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Girls*Heart* Books: Tammy’s Two Cents with Trish Milburn

Monday, May 21, 2012

Tammy’s Two Cents with Trish Milburn

White Witch 
Fresh, fun, and dangerous! I can't wait for the next one!" -Sherrilyn Kenyon #1 NYT Bestselling Author of the Dark-Hunter Series
Witchcraft Is Her Family's Business.
No One Quits The Family And Lives To Tell About It.
"Jax" Pherson has power, enough power to know her future will end in service to the dark coven her father controls. Unless she can stay hidden in a small community in the mountains of North Carolina. She must find a way to live without magic and deny the darkness she feels welling up inside her-the same dark power that fuels the covens around the world.
All she wants is a normal life. A boyfriend. Friends. Some place to belong, but all too soon Jax's barely begun new life hangs in the balance when she discovers that the boy she's attracted to is sworn to kill her kind. He's a hunter with good reason to kill everything that goes bump in the night.
Even the most fleeting use of her power is tantamount to signing her death warrant and will bring both hunter and coven down on her. But can she walk away when her friends are threatened by an old evil? Something created by the magic of witches? Jax's only hope of survival is to convince the boy she loves to forget everything he's ever been taught and help her find a way to fight the covens. To believe there is some good in her.

This book was suggested to me by Author Mari Mancusi and, I must say, I was NOT disappointed!  We have also established that I am a cover Ho, so obviously this cover drew me in Immediately.  I digress, on to the good stuff………
What a refreshing take on Witchcraft; I was mesmerized by this book from page 1 and stayed with it until the end (cliffhanger L but, never fear; book 2 Bane is out soon!).
Jax is a witch, this is evident from the get go but, she’s determined to distance herself from her family and their ideals, beliefs on exactly what being a witch means.  Instead of embracing her powers and her life as a witch, she runs away from it.  Straight to Baker’s Gap, what she believes to be the furthest thing from her family and her power, a fantastically boring town.. or is it? 
Enter Keller (wow) strong, sexy and smart; and a witch hunter; he falls for and chooses to love Jax in spite of this.  Very intriguing storyline that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout; with action, romance and the importance of being your own person regardless.  The secondary characters are as well written and woven into the story as the main ones are, I especially love the bond that forms between Jax and Toni (her new BFF and Keller’s cousin).  If you’re looking for a new take on Witches and a departure from the norm YA novels you simply must read this book; I promise you will not regret it.  I am definitely going to be keeping an eye on Milburn, this is the 1st book by her that I’ve read but it was so well written and engrossing that I cannot wait to read more of her work!   4 out of 5 quills guys….  Must read!




Image of Trish Milburn

And on to the Interview with Miss Trish Milburn... enjoy!

*Tell me a bit about yourself. 
I'm a former print journalist, a big TV fan (current faves are Game of Thrones, Lost Girl, and The Walking Dead, though I'm a fan of many others), fan of movies and movie soundtracks, and just all-around geek girl. I write paranormal young adult fiction for Bell Bridge Books and previously wrote two YA titles under the name Tricia Mills for Razorbill. I also write for Harlequin American and Harlequin Nocturne and have self-published some of my other titles that never found a home. These include some romantic suspense, romantic adventure and women's fiction.

*Where were you born and where do you call home?
I grew up in Western Kentucky but now live in Tennessee.

*What was your inspiration for White Witch?
The summer before I sold my first book (not White Witch), I got really down about having not sold yet. I'd been at it 10 years at that point and was wondering if a sale might never happen. So I ended up on my couch watching all seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, all five seasons of Angel and the first season of Supernatural. Somewhere in the midst of all that TV viewing, my brain started putting together this story.

*What research did you do while writing your story?
For this first title in the series, I was familiar with the locale, western North Carolina. But I did some research on the Salem Witch Trials, and last summer I went to Salem to do site research since books two and three, Bane (due out at the end of May) and Magick (due out this fall), are set there and bring in the history of the Witch Trials more.

*What are the Pro's and Con's to being and Indie Author?
The pros to publishing some of my own work are the total control I have over the product and how I present it to the reading public. It's also nice to be able to see sales figures in almost real time rather than only a couple of times a year. Plus, I get to keep a bigger portion of the proceeds. Cons include trying to rise above the notion that self-published works are really bad. The truth is some of them are, but there are good books being independently published that are beginning to change the perceptions about self-publishing. Also, there is the issue of discoverability. With so many people indie publishing, it's often hard to get noticed in a crowded marketplace. This isn't too different from being on bookstore shelves, but it's just a bit of a different animal.

*For those who are unfamiliar with your novel; White Witch, how would you introduce it?
It's The Sopranos meets Willow Rosenburg from Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Sam Winchester from Supernatural. In my Coven novels, the witches are not the good guys. They are dark witches who have done a lot of harm. My heroine, Jax, is different though. She doesn't know why, but she doesn't want to live like the other members of her coven and flees in search of a normal life.

  *Whom in your life would you say has influenced you the most?
That's hard to say. There have been teachers and other authors who have inspired me to chase my dream. My husband has been extremely supportive, which is so important when a writer faces all those rejections that line the road to getting published.

*What has been the most interesting comment (or review) about your book?
I have been very fortunate in that the reviews for White Witch have been good. I was particularly thankful to Sherrilyn Kenyon, who gave me my cover quote: Fresh, fun and dangerous! I can't wait for the next one!"

 *Who is YOUR favorite Author?
That's an impossible question to answer, but I'll give you a taste of several I enjoy reading -- Sherrilyn Kenyon, Beth Revis, M.J. Fredrick, Colleen Gleason, Tanya Michaels, J.R. Ward, Scott Westerfeld, George R.R. Martin. There are so many more, but I'd be here all day typing names if I don't stop now.

*What are you reading right now?
Actually, I'm reading entries for a contest, so I can't say. I can tell you that on my Kindle, I have Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. I'm about 60 percent through it.
  
*Tell us your latest news.
I recently saw the concept art for Bane, the next in the Coven series, and I think it's going to look every bit as cool as the cover for White Witch.

*Please, do tell why we should read your book.
I think you should read it if you enjoy paranormal young adult stories with a strong heroine, a to-die-for hero and some awesome best friends.

*Cowboy to the Rescue (Harlequin American, March 2012) would you like to end by telling us about this book and why we should run right out and grab a copy?!
Hot cowboys! LOL! This is the second in my Teagues of Texas trilogy from Harlequin American, about three brothers whose family owns and operates a guest ranch in the Hill Country of Texas. The third in the trilogy, The Cowboy Sheriff, is out this month (May). I've always loved cowboy stories, so it's really fun to write them.



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