2/11/14

Laverne Thompson Interview Special Feb 10th

What item are you giving away? (Anyone can win the item by going to the rafflecopter on the right hand side of the pg.) 

A $10.00 Amazon GC


First why don't you tell us a little about yourself? 
I'm a multipublished author. My works have been best sellers on my publishers sites and category best sellers on Amazon and All Romance Ebooks. I write contemporary, fantasy, and sci/fi sensual romances. I also write romantic suspense and new adult romance under the pen name Ursula Sinclair. I have two daughters both are away at college. However, my husband and I don’t like the term empty nesters. I've added a cat to the household to keep the dog of the house company. Hopefully writing will keep me sane. And I have several projects scheduled for 2014 and 2015. And 2016 is getting pretty full too.   

Newest release-
 Maze- The Ballerina Series Book 2 a new adult contemporary romance, which is the second book in my Ballerina Series and the conclusion of Ivy and Maze's story. 

What can we expect from your stories, action, drama, romance,sex, blood and guts? 
All of those along with a heroine who's more than a match for her mate. Not just in word but in deed. And a hero who's protective and strong without being suffocating or worse insufferable. While both the hero and heroine do have flaws together they will always be better and stronger than they could ever be apart. 

Do you have a favorite character in your stories? Who? and Why? 
In my Ballerina Series definitely Maze. He's not just bad ass he IS bad ass yet gentle and loving with Ivy the heroine. He'd do anything to protect her. Although Draakar from Dragon's Heart- Story of the Brethren is pretty close. He sacrificed himself and his happiness in order to save his race. Oh then there's Simon Blackcat from Wine and Roses in my Guardian Agency Series, he's had a really shitty childhood and lost so much yet still turned into a person who protects others rather than take advantage of those weaker than himself. And of course my heroine, Ice, from Journey of The Princess of Ice. She's the last of her kind but she won't stop searching or give up on finding a place to belong. Shoot, in answer to your original question, maybe not. lol

How about your least favorite character? What makes them less appealing to you?
I can't say because that would give away part of the story in Maze- The Ballerina Series Book 2.

Give us an interesting fun fact or a few about your book or series:
I've been involved in the dance world for 15 years because my youngest danced. I've always wanted to write a tribute to the dancers I've met and watched over the years. These wonderful young ladies and men who danced with flawless grace while in great pain but the audience never knew it. Then once off stage collapse. The news is always full about the football players, or basketball players, or even MMA fighters who limp onto their venues to continue their sport to the end. I wanted readers to know about the dancers. The fall I describe in the first book in the series that Ivy takes really happened. The ballerina continued to dance. On pointe. The only way anyone would have been able to tell something was wrong was if they knew the choreography should have been done on her right foot. She performed it on her left. She'd never danced on the left side like that before. Brava!

Has there been any other authors who have inspired your work or helped you out with your stories? Oh wow I've had alot of inspiration for my new adult work. But I have to give Tammara Webber and her book Easy credit for taking me down the path to new adult. After reading her book it was like a light bulb went off. I knew the voice of my ballerina story then. lol And Alex Cook for taking me down that dark path with Maze. lol As far as my other works that list is just way too long, I'd need the entire page to list them all and the reasons.  

What can readers who enjoy your book do to help make it successful? 
Leave reviews. PLEASE. I can't stress that enough. And tell your friends. And if you find a review helpful on Amazon please hit YES and if you don't find a review helpful please hit NO. This is very important more so than people realize. 

Do you have any tips for readers or advice for other writers trying to get published?
For readers if a cover captures your attention take a look at the blurb or excerpt. If that intrigues you Amazon offers a Look Inside feature where you can read the first chapter or two in a book. That's how I sometimes find great new authors. And read a new author or new series. For writers. Never stop writing. That's actually I think the secret. Once you're finished with the first book get to work on the second. If you get one rejection read what they had to say, look over the work again, rework it if you feel you need to then send it out again. There are plenty of other places out there. Don't stop.

Do you have a favorite author? If yes, what draws you to that person’s work?
God that's really really tough for me so many have influenced me and are favorites. But the ones I go back to time and time again are: Jane Austin because in Pride and Prejudice she captures the culture of the time and she wrote a beautiful love story where the hero and heroine fell in love with nothing but the touch of a hand; Julie Garwood in Honor's Splendour I've yet to read a better alpha male or feistier heroine; then there's the late Robert Jordan and his The Wheel of Time Series; a more complicated piece of world building and political intrigue all within a fantasy realm I've never seen. Yes a lot of people think Tolkien wrote the bible for high fantasy but Jordan wrote the new testament to it. I can go on but I'll stop, see what I mean really tough for me.
Can you remember one of the first things you wrote? 
Oh yes, about a young girl who got a flat tire and of course it was dark and it was raining. And a cab driver pulled up behind her car and helped her. But before that she was scared out of her mind.

