Book Blitz | Joined #GuestPost

Duty and prophecy get in the way of everything.

All I ever wanted to do was read my books, play my sports, and help people. Life and prophecy had other things in mind.

Helping people is what I do; as an empath and semi-frequent telepath, I can easily sense and understand people’s needs and emotions. Sometimes even before they do. Being able to read everyone’s thoughts and feelings all the time can drive me crazy with anxiety, but that moment when I can finally make someone’s life better makes everything worth it.

Unfortunately, I’m also the next in line to rule the galaxy, I’m the only diplomat most planets will listen to, assassins try to kill me on an annoyingly regular basis, and a much-vaunted Prophecy has decreed that I’m going to die. Oh, and someone blew up my home planet.

Kind of a lot to deal with, right?

Too bad I just got another problem: a big, irritating, overbearing bodyguard with serious anger management issues.

And I think I’m falling for him.

 

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I have a full-time job apart from writing, so I tend to daydream a lot of my stories for a while before I get around to writing them down. But when I write, either for my job or for my life as an author, I make myself a cup of green tea, read a little bit of news on my laptop, and turn on Netflix. I often stray toward Friends or Star Trek: The Next Generation, because I know all the episodes so well that it doesn’t distract me into paying rapt attention, but I like having a little bit of conversation noise in the background. For whatever reason, it helps me focus.

When the cup of tea is gone, I spend several minutes trying to remove my somewhat tubby kitty, Nina, from where she has inevitably draped herself on my laptop, and start writing. I don’t usually write in order. I frequently write outlines and then fill in gaps as my imagination grows ready for what I want to do and say.

Sometimes I’ll write for hours and realize that it’s midnight or later and I have to get up early, and should really go to bed. (I don’t always follow my own advice there, though, and get book-writing hangovers the next day. Thank you, all the coffee shops in Seattle!) Sometimes I’ll write for a few hours, go to the gym or for a walk, have dinner, and get back at it later.

And sometimes there’s no routine at all; sometimes inspiration strikes me on the train, during some rare free time at work, or at night while watching TV, and I’ll start madly typing away. My husband frequently asks me if I’m okay, because I guess the look on my face while I’m writing is pretty RBF-y. I have to reassure him that I’m fine, although wrangling characters and words does make me want more London Fogs—or maybe something slightly more Irish—sometimes.

And sometimes, I bang my head against the wall and go do something else, because damn if I know what I’m doing.

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There is also a blitz giveaway where you could win…

a $50 Amazon gift card and a $50 donation in your name to the charity Milk and Bookies

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A Pacific Northwesterner by birth and disposition, Mara has lived in Washington DC, Oregon, Japan, and most recently the beautiful Pacific Grove, California, before returning to her roots in Seattle. By day she teaches history to unsuspecting teenagers, and by night she writes books and travels to far-flung places. She loves to be with animals, read, play sports, and drink more London Fogs than is likely good for her.

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