Today we are chatting with YA Paranormal Author, T.J. Dell. T.J. will also be offering a giveaway, so be sure to enter using the Rafflecopter below. Welcome to Mass Musings T.J.! Taking part of your virtual book tour with the Virtual Book Tour Cafe', we're so glad you could join us!
About T.J.
A hopeless romantic to her very core, TJ's books explore every corner
of the wobbly-kneed-world of romance novels.
She has a particular penchant for Young Adult themes. Dell's debut novel 'Her Best Friend's
Brother' is enjoying its tenth month as an Amazon best seller, and her popular
Elfkin Series is hot on its heels.
For more information follow her on Facebook at facebook.com/dell.tj
Interview:
MM: Many authors
relate their characters to people they know.
Is this the case with your characters and do you see yourself in any of
them?
TJ: I usually end up
with characters that are a sort of hodge-podge of the people in my life. Never really enough to make anyone stand up
and yell "Hey, that's that guy!"
The only exception is Anna's love interest was actually modeled after
someone I know.
I was abusing my good friend, James, one day for his sports
knowledge while researching a completely different (and ultimately scrapped)
project. I was trying to write a
villainous teenage jock. Unfortunately
after speaking with my friend it became impossible for me to write the
character into any unsavory activities, because I just kept hearing and seeing
him as James (who is in no way unsavory).
So when it came time for Anna to
have a little romance of her own I unearthed my high school jock and recast him
as dreamy Micheal James.
As a point of interest:
My friend James and his wife, Diana, were also kind enough to appear on
the cover of another of my novels, Her Best Friend's Brother.
MM: Who is your
favorite character in your book and why?
TJ: That's like
asking me who my favorite New Kid is! I
love them all. I do however have a real
soft spot for Ian. He hasn't had a lot
of breaks in his life.
MM: Who is your most
favorite character from any book of all time?
TJ: I do believe you
are trying to kill me :) I suppose if we
are going for 'of all time' I will have to choose a classic.... Claudia from
the Babysitters Club. I so very much
wanted to be her.
MM: I would never try to kill you on purpose, j/k ever, lol, but I agree. It's hard to choose.
MM: I would never try to kill you on purpose, j/k ever, lol, but I agree. It's hard to choose.
MM: If you could dive
into the pages of any book, which book would it be and what character would you
be?
TJ: I'm in the middle of Clockwork Angel right now. I think I would like to be Tessa. Of course I haven't finished it yet, so I may
have to get back to you if the end doesn't pan out with a whole lot of Will
Hernondale happily-ever-after.
MM: If your book was
to become a movie, which actors/actresses do you see playing the parts of your
characters?
TJ: I'm sure you
meant to say 'when my book becomes a movie'.
However I'm still not sure of the answer. I kind of see Nick Roux as my Lucas. Kind of .
And sometimes I think Jordan Sparks would make a nice Evie. She's got that soft and tough thing going for
her. Truthfully, they are already so
formed in my mind that trying to mentally stuff any actor into those molds
usually gives me a migraine.
MM: Of course I meant to say that :).
MM: What can we expect from TJ Dell in the future? Any new projects?
MM: What can we expect from TJ Dell in the future? Any new projects?
TJ: Always! My 'pipeline' is very exciting these
days! I recently released a YA
contemporary 'The Last Place You Look' and you'll be seeing the second
installment of the Elfkin series at the end of the year. Look for 'Whispers in the Dark'!
MM: Where can readers
connect with you?
TJ: Find me on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/dell.tj
Thank you so much for taking time to chat with me today.
It's been a wonderful pleasure.
TJ: Ditto!
Vol. I
When Evie Parker meets Lucas Spencer she begins to feel hope again. Lately she's been going through life in a fog and Lucas is all about teaching her how to have fun again. For the first time since the accident she knows what it means to be happy.
