Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Author Interview with S.J. McMillan

Good morning, good morning Nocturnal Nighters! Today I've got a guest for y'all. Let me introduce S.J. McMillan and her debut novel City of the Gods from Ruby Lioness Press!

What's your book/current WIP about?

My debut book just released in May this year. The title of the book is City of the Gods: The Descendant. It is the first book in a planned trilogy. The first book is about a human girl who discovers she is the only descendant of an ancient civilization. The Gods appoint her to right the wrongs that were done to her ancestors by an evil man.  She has three people, from the original civilization, sworn to protect and train her until she is able to defeat the evil.
I’m working on the second book of the trilogy now. The focus shifts to another character, almost all of the characters from the first book are returning for the second book.  My plan, fingers crossed, is to have it to the publisher in a few weeks.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
When I was writing the first book I emailed both Christine Feehan and Lynsay Sands for advice. They were both nice enough to respond and gave me some excellent advice. I’ve even had the pleasure of chatting with Ms. Sands via Twitter. These are just a couple of the writers I look up to, and hope to achieve even a small portion of the success that they have.

What was one of the most surprising things you learned in creating your books?

I learned about places I had never heard of before, places that I would now like to visit one day. The mystery surrounding the creation and demise of Teotihuacan, Mexico was very interesting to me. I want to go down there and explore the pyramids firsthand.  I also learned a lot about the Mayan and Aztec civilizations, especially since I started writing the second book.

Have ever considered writing a different genre than urban fantasy?

Once I’m finished with the City of the Gods trilogy, I have a few more ideas planned out. The next book will most likely be a stand-alone and rides along the urban fantasy/paranormal line. I would love to try writing a horror novel, and maybe even a steampunk. Ideas are constantly revolving around in this brain of mine. I also get interesting ideas from my husband. The possibilities are endless, so more than likely in the future, you will see something different come out of me.

What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

The actions scenes are my favorite part to write. You get to see a different side of the characters and their personalities also come shining through in the heat of battle. The other, more selfish reason I like writing the figt scenes is because I can get my husband involved in them. He helps me plan out a scene and we actually act it out in the living room with our kids’ toys. It is really fun, but we do take it seriously. One day I’m going to have to record it and post it for readers to watch. Believe me, you’ll get a good laugh.

Describe your writing in a sentence.

I really suck at this kind of stuff. It’s like an interviewer asking me to describe myself in three words or less. I can’t do that either. So here is goes, but be warned, it’s going to be lame.

My writing is AWESOME! (LOL)

What's your next project?

As I mentioned before I’m currently working on the second book of the City of the Gods trilogy. I will then start plugging away on the final book for the trilogy. It will be weird to finally finish this project, put these characters to rest, and work on something completely different with completely different characters and settings. Weird, but I’m looking forward to the challenge.

Readers can find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mcmillansj, on Twitter at www.twitter.com/mcmillansj, and find buy links on my website at www.mcmillansj.com.

Buy Links:

Amazon – www.amazon.com/dp/B0086HZOZA

Barnes & Noble – www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-descendant-sj-mcmillan/111205726

Smashwords – www.smashwords.com/books/view/165766

Ruby Lioness Press – www.rubylionesspress.com/shop/the-descendant-city-of-the-gods-1/

Blurb:

700A.D. Teotihuacan, Mexico – The High Priest believed himself to be as powerful as the Gods and set a plague on the city as a demonstration of his power. The Gods took pity on the few remaining survivors and granted each immortality and an extraordinary ability. Three of the survivors were given a mission of great importance: train the lone human descendant of their civilization to stop the evil priest from damning the rest of humanity.

2012 A.D. San Diego, California – The time has come to make Katalina Deckard aware of her destiny. Her life has been a constant struggle since the loss of her parents when she was young, but has it prepared her to save the world? Can her friends, who have survived so long, convince her that she has what it takes to accept the mantle of Redeemer?


2 comments:

Sheri Fredricks said...

How very cool you interacted with writers you look up to! It's nice to know more about the author behind her book. Congratulations and best wishes!

Brenda said...

LOL, you're awesome for saying your writing is awesome, lol.

Your book sounds very intriguing. I love your cover too. I do declare, I must read this book!