What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?
I like to draw. I do my own book covers, including illustrations and other art. You’ll see lots of art popping up in my feed when I’m not busy writing.
What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
What down time? Ha ha ha. I have two young boys, a fly-in-fly-out husband, I volunteer at the Romance Writers of Australia, work part time in a bookstore and do freelance graphic design. But I read and watch my favourite TV shows like Arrow, Flash, anything superhero or paranormal—just like the books I like to read.
What is your Favorite part of writing?
The aha moment when you come up with a concept or hook that drives the rest of the story and the ideas keep flowing. Usually, this happens to me when I’m listening to music.
Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
Thanks to another author friend of mine, I now listen to the same set of music every time I sit down to write. What this does is remind my brain of the state of flow it was in the last time it heard the music and put me in that same flow straight away so the words come quicker. I listen to classical or piano music of popular songs.
What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?
Ilona Andrews was the one who started me off with her Kate Daniels series. I also love Nalini Singh’s Archangel series and Darynda Jone’s Charlie Davidson series. I picked a few more of my favourite in the Fall in Love with Urban Fantasy Giveaway I’m hosting at my website http://lanapecherczyk.com/giveaways/soulthing/
How would you pitch The Game of Gods Series to someone who has not heard of it before?
Evolution is the Game, Gods are the Players, Humans are the Avatars and Witches are the Glitch.
Roo Urser has the same powers as the enemy and must hide her true nature for fear of being burned at the stake. But when a devilishly handsome hunter comes to down, she learns there are darker things that go bump in the night, and she might be one of them. Soon, staying safe is a constant struggle. Sometimes safe is a never-ending game.
Can you tell us a little bit about the world that The Game of Gods series is set in?
The Game of Gods series is set in an alternate world similar to ours in the not too distant future. Gods download their souls into earthly bodies so they can live a hundred times over and play a game to the death in the shadows of the human world. They didn’t count on witches evolving and the mayhem that ensued. Humans discovered these witches and burned as many as they could until they believed they won. But witches weren’t defeated, only hidden, as were the gods. And this is where my series starts off—a girl who has no idea where her powers cam from but ends up knowing she’s a cross between the powerful gods and the evil witches.
Do you have a favorite scene in Soul Thing?
Oh there are so many. The first time Roo meets Cash, the first time she meets the cockney egotistical god-of-the-in-between, or the first time all the pieces of the puzzle start to slot together after a witch attempts to kill her. But one of my favorite by far is when her new powers overwhelm her and she realises this god thing isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Roo can sense the energy of all living things, and when she’s at a party with hundreds of people dancing, this energy affects her in a very unusual way. It was so much fun to write. I love putting my characters in awkward, funny and dangerous situations.
Which one character out of all your books was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
My favorite is Marc who is the Gamekeeper and the god-of-the-in-between. He was loosely based on a series of gods from different myths that all have a link. I wanted it to seem like these myths were steeped in a single race of beings that had visited our planet thousands of years ago. I researched Hermes, Loki and Thoth. Marc ended up having a larger than life personality that simply took over the page every time he appeared. I loved this character so much that I wrote a short novel (coming out in March titled The Devil Inside) that features a story told from his point of view and the other main hero, Cash. He’s hilarious, clever and socially inept at the same time. A bit like Lucifer from the TV show.
The hardest to write about was the villain. Finding the right sinister motivations and tying it all together so that it fits into the overarching series plot was harder than I anticipated. Hopefully Petra and another villain I won’t mention (spoiler alert) come off evil enough to have you hating them but feeling sorry for them at the same time.
What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
I have three more books in The Game of Gods series to come out by May this year. Then after that I’m working on a superhero romance that’s Batman meets The Black-Dagger Brotherhood series and is called The Deadly Seven. It’s based around a disgraced group of vigilantes who each have the power to sense deadly levels of sin before a crime is about to be committed. To avoid falling prey to the sin they fight, they must find a soul-mate who embodies the exact opposite of their sin. Easier said than done when they have to protect a world that has lost faith in them.
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When she’s not writing the next great novel, or wrangling the rug rats, or rescuing GI Joe from the jaws of her Kelpie, she fights evil by moonlight, wins love by daylight and never runs from a real fight.
You can find her books on Amazon and other good online retailers.
