could do. Someone had stolen the only
thing that mattered from her, and at twenty-six years old she was, once again,
an orphan.
It’ll be better in the morning, she
thought.
She pulled the
edges of Aunt Maeve’s bathrobe closer; it was a shade too tight across the
shoulders. She went to bed searching her mind for a shred of meaning or a
moment of significance to light her path. All she found was a memory.
About the Author :
Agnes Jayne began
her writing career as a reporter for her high school newspaper in a small town
in Northern New York. She completed her undergraduate degree in English and
Political Science from Binghamton University. Upon her graduation from
Binghamton University, she won a prestigious journalism fellowship at the New
York State Senate, and went on to complete a Master of Arts Degree in English
at the University of Albany. Following this, she worked as a political writer,
producing speeches and other government documents for state and local
politicians.
These days, she
splits her time between writing and teaching classes in composition and
literature at a small college in Maryland. She lives high in the Blue Ridge
Mountains of West Virginia with her husband, son, and a plethora of adopted
pets.
Website: www.agnesjayne.com
Twitter:
@AgnesJayne
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