Monday 30 December 2013

A Small Interview with Maria Violante + Giveway

One of the books that made an impression on me this year was BirthMarked by Maria Violante. It's an original Urban Fantasy read with a very sympathetic heroine.

I already interviewed Maria earlier this year, but I decided to ask her a few end of year questions. She not only answered my questions, but kindly offered a copy of BirthMarked to one reader of my blog as well.


Welcome back to Pearls Cast Before a McPig, Maria.
What was your favorite moment of 2013?


As an author, I'd have to definitely say that the publication of BirthMarked was a huge milestone for me--and when I got the first review, and it was just so positive, I was humbled and pleased and really emotional.

As a professional, it would have to be November 1st, because that was the day I started my new job/career in multifamily housing management. I just got hired at an amazing company that I thought was a total longshot for me, and I can already tell I'm going to be really happy there.

I think a special mention would be Thanksgiving. I went to TWO thanksgivings, with twice the turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing--jeez, I must have gained ten pounds! But being there with two different families was lovely, and my boyfriend (a very stoic man) took the opportunity to say something really romantic and I just melted.

What will you be doing on New Year’s Eve?

Hmm. . . I hadn't even thought that far ahead yet! I almost always figure it out a day or two before. I'm pretty sure that no matter what, I'll be with people I love (and probably tipsy) and with those two, you can never go wrong.

What are you looking forward to in 2014?

The sequel to BirthMarked, which I am having the hardest time titling, is like 75% of the way done. I got off track this last month or so, what with the new career, car trouble, all of the things that life just kinda throws at you . . . but you know, the thing that always brings me back in is reviews, believe it or not. I'll just be doing whatever, and my phone will ping, and I'll see that someone new has left me a review on amazon and just loved the book--and then I'll feel really inspired to work on the next one! So that's great.

What can readers expect from you in 2014?

BirthMarked, books two and three--is she the lighthouse, or the lily? And what's going to happen with her and Shawn/Dean/ALLTHEMEN?

I've also got another series that's just been taunting me. I've rewritten the first half of the first book three times now, and it's just fallen flat for me--and I started this other book, that wasn't quite making it. One day, I'm in the shower and bing!--a light goes on. They're not working, because they're two halves of the same whole.

So I'm really excited about that project. Over a year in just the idea stage, and I know it will be great.

Thanks for dropping by and have a great New Year's Eve.


==========================

Giveaway:

Maria will gift one reader of my blog with a digital copy of BirthMarked.
For your chance to win:
- Leave a comment for Maria
- Leave a way for me to contact you
- Do so before January 12th 2014

Open internationally for anyone who's legally allowed to enter this giveaway

A winner will be picked at random on January 12th or soon after.


2 comments:

erin said...

Congrats to Maria on the new series! Thanks for sharing! You certainly sound busy! Happy New Year :)

Aurian said...

Thanks for the nice interview ladies, and Maria, good luck with the second book!
p.s. don't enter me, I already have the book!