Persephone
Daughters of Zeus Book #1
By- Kaitlin Bevis
Genre-YA Paranormal
Blurb-
There are worse things than death, worse people too.
The "talk" was bad enough, but how many teens get
told that they're a goddess? When her mom tells her, Persephone is sure her
mother has lost her mind. It isn't until Boreas, the god of winter, tries to
abduct her that she realizes her mother was telling the truth. Hades rescues
her, and in order to safely bring Persephone to the Underworld he marks her as
his bride. But Boreas will stop at nothing to get Persephone. Despite her
growing feelings for Hades, Persephone wants to return to the living realm.
Persephone must find a way to defeat Boreas and reclaim her life.
Links-
Daughter of the Earth and Sky
Daughters of Zeus Book # 2
By-Kaitlin Bevis
Genre-YA Paranormal
Blurb-
Some vows can never be broken.
Persephone thought she could go back to her normal life
after returning from the Underworld. She was wrong.
The goddess Aphrodite is born among the waves with more
charm than she can control. Zeus is stalking Persephone and her loved ones, and
Thanatos is no longer content with Persephone's silence.
He wants her soul.
Persephone can't tell anyone about Thanatos' betrayal, and
it drives a wedge between her and Hades. Her mother is still keeping secrets,
and Melissa's jealousy of Aphrodite threatens to tear their friendship apart.
Alone, Persephone turns to a human boy for comfort. But will
their relationship put him in danger?
Sacrifices must be made, and Persephone must choose between
her human life and her responsibilities as a goddess. If she doesn't, she could
lose them both.
But will either life be worth choosing once Zeus is through
with her?
Links-
The Iron Queen
The Daughters of Zeus Book # 3
By- Kaitlin Bevis
Genre- YA Paranormal
Blurb-
Life is hell for Persephone. Zeus will stop at nothing to
gain access to the living realm and the Underworld, and as the only living god
with a right to both, Persephone’s in trouble. Captured and tortured beyond the
limits of her resolve, Persephone must find the power to stand against Zeus.
But will she be strong enough?
Meanwhile, Hades contemplates desperate measures to rescue
his queen. Persephone never thought of herself as dangerous, but there’s a
reason gods never marry for love. A being with the power to destroy all of
creation shouldn’t place more value in one individual than the rest of the
planet. But Hades...Hades would break the world for her.
To save the world and stop both Hades and Zeus, Persephone
must make a difficult choice. One that may cost her everything.
Links-
About the Author:
Kaitlin Bevis spent her childhood curled up with a book, and
a pen. If the ending didn't agree with her, she rewrote it. She's always wanted
to be a writer, and spent high school and college learning everything she could
so that one day she could achieve that goal. She graduated college with my BFA
in English with a concentration in Creative Writing, and is pursuing her
masters at the University of Georgia.
Her young adult series "Daughters of Zeus" is available wherever ebooks are sold. She also writes for truuconfessions.com and Athens Parent Magazine.
Links-
Webpage: www.kaitlinbevis.com
Goodreads Page: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6150699.Kaitlin_Bevis
Authorgraph: http://www.authorgraph.com/authors/KaitlinBevis
Tumbler: http://kaitlinbevis.tumblr.com
Twitter: @kaitlinbevis
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/kbevis1/
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/Kbevis
ARE: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.htmlInterview:
I would like to thank Kaitlin Bevis for stopping by today to tell us a little about herself and her novels.
What inspired you to write your first book?
Actually, it was watching the Clash of the Titans trailer. Something about the music, and yelling, and the damn the gods quote just got me thinking about the gods, and who was more damned than Persephone? Then I wondered if there was more to that story, and one thought led to another. I'm very interested in where everything comes from. We tell the same stories over and over again. Persephone, phantom of the opera, beauty and the beast. There's something about the Greek myths, Persephone's in particular, that pull at us, inspire us to rewrite it. Maybe because it feels incomplete. Everyone wants to finish it. To put their own spin on it. I caught the bug and it still hasn't let go of me.
What is your favorite book that you wrote and why?
