Saturday Author Spotlight: Jas T. Ward #Interview #Giveaway

Happy Saturday one and all and welcome to the Author Saturday Spotlight of the week! Today's author is one that mingles the genres. Her books are mostly HET but she has an FF book called Lust and is looking to expand her books in the LGBT world. So, I wanted to introduce her to all of you and if you've read her than she's no stranger to you and if not, well, here a chance to meet someone new. We will be focusing on her series Shadow-Keepers and doing an interview, and closing it down with a giveaway for a chance for someone to win the whole series. So, sit back and relax.

A Darkly Sweet, Twisted Retelling of The Beauty and the Beast. 

A night could change everything.
Consume a cold heart in heat…
Open a heart that has been closed…
Intertwine two lives for a lifetime…and beyond.

The only thing Reno Sundown has ever known is pain. How to take it and how to use it. He was created that way and once his purpose was done, he was locked away. Never had he known good, laughter, love until he met her.

Emma Devenmore has always focused on one thing, family. The eldest of her sisters, she has made life centered on protection. Protecting her family and doing her job of protecting others. A love story was never in her plans, until she met him.

By chance, their paths cross and both were forever changed. A Beauty left yearning for a Beast, who had opened her up to something she had never dreamed of.

A Beast left wanting for a Beauty, who had unlocked emotions he never knew possible, and never was supposed to know existed.

Once paths are crossed, can they ever be uncrossed? Once they are crossed, are they destined to grow together? Or can they only be consumed by complete Madness?

 

"With no timid strokes on her canvas, Ms. Ward may become the new standard to beat in the paranormal romantic intrigue genre. The detail to each scene, the sights, the sounds, the smells of sweat and fear, it’s all here, page after page..." - Tome Tender Book Review

The Second Book in the Wildly Popular Shadow-Keepers Series!

THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW KEEPER - MCKENZIE MILLER

Welcome back to the world of the Grid. Where heroes and eaters of souls walk among us. Where a war rages and the price is mankind—its existence or its loss.
Can a heart that is walled away be allowed to love or trust and find its beat in one that needs someone to save it? A heartbeat that destiny denied but death can give?

McKenzie Miller had never needed anyone. Not since she lost both her parents to a crime of passion at a young age. Shuffled from foster home to foster home, Kenzie finally took control of her own life and lived on the streets. Now she's an adult and has a hard-wired survivalist core to never be used or abused again. She's strong and no one will ever hurt her—because she will never let someone inside the one part of her that can still feel—her heart.

Lana had everything that her parent's money could buy and until they lost it all in the economy crash, the young ballet dancer had a bright future with the San Francisco Ballet Company. Now she struggles to reach for her dream and still survive. And do so, alone. Until one night...

What Dark Power Makes YOUR Heart Beat?

Have no fear Twiz Keeper fans, there is also plenty of your favorite Candyman, Reno Sundown and his witch, Emma. As well as BOUNCE and of course, Lucifer. And twists? Oh there is ALWAYS twists with a Ward book.

Interview

Thank you, Jas, for joining us today as the spotlight author! You’re what I refer to as a versatile author in that you write both HET and LGBT. We’re going to pick your brain a bit about your work. So, thanks for being here.

Thank you for wanting to talk with me. It means a ton. And pick away at my brain. But be warned, it might be very cluttered in there, I haven't had time to clean up in years.

You currently have one book in the LGBT category LUST. So tell us a bit about this book in your own words?

LUST is a title within my Shadow-Keepers Series of books. It's the second one and it meant so much to me. I don't know of many paranormal romances that involve two females as the main characters. This book won Best F/F Read from several blogs and Best Dark Romance from Preditors and Editors Readers Awards.

The main character is McKenzie Miller. She is street tough being a product of abuse and is given a second chance as a complete supernatural badass fighting in the War of the Grid as a Keeper after she is brutally killed.
Keepers are unique as in they give up their mortal lives and purpose to host a dark power of man. They are basically reborn with no heartbeat, no body heat – alive only because the darkness that pulses through them animates them to be as living. In Kenzie's case that power is LUST. She and her power face off against evil and Kenzie balks, at first, at her new immortal job. One night she meets a beautiful, young ballerina by the name of Lana who is she rescues from danger. And her heart beats as if she's alive once more. To Keepers, that means that they found the love that they were destined to be with in life. It freaks Kenzie out and she fights that too. But love and destiny will not be denied...

The rest you'll have to read.

Will you be writing more books in the LGBT category?

Yes, I feel it's extremely important for authors to have books of diversity. Not only for LGBT but in religious and ethnic backgrounds—especially in the scary times we live in now. I never advertised LUST as a LBGT novel, but I didn’t hide it either. Reading the blurb alone tells you it's about two women. I've been asked why I did that and the answer is simple. We don't say this book is about a man and a woman with "traditional" books in the paranormal, sci-fi genre, why did I have to do that with LUST? The book isn't about her sexual orientation nor is it about gender. It's about two strong people, fighting against everything that's thrown at them to love.
In my mind, and some people may not agree with this, but it shouldn't be "different" or "not normal" for a book to be about LBGT or one love – this is a M/M read or M/F read or F/F should never be the driving force behind it. It should be about the story and the characters. Being LBGT is perfectly normal and a real instance in life—and I want everyone to think of it that way. It's not "different" at all. And how someone loves and who they choose to do that with shouldn't be the primary core of the story. LUST is a badass, action, fun-filled adventure paranormal read.  Just like the other books. It just has two people who fall in love, just like the other books. It IS their normal.

