Maiden of Time

Today Crystal Collier is here to discuss her latest release

Moonless

and her Maiden of Time Series.

While Crystal is answering my questions here

I'm visiting her blog for

WriterlyWednesday!

Can you guess my lie?

Welcome, Crystal!

*DISCLAIMER: Due to a sugar-prohibiting diet, Crystal may be slightly more obsessed with cookies than cheese. Beware flying crumbs.*

     1.   Can you tell your readers something about why you chose this particular topic to write about? What appealed to you about it? Why do you think it is different, and your approach is unique?

Jane Eyre meets Supernatural. Do you like history? I love history. (If you feel differently, don’t let that turn you off.) I feel we have the most to learn from people who’ve come before us. We’re the same mortal creatures having the same mortal experiences, even if society’s rules change periodically. The Maiden of Time series (Moonless, Soulless, Timeless) is basically a modern story told in historical eras. It’s a genre mash up that many reviewers call completely unique. Take some history, mix in some fantasy, throw in a bit of horror, some romance, a touch of time travel, and voila! These are not your grandmother’s cookies. And I mean, who doesn’t want elegant dresses, secret societies, and the hint of something sinister below society’s pompous façade? It’s loaded.

     2.   How long do you think about a topic before deciding to write about it? Do you have a set of notes or a notebook where you write down topics that appeal before making a decision as to which topic this time?

Time is a funny thing, don’t you think? (Especially time manipulation. *peeks at the time machine locked in the basement*) Some story ideas have been brewing for 20+ years (say hello to the Maiden of Time series!). Others see the light of day on a whim. (Or deadline.) Currently, there are 35 books waiting to be written/rewritten/finished, and a potential MG series that would add another 50 novels to the stack. I fully expect to kick the bucket before getting to all of them. But who knows? Fate might surprise us all. (*glances again at the time machine*) So how to pick which one to work on? It’s all about the love. If, as a writer, you love a story, the love shines through. You’ll do whatever it takes to get that shiny beauty into people’s hands. If you don’t love a story, you have no business writing it. Or rather, torturing yourself through it. (Trust me, I’ve done both.) Go eat cookies instead.

     3.   How long does it take to research a topic before you write? And for this book? Did you learn something unusual during your research that you can share here?

I like to research while I write. I’ll research/fact check between writing sentences and read articles/books on a subject in the evenings or mornings around writing. For the Moonless, I spent a solid 5 years becoming familiar with the late 1700’s. The hardest part about a time period isn’t necessarily the foods they eat or clothes they wear. It’s the attitudes. What subjects were taboo? What were the social norms and why? Which words hadn’t been invented? (*gasp*) One particular difficulty I stumbled across was (and this is ironic,) time. Before clocks, how did people measure the passage of hours, days, years? The truth: they used the position of the sun and seasons. (“Astronomy,” say what?!) Everything didn’t depend on ticking seconds. Life was slightly less regulated and little more laid back. (Yeah, I know we’re ALL wishing we could go back to that.) *hands out cookies*

     4.   What resources do you use? In general and for this book?

LIBRARY! Can I tell you how much I LOVE my library? (It’s half the reason I moved into this county.) For little known facts, I’m always turning to JSTOR or unique blog posts. A few of my stories are placed in specific cities, and I try to keep contacts in those locations so I can track down local consultants when the time comes. For writing improvement, I have a whole shelf of writing books that I periodically revisit to keep on track. Or I’ll attend online conferences.

     5.   What's the next step for you? Television, movies, a new genre? Tell us what the future holds - what can your fans expect?

Timeless (3^rd book in the series) is slated to release this fall. Yay! It’s the stunning conclusion to the Maiden of Time series, and then I’m free! ...Of that series. I’ve got a contemporary thriller in the works and an urban fantasy vying for attention. (*gets out the boxing gloves* *and mop*) Don’t mind the noise over here. Hey, is that a box of cookies? *munches while ignoring the flying ink*

 MOONLESS

Jane Eyre meets Supernatural.

Alexia’s nightmares become reality: a dead baron, red-eyed wraiths, and forbidden love with a man hunted by these creatures. After an attack close to home, Alexia realizes she cannot keep one foot in her old life and one in this new world. To protect her family she must either be sold into a loveless marriage, or escape with her beloved and risk becoming one of the Soulless.