Find Lana and her books
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Soul ThingThe Game of Gods #1
Amazon
Evolution is the Game, Witches are the GlitchExcerpt#1
After a decade long war, witches have been obliterated, or so the world thinks. A precarious peace settles and, for the small town of Margaret River, life returns to normal, but for Roo, the hard work is just beginning.
Roo works at the local bar, is a little facetious and can’t wait to high-tail it out of there to keep her powers secret. She’s not certain where they came from but the last thing she wants is to be burned at the stake. Hiding in plain sight seems to work until Cash, a darkly handsome hunter, arrives with disaster in his wake. Witches aren’t defeated, only hidden, and there’s one gunning for Roo and her family. The recent war only touched the surface of the preternatural world and with Cash’s help, Roo learns there are worse things that go bump in the night... and she might be one of them.
Soon she must make a choice—risk exposure to save her loved ones, or remain hidden and safe. But sometimes safe isn’t an option. Sometimes safe is a never-ending game.
Sooner or later I had to stop feeling guilty about killing my mother. I had
no memory of it, and I was a baby when it happened. As if I could control it. It
was time I started thinking of myself.
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, I thought as I curled my fingers into fists and punched the air. Now or never. I rounded the corner to the kitchen and planted my feet squarely in front of Aunt Lucy. “I’m moving out,” I blurted.
Aunt Lucy turned, eyes blinking. She wore colorless clothing to match her gray hair, and never used makeup. The only inspiring thing about her appearance was her glass bauble necklace. She pulled her arms out of the sudsy sink and tapped her gloved fingers on the porcelain bowl. The action sent baubles clinking and a tiny waft of lavender perfume floating my way. Deliberately, slowly, she removed her second skin, one finger at a time and then dabbed her hands with a tea towel. Despite her careful charade, thoughts collided behind her steely gaze.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said through gritted teeth.
I took a step back and darted a glance at my sister, Leila, as she sat at the grand table reading the newspaper. The ghost of a smile danced across her delicate features but she covered it with a sip of coffee, then turned the page, pointing to an article in an evasive gesture. “Oh, look at this one,” she said.
Ignoring her, I held up my key. “I’m not being ridiculous. Kitty’s leasing her apartment and I can move as soon as my probation is over. I’m half packed.”
Leila spat coffee everywhere and then grimaced at her accident. She slammed her mug down. “Now, look what you’ve made me do. I wish I had a normal sister.”
I snatched a towel from the rack and mopped up her mess. “Yeah, well I wish my sister didn’t hate my guts for something I can’t control—”
“Uh, uh. We’re not going there.” Aunt Lucy cut me off, raised a finger, and then turned her back on me to help Leila dry her precious clippings. “What did you find today, sweet-heart?”
My jaw dropped. I’d given her monumental news, and she’d turned her back on me.
“Look at this one.” Leila tapped an article. “The Church is recalling their latest safeguard against witch possession. Apparently, there was a faulty part in the device or something. It would be nice for them to get one invention right, don’t you think? And this one, see?” She held up another clipping. “The DNA test used to identify maleficent victims isn’t accurate because there haven’t been enough cases of possession over the last four years to benchmark—you know, since the Purge.”
“Tsk, tsk, such a shame.” Aunt Lucy rubbed Leila’s shoulder affectionately. “Never mind, sweet, it could be a good thing. Only a few possessions in four years isn’t bad. But just in case, we’ll continue to go to church like they told us. It’s worked so far, right? We’ve never seen a witch in town.”
Leila hummed in agreement.
I scowled at them. A woman moving out of home was not to be taken lightly. Witches attacked females—it had something to do with our higher estrogen levels—but like Leila said, since they’d burned half the female population in the Purge, there were few cases of possession. The world had relaxed and being a woman wasn’t so bad anymore.
I waved the key in the air. “Um hello? Did you hear what I said? I’m moving out.”
“You stubborn girl.” Aunt Lucy shook her head at me. “You’ll be labeled a whore, just like your friend. I should never let you have that job at that devil’s playground. It’s caused nothing but problems.” She pulled off her headband and threw it on the counter, releasing her gray hair from its captivity.
Did she just call Kitty a whore? Hang on—did she called me a whore?
