Thursday, October 1, 2015

Book Blast & Interview: The Third Throne: Angel of Death by Tabitha Barret @TabithaBarret

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book blast

 

clip_image002The Third Throne:

Angel of Death

The Third Throne Series

Book Two

Tabitha Barret

Genre: Paranormal Romance / Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Heather Baker

Date of Publication: 7/31/2015

ISBN: 1514847507

ASIN: B00XOJ09Z0

Number of pages: 530

Word Count: 223,833

Cover Artist: Heather Baker

Book Description:

Anjali has embraced her destiny to end the world, but now she must find her ten Harbingers, known as the Predznak. She is determined to find Alazar, the Angel of Death, the former leader of the Predznak, before the other angels. She fears that he has lost hope and is close to becoming a Rogue Angel.

Alazar has spent too many centuries waiting for his Master Anjali to come and claim him. Deception and lies have kept them apart, but now it’s too late. He has vowed to the other Predznak that he will kill their Master so that they can be free.

During her search for Alazar, Anjali meets the Spirit Experts, paranormal investigators who are on a collision course with the Angel of Death. Anjali finds herself strangely attracted to one of the Spirit Experts and decides to become a part of their group in an effort to keep them safe from her dangerous angel.

Can Anjali stop Alazar from killing the Spirit Experts and destroying the surrounding town? Can she keep Lucifer in the dark about her affections for the mortal man? Will unseen enemies destroy all that Anjali holds dear?

The Third Throne: Angel of Death is the second book in the steamy Adult Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance series.

Book Trailer: https://youtu.be/lmijIjDuvZk

Available at Amazon

Excerpt

Anjali felt the temperature of the room drop until ice particles formed from her breath. The world around her fell away and went silent. The only sound she could hear was her heartbeat. At first, it was strong and steady, but the tempo slowly changed until it sounded like waves crashing on a beach. A brilliant blue filled her vision and she saw the ocean waves rippling and dancing in front of her. She could practically feel the sand between her toes. It was a peaceful sight. All of her worries were gone and she breathed a sigh of relief. She no longer had to worry about destroying the world and killing everyone. Staying here in this serene place would be wonderful. There would no longer be blood on her hands and the fate of the world would be someone else’s problem. She could just drift away with the tide and be free.

She knew this feeling. It was simple and easy to understand. If you let go of your worries, you will find happiness. She sighed, wanting to be happy.

Happy? The thought floated to the surface of her bewildered mind. There was no such thing in her life. She was a servant of Lucifer, of Hell. Angels were meant to bow to her command and do the will of God through her. Something was wrong. She wasn’t destined to be happy, nor was she at the beach. She was in a cold, dark place without oceans and sand. Romania. She was in Romania with Alazar, her Angel of Death, and he was tempting her with his power.

The storm that dwelled inside of her, just below the surface, welled up as it recognized the feeling of death. It yearned to reach out and touch Alazar’s power. It felt familiar, but not because she had experienced death before. It was familiar because it was a part of her, a missing piece. Her power reared up and clawed at her insides. It fought to reach Death and welcome him home. The only thing holding it back was her ring. She used her thumb and carefully wiggled the ring off her finger until she heard the small sound of metal hitting stone. Plink.

“Enough!” she screamed, letting her power rush to the surface.

Alazar was perplexed by her scream. He thought he was winning. She had seen the ocean and had become complacent in her thoughts. What was happening? No one ever broke free of his control, unless they resisted the temptation, which was rare. He never let them escape. He never backed down from his temptation of a person, until they were dead. Something felt dishonest about that as he watched Anjali break free of the vision.

It’s wrong to push people beyond their breaking point, he thought, just before he felt the air stir.

He tried to release her face, but couldn’t move. He knew he was in trouble when her blue eyes turned black and glowed with power.

Author Interview

Did you always wanted to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?

I wanted to be Wonder Woman, but since I was too short, I decided to be creative and write down my short stories and crazy thoughts. I became a writer because I had too many characters trying to live in my head. I needed any outlet for them, so I started recording them.

When did you first consider yourself a “writer”?

I wrote my first book in High School, but I never considered myself a writer. It wasn’t until a sat down and decided to create a twelve book series that I figured that I was officially a writer.

How long did it take to get your first book published?

Since I self-publish, that part wasn’t terrible, but finishing the first book took longer than I expected. I had finished book 2 and was well into book 3 before I even considered publishing anything. It was 3 1/2 years before I decided to buckle down and commit to publishing The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness.

