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Bleeding Hearts
Demimonde
Book One
Ash Krafton
Genre: urban fantasy
Publisher: Ash Krafton
Date of Publication: October 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-946120-00-7
ASIN: B01M7PCLWJ
Number of pages: 380
Word Count: 94k
Cover Artist: Red Fist Fiction
Book Description:
Sophie Galen is an advice columnist whose work leaves her neck-deep in other people’s problems. Thanks to her compassion, her gut instinct, and her magnetic charm, Sophie really knows how to attract little black clouds.
Marek Thurzo is no little black cloud; he’s a maelstrom. Marek is Demivampire, a race with the potential to evolve into vampire. A warrior who’s taken his share of spiritual damage, he hovers dangerously close to destruction.
He seeks salvation. She’s driven to save him. But what if he can’t be saved?
Sympathy for his plight becomes true empathy as Sophie’s hidden nature is revealed. Marek suspects she may be one of the Sophia, oracle and redemption of the damned Demivampire. She alone can turn back the evolutionary clock.
All she needs is the courage to face her fears. Can she save him from Falling?
Blood Rush
Demimonde
Book Two
Ash Krafton
Genre: urban fantasy
Publisher: Ash Krafton
Date of Publication: October 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-946120-01-4
ASIN: B01M7PCWFD
Number of pages: 376
Word Count: 94k
Cover Artist: Red Fist Fiction
Book Description:
Sophie doesn’t believe in happily ever after. These days, she’d settle for alive after sunrise.
Advice columnist and newly-appointed oracle to the demivampire, Sophie Galen has more issues than a Cosmo collection: a new mentor with a mean streak, a werewolf stalker she can’t shake, and a relationship with her ex’s family that redefines the term complicated. And then there’s her ex himself, who is more interested in playing leader of the vampire pack than in his own salvation.
Becoming a better oracle is tough enough, but when Sophie encounters a deadly enemy – one she never dreamed of facing – it will take everything she’s ever learned in order to survive.
Wolf’s Bane
Demimonde
Book Three
Ash Krafton
Genre: urban fantasy
Publisher: Ash Krafton
Date of Publication: October 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-946120-02-1
ASIN: B01MA3JHUV
Number of pages: 388
Word Count: 104k
Cover Artist: Red Fist Fiction
Book Description:
Since becoming oracle to the demivampire two years ago, advice columnist Sophie has battled werewolves and survived a vampire attack (or two). However, not only was she powerless to save her lover Marek when he slipped to the brink of evolution, she also witnessed his transformation into a falcon, the symbol of Horus United.
Sophie’s quest to save Marek is further complicated when rock star Dierk Adeluf – who also happens to be the king of the Werekind – invites her backstage after a concert. Just when it seems she will find respite from heartache, Sophie is bitten by a werewolf and Dierk decides she is destined to be his queen.
Sophie is caught between the demivamps she loves and the Were who commands her to love him. Throw in his jealous wanna-be girlfriend—a true bitch if ever there was one—and an ambush by witches, and there you have the big mess that Sophie calls her life. And, hello? Her soul mate is still a bird.
Interview with the Author:
What initially got you interested in writing?
I think a lot of things just came together in a perfect storm…
I’ve been reading (and writing) as long as I can remember but it wasn’t until my kids were in elementary school that I began seriously writing. Something about getting lost in a story, just following an idea, and pushing my characters into awkward situations just to watch them figure things out…it was the best kind of fun. My first novel, still unfinished, was written with no regard for plotting or structure or punctuation, for that matter. It was all longhand-filled notepads of scenes that intrigued me. I wrote while my kids played in the backyard or while they napped. It was a hobby, a happy way to pass time.
Then I got distracted by a story idea that gripped me so tightly that I couldn’t let it go. It hasn’t let me go, either…that story idea grew into The Books of the Demimonde. Writing those books made me serious about writing. I started paying attention to craft, taking online courses and attending conferences. And although I’ve written several books since BLEEDING HEARTS, BLOOD RUSH, and WOLF’S BANE, it is still my sentimental favorite series. So much of myself and my life went into those characters. It’s like coming home every time I see them.
How did you decide to make the move into being a published author?
Family and friends gave me a lot of great feedback, once I was brave enough to tell people what I was doing. When BLEEDING HEARTS began to look like a real book, I decided it was time to do something scary.
I did it in baby steps, though. Writing poetry and short stories was how I combatted writer’s block when noveling. You query short pieces the same way you do a novel—so I looked at it as practice for when/if the novel would be ready to go out on submission. By the time I was ready to query the novel, I’d had a nice biography of journal publications. I also had a pile of rejection slips that came along with it. Lots of no’s along with lots of yes’s, combined with a completed book, gave me the courage I needed to do the really scary thing.
What do you want readers to take away from reading your works?
I try to find an emotional core for each story idea, since I myself am an emotional reader and movie watcher. Hopefully, readers can follow a character’s emotional journey as well as their story line.
But I also want to keep my readers asking the same question that I ask every day: What if…? I write speculative fiction so I always what to know what lies just beyond our sight. I want to make readers first say, Wow! Then say, I can totally see that. And if I’m really lucky, they say What if…? and start daydreaming the story in their own directions.
What do you find most rewarding about writing?
Creating something I’m proud to share with someone else. The idea that I can share my writing with other connects me to the world in a way I’d never expected. I’ve met so many readers and writers along the way that I feel like I am truly blessed. Books, new friends, a sense of accomplishment…all of it is a reward, isn’t it?
What do you find most challenging about writing?
It’s work. It didn’t used to be work, not back when I was a hobby writer. But as my goals shifted, so did the level of dedication and attention to craft that I put into writing. But anything worth doing is worth working for, so I’m all for meeting this challenge!
What advice would you give to people wanting to enter the field?
Persevere. Nothing happens without time and dedication and, many times, set-backs and disappointment. My advice is to write through it. Set goals and never stop working toward them. Find a mentor if you can, someone who’s been through it who can help you find your way. I love writer’s forums, especially the one at QueryTracker.net. There are a lot of sterling examples of people who have persevered there, and they are so helpful and generous with their guidance.
What ways can readers connect with you?
Want links? I got ’em!
Blog: http://ash-krafton.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ashkrafton
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ashkraftonauthor
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/Ash_Krafton
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/demimondeash
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ash_krafton
Website: http://www.ashkrafton.com/
About the Author:
Ash Krafton writes because if she doesn’t, her kids will…and NOBODY wants that. A speculative fiction girl through and through, Ash writes paranormal romance and urban fantasy novels as well as poetry and short fiction. Her work has won a bunch of awards and was even nominated for a Pushcart Prize. When she’s not writing, she’s practicing Tai Chi, listening to loud rock and metal, or crushing on supervillains.
Most recently, she’s re-released her urban fantasy trilogy THE BOOKS OF THE DEMIMONDE because she never really left the world of Sophie and her Demivamps.
Find out more when you visit www.ashkrafton.com
Blog: http://ash-krafton.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/ashkrafton
Facebook: http://facebook.com/ashkraftonauthor
Goodreads: http://goodreads.com/Ash_Krafton
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/demimondeash
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/ash_krafton
Website: http://www.ashkrafton.com/
$25 Amazon gift card and eCopy of Bleeding Hearts (Demimonde #1) in winner’s choice of format (Kindle, Paperback, or Audiobook)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Thanks for hosting the Demimonde on its blog tour. Hope your readers enjoy it!
Cheers, Ash
Such an interesting story idea!