What makes it memorable?
I was about 11 or 12 when I wrote it and my father had been robbed in a cab a couple of days before. I had a nightmare and I wrote it down.

Where do you gather most of the inspiration for your works?
From anything I can see, touch, feel, hear, or sense.

Do you have any other interesting hobbies, pets or stories you would like to share? 
Just got a kitten he was 4 months when we got him. We've had him now for 2 months also have a dog that's almost 8 years old. Christmas was an adventure in my house, we had a real tree. lol. I say this from experience get a kitty AFTER Christmas. And with both my girls now back at college there is still never a dull moment in the house. 

Favorite places to travel or visit? 
Have laptop and iPad as long as there's internet will travel anywhere. Well almost. lol

Maze-The Ballerina Series Book 2
by Ursula Sinclair

Blurb:
Maze

There are times in life when you have to make decisions that others will neither understand nor forgive. When that happens, then you make damn sure they never find out.

But no matter what, you will do anything to protect those you love. Even if it means you forfeit your soul.

Ivy

He’s keeping something from me. And I’m not sure I want to know because it will forever change us.

EXCERPT:

Have you ever killed anyone?

My breathing remained steady, my heart rate even, but the chemical rush from the adrenaline had blood rushing to my head. The sound of our blades gliding off each other was not a silent one, but the thunder and lightning ensured no one would hear or be inclined to venture out into the downpour this night. We were hemmed in on both sides by the brick walls of the buildings, with just enough room to maneuver. The filthy alleyway only wide enough for a dump truck was made even worse by the torrent of water washing over the soiled ground. Nothing could clear the stench of death creeping around us.

I’d deliberately chosen the time and this place for the confrontation. This was a blind alleyway only one way in and one way out. Barely visible from the street and there were no windows on the sides of the buildings. Just one door from the back of the restaurant near the dumpster. On a night like this, the weather also helped, we would be uninterrupted. No one would step out for a smoke. But at the end of the night, the trash at the restaurant still had to go out.

Huge fat drops of rain poured down from the heavens beating at me, soaking through the clothes I wore. Trying to drive me away from the course I’d set. I ignored it. My body was ready, waiting, my mind bent on one course. It was too late for any other.

The iron door opened to the right of the dumpster I hid beside, and my breath paused for a moment—only one person could be behind it.

I moved silently out from the shadows. As soon as he saw me, he dropped the trash bags he carried and pulled a knife from his boot. He knew damn well why I was there. I stepped toward him, compensating for the slippery ground with my treaded boots but also my balance. I’d trained on many different terrains so the flat alleyway posed no issue for me, but I couldn’t say the same about my opponent. He’d already revealed his weakness to me by his crouching stance. His balance would be off if he lunged on such a slick surface.

My body ran cold at what I was about to do. I raised my own blade and beckoned him forward. The glow from the outdoor lighting reflected in his dark hate-filled eyes. We were about the same height and build and our goals were the same. But from there we differed. Jai fought better than he ever had or ever would again because he knew this time he battled for his life. As did I. But as my knife parried and slashed opening flesh, I also fought to protect the one I loved.

So have I ever killed anyone?


I walked away from the alley with that thought in my head, my heart still beat, my blood still ran steadily within my veins. With each step the water turned redder on the ground in front of me. Up until that moment my answer would have been no, I’d never killed anyone. I knew I was capable of it. I’d been trained in the different ways to take a life with my body and weapons since the age of three. I also knew how to put someone down without serious injury. That’s what I’d always done. But that was my past. Tonight I’d taken a life to protect those I loved but also out of vengeance. Oh yes, there’s hate in my heart, but there’s blood on my hands now too. While the rain might have washed the blade of blood, no amount of rainwater would ever wash me clean. Not even the tears I shed could cleanse my soul.

Buy Links for Books 1 & 2:





Contact LaVerne Thompson aka Ursula Sinclair at:






So much to do so little time.lavernethompson.comaka ursulasinclair.webs.com


Thank you for visiting with us today
Julie Ramsey
AMD JBR

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