Author Spotlight: J.K. Coi

AL: Thank you so much J.K. for joining me today. You’re my first author on my blog and I want to thank you again for your helpful suggestions along with the other Linden Bay authors. So, let me hop right in and ask; what new releases do you have for us to read?

JK: Hi Ann! Thanks for inviting me to your blog. I’m very happy to be here. And as to the advice I gave you—if it helped, then I’m glad and please make sure to tell everyone how awesome I am (Remember, singing monkeys—you can’t go wrong). But, um...If it doesn’t help, then I guess I should tell you that I get all my ideas from Samantha Sommersby (lol)

AL: What new works are you deep into?

JK: I’ve just finished the last of my edits on Dark Immortal, book 3 of my Immortal Series, and I’m deep into book 4, Forever Immortal, a first draft of which I hope to have complete before Dark Immortal releases in mid-February.

AL: Tell us about the Immortal Series. What inspired you to write about hell’s monsters and those gorgeous warriors that protect us?

JK: Hmm, why do I write about demons and monsters? Well, they do say “write what you know”... And in fact, that’s not entirely a joke. I was reading stuff like Stephen King by the time I was in grade 3 or 4, and I devoured all of Anne Rice’s vampire books in one summer when I was 14. The genre has been in my blood for as long as I can remember, and the first time I picked up a pen to put a story to paper (in grade 9 English class), it was with that kind of plot in mind. Now the hot immortal warriors...well that’s just good marketing. *grin*

AL: Was My Immortal the first book you ever wrote? Or do you have other works out there finished, or (in my case) unfinished that we don’t know about?

JK: Yes, My Immortal was my first full length book. But my first publication was for some poetry a few years before that, and I’ve won some awards for my short stories. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have any unfinished works. Two Novembers ago, for NaNoWriMo, I started to work on a post-apocalyptic romance and got about 7,000 words in before I changed my mind and wrote something different. I still want to finish that book, but at the time, it just wasn’t the story calling to me the loudest.

AL: Who is the author(s) that inspired you to write?

JK: I’ve had many inspirations for my writing, but I think I really made the decision to seriously try it after my mother told me that she’d been writing a book of her own. I figured it was something that we might have in common and I also thought that if she could do it, I could at least give it a shot.

AL: Who is a great example to you and how you live your life?

JK: A tightrope walker? Actually, I honestly try not to compare my life to anyone else’s. What works for some people doesn’t necessarily work for me and my family. I’m the only woman in the house and my husband and son are demanding, yet understanding. I try to be there for them as much as I can. But on top of that, I am devoted to my writing and I work a full-time day job, so I have to be very careful with my schedule.

AL: When you’re not writing what activities do you like to do?

JK: I love to do stained glass! It’s like my second—no, third—maybe fourth passion. Usually when I’m stuck on a plot point, or I’m looking for distractions, I’ll raise a suggestive eyebrow hubby’s way...but after that if I’m still stumped I go out to the garage and start cutting glass. There’s something very relaxing about creating a piece of art from all the different pieces of colourful glass. Then, when it’s finished you have something so beautiful—and when the light shines through...Wow!

AL: Pretend for a moment you’re stranded on a deserted island and the ship won’t be able to come get you for several weeks. You’ve already made your shelter out of sturdy logs and palm leaves. You have enough vegetation and if you’re a carnivore, you got that sticky pig running a mock with your hand made spear, and you don’t have to worry about water because you found a fresh water spring further inland. What are three things you would have to have so as not to go insane from boredom as you wait to be rescued?

JK: LOL. Survival’s not an issue, so basically you’re saying pretend you’re on vacation without the benefit of room service. What would I do? I guess that would depend on a number of things. Have I managed to save my ereader? Is there internet? (God, I’m hopeless) Oh...do I have the two Davids (David Beckham and David Boreanaz) fighting over me and bringing me coconuts?

AL: What favorite movie or T.V. show makes you hunker down on the sofa and settle in for the night?

JK: Given the above, it’s probably no surprise that Bones is my favourite show. I definitely wouldn’t miss it for anything less than a seriously looming deadline—and maybe even then I’d have to beg for an extra day’s grace on the deadline.

AL: Please share a favorite quote, any quote that stands out to you.

JK: Okay, you asked for it. I’m giving you my favourite Buffy the Vampire Slayer quotes...and you can’t do just one Buffy quote. It’s like, sacrilegious to make me choose:

Buffy: Spike, I just saw you taste your own nose blood. You know what? I'm too grossed out to hear anything you have to say. Go home.

