Book Tour for Dreams & Curses by Jacqueline Paige (Interview & GIVEAWAY)

An exciting pair of books are on the bookshelves and courtesy of Bewitching Book Tours you'll get to learn about these intriguing paranormal reads.  I also have an interview with Jacqueline Paige, as well as a giveaway, to get you even more excited for these two books.  So without further ado, here's my chat with Jacqueline....

TSP:  How did you get where you are today with your writing career?

JP:  Personally I think it was all dumb luck.  Okay, not completely but it feels like it sometimes.  Before I ever submitted the first manuscript to a publisher I was already writing probably the eighth or ninth book.  I just kept writing…

Of course after submitting several and those being contracted I began to wonder if working on so many at a time was a good plan—Edits and promotion coming at me from all directions.

How did I get here?  With a lot of hard work.  There is no ‘day off’ for a writer, there will always be proofing, editing, promoting or plotting to be done.  Is it worth it?

Yes.

TSP:  If you weren't writing, what can you see yourself doing instead?  Any hidden, yet marketable, talents you could unleash on the world?

JP:  I believe I tried all the other things before coming back to writing.  I have several letters after my name in the holistic health field, the most prominent being those little letters that translate into “Practitioner” and “certified” … I enjoyed helping people with their health and feel good and I still do it on an advice level.

I also peddled my handmade wares for years – the wares being handcrafted jewelry – and I still do this on a “hobby” level when I have time.

I think my heart is in writing though.

TSP:  Many of your books involve magic, is this something you're personally interested in and what kind of research do you do for your stories when it comes to magic?

JP:  When I wrote those first few books I mentioned at the start of this interview, I had just spent two years going to various pagan festivals and events.  Amazing times — amazing people.  So when I began this I had so many facets to draw from dealing with the various paths and beliefs.  I combined this with my knowledge of herbs and all the tidbits of crystals, energies etc… I had been discovering in those two years and gave it all to my characters (along with some pizzazz) and discovered I loved writing about magic.

The rest they say is history.  I love wandering within the boundaries of the paranormal genre and it seems magic and curses are the one area I’m very drawn to.

TSP:  Your books are mostly paranormal in nature, what draws you to that genre and why do you think readers enjoy the paranormal so much?

JP:  Oh, what draws me to writing paranormal is easy—there are no “set in stone” rules I have to follow.  In most other genres you have to watch that you don’t cross into something taboo … with paranormal anything can and usually happens.  I like that.

I think the readers enjoy it because it is unpredictable and doesn’t resemble their normal everyday life.  I know writing it is a welcome change from the grind of normal everyday ‘stuff’.

TSP:  What do you think makes a good hero and heroine?  Amongst all the couples you've written about, do you have one that you're particularly drawn to and why?

JP:  Hmm, that one is hard to put into words but as there are no mind readers here right now, I’ll try.  I really believe what sets the hero and heroine above the other characters in any book is they have to sacrifice that little piece of themselves for others, for whatever reason—without giving up a that part that makes them who they are.  I know many hero’s fight this one almost to the death but eventually the heroine usually gets through to them and they come around.   I honestly don’t know if that explains it or not. 

With all of my couples? Wow, that’s a really tough one to answer. I love all of my couples or hey, I wouldn’t have put them together.   Let’s see … In my two most recent releases I would have to go with Jennah and Dominic.  He is a real alpha male … and she just doesn’t care and keeps on being her despite his wishes. 

Which when you consider bullets are flying during some of these moments I have to hand it to her to keep him in his place. 

Maybe I’m just a romantic at heart after all, but I like it when the “little female” puts the “hulking giant” in his place and he complies…  tee hee

TSP:  What are your feelings in regards to the digital revolution and how its affected your career?  How has it affected your interactions with your readers and do you yourself have an eReader?

JP:  I fully support the digital revolution.  As a writer I have no choice or I’d be left behind.  Don’t get me wrong I love curling up with a paperback and getting lost in the worlds the authors create…  but the fact that readers can download anywhere, anytime just rocks my world.

