Behind the cover of Reborn!
Tag: paranormal romance
Milady’s Book Club Welcomes S.L.Stacy
Shehanne Moore’s creation, the fiesty Lady Fury, interviewed mine, Siobhan Elliot…and it was adorable!
Well, Valentine’s Day is over, thank goodness. You have no idea how tiresome it was seeing the men’s offerings. I mean things like….
was tiresome when some of them don’t have an eye. As for Tibbs threatening to capture the hearts of some of the local wenches, well, that resulted in him ending in jail.
However, we meet again today with the lovely Siobhan, the fictional creation of S.L. Stacy, whose name is already causing some trouble for the gentlemen but there.
you can see that they are all agog. So, without further ado, I just think we should get going before the jail gets filled and we have to leave here in disgrace… Already last week’s offering from the lovely Milady Donahue resulted in the men holding the cover upside down in a bid to see up her heroine’s skirt… I am sure, had Milady Stacy known that, she…
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Excerpt for Valentine’s Day: Eros and Psyche’s Wedding
I wanted to post a special romantic excerpt for Valentine’s Day, so here’s one from my current WIP Relapse. (Keep in mind this is from the first draft, and I don’t know if it will even end up in the final version.) It’s a flashback Siobhan has of Psyche’s/her wedding day. I hope to do some more research into actual Greek wedding customs, haha. But anyway it’s cute, and I hope you enjoy it!
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I study myself in a full-length, gold framed mirror. I’ve grown used to the face staring back at me in these memories—Psyche’s face. The large, deep violet eyes are the same, but she has higher cheekbones and a slightly upturned nose. Hair falls like a white-blonde waterfall down her back. She smooths out pretend wrinkles in her one shoulder, white silk dress and adjusts the gold cord tied at the waist beneath her breasts. Her wings emerge through slits in the back of the dress. The bronze wings of a butterfly-shaped necklace spread across the delicate, pale skin of her chest.
In the mirror, I see an auburn head peek around the door behind me. Nike comes in, a white tunic draped over her tall, thin frame. Her hair is long and plaited into a thick braid down her back.
“You look beautiful,” she says, giving me a quick hug. “It is time to go down.”
Nodding, I follow her out into the corridor, our white slippers whispering over the marble floor.
The next thing I remember is standing on the pale sands of the beach, just out of reach from where the ocean waves slither up the coast. My fingers are curled around a bouquet of unfamiliar white flowers. Nike and, to my surprise, Aphrodite stand on either side of me. Aphrodite, like always, is willowy and golden, her beauty almost as painful to look at as the blinding sun above us.
People stand on either side of a strip of sand leading to my soon-to-be husband. I have a vague memory of what Psyche’s parents looked like, but I don’t see them among the onlookers. Two women with braided blonde hair and hooked noses lurk toward the back of the crowd, scowling at me: Psyche’s biological sisters. Sunlight glints off of Hephaestus’s smooth head somewhere closer to the front. I don’t see Ares.
Aphrodite and Nike walk with me up the aisle. I see a few more faces that look familiar, but I can’t think of their names. One is a tall woman with copper skin, an athletic build and a proud demeanor. Her almond-shaped eyes are as dark as the shiny black hair flowing freely to her waist. As I pass her, she smiles warmly. On the other side of the path is a short but sinewy man with curly dark hair. His pupils are black slits rimmed with reddish irises. Gold wings decorate the backs of his sandals. Beside him stands a girl with bouncing brown curls and watery blue eyes. Her small, pale hands clap excitedly as I walk by. When our eyes meet, her lips pull back into something between a smile and a grimace as she fights to hold back more tears. I return it with a hesitant smile of my own. I look away from the crowd and realize I’m almost at the end. Leaving Aphrodite and Nike behind me, I pick up the skirt of my dress and run the last few feet.
