Interview and Giveaway with Joss Ware

Joss Ware

Thank you so much for stopping by UTC today!Thank you so much for having me!

Did you always know you wanted to be an author when you grew up?
I did! Laura Ingalls Wilder was my hero. I wanted to grow up and write stories just like she did. My mom used to say things like, “You’re going to be just like John-Boy Walton, aren’t you?” (I’m aware this reference might be lost on the younger crowd.)

What made you decide to write the paranormal genre?
I’ve always loved stories with a ghostly tinge to them—Nancy Drew mysteries and Scooby-Doo (even though they always ended up having a human behind the “supernatural” element). I am a firm believer that there are things that we don’t understand in this world—ghosts and angels and different layers of consciousness. With that in mind, I felt that the sky’s the limit on imagination when it comes to writing.

Since you write under different pen names, what are some of the reasons authors choose to do this?
Often times the publisher likes an author to differentiate the genres or series he/she writes by using different names. It could also be because a different series might be written for a different publisher, and for whatever reason, they want to launch the author/position the books in a certain way. At the end of the day, most of the time a writer writes under a different name is because the publisher has requested it.

For readers who are new to your writing, can you please tell us about the Envy Chronicles?
The Envy Chronicles is a paranormal romance series set about fifty years after the earth is destroyed through cataclysmic events. Most of the population died, and civilization was disrupted.

The series centers around five men who were trapped in caves in Sonoma, Arizona, during the events. Somehow they were either frozen in time or time traveled fifty years into the future, emerging from the cave well after the Change. They find themselves in a new world, having lost everything they ever knew. The series is about these men as they struggle to find a new life, and a purpose for their survival, in this new environment.

The paranormal element comes in with the time travel and the fact that each of the men seems to have acquired a superhuman ability during the “sleep” in the caves.

Each book focuses on one hero and his heroine, although there are over-arching romance and suspense plots throughout the series.

The best way to describe the books is Suzanne Brockmann’s Troubleshooters meets LOST and I Am Legend.

Congrats! NIGHT BETRAYED, book 4 in the Envy Chronicles recently received the 2012 Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence in the Fantasy/Futuristic/Paranormal Category!!! What was your first thought when you heard of this wonderful news?
I was ecstatic! This series is such an unusual setting and type of romance novel that I think people are sometimes put off from reading it. They’re afraid it’s going to be too depressing, reading about a “changed” world. The news that Night Betrayed won the contest gives me hope that more people will take the chance on reading the books. I’ve had nothing but positive feedback from readers and reviewers on the series, despite the “dark” elements of the books.

In a series, how do you figure out which heroine will end up with each hero?
Ha! That’s a good question. Since this is a hero-centric series (ie, I started with the heroes), I generally construct the heroine to “match” her hero—to complement him and/or be a foil for him and his backstory. However, before I did that, I had a few women characters in mind (eg, Zoë, the smart-mouthed zombie hunter, and Sage, the quiet, computer-genius librarian)…and so I had to figure out which hero made the most sense (ie, the most interesting story/conflict) and which heroine would bring that hero to his knees, so to speak.

Each of these men are so conflicted and destroyed because of their grief and guilt for surviving the terrible events that the women he falls in love with has to fill the void in that man’s life.

When writing a series, how do you figure out who gets a book next?
That is always difficult. Sometimes it depends on how soon I want elements of the plot to be revealed. For example, Theo, who wasn’t in the cave with the other five guys, but who has his own “ability” couldn’t have his book until certain plot events for the over-arching storyline were revealed. And Wyatt, whose book I’m writing now (the 6th book) had to be the last of the five Sedona men because of his backstory—he had a wife and kids he lost in the time travel/Change, and he had to have time to work through that loss before he could be ready to love again.

Is there one particular heroine of your books that you most identify with?
Each of my heroines has an element of “me” that I identify with. And in each of them, it’s a little bit different. But the one over-arching, consistent thing about every single one of my heroines—regardless of which story, series, setting, etc., I’m writing—is that she finds a life/love partner who accepts her for who she is, who accepts her strengths to his weaknesses, who allows her to be stronger or weaker than he in certain ways, and who allows her to be herself. That is the part of the heroine I always identify with.

If you could read one book again for the first time, which one would it be?
The Harry Potter series.

Quick fire questions:

What was the last movie you watched? The Avengers!!! W00T!! Loved it!

What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Read, cook, watch TV/movies, and garden.

What is the last book you read?
What Angels Fear by C. S. Harris

Morning person or Night Owl? Depends whether I’m on deadline or not! LOL. I am really neither. I am a middle of the road girl, except when I’m on deadline or hanging out with friends. Then I stay up later.   
Website: http://www.joss-ware.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Joss_Ware
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joss.ware

Regency London – a dizzying whirl of balls and young ladies pursued by charming men.

But the Woodmore sisters are hunted by a more sinister breed: Lucifer's own.

Voss, also known as Viscount Dewhurst, relishes the sensual pleasures immortality affords. A member the Dracule – a cabal of powerful, secretive noblemen marked with a talisman that reveals their bartered souls – the mercenary Voss has remained carefully neutral ... until Angelica.

Angelica Woodmore possess the Sight, an ability invaluable to both sides of a looming war among the Dracule. Her very scent envelops Voss in a scarlet fog of hunger – for her body and her blood. But he is utterly unprepared for the new desire that overcomes him – to protect her.

Now Voss must battle his very nature to be with Angelica ... but this vampire never backs down from a fight.

Hardcopy or ebook for US residents, but ebook only for international.   

To enter:

1. Be a follower

2. Fill out the form below