Book Tour: By: Alayna Williams + Giveaway

Alayna Williams 

About you:JJBC ~ Do you have any hobbies?
My husband and I are amateur astronomers. I also belly dance a bit...but not in public. Nobody needs to see that, trust me! ;-)

JJBC ~ What do you like to read?
I like to read all flavors of fantasy and sci-fi. My favorites are books that challenge me with endings I can't predict. When I pick up a book, I really want to explore something new to me that keeps me guessing.

JJBC ~ Can you tell us some of your favorite books you've read?
My all-time favorite is Robin McKinley's HERO AND THE CROWN. I read it when I was a pre-teen, and fell in love with fantasy ever after. It was the first book I'd read that had a female protagonist who slew her own dragons. I was hooked.

JJBC ~ What are your favorite types of Heroes & / or heroines?
My favorite heroes and heroines are ones that force me to think. I tend to like antiheroes and flawed characters - I think they're more realistic and I can relate to them more.

JJBC ~ Can you tell us a little about yourself?
My background's in criminology and library science. I've worked in and around criminal justice for the last ten years, and recently made the switch to libraryland. It's wonderful to spend time petting other people's books - it's heavenly. I discover so much just by wandering the stacks.
My husband and I live in the Midwestern U.S., where we're owned be four mostly-reformed feral cats. We're suckers for anything with fur that turns up on the doorstep with a paw out.

JJBC ~ Fav color
Green.

JJBC ~ Fav Scent
I really love Black Phoenix Alchemy Labs' Cobra Lily.

JJBC ~ Fav Flavor
Chocolate (of course!)

JJBC ~ Fav shampoo
Whatever's in the discount bin at the grocery store. I'm not picky.

JJBC ~ Fav movies
How to Train Your Dragon - I'm a sucker for dragons. Ladyhawke is one of my perennial favorites. And I loved Inception.

Your Writing:

JJBC ~ How did you first get into writing? Has it always been your dream?

I've always been scribbling, ever since I was old enough to hold a crayon. It has always been a dream of mine, and I'm very fortunate to have the chance to share my writing with others.

JJBC ~ What genre do you write?

Urban fantasy, with a sci-fi bent. I love mixing magic and science, watching the interplay between intuition and rationality. Some of my favorite television shows are the X-Files and Fringe, and I love that sense of weirdness that extreme science and the supernatural can bring to a story.

JJBC ~ Do you have any must haves when you sit down to write?

I've never managed to be able to write with noise or distractions, so I never learned to write in coffee shops. I just squirrel myself away in the corner of the house and start plinking away. Usually, there's a cat on my lap within five minutes of settling down to write. I guess that would be a mandatory accessory at my house.

JJBC ~ Can you tell us how a typical writing day for you is?

I get most of my writing done in the wee hours of the morning, when I'm not at work and everything is quiet.

JJBC ~ What is one thing you think sets you apart from other authors?

I like to play with ideas that are a bit unconventional, and try to offer up things I haven't seen before in the market. I'm a big fan of market diversity for the reader.

JJBC ~ Whats the best thing about being an author?

Building worlds. When I start, the page is blank. When I'm finished, it feels as if I've conjured something from nothing, a real world with characters and moving parts. It's really exhilarating to watch it take shape.

JJBC ~ Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

Stick with it. Persistence is important: persistence in keeping the butt in the chair, finishing manuscripts, revising, submitting...it's all about determination. It's easy to get disillusioned, but the key thing is to keep working through it.

I also recommend that writers try National Novel Writing Month at least once. It really helped me integrate writing into my daily life and improved my productivity. And the sense of community is unbeatable.

Quickies

Pizza or burger  ~ Burger

Dress or jeans  ~ Jeans

Highlander or vampire  ~ Highlander

Fire or water  ~ Fire

Up or down  ~ Up

Black or white  ~ White

Half full or half empty  ~ Half-empty

Day or night  ~ Day

Star trek or star wars  ~ Both!

Sword or gun  ~ Depends on the target. ;-)

Eyes or mouth  ~ Eyes

Strawberry or cherry  ~ Strawberry

Old or new  ~ New

High or low  ~ High

Shower or bath  ~ Bath

Paperback or hardback  ~ Paperback

Desktop or laptop ~ Laptop

Coke or pepsi  ~ Coke

Winter or summer ~ Summer

Dog or cat  ~ Both! I love all furry friends. :-)

Alayna Williams has an MA in sociology-criminology (research interests: fear of crime and victimology) and a BA in criminology. She has worked in and around criminal justice since 1997. Although she does read Tarot cards, she's never used them in criminal profiling or to locate lost scientists. She recently took up astronomy, but for the most part her primary role in studying constellations and dark matter is to follow her amateur astronomer-husband around central Ohio toting the telescope tripod and various lenses. Like the Pythia in Dark Oracle, she's been known to belly dance. Unlike the Pythia she'd never consider herself a professional

Writing as Laura Bickle, she's the author of EMBERS and SPARKS for Pocket - Juno Books. Writing as Alayna Williams, she's the author of DARK ORACLE and ROGUE ORACLE.

More info on her urban fantasy and general nerdiness is here: http://www.salamanderstales.com/
Laura/ Alayna’s blogs  :
http://www.salamanderstales.blogspot.com/
and http://delphisdaughters.blogspot.com/

She’s a proud member of Word Whores.

She’s at Facebook, and Fangs, Fur, and Fey.

And Twitter...@Laura_Bickle

Sparky the fire salamander from EMBERS and SPARKS has his own Twitter account, @SparkySalamandr

ROGUE ORACLE
Delphic Oracle #2

The more you know about the future, the more there may be to fear.

Tara Sheridan is the best criminal profiler around - and the most unconventional. Trained as a forensic psychologist, Tara also specializes in Tarot card reading. But she doesn't need her divination skills to realize that the new assignment from her friend and sometime lover, Agent Harry Li, is a dangerous proposition in every way.

Former Cold War operatives, all linked to a top-secret operation tracking the disposal of nuclear weapons in Russia, are disappearing. There are no bodies, and no clues to their whereabouts. Harry suspects a conspiracy to sell arms to the highest bidder. The cards - and Tara's increasingly ominous dreams - suggest something darker. Even as Tara sorts through her feelings for Harry and her fractured relationships with the mysterious order known as Delphi's Daughters, a killer is growing more ruthless by the day. And a nightmare that began decades ago in Chernobyl will reach a terrifying endgame that not even Tara could have foreseen…

Check out a Chapter 1

HERE

ROGUE ORACLE

Delphic Oracle #2
Pocket Juno Books
Mass Market Paperback, $7.99
ISBN 978-1439182819
Feb. 22, 2011 

Alayna Williams writes with power and poetry, combining old mythos with complete ass-kickery. You don’t want to miss this series.”
                 -National bestselling author Ann Aguirre
 

ROGUE ORACLE is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.

*~*Giveaway*~*

Alayna is stopping by to chat with you all today!

AND

is giving away

a

print copy of Rogue Oracle

And she is opening it up

*~*World Wide*~*

**RULES**

- Must ask Alayna a question &/or leave a meaningful comment

- Must leave a valid e-mail (please do not add your complete e-mail. we do not want it picked up by spammers. for Exp: leave DOT instead of .  or AT instead of @ )


**Giveaway ends Fri night ( 3-18 ) at Midnight, winners will be chosen and named here in this comments section