blogspot counter

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Interviewing Jennifer Silverwood about her paranormal romance Silver Hollow



I'm pleased to share an interview I conducted with Jennifer Silverwood about her new PNR/fantasy romance release, Silver Hollow. Be sure to check out her book as well as the great contest she's offering at the end of this post. 





In Silver Hollow, Amie Wentworth withdrew into a reclusive life as a writer after her parents’ deaths in a car crash. What stress and emotions led her to withdraw?

Part of her struggle came from the fact her father had been forcing her into high end social circles the better part of her High School years, without any explanation. She felt guilt for being so selfish the night they died, while on their way to another function. They wanted her with them and she was already weary from the constant parade of dinners. She felt guilty for abandoning them, and for surviving what she believes should have been her fate.

Afterward, she wanted nothing to do with the circles her parents had brought her into. The odd schooling her father gave her at home, too, made it easier to stay isolated. In a way, she had been raised to not fit in with society.

How do her emotions and views change after the shocking experience of being stabbed while in an alley and then brought back to life by a mysterious stranger?

She’s shocked because the letter from Uncle Henry that arrived earlier that day already had spooked her a bit. She couldn’t tell much from his letters, but after being attacked, she was forced to remember other things. Like the fact that her dad reinvented himself when he came to the States, or how her father’s new high end friends were very strange and threatening at times.

She fears for her safety and being brought back to life makes her wake up. She realizes that even though she has her best friends who are pretty much family, she wants to know more about her blood family. Henry is the last living relative she knows of and the last living person who can answer all the questions her dad never answered.

What spurs Amie to cross the Atlantic to visit her father’s homeland, Silver Hollow?

I kind of already touched on it in my last answer, but basically it’s a combination of fear, determination and the unexplained. She fears death and being attacked again. She is determined to unravel the mystery of her father’s life and her odd upbringing. And she did sort of die and come back to life. After she was attacked, it stripped away that last blanket of security she had tried so hard to reclaim.

What risks does she face while in Silver Hollow? What does she wish to gain? Do any come to her aid in that quest?

There are a lot of unknown factors waiting for her in Silver Hollow. The biggest risk of all, perhaps is the chance that she’s going to find out things she would rather not. Because the truth is going to change her life and her friend’s lives forever. Once she knows, she can’t go back to a normal life.

Amie’s main reason for everything is Henry. She wants to feel like she belongs to a family, to belong anywhere really. Home is a big thing to her and she’s secretly hoping she’ll find it with Uncle Henry. And nearly everyone in Silver Hollow wants to keep her there, whether she wants to stay or not.

Briefly describe the magical systems of your world. How do those who are empowered gain their abilities? Does Amie gain powers after she’s brought back to life?

Sometimes they have been called Sidhe, others Seelie and others are known as Tuatha. The Sidhe don’t quite remember where they came from originally, but their powers are held captive by either night or day. Outside we call their powers magic, but inside they call it nixy, nixing or nix. While they are able to nix during either time, the height of their power comes from the sun or moon. They are born with the gifts, but most don’t come fully into their powers until they are of age. And as comes with the temptation of power, here are both light and dark factions within their world.

Ages ago, the world inside the Veil was severed from our world. The Dark Sidhe factions were forced to remain in our world, while the light stayed inside. Legends have come from them however, legends of the Fae, the Underground and other supernatural beings. Though all their lives are exceptionally longer than ours, those inside the Veil live much longer. There used to be more of them in the beginning, though they were never a large people. Now those outside the Veil are few and isolated.

Amie doesn’t gain powers after she’s brought back to life. But she learns that her own family legacy comes with a price and more than a few unique gifts. 

*~*~*

Silver Hollow
Jennifer Silverwood 
Genre: Paranormal Romance/ Fantasy Romance/ Chick-lit
Publisher: SilverWoodSketches
ISBN: 1481000144  
ISBN13: 9781481000147 
ASIN: B00A47LGRA 
Number of pages: 322
Word Count: 131, 325
Cover Artist: Najla Qamber 

Paperback    Kindle   Smashwords 

Book Description: 
Amie Wentworth writes paranormal romances, not because she is looking for a degree in ectoplasm, but because she’s got bills to pay. Ever since her parents’ car crash, she has been led a reclusive life and trusted books more than people. Not even a letter from her long-lost uncle, begging her to visit, gives Amie incentive for anything other than ire – until she is stabbed in an alley and brought back to life by a mysterious stranger.

After crossing the Atlantic to her father’s homeland, Amie is dragged into the very sort of tale she is used to selling. Silver Hollow is a place of ancient traditions and supernatural dangers, where everything is the opposite of what it seems and few escape sane. 

To make matters worse, the man who saved her life keeps turning up and her would-be-murderer is still at large.

But when she comes face to face with the ugly truth, will she too be sucked into her father’s madness? Or will she discover that madness is just another name for honesty?

