Hello, Jenna Storm

Thank you so much for being here, Jenna Storm.

1: First up the obligatory question: What genre do you write?

I write paranormal romantic suspense.

2: Tell us, how long have you been writing?

I don’t remember the year I started but I know it’s been several and it took many rejections before I had my first story published. So, those who are unpublished don’t give up...keep plugging away. 

3: A question I'm often asked do you like the most and least about writing?

I love creating the plot and characters, the actual writing and even the editing. What I don’t enjoy, or rather what I don’t excel at is managing my time so I can get more done in a shorter amount of time. Can you say, disorganized? Also described as scatterbrained, or dreamy! I prefer dreamy.

4: What do you do for fun and relaxation when not writing?

I read, hang out with my two daughters (14 and 9)and when I’m not watching the Disney Channel which I usually am, I watch crime shows and movies...action, suspense and comedy. No tear jerkers for me. I like a happy ending in my books and movies.

5: A girl after my own heart. So which authors do you like to read?

I enjoy several authors from the paranormal and suspense genres. Just a few that come to mind are Lisa Gardner, Lisa Jackson, Gena Showalter and Nalini Singh.

6: What’s the one thing you’d most like people to know about you?

I’m grateful for my two girls who make me laugh and give me so many reasons to love my crazy, hectic life! I consider myself very lucky to have met so many wonderful people through my writing career especially my Muse It Up family.

7: I can relate to that. Muse is a great place and wonderful family. Tell me about your current novel, where I can find it?

The Burning Seal will be available from Muse It Up Publishing in March 2012. This is a paranormal romance with I’m hoping, plenty of suspense. There are several paranormal/supernatural elements...a demon, psychic and witch to name a few. I’ve included an excerpt after the interview if you’d like to read a little about it.

8: It sounds intriguing. I know you mentioned something earlier,  but do you have any tips for aspiring authors?

Don’t quit. Keep writing. Learn the craft but in the end follow your heart and your instincts. Love what you’re writing--the story and characters--and that depth of feeling will come through in your story.

9: Great advice. Another question I'm often asked, do you base your characters on real-life people?

Not really. In both the physical and the emotional creation of the character, I’m inspired by several sources, i.e. a movie, song, news story, people watching...whatever strikes me.

10: I know what you mean, I even find my characters in magazine ads. How did you come up with the idea for this book?

It started with a question...what would it be like if major events in our lives repeated and we were given a chance to correct a failure? The story blossomed from there. I added the Elements, Hierarchy demons, struggles for domination, magic, an ancient grimoire thought to be a myth and a character with psychic abilities.

11: It's amazing how we come up with ideas. So tell us, what are you currently working on?

Right now, I’m finishing the edits for this book and then I will get back to book two in the series.

12. Is there anything else you’d like us to know about you?

Aside from writing and being a mom, I’m also going to school for Web and Graphic Design.

13. Wow, busy lady. Tell us where we can we find you? Website? Blog?

Her Last Kiss paranormal romance (novella), now available at http://www.wickedinkpress.com

The Burning Seal (March 2012) http://museituppublishing.com/musepub/

Website: http://www.jennastormauthor.com/

Blog: http://jennastorm.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jenna-Storm/111299362263109

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/JennaStormWritz

The Burning Seal, the first book in the Element Series is due out March 2012.

Detective Danni Keegan is plunged into a dark, demonic world where survival depends on deciphering the connection between ritual killings, and a demon terrorizing her for a ‘gift’ she wasn’t even aware she possessed. She must unravel her dreams of another woman who lived during ancient times and battled a bloodthirsty demon. The same demon who now hunts Danni. The loss of her body and soul looms imminent as her only chance to destroy the demon depends on changing her new partner’s convictions. A sinfully sexy man, who exudes power and self-assurance with the ease of breathing and has an iron willed determination not to believe in the paranormal.

Unedited Excerpt:

New Orleans

Six weeks ago

          Danni Keegan pulled back the wispy curtain to peer through the thick rivulets of rain and search the swaying trees and bushes. She put her fingers to the glass and welcomed the chill as it traveled through her body. Maybe the cold would paralyze her tragic thoughts, end the dreaded feeling, the vengeful rising tide that sought to drown her.

          Her hand came off the glass and went back to the curtain. Her nimble fingers fidgeted with the lace. For weeks now, the doomed feeling had fed on her, no better than raging piranhas that hungered for fresh meat. She was the fresh meat. 

Every day the fear escalated, chewed off more of her flesh; exposed more of her vulnerability.

          Get control of yourself. You didn’t make it as a cop by fearing the dark, or letting a feeling rule your head. Yet, her uneasiness gnawed, the cause elusive, unsupported by any evidence. Were the unsolved homicides of Lucy Brighton and Chelsea Marlin warping her sanity?

          No matter how tough she acted, it was impossible to look at ravished remains and not mourn the loss of life. Question your own mortality and blame yourself for not stopping the killer. Was she confusing her edginess with guilt that the killer remained free to hunt new victims?

          Her fingers beat the glass in a staccato tempo which matched her heart’s unsettled rhythm. 

          No. This evil feeling, it’s blacker.

          More menacing. More...enduring.

          She cast a wishful glance at the wide-cushioned sofa, television, her bagel and cream cheese neglected on the coffee-table along with the horror novel she had been reading. She remained anchored to the window and scanned the looming trees and thick darkness for a shadow that didn’t fit. A forceful wind slammed the encroaching tree limbs against the condo's roof and the windows wept from the torrential downpour.

          She leaned forward and focused, as if she could frisk the shadow with her eyes. The bushes along the sidewalk shook in a way that was at odds with the direction of the wind. A clump of white bolted from the tangled branches and frost burned leaves. Realization dawned and the sight of the familiar lithe body made her smile. Partly from relief, mainly from her foolishness.

          The porch was clear except for her very drenched, very vexed cat. 

          Danni hurried to the door and twisted the bottom lock. But when it came to the deadbolt she wavered.

          Don’t. Open. The. Door.

          The warning slithered through her body, stroked her apprehension and added high-octane fuel to her fears. She stared at the top of her fluffy-socked feet and scrunched her toes against the hardwood floor.

           "This is stupid. Letting poor Independence drown in this storm because of a feeling."

          She flexed her hands, thought of her gun tucked in the nightstand drawer; thought about getting it. To what, shoot at trees and darkness? Since when do you let emotions rule your head?

          Danni twisted the lock and stepped out, playing hopscotch with the growing puddles on the small cement slab of her porch. She sucked in a breath, pulled her robe tighter. The sensation of standing on solid ice seeped through her socks. Before she could cajole Independence inside, the cat darted to the right, into the heart of the storm.

          “I’m not chasing you!” Danni called out, shoved her hands into her robe’s pockets, and shuffled side to side on cold, wet feet.

          Damn. Now she’d have to change her socks, throw her damp robe into the dryer--

          The wall of overgrown bushes at her left rustled. Branches snapped. The unexpected noise halted her breath, seized her thoughts. Everything froze. Except time.

          A masked figure vaulted through the deluge of rain, gloved hands outstretched. The intruder moved faster than the lightning streaking across the night sky.