Daughter of the Earth and Sky. Persephone went to some dark places in that book and spent most of the novel confused, and hurt, and angry, and she really spoke to me when I was writing that book. I couldn't keep up. And I know this sounds pretentious, but it was amazing to me how much better my writing was getting the more I wrote. I know it's not perfect, but writing is SO subjective, it's not often you can look at two different pieces of writing and actually SEE growth once the writer has mastered basic mechanics and such. The story just kept spiraling out of me and I'm really proud of how it turned out. It was an amazing experience.
If you were stranded on a desert island which your characters do you want by your side?
Hades. Unless I actually wanted to get off the island, in which case I'd choose Persephone because she could teleport us off. But you know, if it was nice island and I wanted to stay for awhile then yeah, Hades.
If you could be best friends with one of your characters, who would it be?
Probably Persephone because I feel like I know her so well. She's a lot like a lot of my friends, and I'm a lot like Melissa, her best friend. Melissa and wouldn't get along because of that though. Persephone...I'd be super jealous of her, but she would be a great friend.
ed to be a writer. There's not a specific moment, person or incident I remember sparking that dream in me. I colored pictures of stories before I could write and I have this tendency to act out story scenes that goes back as long as I can remember. I used to be a much more enthusiastic actress. I'd run around my house acting out scenes like a little psychopath. Now I just talk to myself while I'm driving in the car.
What books have most influenced your life?
LJ Smith influenced me from a very early age. Fan fiction wasn't a thing when I was little. Or if it was I didn't know it had a name but some of my earliest work is set in her Night World. I love Kelley Armstrong too, they have very similar universes. Her young adult series is fantastic (so is her adult series). Scott Westerfeld taught me how great action can flow in a book. Snapping now evokes this image of hover boards. Lots of tv shows inspire me as well. Joss Whedon, Steve Moffet, and Eric Kripke do character development and plot very very well.
Who is your favorite author and what is it that you like about their work?
Kelley Armstrong is my absolute favorite. I love her books, particularly her YA series. She does incredible character development and world building and just keeps fantastic pacing. It's my dream to go on the supernatural summer tour with her and just about every other author I'm a fan of. I have no idea what I'd talk about. I'd probably freeze up and shove a book at her to autograph like I did when I met Peter Beagle. I seem to lose the ability to form coherent sentenced when meeting famous people. It's pretty embarrassing.
What is your typical day like?
I wake up at 7:00 and get ready, and do all my marketing stuff and update truuconfessions (my day job) until 8:00, when I wake my daughter up and get her ready for school. We eat breakfast and I drop her off, go for a run, then I sit down and write until I pick her up at noon. We come home, eat lunch, and she takes a nap, then I work on my blog and social media stuff, and clean the house. When she wakes up we do family stuff until her bedtime, at which point I do some more writing until I go to sleep. It's a pretty boring day, but very productive. And I spend a ton of time with my daughter, which makes me happy. We weren't going to send her to preschool yet since I'm home, but loves spending time with other kids SO much, so it's really great that she gets to socialize and play and learn while I get a huge chunk of writing time.
How do you overcome writer’s block?
Hit my head on the desk repeatedly until I cry. No, actually, I just write through it. And it sucks for what feels like ever, and then it goes away and all the sudden I can't keep up with how fast the story is coming out. But I did get some fantastic advice from Terry Kay, that I haven't had an opportunity to try yet.
When you experience writer's block, introduce a new character. A crazy character who does something completely unpredictable. You can cut them later, but the way the other characters react will get the ball rolling.
Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Sure! This is a scene from Venus and Adonis. I call it Water Bending. PC, Mac, TMobile, and Verizon Wireless' names will be changed. I just visualized the characters from the cell phone adds, so the alias' helped me keep track and amused me.
Poseidon let out a string of curses that would shock any sailor. "Get behind me." He had to shout to be heard over the music. He held out a hand, ready to push me behind him if I didn't comply. His trident appeared in his other hand with a flash of gold so bright I found myself blinking away sparkling dots. "And get ready to run."
I summoned my charm, gritting my teeth against the pain that ripped through my stomach thanks to my proximity to Poseidon. The charm slid off the passengers like water. Swallowing hard, I stepped back. Run? From humans? How screwed up was that? Of course, the weapons in their hands that could kill us with a single scratch did tip the scales a bit.
