AN INTERVIEW WITH MIDDLE GRADE, YOUNG ADULT, AND NEW ADULT AUTHOR BETTY MAY

Today we sit down for a chat with middle grade, young adult, and new adult author Betty May. Learn more about Betty and her books at bettymayauthor.com.

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?

Like most writers, I was an avid reader as a kid (when I could sit still long enough). I wrote many short stories—some kind of weird. As a theatrical director I wrote many one-act plays for my Kids’ and Teens’ theater groups. It wasn’t a giant step to move on to novels.

 

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

After more query letters than I care to count, I finally decided to take things into my own hands. In 2014 I self-published a New Adult nonfiction piece, FACES, based on my experiences working with a group of lifers in a state prison. A year later I published Changing Corners. Last year Payback came out.

 

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

Indie Published

 

Where do you write?

On my bed, hunched over my computer—probably the worst thing possible for posture.

 

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?

I have to have some background noise – whether it’s TV or music—classical, pop, jazz and Broadway. Love rock ‘n roll and disco—especially the Bee Gees. Total silence freaks me out.

 

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

Bobbie, the protagonist in Payback and co-star of Changing Corners, is based on me, but she is the girl I wish I had been. I wish I had been more aware of racial injustice, but I didn’t have a Phillis to teach me. Many of the scenes in both books came out of my life, but Payback is semi-autobiographical—based on a traumatic incident in my life. I’d have to say it is a bit cathartic.

 

I explain the reason for writing Changing Corners in the beginning of the book—perhaps a mea culpa: 1950s teenagers are often called the “do-nothing” generation. Consumed by their cars, poodle skirts and dance parties, they appear to be an unconcerned lot. However, their seemingly nonchalant, selfish lives had more to do with lack of awareness than lack of caring. Many, when confronted with the truth about racial inequality, became activists in civil rights issues—sometimes with tragic results.

 

Now, in the 21^st century, the struggle continues.

 

Describe your process for naming your character?

I’m glad you asked this question. I had a lot of fun naming the characters in Changing Corners. They are all based on either real historical figures or people who were important in my life.

 

For example, Phillis, an aspiring writer, is named for Phillis Wheatly (1753-1784), the first African American poet to be published in the United States.  Her surname, Simpson, is for my best friend’s mother, who lived to be 102.

 

Leonard Marshall (Phillis’s love interest) is named for Thurgood Marshall. Frank Miller (Bobbie’s love interest) is named for Glenn Miller and Jimmy Miller.

 

Camille Simmons, the teenage villain, is named for Kamelia, a women’s offshoot of the Ku Klux Klan founded in 1923. Her surname is for William Joseph Simmons (1880-1945), Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan 1915-1922.

 

Bobbie is just Bobbie. I chose an androgynous name because she could be any teenager, male or female, fighting against an evil.

 

Real settings or fictional towns?

I needed a big high school so I chose mine. The town is fictional but resembles any small town in 1950s New York.

 

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

Bobbie can’t sit still. She never shuts up. And she’s always getting into trouble.

 

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

As a kid, I could never sit still. I talked too much. And I was always getting into trouble. I still can’t sit still for long—a problem when I taught in a Quaker high school where sitting is the favorite indoor sport.

 

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

I love historical fiction. My favorite historical novel is Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett. Well-developed characters, great story lines, impeccable research. Now reading the prequel: The Evening and the Morning.

 

For kid lit it would be The Secret Garden because as a child I related to the protagonist’s loneliness. Also high on my list is any book written by Richard Peck. His whimsical stories and fascinating characters speak to me.

 

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

I wish I had been more patient with my kids. On the other hand, all five of them have grown into incredible people. They all graduated from college, and they all have successful, happy lives. So my husband and I must have done something right.

 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

I have three passions in my life: bullying, racism, and social justice. I turn into a raging maniac when I see bullying, a screaming banshee when I hear about racism, and a radical activist when I witness injustice. I have addressed these passions in my books: FACES (social justice); Payback (bullying); and Changing Corners(racism).

 

On a lighter note, I don’t like unnecessary adverbs, and I hate it when people say nauseous instead of nauseated.

 

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?

Knife. Source of water. Pens/paper. Maybe some sunscreen.

 

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?

Without a doubt, high school substitute teacher. All the worst parts of teaching and none of the good ones. You don’t get to know the kids. You don’t get to see them grow. You don’t know if you’re teaching them anything. And you are often treated like dirt by the students and as a nonentity by the teachers. (The question I was asked every day: “Who are you today?”)

