Hey readers, Ethan here with a awesome post for you guys today. All of my regular readers known that we here at One Guy's Guide to Good Reads LOVE Julie Wetzel. Everything this woman writes is literary gold! That being said, I am super pumped to share today's post with you all. Today I am hosting my stop on the blog tour for Julie's newest novel, One the Accidental Wings of Dragons. Today's post will feature some promotional material as well as an exclusive interview with Julie! What are we waiting for? Here's a bit about the novel and our author:
Title: On the Accidental Wings of Dragons
Series: The Dragons of Eternity #1
Author: Julie Wetzel
Published: June 9th, 2015
Publisher: Crimson Tree Publishing
Genre: NA Romantic Fantasy
Content Warning: Violence, language, sexual content
Synopsis: When Michael Duncan is sent to investigate the disappearance of several dragon subjects, he finds himself in a bind. Locked in a dungeon, his only hope lies wrapped in a bundle of cloth tossed at his feet. One kiss and his life is changed forever. Hunted by his own people for crimes he didn’t commit, Michael has to learn a whole new life at the hands of a beautiful woman. Can she help him clear his name, or will just being in her presence get him sentenced to death?
Carissa Markel doesn’t know who this man chained to the wall is, but he’s her only chance for escape. She has power, but, born without a voice, she lacks the means to wield it. One choice, made in desperation, sends them running for his life. Does she have the strength to help him clear his name? And what will her brother, the King of Dragons, do if he finds out what she’s done? That’s immaterial, the real question is… can she keep her hands off him long enough to find out?
About the Author:
Originally from Ohio, Julie always dreamed of a job in science. Either shooting for the stars or delving into the mysteries of volcanoes. But, life never leads where you expect. In 2007, she moved to Mississippi to be with her significant other.
Now a mother of a hyperactive red headed boy, what time she’s not chasing down dirty socks and unsticking toys from the ceiling is spent crafting worlds readers can get lost it. Julie is a self-proclaimed bibliophile and lover of big words. She likes hiking, frogs, interesting earrings, and a plethora of other fun things.
Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads
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Exclusive Interview with Julie Wetzel
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Exclusive Interview with Julie Wetzel
Thank you so much for answering these interview questions for me. You know I am a huge fan of your work, so having the opportunity to host an interview with you is a great honor. Working alongside you and the CTP team is a privilege!
1. This Dragons of Eternity series introduces the reader to the world of Paranormal Fiction, where mystic fantasy exists among every day life. What was your inspiration for such a unique plot?
I’m not sure if I would consider this a unique plot; a lot
of books have paranormal elements that exist in a real world setting. I like to
sit in my local coffee shot and watch people as they come and go. There are so
many different individuals, it’s hard not to sit there and wonder if they could
be something other than human. I just took that basic concept and made it more
real.
2. This series deals with some mature themes such as love, death, and accepting responsibility, how difficult was it to write about these, very real, issues? What themes do you hope the readers take away from this series?
You know, it’s harder to answer this question than it was to
write this book. This is going to sound really bad, but I didn’t think about
the impact of these issues when writing the story. Yes, they hold key points in
the overall narrative, but stopping to consider how those points would affect
the reader didn’t even cross my mind. I know a lot of authors write with a
particular lesson in mind, but this was written during the time I was sending
my sister stories to keep her from getting board on ship. It was meant to be an
escape and that’s really what I hope people take away from the series. I want to
entertain them on rainy day and give them a place to get away from the grind of
the daily life for a while.
3. If you, like Michael (who becomes a dragon-shifter), could become a fantastical shape-shifter yourself, which creature would you choose? Why?
I would definitely pick a dragon. And why? HELLO! DRAGON! Do
you know the fun you could have with that. Flying. Fire. And threating to eat
people when they piss you off would hold so much more weight. Yeah, I could do
that. Now where did I put that ketchup bottle?
4. While all of your works exist under the paranormal genre, this one takes it one step further and dives into the high-fantasy genre. How did the shift affect your writing experience?
Now you’re making me think. I hadn’t realized that adding
dragons moved the piece from paranormal to high-fantasy. Since the dragons are
shifters, I wrote them as I would any other shifters; two halves that make up a
whole. The only thing I really had to envision was how you got an eight hundred
pound dragon in the body of a man, but I ignored the science in that one. Magic
makes everything work out. And the writing experience was pretty much the same.
