Rachel created an author interview book trailer to give you a little insight into Escaped, and I love it! It's not like your traditional book trailer, but comes straight from Rachel herself in a vlog interview format, or at least that's how I look at it.
Here's a question and answer session with Rachel, enjoy!
Tell me about your Paranormal Romance, Escaped: A Samantha Scott Novel and where you got your inspiration for it?A place exists like your hometown or like mine that can never be seen or visited unless it lets you. Cadiza, is set deep in the Iberian Plateau of Portugal, far away from any civilization and inhabited by residents that are unable and unwilling to leave. Unfortunately, Cadiza is still close enough to large cities to prompt temptation in the young, willful hearts of teenagers. Or at least one, Samantha Scott.
She is unlike a normal human as are all the residents there. They are Bruxas—witches. Powerful ones. With her talisman now granted, a golden wrist tattoo giving her the ability to cast and spell at will, Samantha decides it’s time to bust out of Cadiza to fight for a life of her own in the human world.
The only hiccup in her plan is that her Bruxa Skill can’t be defined. Some witches have speed, others have the ability to use cathartic magic to control emotions, Samantha has multiple skills which make her dangerous yet valuable to Cadiza and to The Elders. Escaping was never going to be easy but now being on the run from Jade, the Eldest is going to be downright dangerous.
Jade will play dirty, even tempting Samantha with her Match—a Bruxa’s one true love to lure her back into her clutches. This proves a confusing triangle completed by Malakai, Samantha's first love and a human intermingled in Cadiza's widespread web of lies. For Samantha Scott the human world proves to be full of deceit and lies leaving her wondering if any choice she makes will be a wise one.
With her two best friends in tow, how far is Samantha willing to go to keep her magic and establish a life of her own outside of the Bruxa commune? How far will she go to protect the lives of her friends? To fall in love with whom she chooses? Most importantly, how far will she push the limits to find herself?
I get my inspiration from everything around me. People and places of every variety imaginable.
How do you overcome writers block? I give myself deadlines. I work on a tight schedule and don’t sway from it. It’s the single-most important thing I take away from NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) each year. You can always edit out the garbage later, but you can’t get back the time you should have been writing.
Do you believe in love at first sight?Have you ever experienced it? I don’t believe it happens between people. Humans are too complex for such a silly notion. I do, however, believe it happens while shoe shopping.
Do you recall how your interest in writing occurred? I’ve always been fond of words. I recall writing a poem while riding in the back seat of my Grandpa’s car. My mother cried the first time she read it. It went on to be published in a poem collection. I was probably only eleven or twelve years old at the time. I remember thinking, “I was just bored.”
If you gave one of your characters the opportunity to speak for themselves, what would they say? They speak for themselves all the time! It’s why I get ulcers when they stray from my plot line. I hope one of them would say, “Go take a break, Rachel. We got this.”
What’s your favorite love story? Pride and Prejudice is the epitome of a great love story. It’s the only time I've rooted for a man so odd. It speaks volumes of Jane Austen’s talents. I’m also a sucker for a miserable, tragic love story.
Do you have a writing process? If so describe it. I’m what some call a burst writer. I have ideas, characters and plotlines that bounce around in my head at all times. I let them simmer there and make notes in my notebook here and there but never outline anything. When I sit down to write it all comes out in a big jumble. I’m obsessed; I’m crazed and completely dedicated to the story that’s finally being evicted from my mind. I like to use sticky notes for plot points. The wall in my office is covered with sticky notes when I’m writing a book.
Have you ever killed someone in a novel and regretted it later? I did this recently. I walked around for days like a depressed zombie because I knew it had to be done. It didn’t make it any easier. The good thing about writing Paranormal is that sometimes you can keep your options open for bringing characters back from the beyond in one form or another.
If someone came up to you and wanted to tell you about an idea or a book they were writing, what would you do? Or what advice would you give? To be a writer all you have to do is write. Tell the story that needs to be told, the one that can’t be quelled in the back of your mind. That’s the story people want to read. After you write the story go back and rewrite it…a couple times. Lastly, when you think your story is a perfect, scrupulous masterpiece rewrite it one more time just for good measure.
Are the names of characters in your novels important? Yes and no. It’s like a child, after you name them you can’t picture them going by another moniker. Personally, I like names that can be shortened into nicknames.
Are you mostly a clean or messy person? I’m the messiest clean person you’ll meet. My house is meticulously cleaned because of a spouse with a loving helping of OCD, but my pile of clean clothes is always lurking nearby. My office is a perfect balance of organized chaos.
Which do you find more embarrassing to write, violence or sex? Is violence embarrassing to write? My Grandma wouldn’t bat an eye at a bloody nose, though I’m sure she’d gape with unabashed horror while reading a sex scene her granddaughter wrote.
What would you do with 1 million ping pong balls? Crafting is one of my hobbies. I’d find something fantastic to do with that many balls. (No pun intended) I’m thinking a lot of spray paint and perhaps an entire wall covered with colored ping pong balls.
What do you like most about being a writer? It’s basically a free pass to be crazy. I look like a normal person so no one can guess, unless I tell them, or if they read my books, exactly what’s going on inside the noggin. The creative freedom is a rush.
An excerpt from Escaped:
"You're lying. I don't know why." I knew him better than he thought. After years apart I still had it. He remained silent and stony. He looked at me in earnest with his blue eyes. In that moment I knew his silence was as close to the truth as I was going to get.
"Fine. If you can't tell me what all this is about." I nudged the closest stack of books with my boot and then returned my gaze to his.
"Are you with me or against me?" If he wouldn't answer me straight I needed the next best thing―his alliance. He took a step in my direction. My stomach filled with butterflies as he gently grabbed my hands and stared intently at me. As he interlaced our fingers, I felt the strong, safe warmth I'd never been able to forget. The buzzing throughout my body I'd come to know when I was close to Malakai began. He released my hands and brought his hands to my waist. His grip was strong and tight as he crushed our bodies together. He pressed his chiseled chest and stomach against my body. It left me wanting more.
"I'm as with you as I can be." He trailed his hand up the side of my waist, grazing my breast as he brought his fingers up to lightly touch my neck. I closed my eyes to relish his touch, a touch I'd been without for so long. I opened my eyes to find his gaze darkened and more out of control. This was another look I knew well.
My head kept screaming it wasn't a direct answer. It could be taken one way or the other. My heart cancelled all other lucid thoughts as Kai leaned down and kissed me so passionately that I forgot I even owned a brain.
Rachel grew up in a small, quiet town full of loud talkers. Her words were always only loud on paper. She has been writing stories and creating characters for as long as she can remember. After living on the west coast for many years she recently moved to Virginia Beach, VA. Escaped is her first Paranormal Romance novel.
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