 

What’s the best book you’ve ever read? 

The Secret Garden

 

Ocean or mountains?

Definitely mountains. Fortunately, my husband also loved the mountains. Mixed marriages (mountains vs. beach) don’t work.

 

City girl/guy or country girl/guy?

As much as I enjoy mountains, I love the hustle and bustle of a city. If I had a million dollars, I would rent a hotel suite for six months in New York City, go to every Broadway show, and walk the streets enjoying the people, the sirens and the honking taxis.

 

What’s on the horizon for you?

Have no idea. Just enjoying my family and friends. Continue freelance directing. Maybe write another book. I’m working on an adult mystery-romance but, so far, it’s just garbage. Fun writing, though—a big change from MG and YA. I can expand the vocabulary, use naughty words and people can have—you know—s-e-x. Only problem is, I don’t know how to write sex scenes. Have about seventy pages so far with little notes tucked into the pages: “Insert sex scene here.”

 

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

As much as I enjoy writing, my first love has always been and will always be theater. I’ve worked in all facets of the theatrical world: cast, chorus, crew, director, ticket taker, janitor… I had my own theater for ten years and I still freelance in community theater.

 

One of the most exciting things in my life is the time I spent producing and directing productions with ninety street children in a squatters’ settlement in Guatemala. I spent seven summers there from 1993-2000. I met the strongest, bravest women I have ever met in my life. The children were beautiful and talented and more than eager to participate in a song-and-dance show even though they weren’t quite sure what it was. They enchanted every audience they had in their community, in mountain villages, in churches and synagogues, in schools, at the Concha Acustica (Guatemala City’s version of the Hollywood Bowl) and at the National Palace. They were featured on Guatemalan National Television. My first year was difficult because my Spanish vocabulary consisted of eight words: hóla, sombrero, burrito, taco and ¿Dónde está el baño? But we had a wonderful time and I learned as I went along.

 

Another opportunity arose after my theater closed. I work with a group of lifers at a women’s state prison. They wanted help writing a play that would warn young adults about the dangers of bad choices. The women were amazing, and a number of at-risk kids turned their lives around because of their words. As an additional honor, I was asked to direct the play with professional actors for presentation at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. My New Adult nonfiction book, FACES Imprisoned Women and Their Struggle with the Criminal Justice System, tells the women’s stories and my experience with them.

 

I have been more than lucky with my personal life: Forty-three years with the love of my life and five incredible kids. 

 

Payback

Eleven-almost-twelve-year-old Bobbie is a bright, inquisitive, cute annoying pest who never sits still and can’t shut up. She is thrilled to be at a week-long Long Island summer camp. There she meets her roommates: three ultra-sophisticated teenagers who are not at all happy about sharing their room with this creature who bounces around like some kind of zany pixie. Their hostility accelerates from ridicule to merciless bullying and near tragedy.

 

She makes a good friend, Rose, and the two girls talk about their feelings and ideas. Rose is fighting her own battle: her parents fight constantly and are getting divorced. One of their many discussions involves racism, and Bobbie tells Rose about Phillis, an African American girl who was Bobbie’s best friend when the two were five years old. 

 

The bullying continues until the only friend Bobbie has is a Hoover vacuum cleaner.  How can Bobbie fight back when the girls turn the entire camp against her? Even Rose, upset about the hostility among the girls, turns her back when the roommates spread vicious lies about Bobbie.

 

How can Bobbie regain her spirit when she feels beaten down and lost?

 

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY--AUTHOR MISSYE K. CLARKE

Today we sit down for a chat with author Missye K. Clarke. Missye writes in a variety of genres, including (but not limited to) mystery, suspense, new adult, magical realism, and urban fantasy. Learn more about her at her blog.  

When did you realize you wanted to write novels?
Nearly twenty-one years ago, when my kids were still young and the story ideas and cast of characters were too big for short stories.

How long did it take you to realize your dream of publication?

