Monday, March 21, 2016

Julie Nicholls: Author Interview & Spotlight


Witch Month continues at Fantasy Fun Reads, this week featuring Julie Nicholls, author of Angel Within: Angels & Devils (Fallen Angels Series Book 2).

Blurb:

Kai of Darkmide, a once feared warlord and Eloise of Brightstone, a timid princess, face danger once more from the fallen angels who seek revenge on man, although this time there is an added complication when the fallen are aided.

Jana, a powerful witch, and Tigan, a deceitful mercenary from Sabe and Kiera’s past, join forces to summon Samyaza, one of the most powerful of all fallen angels. The witch strikes a bargain with the fallen angel to possess Tigan, making him indestructible in battle. Tigan has always been envious of Kai’s fame and seeking out the witch, he awaits to become possessed. Wanting to become how Kai once was, he accepts the pain inflicted on his body by Jana, knowing it will all be worth it once he has the demon within.

In exchange for granting the gift of possession, Samyaza seeks a sacrifice, someone gifted with seraph abilities in order that he can free himself of the bonds that hold him captive in hell. The witch also intends a reward for herself, and schemes to seduce Kai, with the intention to produce a baby of seraph heritage. Using dark magic, Jana shows all in her coven why she is famed as all powerful.

A young witch, naïve but powerful, aids our trusted warriors, and in doing so is given refuge at Blackhill. Reluctantly becoming entangled in more secrets, she listens to the advice of Nazar, a new warrior who recently joined with Sabe and his sister, Kiera. Trying to do what’s right, she keeps the secrets but worries she will be outcast once Kai and Eloise learn of the deceit.

It’s a race to save the sacrificial offering and to stop Tigan from becoming possessed. Kai and Sabe join Brightstone and Blackhill’s forces to rid the world of the powerful witch, and Tigan. Once again the seraph comes to the warrior’s aid, yet at what cost? The final battle culminates with the transformation of Eloise from a timid queen to a feared warrior as her husband fights for his life, and freedom from bondage once more.

The story continues and is not just a romantic tale of a princess and a slave. This epic story has another chapter to reveal and only in the final book will it become clear who controls man’s fate on earth.

Get ready for the battle between good and evil, angels and fallen angels, and learn what the heavens have in store for Kai and Eloise.

The Demon Within & Angel Within are the first two books in the Fallen Angels series, and available in audiobook. Ascension Within is the final chapter, available now. Also get all three books in one eBook.

Get Angel Within:


Sneak Peek:

Jana – A powerful, utterly beautiful, and evil witch

It was quite by accident how a witch turned out to be the main focus of the 2nd book. A friend of mine, called Canan ( pronounced Jana), asked if there was any room in the book for a character with her name. I thought about it and before I knew it, Jana became the focus of the story. She’s beautiful, powerful, and wicked. Unlike most ‘bad’ characters, she does make it through to the final book, Ascension Within and we learn who is behind her involvement with the lives of Kai and Eloise.

I have to be careful not to give any spoilers, but I wanted to let you read a little more about our beauty.

SNEAK PEEK

Twelve hooded figures formed a circle around a ring of stones in the dimly lit cave. Jana slowly walked around her disciples and smiled. Each of them possessed magic, although none to rival her own skill, but together they enhanced her own powers, aiding her in the spell she was now performing. She’d already started weaving her web of deceit. The smaller spell required no aid; she was more than capable of causing a person to fall asleep.

“Do not break the circle, no matter what you see.” Jana’s words carried, “When the fire begins, you must continue the chant. Do not stop, until the flame turns blue, and then disappears.”

Her hands clasped together as she brought them to her mouth, she could already feel the energy gathering.

Removing her cape and letting it fall to the floor, she stood naked in the cold dampness of the cave; the chill against her skin did not deter her. Slipping between two of the witches, she took her place in the center of the stones.

As she breathed deeply, Jana tossed long, dark hair over her shoulders, and raising her head, let her eyes fall shut. Concentrating her mind, she breathed slowly with a steady rhythm, in time with the witches as they chanted.

“Hear our words, hear our plight, bring the darkness, into light.

Conceal her image, mimic her voice, and see her body, in plain sight.”

The witches chanted the rhyme repeatedly. Holding hands as they swayed, their soft voices echoed their will. Jana crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her head back.

“Louder… Louder!” She ordered.

Obeying her words, the voices increased in volume. Something stirred around the cave, a strange energy that crackled, making the younger witches tense. However, afraid to break the circle, for fear of retribution from Jana, they held fast.

Suddenly, Jana’s body burst into flames. One of the witches gasped, but the witch holding her hand squeezed it tighter.

“Keep chanting.” The witch whispered.

Jana didn’t cry out or scream, she smiled wide and stretched out her arms, embracing the heated flames as they charred and burned her skin. The smoke spiraled into the air, and visibility in the cave became clouded. Among the smoke, the witches could barely see each other, only the burning body of Jana was visible to their wide eyes.

When Jana’s body turned black, she reached her arms to the ceiling.

“I am your body… I am your voice!”