Purchase link: http://www.crystal-collier.com/buy/

Author bio: Crystal Collier is an eclectic author who pens clean fantasy, sci-fi, historical, and romance stories with the occasional touch of humor, horror, or inspiration. She practices her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese. You can find her on her blog, Facebook, Goodreads, or follow her on Twitter.

Readers which do you prefer cheese or cookies? 

THE MIRROR PEOPLE

Meet another winner of the 
IWSG Anthology
Parallels: Felix Was Here

Crystal Collier

***

5 Reasons NOT to Be a Psychopath

I don't normally write about psychopaths. (And why not?--you might ask. They're so fun!) Quite frankly, it's because I don't want to be mistaken as one, but sometimes they write themselves like in THE MIRROR PEOPLE. My research for this story led me to believe:

5. Psychopaths suck. Let's face it. Turns out the business world is full of them--cut-throats who think there's nothing wrong with breaking a man's spine to climb the company ladder. (Proverbially or literally.) It's been tested and proven that they are cut out for managerial work.

Source

4. They have a poor sense of smell. I admit, I don't have the best nose, but a study done in Sydney, Australia shows that psychopaths couldn't identify smells very well due to low activity in the orbital cortices of the brain (the part that controls impulses, long term plans and smell).

3. Empathy--what's that? Not only can't they experience/understand fear, they also find it easy to flip that inner switch and cut off all emotion. You know, everything that makes you human? (I suppose that's why they make such great antagonists.)

2. They populate prisons in abundance. You read that right. I have no desire to be in prison. Do you?

1. The FBI will find you. I admit, if the FBI came looking at my browsing history, I might be in a tight spot. But like Jak in THE MIRROR PEOPLE, once they find you, they won't bury you. No sir. They'll offer you a fat paycheck, stick a gun in your hands, and send you to work. Let's face it, who wants to rely on government benefits? No thank you.

Despite all that, psychopaths are a blast to write, even if you don't want to be one--just like it's fun to read about prehistoric times but living with Dinosaurs would be downright awful. (That's a discussion for another day.)

Coming May 3, 2016

Preorder HERE

PARALLELS: FELIX WAS HERE!

The Mirror People

Every day I look into the eyes of a stone-cold killer. Sometimes he’s straightening his tux bowtie before a fancy shin-dig. Sometimes he’s grinning madly while brandishing a knife. Sometimes he’s spattered in blood.

The point is, it’s my job to look into his eyes, day after day, unable to raise the alarm or warn his victims—like the middle aged woman he’s just finished off—because I inhabit the world on the other side of the mirror.

I’m Jak Ralston’s reverse identity, also known as Jak Ralston. His prisoner.

He wipes his blade clean having already sheared off his trophy, a finger, and turns away from the mirror to the mess of a hotel room. I relax. My shoulders ache from the tension. He is always intense. Always serious. Always angry. But not the explosive kind of angry, the cool, I’m-going-to-rip-your-eyeballs-out-in-your-sleep kind of angry (while he tells you how lovely you look in gray). He’s calculating. Terrifying.

I stand on the other side of the mirror, mimicking his movements like my life depends on it, because it does. Mr. Murder is my twid (twin identity), me in another realm, and if I break from being his reflection while anyone is watching (including him), we’ll both keel over and die. No matter how much I despise him, I’m not ready to die—like Susan, the mirror woman he’s just murdered in my realm. Facing her now, it’s all I can do not to slam my fists into the mirror and scream, but destroying myself won’t bring her back...

Coming May 3, 2016

Preorder HERE

Crystal Collier is an eclectic author who pens clean fantasy/sci-fi, historical, and romance stories with the occasional touch of humor, horror or inspiration. She practices her brother-induced ninja skills while teaching children or madly typing about fantastic and impossible creatures. She has lived from coast to coast and now calls Florida home with her creative husband, four littles, and “friend” (a.k.a. the zombie locked in her closet). Secretly, she dreams of world domination and a bottomless supply of cheese. You can find her on her blog, Facebook, Goodreads, or follow her on Twitter.

Thanks, Crystal!

 Congratulations!

Who is your favorite psychopath in literature or TV?