Release Day Blitz & Interview: Seizing Darkness by Mariana Thorn

Seizing Darkness
by Mariana Thorn

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy

Self-Published

Available Here:

Blurb:

With her past distant and forgotten Natalya has built herself a nice life. She has a job she finds rewarding as a special agent with the Paranormal Investigation Bureau. Her partner, Dante, isn't too bad for a bloodsucking vampire. Val, her boss, is like a father to her. Her favorite part is that she lives near the Cascade Mountains. Whenever she needs a little vacation, she can shift into a tiger and go running in the woods. Life is good.

That is until recently. Agents are turning up dead and she can’t pin down what is going on. Little does she know that her past is about to come back and bite her in the tail. With no memories before the last year she is a little behind the curve in finding out what is going on. The investigation turns dangerous as the attack turn personal. Lives are on the line, including her own. Will Natalya find out what is going on before it’s too late?

Landing hard, I heard a crunch as the bone in my left forearm snapped beneath me. I didn’t have any time to respond. The damn wolf was trying to rip out my throat with his teeth. I tried to fight back. He was strong. Normally a wolf was no big deal for me, but tonight I had a big disadvantage. I was weaker on the nights I couldn’t shift.

The smoke was filling my lungs and breathing was becoming difficult. We rolled on the ground and the wolf got me by the throat with his hands. He twisted me onto my back and his body pressed me into the cold, frozen ground. His legs pinned my arms to my sides. I couldn’t get the leverage with my feet to push him off.

His fingernails dug into the delicate skin of my neck. The scent of my blood filled my nose. I stared up at the starry sky. It’s not raining, I thought incongruously. I was barely getting any air through his hands clenched around my throat.

I managed to wrench my arms free and began digging at his hands, trying to pry them loose, but with only one working arm it was impossible. I was becoming weaker as I struggled to get air into my aching lungs. My vision started to get fuzzy around the edges.

All of a sudden, the weight of the wolf was lifted off of me. There was a crack and I heard flesh ripping. I was showered in hot, sticky liquid. As I gasped for breath, the scent of the wolf’s blood hit me.

Can you please share with us a little about yourself?

I’m addicted to coffee specifically Starbucks. I’m not a very nice person without my coffee. More characters tend to die in my books when I am lacking in coffee. My other addiction is pens. I love colored pens and no one gets to touch them. Other than that I have an awesome little dog named Tony who makes sure I take lots of breaks. I write for a living and it’s rather awesome.

Have you always wanted to be an author?

Author, no. I once wanted to be a veterinarian but I couldn’t dissect a frog. Then I wanted to be a chemist but that didn’t pan out. It turns out “accidently” creating a small explosion in a lab is frowned upon. In my own defense I was only testing the theory that those two compounds when added to each other became explosive. I was once a massage therapist but that wasn’t all that fun. So somehow I became an author. Probably safer for the world.

Can you share with us your typical writing day.  Is there anything you have to have while writing?

Get up. Go get Starbucks. Sit at computer go through, emails, notes, Facebook, twitter and website. Then plug in my music and let my muse go.

What would you say is the most challenging or rewarding part of writing?

Challenging: writing those darn blurbs for the back of the books. It takes lots of coffee and grumbling and yelling at computers for those to come about.

Rewarding: when someone else tells me that they can’t wait for the next book.

Can you please tell us about your latest book?

Seizing Darkness is the first book of my series Fur, Fangs and Fairies. This series is set in a world where humans and paranormal beings live together in relative harmony. The government has created a division of the Justice Department just to handle the paranormal beings. It is called the Paranormal Investigation Bureau, PIB for short.

The main character of Seizing Darkness is a weretiger named Natalya. She is a special agent in the PIB along with her vampire partner Dante. Natalya has no recollection of her past.

There have been three deaths of agents lately and they are trying to find out who is behind this. This story is full of lots of twists, turns and action. Of course every good story needs a good romantic interest but you will have to read it to find out more about that.

How did you come with the idea for this story?

That’s a funny story actually. I was a part of this little group of ladies and each week we would get together and give each other a title then write for an hour or 3 pages then read it out loud to each other for critique.

I was given the title Catacombs and this was the beginning of Seizing Darkness.

The story has evolved and the title has been changed I think 3 times but that’s how I got started.

Can you share with us your current work in progress?

Of course. I am working on a short book that is a sort of in between the novels type of thing for the Fur, Fangs, and Fairies series. It is called the PIB Files. I am working on Vol. 1. It is a collection of a few of the weirdest cases that came across Natalya’s desk, in her year as a PIB agent. It’s really just a fun little spin off.

I am also working on Book 2 of the series. It doesn’t have a title yet but is coming along nicely.

Who are some of your favorite authors?

I have met some amazing authors in this journey that I’m taking. Some of my favorites to read are Sarah Jayne Carr, Pyxi Rose, Coey Cain and Cindy J. Smith. They are all awesome people and incredible writers.

Do you feel that any of your favorite authors have inspired your writing style?

Not really. I feel each person writes so uniquely. I’ve said it before there may not be a new story out there but there is always a new way to tell it.

Open your book to a random page and please reads us a few lines.

Sure… *insert evil laugh here*

I could feel that my fur was matted with blood. I’d sustained some minor injuries but they wouldn’t slow me down. He was circling me, looking for an opening. I thought these guys were hunters. He was using the same tactic that he’d been using before on Madon. I’d recognized Carl about halfway into this fight. It hadn’t worked that time, what made him think that it would work now?

What is in your To Read Pile that you are dying to start or upcoming release you can’t wait for?

Oh gosh I haven’t had much time for reading lately but I really want to read Torn by Christine Hughes and I can’t wait for Hunting Hamilton by Sarah Jayne Carr comes out.

Have you ever used anyone from your real life encounters in any of your books?

Maybe, if I told you I might have to make you into one of my characters and that might not turn out to well for you. J

What was the most surprising thing you learned about yourself while you were writing?

I can’t live without coffee.

I have a very twisted mind.

I write pretty good fight scenes

If you look in the local Starbuck’s or Barnes and Noble you might just find Mariana Thorn. She can usually be found with headphones in and deep into the worlds she has created. There is this thing about her pens if you touch them you might receive a smack to the hand and the well-known glare of destruction.

As a child all her stories involved horses, horses and more horses. There might have been a slight obsession. Writing became more serious in her early twenties but she never dreamed of publishing until much later. Mariana participates yearly in the international event called NANOWRIMO. She has even been known as a Municipal Liaison for that crazy event. There is nothing like the feeling of encouraging other writers, she would say.

Outside of writing one of her favorite places to sit and read are the sunny beaches of Florida. At home in Washington State her favorite activity is riding horses up on the mountain trails. She has an awesome group of family and friends that keep her in coffee and encouragement. Then there is her best buddy Tony, her little dog. She suspects he will try and take over the world someday.

Stalk Mariana here: 

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