I’ve been writing journalistically since the mid-1980s, so I’ve had bylines numerous times, which never get old seeing. I was lucky enough to get in when editors and newshounds were willing to mentor and help a journalism apprentice grow and hone their craft. Though I still periodically freelance. My first novel idea came to me in 2005 with the convergence of several events: New York Governor Eliot Spitzer had resigned and comedian Richard Pryor had died. There was also the mob-related back-story of why my family and I moved to Arizona in 1980 and my long-deceased maternal grandmother being a shameless alley cat to fund her vices. Something clicked. I changed these elements slightly, tucked in the offstage murders of two prostitutes, and thirteen years later in the same month the idea bloomed, Jersey Dogs, Casebook #1 was born.

Are you traditionally published, indie published, or a hybrid author?

Indie published.

Where do you write?

At home, mostly. Sometimes in a bookstore or where there are comfy chairs. And I always have a notebook and pen in my backpack to write longhand.

Is silence golden, or do you need music to write by? What kind?
Silence sometimes but other times I’ll have a song I adore on repeat, putting me in the “zone” where I can almost hear my cast talking, and I can’t type fast enough to keep up!

As for which kind(s) of music I write to, it really depends. I’ve listened to verything from Motown to Patsy Cline to opera to movie scores while writing.

How much of your plots and characters are drawn from real life? From your life in particular?

Always from my life and always from real people!

Describe your process for naming your character?

I don’t really have a process; I just pair together names that sound really cool, roll off the tongue with ease, or aren’t used beyond their expiration dates. (John Smith, anyone?) Also, the name has to fit the character. If I need a name, I’ll look at street signs, read a book, check out old world maps, listen to music, I’ll ask people what names work for them, etc. I once even found a great name from an episode of Jerry Springer.

Real settings or fictional towns?

Both.

What’s the quirkiest quirk one of your characters has?

Casper frets his thighs or air guitars when he’s nervous, cornered, or frustrated (he’s an acoustic player). His cousin Logan finger-combs his curls for the same out-showing of nervousness or frustration. But when Jay Vincent Pedregon’s laughing really hard, his laughs end with hic-CAWS! that sounds like goose honks while in flight.

What’s your quirkiest quirk?

I either have to have the window seat or the top-most bunk in a bed. Slightly claustrophobic, I prefer being up high and wide open spaces.

If you could have written any book (one that someone else has already written,) which one would it be? Why?

Sorry, I’ve more than one: Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, C.S. Lewis’s Narnia books, D.J. MacHale’s Pendragon series and Piers Anthony’s Xanth books.

Everyone at some point wishes for a do-over. What’s yours?

Reuniting with my book boyfriends sooner than I’d done. 

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

When people say they want real people and sometimes land somebody like me, they’re suddenly a): shy, b): have pressing business elsewhere; c): nakedly run the other way; d): shamelessly ignore me; or e): all of these above. I’m intense. I’m in-a-good-way scary. I’m a bold, acquired taste. I’m a loudmouthed extrovert. But I’m also the best friend you’ll ever get to know if you’re good with getting past the uncomfortable.    

You’re stranded on a deserted island. What are your three must-haves?
Fresh water. Fire. And a way to keep from severely sunburning.

What was the worst job you’ve ever held?
Three jobs where all three bosses went out of their way to make me feel unappreciated and/or covertly wishing they’d not have me on staff.

What’s the best book you’ve ever read?

Leaving the religious factor out and read strictly on a literature standpoint, I have to say The Bible. It’s got everythng in there: mystery, homicides, fantastic sex scenes, intrigue, complex characters, etc.

Ocean or mountains?

Both.

City girl or country girl?

Having lived in both, also both. I need the energy people feed me, even if they sometimes get on my nerves, but I'll never skip a chance to go to the country and stargaze.

What’s on the horizon for you?

Lord willing, I’ll be tending bar, taking forensic classes pertaining to my mysteries, teaching myself acoustic, and moving west after my family and I see the total solar eclipse in Erie, PA in April, 2024.

Anything else you’d like to tell us about yourself and/or your books?

My other mystery series, Threesome of Magic Mysteries, has me as an amateur sleuth in a Scottish domestics academy for professionals in the hospitality industry or stay-at-home moms come to hone their domestic skills. My character has albinism, because I actually do. So I thought it was time an author with albinism wrote a lead character with the same condition in a positive manner. I'm also working on plotting the next books in each of my series.

So that’s me. I hope you post a comment here and stop by my blog to share your thoughts, insights, and perspectives. I love to hear from readers.

Jersey Dogs

McGuinness/Pedregon Casebook #1

Two adopted cousins. Two mysterious prostitutes. And a biologic father wants both sons dead.