Almost immediately, Eros takes my free hand into his. A breeze ruffles his dark hair away from his golden face. His lips twitch upwards only slightly, but his body is tensed with barely contained excitement. He’s not wearing much except for what looks like a sheet wrapped around his waist, tied with a yellow cord. I resist the sudden urge to run my fingers up and down the rippling muscles of his chest and abdomen.
I hand the bouquet off to Nike and step closer into Eros’s arms, his wings enveloping us in a feathery white curtain. He slides a ring made of an iridescent white metal onto my finger.
“With this ring, I am bound to you, always and forever,” he recites, his breath fresh and sweet against my face.
I slide a similar ring onto his finger and repeat, “With this ring, I am bound to you, always and forever.”
WIP Wednesday
It’s update time!
The purpose of WIP (Work-In-Progress) Wednesdays is so I can set personal writing goals. It also serves as a way to let you all know what I’m working on. I hope you’ll join me and link back to your own or share in the comments!
To play, just fill in the following:
1. What are you currently writing?
2. Inspirations:
3. Plan for the upcoming week:
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1. What are you currently writing?
So I’m realizing I tend not to jump from project to project…I stick with one at a time. Which means I am of course still working on Relapse. (I’m liking the title…I don’t think that will change…) I’ve written 3890 words this week, surpassing my goal of 1500! I feel like I should work on it tonight, but I’m feeling pretty lazy. I also did get around to writing Part 2 of my Reborn dream movie cast, so check that out if you haven’t!
2. Inspirations:
I sort of hate even posting this because I don’t like Katy Perry that much, but someone is writing perfectly catchy, likeable songs for her. Anyway, this song reminds me of one of my characters/couples.
3. Plan for the upcoming week:
I’ll up my game and aim for 3000 words since I seem to be able to write at least that much in a week anyway. I hope to have Part 1 written by the end of February, if not earlier. Then I may have to force myself to put it away while I get ready for my comprehensive exam at the beginning of April…..
Reborn Dream Cast: Part II
A couple of months ago I cast the main characters of my book Reborn. (Read Part I of my Reborn Dream Cast here.) It was a fun “what if” post to write, and a Part II is long overdue. So far, we have:
1. Candace Accola (Caroline on The Vampire Diaries) as Siobhan Elliot
2. Tom Hiddleston (Loki from the Thor franchise) as Jasper Hart (mostly because my love for Tom is deep and never-ending)
3. Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl) as Anna Wallace
4. Mark Salling (Glee) as Jimmy Wallace
5. Charlize Theron (from lots of things) as Farrah
6. Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect, among other things) as Victoria
Although I have much love for my main characters, my secondary characters are just as near and dear to my heart. They might not have as much “page time” as the others, but I’ve obviously included each for an important reason. (Otherwise, they wouldn’t be in the book.) In fact, sometimes I have more fun writing my secondary characters–namely Peter and Apate. So, without further ado:
Zac Efron as Max
When Zac first popped into my mind as a potential Max, it made me teehee a little. He’s most well known for being in the High School Musical franchise. But actually, Zac is visually a perfect fit for Max. Max is the token human in Reborn–gets mixed up in everything without really meaning to. He’s supposed to look like the stereotypical all-American boy, boy-next-door, whatever you want to call it–and Zac Efron is definitely that guy.
Claire Holt as Tanya
Tanya is Siobhan’s roommate at the Gamma Lambda Phi house. She’s a blonde bombshell and GLPhi’s recruitment chair. She can also be rather whiney and bitchy. Claire Holt is probably best known for her role as Rebekah on The Vampire Diaries and its phenomenal (at least in my opinion) spin-off The Originals. I really like Rebekah’s character–she’s actually quite complex. Hard and unfeeling on the outside, vulnerable on the inside. But it’s Rebekah’s blonde bitch side that Claire could channel for her new role in my imaginary movie.
