Saturday Author Spotlight: SJ Himes #Interview #Giveaway

SJ Himes, author of Saving Silas, Wolves of Black Pine, and The Necromancer's Dance is my Author Saturday Spotlight today! She's amazingly talented, awesomely outspoken, and a truly kind human being. Today we are going to take a look at her books, do an interview, and wrap it all up in a sweet giveaway bow! So let the fun begin.

An ancient civilization long hidden from humanity is on the brink of chaos and war.

Peaceful for thousands of years, the wolfkin clans are mysteriously losing packmates, kidnapped and killed by unknown foes. Among the dead is Luca, youngest grandson of the two most powerful wolves in the Northern Clans, but he is forced into a half-life, hidden in the far northern wilds of Canada and cut off from his kind. Those who raised him have no idea the creature they harbor in their midst, and name him Ghost. He begins to lose himself over the long years, and though he barely recalls his true name, the one wolf he never forgets is Kane.

Heir to the wolfkin clan Black Pine, Kane is charged with hunting down the traitors who them to the humans. Years fly by, and more wolves are dying. He refuses to give up, and he vows to never again fail another of their kind, as he failed young Luca years before. His heart tells him Luca lives, but his mind tells him that it’s foolish hope, his guilt eating him alive.

Fate and magic change the course of their lives, and the two wolves long separated by the years find their paths intertwining, though the reunion does not come without cost...

Haunted by his years at war, Boston paramedic Gael Dominic spends his time saving other people’s lives. An empty house, a single friend, and living at work, Gael is not content with his existence, but he’s close. Gael was expecting his overnight shift on Thanksgiving to be the same as always—manic crowds, heart attacks...until catastrophe strikes, and Boston’s streets run with blood.

On the run from an abusive and politically powerful father, Silas has been on the cold, mean streets of Boston for days, injured, hungry and alone. When he wakes up in the middle of a nightmare, he expects to die in the same alley he was calling home.

Brought together by tragedy, Silas and Gael can’t resist their attraction. Gael may have saved Silas, but it’s his alleyway angel who brings Gael back to life.

As Christmas approaches, Silas and Gael learn how to love, despite their pasts. And as Silas' past closes in, Gael learns the greatest gift he could ever give isn't something bought in a store, but freely given from the heart.

In a world where magic is real and evil walks amongst humanity, a young sorcerer is beset upon by enemies, both old and new. Angelus Salvatore is the only necromancer in all of Boston, and his name is whispered warily by the undead and fellow sorcerers alike. He and his brother Isaac are the lone survivors of an attack by an army of the undead, in which Angel used a spell so powerful it forever marked his place in history. Now, years later, Angel struggles to balance his career as a teacher of the higher magical arts, his role as big brother, and a tenuous relationship with an Elder vampire from the local clan. When his brother’s boyfriend is used as a pawn in a mysterious plot to draw Angel out, Angel is once again pulled back into the old hostilities that fueled the Blood Wars and led to his family’s death.

Leaning on others for help is something Angel cannot do, and while he searches for clues into who may be targeting him and his brother, Angel finds his heart steadily growing occupied with Simeon, Elder and vampire. Dealing with death magic and vampires on a daily basis may leave Angel jaded when it comes to life and staying that way, but the more time he spends fending off the ancient vampire’s attention and affections, the more he realizes he wants to give in.

Can Angel find out who wants him dead, and keep his heart safe in the process? How can he fall for a vampire, when his whole family was torn apart by an army of the undead?

Death stalks the streets of Boston’s historic Beacon Hill….and there is no one more suited to battle against death than a necromancer.

INTERVIEW

I want to thank you, SJ, for being here today as my Saturday Spotlight author. This genre is a wild and crazy place and we are all its playthings. It’s because of authors like you that keep it alive. So, I’d like to get to know you a little bit if you don’t mind.

First, I really would love to know why you chose writing and why this genre?

A: I’ve always been a writer. I got into it at an early age, and I was probably the only kid in school who had to be told to shorten essays since they were too long. My teachers told me I wrote like a novelist, not that I even knew what that meant at that age. I have always loved writing. It opens up a place inside that I can’t access any other way, and I can breathe.

Writing in this genre is actually what I like to call a happy accident. As seems to be common these days I got into it from fanfiction. I fell in love with BBC’s Sherlock, found Johnlock, and then started to write it. I still hold the distinction on fanfiction.net for having one of the longest (in wordcount) fanfics on the site for Sherlock. It’s not done yet either. Eventually I went looking for m/m that wasn’t written by me or fanfiction, and found books by Kindle Alexander, Jaime Reese and River Jaymes. Those three authors opened up a whole new world for me, and I haven’t looked back since.

Let’s talk character evolution. What’s your process from the thought, to birth, to growth of one of your characters?