A bright, blue flame appeared where Jana’s charred body stood previously, in the fire and smoke. Instantly cooling the air around, it reached high and began spreading along the roof of the cave. The witches marveled at Jana’s knowledge of all things dark. They’d never witnessed anyone use this spell previously, and watched in awe.

The blue flame brightened before turning white. Remembering Jana’s words, they continued chanting. In a final burst, the flame burned brilliant white, causing everyone to squint and close their eyes tightly before it vanished. There was nothing. No fire, flame, or Jana.

Each of the witches turned to one another, and deciding it was safe to release their hands, moved away from the stones.

“Where did she go?” Sian, one of the youngest in the coven, stared at the circle where Jana stood only moments previously.

“She has been transformed, she will return soon.” The craggy hands of Roxala, the oldest witch, grabbed Sian’s arm. “Come, we are done here.”

__________________________
Both Demon Within & Angel Within are available in audiobook, and I have a sample of the prologue for you to listen to on my site. SAMPLE They’re also available in paperback, and the final book Ascension Within is available in eBook only at this time.



Bio:

Julie Nicholls was born in Hull, East Yorkshire, England. Her love of writing didn't fully develop until she moved to Bulgaria after retiring from work at the age of 42. Living in a small village in the South of Bulgaria with her husband and two dogs, Julie enjoys country-life and the freedom retirement brings.

She's also the owner of "Literally Sensual" on Word Press, along with other writing friends, but is more known for writing Fan fiction and receives regular reviews.
The release of her first novel, Demon Within, encouraged her to continue writing a sequel. And now Demon Within is the first in a Paranormal Romance series called "Fallen Angels.” The second book in the collection, "Angel Within,” was released in March 2015 with the final book in the series, Ascension within, released October, 2015. All three books are available in one Box Set: Fallen Angels Series Complete.

Demon Within and Angel Within are available in Audiobook.

Demon Within won AUTHORSdb 2015 Cover Contest for FANTASY.
Her latest series is under the genre Urban Fantasy & New Adult. Blood Ties is the first book in the Blood Trilogy, and is available in eBook, paperback and coming very soon to audiobook.

Interview:

1. Thank you for joining us for Witch Month at Fantasy Fun Reads! It looks like Angel Within features both a good witch as well as an evil one. Tell us a little about those two characters.

Thanks for having me! My two witches are Jana, a very beautiful but wicked witch, and Sian, a timid young woman who due to unfortunate circumstances, ends up in Jana’s coven. Jana has a mission, in fact she has a few. I have to be careful not to give too many spoilers but her first objective is to raise Samyaza, the most powerful of the fallen angles. She is getting a little inside help, but…this will be revealed in book three, Ascension Within. This witch has her eyes set firmly on Kai, our hero, and she will stop at nothing to get him where she wants him. (If I tell you where she wants him, it will blow her cover, lol.)

Sian is young and very sweet, but despite her youth, she is extremely powerful but her adopted mother has carefully hidden that from Jana. Sian teams up with our ‘Scooby gang’ and in return receives sanctuary. I call them the ‘Scooby gang because they are together in each of the three books, and work as a team.

2. You also do book covers and I have seen quite a few happy authors out there with a lot of praise for your covers. How did you get started in that business?

Truthfully I needed a cover for my first book, Demon Within, and couldn’t afford to pay anyone. I am a digital artist, and although I knew nothing about making covers, I decided to give it a go. My own covers for the whole Fallen Angels series are actually paintings, but I make manipulation covers too. I love working in Photoshop and would be lost without it. Because I received so much praise for my covers, I offered my services free to a couple of friends and they were kind enough to spread the word that I was available at a very good price.

3. Did you always intend to self-publish or did you try and find an agent or publisher first?

This was the only option I felt I had. I never considered myself a ‘great’ writer, but because of the success I had with fanfiction and my short erotica stories, I wanted to do something else. Demon Within was my third attempt at writing a novel, and once I discovered that self publishing was the way to get my work out there, it was a no brainer. I know that it’s hard to get a book published, I mean if J K Rowling was turned down, plus many others, what chance would I have, right? lol

4. What have you learned since you published your first book that you wish you knew when you
knew when you started?

I have learned so much it’s untrue. The most important factor is getting the document clean and without errors, something which I’m ashamed to say I didn’t do. I foolishly published before having the document thoroughly checked, and so the first people to read Demon Within could have written me off, and never graced my doors again because of spelling and grammar issues.

5. What books and authors influenced you in you writing? What are some of your favorites?

Confession time. I am not a big reader. You’re probably thinking that’s strange, but I have an issue with reading books that do not grab my attention from the first page to the last. There are a few books that I have read more than a few times, Karen Marie Moning is one of the authors. Her highlander series is wonderful. Also Sylvia Day and a couple of others.

6. What are three things about your books that might convince a reader to give one a try?

The topic of Angels, magic and romance is always a good start, I think. Also I’ve not written a ‘romance’ without a story. I worked hard on the plot-twists and secrets, and there are a lot of characters that all have a link, which I hope will bring in peeps who love books like Game of Thrones and other famous fantasy stories. Last but not least, my bookboyfriend, Kai is utterly adorable, lovable and I shouldn’t say this, but he makes me cry because of his past and what he didn’t receive. (you’ll understand what that is if you read Demon Within).

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