All About Erin Pemberton and her book The Prophecy

Welcome to the book tour for The Prophecy by Erin Pemberton! Today she's giving us a lot of background about herself and her new book. Plus there's an excerpt for you to enjoy. Be sure to let her know what you think in the comments as you follow the tour! And best of luck in the giveaway!

******************************

Your journey to becoming a writer.

 I actually started writing when I was in high school. I tried writing a horror story. It was horrific, but not very good when I look back at it now. I have it hidden in my house currently. It was after I had kids that I decided to write a different kind of story, very similar to the Tree House series involving four brothers who can imagine themselves into different worlds with different creatures. I actually gave a halfhearted attempt at trying to publish that. But once again, it lacked a lot. Then, I started The Sword of Lumina series. With that one, I found out just how hard it was to break into the publishing world. However, I was successful. Mira’s View was published in June 2014. From there, I had two others in that series, Mira’s Hope and Mira’s Last published under the name Erin Elliott with the same publishing company. I also had several others, all romance based published under Elena Kane, including Witch and A Land Without Snow. I chose a pen name for my romance book because even though I’m a grown woman with a husband and kids, I’m still a little afraid of my mother and she is not a fan of kissing scenes in books. But what she doesn’t know, can’t hurt her. After those books, I went back to writing books under Elliott because that was my name at the time and I found another publisher. Nothing against my current publisher, I still work as an editor with them, I just didn’t want to put all my eggs in one basket. So then came along my book Heartsong.

Skip along a couple of years, one divorce and marriage later and you come to my newest work, The Prophecy. This book was inspired by the fairy tale Rapunzel. I actually had a lot of trouble finding a publisher, who didn’t want me to put up half of the funds first because of my lack of promoting my other books. You see, for a writer, I actually don’t like asking people to read my stories and I really don’t like reading reviews on my stories. Even though they may be good, I feel like they influence the way I write. I start focusing on what other people think I should put in my stories instead of writing what makes me happy. And let’s face it, this isn’t my chosen career, this is my hobby. Something that I enjoy doing in my free time. When I focus on trying to make everyone else happy, I lose what brings me enjoyment and then it just becomes another job I have to do.

Your writing routine. 

I actually don’t have a writing routine. I write when I can, which is mainly during the summer when I actually have free time. Even then, it’s not a lot. With a husband, five kids, and my hatred of being stuck indoors, I don’t have a lot of spare time. When I do write, I don’t have an outline that I follow, I just go with the flow or where the story seems to be carrying me. I have a general idea of where I want my story to go, but I usually don’t know what will happen in between until I start writing.

Character creation. 

Most of my characters are based on people around me or people that I’ve seen. Ella has my sense of humor and sarcasm. How I would respond in a situation, is how she would. General Tia is also based off of me. I see something that needs to be done, and I do it. Much like she does. Erek and Jack are both based off of my husband both in looks and mannerism. I would watch him and have my characters respond much like he does. As far as names go, I actually pick a letter in the alphabet and then make up a name. It’s not a fancy process, but it works for me.

If your book was made into a movie… 

I don’t think I could or would watch it. It drives me nuts when they make books into movies because they have to change it so much. Which I understand makes it a great movie, but I compare the two too much. So I can either watch the movie or read the book but I won’t do both. My dad won’t watch the Harry Potter movies with me because I complain the whole time and make comparisons while getting really upset. I’ve read the books too many times, one would say.

If you could live in one of your books, which one and why? 

None of them! There is a lot of fighting going on in them, and sword play is not my actual thing. Plus, I would want to live on a beach somewhere, which only one of my books end up on a beach. Still, harsh environment there too.

Top 10 favorite things:

1. My husband, Jason
2. My kids
3. The beach
4. Christmas
5. Cinnamon rolls
6. Candy-different types for different seasons, but always willing to go to Albanese gummy bears
7. Long walks anywhere its warm out
8. Painting
9. Golden retrievers
10. writing

Top 10 ... about one of your characters

About Ella

1. She is based on Rapunzel
2. She is the prophecy the good fairies talked about
3. She grows up in a tower with Tia
4. She has magic
5. She falls in love with two men that look and act exactly alike
6. She kicks butt with an bow and arrow and the sword
7. She can control lightning
8. She’s extremely sarcastic
9. She’s tough
10. And she is the princess

Pros and cons of being a writer/author
The pros are definitely being able to create your own world, your own characters, and your own rules. There is something awesome about getting to decide the fate of everyone within your little world. The cons are, it’s a lot harder than you would think possible. It’s more work than I ever thought it would be and it takes a toll on your self-esteem, which is another reason why I quit reading reviews. It’s hard enough to receive all the rejections that you do without taking it personally. Reading reviews is like taking a hit in the gut every time, good or bad. In order to stay true to myself, I stay away from all of them.

