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Sunday, June 3, 2012

Blog Tour ~ ENTANGLED (Spellbound #1) by Nikki Jefford

Welcome to The Bookish Babe's stop on the ENTANGLED Blog Tour. My stop on the tour includes a guest post from the lovely Nikki Jefford, all the information you need to find her books, and a giveaway! But first, take a look at ENTANGLED.

Entangled (Spellbound #1)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.)


And Then There Were Two


 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.


**Thanks to Nikki for this very cool, entertaining post.**

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:

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:

12 comments:

  1. I loved Entangled and I can't wait to read Duplicity.
    I, personally, prefer reading trilogies or stand alones only. When series start to drag, it really annoys me. I'm glad that Spellbound will be a trilogy although I'll be sad to see it end.
    Great post, Andrea and Nikki ! :)

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  2. This is a great guest post, I enjoyed reading about how you came up with book 2 and 3, Nikki!

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  3. I agree, great post, Nikki! :-) I love learning more about the genius behind the book! I can't wait to read Enchantment!!

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  4. Great post!! I love the cover for Entangled. It was interesting reading how this became a trilogy. Sounds like a great series. I will have to check it out.

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  5. Firstly, that cover rocks. I love the icey-ness of it all.

    I like the sound of Entangled especially because it's story sounds so unique. I can only imagine how tough Gray and Charlene have had it, being twins means always sharing and being counted together vs. separately, but having to share the same body... wow! That sounds like a new type of hellish sisterly relationship. Haha.

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  6. I love the cover. Once again, you have come up with a book that I've never heard of but sounds interesting.

    Also love Nikki's shout-out to Buffy. I also think it got better every year but so many people don't agree.

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  7. I still need to read this one! I have had it for months and with the second book now out I need to jump on and read about witches. Most YA authors never try that topic because Harry Potter but now that that series is over and has been over for a little while it will be great to see authors use this topic again.

    Thanks for the great post!

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  8. Amazing post :) !! I didn't know the Spellbound series was at first a novella :) !!
    I'd have loved to read your vampire slayer book Nikki !! Hugs !

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  9. This cover is possessing..i love it! Cool stop!

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  10. Wow, great post! I love the premise of the story, and the cover is to die for! I will definitely check this one out . . . in July when it's available through B&N. :)

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  11. My first thoughts... --- that bitch has got a major dandruff problem.

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  12. I just peed. I'm back.

    I love the rose though. White roses are my fav. I used them in my wedding with other various white flowers.

    did you read this one? It looks interesting. Not sure if it's what I'm in the mood for at the moment but I'll for sure add it to my list.

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