A: Usually when I’m writing a new book a character is created in response to the storyline in my head. I let a daydream play out, and the characters tend to be born from the environment I’ve created. Then I focus on the strongest characteristics I like and in the best combinations, and then I have my character. I then forge the world around that character and connect the backstories of both.

Sometimes I will end up writing a story around a character first, instead of building a character to fit the world. That’s how Wolves of Black Pine happened. Shaman Gray Shadow is only in the book in Part One, but it’s from him that the whole thing came into fruition. He damn near wrote the book for me.

On your bio you tell us you’re a cisgendered woman. I find when a person identifies themselves as bi sexual, gay, lesbian, straight, transgender, whatever it may be that it’s vital we understand. Cisgender isn’t something I am familiar with. Can you tells us about it?

A: It came about from me finally buckling down and doing some active research about sexuality and sexual identities. I went through tons and tons of data, and a lot of it was from psychological and medical journals and testimonies from therapists and doctors. I wanted to know the how and why of my sexuality and how it actually worked--imagine my chagrin when everything came down to basics and the how and why are actually unanswerable in a lot of ways. I came across cisgendered as a term, and all that means in laymen terms is that I was born with female sex organs and that is how I mentally identify as well. That’s where the difference between sexual identity and sexual gender come in. Just another way of saying I’m , well, me.

What was the very first book you ever published and what have you learned from then to now?

A: The very first book I published was Bred For Love: The Prince’s Consort under my pen name, Revella Hawthorne. That was a couple months before I published Wolves of Black Pine under my actual name.

I have learned since then how to say the same thing, express the same thought, with fewer words. I am a VERY wordy person, and I love details, but at some point I had to learn when to rein myself in and stop. Efficiency in writing is the best way to put it. In that efficiency I’ve also learned how to better describe things, and never has the phrase, “Show, not Tell,” meant so much.

I’ve only been publishing for almost 11 months now, and I’ve released 6 books in that time, and I have to say each one is getting progressively harder and easier at the same time.

What are you currently reading?

A: I am currently reading Never Too Late by Sloan Johnson, and Tournament of Losers by Megan Derr. Two very different yet talented authors. I love Megan’s touch with alternate realities and fantasy worlds--she has an inestimable quality and originality  that really sets her apart. And Sloan has this amazing ability to take the real world and make it more vibrant, more real--her strengths lie in characterization and taking what we would expect from certain types of characters and making them do new things. Her books never leave me wanting.

What advice would you give a writer just starting out in this genre?

A: Everyone says “Sit down and just write”, and while that’s not wrong, I actually have to say instead, “Believe.”
So many people actually never start due to not believing that they CAN. Sure, that hesitancy can be solved by actually sitting down and writing, BUT so many will sit and stare and not start because they don’t believe enough. So to those people, I say this: Believe in yourself. You can do it.

If you could be invisible for one day, go anywhere, do anything, how would you spend your day?

A: Easy! I would got the Library of Congress in DC, head straight for the old books, and spend the day reading first editions I would otherwise never even be allowed to see much less hold in my hands. With cotton gloves, of course, I’m not crazy.

You also write under the name Ravella Hawthorne, yes? What’s the difference between your pen names and what you write?

A: I was just talking about this!
Revella is my naughty side. She gets to write about all my kinks, the dirty, sexy, sweaty absolutely can’t talk about in public things that I enjoy reading about when I’m alone. With Revella, I can take that all out, and the pen name is so freeing. I lose my inhibitions, and I don’t care about whether something is going to appeal to readers or not since if anyone is picking up a Revella book then they like what I like.
From tentacles to exploring mpreg to exposing the underpinnings of the alpha/omega verse, Revella lets me explore and express without worry. I like the dichotomy in my methods and how I express myself as a writer with my two names. SJ and Revella are two different styles, and that lets me breathe.

Can you tell us what you’re currently working on?

I am currently working on Wolf of the Northern Star, book Two in my Wolfkin Saga, and then it’s on the the last book in the Bred For Love Series, A Sovereign Vow. (Book Four)
Then it’s on to a book I’m writing for DSP (here’s hoping they take it), and then the sequel for Saving Silas and Book two in The beacon Hill Sorcerer series.

How can your fans follow you through social media… Twitter, FB, Website?

My website is www.sjhimes.com, and on Twitter I’m @WriterSJHimes, and on Facebook people can find me at https://www.facebook.com/SJHimes/, or my personal profile at https://www.facebook.com/sheena.j.himes

Well, thank you, SJ. It’s been absolutely wonderful

Thank you for having me!

GIVEAWAY

SJ Himes will be gifting one person an ebook copy of The Necromancer's Dance

Simply fill out the rafflecopter below.

Contest will run until April 1st. Winner will be contacted via email so please check your spam.

Winner will have 48 hours to respond to the email. If after that time we do not hear back a new winner will be selected.

Thank you to SJ for being here today and good luck to you all

a Rafflecopter giveaway