Save My Soul Book Tour: Interview with Zoe Winters

Welcome to the Save My Soul book tour. I have the pleasure of having Zoe Winters here on the blog for an interview. Hi Zoe and thanks for joining me.

AsianCocoa: Please tell us a little about your book, Save My Soul.

Zoe Winters: Save My Soul is about an incubus who has been trapped in a house in a small southern town for 50 years. Anna Worthington has dreamed of owning this house since she was a child, so the possibility that it might be haunted... or possessed doesn’t stop her. In fact, she’s willing to do just about anything to get Luc out of her barbie dream house. Hijinks ensue.

AC: Describe yourself, Twitter style in 140 characters or less.

ZW: I’m really bad at Twitter. This is both a statement of fact and probably something I would tweet about myself.

AC: How long have you been writing and self-publishing?

ZW: I’ve been writing seriously since junior high. (Yeah, it sounds silly to say I was serious about it back then. But I was. I was sending short stories to magazines and writing middle grade novels in 7^th and 8^th grade.) I’ve been publishing since November 2008 when I released my debut novella, Kept.

AC: Your Zoe Who? videos are so funny. Episode 8 is my favorite. Do you plan on making anymore videos?

ZW: Maybe. Probably not. I don’t know. LOL. And thanks! They were a lot of fun to make. I’m just horrible at sticking with things like that or podcasting long term.

AC: Save My Soul was my introduction to the incubus. I loved Luc and so did Scarlett the cat! Are all creatures attracted to incubi?

ZW: All female creatures. Incubi are meant to feed from human females but anything female is going to feel a little of the charming spillover. Male creatures, on the other hand will be territorial and jealous.

AC: I know you’re working on the third book in the Preternatural series. Can you tell us a little more about it?

ZW: The third book is a bit of an ensemble cast book. It’s got romance in it, of course, but it’s sort of walking that line where you almost don’t know what to look at if that makes sense. There is more than one thing going on but it all ties together. Most of my plots are generally fairly linear and “one-track”. I’ve got 5 POV characters which is totally new territory for me. And it was one of the things that made it hard to start the book because I’m just not sure how readers will react to me breaking the pattern of two POVs.

I’ve got Z and Fiona, the main H/h. Z is a panther therian who has basically gotten stuck with this wolf pup he can’t really care for because they aren’t the same species. And Z is such a bachelor. He just doesn’t know what to do with a kid.

Fiona is an agoraphobic witch who hasn’t left her house beyond the mailbox in years. She’s got a special gift that allows her to understand the language and needs of animals. So she becomes useful to Z, and Z is very... well, he’s Z and he’s a little morally gray, not in a mean or evil way but just in a Z way. Kind of in a cave man way. He does live in a cave after all.

Then I also have Cole and Jane as POV characters they were the H/h in Mated, the third novella in Blood Lust (and one of the most popular couples). Some big stuff happens in their relationship and this book starts setting some huge things in motion, the effects of which will start to be seen later in the series, probably by at least book 6.

The fifth POV character is Cain. He was the villain in Save My Soul, but in this book (which has no title yet), we get to see a little bit of how he interacts with his own people. To humans, he’s someone to really worry about and steer clear of, but to his own kind, it’s different. He actually cares about his people. This book sort of serves as his “save the cat” book, which is where we (the general “we”, not my multiple personalities) take a villain and show him start to change or show different sides of him so readers in this case will accept Cain as the hero of book 4, which is his and Tam’s book. And let me just say... Tam has really been holding out on us. You’ll see what I mean in book 4.

AC: You have not revealed the title of the book yet. What is your process in coming up with the titles to your books?

ZW: Hehe. I haven’t revealed the title because I haven’t thought of a good one yet. I’ve thought about “Catalyst” because so much gets set in motion in this book. But, then I also know that if the title isn’t “romance-y” it’ll be harder to reach the demographic and sell it. I don’t want a gimmick-y title, though. I might run a book-naming contest if I can’t figure something definite out soon. And generally a title just comes to me. And it fits. And we’re done. This time, not so much.

AC: If you could trade places with one of your characters who would it be and why?

ZW: Tam. I’m jealous she gets Cain. He’s my favorite. He really shouldn’t be, but he is. He would definitely tell me I was a stupid trollop for going home with him. (Something he says to a woman in book 3.)

AC: Tell us about some of your quirky habits.

ZW: I don’t think I really have any quirky habits. But then the crazy think they are sane. This is probably a question for someone who knows me well. :P I’m sure they could come up with quirkiness.

AC: What was the last amazing book that you read?

ZW: Matched by Ally Condie

AC: Other than writing, what other things interest you?