I have been hinting FOREVER to my kids on all occasions that I would love an ereader… to no avail.  They decided I needed a netbook instead – to stuff in my purse so I can read, write or whatever if the mood strikes.  Bonus points for them!   I do have the kindle app on both my laptop and netbook though, so they may not be pocket size but I can read ebooks practically anywhere.

TSP:  What do you have coming up in your writing future that you can share with us?  Any top secret info?

JP:  I don’t think I’m good at secrets in this case.  I have several excerpts from works in progress on might website. Lol

But in the last week I have signed three contracts, so there are some good things coming.  The first two are Book I and II in The Magic Seasons – From Beltane Magic and The Solstice Heat.  I believe this sums up what they are all about:

Step into a world of magic and passions....
Take a dash of spice, heat it
Add a flash of magic and watch the sparks fly
Toss in a killer that's targeting women
Add a handful of witches from all paths to stir it all together...
I also signed the second story in The Hidden Senses Trilogy – Dream Visions
What price will they pay for the abilities they don’t want??

TSP:  My blog is all about your favorite things, things you can't live without.  What are some of your favorite things?

JP:  Coffee would be number one which would make books fall to second place.  Those are the two things I know I can’t live without. I can’t imagine not being able to read a good story. 

Aside from those two obvious answers, a few of my other fave things would be my sunglasses, I think I’d wear them in the dark if I could still see clearly and my dog Misti – we have long conversations together.

Okay, so I do most of the talking, but she always seems to have the right answer.

Thanks so much for having me here!!!!

Thank YOU for being here.  The books sound intriguing and I hope everyone reads them.

DREAMS
By Jacqueline Paige
A Dream series - three steamy tales of romance, suspense with unexpected paranormal flares
Genre: Fiction / Romance / Paranormal

IN OUR DREAM 
She’s a small town cop.  He’s an inmate undercover.  They meet in a dream.

Blurb IN OUR DREAM:

Jennah Best left the adrenaline packed life of being a cop on the edge for a more peaceful place.  She escaped a marriage that almost destroyed her and now lives her life working for a small police station in the town of Ridge.  At her age, she’s accepted that it’s too late and too much work to start all over again, until she meets a man in a dream...

While young, Dominic Palmer has always proven he can get the job done.  Or at least, that was the case before he accepted a job and agreed to go undercover as an inmate. When months go by and there’s no word from his outside contact he wonders if he’s been left on the inside for good.  He’s fighting to stay alive and keep his sanity, but finds himself completely distracted by a mysterious woman he met in a dream...

IN OUR DREAM Excerpt #1:

The nerve of that man!  Why won’t he just accept things and go away?  She paced back and forth, trying to control the frustration that was pumping through her.  Every time she saw him, every hurt moment came flooding back to her and she just wanted him gone.  She wanted to move on and live her own life and try her damndest to be happy!

“Jennah?”

She spun around, expecting someone to be behind her. There was no one there.  Was that Dominic’s voice?  Oh no, she was hallucinating now!  Should she call her doctor?  Maybe the stress had finally caught up to her.  Was she going to end up spending her holidays alone in the psych ward?

“Jennah, why are you so upset?”

She squeezed her eyes shut.  I am not hearing voices! I am not losing my mind!

She heard his deep chuckle.  “No, you’re not losing your mind.  This is really happening.  I should have told you, but in our dream...it’s not really a dream. We’re connecting.”

Her eyes flew open.  What?  “What?”  She stood perfectly still, waiting to see if she could hear him again.

“I can explain it better later. I just picked up on how upset you were...”

She squinted.  “Picked up?  How?  How are you inside my head when I’m completely awake? How can we talk inside my head?”

She heard him chuckle again.  “Inside mine, as well.  I don’t have time right now. Are you all right?”

She laughed out loud, not knowing if he would hear it in her head too. “Clearly not!  I’m talking to a man from my dream inside my head while I’m wide awake standing in the locker room at work!”

“Jennah...”

FROM A DREAM

She wakes up in a dark hole, alone.  He’ll stop at nothing to find her.

