**Contest portion of this event has been closed...
Hello my friends! Today we have the pleasure of hearing from
Erin Kellison, debuting author of the
Shadow Series!
And that's not all! Erin has generously offered to GIVEAWAY a copy of both books,
Shadow Bound and
Shadow Fall! So! Sit with us and enjoy the Guest Blog! Contest deets will be shared at the end!
But!, before we jump in and "hand the mike" over to Erin, how about we get a little author info!
(Information shared has been syndicated from Erins website, with her permission, and as such should be considered protected under her copyrights. Any duplication is forbidden without the expressed, written permission of the author/site owner)
Erin Kellison is the author of the
Shadow Series, which includes
Shadow Bound and
Shadow Fall. Stories have always been a central part of Erin Kellison's life.
She attempted her first book in sixth grade, a dark fantasy adventure, and still has those early hand-written chapters. She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English Language and Literature, and went on for a masters in Cultural Anthropology, focusing on oral storytelling.
When she had children, nothing scared her anymore, so her focus shifted to writing fiction. She lives in Arizona with her two beautiful daughters and husband, and she will have a dog (breed undetermined) when her youngest turns five.
For more information about Erin and her various memberships and affiliations, please visit her website
About Page.
Okie dokie folks! Now that we've all learned a little about WHO
Erin Kellison is, why don' I "pass the mike" and Erin can chat with us about her writing adventures and experiences surrounding the
Shadow Series. Good things, bad things, challenges, character developments, etc.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
False Start
First of all a big thank you to YzhaBella for inviting me to her blog today! I am very excited to be here, and since this post straddles the release of both Shadow Bound (in bookstores now) and Shadow Fall (in stores July 27), I am happy to give away a copy of each to one lucky commenter. YzhaBella suggested I blog about challenges and character developments, so I thought I’d do both.
Readers might not know, but many books start out very differently from how they end up in the final version. I call this a False Start, which is a beginning that kinda takes the story where the author wants it to go, but still doesn’t work.
Shadow Bound, my debut release, had a false start. It was painstakingly written, edited to crisp clarity, but in the end, it all had to go.
Scene One: The heroine of the story, Talia O’Brien, a university professor, is racing across campus to get a projector for her big, department-wide lecture on near-death research. The media lab is closed, but a mysterious man, Adam Thorne, happens to be on hand to pick the lock. She’s grateful, a little disconcerted by him, but makes off with the projector.
Scene Two: Adam is joined by his good friend, Custo, who he instructs to break into Talia’s office and steal her research. Adam attends her lecture.
Scene Three: Talia drums up her courage to face an auditorium of students and faculty for a lecture. She is half fae, and the fae, by nature, do not like to come out into the open. They hide in the shadows. Lurk, maybe. Watch people. But they never take center stage, as Talia is about to do. And to make it worse, damn if that man, Adam Thorne, isn’t sitting in the front row.
In the end, all this was cut from my manuscript. All of it. I forced myself to highlight the entire thing and hit Delete. <sob> I really liked how I was setting it up, but it had to go. My second try is what appears in
Shadow Bound. Here are the changes I made and why.
While Talia’s character certainly came out in her anxiety about her lecture, neither the lecture, nor her attempt to get the projector was tremendously compelling. I was missing the big question: Why is Adam Thorne there to see her? <He wants to kill his immortal brother.> What is so important about her work? <Her work holds the key to Death.> So, cue gnashing of teeth, I had to rewrite, starting with Adam.
I also knew I wanted to put Talia on the cusp of change, of achieving what had taken years and years of hard work to do: Attain a position as a professor and live out her life in quiet study. But I needed more conflict, so I thought, What’s the worst thing that could happen to her? Someone (soul-sucking wraiths) had to discover that she is fae and ruin it all for her in the darkest, most frightening way. The new beginning dangled desperate hope for Adam, and destroyed Talia’s and chances at happiness. Much better than the projector, don’t you think?
And then there was Custo, Adam’s friend, the thief. I had the opposite problem with him. I actually tried to delete him altogether. Several times. But he was a pain in the arse and would not leave me alone. Finally I said, Fine! Have it your way, and kept him as a secondary character. It wasn’t long before I knew why. Custo was a foil for both Adam and Adam’s brother-turned-wraith, Jacob. He’s the kind of steady friend that stands by through the worst of times. He preserved Adam’s sanity in dark moments, fought by his side, and on occasion kept him in line. His character was so startlingly alive in my brain that I couldn’t even change his name, which people mispronounce all the time (it’s supposed to be “Coosto”). One writer friend, upon reading
Shadow Bound, called Custo a sidekick. No, no, no, I said in my head. Custo, beyond any shadow of a doubt, is a hero. In fact, he needed his own book, so I gave him Shadow Fall.
So my question for readers is:
What book has your favorite opening scene?
Here are the blurbs for both books:
Shadow Bound
Release Date: 6/29/2010
ISBN 10: 0-505-52829-0
ISBN 13: 978-0-505-52829-2
Dorchester Publishing
Shadow Bound @ Amazon
Death
Some people will do anything to avoid it. Even trade their immortal souls for endless existence.
Wraiths
Secretly, inexorably, they are infiltrating our world, sucking the essence out of unsuspecting victims with their hideous parody of a kiss.
Segue
Adam Thorne founded the Segue Institute to study and destroy his monster of a brother, but the key to its success is held in the pale, slender hand of a woman on the run. There is something hauntingly different about Talia O’Brien, her unknowing sensuality, her uncanny way of slipping into Shadow.
Twilight
This is the place between life and what comes after—a dark forest of fantasy, filled with beauty, peril, mystery. And Talia is about to open the door.
Shadow Fall
Release Date: 7/27/2010
ISBN 10: 0-505-52830-4
ISBN 13: 978-0-505-52830-8
Dorchester Publishing
Shadow Fall @ Amazon
Sacrifice
Custo Santovari accepted pain, blood, even death, to save his best friend. But a man with all his sins just isn't cut out to be an angel.
Mystery
One moment he's fleeing Heaven; the next, he's waking up stark naked in Manhattan. In the middle of a war. Called there by a woman who's desperately afraid of the dark.
Shadow
It gathers around Annabella as she performs, filled with fantastic images of another world, bringing both a golden hero and a nightmare lover.
Wolf
He pursues her relentlessly, twisting her desires even as she gives herself to the man she loves. Because each of us has a wild side, and Annabella is about to unleash the beast.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Thank you Erin! You've presented some wonderful information and, I am certain, have enticed many of today's participants to check out
Shadow Series first hand! Please know that I and our readers, very much appreciate the time you have taken to prepare this blog and "hang" with us for a while!
Ok! Here we go friends! It's CONTEST TIME!
General Requirements / Rules
***You MUST answer Erin's discussion question to qualify! Please answer accordingly for any of your favorite titles!***
- Open to USA / Canada - No PO Boxes Please
- Please be or become a Google Friend Connect Follower
- Comment here to answer the question(s) asked above
- Entries must be entered through the FORM.
Extra entries are available. Please see the form for more information. Ends 7/31/10 11:59pm est.
Reviews are written on a volunteer basis and are only the opinions of the individual review author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and/or views of the author, publisher, or public readers in general Copyright © YzhaBella's BookShelf 2010
, Amazon.ca
, Chapters.indigo.ca 
, Amazon.ca
, Chapters.indigo.ca 
, Amazon.ca
, Chapters.indigo.ca 
by 