T-Mobile attacked first, with all the grace of a zombie. She leapt forward, hacking and slashing at the air with the Olympian Steele several feet before she even got within a foot of Poseidon. She was trying to miss. The flashing lights illuminated a wild struggle in her dark eyes that told me she was resisting the charm as best she could, but what hope could a mere mortal have over a divine force of will?
Poseidon dodged her with ease, then seemed to remember me and threw himself between the two of us, trident whirling to block her Steele. "We're going to talk about the bargain we just made later," he growled.
"Talk all you want. Your promises are still binding." I threw up a shield, power flaring to life within me. My powers hurt. I gritted my teeth, ignoring the gut-wrenching pain and pushed the shield at the charmed passengers just as the Mac joined the fray, Steele shattering my shield in a second.
I froze. Fighting wasn't in my skill set. Unlike Persephone, I'd never seen the point in spending my spare time learning self-defense, or honing my powers so I'd be ready for a combat situation. My charm could even quell gods. Why would I ever need anything more than that?
Poseidon shoved me to the side, intercepting the Steele with his trident. PC leapt to Mac's aid, slashing at Poseidon with the Steele, but Poseidon sent him flying into the bar, crashing into a wall of bottles with enough force to shatter them. PC hit the ground with a thud, alcohol and glass raining around him. The bartender, unperturbed, kept pouring drinks. What the hell? A quick glance around me confirmed everyone else was still dancing. Were we shielded? Or was everyone charmed? Holy hell, what kind of power were we dealing with?
Don't just stand there! I commanded myself. Do something. Taking a deep breath, I tuned out the pulsing music and concentrated. With effort, I picked out several more charmed passengers as well as a shield enveloping the entire bar. "Poseidon, break the shield!"
A wave of power swelled from Poseidon. The shield shattered. My stomach wrenched as I blanketed the room with charm in a desperate bid to gain control of the passengers before they panicked and fled the bar. They could come in handy.
Gods it hurts! The effort of channeling my powers had me doubling over in agony.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed past the pain, concentration breaking when another passenger lunged at me, knocking me to the floor. I rolled out of the way, sliding across shattered glass. Hissing as the broken bottles sliced my skin, I leapt to my feet.
The uncharmed passengers, suddenly aware of what was going on, screamed and rushed toward the door. "Crap!" I pushed past the pain and refocused my power on the crowd as the music shut off and regular, fluorescent lights flickered on.
"Are you cut?" Poseidon spared me a glance, throwing up a shield to gain the half-second to determine whether or not I was all right.
"Not by Steele." Taking a deep breath, I forced my charm to take hold of the other passengers. Now all they needed was a task. I could think of one. "Help me!"
The bar came to life as passengers threw themselves in between me and the Steele wielding zombies.
"Go!" Poseidon shouted, trident swinging in a wild arc. T-Mobile ducked around the blow, slashing at Poseidon, but was intercepted by a crew-member acting under the influence of my charm. I ran, Poseidon on my heels. The crowd split in front of me, forming a narrow hallway that closed behind us as we ran. A living shield.
Scattered within the crowd I could pick out charmed passengers that weren't under my control just waiting for us to get close enough. "Red dress! Glasses! Waitress!" I shouted warnings to Poseidon as soon as I was able to pick out the passengers who would attack, glancing back to gauge his success.
Poseidon's trident flashed. Now I understood why Demeter and Hades had been so determined to get him on their side against Zeus. Poseidon wasn't just powerful.
He fought in a way most gods were too complacent to even consider. It was impossible to tell where his powers stopped and his physical prowess began. A flash of green lightning erupted from the trident, followed by a punch, a kick, a shield inverted around a passenger to restrain them. He was everywhere at once until they tried to strike back, and then he was nowhere. "You're incredible!" I hadn't meant to speak out loud, by rights I shouldn't have even been audible over the sound of the fight, but somehow Poseidon still heard and flashed me a grin.
"You sound surprised. I thought that was common knowledge." His grin faded. "Watch out!"