I have several contemporary romances set up to write with LBGT as the main characters. Those, I believe should focus on the struggles of loving as a lesbian, bi-sexual or gay individual. But it won't be the book’s purpose, just how the characters are. The story telling will be the purpose of the book and I can only hope ALL readers, gay or straight, will enjoy it and see that love is love. Maybe even forget they are reading an LBGT book as the story and its emotions pull them in.

What do you find is the hardest part about writing a book?

Getting it done. I work full –time at a day job. I also am going to school to get my Bachelors Degree in Creative Writing. But I love writing and I try to make time for it every day. I have a sleep disorder that not only comes with bouts of insomnia where I spend writing until I'm exhausted, but when I do sleep, I have very vivid dreams. They have a soundtrack and even credits, like a movie. Almost all of my books play as a dream once I note them down to write. Then it's just a matter of getting it down on paper.

What’s your most favorite part about writing a book?

Getting lost. No matter how rough a day is. Or what I'm going through my worlds and characters are there waiting. My books take place in the here and now. No fantastical worlds or places. So, it's fairly easy for me to step out of my real life and enter the ones in the books. My characters are like my friends and they always welcome me.
There's a sense of shelter there. And one that I desperately need some days.

If you could go one place in the world for book research, where would you go?

Thailand. I have wanted to write a book for some time about a woman that just walks away from it all and buys a ticket on the first plane that's leaving the airport. In my outline – that's Thailand. It's such a colorful, diverse and interesting place. It's on my travel bucket-list.

What was your favorite childhood book?

The Velveteen Rabbit. It made an impact early on and it's a book that I still have and keep with me. So few words yet so much emotional impact.

I have found the LGBT community to be a haven for so many. For you as a bisexual person what has this community been like to you and what would you tell other who are just skirting by about it?

I agree with you, it's a haven. But we also have a problem of putting ourselves in a corner. We don't reach out to those beyond our genres or lifestyle. It's at times, like a club that only certain people can be a member of. We CANNOT isolate ourselves that way. Not if we want our works to be in the mainstream and found by others.

The M/M genre is wildly popular and I don't see many F/F books getting the appreciation or notice that they should. Being bi-sexual myself, I believe it is extremely important for us to not only use our books as a vehicle to bring attention to the struggle the LBGT community has, but to also show they're normal. They are NO different than any other person that chooses to love.

We live in very challenging times. Sure, we have the right to marry and that's amazing and I am sure I, like many others, are praying that doesn't get stripped away by the current administration. But we have so much more work to do. In my own state of Texas, did you know that someone can be denied a hotel room for being LBGT? They can be evicted without cause from their home if they are LBGT and the landlord is against the lifestyle. It’s considered immoral, deviant and perverse to be gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgender and that is just is wrong. The more we show that we are HUMAN in every way. That we are just as NORMAL as every other person and make it understood that NORMAL is such a binding word and not representative of the human race, the easier it will be for society to help our causes. I am not saying that we need to "act" normal, no. I think if you put any two "normal" people together you'll see they are different. Normal means nothing. And the sooner society stops trying to decide what is normal, the more they will see how different is really the same – human.

When there are more books, more movies, more TV shows to be digested by the general populace then it no longer seems "diverse" and it becomes normal. We must to put it out there and we can't do that by putting ourselves on a creative, protected island. We have to show we are all the same in wanting what every person is entitled to. To love and live, without harm to others, our normal lives.

If you could collaborate with any author who would it be?

Colleen Hoover for a LBGT romance. She really needs to dip her toes in our colorful pool. How amazing would that be!?

The other would be Amy Tan. I have so much admiration for her. She was fighting for women's rights via her books before many of us even considered writing. She is one of my role models.

Can you tell us what you are currently working on?

The next book I have releasing in late May is ‘Soul Bound: The Warrior. ‘

It has been the one that is closest to my heart and my most scary release. It’s a book that deals with dark subjects – the primary one being suicide. Being someone who lost my love to the tragedy, I wanted to be able to find some closure and decided to do that in the form of fiction. There is so much of me in this book.  It’s a gritty read and betas are loving it, but they have also decided that it’s a book that’s hard to survive the reading of. You really have to earn the HEA with this one.  But I believe readers can handle the darker, more intense journeys. And I hope that is proven by putting Soul Bound in their hands. It’s a labor of both love and heartache. And I feel the pages show that.

The other book I am working is titled 'A Little Pill Called Love". It’s a contemporary romance (We call them: Romance – The Ward Way) that deals with falling in love while being bi-polar and dealing with all that entails. It's M/F but I do hope every reader gives it a chance. I love putting social issues in my books and A Little Pill Called Love is no exception.  It has a fall release scheduled.

And Murder – the fourth book of the Shadow-Keepers releases in the winter.

How can readers follow your work: Website, Facebook, Twitter, other?

I love getting to know my readers, so please feel free to follow me here -

Website (where you can sign up for my newsletter): https://www.AuthorJasTWard.com

Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/jas.t.ward

Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJasTWard/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JasTWard

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jast.ward/

FAST FIRE QUESTIONS:

Favorite animal? Manatee or a horse

Favorite color? Dark Purple

Coffee or tea? Coffee hot. Ice tea for cold. :)

Beer or wine? Wine

Day or night? Night

Favorite flower? Indian Paintbrush

Righty or lefty? Right

Favorite band? Black Eyed Peas

Okay, Jas, thank you again for being here.

Thank you for inviting me. It’s been a pleasure.

Giveaway

The whole Shadow-Keepers series (in e-book form) that includes Lust, which is a F/F PNR read.  To best feature Lust - Jas will feature, along with it - Madness and Cowboy - Book 1 and Book 3 of the series. Kenzie is a strong female character, with her lady love, Lana and they appear through-out the entire series. 

Enter the rafflecopter below. Contest will end on April 7th.

Thank you and thank you to Jas for being here today.

a Rafflecopter giveaway