Do you do another job except for writing and can you tell us more about it?

Aside from being a full time mother and wife, I have always worked in Customer Service. It’s a tough job depending on the kind of company that you work for. Telling people that their order won’t be ready for days or weeks sometimes brings out the worst in people. We live in an instant gratification society, which has only gotten worse with internet shopping. We have been spoiled into believing that we can Next Day Air whatever we want and have it tomorrow. Sadly, that doesn’t work for some things. I’ve been yelled at, sworn at, lectured, and hung up on.

What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarize it in less than 20 words what would you say?

My latest book is The Third Throne: Angel of Death. It’s the second book my Adult Paranormal / Urban Fantasy series, The Third Throne. Anjali must search for her Angel of Death before she can end the world, but he might kill her first.

Who is your publisher? Or do you self-publish?

I self-publish though it takes a lot of time to promote the books. I may search for a traditional publisher once I establish myself. I’ve heard positive and negative things about traditional publishers so we will see.

How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?

The original idea come to me decades ago and churned in my mind until I finally had enough material to turn into a series. The drafts for the first three books were written at same time since I am creating an entire world and mythology for a twelve book series. So my writing technique is hard to describe. I would say I probably had a version of The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness done in about eight months, though I wasn’t pushing myself to finish in a specific time period. The Third Throne: Angel of Death was done about 8 months later. I took a few months to comb through the book and polish it into a serious draft. Once I was ready to publish, the final edit took about 2 months to complete. Now that I’m published, my time frame will definitely be revised.

What can we expect from you in the future? ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?

I am working on the third book in series, The Third Throne: Angel of Vengeance currently. The cover is almost done and the completed draft should be done by next month. Much of the book needed to gutted after all the changed made to the previous books. I have ten more books planned for the series, so I’m not leaving this genre any time soon.

What genre would you place your books into?

There is often a debate about where my books fall in terms of genre. Due to the sexual content and material, it is an Adult book for 18+ readers. Urban Fantasy is probably the best category, though it’s hard to promote it as such since not everyone knows what that means. Paranormal Romance would be the most recognizable category to use. I deal mostly with angels, though I span every type of creature known including vampires, werewolves, revenants, and creatures that I have created, though the romance doesn’t always involve those creatures. I find that categories are subjective based on what readers like and don’t like about a category, so they often make their own suggestion in their reviews.

What made you decide to write that genre of book?

I had a hard time connecting to books when I was younger. I somehow always liked weird and strange things while everyone else was reading Sweet Valley High books. Once I found Paranormal Romance, I was hooked. I had tried writing my series as straight up Fantasy and failed. I am better with vampires and Fallen Angels.

Do you have a favorite character from your books? And why are they your favorite?

My favorite character is Hades. He is Lucifer’s second-in-command and is actually a Fallen Angel. There is a whole backstory that explains the misunderstanding about him being a Greek God. He is loyal to Heaven and will do what he has to in order to maintain balance in Hell. His job isn’t easy since he had to oversee all the Realms of Torture while dealing with Lucifer, who is mostly unstable. Hades speaks his mind and doesn’t care if offends someone. He will do what it takes to ensure the survival of Hell, even if he has to commit murder to do it. He has a reason for everything he does, even if he doesn’t say it aloud.

How long have you been writing?, and who or what inspired you to write?

I have been writing short stories since 6th grade. My English teacher gave us writing prompts to fill out in the beginning of class. It’s the first time I remember writing for fun. After that, I think I wrote out of necessity. I always had too many ideas and too many adventures in my head. I had to bring them to life.

Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?

I do my best writing at my desk in my bedroom. I have my swivel chair and my large screen monitor. I always write with music on for three reasons. 1) It drowns out my two children who will argue over TV, or who will take the dogs out. 2) It drowns out my three dogs who will bark at the door bell, or because they heard another dog, or because they think someone is in the house. 3) It inspires my writing. I have a specific song mix that I listen to when writing or editing. They are songs that evoke a certain emotion or state of mind. I love when I read a sentence and the song lyric somehow matches up to the word I’m reading.

Do you read all the reviews of your book/books?