I ducked as another charmed passenger broke through the crowd, slashing at the place I'd been with the shimmering stake. Poseidon was there in a flash. The passenger went flying into the wall as limp as a rag doll.
We broke free of the bar and dashed across the lobby. If anyone thought it odd we were running like our lives depended on it, I didn't notice. "Where are we going?" I cried.
"Water."
Right. I veered toward the wall of windows and glass doors that led to the deck, dodging another slashing dagger. How had we not been cut yet? Scratch that, I thought as Poseidon sent that passenger flying. How had I not been cut yet. I'd been knocked over, pushed, and narrowly missed a statistically improbable number of times to have not sustained a single injury from the Olympian Daggers.
This fight didn't make sense. I'd been on this ship surrounded by these people for the last day and a half. Why not take me out then?
Maybe I'm not the target.
What if I was just in the way? Poseidon was the one they had addressed at the beginning of the fight. He was the one they kept attacking. And Poseidon had been behind a shield almost the entire time he'd been on board. Maybe they'd attacked like this because taking down his shield would be noticeable no matter what they did. If you can't go for surprise, go for strength?
But the only reason Poseidon hadn't just teleported the moment they attacked was because he'd promised to protect me. It was no secret he could teleport. Had whoever was behind this expected him to leave? Was this just intended to be a show of strength that went awry when Poseidon stuck around to call their bluff?
A weight hit me from behind. With a grunt, I went down, twisting as I fell.
Or maybe I'm a target, too. For a second, all I could focus on was the Olympian Dagger centimeters from my face. The weapon didn't move. My gaze shifted up the arm of the passenger carrying the Olympian Steele. His face was contorted in a grimace of agony. With a sudden violent jerk he was flung off of me, and slammed into the wall by an invisible force.
"What?" Leaping to my feet, I found Poseidon, one arm up as he cast and recast a shield to keep the passengers at bay, the other stretched toward the man, trident extended. "How did you do that?" Telekinesis was not in our skill set.
"Salt water," Poseidon panted, the strain from casting a new shield every time the Steele broke through the existing one evident on his face. "Run!"
I took off, skidding onto the deck, reeling from what Poseidon had just done. There were whispers, rumors, that the original six were capable of manipulating the human body via built in fail-safes. A control for each god. Water for Poseidon, trace minerals from the earth for Demeter, the four aspects of the soul living and dead for the rest. But I'd only heard rumors. Precious little about human creation had passed down the bloodlines.
And no one could say for certain whether those same controls had been built into us.
"Stay against the rail." Poseidon instructed, sliding to halt in front of me and turning to face the lobby. I felt his shield break, the power ricocheting back to him. "Can you break the charm?"
I hesitated, breaking someone else's charm was tricky. I'd never succeeded in freeing Persephone from Zeus' charm, no matter how hard I'd tried. And I'd tried hard.
If it was even possible, wouldn't he have forbidden me from even trying to tamper with his charm? Probably. But I'd gotten enough practice in to have plenty of theories for how breaking charm could be done. "I can try."
Poseidon nodded. "Try then. I'd rather not have to kill anyone."
"Really?" It wasn't like I thought Poseidon enjoyed death and violence or anything (much), but I just hadn't expected him to care one way or another whether the people attacking us lived or died. I was a bit surprised he hadn't just sunk the whole ship the moment they attacked.
Poseidon shrugged, and added. "I don't want to give Hades any excuse to come to my realm."
Right. Gods had to respond to divine causes of death. Figures that's what Poseidon would be worried about right now. "You do realize that at this point it's just manners keeping Hades out of your realm, right? Persephone gave him half her powers, and he was already much stronger than you."
Poseidon ignored that, turning to the door the passengers would come through any second. "I'll buy you as much time as I can. You may want to duck."
I dropped to my knees, hands going over my head just as a wall of water rushed above me, whipping around the deck as the charmed passengers poured through the door.
Go inside, nothing to see here. My stomach twisted as I let that command blanket the ship, fueling it with every bit of power I could manage. Get to your room and stay there until morning.
