The Vampire's Warden Blog Tour Stop & Giveaway

At Reader Girls today we are thrilled to be hosting The Vampire's Warden Blog Tour. Author S. J. Wright has stopped by to answer some questions.

First, here is a summary for The Vampire's Warden (Undead in Brown County, Book 1): 

I couldn't seem to contain the inferno burning inside me, being that close to him. Even knowing the danger he posed and the gruesome scenes that must have been caused by him, I still felt a burning inside me every time I heard his voice or felt his hot gaze on me.

But I was the Warden. He was one of the damned.

We were destined to be at odds. Enemies.

Sarah Brightman, having just lost her father to cancer, is stunned to discover that the mother she thought was dead is actually still alive. She also finds out that the legacy her father left her is a lot more than just an Inn on the outskirts of Nashville, Indiana. She has a frightening new responsibility.

Welcome S. J. Wright.

When did you know you wanted to be a writer and how did THE VAMPIRE'S WARDEN come about? 

I was around thirteen when I first imagined becoming an author. I’m a big fan of the Twilight series, but I wanted to write something that adults could relate to. 

What was your inspiration? 

Damon Salvatori from the show The Vampire Diaries and the actor who plays him, Ian Somerhalder. I absolutely love the way they have portrayed his character with the writing. Another huge inspiration for me has been the success of Amanda Hocking. I love what she has been able to do as an indie author. 

With the amount of vampire books on the market, were you concerned that your story would get lost? 

Definitely! There’s always that fear that the book will never really make an impact, especially in the flood of paranormal books that are on the market right now. The thing that makes Warden different is Sarah. I’ve read a lot of books over the course of my life. There are a lot of wonderful female protagonists out there. But Sarah’s characteristics and situation are unlike anything else you will read. 

Your first book is a novella but after reading it and reading other reviews, many believe you can expand upon it and make it a novel. What are your thoughts on this? And since this is a series, have you considered packaging all of the future stories into an omnibus edition? (I ask since some like to read a series back-to-back.) 

I’ve considered the idea of writing an extended version of Warden. That will probably happen at some point in the future. The next book in the series, The Vampire’s Curse, will be longer than Warden. I’m shooting for around 45,000 words. I would love to put the whole series together as a collection once its finished. 

Can you give us a sneak peak into what Sarah, Katie, Michael and Alex may be facing in the continuation of the series? And how many books do you foresee in this series? 

You’re going to see some surprising things happen in Curse. I don’t want to give too much away. I can say that the vampire council will have a bigger role in the second book. There will also be one particular person close to Sarah who ends up turning against her in a very big way. I’m planning on three books for the series at this point. 

When will the next book be out? 

Initially, I planned to have The Vampire’s Curse released by the middle of May. It will probably end up being closer to the beginning of June. 

Are you content with the positive reviews and buzz surrounding your novel? Are there any comments you've seen you would like to expand upon? 

One particular comment that I see a lot when I go through the reviews is that the book is too short. When I began writing Warden, I had no idea how long it was going to be. When I put it up for sale on Amazon, I made sure to include the word count. I really don’t want anyone to feel cheated by the length of this book. It’s important to me that they feel they’re getting a good deal. 

What writers inspire you? 

Margaret Mitchell, Philippa Gregory, Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Stephenie Meyer… There are lot of them. 

What have been your favorite books this year so far? 

My favorite read so far this year has to be Shiver. Maggie Stiefvater is so great at portraying first love. I can’t wait for the third book in the series to come out. 

As an independent author, did you think about going the traditional publishing route or did you want to go out on your own? Why? Has your experience been easier or harder? 

 Honestly, I didn’t have the confidence to send anything out to an agent or publisher. Even to this day, I have only sent a copy of Warden out to one agent in New York. She wasn’t interested. I’m satisfied with the self-publishing route for now. One thing I would really love to pursue with this series would be a film option. Seeing Sarah and Michael on the big screen would be fabulous! 

Thanks for having me!

 About the Author:

I am a stay-at-home Mom with two growing boys, an overworked husband and a very devoted Jack Russell terrier named Shelby. I grew up in small city called Mishawaka, Indiana and the majority of my family live in the Indianapolis area. I now live with my wonderful boys, my husband and sort-of-annoying dog in Little Elm, Texas. The Vampire's Warden is the first book I have ever put up for sale.

You can out more about S. J. Wright at her website or Goodreads, and can purchase her novella at Smashwords, Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Giveaway!

For the list of participating tours, click the image above.

We would like to thank S. J. Wright for stopping by today and Bels at The Bookish Snob Promotions.