INTERVIEW
1. How did you start your writing career?It was 2008, the year of the market crash in the U.S., and I was one of many who lost their job due to down-sizing. I was broke to the point I couldn’t leave the house much. All I had was a laptop, and writing is a free activity, to I sat down and started writing. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. I became a bit obsessed and spent every spare moment writing – even when I got a new full-time job, some four or five months later. I kept writing. I had a story me, and it demanded life. Now you might ask “why vampires?” It’s because despite all the millions of vampire books flooding the market right now, there are still a lot of unused angles. I’ve always been a fan of vampires and the paranormal, but I was dying to know what their lives where like on a deeper level. What happened to the human heroine after she was bitten and married the vampire guy? Not many authors bothered to explore what I felt was a missed opportunity for a great story. I mean, do we really believe the fun is over after she becomes a powerful undead? I think that’s where the real story should begin. So that’s what I did with Ema Marx. I made her a vampire in the beginning of book one, Dark Heirloom, and lavishly spent three books getting her into all sorts of epic trouble as she learns to adapt to her new paranormal life.
2. Where do you dream of traveling to and why?Everywhere. I love to travel – I honestly think leaving home and seeing the world is the best thing you can do for yourself and your soul. Submersing yourself in different cultures is how barriers built by ignorance are torn down. We learn a lot about our true selves by learning about the world and we learn to appreciate so much more, to let go of the material world, and to appreciate the simple things in life. I’ve been very fortunate to be able to travel as a child. It’s a gift I can’t thank my parents for enough. I’m also very fortunate for the traveling opportunities my writing career has given me. I hope I find my way back to the west coast – I haven’t been back to my place of birth since I was four years old. I also hope I get to explore more of Europe someday. I know I have fans there who would love to have me. J
3. Does travel play in the writing of your books?Yes, it does. Ema, the main character, finds herself traveling all over world for one reason or another. Some of the settings mentioned in the series are places I have been to, but not all of them are. It was always my goal for Ema to travel. I wanted her to meet all the different kinds of vampires I had mentioned in book one. In fact, I originally wanted her to travel a lot more than she does, but not every clan fit into the story, so I had to carefully pick where to send her.
4. Tell us about your current release.Dark Becoming is the third book in the Ema Marx series. I don’t want to ruin it for those who haven’t read the series yet, but I will say that Dark Becoming ends with an epic battle. The epic battle that she’s been training for in the first two books. However, it’s not the end. I’m currently working on the fourth book, Dark Ascension. Ema still has a lot to fix before she can have her happily ever after.
5. What does your significant other and family think of your writing career?They’re all very supportive and keeping their fingers crossed for a movie deal, LOL. No, that’s not an implication that the rights have been sold. Mostly, it’s an implication that my family has no idea how this industry works! But I love them for being positive. I know not every writer has the support of their loved ones. I know I’m very lucky.
6. What do you think makes a good story?I think it’s realism. What I mean by that is for the readers to be able to connect to the story and characters in a realistic way. It doesn’t matter how complex and outlandish the plot is – or how simplistic. None of it matters if the readers can’t connect with the characters in a human way. That means the characters’ emotions, thoughts, decisions, and actions need to be rooted in reality. They need to feel real.
About the Author:
J.D. Brown knows that vampires exist because she’s dating one and no, he doesn’t sparkle. Unfortunately, he’s not immortal either (or maybe her standards are too low). A magnet for subcultures and weirdness, J.D. was that socially awkward girl with more fictional friends than real ones. As a child battling a hearing loss and Muckle-Wells Syndrome, J.D. found comfort in books where strong women always saved the day and got the guy. An obsession with Charmed, Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Buffy the Vampire Slayer led J.D. to believe that her mutated chromosome made her something more, not something less. Thus her stubborn flare to persevere was born. A lover of fine cuisine, coffee, and shoes, J.D. never understood why shoe stores don’t serve Starbucks and soufflé. She resides in Wisconsin were she writes urban fantasy—aka vampires for adults—and has political debates with her dogs. She loves to hear from fans and is active onhttp://Facebook.com/AuthorJDBrown
J.D. Brown’s Social Network Links:· Website· Facebook· Twitter· Amazon Profile· GoodReads Profile
Book Blurbs and Buy Links:
DARK BECOMING (An Ema Marx Novel 3)Ema Marx is in a race against time. Or rather, a race against Apollyon. A powerful weapon—the legendary philosopher’s stone—could tip the scale in favor of whoever gets their fangs on it first. For Ema, obtaining the stone is an uphill battle through love, alliance, heartbreak, and loyalty. Winning should mean the beginning of beautiful things, but the closer Ema gets to her destiny, the more uncertain her future becomes. Could it be this war was never meant for her? And why the heck doesn’t morning sickness adhere to rules of its own name?
● Amazon / Kindle● MuseItUp Publishing Inc.
DARK LIAISON (An Ema Marx Novel 2)Ema Marx wishes her life would go back to normal, but there’s nothing normal about being a Romani-Vampyre with an ancestor who wants you dead. Apollyon is back, wreaking havoc on the lives of everyone she cares about while plotting her demise. Ema thought she would find a new best friend in her trainer, Bridget, until the exotic vampire vies for Jesu’s attention. Jesu can date who he wants, right? Ema has more important things to worry about, like honing her powers. When Apollyon’s thugs appear out of the shadows to attack her, Ema knows it’s time to take action. But everyone else has other plans in mind. One thing is for certain, being under house arrest in the German vampyre king’s castle was not part of her plan to save the day.
· Muse It Up Publishing· Amazon / Kindle· Barnes & Noble / Nook· Kobo Books· iTunes
DARK HEIRLOOM (An Ema Marx Novel 1)“You’re a vampire” is so not what Ema Marx wants to hear when she wakes from a two-day coma in a cryptic yet exquisite castle in northern Finland. Unfortunately, it explains a lot. Like why she’s able to see in the dark and walk through solid objects. What she doesn’t understand is why the other vampires expect her to have all the answers. It’s their fault she turned into one of them…right? Jalmari’s hatred for his old-man intensifies when he’s ordered to bring that troublesome girl to their castle. He has a clan to run, there’s no time for babysitting newborn vampires no matter how they were converted to their culture. But when a two-thousand-year-old premonition threatens to take the crown and his life, Jalmari sees no other choice than to take out the catalyst. Ema Marx. Fortunately for Ema, she could also be the clan’s only savior. The race to figure out her vampiric origins is on. And maybe she’ll get the hang of the blood-drinking gig along the way.
· Amazon / Kindle· Barnes & Noble / Nook · iTunes · Muse It Up Publishing · Smashwords.com
ATHENA’S ORACLE (An Heirloom Vampyres Novella 0.5)Leena’s ‘gift of sight’ secures her place as the next great oracle of Athena. Instead of being groomed for wifehood like other girls, Leena spends her days within the walls of the Acropolis, shuffled around by the clergy and doomed to be a virgin forever. Before her ascension, Leena decides to take matters into her own hands. With the help of her father’s book of alchemy, she casts an incantation calling forth her own personal hero. But when that hero turns out to be a rogue vampyre prince with a haunted past, Leena begins to question if her feelings for him are the work of divine intervention, or a love spell gone horribly wrong. Athena’s Oracle is a prequel to the novelsDark Heirloom andDark Liaison, also by J.D. Brown. Set in 4th century B.C.E., Athena’s Oracle chronicles the romance between Leena and Jalmari during the very early trials of their immortal lives.
· $0.99 cents on Amazon Kindle
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