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Friday, June 15, 2012

Echo Falls, by Jaime McDougall


Echo Falls
By Jaime McDougall
Genre: Urban Fantasy

Book Blurb:
Running from a nightmare stalking her every move, Phoebe Martin arrives in Echo Falls hoping she has finally found a safe place to stop. But trouble has a way of catching up and soon the signs are there.

After a vicious attack in an alley, policeman Aidan O'Bryan is left with Phoebe as his only path to understanding why the Echo Falls werewolf pack - his pack - is being attacked. When another pack member is killed, Phoebe is forced to confront her past before she loses Aidan and everything she has come to love.

Love and duty become one as Aidan strives to prevent Phoebe from becoming the next victim. But with Phoebe just as determined to protect Aidan and her new home, secrets from her past threaten to tear them apart. Will love give Phoebe the strength to trust Aidan and face her fears, or will her past destroy her future?

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Book Available at: Amazon


Excerpt (Chapter One):

Keep running, keep running, keep running. Phoebe’s lungs burned as her mind screamed the mantra. Keep running, keep running.

How many steps can there be?

She should know. She lived in this apartment building.
Tears ran down her cheeks and her lungs burned for air. Only the random irrational thought broke through the panic keeping her feet moving down the steps. Keep running. Keep running. The light of the emergency exit came into view. Almost there…

The door to the stairwell slammed open with a hollow boom. She tripped and clung to the railing to steady herself.
Keep running.
The shock of the cool night air sent a shiver of relief through her body. She’d come out a side exit into an alley. If she could just get to the front –

Suddenly she was thrown to the ground from behind. She hit the concrete, what little breath she had knocked from her lungs. Blood began flowing from where her head hit the ground, and small sparks of light floated into her vision.

How did he catch up so fast?

Desperately she tried to gulp down as much air as she could, willing her lungs to cooperate. Instinct kicked in as the attacker slashed at her, and she curled into fetal position.

A dog. He’d turned into a dog. A big dog with vicious claws and teeth he used to tear into her exposed back, thigh and shoulder. She slowly regained her breath but could only use it to scream her throat raw.

Her vision faded, taking the small sparks of light with it. Searing pain ripped through her shoulder as a claw dug down against her bone. One last, long scream tore from her lungs before she was left gasping and sobbing, her fear slowly smoldering into rage.
Things can’t end like this.

She opened her eyes as the dog stood over her, trying to get to her throat. A paw came into her line of vision and she saw her chance. She reached out, grabbed it and squeezed with all the strength she had.

The dog yelped and tried to twist away, but she held on with all the strength she had. She knew she’d only bought herself time. She couldn’t move the dog off her and she couldn’t squeeze his paw all night. He tried uselessly to bite her, his jaws having no strength so long as she squeezed his paw. But she could already feel her strength waning.

Suddenly the weight of the dog flew off her, taking the paw out of her grip. Without thinking, she used her one cooperating arm to drag herself toward the front of the building.

She shivered, her arm giving out, and caught a glimpse of a second dog. No. A wolf… Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she listened to the dogs fighting, the battle just a few steps away. She tried her best to curl up against the building wall and willed the growling and snapping to go away. They sounded like they were tearing each other to pieces.

The universe granted her wish, the battle ending with the sound of two bodies hitting each other and a sharp whine. She shivered and softly whined as well, dreading the approach of the winner as one of the dogs yelped and ran away.

A few moments later warm, human hand brushed the back of her head and she screamed again. If it could be called a scream. Her throat burned and rebelled at her abuse of it.

“Ssh. You’re safe now.”

She tried to scream again and move away, but her body wouldn’t obey her commands. She groaned as the full force of the pain washed over her.

He murmured and she relaxed her desperate grip on staying conscious. Sleep seemed so tempting, the black abyss singing a sirensong to her. Her rescuer – or captor – tried to soothe her, but something dark and dangerous in his voice betrayed him. He was different. She tried to bat away his hands but gave up after a few attempts, not sure if her good hand was actually moving.

As she slipped into the darkness, she wondered if death had merely granted her a short reprieve from the inevitable.

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I would like to welcome Jaime McDougall to my blog. Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Jaime McDougall and I am a US expat happily living life in regional Australia. Telling stories has always been in my blood, and I have wandered through a variety of genres through my life. Romance has been a common theme over the years, and I am loving exploring all its subgenres. When I’m not writing, I’m usually baking or playing with my dogs.

Who or what inspired you to become a writer?
It is hard for me to name any specific person or event because I told stories before I knew how to write them. I was born daydreaming, I think.
That being said, I do remember reading The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley about half a dozen times and being so inspired by the story I loved so much. I knew that I wanted to create stories like that where people would love them so much they would be on the ‘keep’ shelf.