I put down on paper what popped into my head. If it made sense, it stayed. If
not, we took a nap and tried it again.
5. Can you tell us a little about your writing process? What, if any, research went into crafting this particular story? What inspiration for the story were you able to draw from your own life?
Well… My writing process is pretty simple. Most of this
story came out while I was sleeping. After I got my son off to school in the
morning, I would sit down at my pc and word dump. Once I got a section written,
I would shoot it off to my sister so she would have something to keep her
entertained for the day. Later, she would email me her feedback and I would
correct it accordingly. As for inspiration for this story that was drawn from
real life. Lots. In all of my stories I draw from experiences I’ve had in my
life. A few of the characters are mimics of some of the people I know because
they badgered me into putting them into my stories (You know who you are so
stop heckling me to make you dragons!). Some of the situational events are
taken from reality. I’ve led a very
exposed life where I’ve seen and done many unusual things. It makes for great
reading and is also why my nickname is ‘well of useless knowledge’. Oh and
research… I’m always online looking little things up to make sure I have the
facts right, but I really didn’t do any research for this book (see nickname…
that is not ‘Bookshelf’).
6. I’ve heard from numerous authors that writing fantasy is the hardest of all genres. Unlike others, you not only have to create an entire world, you also have to govern your entire world (creating histories, worlds, cultures, etc). What advice do you have for an aspiring fantasy author? Also, coming off of question four a bit, which genre do you prefer to write in?
I can see this. You do have to make up the world and the
rules to govern it, but I’m not doing that much more than what a paranormal
writer would do. Yes, there are established cannon for most paranormal
creatures, but you still have to decide if those rules work for you and when
they are safe to break. In my fantasy world, I base most of the rules on
reality and tweak things to fit the history. In all honesty, I broke one of the
major rules/suggestions of writing in fantasy; know your world and stick to the
rules. I jumped right into this story not even knowing where my dragons came
from or how they would work. This is a terrible move for a fantasy writer. I’m
now having issues with conforming to the guild lines I set in the first book.
Heck, this was originally supposed to be a one book adventure, but you know how
things change. Anyway, there are ways to get around awkward rules. Sometimes
rules are just meant to be twisted. And that is the best piece of advice I could
give any fantasy author; know how your world should work before you let your
characters explore. You don’t have to have it etched in stone, but some kind of
roughly hacked path will go a long way to making sure you aren’t having to make
crap up in your fourth book… like I am doing now. As to what genre do I prefer to write in… I
hadn’t realized there was a difference until you pointed it out just now! Both
are amazingly fun.
7. What can we expect next from the mind of Julie Wetzel? You’ve already tackled Dragons and Vamps, what’s next?
Next from the mind of Julie Wetzel… fluff and earwax! Oh
wait, you said MIND not HEAD. Okay. Well I have a few irons in the fire (or
files taking up space on my hard drive), but I really need to finish off the
Kindling Flames series and the Dragons of Eternity before heading into another
realm. But, to give you a few hints as to what might be coming out. I have a
short story in a time travel anthology that would spin off into a great sci-fi
series. I’ve got a few one shot contemporary romance novels, a spin off series
from Kindling Flames (lord knows there are enough characters in that one to
spin off a series or five), a love story featuring Arawn (the Welsh lord of the
dead), and one where the main character accidently signs up to be a reaper of
souls (thank you Holly Kelly for that wonderful picture suggestion). The sad
part is, they are all started, I just need to find the time to finish them. So
who do I talk to about adding a few more hours into the day?
Thank you so much again for allowing me to be part of this incredible tour. You know how much I love collaborating with you!
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Crimson Tree Publishing Links:
(An adult division of Clean Teen)
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway. Prizes include the following:
- A bookmark swag pack, winner’s choice of any Clean Teen Publishing eBook, and a $15 Amazon Gift Card.
Giveaway is International.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Well guys, that's it for my blog tour stop. What'd you think? Sounds like an incredible read! What about that interview? Julie Wetzel sure is an incredible lady all the way around. Can't say enough awesome things about her. Huge shout to Julie, Crimson Tree Publishing, and the team over at Juniper Grove Book Solutions for allowing me to participate in this tour today. Until next time, Happy Reading!
-Ethan
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