Shailene Woodley as Carly
So after being the primary character in the Divergent movie, Shailene is probably not going to settle for a secondary role. She’s really just the only actress I could think of that looked like the Carly I have pictured in my mind palace. (I believe my cousin also thought Shailene would be a good match, if I’m remembering our conversation correctly…) Shailene just needs to make her hair WAY curlier and crazier. In Reborn, Carly often gets talked into doing things she doesn’t really want to do. You’ll be seeing more of her in Relapse.
Shemar Moore as Hephaestus
Shemar Moore is on Criminal Minds…a fantastic show, which I often just can’t watch because it freaks me out. Shemar is great on CM and sexy as hell. I think he’d make a great Hephaestus. As the god of fire and the forge, Shemar would be an imposing figure.
Gabriel Mann as Peter
To be honest, I have never watched Revenge, even though it looks like a show I might like. But one night I saw this blonde British guy on one of the commercials for it and thought, “It’s Peter!” Peter is the keyboardist in Jimmy’s band Search and Destroy–he’s tall, blonde, lanky, British, mischievous, silly, and a bit flamboyant. I don’t know, maybe Gabriel is too old to play Peter, but as I’m looking up pictures of him for this post, the more certain I feel about this casting choice.
Joe Manganiello as Dr. Eric Mars
Um, first of all, let’s just gaze fondly upon this picture of the gloriously hot Joe Manganiello. In Reborn, Siobhan jokingly refers to Eric as a “sexy lumberjack.” Eric embodies virility and physical power, but also violence and chaos. Manganiello’s sexy is definitely raw, powerful, and masculine. He also went to my alma mater (not at the same time as me), and I’d like for him to keep having work.
Phoebe Tonkin as Apate
Phoebe Tonkin is another actress from The Originals. It was actually her portrayal as teenage witch Faye on the short lived The Secret Circle (based on another series of books by one of my all-time favorite authors, L. J. Smith) that made me think of her as Apate. Faye was always very mischievous and attracted to dark magic. Apate is developing into a similar character (you also see much more of her in Relapse)–she’s a spirit of deceit and mischief with an inner struggle between her good and it-feels-good-to-be-bad sides. (As several of my characters do, because I’m completely obsessed with this concept.)
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Have you read Reborn? Who’s on your dream cast! Please share in the comments, or let me know what you think of mine! 😉 (I know I have some male readers now and would be interested to know who your favorite female character is and who you would cast!)
Reborn – Book Review
Five-star review of Reborn from Echoes of the Pen!
Monday Night Babbling
Here is yet another post about how I’m working on the sequel to Reborn. I need people to bounce ideas off of (person reading this: that means you), and, whether you’ve read Reborn or not, you may be able to help me with some of these. If anything, I think that merely getting these ideas down will help me reorganize my thoughts. Because, you see, I’m a bit stuck. Thankfully, it’s not for a lack of ideas. I have a lot of ideas (yay!), but I’m not sure how I want to go about organizing them into a series. The Reborn series was supposed to be a trilogy, but it has possibly exploded into four or five books.Points-of-View
One of the issues I’m struggling with is that I chose to write Reborn in first person (from Siobhan’s perspective), which I don’t really regret, because I like getting inside my characters’ heads. But Siobhan and Jasper’s story (the primary conflict in Reborn) isn’t the only one I want to tell. For instance, I thought of a great idea for a book from her friend Anna’s POV. I think Anna would get her own novel, and she’s a much more perceptive person than Siobhan, so her voice would be more poetic. (Siobhan and Anna are from the same small town, so their voices wouldn’t be drastically different, but I definitely want to incorporate some distinctions.) The only problem I’m facing with this is that it would be kind of a parallel novel to Reborn, or at least the first part of it would be. It would end up being book 1.5 in the Reborn series or something. Okay, I’d round it up to book 2. My other concern is that I wouldn’t want to release Anna’s book next at all because Reborn ended in a cliffhanger, and it’s likely if readers care at all, they want to know what’s going to happen to Siobhan and Jasper.