Casper's and Logan McGuinness's junior year opens with a bloodstained, unexpected contact and an eerie text coming to pass. While Enzo and Angela de Francisci's stubbornly refuse to explain the boys' biologic parents' backstories, the cousins dig into their pasts in stealth, only to unravel a sordid history meant to stay unknown and bigger than they realized. The first of several attempts on the boys' lives reveals a desk clerk's true identity, and conversations with a former john, lands Casper and Logan on the streets of New York and respite from a former madam. Through an intricate tale of loyalty, humor, first love, and discovering trust and sacrifice, Jersey Dogs Casper and Logan venture into the personal and collective unknown to stop a brutal killer and a network of thugs from fulfilling a murderous to-do list—and learning to trust one another so they'll stay two steps ahead of alive. 

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AN INTERVIEW WITH KASS BATEMAN FROM DENISE JADEN'S LIVING OUT LOUD SERIES

Today we’re joined by Kass Bateman, heroine of Denise Jaden’s Living Out Loud series.

What was your life like before your author started pulling your strings?

God, it was so much easier. I could do what I wanted, keep people in check just by looking at them the right way. Now that she’s pushed me out of my comfort zone, it’s like everyone can see right through my barriers, see how many ways they can crack my shell with a tiny nick in the right place.

What’s the one trait you like most about yourself?

I like the way I can level people with a glare. I’ve gotten past that thing where I feel the need to look away.

What do you like least about yourself?

I’m abrasive. I hate that I can’t seem to just act normal once in a while. No matter what comes out of my mouth, even if I’m in a good mood, it sounds biting and harsher than I mean it to.

What is the strangest thing your author has had you do or had happen to you?

She sent me on tour with Eli’s band, like I’m some kind of damn groupie. I told her we wouldn’t get along, and I, again, was right.

Oh, and she sent me into a burning building, but that’s another story…

Do you argue with your author? If so, what do you argue about?

I’m pretty sure you know the answer to that. Yes, we argue. Pretty much nonstop. It’s usually about her pushing me at Eli, but honestly, it could be about anything, because I hate people telling me what to do. (Surprise, surprise, right?)

What is your greatest fear?

I don’t like to talk about my fears, but OK, if I had to pick one it would be staying by myself. I’ve just never done it. Because Dad’s sick, he’s always home with me, and even though it seems like I can handle pretty much anything, staying on my own is one thing I haven’t gotten my head around yet.

What makes you happy?

Not to contradict myself, but probably Eli. Talking to him. Saying things that are real.

If you could rewrite a part of your story, what would it be? Why?

I wouldn’t have been so fast to jump into bed with Eli. I don’t know, things got weird after that, and I figure if we had had a natural progression in our relationship, like most people, it probably would have been better for both of us.

Of the other characters in your book, which one bugs you the most? Why?

This one’s easy: Steve, the drummer from Eli’s band. He’s cocky and annoying as hell. He thinks he can tell everyone what to do, including me.

Of the other characters in your book, which one would you love to trade places with? Why?

I’d trade places with my sister Hope. She’s so damn cryptic, and I’d love to come out on the other side knowing all of her secrets.

Tell us a little something about your author. Where can readers find her website/blog?

Don’t know, don’t care.

ETA: Thanks, Kass. I always know I can count on you ;).

You can find me at denisejaden.com

What's next for you?

I hear Ms. Jaden has lots of fun things in my future. After the burning building and the road trip with Eli’s band, I’m going to be out on my own for the first time. I’m also going to get more involved with Eli’s music and some photography. There’s a bunch of annoying and painful stuff on the horizon for me, and lucky you, you can be a fly on the wall for it if you want to…

Outcast

She’s not crazy.

Kass Bateman may be a lot of things, but she swears she's not crazy—even when she wakes up strapped to a wheelchair in a psychiatric hospital and can't remember how she got there. 

When Kass's family members go missing one by one, she enlists the smartest guy she knows to help find them. Unfortunately for her, underneath his brains and indifference are some dark secrets and a whole lot of distracting sexy.

Can Kass keep her head together long enough to rescue her family members from their captors—the truly dangerous and crazy ones?

Gritty, steamy, and rife with secrecy, Outcast is the first book in a new upper YA/NA crossover series for fans of Gayle Forman and Rainbow Rowell.