Blurb FROM A DREAM:

Jennah has found happiness. She wasn’t looking for it but isn’t about to give it up now that she has it. Everything she craved for years was now right in front of her--a man that makes her feel cherished, a peaceful life, and a job she enjoys. It all changes when she wakes up in a dark hole, alone, unarmed and unable to connect with the one man she’s grown to need.

Dominic realizes he is one of those men that wants the whole package of marriage and a family, and he’s found the woman to have that with. He’s going stir crazy having to stay hidden until the leader of a criminal organization is caught, but he’s more than willing to stay right here with her.

All of his plans evaporate when a vindictive criminal takes her from him as a hostage. He won’t rest until she’s in his arms again.

FROM A DREAM Excerpt #1:
 

He glanced around and decided he’d better start heading back to her place. You know you’re in love when the snow in your boots doesn’t even bother you, he thought with a shake of his head.

Brody would laugh his ass off if he could see me now. A noise had him jumping to take cover behind the closest tree. He automatically reached for his gun, ready. He squatted and looked around the tree in each direction. He exhaled loudly when a rabbit, frozen in its tracks, came back to life and fled in the opposite direction. He slowly tucked his gun back into his jeans as he stood. Paranoia was definitely an issue.

Quickening his pace, he headed back, making sure he stepped in his own tracks. Jennah would laugh when he told her that he was being stalked by an assassin bunny.

“Dom!”

The panic in her voice sent him running in the direction of the building. “Babe, what is it?” He kept moving fast, his hand riding beside the gun grip now sticking up for easy reach out the bottom of his coat. “Jennah!” He reached for her and felt panic.

“Dom!”

“I’m coming!” He lengthened his strides and jumped through the snow as fast as his legs could manage.

When he reached the back door, he whipped it open and ran into the kitchen. He stopped and listened—nothing. Pulling the gun, he gripped it lightly and let his arm hang down his side. He walked out into the living room with slow movements and let all senses filter back what was around him.

When he’d almost reached the front door, he stopped, his heart lodged in his throat as he looked at the table knocked to the floor and grocery bags scattered with the contents spilled all around them.

With long strides, he was out the door and into her driveway. Her car was there. He caught movement from the corner of his eye, and he spun, gun aimed and ready. A black-capped pickup was fishtailing down the street. He ran to the end of her drive and aimed at it. Squinting, he tried to make out the plate, but there wasn’t one.

He swore and lowered the gun. It was too far, and without knowing if Jennah was in the back of it, he couldn’t take a chance on a stray shot.

Fumbling for his phone in his jacket, he flipped it open and started to walk back over his own boot prints toward the house. He punched in Brody’s number as he knelt and looked closer at the red drops in the snow. He clenched his jaw and resisted the urge to touch it. Brody answered the phone. “They got Jennah.”

AFTER THE DREAM
 

Brody believes he’s a normal man.  Tess has felt like a freak most of her life- except when she’s around one man.

Blurb AFTER THE DREAM
 

Feeling less then worthy as a normal man surrounded by a team with special skills, Brody has to wonder why he’s a part of it.  If it weren’t for one team mate being there, he’d transfer back to normalcy. 

Tess has always felt like a freak, even surrounded by others that are different she still feels like an outsider.  Only one of her team mates make her feel like an everyday person. 

AFTER THE DREAM Excerpt #1

A loud humming noise filed the room suddenly.  Looking at each other for a second, they both came to the same conclusion and headed back over to the door.  When Brody grasped the handle, the lock clicked. “Shit.”

“Someone else is here.”  Tess stared at the door.  “Did Gray happen to mention how to bypass the lock from the other side of the door?”

“Not that I recall.”  His tone expressed what he was thinking.  They were sitting ducks in here.  No way out and if anyone came through the one and only door, there was nowhere to hide.  “Try the mic again.”  Flipping his phone open, he waited for the signal bars to register; only there weren’t any.

“Mics are still static.”

“Phone has no signal either.”

He watched Tess close her eyes and when they popped open he could see the worry in them.  “We’ll just . . .”

“It’s gone.”  Panic and shock vibrated in her voice.

“What is?”  Flipping the phone closed he tucked it in his pocket.

“What I can do – I can’t feel it.”
 

