Where are you from? Tell us a little about yourself!
I’m Oklahoma born and raised. I grew up on a farm and love the country, but I also enjoy things you can only do in the city—like making an ice cream run when you really need it! I have a wonderful hubby, three kids, three dogs, and a pretty crazy life. I’ve been writing with the goal of publication since 2006. My first novel came out in 2011 from Harlequin’s Love Inspired Historical line. I write about cowboys for Harlequin and (right now) vampires for myself.
Tell us about your book? How did it get started?
SHADOW ALLEGIANCE is the second in the Unholy Alliance series. My sister and I started the series together, and I’m continuing it. Rachel is a kick-butt heroine bent on revenge, but when she gets turned into a vampire (her mortal enemy!), she must figure out where her true loyalties lie.
My sister actually came up with the idea for the first book and then I joined up and it evolved into a whole series.
How do you create your characters?
I usually start with an overall idea and then go deeper. I love Donald Maass’s “Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook”. Lots of exercises to help writers go deeper with their characters. It will really challenge you, but in a good way.
What inspires and what got your started in writing?
I loved reading as a kid and still do. I wanted to be a novelist since I was young—I think a lot of people have a desire to “write a book”. After I had graduated college but before the kids came, I thought, “I should really do this *now*.” So I joined a writers group, started learning, and never looked back.
Where do you write? Is there something you need in order to write (music, drinks?)
I am a mom to three little squirts—ages 4, 2, and 8 months. I have a laptop and write in the living room, their bedrooms, my bedroom, the kitchen… wherever I can find a few minutes with the keyboard. I get most of my wordcount in during naps and after bedtime, but on deadline days I’m writing whenever I can squeeze in some words. I have a really nice office, I just never get to use it. 🙂
How do you get your ideas for writing?
I’m an idea machine. Seriously, I have so many ideas that I’ll never be able to “catch up” and write them all. I get inspired by news stories, things that I hear about from friends, things that just pop into my head. Most of the time when I start with an idea, I’ll research and then things snowball. I’ll find more ideas related to the first one or even off-shoots that lead to secondary story ideas.
What do you like to read?
I read in lots of genres, but romance is and always will be my favorite. Contemporary, historical, YA, paranormal… if it’s a really great story with a HEA, I’m interested.
What would your advice to be for authors or aspiring in regards to writing?
Never give up! This isn’t a business for quitters, so find the most stubborn part of you and hang on. Also, find a mentor. Try local writing groups or online ones if you must, but listen to those who are further along than you on the road to publication. It’s the best way to learn.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Readers can check out my free novella, RIVAL, available at Amazon and other major e-retailers:
http://www.amazon.com/Rival-Unholy-Alliance-Lacy-Yager-ebook/dp/B00GW413G8/
Thanks for hosting me!
Amazon page (ebook available Dec 15):
http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-Allegiance-Unholy-Alliance-Volume/dp/0989814726/
Blurb:
They were her enemies. Until she became one of them.
A Chaser born to kill vampires, sixteen-year-old Rachel Campton has grown up in her older brother’s shadow. Until she wakes up a vampire, her own mortal foe. She’s stronger, faster than her human self, but haunted by bloodlust and the loss of her beloved younger sister. Friendless and lost in enemy territory, Rachel must rely on Alex Wellington, a former nemesis and centuries old vampire who looks like a college football player.
As Rachel goes deep into vamp territory, she learns there is more to the vampire life than killing humans. She also discovers another side to Alex. He is more than a murderer, he is someone that she starts to fall for. Rachel faces the ultimate choice–her new life and unexpected love or the family she left behind, the family that may now want her dead.
Excerpt:
Shane is so gonna kill me.
Literally.
My hotheaded brother is a Chaser. We are—I was—fifth generation humans given highly specialized training. Tactical, combat, and weapons. Trained from birth to kill vampires.
And now I’m… I can’t even think it.
I wake just after sundown, curled in a ball between a dumpster and the back of a building. From comatose to completely alert in one nanosecond.
I remember everything.
The flight from Boston to Heathrow.
Searching for the vampire that had attempted to take my little sister hostage six weeks ago. The others in our little band might be content to sit back and wait—they call it preparing—but I’m not. I wasn’t.
I ended up in an industrial part of the city.
I remember the ambush.
The turning.
My turning.
I’m now a…vampire. My own mortal enemy.