Today I get to do one of my most favorite things--promote a fellow writer.
It's my great pleasure to welcome J.E. Taylor as part of her blog tour for her new novel Crystal Illusions.
Before we talk about her new thriller--which has received nothing but high praise--let's take a few minutes to get to know our author.
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I want to thank Chris for hosting me here at Confessions of a Logophiliac for my Crystal Illusions blog tour. I talked earlier in the tour about how I tend to craft a story and Crystal Illusions is certainly different than my previous experiences. Today, I want to cover where I write.
It’s a little unorthodox but this is my comfy chair in the middle of my family room. It’s mine – no one else in my family sits here on a regular basis and when they do, all I have to do is level an unhappy gaze in their direction and they skedaddle.
This has gotten to be quite the joke with my husband and kids. “OOO – you’re sitting in Mom’s chair.” “I wouldn’t sit there if I were you…” “I think we should bury Mom in her chair.”
You get the gist. I have a little lap desk and my mini-notebook and when I sit down, the world around me disappears. The noise of the television silences, the bickering of the kids becomes white noise and for all I know, the house could fall down around me and it wouldn’t phase me one bit when I’m in THE ZONE.
There is a downside to this. I don’t always get left alone while I’m trying to write. More often than not, the continuous chant of Mom pulls me from far lands and I begrudgingly come back to the real world. So my chair in the family room is both good that I’m not physically away from my family and bad that I’m not mentally with my family. Sometimes getting devoted writing time is a challenge.
Along with some of the writing challenges, my “mine” mentality of the space sometimes does create issues, because, after all – it IS a comfy chair. I know my kids use it when I’m off at my day job and it’s quite humorous to come in and have them scramble out of my space like they’ve been caught in the act of a major crime.
Territorial much?
Maybe a little and when a guest comes over and they sit in my chair, I don’t say a word, but like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, I feel a little lost because someone is in “my spot”.
Thanks for taking a glimpse into my writing space and here’s a little teaser from Crystal Illusions for you.
CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS by J.E. Taylor
Assistant D.A. Carolyn Hastings has an uncanny knack for putting away criminals. With one of the best prosecution records in recent history, her future as Manhattan’s next District Attorney looks certain. But her sixth sense for winning cases threatens to work against her when she starts seeing a string of murders through the eyes of the killer.
With suspects piling up as fast as bodies, and the motives of those closest to her questionable, Carolyn doesn’t know who to trust. When the FBI assigns Special Agent Steve Williams to the case, Carolyn discloses her deepest fear - that the man she loves may be the one responsible for the city’s latest crime spree.
The only thing Steve knows for sure is Carolyn has an inexplicable psychic connection with the killer, and all the victims have one thing in common…a striking resemblance to Carolyn Hastings.
And he knows it’s only a matter of time before this psychopath knocks on her door.
Praise for CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS
“Taylor has a strong thriller where every single character has reasonable doubt flashing like a neon sign hanging over them, and right from the beginning you are trying to guess who the killer really is. Gripping, rich and magnificent - crime whodunnits don't get any better than this!” Author Poppet / Gemma Rice – Author of Quislings, Blindsided, Djinn and Dusan
Excerpt from CRYSTAL ILLUSIONS:
Jason interrupted her train of thought when he entered and dropped the paper on her desk. “Looks like we have a serial killer.” He pointed to the front page.
The headline jumped off the page.
SCARLET PSYCHOPATH STRIKES AGAIN
Carolyn picked up the paper glancing at the copy. A third victim was found in the early hours of the morning with the tell-tale scarlet lipstick mark on her forehead and her throat slashed wide open.
Carolyn took a deep breath. “So I was right,” she said, tossing the paper onto the desk and looking at Jason as she bit her lower lip.
“They didn’t release the lipstick mark information to the press until this morning.” Jason slid into the seat across the desk. “He’s targeting a specific profile.”
“White, between twenty and thirty, brown hair, blue eyes, average height,” Carolyn said as she kept eye contact with Jason.
Jason tilted his head. “You have an inside track with the police?”
Carolyn smiled and made no comment. She looked at the paper and continued reading. The pictures of the women were on the next page and the resemblance of all the victims lined up side by side was startling.
“They all look like you,” Jason said.
“And?”
“Watch your back.” Jason stood and left Carolyn staring after him with shivers traversing her spine.
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Thanks for joining me on this blog tour venture – and remember – I’ll be on tour throughout the month, including a giveaway over at Bitten By Books (www.bittenbybooks.com) on April 20th, where you have a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card. I’ll be asking questions relating to my tour posts – so check out my Crystal Illusions blog schedule for a chance to win. (http://jetaylor75.blogspot.com)
J.E. Taylor is a writer, a publisher, an editor, a manuscript formatter, a mother, a wife and a business analyst, not necessarily in that order. She first sat down to seriously write in February of 2007 after her daughter asked:
“Mom, if you could do anything, what would you do?”
From that moment on, she hasn’t looked back and now her writing resume includes six+ published novels along with several short stories on the virtual shelves including a few within eXcessica anthologies.
In addition to being co-owner of Novel Concept Publishing, Ms. Taylor also moonlights as an Assistant Editor of Allegory (www.allegoryezine.com), an online venue for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. She has been known to edit a book or two and also offers her services judging writing contests for various RWA chapters.
She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children and during the summer months enjoys her weekends on the shore in southern Maine.
Visit her at http://www.jetaylor75.com/