Yes, I read all of the reviews for my book. I love and hate them. Of course, every writer wants to see good reviews, but I try very hard to learn from the bad reviews. I have made changes based on early reviews since this is still a new process to me. The reviews that bother me are the ones where people complain about something that was clearly stated in my synopsis. I had asked for reviews on a book site and stated that there is adult content in the book and it is only for mature readers. The reviewer went on to give me 2 stars and spent most of the review saying that she didn’t like the sexual content. I shook my head wondering how it could have happened. I would rather have someone stop reading if something bothers them or offends them. I, personally, have stopped reading books that I said I would review because something didn’t sit well with me. Not everyone will like a book. Not everyone will like my book, but please pay attention to the content warnings.

Do you choose a title first, or write the book then choose the title?

I originally had a name for the series, but it was took long and too similar to other books. Right before we were able to hit the button and publish the book, my husband and I reconsidered the title. All of the books contain the name of the primary angel or theme of the book, but the series title needed to be changed. I was afraid it would get lost in internet searches or be confused with another book. We came up with The Third Throne: Angel of Darkness for the first book and kept the series name for other books.

How do you come up with characters names and place names in your books?

I love creating new names for characters. Sometimes the name comes to me right away. If I’m not sure about it, I use baby name sites and search based on first letter of the name. If I need an “S” name, I pull up S’s and see what strikes me. I have a master list of all my names so that I can remember them and not reuse them. It has been helpful when I had a name that was similar and had to throw it out. I especially like creating names for my new beast and monsters. Often I will use Google Translate and come up with my own phrases and turn a foreign version of it. For example, Predznak literally means Harbinger in some language, either Greek, or Russian, I don’t recall, but it was different than using a name that every other book has used. When naming places in my book, I do use real names of cities sometimes, but Heaven and Hell had to be recreated. Those names were fun to come up with. I had to create the Realms of Torture like the Realm of Fire or Drowning Seas. The Hall of Shadows is where the non-mortal prisoners are kept. The Realm of Nightmares is where the infamous prisoners are kept, far away from the general population.

Are character names and place names decided after their creation? Or do you pick a character/place name and then invent them?

My characters always come first. When I have need for a new character or start working on a new book, the person will come to me, and then I will name it. The same goes for places. I may search for the perfect place, but I know that it exists, I just have to locate it.

Do you decide on character traits (ie shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along?

The traits for my characters usually come out as I write for them. There are times when I think a character will act a certain way, and then I write the first few words and find out what they are really like. Hades was originally set up to be a constant nemesis, but as I wrote the first book, he drastically changed. There were times when he could let his guard down and be a helpful advisor, just before he withdrew and said something nasty.

Are there any hidden messages or morals contained in your books? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type of "The moral of this story is..")

My books deal with the concept that not everyone is completely evil or completely good. Evil characters might save the world and good characters might do something terrible and end the world. The lines are blurred and in the end you have to decide for yourself what kind of person you want to be and how far you are willing to go to accomplish your goal.

Which format of book do you prefer, eBook, hardback, or paperback?

I prefer to read eBooks since I usually read in my car or at lunch. I love having paperback copies of my books on my bookshelf to remind myself that I accomplished something really cool!

Do you think books transfer to movies well? Which is you favorite/worst book to movie transfer?

When I write my books, I see everything in my mind. I write it almost like a screenplay. I picture where someone is standing and how they saying their line. It’s like I’m translating the film version in my head to my computer and hoping that it makes sense. I’ve already been told by a reader that they could see the book done as a movie. I think The Third Throne: Angel of Death would be amazing as a movie. There is fight scene between Hades, Anjali, and a siren that I would die to see brought to life. It also has a group of paranormal investigators walking around a dark castle filming it to search for ghosts. They end up being fodder for the Angel of Death in his fight with his master Anjali, but I could see them using their night vision cameras to investigate.

Your favorite food is?

My favorite food is chicken parm.

Your favorite singer/group is?

Your favorite color is?

My favorite color is purple.

Your favorite Author is?

My favorite author is Christine Feehan.

 

 

About the author

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Tabitha Barret graduated from Rutgers University with a BA in English. She married the guy from her Creative Writing class and together had two amazing children. They live in a quiet town in New Jersey with their three rambunctious dogs. She is currently working on her series, The Third Throne.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TabithaBarret

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/TabithBarret

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/thethirdthrone

Website: http://www.thethirdthrone.com

Blog: http://tabithabarret.blogspot.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13507738.Tabitha_Barret

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for the amazing interview. I love talking about my books, but it's a challenge talking about myself. I don't lead a very interesting life. Lol! I had so much fun! Thank you!

    ReplyDelete