The effort of maintaining hold of so many passengers twisted my stomach into painful knots. Oh gods, this hurts! Water roared around me, disrupting my concentration. Squeezing my eyes shut, I waited until I could sense the passengers under my control retreat all across the ship. I imagined doors closing, and gave them a few second to get settled, making sure to leave a strong desire imprinted in their minds to stay put until sunup before releasing them from my charm. Lock the door and stay put. Even out of my control they would most likely obey the subconscious command and stay locked up until morning. It was safe to assume that anyone out and about was against us.
I narrowed my focus, ignoring the passengers who I could easily influence in favor of those who were under foreign control. They were all headed toward this deck.
How many in total? I gave up counting at thirty and shifted my focus to the eight on deck that were attacking Poseidon right now.
I could sense the charm holding them, but something about it seemed off. Charm is like a thread of power extending from god to man. A thread. But the charm holding the humans hostage wasn't a solitary thread, more like a rope.
"There's more than one controller," I realized.
"What?" Poseidon shouted.
My answer was lost in the roar of the water. PC lunged at Poseidon, but was whipped away by the current. The water animated and whirled around Poseidon, suspended in the air like the arms of an octopus, lashing out every time one of the passengers got too close. But he wouldn't be able to keep up the fight forever. I gritted my teeth and focused on gathering more power.
We weren't dealing with another deity like me, or some super charged Titan. What was it Hades told me Zeus said? "You think you saved the world by killing me, but you've doomed it. What's coming is worse. And Hades, they're armed."
They're armed. Plural. This was a group. An army even.
I kept my eyes closed tuning out the screams, grunts, occasional flashes of green lightning, and splashes to separate each power signature I found connected to the charmed passengers. The threads of power were braided together in an intricate chain of charm, so strong I didn't have a hope of breaking it.
But the woman in the pink dress had been fighting it. All of them were. I opened my eyes for a second, the jerky movements of the passengers confirming my memory. Gritting my teeth against the gut-wrenching pain that came with using my powers so close to Poseidon, I focused on a single thread of charm, ignoring the rest of the rope for now.
The individual threads were weak.
"Aphrodite!" Poseidon snapped. "Any time now!"
More people had joined in the battle. I hadn't opened my eyes to check, but I could sense them. How many? Ten? Twelve? "I'm trying!" I focused on channeling my power through the gaps between threads of charm. Sweat bathed my face. Using my powers shouldn't hurt this much.
Almost got it. I pushed at the gaps, pouring more and more power into the effort.
My stomach lurched. It was a good thing I was already sitting down, because there was no way I'd still be on my feet.
I felt the charm controlling them snap and my eyes flew open. "Got it!" I called triumphantly. "I--" I broke off with a gasp. The passengers hung suspended in a wall of water before Poseidon. Their mouths were open, faces frozen in contorted expressions of pain as they'd desperately tried to drag air into their lungs but failed finding only water. Their dead eyes burned with accusation.
"No." Poseidon stepped backward and the water crashed to the deck, bringing the bodies to the ground with a sick sounding thunk, Olympian Steele still clutched tight in their dead fingers. "You didn't."
What book are you reading now?
Seeds Volume 2 by M.M Kin for a Persephone cross-promotion. It's a really good series, just be warned that it is not YA.
What do you prefer paperback, hardcover, or ebooks?
EBooks. When you've moved as often as I have the novelty of print becomes a bit of an encumbrance. Plus I like having my entire library on me at all times. Stuck waiting in the doctors office? No problem, I have a book. Can't remember something I've read, I can pull it up. I'm never going back to print! I do sometimes reflect on the fact that should I ever find myself in post-apocalyptic conditions, most of my books will be on a dead phone. But libraries and bookstores should still exist, they just y not be manned, so I figure I can make due.
Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
Thank you! Thank you so much for taking the time to read my book. Getting published is literally a dream come true for me, and I still can't believe that there are people out there, that I haven't personally pestered to death, that have read my work. I REALLY appreciate it. It means so much to me.
Thank you so much for the interview!
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing the interview. I really enjoyed your answers. Good luck with the tour!
ReplyDeleteI have always loved Persephone. I am looking forward to reading this series, I love mythology and reading authors who put their own spin on it. Thanks for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteCrystal Guidroz
cguidroz2@cox.net