Interview with Erica Hayes, author of Revelation, and Giveaway

Please welcome Erica Hayes to The Qwillery. Revelation, the first novel in Erica's Seven Signs series, was published on October 2, 2012.  Erica is also the author of the Shadowfae Chronicles.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Erica:  I'm unafraid of adjectives. Truly, they won't hurt you, so long as you don't let them hunt in packs. Oh, and I make up words. My copy editors probably wouldn't call that 'interesting'…


TQ:  Are you a plotter or a pantser?

I'm a plotter extraordinaire. Believe me, sometimes I wish I could pantz it up. Usually when I've been planning some story for a month and it just won't work… But I like the structure and safety of a thorough outline. It's most satisfying when everything clicks into place—and then when I'm drafting, I can focus on bringing characters and emotions to life, rather than 'what happens next?'


TQ:  What is the most challenging thing for you about writing?

Erica:  Climbing out of a rut. Inertia is a big factor for me: it's easiest to keep on doing what I'm doing. The longer I go without creating something, the harder it is to start. And doing nothing is always the line of least resistance – when I get a case of the can't-be-bothereds, I just jam my butt in that chair and write something. Anything, even if it's rubbish. Eventually, I start having fun again.


TQ:  What inspired you to write Revelation (Seven Signs 1)?

Erica:  All that craziness in the Book of Revelation! Honestly, it's like Alice through the Looking Glass in there. Seven angels with seven vials of holy wrath, starting a series of plagues to prepare the world for the end. I thought, what if someone stole those vials? What would happen if someone other than God started the end of the world? And why on earth would they want to?

Thing is, the seventh sign is Satan, crawling out of the pit where he's been imprisoned for thousands of years. Who would want that? Demons, of course! So that's what happens in Revelation: a gang of demons steal the seven holy vials, in an effort to break their boss from prison, pervert the prophecy and win the Final Battle. An unscheduled Apocalypse… and as it turns out, not everyone in heaven thinks it's a bad idea…


TQ:  What sort of research did you do to create your world and mythology?

Erica:  I started with the Book of Revelation. It's a bit like a holy hallucination, but the whole story's in there: how Michael and the angels defeated Satan long ago, the coming of the end, everything. All I did was put it in an urban fantasy world – if all this was real, what would happen? How would people react? What would these angels and demons and strange beasts look like? How would they act, talk, fight? What do angels eat? Where do they live, sleep, work, party?

And, I went to New York City! I mean, I didn't make a special trip – how convenient of Romance Writers of America to hold their conference in Times Square last year! I had a lovely time wandering around Manhattan. I'd actually finished Revelation before I'd ever been there, but hey, that's what revisions are for, and I hope I've been able to achieve a bit of authenticity. In the book, it's near-future NYC. So I got to add a few inventions: technology, new buildings, a violent state of fear.


TQ:  Describe Revelation in 140 characters or less.

Erica:  Awesome!

Ha ha. No, I can do better: A fallen angel on a mission and a medical examiner who's lost her faith fight to stop the Apocalypse in a glittering, near-future Manhattan.

Or, we could just stick with: angels, demons, zombies and smokin' hot romance at the END of the WORLD, oh my!!

Somebody stop me now. Trust me, I could go on all day :)


TQ:  In Revelation, who was the most difficult character to write and why? The easiest and why?

Erica:  Luniel, my fallen angel hero, was the easiest. He showed up fully formed. He has simple motivations: he's honorable, driven to fight evil, and feels deeply guilty about past failures. He might try to ignore his bleeding heart and follow the rules, but he just doesn't have it in him to let other people down.

The most difficult? Probably Michael, the archangel. Partly because he's a 'real' character – there's a lot of existing mythology about St Michael the Archangel, and as an author you sort of have to fight that, if you want to make that character your own. It's like writing vampires who walk in the sun and aren't afraid of crucifixes – you have to explain why you're not following the 'rules'. My Michael is heaven's finest warrior, but he carries a huge chip on his shoulder and it makes him a nasty piece of work.


TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Revelation?

Erica:  Anything with Michael in it is a riot. He's so deliciously mean! And I have a soft spot for the villains: chilly Azaroth, the Demon King, Lord of Emptiness and Despair, and his gleeful pain-demon sidekick, Zuul.

But I think my favourite scene is one where Morgan, the heroine, is attacked by demon-cursed zombies, and Luniel must sacrifice something important to save her. It's a desperately romantic scene. I confess to a few tears while I wrote it. I'm soft like that :)


TQ:  You also write the Shadowfae series. How are the Seven Signs series and the Shadowfae series different?

Erica:  Both series are what I'd call dark urban fantasy romance. The Shadowfae books are lusher and more erotic. Seven Signs books are still sexy and romantic, but they're more action-focused, so they're a faster read. And my angel heroes are your big, muscled-up alpha warrior types, whereas in Shadowfae, the bad men are the heroes, and the characters are more ambiguous. If the Seven Signs was Shadowfae, Michael would probably be the next hero…


TQ:  What's next?

Erica:  There's Redemption, Seven Signs 2, coming out in March 2013. It features Japheth, a fallen angel who's desperate to win his way back into heaven, and Rose, the vampire angel-slayer who's been sent to kill him.

And, I have my very first sci-fi novel, Dragonfly, coming out from a digital publisher in December! I'm really excited about this one. It's a romantic space opera about an interstellar secret agent on a mission to capture the terrorist who murdered her friends… but is he really the bad guy she's been led to believe?