So who cares if Lucas is a little odd. It isn't that strange that she's never met his parents, or that teachers never seem to notice when he's late for class. Evie tries not to care, but on top of all his peculiar behavior she's been feeling kind of sick lately-- ever since she met Lucas actually.
When Lucas decides it is time to come clean with all his secrets Evie has to make some hard decisions.
Vol. II
All Evie wants is a little bit of normal in her life-- is that really too much to ask?
Lucas isn't normal, but he makes her happy. That should count for something. Evie thinks she can find a balance that will let her be normal and also be with him.
Of course she hadn't counted on adding his family into the mix, or his ex-girlfriend.
Life with an elf is never boring.
Vol III
Lucas and Evie were finally at a place where Evie was comfortable with her mix of normal human teenager and fantastical elf boyfriend. Then she went and got herself crushed by a tree.
Evie wakes up with a whole lot of extra issues to deal with. Not the least of which is a trip inside the Veil to see Lucas's home. She never would have agreed to go if she'd known she was going to have her own secret to hide.
Genre:Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Publisher:Independently published
Release Date:May 21, 2012
When Evie Parker meets Lucas Spencer she begins to feel hope again. Lately she's been going through life in a fog and Lucas is all about teaching her how to have fun again. For the first time since the accident she knows what it means to be happy.
So who cares if Lucas is a little odd. It isn't that strange that she's never met his parents, or that teachers never seem to notice when he's late for class. Evie tries not to care, but on top of all his peculiar behavior she's been feeling kind of sick lately-- ever since she met Lucas actually.
When Lucas decides it is time to come clean with all his secrets Evie has to make some hard decisions.
Vol. II
All Evie wants is a little bit of normal in her life-- is that really too much to ask?
Lucas isn't normal, but he makes her happy. That should count for something. Evie thinks she can find a balance that will let her be normal and also be with him.
Of course she hadn't counted on adding his family into the mix, or his ex-girlfriend.
Life with an elf is never boring.
Vol III
Lucas and Evie were finally at a place where Evie was comfortable with her mix of normal human teenager and fantastical elf boyfriend. Then she went and got herself crushed by a tree.
Evie wakes up with a whole lot of extra issues to deal with. Not the least of which is a trip inside the Veil to see Lucas's home. She never would have agreed to go if she'd known she was going to have her own secret to hide.
Genre:Young Adult Paranormal Romance
Publisher:Independently published
Release Date:May 21, 2012
Purchase Links:http://www.amazon.com/Whispers-Complete-Collection-Elfkin-ebook/dp/B0084XCRVU/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1343249434&sr=1-2
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whispers-in-the-woods-tj-dell/1111569369?ean=9781477634967
http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Whispers-Woods-Complete-Collection/Tj-Dell/9781477634967?id=5417972292235
Whispers in the Woods Excerpts.
*****
“Is something wrong with your pizza?”
Lucas paused between giant bites of his dinner. Two huge slices piled high with every topping
on the menu were still waiting on his plate.
He’d already polished off one.
“No. I’m just letting it cool
off. I prefer to be able to taste my
food.” My own single slice of pepperoni
pizza was still piping hot and therefore untouched in front of me.
Lucas held one of his hands over my food, gauging the temperature. “It should be cool enough.”
As always, he was right. A
moment before steam had been drifting off my plate, and now it was perfectly
cooled: still warm enough to taste good,
but nowhere near hot enough to burn my taste buds off. All thoughts of how wrong that was got pushed
to the back of my mind—along with all other similar thoughts I’d been ignoring
for the past forty-eight hours. That
area of my mind was getting mighty crowded lately.
“Eat, Evie. You’re making me
self-conscious.” Lucas’s voice pulled me
back to the conversation. He was
grinning around a big mouthful of his third slice.
“I really don’t think that’s possible.
Besides, food clearly doesn’t affect your body the way it does a normal
person.”
His jaw hung open. The way he
was staring at me—well, I may as well have smacked him. “What do you mean?”
I blushed. Probably I should
have kept that to myself. “Nothing. I just… well, look at you. I’ve watched you
consume a gazillion calories over the last two days and you still look… well,
the way you look.”
“I think there is a compliment in there somewhere.” A grin broke out on his face.
“Umm… yeah. I guess.” Man, that was embarrassing!
Lucas got up from his chair and settled himself next to me in the
booth. “You don’t think I’m
normal?” His whisper was low and husky,
and his breath tickled against my ear.
“Are you?” Could he hear my
heart? Could everyone in the building
hear it? It was certainly beating loud
enough.
“If I’m not normal, does that bother you? Would it matter? Would you still have agreed to come here with
me?”
“Probably.” My voice was
squeaking.
“Which one, Evie?” He lifted his
hands to frame my face. His beautiful
soft eyes bore into mine as though this was the most important conversation
he’d ever had.
“Probably I would still have come to dinner with you.”
Relief flashed in his eyes—and something else, too. At the time I couldn’t recognize it for what
it was: guilt. “I’m not sure you know
what you’re saying, but I’ll take it anyway.”
He tasted like pizza. That was
the first thought to register in my brain after his lips touched mine. It was also the last thought. The entire restaurant melted away. In a corner to our left a kid was screaming
for more French fries. Two tables to our
right a group of kids argued as they counted their pocket change on the
tabletop. All around us arcade games
buzzed and beeped while children cheered.
I heard none of it.
I know what you’re thinking. And
yes, we were in a family restaurant surrounded by children. But I swear it wasn’t like that; not on the
outside anyway. His kiss was soft and
sweet. His hands never left my
face. The amazing, earth-shattering,
life-defining moment was happening on the inside. Something deep inside me snapped. Not snapped apart. God knows I’d been broken into enough pieces
recently. It was more like snapping
together. It felt like finding last
piece of sky in a big jigsaw puzzle. I
could feel him. Just like the day
before, only times a thousand.
“Oh wow.” I grinned when we
pulled away.
“Uh-oh,” he said at the very same moment.
Follow The Tour:
September 7 - Interviewed at Hazel West's Character Purgatory
September 11 - Review & Interview at Books, Books, and More Books
September 13 - Book Feature & Excerpt at YA Reads
September 15 - Book Feature & Excerpt at Cafe' Creations
September 17 - Interviewed at Reviews & Interviews
September 19 - Review & Guest Blogging at A Book Lover's Library
September 21 - Interviewed at MK McClintock's Blog
September 24 - Guest Blogging at Margaret West's Blog
September 26 - Interviewed at The Bunny's Review
September 28 - Interview at A Word Fitly Spoken
October 1 - Guest Blogging at My World
October 3 - Reviewed at Whoopeeyoo
October 5 - Review & Interview at My Reading Addiction
October 9 - Review & Interview at Reading, Writing, and More
October 11 - Review & Guest Blogging at Indie Writer's Review
October 16 - Review & Character Interview at Black Hippie Chick's Take On Books & The World
October 18 - Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
September 11 - Review & Interview at Books, Books, and More Books
September 13 - Book Feature & Excerpt at YA Reads
September 15 - Book Feature & Excerpt at Cafe' Creations
September 17 - Interviewed at Reviews & Interviews
September 19 - Review & Guest Blogging at A Book Lover's Library
September 21 - Interviewed at MK McClintock's Blog
September 24 - Guest Blogging at Margaret West's Blog
September 26 - Interviewed at The Bunny's Review
September 28 - Interview at A Word Fitly Spoken
October 1 - Guest Blogging at My World
October 3 - Reviewed at Whoopeeyoo
October 5 - Review & Interview at My Reading Addiction
October 9 - Review & Interview at Reading, Writing, and More
October 11 - Review & Guest Blogging at Indie Writer's Review
October 16 - Review & Character Interview at Black Hippie Chick's Take On Books & The World
October 18 - Reviewed at Words I Write Crazy
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