Claiming the Evil Dead author Mary Abshire on hot alphas & catching evil tail
Please help me welcome Mary Abshire, 2011 Readers Choice Nominee for Favorite Book and Breakout Author!
If you haven’t read our review of Claiming the Evil Dead, you can check it out here!
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Happy New Year!Another year has flown by. I constantly ask, where did my time go? I work a regular full-time job like most people and write in my spare time (evenings and weekends). Well, in less than a year, I had 4 books published in my Soul Catcher series. When I began writing the series 2 years ago, I never thought I’d have 4 books published. Sure, I believed my characters could go on and have many tales to tell, but 4 in one year? Crazy. And that’s how my life was for 2011. Now it’s easy to see how quickly the time passed. The original draft of Claiming the Evil Dead was well over 100,000 words. I went to RWA in Orlando 2010 and pitched it to a couple of agents and publishers. They liked the idea of a half-demon who sent evil souls to hell. I returned home, edited the book, and shipped it off. While waiting, I worked on book 2, Catching an Evil Tail. After enough rejects, I decided to look for epublishers. Noble Romance picked up the first book at the very end of 2010. Once I finished the second, they wanted to know about the third. |
| What? Already? Me, being the addicted writer that I am, set to work on book 3 immediately. I finished it, Fighting Evil, and Noble released it a month after the second book. Yes, the beginning of 2011 was crazy for me as both books were released in the Spring. The 4th book I took a little time with and Noble released it in the Summer. | |
| As I mentioned before, I believed Jessie Garrett, my half-demon soul catcher, had many stories to tell, but I had no idea where she would end up. She had evil souls that needed to go to hell, but what kind of motivation did she have? What problems did she need to face? And how could I involve some romance?
In the first book, she starts to come out of her shell with the help of a noble vampire. What? A noble vampire? Yeah, and he’s the coolest vamp. So, she helps him out and in the process, she falls for him. She also meets a bad boy demon, and he causes a great deal of trouble for her. He comes back in book 2 and asks for her help. Catching an Evil Tail as you might guess involves werewolves. I do enjoy stories with werewolves, so I had to write one. It was my first. Naturally, I made the Alpha smoking hot. He has his eye on Jessie, but she’s conflicted, as usual. Book 2 leads to book 3, Fighting Evil. Jessie learns how to fight with Jeremy’s help and has to defend herself against a bunch of vampires. There’s lots of action and drama. Yet again, she has to make a difficult decision in the end. In book 4, Love Conquers All Evil, Jessie knows what she wants. There’s a bit of a mystery as she has to find a serial murderer. One of the big differences with book 4 is the fact Jeremy isn’t in it. Although I love the naughty demon, he just didn’t seem to fit in. When I finished the LCAE, I gave it a very happy ending and left it open for another soul catcher novel. |
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[floatquote]A year from now, who knows what I’ll be working on. One thing is certain… it will be paranormal related.[/floatquote]
Do I plan to write another one? Not at this time. I have ideas for more soul catcher novels, but I have other projects I’m working on. I started a new paranormal romance series that I call Midnight Gardens. I’m excited for it and my urban fantasy series. My first book for release in 2012 is a few weeks away. It’s called the Awakening. The sequel is ready to go. I simply need a publisher or I may self publish. Time really does fly. A year from now, who knows what I’ll be working on. One thing is certain… it will be paranormal related. My love for those mysterious creatures will never die. Be well and have a prosperous New Year! Mary Abshire |
Hi Mary, I think these sound fantastic and will be looking into getting them! 2011 did fly by and congratulations on 4 books in one year! That is fantastic! I do have to get these series!
Mary
Thanks, Mary. Every year seems to go a little faster. Not sure I’ll get 4 books pub’d this year, but who knows. I’ve got 2 releases scheduled so far and 2 completed books. Okay, maybe I will beat 2011. Yikes. LOL.
Have a wonderful New Year!
Your post about pitching your story and not giving up until it was published is great. Then you got four published in a year- what a phenon you are.
The series sounds interesting. Thanks for the post!
HI Sophia,
I pitched to 4 different people and all said they were interested. But when I sent chapters to them, they said no. One said they don’t take stories over 60,000. What?? I couldn’t cut the book in half. LOL. I’m not a quitter in this business, and I don’t get discouraged either. Everybody is different, including publishers.
Thanks for leaving a comment.