Twin witches Graylee and Charlene Perez agree on one rule: No dating warlocks. Not so easy when a certain rogue warlock is convinced he and Graylee belong together and will use anything, including magic, to try and impress Gray. When Charlene’s boyfriend dumps her, she threatens to kill either herself or the girl who stole Blake. Somehow, Gray ends up dead. A Resurrection Spell Gone Wrong: Two months after dying, Gray wakes up in Charlene’s body. As a witch, can anyone blame her mother for attempting to bring her daughter back to life? Only now Gray’s stuck sharing her sister’s body 50/50 in twenty-four hour shifts. The race is on for Gray to find a way back inside her own body before Charlene purges her from existence. Raj McKenna is rumored to meddle in the black arts, not to mention he’s after Gray’s invisibility spell and worse – her heart. But Raj might be the only one powerful enough to save Gray from fading away forever.~From GoodReads
The Making of a
Series
Three Times a
Charm
I’m very touched by
the requests to expand the Spellbound trilogy, but I’ve seen what happens when
series are dragged out for the sake of continuation. Many of my favorite TV
shows have gone noticeably downhill after season three. This isn’t always the
case, of course. (Friends and Buffy improved each season.)
Entangled was
initially a standalone title. Let me back up. It began as a novella for a
group project. As I outlined the story, it became obvious real quick that I had
a full length novel on my hands. I actually wrote the book first then chopped it
up to get it into novella length. (No easy feat let me tell you.)
I “stole” the above
line from a review of Duplicity at The Coffee Pot because I love it so much.
(http://freshcoffeespot.blogspot.com/2012/05/duplicity-spellbound-2.html)
It didn’t make sense
to invest so much time and money in Entangled without a follow-up so last fall I
wracked my brain for ideas. I really had to stretch my imagination. I mean,
what’s wilder than twins stuck in the same body? Try duplicate Grays!
This also gave me a
chance to deal with all the unfinished business from book one.
I love new challenges.
Writing from the POV of “Gray” and “Lee” was definitely unusual. Some chapter
rearranging occurred in the editing stages to cut back on confusion, but beyond
that there wasn’t much else that could be done short of removing one Gray
altogether.
Third and
Final
I had to pull
Enchantment out of a hat. I felt obligated to make Spellbound a trilogy.
Whoever heard of a two book “series”?
Outlining really
helped. Before writing one word of Duplicity, I saw that once more I was left
with loose ends that needed tying up.
And speaking of tying
up, check out a steamy scene from Enchantment over at Lili Lost in a Book. I
know most people don’t like spoilers (unless you’re me and you have A.D.D.), but
I think this is just a fun scene that doesn’t give anything particular away. A
glimpse if you will.
http://lili-lost-in-a-book.blogspot.com/)
The new challenge with
Enchantment is not to let the romance writer in me get too carried away (YA
alert!), but also not to water the story down so much the flame fizzles
out.
That and work Charlene
back into the story for one final showdown between the twins.
What’s
Next?
I don’t want the
Spellbound series to end, either. *sniff* Then again, Spellbound turned into a
very long break from a vampire slayer series I started last spring. The
first book was finished over a year ago and edited several times. Then a beta
reader compared the training scenes to Divergent (which I hadn’t heard of at the
time).
I bought a copy of
Divergent last fall, read it, and was like, ‘How the heck can I possibly publish
my novel when this thing is so freakin’ awesome?’ So, I set it aside.
I had to remind myself
that my book is a completely different type of story (vampires in Alaska!) and
my writing a different style. I refuse to let Veronica Roth intimidate me, even
if she is a genius.
Giveaway
Enter to win the SPELLBOUND SWAG PACK
(International)
· Evil Eye Amulet and Bracelet: In
Duplicity, Gray wears an evil eye pendant, also known as a nazar, to
protect herself from a spell that’s causing havoc over the witches and warlocks
in her coven. The evil eye (a Turkish amulet) is used for both luck and
protection against envy.
· Two Headed Quarter: Two Grays are
better than none and two heads are better than one, especially when flipping
over who gets to choose which movie to watch with a trick coin. Adrian returns
in Duplicity and opens a magic shop.
· Entangled bookmark
Don’t miss the Cover Reveal of book three,
Enchantment, at designer Najla Qamber’s review site: Unputdownable Books
on June 7th.
Extras:
Entangled book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZnDgYFCVVw
Duplicity book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCwY_Mj_Syk
Buy links:
You can purchase ENTANGLED at Amazon
(Entangled is available for ebook at
amazon. It will return to Barnes & Noble and Smashwords once KDP select ends
July 15, 2012.)
You can purchase DUPLICITY at:
About:
Nikki Jefford is
a third generation Alaskan who found paradise in the not-so-tropical San Juan
Islands where she is, once more, neighbors with Canada. She has a B.A. in
journalism from the University of Alaska Anchorage and was a reporter before
returning to her first love: fiction.
After a whirlwind romance in France, Nikki
married Sébastien in March
2000. They reside with Cosmo the wonder Westie.
Find her at:
