In Which I Shout, “Forsooth! Mead For Everyone!” And Then I Google Mead… And Then I Welcome Jordan L. Hawk, With A New Release & A Give-Away!

Hi Jordan! Let’s start things off with a quick “Jordan L. Hawk for Dummies” tutorial. Tell us a bit about yourself and your background and the meaning of life. (You can skip that last part if you want to. :-D)

A. I live just outside of Charlotte, NC, with my husband and several very dumb (but cute!) cats. I spent most of my twenties and early thirties as a professional student, and have worked as an archaeologist and a wildlife biologist, two careers which have absolutely nothing in common. I like playing video games, goofing off on the internet, and brewing my own mead.

::Foresooth! You make your own mead? I can Google mead…::

A. The meaning of life is 42.

::Oh, that’s deep. Remember that, kids. 42. Good answer!::

Q. What made you decide to self-publish your work rather than to go the route of traditional publishing?

A. To make a long story short, I’m what author Janine Spendlove once described as a “control enthusiast.” I like being able to ensure I have a good cover, a good editor, good ebook formatting, etc. If something goes wrong, it’s on me—but that also means it’s in my power to fix it. If a cover or a blurb doesn’t seem to work as well as I thought it would, I can change it. I can track sales data weekly or monthly to find out what sorts of promotions work—or don’t.
It’s an enormous amount of work, and it does take away from writing time, but I’ve loved every minute of it. :)

Q. How long does it typically take you to hammer out a first draft?

A. It can vary, but Widdershins took me about five weeks to write, not counting prep work or revisions. Even though it’s less than half the length, Hunter of Demons took me almost as long, because Caleb refused to tell me important details about his character.

Q. Are you a plotter or a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer?

A. I’m a compulsive plotter. I spend the first couple of weeks working on a story doing research and laying out a complete storyboard from beginning to end. Once I’ve done that, I take some time to write up quick “sketches” of most of the scenes so I can get a feel for what works and what doesn’t. Only then do I start writing.

Q. What makes you laugh?

A. Adorable cat photos, which puts me in the same category as 99% of the internet. And I frequently laugh at myself, because I’m the queen of doing brain-dead things. I’m so going to win a Darwin Award some day.

Adorable Like This? Find The Kitty… ::faints::

Q. Is writing sex scenes difficult? (I always have to ask this because, you know, there are only so many ways to vary the business of the naughty, yet writers seem to keep coming up with new ways to make me say, “Hot damn!”) ^_^

A. It’s gotten easier with practice. ;) Seriously, the first sex scene I wrote must have taken me two hours to get on the page—and trust me, it wasn’t much longer than a page. Now I look forward to writing them.

::Hey! Practice! Just like in real life:: :-D

Q. Would you like to tell us a bit about your new book Hunter of Demons?

Coming February 5, 2013!

A. Hunter of Demons is the first in my 6-part SPECTR series, which will be released over the next year or so. The series takes place in an alternate universe where people with paranormal talents are tracked and monitored by the government, and demons are just one of the hazards of life. Caleb is an unregistered paranormal who has the astoundingly bad luck to get possessed by a drakul—a vampire-like spirit normally confined to possessing dead bodies. John Starkweather is the government agent from Strategic Paranormal Entity ConTRol (aka SPECTR) assigned to exorcise him. Needless to say, things do not go smoothly.

And we’d love if you’d consider sharing an excerpt with us!

Caleb sat on the floor, trying not to think, trying not to feel.

The exorcism hadn’t worked. Of course it hadn’t; what had he expected from a bunch of Specs? Maybe it had all just been a show, trying to punish him for going unregistered.

What were they going to do with him now? Take him away, definitely. Lock him up somewhere, most likely. Wait for the monster inside him to take control permanently…maybe?

Something stirred within, a tiger awakened from a semi-doze. “Why would I do such a thing?”

Caleb pressed his lips together, but he couldn’t silence his thoughts. Demons—NHEs—whatever the fuck you wanted to call them—possessed people. Everyone, mal and normal alike, was warned from childhood not to strike bargains, not to do anything to attract the attention of etheric entities. Community relations officers came into schools twice a year: don’t do drugs, don’t drink and drive, don’t play with loaded guns, don’t summon demons. He’d never thought much about it, except as one of the perils of life, like looking both ways before crossing the street.

And now here he was. Doomed.

“Are all mortals so illogical?”

It was trying to trick him. The thing in his head, the thing which had killed Ben—

“Mortals are not prey. Our prey is demons. And now we are too late, and I cannot even smell it anymore.”

Not “our,” there wasn’t any “our,” no matter what the monster inside wanted him to think. And yet the urge to get up and run into the night, to track the demon down, to bite and kill, twisted around Caleb’s spine.

No. He dug his nails into his palms, hard. He was still human. He wouldn’t give in.

Q. What new projects do you currently have in the works, if you don’t mind sharing some more?

A. Right now, I’m hard at work on Threshold, the sequel to Widdershins. Once that’s completed and turned into my editor, it will be back to the SPECTR series for books 3 and 4.

::Squeeeee! Sequels::

Q. Where can readers find you on the internet?

A. My homepage and blog can be found at http://www.jordanlhawk.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordanlhawk
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jordanlhawk

Thanks so much for being here with us today, Jordan! It’s been fun getting to know a bit more about you.

**And now for the contest portion of the program. Beginning right here, right now, Jordan is offering the chance for one lucky reader to win an e-Copy of her book Widdershins (Whyborne & Griffin #1)! Entering is easy! All you have to do is leave a comment (including your email address) on this post, and that’s it. But be sure to do it before 11:59pm Pacific time on February 9, 2013, or it’ll be too late. Good luck!**