Also related to POV: The other sequel I have envisioned would be from two first person POVs. I think I can make this work, but I’m a little worried it might be too ambitious for a second book. One of my favorite authors, Karen Marie Moning, has pulled this off well, but she waited at least three or four books into her Fever series to experiment with voices. (Side note: Admittedly, I used to have really weird pet peeves when it came to what I felt were “jarring” changes in POV, but I’m slowly getting over this, ha! Now I can see why authors do this. We think of other stories we want to tell along the way.) Maybe I should take a step back. Right now I have three main couples whose relationships I want to explore. Like I said, Siobhan and Jasper were the main focus in Reborn. Carly is a secondary character in Reborn, but I’ve known what happens to her character for quite some time: I’d like to introduce that in the sequel and write it partially from her POV. Finally, like I said earlier, I think Anna and her man (lol) might get a book by themselves. The problem is the events in these two books would probably overlap. I know this sounds confusing. I’m starting to confuse myself…I may just need to revisit my outlines…
I guess I could write both books and release them around the same time with a suggested reading order, but that sounds hard. In fact, writing is kinda hard. Why am I doing this again? Oh, right, because I love it! Even when my brain doesn’t want to work…
Book Titles
Okay, this is less of a confusing mess. I’m just curious to hear your opinion on the matter of book titles. Originally, every title in this series was going to be a word with an “re” prefix (Reborn, Relapse, etc). Then I thought maybe it would be better for the word “Reborn” to appear in every title so readers could associate it with the same series (Reborn, Darkness Reborn–maybe not that exactly, but you get the idea). I’ve seen both (Think Divergent, Insurgent, etc. versus Darkfever, Bloodfever, and on). To be honest, I might stick with the title Relapse anyway since it goes so well with the theme I have in my head, but I’m still curious what other writers and readers think.
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P. S. I made a tumblr, so follow me and I’ll try to follow back! I only say “try” because sometimes I still get confused on how to do things on tumblr. 
Warning: I mostly reblog all things Rumbelle, Captain Swan, Delena, and Hiddles/Loki…..
My Interview on Freshly Booked
“As soon as Jasper and I go inside his apartment, his lips find mine again, and he picks me up and carries me to his bed with ease. He sits on the edge of it with me straddling him, rocking myself against his erection. Breathing hard, he reluctantly breaks our kiss to ask me, “Are you sure you want to do this?…”
Want to hear the rest of this steamy excerpt? Then tune in to my interview on the internet radio show Freshly Booked. And hopefully, I’ll be able to read it without giggling. 😉
Every Wednesday, authors Tricia Andersen and Heidi Sieverding interview newly published authors who have turned their dream of becoming published into reality. I’m super excited and honored to be their guest tomorrow at 8 pm CST/9 pm EST. We’ll talk writing, influences, inspiration, and about my debut novel, Reborn. If you have a question for us, you can call in: (917)889-8080.
In the meantime, give them a like on Facebook!
Reborn Dream Cast
As part of her NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) series of posts, my friend Sara over at WhatANerdGirlSays wrote this post about her dream cast were her WIP The Reawakened ever to be made into a movie (as I’m sure it will be!). Anyway, it made me think about my own dream cast for my debut novel, Reborn. Who would you cast? Let me know in the comments!
1. Candace Accola as Siobhan Elliot
Ms. Accola is one of my favorite actresses on The Vampire Diaries. Her Caroline is beautiful and upbeat but also independent and even a little neurotic at times. Siobhan is also very outgoing and at times a bit (a lot) of a control freak–Candace would play her perfectly. Plus, she looks the part: petite, pale, blonde. She just needs some violet-colored contacts and a pair of blue and purple butterfly wings. Amanda Seyfried would also make a good Siobhan.
