Book Tour for Devil at the Crossroads by Cornelia Grey (Review & GIVEAWAY)

Today I'm honored to bring you an enticing novella with the Devil bringing the sexy to a storyline  that shows the true price of getting what you want.  Keep reading to learn more about Devil at the Crossroads by Cornelia Grey through her own words, through my review, and by visiting the other blogs hosting this tour.  Make sure to enter the giveaway for your chance to win books too!

Hello, Jody - thank you so much for having me here today!

My paranormal novella Devil at the Crossroads was just released by Riptide Publishing, and I’m really thrilled to have the chance to chat a little about how this story was born. And, at the end of the post, there’s also a juicy giveaway for all lovely readers...!
I will be making a few stops over the next few days – you can keep track of the blog tour here :)!

The Strange Case of the Writer in the Nighttime......

Every writer has their own favourite time for writing. At times, it’s not so much a question of favorite as it is a question of: what’s the only time slot available in the day?

One of my ex teachers, for example, gets up at six in the morning and writes until seven – that’s when his two little boys (one is not even one year old) wake up, and, between them and his job, he doesn’t have another free moment for the rest of the day! As for me, when I was going to uni, my best bet was hiding for a couple of hours in the library or in the IT tower (also known as the Frosty Tower of Doom because of the freezing air conditioning) to find some alone time in a more or less quiet environment.

However, after I finished my BA and started with the PhD, it was no longer convenient to go all the way to uni for a couple of hours of writing – I wasted a lot of time getting there and back again in the London traffic, not to mention the expense of travelling. I was researching and working mostly from home: I had to carve my writing time there, too.

Of course, that’s surely easier when you don’t live in a house with EIGHT other flatmates (sharing the room with one of them) and at least one or two guests present at any given time! Working onDevil at the Crossroads seemed an impossible task. I managed to snatch a few hours of quiet in my room, but I had to work during that time; at night, my roommate was bothered by the click-click of the laptop, and occasionally during the day she wanted to do noisy stuff, so I had to vacate the premises. With so many people living there, it was impossible to find the common room empty at any given time. I had almost resigned myself to a future spent at the nearby Costa Café, investing a fortune in soy chai latte to secure a spot at a table... when I had the epiphany!

Ever since I was a teenager, my most productive writing time had always been late at night, preferably after midnight. Of course, a lifetime of going to school put a serious damper on nighttime writing, and I had to fall back on more feasible time slots. But now that I wasn’t attending any classes, and I could arrange my work and research however I pleased... suddenly that was a possibility again!

I didn’t have any trouble and settled in my new routine in no time. I found it incredibly congenial. I would wake up around one or two pm and work and research in my room until around midnight. At that point, my roommate would go to bed, and I would relocate downstairs in the common room... which was, most of the time, blissfully empty! There were no students living in the house at the time, and everyone was either working early in the morning as a cleaner or in restaurants, or late at night in pubs and clubs. The result was that between midnight and five/six the common room was magically empty (that would never happen with a student house – I remember all too well how that was ;) ).

So, I wrote Devil at the Crossroads comfortably sprawled on the couch, with the laptop on my legs and my legs resting on the coffee table, drinking cup after cup of tea, listening to music and typing in blissful quiet. Around five thirty in the morning – as the sky outside the windows started turning lighter – the Sicilian flatmate would come back from the club and I’d take a break to share a cup of tea and listen to whatever insanity had happened that night at the club, as well as inventory all the weird things he’d found abandoned on the floor at closing time (the title of strangest find is a tie between a bag full of sushi and a camping mat rolled in a corner).

After he went to bed, I had another few hours to go, depending on how inspired I was feeling. Sometimes I would go to sleep shortly after, around six or so; but more often than not, I would find myself caught in the story and would keep typing until past eight. By that time, the sun was already high and bright, and soon the first flatmates started sleepily trotting in the kitchen in search of coffee. As the house began to wake up, sleep finally caught up with me: so I closed the laptop, went upstairs, put on my eye mask and earplugs and... thunk! Basically passed out on the bed. :)

I have to say, nighttime truly is the best writing time for me. I completed Devil at the Crossroads in much less time compared to any other story of mine, and I have no doubt that I owe it entirely to those long peaceful hours, where I felt cocooned in the silence and the darkness outside (I really enjoy being able to see the night from the shutter-less English windows, while in Italy the ubiquity of rolling shutters makes it almost impossible – everybody shuts them tightly at the first hint of sunfall!).

Unfortunately, now that I’m back in Italy and I have to arrange my day around other people – my grandma needs help and company, for one, and my boyfriend works all day and is only at home at night – working all night and sleeping half the day away is no longer an option. I am experimenting with new timetables to try and find the most functional one, and I’m having some good results, but... I still think fondly of the time when I had the luxury of writing in my favourite time slot!