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BOOK CLUB FRIDAY GUEST AUTHOR - JILL ARCHER

Visiting us today is genre-bending author Jill Archer who combines urban fantasy with mystery and romance. Read more about her and her debut novel at her website and blog.

-- AP

How Adding Mystery Elements to an Existing Manuscript Is Like building a Layered Cake

My first book, Dark Light of Day, came out at the end of September. It's been fun guest blogging at various sites and chatting about the book. So I was thrilled when a Friday guest blog spot opened up here at Anastasia's place.

In a nutshell, Dark Light of Day is about Noon Onyx, a first year law student who is being trained to represent demons. But the story is as much about Noon's magical and romantic struggles as it is about her academic ones. And there's even a mystery subplot. (Did I mention how much I love genre-bending books?)

One of the things my editor asked me during revisions was to "bulk up" the mystery subplot. Apparently, it hadn't been eating enough Wheaties or spinach or whatever it is people eat these days to build muscle mass. And so I slowly (okay, quickly, since I was under deadline pressure) starting layering in more mystery elements. In a way it was kind of like building a layered cake with the existing scenes and other subplots acting as the already baked cake and the clues, red herrings, and unanswered questions acting as the icing. I don't know what Cloris would think of my cake analogy, but the layering process worked for me. The revisions took longer than icing a cake would have but I was just as satisfied with the results.

I thought I'd share one of my "icing layers" with you today. The excerpt below is from Chapter 2. Most of Chapter 2 didn't exist in the original manuscript, but I think it nicely sets up the mystery subplot. You can tell me whether you agree or not in the comments.

Because I chose to excerpt from Chapter 2 and not Chapter 1, I'll give you a bit of background. This scene occurs the morning that Noon is supposed to leave for St. Lucifer's Law School. Noon and her mother have an uncomfortable relationship because Noon was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery magic usually inherited by sons, while her twin brother was born with waxing magic, the soft, nurturing, creative magic usually inherited by daughters.

***

There was a light on in the kitchen. I hoped it was Estelle, our housekeeper. But when I rounded the corner and entered, I saw my mother at the end of the long wooden table, scraping the tops of several white iced petits fours into a trash can.

“I’ve told Estelle,” she said, almost to herself, although she had to know I was there, “no flowers. I’ve told her bells, stars, arrows, hearts . . . whatever she fancies, but no flowers.” With each word, my mother’s scraping became more violent. The last petit four crumbled into the trash can, icing, cake, and all. She stood for a moment looking down at it, unable to meet my silent gaze.

Why was she upset? She was getting what she wanted. Me out of her house. I sighed. It was probably a good thing. For both of us.

I grabbed one of the last unviolated petits fours. In the red light of the kitchen’s brick oven fire and the overhead iron chandelier candles, the white icing looked orange. The little flower flickered on top, almost like a tiny flame.

“She doesn’t make them for you,” I said, popping the little cake into my mouth. “She makes them for me.”

My mother looked up at me frowning. Had she been crying? In this light, it was hard to tell. And why didn’t she have the electric lights on anyway? My mother had always been far too fond of fire.

Two score and five years or so ago, my mother, Aurelia Onyx nee Ferrum of the Hawthorn Tribe, had been the most beautiful and powerful Mederi the south bank had seen in at least three generations. She’d cured countless diseases, scoured scores of unnamed pestilence, helped crippled children walk again, and the blind to see. She’d birthed hundreds of babies, healed new mothers, and brought blue babies back to life. No one miscarried with the young Aurelia Onyx attending. She’d been a superb midwife. Not only beyond reproach, but a shining example of what all young, dutiful Mederies aspire to be.

Her garden had been legendary. Bluebells, bog lilies, and cattails had bloomed next to sand verbena and prickly pear. Wisteria blossomed next to bougainvillea, passion flowers sprouted amongst sea holly, four o’clocks opened at dawn, and the night-blooming cereus flowered not just on midsummer’s night, but every night of the year. People never spoke directly to me about it, but I’d gathered that, in its heyday, my mother’s garden had been something of a fertility shrine. Hyrkes—humans with no magic—came from as far as the New Babylon suburbs just to spend the day in it. Losing a day’s work and traveling for hours was nothing in trade for the chance to soak up all that life and to possibly see her. Or even to have her touch you. Because Aurelia Onyx had had the gift of life.

But as her marital years wore on and she created no new life of her own, folks began to wonder. Fewer and fewer people traveled from New Babylon to the garden. Fewer Hyrkes hired her as a midwife. It was impossible for a Mederi of her strength to be barren. Wasn’t it?