You can check 'em out at my Amazon author page: http://www.amazon.com/Erica-Hayes/e/B0028OGPLE
Or my website: http://www.ericahayes.net

And you can follow me on Twitter or Facebook for updates and other nonsense. I'd love to see you there!
http://facebook.com/ericahayes.author
http://twitter.com/ericahayes


TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery

Erica:  Thanks for having me!




The Seven Signs

Revelation
The Seven Signs 1
Berkley, October 2, 2012
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 336 pages

A fallen angel with a mission and a medical examiner who’s lost her faith are fighting for their souls in a glittering, near-future Manhattan…

Blind faith is for fools. That’s what Dr. Morgan Sterling believes. And she’s going to prove it by curing the zombie plague ravaging her city’s slums. She’s certain it’s not a sign of the End of Days, but a nasty disease—until an angel appears in her morgue in a flash of glory.

Luniel is not just a fallen angel. He’s a powerful warrior sworn to fight evil in hopes of a chance at redemption. He’s after the demon princes who are stealing the seven vials of holy wrath which, when perverted, will unleash eternal hell on earth.

To stop the plague, Luniel needs Morgan’s help, and her faith. But Morgan believes science is their salvation. If the zombie plague is a demonic curse—and if Luniel is true—he’ll have to prove it. Even if he loses his heart to true love or his soul to Hell…

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

The Shadowfae Chronicles

Blood Cursed

Shadowfae Chronicles 4
St. Martin's Paperbacks, August 2, 2011
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 368 pages

To a vampire, nothing is sweeter than bloodfairy essence—and Ember is the most sought-after fairy on the underworld circuit. Selling her blood to the highest bidder—and robbing her clients in the process—Ember has unwittingly become a target of dark and dangerous forces. Her enemies are everywhere. And if she hopes to survive, she needs protection…

Diamond is a glassfairy who, for better or worse, knows his way around the vampire underworld. Smooth as silk and tougher than trolls, Diamond is Ember’s only chance to keep her magical blood inside her body, where it belongs. But he also poses a threat to Ember, a strange kind of danger she’s never experienced before: She’s falling in love with him…

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Poison Kissed

Shadowfae Chronicles 3
St. Martin's Paperbacks, September 28, 2010
Mass Market Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

Mina is a banshee whose greatest power lies in her siren song. She’s beholden to her boss Joey, a snake-shifter who once saved her life and now employs her as a gang enforcer. She refuses to upset the fragile balance between them by admitting that she longs for him, that his embrace is the only thing she craves more than revenge for her mother’s death…

When Mina learns that Joey may have been involved in her mother’s murder, fury threatens to spill out of her note by vicious note. She and Joey have always trusted each other to stay alive, but now she’s not sure what to believe. The evidence stacked against him—or the one man who haunts her dreams and burns her blood…

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Shadowglass

Shadowfae Chronicles 2
St. Martin's Griffin, March 2, 2010
Trade Paperback and eBook, 352 pages

Welcome to secret world hidden behind shadowy fairy glamour, where thieving spriggans rob you blind, beautiful banshees mesmerize you with their song, big green trolls kick heads at nightclubs and vampire Mafiosi rule the streets. Here a seductive magic mirror lies hidden deep in a demon’s lair, with a simple warning: don’t stare at the glass…

Ice is a light-fingered fairy who can’t resist a look at the powerful mirror. She and her fairy friends run confidence games, pretending to be fortune tellers and bedazzling customers with their glamour. But Ice longs for more—she wants a real life, a respectable job and something to strive for. The mirror offers her a chance to achieve everything she’s ever dreamed of. But when she pilfers it, she discovers that its power comes with a price: the mirror is a gateway to obsession and madness... and it will take every trick in her arsenal just to survive.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

Shadowfae

Shadowfae Chronicles 1
St. Martin's Griffin, October 13, 2009
Trade Paperback and eBook, 288 pages

Imagine a secret world veiled in fairy glamour and brimming with unearthly delights. A city swarming with half-mad fairies, where thieving spriggans rob you blind, beautiful banshees mesmerize you with their song, and big green trolls bust heads at nightclubs. And once you’re in, there’s no escape…

Enslaved by a demon lord, Jade is forced to spend her nights seducing vampire gangsters and shapeshifting thugs. After two hundred years as a succubus, she burns for freedom and longs to escape her brutal life as a trophy girl for hell’s minions. Then she meets Rajah, an incubus who touches her heart and intoxicates her senses. Rajah shares the same bleak fate as she, and yearns just as desperately for freedom. But the only way for Jade to break her bonds is to betray Rajah—and doom the only man she’s ever loved to a lifetime in hell.

Amazon : Barnes and Noble : Book Depository : Books-A-Million : IndieBound

About Erica

Erica Hayes was a law student, an air force officer, an editorial assistant and a musician, before finally landing her dream job: fantasy and romance writer. She writes dark paranormal and urban fantasy romance, and her books feature tough, smart heroines and colourful heroes with dark secrets. She hails from Australia, where she drifts from city to city, leaving a trail of chaos behind her. Currently, she's terrorizing the wilds of Northumberland.




Website : Facebook : Twitter









The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win a copy of Revelation (Seven Signs 1) from The Qwillery.

How:   Answer the following question: 

What is one of your favorite novels featuring Angels or Archangels?

Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1)   Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2)   Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

There are a total of 3 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry) and Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry).  This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook or Twitter mentions. You MUST leave a way to contact you.

Who and When:  The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Monday, October 15, 2012. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary. You must be 18 years old or older to enter.

*Giveaway rules are subject to change.*