What about you? Is there a specific time when you feel more productive? And are you able to set it aside for writing?

Thank you all for stopping by!

Cornelia xxx

The devil covets more than his soul...
Six years ago, Logan Hart sold his soul to the devil to become the greatest bluesman of all time—and now the devil has come to collect.
The irony is that Logan squandered his gift. High on fame, money, and drugs, he ignored his muse and neglected his music. And despite managing to escape showbiz in a moment of clarity, it’s too late to redeem himself. All that’s left is to try to go out with some dignity. Alas, the prospect of an eternity in Hell isn’t helping much with that goal.
But Farfarello, the devil who bought Logan’s soul, isn’t ready to drag him down to Hell quite yet. He’s just spent six years working his ass off to whip a bluesman into shape, and he refuses to let that—or the opportunity for more sinful pleasures with Logan—go to waste.

You can read an excerpt and purchase ‘Devil at the Crossroads’ here!

MY IMPRESSIONS OF THIS BOOK:

Though this novella is short on word count it's long on its emotional impact.  In the span of 75 pages Ms. Grey has managed to create a thought-provoking story about the price of fame and being careful what you ask for as all that glitters is not always gold.  We see a character rising from the bottom to reach the highest pinnacles to end up even lower than where he started.  It leaves the reader grateful for what they have and never willing to squander any chance they have for something better.

Logan is a talented bluesman tired of his dreary and dismal life working in a factory that is slowly killing him.  Music is his only bright spot and one night an exotic stranger offers him the chance of a lifetime.  This compelling stranger offers him fame, wealth, and all the sex he wants in exchange for Logan giving himself over to this stranger in six years.  Those six years aren't what Logan expected though and we see a man now lost and confused, faking his own death to get away from what he thought he wanted.  He's frightened of his end quickly approaching and just wants to face it without cowardice.  I ached for how low he's fallen as he's worse off mentally now than he was six years ago.  He's lonely with no hope but help soon comes from an unexpected source.

The stranger, the Devil himself, soon arrives but what he demands in repayment is unexpected and extremely erotic.  Farfarello looks nothing like the stereotypical images of the Devil we've all seen as there's a sensuality surrounding him.  He's engaging, sexy, and it's easy to see why you'd give your soul to him with a smile.  He's always been drawn to Logan and watched over him throughout the last six years.  He found his music compelling and more expressive than any words uttered.  Though it's his soul you'd expect Farfarello to want there's something more intense that he wants from Logan.  Instead of taking him to Hell he takes him on an erotic journey full of sweat and surrender.  Farfarello still believes in him and gives him one last chance to be with his one true love...music...if only Logan has truly learned from his mistakes and doesn't make the same poor choices again.

Ms. Grey has created an atmospheric story that takes you to the darkest parts of a person's soul.  It's a gritty and intense read that's also thought-provoking in the message it leaves the reader with.  The steamy sexual interludes of m/m love ground the story in reality and bring two lost souls together for a moment of comfort.  I was completely immersed in this story from the first word to the last and look forward to where this author takes us next.

My rating for this is an A.

*I received this book from the author for review in exchange for my honest opinion.

AUTHOR INFO:

Cornelia Grey is a creative writing student fresh out of university, with a penchant for fine arts and the blues. Born and raised in the hills of Northern Italy, where she collected her share of poetry and narrative prizes, Cornelia moved to London to pursue her studies.
She likes cats, knitting, performing in theatre, going to museums, collecting mugs, and hanging out with her grandma. When writing, she favors curious, surreal stories, steampunk, and mixed-genre fiction. Her heroes are always underdogs, and she loves them for it.
You can find her at www.corneliagrey.com
And also on [Twitter] [Livejournal] [Blogger] [Facebook]

**********GIVEAWAY**********

Attention, dear readers – this release comes with a trivia contest, and the winners will receive a free ebook of their choice from my backlist!

There are three easy questions, whose answer can be found reading Devil at the Crossroads. Keep an eye for the answers as you read the story, then email me the answers at corneliagrey [at] yahoo [dot] com – do not leave them in the comments, remember, you don’t want to make life too easy for the competition!
The deadline for the contest is September the 30th: I will randomly select two readers among those who emailed me replying correctly to the three questions. The winners will be officially announced on my blog (as well as emailed!) and they will receive a free ebook of their choice from my backlist!
Ready for the questions? Here we go...
--What is the model of Logan’s guitar?
--Throughout the story, three spider tattoos are mentioned. Where are they located?
--Farfarello happens to mention a future birthday of Logan’s. Which birthday is that?
Good luck! And remember, email me your answers by September the 30th to be entered in the contest!