“After all, I’ve done for you,” she continued. “I housed you when your father abandoned you, I put up with your criminal ways, I even let you get a job when there’s so much to do here at the vineyard. You’re going to throw it all in my face and leave a week before the food festival.” The tenacity of her words caused a coughing fit, she wheezed and spluttered into a quickly grasped tissue. The sour stench of smoker’s breath hit me moments before her pungent lavender perfume. I flinched and tried not to screw up my face. The bad-girl smoker habit was such a contrast to her drab, gray attire. Seriously, brush your teeth.
With shaky hands, she reached for a glass of water and took a sip. Aunt Lucy ran her boutique vineyard estate with an iron fist, but quit smoking? Impossible. She downed the water in gulps and held up a finger indicating the conversation wasn’t over. When she finished, she busied herself with drying the dishes. The muscles in her shoulders and neck grew rigid as she mulled over her next words. Finally, she picked up a spoon, and waved it at me. “That sin-bin you work at is just a lawsuit waiting to happen.” She opened the cutlery drawer and slammed the spoon in place. “I can’t believe it was allowed to open in the first place.”
Leila snorted in sympathy.
In an effort not to roll my eyes, I stared at the sparkling black and white checked floor. There she goes again, spouting her devil nonsense.
“The Cauldron,” I said, “is not a ‘sin-bin’ or a ‘devil’s playground.’ It’s a legitimate establishment where people can enjoy a drink or a meal, and learn about the history of witches.”
Leila laughed. “You can’t be serious, Roo. It’s a mockery; they poke fun at the myth, not teach the reality.” Her last words came through a clenched jaw and she shuddered.
It was true. The Cauldron was a clichéd, witch-themed bar. It resembled something from Halloween, and served cocktails like ‘The Holy Grail’ and ‘Brew to Forget.’ Taxidermy crows peered down at you as you ate, but it was harmless fun. And I felt at home there.
I shrugged. “If it makes people feel safe and confident they have one up on witches, who cares? I get paid, and all I have to do is serve drinks and look pretty with this thing hanging around my neck.” I flicked my slick UV-liquid filled probation collar. It made me special. “I’m accepted for who I am. Besides, it’s coming off in a few weeks and I’ll be free to do what I want. Everyone with opinions can bite me.”
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, I thought as I curled my fingers into fists and punched the air. Now or never. I rounded the corner to the kitchen and planted my feet squarely in front of Aunt Lucy. “I’m moving out,” I blurted.
Aunt Lucy turned, eyes blinking. She wore colorless clothing to match her gray hair, and never used makeup. The only inspiring thing about her appearance was her glass bauble necklace. She pulled her arms out of the sudsy sink and tapped her gloved fingers on the porcelain bowl. The action sent baubles clinking and a tiny waft of lavender perfume floating my way. Deliberately, slowly, she removed her second skin, one finger at a time and then dabbed her hands with a tea towel. Despite her careful charade, thoughts collided behind her steely gaze.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said through gritted teeth.
I took a step back and darted a glance at my sister, Leila, as she sat at the grand table reading the newspaper. The ghost of a smile danced across her delicate features but she covered it with a sip of coffee, then turned the page, pointing to an article in an evasive gesture. “Oh, look at this one,” she said.
Ignoring her, I held up my key. “I’m not being ridiculous. Kitty’s leasing her apartment and I can move as soon as my probation is over. I’m half packed.”
Leila spat coffee everywhere and then grimaced at her accident. She slammed her mug down. “Now, look what you’ve made me do. I wish I had a normal sister.”
I snatched a towel from the rack and mopped up her mess. “Yeah, well I wish my sister didn’t hate my guts for something I can’t control—”
“Uh, uh. We’re not going there.” Aunt Lucy cut me off, raised a finger, and then turned her back on me to help Leila dry her precious clippings. “What did you find today, sweet-heart?”
My jaw dropped. I’d given her monumental news, and she’d turned her back on me.
“Look at this one.” Leila tapped an article. “The Church is recalling their latest safeguard against witch possession. Apparently, there was a faulty part in the device or something. It would be nice for them to get one invention right, don’t you think? And this one, see?” She held up another clipping. “The DNA test used to identify maleficent victims isn’t accurate because there haven’t been enough cases of possession over the last four years to benchmark—you know, since the Purge.”
“Tsk, tsk, such a shame.” Aunt Lucy rubbed Leila’s shoulder affectionately. “Never mind, sweet, it could be a good thing. Only a few possessions in four years isn’t bad. But just in case, we’ll continue to go to church like they told us. It’s worked so far, right? We’ve never seen a witch in town.”