Preview of an upcoming book/series 

I have one book that I’ve started, I just haven’t had a lot of time to work on it, so it hasn’t gotten very far. And like I mentioned above, I don’t always know where my books are going until after I’ve written them. This one is about a dragon named Anya,who has run away from her family and other dragons because of how different she is. She is considered strange, weak, and too small to be considered a proper dragon. So in order to avoid being killed by her brother, she seeks a new life in the world of Agia. There she meets a furry friend and an elf named, Blain who is trying to escape a group of monster called Zergs. They destroy everything in their path and no one has been able to successfully kill them, until Anya appears. Not only does she kill one, but two while saving Blain. From there, they strike up a deal and make their way across Agia to meet up with Blain’s friend. That’s all the further I’ve made it with that story. I do know that eventually, I want Anya to go back to the dragons and convince them to help win the war against the Zergs, but I have a lot of work to do on that one.

Anything about you fans may not know or you want to share 

I have mentioned it several times, but I don’t like to ask people to read my stories. It’s nothing against them, and I’m thrilled when they do, but I will never ask them what they thought of my book or read their review. Please don’t take it personally, it’s just a decision I made when my dad gave me a poor review of my first book. I spent a lot of time figuring out how to change my second book and being so upset, that I hated writing. It was then that I decided to avoid all reviews in general. As a result, I can write what I love and the world does not influence my writing.

You find yourself on a deserted island. What 10 things do you most wish to have.

1. My husband
2. Sun tan lotion
3. A hatchet
4. And endless supply of drinks, the adult kind and water
5. My kids
6. A fishing pole
7. a small canoe
8. snorkeling gear
9. clothes
10. sunglasses

Have one of your characters describe you as a writer.
She is sporadic. You never know when she’s going to write, how many times she is going to change your scene or when she’s going to change your look. You could sit in the same scene for months and boom, she sweeps in changes a few things, writes a few thousand words and then you don’t see her again for another few months.

In a land plagued by war, King Dorvin and Queen Shiara are expecting their first child. They are excited until the good fairies tell of a prophecy; that their daughter is the key to winning the war against the Shadow tribes. To protect her, mages of the kingdom create a tower to keep her and her guardian hidden until her eighteenth birthday. When Ella turns 18 she leaves the tower, only to find that her parents are dead and the Shadow tribes now control the kingdom. Trained as a warrior, and aided by the good fairies, Ella must now bring her subjects together and prepare for the final war.

Read an excerpt:

“You love her, don’t you?” Jack asked quietly, his eyes never leaving Erek’s.

“Does it matter? She and I can never be together.” The sadness of this truth rang through Erek, nearly making him fall to the floor and weep. He’d waited his whole life for her. “You love her as well.”

Jack nodded his head. “Where does that leave us? What are we going to do?”

Erek feeling more tired and older than his twenty-five years replied, “It leaves us fighting for the same thing. Once this is all over, we’ll figure out the rest. For right now, we need to be content that when one of us isn’t around watching over her, the other is.”

Jack ran a hand over his newly shaved head, his eyes turned to the floor and nodded.

Erek looked at him, seeing so much of himself in this man of light. The same eyes, the same stature, the same look. Even their movements and choice of haircuts were the same. Right down to the chin strap they both wore. Erek never thought of it before, but it were almost if they were the same man. “Do you think, if we lived in another world, that we might be the same person? Me being the darker side and you the lighter?”

Jack looked up at this, his eyes wide and his mouth set in a straight line. “I’ve thought it several times actually. There are times when I’m convinced I passed by a mirror when I see you.”

Erek nodded before turning back to look at the storm brewing. He heard Jack quietly head down the stairs, leaving him to his thoughts. Ella would be safe in Jack’s hands when Erek was no longer there to protect her. He was sure of it. If Jack felt anywhere close to the way he felt, Erek knew she would be loved the way she deserved.

Book Links

Goodreads * Amazon 

I’m just a small town girl, living in Ohio and making up worlds for my characters to live in. A preschool teacher by day, I live with my amazing husband while dreaming of walking hand in hand with him on the beach just searching for seashells. Together, we have five incredible kids, who are starting to make their way in this world as they take on college, high school, and elementary school. I love Christmas, the beach, seashells, painting, reading anything fantasy related, and in my very little spare time, creating new worlds for others to enjoy.



https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19797307.Erin_Pemberton

Author's website: https://july2219812.wixsite.com/epemberton

Erin Pemberton will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway