Interview and Giveaway with J.K. Coi!

Hello Maidens!!!  We are excited to have today with us J. K. Coi.  I started reading her Immortal Warriors series a few years back, and most recently her new book Falling Hard, which brings us a sexy rock star who finds himself in the middle of angelic business.  Read our review of Falling Hard here.  Now please help us welcome J.K. Coi and get to know her a little better!

How do you manage to find time and balance to have a "regular" day job and write at night?

It’s definitely tough, and sometimes it’s not a balance at all and more of a teeter-totter going up and down making me dizzy and nauseous. But usually it works out okay. It means I write a lot slower than I would like to because I can’t give as much time to it, and it means a pretty pathetic social life, too, but all of that is something I’ve learned to accept because I’m doing something I love.

Your new release Falling Hard takes on angels, Lucifer's return, and a sexy rock star. How did you manage to come up with this original story and have the damaged bad boy end up with his very own angel?

The idea for this book started with one scene (a scene that was later deleted from the book, but can be found in the Extras page on my website: www.jkcoi.com) And after I’d been introduced to Amelia I realized how important music was to the angels, and knew it would only make sense for Gabriel (with the dark angel’s soul) to be a bad-boy rock star. The rest of the book developed from there. It grew and changed directions a few times as I wrote, but I always knew how it was going to end.

I'm heading to your site now to get the deleted scene!  Are you planning on starting a series after Falling Hard?

I always hoped to be able to write a sequel, although this year some of my other projects were higher up on that list and I haven’t gotten the chance until now (have I mentioned I write so damn slow it’s killing me???) Anyway, some of the secondary characters from Falling Hard became so intriguing to me that I knew I had to dig deeper and see what the future might hold for them, not to mention Gabriel and Amelia’s story is far from over…

That's exciting, we'll be looking forward to them.  Do you plan on writing any more books in your Immortal Warriors series?

I’ve always wanted to write more of those books as well, but for now they are content to wait a while longer. This just isn’t the right time for them. However, I am working on bringing the original four books (My Immortal, Immortal Kiss, Dark Immortal and Forever Immortal) back to print, and they should be available early 2012.

What supernatural creatures do you prefer to write about?

I will write about anything and anyone (except maybe some creepy kinds of insect shifters). Right now, I’m enjoying the angels, and I am also writing some werewolves. Although it seems it should be the same because it’s all paranormal, they’re VERY different, but I’m having lots of fun with each.

Wait, there's books about insect shifters?  That's just wrong!  When did you figure out you wanted to be a writer?

I’ve been writing since I could read. I remember writing a short story in high school about a girl whose radio was possessed by the spirit of her dead boyfriend. It was lots of fun (and scary gory), but I never thought I would write professionally until I finished my first full length novel. When I told my husband it was done, he said “Cool. Now what?” (He’s soooo helpful.) Of course, I had NO idea, but I had been hanging around a couple of reader forums online and ran into some other aspiring writers would told me about a group in my home town that I might find interesting. It was the local chapter of the Romance Writers of America. After I went to a meeting to check things out and was floored by the talent, support and sheer magnitude of the valuable tips and information I found there, I joined the group and haven’t looked back since!

That sounds like excellent advice for aspiring authors!  But now let's do some fun questions... Of ANY book character, who would you want to have a date with?

OMG. It would have to be Clay from Kelley Armstrong’s Bitten. Don’t tell my husband, but I think I would kill to have the chance to go on a date with him. A naked date.
Oh yeah. Where were we? What was the next question?

Can't say I blame you AT ALL, Clay is very hot, excellent choice!  And we're not telling anyone, don't worry, your secret is safe with us!  And which female character in ANY book would you take out for a drink?

Hmm. I’ve recently been reading Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series. She’s totally kick-ass and I would love to chat with her over a drink or two. Since I’m only on the second book (shh. No spoilers!) I would love to ask her about the different men in her life (Adam and Sam in particular). And yeah, if you haven’t read this series yet? Whoa. The first book hooked me so that I had to go out right away for the next four. It’s too bad I’m in the middle of a writing project and I’m trying to be strict with myself, or I would be reading 24 hours a day.

Mercy is such a cool chick!  Hope you enjoy the rest of the series, big surprises in store for you!  OK, I'm zipping my lips now.  What authors are on your must buy list?

If I was going to buy an author (and keep him locked up in the basement), it would probably be someone like Chris D’Lacey (who writes cool dragon books for middle grades) because he could totally keep my kid occupied while I’m trying to write, and maybe afterward I could ransom him off for BIG BIG bucks! LOL, but you can probably already guess that I’m a fan of Armstrong and Briggs. I also love Nalini Singh and Kresley Cole, and KM Moning’s Fever series too! (It’s not too obvious that para and urban fantasy are my reading drug of choice, right?)

Couldn't tell.  Those are great choices.  Now tell us the first thing that comes to mind with each of the following words:

* Shifter: Hawke from Nalini Singh’s Kiss of Snow
* Vampire: Rhage from JR Ward’s Lover Eternal
* Tattoos: Of course, Mercy Thompson – Those book covers are awesome! (even though I think in the actual books, she doesn’t really have so many tattoos LOL)

Great choices!  Are you working on a new project? Anything you can tell us about it?

It’s SUPER SEKRET! If I tell you I have to kill you! Just kidding. I’m a bit melodramatic. It turns out that I’ll be working on edits for an erotic romance coming out later this year from Ellora’s Cave, and I just finished getting everything ready for my next Carina Press release, a holiday themed steampunk novella. But as for writing projects, I’m working on the next Warring Angels book, which will most prominently be featuring Cassiel from book one.

And hey, before I get pre-empted let me just send out hugs and big thank yous to the wonderful ladies here at Under the Covers for the opportunity to be here! I really appreciate it!

Thank you for stopping by, we had a blast and loved having you here!

 

After a life filled with tragedy, rocker Gabriel Gunn thinks he's finally getting the better of his personal demons. Then he's attacked after a concert—and rescued by a warrior goddess brandishing a sword and white wings. As hard as it is to believe in an angelic bodyguard, Gabriel must face an even more impossible truth: he carries the devil's soul within him.
Amelia has been watching over Gabriel for years, using her angelic powers to prevent Lucifer's return. Now she must also protect him from warring angel factions with their own agendas. Amelia would do anything to avert another angelic war, even sacrifice her own emotions to avoid temptation. Yet with Gabriel she feels things she no longer wants to deny, and pleasure she never imagined.
But the closer Gabriel and Amelia get, the stronger Lucifer becomes. Will Amelia be forced to kill the man she's come to love to stop the war she's always feared?

Listen up maidens!! J.K. Coi is giving away a digital copy of the book, Falling Hard to one lucky follower and two sets of her romance trading cards for two additional winners!

All you have to do is:

1. Be a follower
2. Fill out the form below