Spike: It's blood. It's what I do!

-----

Buffy: [pulls a glowing orb out of her bag] What the hell is it?

Giles: It appears to be paranormal in origin.

Willow: How can you tell?

Giles: Well, it's so shiny.

-----

Oz: Well, I sorta test well. Y'know, which is cool. Except that it leads to jobs.

-----

Willow: Oh, I don't know, though. He is a senior.

Buffy: You think he's too old 'cause he's a senior? Please. My boyfriend had a bicentennial.

-----

Spike: No more of this 'I've got a soul' crap?

Angelus: What can I say, hmm? I was going through a phase.

-----

Spike: You've really got a yen to hurt this girl, haven't you?

Angelus: She made me feel like a human being. That's not the kind of thing you just forgive.

-----

Angelus: Dear Buffy. I'm still trying to decide the best way to send my regards.
Spike: Why don't you rip her lungs out? It might make an impression.
Angelus: Lacks... poetry.
Spike: It doesn't have to. What rhymes with lungs?

-----

Buffy: You know, it’s not even that he’s acting that suspicious. It’s just - there he is. On the hell mouth. All day, every day. That’s got to be like being showered with evil. Only from underneath. Willow: Not really a shower.
Buffy: A bidet. Like a bidet of evil.


AL: Thank you so much J.K. for participating in the “Year of the Blog”. I do appreciate it.

JK: Thanks so much for having me, Ann! I had a lot of fun.

Please visit me at my website for more information about upcoming books, chats, interviews, reviews, and all things Immortal. I’m also on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/jkcoi and I blog at http://www.jkcoi.blogspot.com/.

J.K. Coi
Immortals to Die For
http://www.jkcoi.com/
Dark Immortal (Book 3, Immortal Series)...February, 2009



AL: Please enjoy this blurb and excerpt from J.K.'s book Dark Immortal coming soon:





Dark Immortal (Book 3, Immortal Series)...

Blurb and Excerpt (coming February 2009):

Evil lurks in the darkest of shadows, but a band of warriors stands ready to defend humanity against hell’s own monsters—Immortal men hand-picked by destiny and taken out of time hold the fate of the world in their hands.

How do you know the woman of your dreams would still love you if all the circumstances which brought you together no longer existed? How do you know she would still want you if the memory of your love was wiped away and the only thing left was fear and pain? How could you ask her to stay if all she could see was the monster inside of you, the monster that gets harder and harder to contain?

After one hundred years of torture, trapped underground in darkness and isolation, Alric was visited by an angel. Diana. Beautiful. Strong. Brave. She released him from his prison and saved him from the insanity of his own mind, offering him the kind of love only a fool would ever deny.

When a vampire’s attack leaves Diana broken and comatose, locked deep inside of herself where Alric can’t reach her, he blames himself for failing to protect her. He can only hope that giving her time to heal will eventually bring her back to him...but it seems that time is not on their side.

------------------------------------------

Alric lifted a hand to her face, lightly trailing a curled finger down her cheek. Callused and rough, but warm on her skin.

She started, her gaze jerking back up to his. His hand was too large, like the rest of him. She knew very well there was little she could do if he decided to use that size and strength against her.

And so did he.

It should scare the crap out of her, but even so, she didn’t pull back from him.

He touched her with such gentle care, almost trepidation. As if he were more afraid of her, of what she might do, than she was of him. Curiosity rode her. If by some fantastical twist of fate this man was telling her the truth, then she would know from his kiss.

Won’t I?

More to the point, if he kissed her and she felt nothing, then they would both know it. She would be able to put aside the ridiculous uncertainty that continued to torment her once and for all, and maybe he would even let her go.

His gaze shifted to her mouth before he closed the distance. Warm, firm...but light. He was giving her all the time in the world to reject his touch and pull away. When she didn’t do so immediately, he groaned and leaned in closer. There was nothing demanding in his kiss, and yet she felt as if she were being marked, as if this one kiss could break down all of her walls and leave her shivering and vulnerable.

“Diana.” He murmured her name as if it were made to be uttered in his deep voice, his breath stealing between her slightly parted lips. His hand curved around the back of her head, holding her to him with the gentlest of tethers as he slid his tongue across her lips.

The kiss changed. From soft and unthreatening, to one that hungered—and dared her to feed the hunger. Accept it. Crave it.

Oh God.