2. Tom Hiddleston as Jasper Hart
If you know me at all, I know you’re shaking your head right now, groaning, “Oh, Shaina…” I have a ginormous little crush on Tom Hiddleston, most well known as playing scene-stealing Loki in the Thor franchise. Jasper has slightly longish, dark hair, pale skin, intense blue eyes and…well, you know, muscles. He’s charming and sexy with a dangerous, sinister edge. I’m not sure how told Tom is, so he may be slightly older than Jasper is supposed to look, but other than that he’s perfect for the role. Ok, we need to move on because I’m getting a little hot and bothered from this Google image search…
3. Leighton Meester as Anna Wallace
I’ve only seen a little bit of Gossip Girl…to be honest, it was too much fluffy drama, even for me. (Maybe the early seasons are better?) Anna is Siobhan’s ex-best friend from high school. They had a huge falling out in high school, but at the beginning of Reborn Siobhan realizes Anna is the only one who will understand what she’s going through; she needs her best friend back. Anna is a tall, willowy brunette with a healthy tan and hazel eyes. She’s a singer and a music education major. While Siobhan is rather flighty and impulsive, Anna is practical and discerning. At first, I wasn’t sure who would be a good fit for Anna, then Leighton popped into my head. I think she could pull Anna off, plus she contributed vocals to that one Cobra Starship song, didn’t she?
4. Mark Salling as Jimmy Wallace
This was also a hard one to “cast.” Jimmy is Anna’s brother and Siobhan’s ex-boyfriend from high school. They give their relationship another go in Reborn, but Jasper always seems to cause problems for them (like he does wherever he goes…). Jimmy’s character is inspired by Iggy Pop in his Stooges days, but Iggy’s kinda older now. If I could go back in time, extract 20-something Iggy and cast him in my pretend movie, I would. (To do list: Build time machine.) Jimmy has brown hair and hazel eyes. He’s the wild and arrogant frontman of fictional punk rock band Search and Destroy. This was hard for me because I feel like there are few male celebrities or even musicians nowadays that truly embody rebellion. Adam Levine fits the arrogant, sexy rock star stereotype well, but he doesn’t look like the Jimmy I have pictured in my head. Mark Salling played bad boy Puck on Glee, can sing and looks good with a guitar, so I think he’ll do.
5. Charlize Theron as Farrah
Farrah is the mysterious new house mother of Siobhan’s sorority, Gamma Lambda Phi. She has long, ash blonde curls, golden skin and jade green eyes. She has a bubbly personality and is nice to pretty much everyone except Siobhan. Although she seems like one of the “good guys,” she holds a grudge and has a vicious jealous streak. I haven’t seen Snow White and the Huntsman, mostly because I can’t stand Kristen Stewart’s “acting,” but I’ll bet Theron’s Queen was wonderfully evil. She could definitely pull off Farrah’s nice and naughty sides. She just needs to grow her hair out again.
6. Anna Kendrick as Victoria
Victoria is Siobhan’s big sister in Gamma Lambda Phi. She’s tall, athletic with auburn hair and amber-colored eyes. She’s not supposed to be that pretty, but her beauty and strength comes from inside. As president of her sorority, she’s a charismatic and wise leader. (Not that Reborn is a super deep book or anything, but I see Victoria and Anna as reflections of each other. They’re both characters Siobhan trusts and goes to for advice. Victoria is Anna’s counterpart in the Olympian world.) I think Anna Kendrick is very pretty, so casting her as Victoria isn’t some insult to her or something. I just think Ms. Kendrick is great at playing offbeat characters. Victoria is sort of a nice blend of offbeat, awkward but strong that I think Kendrick could pull off.
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So these are the “lucky” folk I’d cast as the six principal characters in Reborn. There’s quite a handful of secondary characters, so I could keep going, but I’ll save those for another day. Who would you cast? Who would you cast for your own book?
Release Week Wrap-Up
Since you’re taking the time to read this, you probably already know that Reborn released last week: on Tuesday, November 5. You probably also know that I had a pretty exciting release week. The free promo on Amazon went better than I could have dreamed. 