I have no idea what happened then or how it did. I only know that my brother and I were born twenty-one years ago and the day after our birth my mother burned her garden to the ground. With a can of gasoline and a match, because Mederies didn’t have destructive power. But every day of my life that I’d woken to my view of the charred garden that never grew back, I knew different. You didn’t need magic to destroy.

My mother had certainly proven that again with Estelle’s poor petits fours.

“I think your brother has joined the Demeter Tribe,” she said, setting her knife on the tabletop.

“Demeter sounds like a good choice,” I said, scrambling to remember what I knew about that tribe. My mother pressed her lips together, showing me what Hawthorne likely thought of Demeter. Still, beggars couldn’t be choosers. As a male Mederi, Night wouldn’t exactly have his pick of tribes to choose from.

I walked over to the table and surveyed the decapitated petits fours. I selected two more and walked over to the icebox to find some juice. I didn’t think I had the patience to boil water for tea this morning.

“How do you know he joined Demeter?” I asked, peering into the dark, ice-cold box. Several glass bottles in varying shades of red, pink, orange, and yellow were neatly lined up on the top shelf. I grabbed the pink one—pomegranate juice—and went to fetch a glass. Even though there was only enough left for one person, I knew better than to drink straight from the bottle in front of Aurelia.

“They had an opening. One of their Mederies disappeared recently.”

“Disappeared?” Disappearances in Halja usually didn’t have happy endings.

“Linnaea Saphir, Demeter’s Monarch, sent her best midwife up to New Babylon last week. She’d received an unsigned note from a messenger requesting immediate assistance with a difficult birth in a neighborhood to the east of the city. Amaryllis Apatite, the Mederi midwife she sent, climbed on board the North-South Express at 2:00 p.m. last Tuesday and hasn’t been seen since.”

No need to ask how she knew all this. My mother might not practice medicine anymore, but she still kept in touch with Hawthorne’s Monarch. And news of a missing Mederi would be something for every tribe to be concerned about.

“They’re not afraid it’s another Ionys situation are they?”

Ionys was the Patron Demon of Wine, Winemaking, and Vineyards. Last year, the demon’s favored drink had turned one of the local vintners mad. Over the course of five weeks last spring, he’d abducted and murdered six Mederies. He’d sprinkled their blood across his vineyard in the hopes that Ionys (despite the demon’s prohibition against such practices) would reward him with an excellent vintage. Needless to say, the follower was caught, tried, condemned to death, and his vineyards confiscated and burned.

I shoved the uneaten petits fours back onto the table, feeling suddenly ill. My mother’s silence was answer enough.

“Are you worried?” I said. “About Night? Because we haven’t heard from him?”

Aurelia stared at me with her dark, red-rimmed eyes.

“Yes,” she said simply, picking up the knife again. “Of course I’m worried about him. Him. The Apatite girl. You.” And with that last word she took her knife and swept every bit of Estelle’s ruined petits fours into the trash.

I wanted to tell her we’d be all right. Night. Me. The missing Mederi. But this was Halja. The land of demons. A place where our footing, and our future, was always slippery, shifting, treacherous, and unsure.

***

So what do you think? Are you wondering what happened to the missing Mederi? I hope so! Thank you to Lois and Anastasia for having me here today!

Dark Light of Day

Armageddon is over. The demons won. And yet somehow…the world has continued. Survivors worship patron demons under a draconian system of tributes and rules. These laws keep the demons from warring among themselves, the world from slipping back into chaos.

Noon Onyx grew up on the banks of the river Lethe, daughter of a prominent politician, and a descendant of Lucifer’s warlords. Noon has a secret—she was born with waning magic, the dark, destructive, fiery power that is used to control demons and maintain the delicate peace among them. But a woman with waning magic is unheard of and some will consider her an abomination.

Noon is summoned to attend St. Lucifer’s, a school of demon law. She must decide whether to declare her powers there…or attempt to continue hiding them, knowing the price for doing so may be death. And once she meets the forbiddingly powerful Ari Carmine—who suspects Noon is harboring magic as deadly as his own—Noon realizes there may be more at stake than just her life.

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Thanks for joining us today, Jill. Readers, I've had the good fortune of reading Dark Light of Day, and I can tell you, this is one book you're not going to be able to put down. -- AP