Monday, March 10, 2014

Blog Tour: Cursed be the Wicked by J. R. Richardson

Today, J. R. Richardson returns to talk with us about writing and her new book, CURSED BY THE WICKED. Please join me in giving her a warm welcome.

Here's the interview:


NM: What drew you to the genre?

JR: I just love the idea of our loved ones who have passed on interfering in our lives and getting us back on track.  I’ve read mysteries and paranormal for a long long time, I’ve always loved them.  I doubly love writing them and mixing them both together to see what happens.

NM: How would you describe your style/voice as a writer?

JR: I write in a very straight forward kind of way.  I tend to follow my own thought process when I’m writing a main character.  Lately it’s been first person POV because I like to leave a little something for the reader to try and figure out right along with my hero.  I try to keep his or and voice realistic and in doing so, they sometimes have very illogical thoughts.  That makes it fun.  For me, anyway.

Author J. R. Richardson
NM: Which character is your favorite? Tell us about him or her.

JR: Definitely Finn.  She is quirky, matter of fact, doesn’t think much about herself and loyal until the day she dies.  I enjoyed writing her into Coop’s life and giving him someone he could trust and confide in who wouldn’t push him too hard too soon but rather give him the tools to figure everything out for himself.  It was a blast getting them together.

 NM: What other authors inspired you to write?

JR: Jim Butcher, Sarah Addison Allen.  Jim because he writes snarky like no other and Sarah because I love how she writes about the paranormal and supernatural – but it’s very subtle.

NM: Who else do you read in your genre?

JR: I read Jim Butcher like crazy.  When I found him I read his first ten books in the Dresden series non-stop.  He’s on book 12 or so now and still has about 8 or 9 to go so I’m set for a while at least.

NM: Who’s your favorite author and why?

JR: OK I’m becoming redundant now, but, JIM BUTCHER.  And I think it’s because he’s the first (major) author I’ve come across that writes across genres.  I don’t know if he sees it that way, but the way he’s got action, adventure, mystery, paranormal, supernatural, thriller and comedy all rolled in to one has completely captured my similar in nature heart and won’t let go.

NM: What other writing projects are in the works?

JR: I’m working on a Romantic Comedy right now in hopes of finishing it up this year and publishing in 2015.  WISH ME LUCK!

Other than that, I have about five other “ideas” I’ve started and paused – I love all the ideas, I’m just not sure how to execute them yet.

 NM: What are your marketing strategies?

JR: Um.  I really don’t have any.  I have some social media going on: Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Pinterest. But really, I just try to do what feels right.  I’ve found quite a few good friends out there in virtual land and if I’m online and see something happening with them, I retweet it.  If I have something to say, I tweet it and FB it, I chat when I have time, and I blog about things I’m interested in.  Other than that, I don’t have an actual plan.  Probably not the best way to go about things but I like to have fun with whatever I’m doing when it comes to writing, if it’s not fun, it’s not worth it.

NM: How many years have you been writing? How did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

JR: I’ve been writing since I was a wee lass.  But over the past five years is when I started actually finishing full length stories online through some fanfiction I wrote.  Then in 2012 I finally started my own story.  I think I just wanted to see if I could do it – finish a story with my own characters – and I did. And it felt GREAT. And lucky for me, Debby over at Soul Mate Publishing liked it enough to invest her time and energy into me.  I’m going to always be grateful to her for that email she sent.  It was the first step in a long path of steps I’ll be taking, going forward.

NM: How do you come up with your story ideas?

JR: Every which way you can think of.  A song, a show, a commercial, a picture, conversations I have with friends.  Sometimes a little bird. ; )

NM: What is the most important thing you want people to know about you and your work?

JR:  That it’s all written from the heart and that it’s usually a fun ride.

NM: Please tell me where you live, what your family’s like (including pets), and what you do for a living if you work outside of writing.

JR: I live in Florida, now, with my husband and two girls – my husband and I were both raised up North but found that cold weather does not agree with us, so we headed down here about 15 years ago.  The rest is pre-history. : )   We have 2 cats and that’s enough for now, but in the past we’ve had dogs, rabbits, turtles and even hamsters.  Lessons learned.   We love dogs, but in the end, we are cat people.

By day, I’m a techno-geek. I love it but this is why writing has been such a great part of my life,  it lets the right side of my brain get all the creative type things out that need letting loose after looking at numbers and analyzing data all day.


NM: Anything else you want to tell people about yourself or your work?

JR: Simply put, if you give any of my books a try, I hope you have some fun!


But wait, there's more. 

Here's the blurb:
 
Cooper Shaw lives his life under a pen name and enjoys the anonymity it provides during his journeys across the globe as a seasoned writer for a travel magazine. When his job lands him in his hometown of Salem, Massachusetts to cover the famous Festival of the Dead, he soon realizes that he can’t stay invisible forever as he faces ghosts from a past he’s been trying to forget ever since he left.
The city holds nothing but bad memories for Coop until he meets a quirky young woman with an old soul and curious insights by the name of Finnley Pierce. While she acts as his tour guide through a town he thought he knew, Finn helps him unearth the truth of his childhood and might even begin to open up his heart.
By unraveling the mystery of his father’s murder, Coop may finally accept who he is, where he came from, and perhaps even realize what he wants for his future.

Here's an excerpt:
“I came by Geneva’s to see you this morning,” I tell her. She slides her hands inside my jacket, around my waist. She holds us together tighter.
“You did?” There’s a smile in her voice. I grin but she can’t see it.
“I’ve gotten used to starting my days out with you in them.”
“You have?” She leans back to look at me. She’s stunned although I have no idea why. I’ve been so transparent even a bat could see through me the past few days.
“Yeah,” I tell her, “I have.” I brush the hair out of her face. Even through the rainfall I can see the blush in her cheeks. This is the most vulnerable I’ve seen Finn since Geneva’s, when she thanked me for handling Dan.
“Most people don’t like the way I’m so pushy sometimes,” she says. “They find it offensive. Some might even say I’ve got a smart mouth. Too smart for my own good, blah blah blah.”
She trails off at the end there and I laugh at the way she thinks I’m buying that none of it bothers her.
“Come to think of it, you did say something I found offensive yesterday,” I tell her half serious. She looks hurt but I can’t stop the smirk from spreading across my face as I back her up against the nearest tree.
She’s caught off guard by the move, I can hear it in the way her breath hitches. “What was that?”
She tries to recover but she fails.
“I believe the term you used was friends,” I tell her, narrowing my eyes. Her lips part, just barely. She swallows something down then clears her throat.
“Isn’t that what we are?”
I move my head from side to side. “I don’t think so, Finn.”

Watch the trailer:



Direct Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7UnPtcBVfg

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About the author:
A writer of stories and lover of life.
Jo grew up in Maryland with four siblings, three parents and an endless number of cousins within the vicinity. Today she lives in Florida with her two girls and a husband that shares her same sense of humor and basic take on life as we know it.
Life is too short to put dreams on the back burner.
She’s always loved writing, and always enjoys a good mystery, so in 2012, Jo wrote a novel that was picked up by the good people at Soul Mate Publishing.

Find and follow Jo online:

4 comments:

  1. Thanks so much for having me today Nina! : ) It was fun chatting with you about things. <3 XOXOXOXO

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  2. You're so very welcome, Jo. Best of luck with your book. It sounds great!

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  3. Excellent interview and excerpt! Enjoyed reading CURSED BE THE WICKED...I had a hard time putting it down. Best of luck with sales, Jo :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Joanne I am so glad to hear that! : ) xoxoxoxoxox

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Writing smexy paranormals with a Celtic twist. Blogging about good books.