Reborn peaked at #15 among free New Adult & College ebooks and #16 among free Paranormal & Urban Fantasy. A handful of people have rated Reborn on Goodreads, and it has a few reviews on Goodreads and Amazon as well. Although (as I expected, ha!) the excitement died down a bit once Reborn went back to its regular price, I hope that the people who downloaded it enjoy it and take a moment to rate it and/or review it -and if they really liked it, help spread the word. It’s nice to make a little bit of money off of this first book, my priority is expanding my audience. So thanks for reading. 🙂
Although release week was super exciting, I know this is only the beginning of this journey. With each book in a series, an audience gets a little bit bigger. And many readers also like being able to read through a whole series at once without waiting a long time for the next book to come out. (I’m definitely one of those people who tends to jump in at the end. I get curious about book series like Twilight and The Hunger Games that get a lot of press, and then I read them all over winter break or something like that. So hopefully as I keep writing this series, I will catch all the “me’s” along the way, haha!)
My point of talking about this is, well…I’m a really impatient person. I have to remind myself that it’s only been a week…that I’m a new author -a self-published author, which comes with stigma -that there is still much work to be done. Even though I know these things, I’ve still been obsessively checking everything all week -my Amazon sales report, and Amazon and Goodreads for ratings and reviews. My thoughts go a little something like this: OhmyGodIknowallofthesepeoplehavedownloadeditwhyisn’tanybodysayinganythingratingorreviewingitcrapthey musthateiteverybodyhatesitwhatifit’stheworstthingI’veeverwrittennothat’severbeenwrittenever?
As you can probably tell, I need to chill.
Of course, not everything last week was puppies, unicorns and rainbows. Someone gave Reborn two stars on Goodreads. Was I sad? Yes, lol. Do I think said person shouldn’t have rated it thus? Not really. She’s entitled to her opinion. She probably doesn’t know the author is checking Reborn’s status updates on Goodreads every hour. (Seriously, I need to stop doing that.) And even if she did know…I guess I just feel differently about bad ratings/reviews than some other independent authors do. I mean, I get it -it’s hard when you’re just starting out, and someone gives you a bad rating, it shifts the whole average down. It’s a sucky feeling. But I’m also not sure I agree with the whole “reviewer etiquette” guidelines I keep reading about on blogs. Yes, there are trolls and people who are just mean because they can hide behind a computer screen and get away with it. But someone just being honest about how they feel…yeah, it sucks, but then I think as writers we need to rise above it and keep working, keep working hard to prove “the haters” (for lack of a better term) wrong. There’s enough stigma around indie authors without people also thinking we can’t take a little criticism. There, I said it. Sorry for the rant. If you feel differently, I hope we can respectfully agree to disagree…
There is also a pirated copy of Reborn floating around out there. I have mixed feelings about this, too. On the one hand, I just want people to read it…but on the other hand, when you pirate the work of an independent artist/writer/musician/whatever, it’s not like you’re withholding a little bit of money from a big industry that’s going to make a big profit from it, anyway. You’re stealing something from the artist herself, who probably isn’t going to make a lot of money from it. (Rather than pirate it, if you really don’t have the money to spend on it -which I totally get -ask me for a free pdf in exchange for a review. I will give you one, and probably a lot of other indie authors will, too. You can email me: urge2write@gmail.com.)
But really it’s been a fabulous week -I can’t complain! 🙂 To end on a positive note: My Facebook page also got a bunch of new likes (hello, fabulous people!) and is only a few away from 100. And if you’re the 100th person to like my page……well, you get the satisfaction of knowing you’re the 100th person to like my page. Teehee. I also saw an epic movie this weekend. It was called Loki 2: Loki is Still Awesome. Yep, I’m pretty sure that’s what it was called. 😉
Toodles for now!
xoxo Shaina
Reborn on Amazon
Reborn on Goodreads
slstacy.com 