Moving over, he ran his hand over the wall again. He could feel the vibrations of whatever was humming vibrating. What is this room made of?  “How do you know?”

“I just do.” 
 

The panic in her voice unnerved him in the same way it did when she over did it and almost collapsed. “Try it.”  Going over, he stood behind her and wrapped one arm lightly around her waist.  Trying to ignore the way his body liked having her this close, he lowered his voice.  “Just try.”

Letting out a loud breath, she grasped his hand and squeezed it.  He stood there waiting for that strange lightened feeling to fill him like it did when she took him from one place to another.

“Nothing,” Tess whispered with a defeated tone.

Aside from the fact that it bothered him to hear her sound that way, it suddenly dawned on him that they were stuck in the shiny room.  “Well—that’s going to complicate things a bit.”

“No kidding.”  She moved out of his arm and walked around the room.  Putting the ear piece back in, she depressed the switch on the unit attached to her vest.  “Nothing but dead air.”

Brody pulled his phone back out and walked around the room holding it out in front of him.  “Dead zone.”  Stuffing it back in his pocket he stood there with his hands on his hips and looked at the floor.  Even the floor was the polished metal.  “They’ll come looking for us if too much time passes and they haven’t heard from us.”

“That won’t help them find us.”  Moving over to the wall, she started walking along it sideways feeling over it.

CURSES
By Jacqueline Paige
Genre: Fiction / Romance / Paranormal

BEHIND THE MASK:
A TOP PICK at NIGHT OWL REVIEWS
 

Her world is calm and predictable until one night, one costume party and one sexy masked man happen.
 

Blurb for Behind the Mask
 

In a fit of temper, Gracelyn’s only sister curses her so she’s forgotten the moment anyone turns away from her. Only one thing, at an exact moment, can break the curse.  After years of failed attempts, she is forced to accept living her life completely alone.   Her world becomes calm and predictable —until one Halloween night … one costume party … and one masquerading man change everything.

BEHIND THE MASK Excerpt #1:

He froze when he stood at the bottom of the stairs. The pungent odor of dark magic filled his nostrils and put him on alert. Had it happened right here? He looked down at the bottom step and stooped to run his hand lightly over it. It was there, but it wasn’t right there. He held his hand lightly over the banister and moved slowly up the stairs. Five steps from the top, it was the strongest. Someone had used dark magic in this very spot. And chances were that the person it was used against had stood at the bottom.

He was going to have to find out what happened to the oldest sister, Faith. He didn’t know anything for certain yet, but the older women had said she was a spiteful child, and to him, that meant it often led into doing nasty things as the person got older. Had she cursed her own sister?

Evan continued up the stairs, and he checked each room carefully. Slight tinges of magic were throughout them, but nothing strong enough to gauge anything. The last room he checked brought him to a stop as he entered it. It was heavy with despair, and somehow, he knew this had been Gracie’s room. “Why did you leave?” He turned in the room slowly and then spotted a picture hanging on the wall. Frowning, he walked over and looked at it. A couple stood with their two daughters in front of them. He touched the frame gently and leaned closer so he could see in the fading light. One daughter had coal black hair, and something told him it was Faith.

He took the picture off the wall carefully and walked over to the bathroom to turn on the light and get a better look. The picture was probably five years old, judging by his guessed ages of the girls. He studied the auburn-haired girl. Even in a photo, her aura was lit with joy. She appeared graceful and carefree. It had to be Gracelyn. “Where are you?” he asked the photo.

He turned back toward the door and wandered around the room. “I’ll find you and give you back your home, Gracelyn.” Still holding the picture, he went to the back to the stairs. He had a lot of ground to cover and very little time to do it, but he knew one thing—no one was going to take this house away from that girl in the picture.

THIS RING
 

From a curse four decades old comes love and trust.
 

BLURB for This Ring:
 

Devastated Emma flees to a cabin on an isolated lake to attempt putting her life back together.   How she’s going to accomplish this she has no idea— the only thing she knows is she can’t go back and will never be able to trust again.
 