Silver Hollow Excerpt:

The hour before dawn found Amie pulling her car round the back alley. Through the gloom and decades-buried waste behind Pat’s Delights was a narrow strip leading to the back staircase leading up to her flat.
The stranger’s face came unbidden to her as she gathered her things and moved her weary legs. Black eyes set deeply in a shadow-drenched face haunted her, eyes which seemed to accuse and praise, sift and wonder. Now that she knew, she realized she must have seen him before today, maybe even in the past she had tried to forget.
The faded yellowing parchment marked with heavy black ink, with words too absurd to be true, flashed in her mind. Clutching the key hidden in her jeans pockets while digging through her purse for her keys, she remembered Uncle Henry’s letter. Mulling over the words, she once again recalled how angry she had been ten years ago after reading his first note. So what the cops were uncertain how the accident had happened. So what her father had known some powerful people. Amie had been primped and pushed into the upper-class social sphere through her teens and knew how to handle that sort. She could take care of herself just like she always had. She would tear up the letters and the tickets tonight. The twins and James were her family now.
As she placed her shoe upon the first rickety metal step, two thick and powerful hands grabbed her in the same moment.
It happened so quickly she forgot to scream. Dropping her purse she struggled, kicked and bucked against the crazy person lifting her and pulling her deeper into the shadows of the alley. And the harder she struggled the tighter his choking embrace became against her chest.
She thought at last to cry out, only to feel her face being smashed against a brick wall. She gasped as the figure suddenly pushed her aside, out of his embrace. Amie stumbled back and nearly tripping over a metal pipe.She righted herself only to come face-to-face with the black-masked figure. His brilliant blue eyes blazed into hers, now filled with unmistakable purpose. Too late she realized his intentions as a sickeningly cool object was plunged into her chest and pulled quickly out again.
Her vision swam, then blurred as she slumped against the trash-littered concrete. Her mind began to fade into an ever-deepening sleep though her eyes watched on. The black-garbed man was fighting someone else. Unmasked, this guy was taller, broader in the shoulders than her murderer and wrought by fury.
Pain…she had not known the meaning of the word before now and even this too was fading into the deep sleep. The further she fell the less sense the scene before her made. Her mind didn’t believe that the tall man had really tossed her attacker five feet into the air over his shoulder and into the brick, or a strange light and energy crackled in the suddenly luminous alley.
She was too afraid to hope when a pair of warm hands cradled her in a firm embrace. He pulled her from the muck and fixed his dark eyes on her. Obsidian-cut eyes, familiar eyes, pierced through her gaze and reached deeper. His face, once so indiscernible it could be called plain, was now twisted as though in agony. Even though she was slipping, falling into a calm quiet darkness, he refused to let her go. His hand moved from her neck to her cheek with the faintest touch. He pushed past and clasped hold of something tearing deep inside of her then. The black of his irises gave way to a strange mix of blue and green flecks gleaming in their depths. She saw…
Fields of brilliant emerald grass and a sun filled with more colors than she knew to name.
Darkness and a dirty cell, whereheavy fists punctuated his pain.
Time beyond counting became a lifetime lost.
A green-eyed dark-haired beauty bathed in sunlight stretched out her hand to him.
Someone was screaming. Amie frowned as the woman’s cries grew louder. Pain spiked up in her chest as her lungs constricted and her heart was ripped apart then reformed. The woman’s screams died when she took a breath and realized the voice was hers.
She blinked.
And then she was lying within the narrow strip between two brick buildings, alone.

About the Author:

Jennifer Silverwood was raised deep in the heart of Texas and has been spinning yarns a mile high since childhood. In her spare time she reads and writes and tries to sustain her wanderlust, whether it's the Carpathian Mountains in Transylvania, the highlands of Ecuador or a road trip to the next town.

After attending three different universities without managing to square a degree, she decided to the next logical thing; become a writer. Always on the lookout for her next adventure, in print or reality, she dreams of one day proving to the masses that everything really is better in Texas.

She is the author of the Heaven's Edge series and Silver Hollow. To stay tuned, please have a gander at her website: http://jennifersilverwood.com
Twitter- @JennSilverwood

Jennifer is also offering a short free read:


Tour Wide Giveaway Silver Hollow by Jennifer Silverwood__10 e-books and 10 print copies (Print open to US Shipping only)
 

 
~ ~ ~
Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. Read her ENCHANTED BOOKSTORE LEGENDS for adventurous epic fantasy romance: Book One, SEEKING A SCRIBE, Book Two, HERITAGE AVENGED, and Book Three, LOST VOLUMES. She has also authored the Ciel's Legacy series, with fast action mermaid/pirate storylines: TEARS ON A TRANQUIL LAKE and TORTUGA TREASURE.  For a FREE ebook download, read her historic fantasy, LE CIRQUE DE MAGIE, available at Amazon and Smashwords.

6 comments:

Lady Hawkeye said...

What a beautiful cover. Thank you for sharing.

Jennifer Silverwood said...

Kelly, glad you liked the cover! Naj is the best designer I could have asked for :) Hope you get a chance to dive into the world of Silver Hollow.
And Marsha, thanks so much for hosting me here on you cool blog! Love all the magical books you showcase. It's always lovely to find another fantasy author :)

Marsha A. Moore said...

Jennifer, I'm glad to have you spend a day! :)

Unknown said...

Beautiful cover! What lies within sounds intriguing as well.

Great interview, ladies.

Anonymous said...

I love paranormal romances and I love the cover. It is very beautiful. Please enter me in contest. i really want to read this book. Tore923@aol.com

Jennifer Silverwood said...

THanks Marsha! Terri, glad you enjoyed the interview and hope you get the chance to visit Wenderdowne soon ;)
Victoria, I love paranormal romances too as you can tell. And actually you can enter yourself :) Just sign in and then click on the buttons to get more points!
Hope to see y'all in Silver Hollow soon :)