ZW: Spinach dip and clothing stores that smell like the ocean (usually these stores are found near the ocean).

AC: Is there anything else you would like to share with your readers? Any other new projects in the works?

ZW: Well, I’m working on books 3 and 4 back to back because what I’d like  to do is release the books close together, maybe two weeks apart. I think it might really drive sales and rankings. The drawback is it means it will take a little longer to get book 3 than it would if I was releasing books like a normal person would. (Maybe we can make this the answer to my quirky habits.) The plus side is that as soon as you finish book 3, book 4 is right there. (Or, well, it depends on how fast you get it and read, but a two week waiting period is pretty awesome for a book!)

Author Bio: Zoe Winters writes quirky and sometimes dark paranormal romance. She lives with her husband and two cats, and her favorite colors are rainbow and clear. For more information visit:

Zoe's Website / Zoe's Blog

You can purchase Zoe Winters' novels at:

Amazon

Smashwords

Barnes & Noble 

Check out my review of Save My Soul

 

 

Next up on the tour is: June 12 – Just Another Book Addict

Review: Save My Soul by Zoe Winters

Save My Soul

by Zoe Winters

Publisher: Incubooks 

Release Date: January 31, 2011
Series: The Preternaturals Book 2

All he's asking for is her soul.

After buying the antebellum home she's fantasized about since childhood, Anna Worthington discovers Luc, a dangerously seductive incubus who has been trapped in the house by a fifty-year-old curse. To rid herself of her problem house guest she'll call on a priest, gypsies, ghost hunters, and the coven of witches from lust bunny hell. All she has to do is resist him long enough to break the spell so they can go their separate ways. If she doesn't, she could die. And that would be the best case scenario.

~From Goodreads

I decided to read Save My Soul after seeing the book trailer on one of my favorite author’s (Claudia D. Christian) website. I figured if she liked it and was recommending this book then I might like it too. 

In Save My Soul, I received my first introduction to the incubus demon. This was quite an intriguing creature for me since I’m all about the smut. The smuttier the better and reading about a demon that survives off the sexual energy of females seemed really hot!

Anna Worthington has just returned to her childhood town of Golatha Falls, Georgia to settle some affairs from her late father’s estate. Not wanting to stay in town for longer than she needs to, Anna starts to head out but decides to take a detour down Cranberry Lane to look at a house that she has been in love with since childhood. The house is for sale and while taking a tour of the house, Anna feels compelled to buy it. 

Soon after moving in Anna starts to hear things go bump in the night. It starts out with objects getting moved around, her television being turned on automatically and seemingly stuck on the Food Network channel. She had heard the house was haunted by a ghost named Beatrice and just assumes that is who is haunting her. But then one night during an attempted date rape, Luc appears out of nowhere to defend her against her assailant.  To her horror she realizes that she is not being haunted by a harmless old lady but a scary demon.

Luc is an incubus demon who has been trapped in the house ever since a witch named Beatrice cursed him 50 years ago. He and Beatrice had been lovers but Beatrice could not accept Luc’s need to feed from other females. Their love affair ends tragically in death leaving Luc to haunt the various families that live in the Cranberry Lane house or live alone when the house is empty.

Luc falls in love with Anna. He bonds her to him to keep her safe from other incubi and won’t allow her to leave him for extended periods of time.  He flirts with Anna and taunts her shamelessly but she still will not give in to his numerous attempts at seduction. Anna knows that if she doesn’t figure out how to break the curse that she will end up becoming another meal for Luc. 

To buy herself some time, Anna brings back a harem of prostitutes for Luc to feed from. For real?  Yes. That move was laugh out loud funny to me. ‘Here honey, here’s some other kitty cat for you to play with. Now leave me the hell alone.’ Well played, Anna! I almost felt sorry for Luc. He wasn’t even a little excited at the prospect of having five live-in lovers. All he wanted was Anna.

“You know it could be so good. You have to feel this thing between us. Those other girls, they’re just food. It doesn’t mean anything. You’re the one I want.” 

She rolled her eyes and chucked a pillow at him. “Yes, the male argument from time immemorial. They don’t mean anything. It’s just sex. Bullshit. I told you I cannot and will not share.” ~ Luc & Anna

Save My Soul had a lot going on in it. There were several quirky characters that added depth to the story and Zoe Winters did a great job with the dialogue in this book. The snarky banter between all the characters was humorous and I loved the interactions between Luc and Anna. I was rooting for them throughout the book as I really did like Luc a lot. A whole host of supernatural characters tries to help Anna break Beatrice’s curse. But in this twisted ending,  Anna is the only one who can save Luc. 

Save My Soul gets 4 out of 5 stars.