Tammy's Two Cents/Author Appreciation Day 6: H.M. Ward

H.M.Ward
Demon Kissed Series

BOOK #1 IN THE BESTSELLING DEMON KISSED SERIES

The Valefar boy tricked Ivy Taylor into kissing him, but he took much more than a kiss – he stole her soul and left her within inches of death. By surviving, Ivy is drawn into the conflict between the Martis and the Valefar. The war between these two immortal forces has raged for millennia without distraction. Until now. Ivy is an anomaly—she is the only person who has ever walked away from a demon kiss alive. Her survival gives her unique and deadly abilities. Too powerful to ignore, Ivy is a threat to both armies. These two ancient enemies will stop at nothing to kill the seventeen-year-old. Surviving is nothing new for headstrong Ivy, but her survival has never depended on another person before. This time it does. And if she misplaces her trust, she's dead. To her horror, she starts falling in love at the worst possible time—with the enemy. He appears to be protecting her. But she can't be certain if he is trying to help her, or help himself to her power. For Ivy, trusting the right person is the difference between love and survival, or a deadly demon kiss.

This is one of my favorite series, Ward has created a fabulously demented world in her Demon Kissed books that you won't soon forget. Enter Ivy Taylor, a seventeen year old girl, who is both Martis (people chosen to protect humanity from evil), and the Valefar (soulless servants of hell). While struggling to survive in this new reality, Ivy discovers that she is at the center of a prophecy that foretold of her unleashing unprecedented evil into the world. Ivy relies on her friends, and finds herself in a forbidden romance, while trying to change her fate.... these books will leave you asking yourself the question, is destiny set or can we choose our own.

Then you have the delicious men in Ivy's now tormented world; Eric and Collin. Eric is a Martis chosen to be Ivy's friend, protector and trainer. But, can he truely remain her friend when her destiny is revealed... Collin seems to be very in tuned with Ivy, always there when she needs him, the question is why. Collin may or may not be the person Ivy thinks he is.

As I said, this is such a fabulous series! Angel's battle Demon's, love in bloom, friendships tested and pushed to the brink... if you haven't read these books I would recommend that you do.

And now, onto the fun part....... H.M.Ward was kind enough to do an interview with me and give us a little peek inside her world. Are we all ready, is the suspense just killing you........... before I post our interview just a little reminder Book 5 in The Demon Kissed series is out today, The 13th Prophecy so let your fingers do the walking and shoot on over to Amazon for your very own copy today! But thats just my two cents.............................

Series Order:
#1 - DEMON KISSED
#2 - CURSED
#3 - TORN
#4 - SATAN'S STONE
#5 - THE 13th PROPHECY (Mar 6, 2012)

DEMON KISSED NOVELLAS:
#1 Valefar Vol. 1

*Tell me a bit about yourself.

I’m an artist. I paint, draw, and write. My formal education is in something else, because I listened to my parents and didn’t get an art degree. They were afraid I’d starve to death and have to live in the subway station. Penn Station was kind of ugly then, so I listened to them. Turns out that doing what I love makes a huge difference. And I have an awesome husband who fully supports my illogical pursuits of artdom. He’s awesome. Especially since there is no fall back job. It was sink or swim when we first turned away from traditional employment and went the artistic route.

*Where were you born and where do you call home?

I’m a displaced New Yorker living in a tiny town in west Texas. My accent is whack, yo’ll. Actually, it makes both Texans and New Yorkers flinch. It’s awesome.

*What was your inspiration for Demon Kissed?

The concept of putting a control freak girl into a predestined fate (a fate that totally sucked) was an interesting concept. Ivy is a classic control freak idealist, and it doesn’t matter how hard she tries—her destiny remains the same. I started with that character and built the world around her.

*Was there a particular person that was the inspiration for Ivy.. or Collin?

None of the characters are specifically anyone in particular, although they have traits of people I know. Collin’s mannerisms, especially in the first book, are based on a couple of guys I knew way back when. Eric’s character changed the most over the series and he isn’t based on anyone. I think a dash of real mannerisms makes the characters come to life more. And it’s fun.

*What are the pro's and con's to being an Indie Author?

The pros are very clear and important to me. I have complete control over my books. If they succeed or fail, it’s all up to me. I don’t have to worry about things getting botched, print runs and stock issues, or bad covers. I get to do all of it. I chose the models for my covers, shot them, processed the pictures, and make the covers. The covers are SO important. Most publishers use stock photography, which totally blows my mind. I think it’s a major branding no-no, and detrimental to sales. Since there is no chance they would even listen to me, it’s much better for me this way. I think there would be more cons if I didn’t have my background of sales and art, but I do. The main issue I have is getting paper books into teen readers hands. While they can order the books from B&N, most stores don’t hold stock. Although they wouldn’t hold stock for most regular publications anyway. They only do that if you get a legacy deal, which most people don’t get. So, all in all, going Indie made a lot of sense for me. It was an option that I was glad that I took.

*As much as we all love the Demon Kissed series, all good things must come to an end. Do you already have your next novel/series in the works? Can you give us a hint if you do...

There are several series in the works.

#1-FALL OF THE GOLDEN VALEFAR series will start later this summer. It is a spin off of a the character in the DEMON KISSED series. It’ll be very obvious which character’s storyline the new series is following after you read THE 13th PROPHECY.

#2-VAMPIRE APOCOPLYPSE series starts this spring. Release date for book #1, BANE, is April 15, 2012. BANE is a tense dark paranormal romance. The world as we know it is gone. The ice caps have melted and shifted south, devastating the northern territories and eradicating major cities such as New York and London, which are now under water and frozen. Humans died off during an epidemic prior to the ice disaster, and many more died during the floods at the start of this new ice age. These events have forced vampires out of hiding. In order to ensure that their food source wouldn’t completely die off, the vampires have sequestered the remaining humans into farms and taken control of all that remains of civilization. Over time, the humans breeding on these farms became anemic. Their blood no longer sustains the master race. But not all of the humans were captured and sent to the farms. Some of the humans evaded the hunters, hiding in safe houses across the frozen tundra. As decades passed, the free humans disappeared, died, or were captured, until all that remains is one. Kahli is the last wild human. BANE is her story.

#3 – TWISTED TALES. This new series of novellas have a Gothic feel with a dark twist reminiscent of Edgar Allan Poe's famous stories. These dark tales are like the fables of old, with a twist... The first book in the series is STONE PRISON and will be released March 6, 2012.

*Whom in your life would you say has influenced you the most?

My husband. He’s totally awesome and has always encouraged me to chase my dreams. I think rather abstractly, so that didn’t look like the safe route most of the time.

*What has been the most interesting comment (or review) about your book?

I try to read all of the reviews that people post about my books, and the funniest thing I read was from Linny’s Lit Reviews. She said something about PETA approved vampires from other novels and compared them to my evil characters, who actually act evil. Just thought it was very funny.

*What's the latest news?

THE 13th PROPHECY comes out today! Can't wait to see what people think of the ending!!!

*What book are YOU currently reading?

Rereading Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Poe

*Please, do tell why we should read your series.

Because its awesome! It’s got hot, bad guys, a head-case heroine, and more twists and turns than anyone expects.

*Finally, i must ask, what advice would you give to other budding writer's out there?

Write because you love it, and trust your gut. In the end, you know what's best for you and your writing.