How long did it take you to write Echo Falls?
Completing the first draft of Echo Falls took me about three months. However, the second draft – what I like to call the ‘overhaul draft’ – took me another three months and a lot of rewriting.

While writing how many times do you go back and rewrite a plot?
I’m a plantser or a plotser. Whatever you would like to call it. What that means for me is that I outline at least a few scenes ahead of where I’m actually writing. Because of that style, I tend to not go back and rewrite an entire plot. Sometimes subplots are added or axed – the same with characters – but the plot itself usually stays the same.
In my mind, however, is a different story. The overarching plot can change up to half a dozen times when it’s still in the chaotic mass that is my imagination.

You run into a bookstore, where do you go first?
To a doctor to get something for the headache… Kidding, of course.
I head straight toward the speculative fiction section. Sci-fi, paranormal, so on and so forth. That is the section where I feel most at home as a reader and a writer.
I have been known to stray into the non-fiction sections where a lot of inspiration can be found.

How many books in a month do you tend to read?
I’m a slow reader, so I would say an average month is one to three books. It depends on what I’m writing, how much I’m writing… I never read in the genre I’m writing in while I’m working on something because I don’t want influences to drip in. They usually do anyway – the whole ‘there are no original plots anymore’ saying comes to mind – but I try not to encourage it.
My reading also depends on my mood, which influences the number. I take much more time with books I’m reading to teach myself something than I do with the fluffy books I read for comfort.

In all the books you've read. Who is your most favorite character and why?
Oh, very tough question!

State 5 random facts about yourself.
1. I need to be warm while I’m writing. Whether I’m at my desk, curled up in the recliner or at a cafe, if I’m not warm, I’m not writing.
2. I have a huge desk. My desk is where I do my scrapbooking, card making, write and send letters, keep up with blogging and a lot of other things besides writing – and I have room for it all! I love my desk.
3. On my desk, I have a ‘shelf of lost toys’ where I keep all the strange and curious things I pick up here and there. I have everything from a moonstone to a stuffed owl to a tiny music box.
4. When I moved to Australia, I decided to have an open mind and try everything I could, so I have had a lot of strange (to me, from Midwest USA) foods. Some of the list: shark, kangaroo, smoked eel, chicken feet, duck tongues and jellyfish salad.
5. I love my tattoos. They are very important to me and are art interpretations of important parts in my life. I am currently about halfway through my biggest project ever that covers my entire back.

Your favorite Genre?
My favourite genre would have to be paranormal romance – especially with the urban fantasy setting involved. I love reading about blossoming romance and I love the unlimited possibilities for the paranormal. Put them together and… I’m hooked!

What are you currently reading?
Right now I’m reading some non-fiction: Way of the Cheetah by Lynn Viehl. I’m not far into it, but it’s quite interesting. I enjoy reading books on writing when I feel like I’m having trouble focusing.

What is the best book you've read?
I absolutely adored Abarat by Clive Barker. The amazing depth of the world and characters blew me away the first time I read it. I was so impressed by that book that I will never forget it.

Any new projects coming up?
Definitely! I am currently working on the sequel to Echo Falls, tentatively named Fading Echoes. I hesitate to call it a sequel because it takes place twenty years after Echo Falls, but readers will see a lot of familiar characters.

Here’s your chance to market your book. Describe it. And why readers should pick it up?

Echo Falls is the story of a woman finding the courage to stand against her worst nightmare to fight for what she loves. Readers will fall in love with the characters as well as this town in the mountains, rich with history and legend.



Where you can find author Jaime McDougall:

Facebook

Twitter: @JMScribe

Goodreads


Website/ Blog

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About the Author:

Jaime McDougall is a citizen of the world, currently loving life in beautiful country Victoria in Australia. She loves eating sushi, kidnapping her husband and naming her pets in honour of science fiction authors.

A love of fiction has always coursed through her veins and she told stories as a child even before she knew how to write them. Settling into one genre was never her style and she has plans for novels in women’s fiction, urban fantasy and more – all with a touch of romance.

She has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: High School: The Real Deal and Chicken Soup for the Soul: Campus Chronicles. She has also enjoyed writing the So You Want ebook series for authors looking to establish their names online.

You can connect with her at her website: http://www.inkyblots.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/#!/JMScribe
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/authorjaimemcdougall

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for hosting me on my online tour and for the interview. :) I had a great time answering the questions. If you or your readers have any more questions, feel free to ask!

    Jaime
    http://www.inkyblots.com

    ReplyDelete