Bryce spent forty years trying to figure out how he ended up in the strange situation of not being alive or visible—it’s when he stops trying to find the answer he discovers the reason.  Feeling that deep in your soul connection with another was what he was lacking all along.  Now if he can convince the woman he feels it for, he may have a chance at living once more.
 

This Ring:

Excerpt #1

The most fascinating thing began to happen as the sun started to light the world.  It looked as if fog, or mist she supposed, was coming off the ground and shore, moving out over the water.  She sat there in awe, never having seen such a thing in her life.  It was both eerie and breathtaking all at the same time.  For a second she pondered on whether she should run back inside and get her phone to record it—but not knowing how long it would last she sat right where she was.
 

In no time the lake was covered in a blanket of mist that hovered and swirled just over the water’s surface. Emma couldn’t take her eyes off the bright white layer over the water.  Birds were oblivious to it being there as some flew from the trees to land among the haze—only to vanish from her sight.  There was something else among the white vapor; she stood to get a better look in the low light, trying to decide what it could be.
 

As her eyes focused through the misty dawn glow she dropped the cup to the sand beside her shoes.  It looked like a man; only he wasn’t quite solid looking.  Which, she knew was crazy.  Men didn’t walk out of the water.  She thought maybe he was on a boat that the fog hid, until it swirled clear around him and there was nothing but water beneath his feet. Snapping her mouth shut, she squinted and watched as he came towards the shore.  Having hallucinated more than enough, she turned abruptly and walked back towards the little cottage.  Clearly she still needed a lot more sleep.

Excerpt #2
 

All in all it had been a long tedious road to this point with no turns what so ever—until this morning when she had looked right at him with both disbelief and dismay on her face.  It may not have been a positive cosmic vibe but it was a hell of a lot more than he’d had in all the years he had been waiting and wandering.
Before he was filled with that woe feeling that plagued him daily, after all spending an eternity with no one but yourself got to you after a few years, he turned back to study her.  This hadn’t been a huge past time of his, most of the time when there were people around he wandered the other way.  After all they represented the one thing he wasn’t – there.  With her though it was different, she was somehow different than all the others.  What was it about her?
 

There wasn’t anything in particular that stood out about her.  She seemed to be an average height and build. He pinned her age somewhere close to thirty that much about women hadn’t changed that he couldn’t guess an age range and be pretty close to right.  Her hair was a mousy brown, for lack of a better way to describe it, and she had it all chopped up like scissors had randomly been placed wherever and cut—he liked it, it was original.  Of course he didn’t know what the current in thing was, so it may not be all that original.  He wasn’t close enough to see her eyes, but thinking about when they were huge and staring in his direction, he was fairly certain they were brown.  So she was very much average across the scales—but what was it about her that just kept him sitting here on this rock, not that he felt his body against it, watching her.
 

There were choices here, at least a few.  He could sit here and continue doing what he was doing until night came, bringing morning closer.  That would get a few bits past boring if she went back inside again and didn’t return.  The second option was to go wander around the lake and pass the time with more speed than he was doing now.  Grinning, he shook his head—because making time go faster had worked out so well for him in the last decade, or two.

AUTHOR BIO:

I'm not even sure how long I sat here looked at the "About me" section ... in a few short paragraphs I'm to explain who I am and how I got here.  Really, does anyone enjoy writing about themself?  I write fiction for a reason, and maybe my 'normal' life is part of that reason.

Okay lets see ...

This is the polished and pretty bio blurb I use - it's far more interesting than reality.

I'm a world class multi-tasker, a mother to five adventurous and unpredictable children, a cafe manager that thrives in the chaos and have a colossal imagination that allows me to step outside of reality and into a world of paranormal romance - with just a touch of suspense.

My first book was published in 2009 and since then have had six published, with the most recent being the first in my Hidden Senses Trilogy – Mystic Perceptions and Salvation and Twice Cursed.

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

Giveaway is for 1 signed copy (winner's choice of either Dreams or Curses) to one entrant from the whole tour.  1 pdf copy (of either Dreams or Curses) per week chosen from all stops.

-Use the entry from here to enter.

-To earn an extra entry into the giveaway, please make a comment on this post and include you're email with your comment.

-Giveaway will end on 11/21 at 11:59 PM