Leila hummed in agreement.
I scowled at them. A woman moving out of home was not to be taken lightly. Witches attacked females—it had something to do with our higher estrogen levels—but like Leila said, since they’d burned half the female population in the Purge, there were few cases of possession. The world had relaxed and being a woman wasn’t so bad anymore.
I waved the key in the air. “Um hello? Did you hear what I said? I’m moving out.”
“You stubborn girl.” Aunt Lucy shook her head at me. “You’ll be labeled a whore, just like your friend. I should never let you have that job at that devil’s playground. It’s caused nothing but problems.” She pulled off her headband and threw it on the counter, releasing her gray hair from its captivity.
Did she just call Kitty a whore? Hang on—did she called me a whore?
“After all, I’ve done for you,” she continued. “I housed you when your father abandoned you, I put up with your criminal ways, I even let you get a job when there’s so much to do here at the vineyard. You’re going to throw it all in my face and leave a week before the food festival.” The tenacity of her words caused a coughing fit, she wheezed and spluttered into a quickly grasped tissue. The sour stench of smoker’s breath hit me moments before her pungent lavender perfume. I flinched and tried not to screw up my face. The bad-girl smoker habit was such a contrast to her drab, gray attire. Seriously, brush your teeth.
With shaky hands, she reached for a glass of water and took a sip. Aunt Lucy ran her boutique vineyard estate with an iron fist, but quit smoking? Impossible. She downed the water in gulps and held up a finger indicating the conversation wasn’t over. When she finished, she busied herself with drying the dishes. The muscles in her shoulders and neck grew rigid as she mulled over her next words. Finally, she picked up a spoon, and waved it at me. “That sin-bin you work at is just a lawsuit waiting to happen.” She opened the cutlery drawer and slammed the spoon in place. “I can’t believe it was allowed to open in the first place.”
Leila snorted in sympathy.
In an effort not to roll my eyes, I stared at the sparkling black and white checked floor. There she goes again, spouting her devil nonsense.
“The Cauldron,” I said, “is not a ‘sin-bin’ or a ‘devil’s playground.’ It’s a legitimate establishment where people can enjoy a drink or a meal, and learn about the history of witches.”
Leila laughed. “You can’t be serious, Roo. It’s a mockery; they poke fun at the myth, not teach the reality.” Her last words came through a clenched jaw and she shuddered.
It was true. The Cauldron was a clichéd, witch-themed bar. It resembled something from Halloween, and served cocktails like ‘The Holy Grail’ and ‘Brew to Forget.’ Taxidermy crows peered down at you as you ate, but it was harmless fun. And I felt at home there.
I shrugged. “If it makes people feel safe and confident they have one up on witches, who cares? I get paid, and all I have to do is serve drinks and look pretty with this thing hanging around my neck.” I flicked my slick UV-liquid filled probation collar. It made me special. “I’m accepted for who I am. Besides, it’s coming off in a few weeks and I’ll be free to do what I want. Everyone with opinions can bite me.”
Tour Wide
Fall in Love with Urban Fantasy Print Book Giveaway
To celebrate the relaunch of Soul Thing, the first book in the Game of Gods series, I’m hosting a giveaway!
I want you to fall in love with Urban Fantasy as much as I have, so I’m giving away the first in a series from my favorite UF authors – in old school print!
One lucky person will win:
• A total of 11 real (touch them and faun over them on insta) books in total. The joy of starting a new amazing series is priceless!
• A signed copy of Soul Thing by Lana Pecherczyk (me!).
• Ten of my favorite Urban Fantasy first in a series, print books all with a mythological, gods, or evil spirits theme. These ten books are: Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane, First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones, Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead, Witches of the East by Melissa de la Cruz, MoonCalled by Patricia Briggs, Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews, Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison, Grave Witch by Kalayna Price, Angel’s Blood by Nalini Singh, and Touch the Dark by Karen Chance.
Choose all the bonus options to gain yourself extra entries! Good luck.
LINK: http://lanapecherczyk.com/giveaways/soulthing/
Hi Stacy! Thanks so much for having me here. The interview was fun! I love your blurb layout with the cover on top and how it stands out from the rest of the copy!
ReplyDeleteHi Lana! You're very welcome. I'm glad your enjoying your visit to UFI =)
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