WILD CARD
Jamie Wyman
Release
Date: 11/25
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Synopsis:
It was bad enough that gods gambled with human
souls, but Catherine Sharp’s soul just had to be won by the Greek goddess of
Discord, Eris. As if working a dead-end tech support job didn’t suck the life
out of her as it was. Now, Cat finds herself performing random tasks for the
goddess in her free time.
But when Coyote, the Native American trickster
himself, claims to have won her own soul in Mayhem's weekly poker game, Cat wants
in on the action. With five sneaky gods upping the ante, Cat needs to find a
way to collect the winning chips that could save her soul.
Marius, a handsome yet irritating satyr with his own
debt to Eris, might finally come in handy for something. If they play their
cards right and work together, Cat and Marius may just get their freedom back.
If they don't kill each other or fall in love first.
Barnes
& Noble Buy Link:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/wild-card-jamie-yman/1117252913
Author
Bio: After a misspent adulthood pursuing
a Music Education degree, JAMIE WYMAN fostered several interests before
discovering that being an author means never having to get out of pajamas.
(However, she can eat/spin fire, tell you a lot about auditioning to be a Blue
Man, and read/write in Circular Gallifreyan.) As an author, Jamie’s favorite
playgrounds are urban fantasy, horror and creepy carnival settings. When she’s
not traipsing about with her imaginary friends, she lives in Phoenix with two
hobbits and two cats. She is proud to say she has a deeply disturbed following
at her blog.
Jamie’s
debut novel, WILD CARD, will be coming to an e-reader near you November 2013
thanks to Entangled Publishing. You can also find her short story “The Clever
One” in the anthology WHEN THE HERO COMES HOME 2 (Dragon Moon Press, August
’13).
Interview:
I would like to welcome Jamie Wyman and thank her for taking the time for an interview.
What is your favorite part of Wild
Card?
The characters. I’ve had so much fun
writing them, playing with them in my head and watching what happens when their
lives go to hell. I love their flaws, their quirks and how they get under one
another’s skins. Catherine and Marius are spectacular. I heart them to pieces.
How long did it take you to write
Wild Card?
The rough
draft took 3 weeks to write. (I was on a roll with that one and it just came
gushing out.) However, it’s been through months and months of edits and
revisions to make it just right.
If you were stranded on a desert
island which of your characters do you want by your side?
Definitely Marius. Sure there are gods in the book that
could probably get me off said desert island (assuming they didn’t put me there
in the first place), but Marius is by far the most entertaining and…shall we
say decorative? He’s easy on the eyes and he’s a satyr! We’d never be bored.
If you could be best friends with
one of your characters, who would it be?
Oh, that’s easy. Catherine Sharp. She is a lot like the women I hang out with
and I think she’d fit right in.
What inspired you to write your
first book?
My first
book was called DREAMSEED. I’d had this thought right around the time Heath
Ledger died, “What if people who die in their sleep stay in the dream they were
having?” After some prodding from my friend Jesse, I started working on it, one
chapter at a time. Pretty soon, the story started falling off the spool and the
next thing I knew, I had a finished book. It’s never been published and I may
rework it eventually, but that was the first book I wrote.
What is your favorite book that you
wrote?
Of those that are finished? WILD
CARD. It hit all of the marks I was gunning for, was a blast to write and I’ve
truly enjoyed living in the world of Catherine Sharp. Right now, though, I’m
working on the third book in Cat’s story, and I have to say it’s my favorite.
I’m dying to finish it so that my betas can scream at me for it!
Who or what inspired you to be a
writer?
I always
knew I loved telling stories. I have a very vivid memory of being 4 or 5 and
telling my grandma stories while she recorded them on a tape deck. I’d have to
say that she’s the first person who told me I could be a writer. She bought me
my first typewriter, too. After that, I had many teachers who praised my
writing or helped me take it to the next level. My family has always been
supportive of everything I’ve done, and that’s worth gold, right there. I took
a long time away from fiction, though, and it was my friend Jesse Cox who poked
me to write my first novel, so he’s been a big deal. And my betas. I cannot
thank them enough.
What books have most influenced your
life?
WICKED by Gregory Maguire, THE STORY
OF B by Daniel Quinn, MISTS OF AVALON by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Who is your favorite author and what
is it that really strikes you about their work?
I’d
have to say Christopher Moore. He has a true gift for humor. I’m laughing out
loud every other page or so. But he also has this beautiful prose (particularly
in his more recent works) that is damn near heartbreaking. He takes these
weighty topics like death and coming to terms with one’s past and tackles them
with wit. I absolutely love that about his work.
What is your typical day like?
I hit the snooze bar a few times, then get up and trudge to
my daughter’s room to wake her up. (I’m glad I’m not a snooze bar, or else
she’d hit me. No one in this house is a morning person.) Once I’ve gotten her
off to school, I do a little bit of puttering on social media or catch up on
The Daily Show and Colbert Report. Then, I pour myself some chai and it’s off
to the word mines. I break for lunch (and check social media/YouTube for funny
things while I eat), then get back to work until it’s time to pick up the kiddo
from school. After that, it really depends. If I have a deadline or if I’m
REALLY on a roll, I might get back to what I’m working on, or I spend time with
the family and do house stuff. I’m usually up late chatting, playing video
games, reading or playing Words With Friends.
How do you overcome writer’s block?
One word at a time. I try not to think of “writer’s block”
as a big deal. The more weight you give it, the more power it has—if that makes
sense. The easiest way for me to push through a hard spot, is to just write.
Even if it sucks. If I really can’t do that, I will read something I know I
love, or watch a movie that I think is an impeccable example of good
storytelling. Those usually help kick the gears loose.
Can you share a little of your
current work with us?
Well, as
posting anything from my current work-in-progress would be spoilery in one
fashion or other, here’s a bit of one of my favorite scenes from WILD CARD.
“Bugger all, you are a lousy date!”
“This isn’t a date,” I contested.
“This is a job. Nothing more.”
“You could do worse than a date
with me, Catherine.”
I snorted. “Not by much.”
“Do you honestly find me so
repellent?” His face drawn in a mockery of disappointment, Marius stretched out
his arms in a move that was equal parts pining for attention and putting
himself on display. Once more, I humored the idea that for all of his
personality flaws and inhuman traits, he sparked something in the deeper
reaches of my interest. Maybe it was the sleek line of his shoulders in that
suit. Or the silky thickness of his hair. I skimmed over our past, wondering if
I’d ever seen it down rather than in a ponytail.
I shook my head and stopped
pondering. This was Marius. I’d never seen beneath the glamour, but I
knew it was there. I wouldn’t deny that he was attractive, but I couldn’t
accept that what I saw was reality. Still…
“You’re all right,” I conceded,
looking away and letting my stare drift over the crowd.
“All right?” Dropping his arms, he
chuffed indignantly.
“Darling, I do believe I must fetch
you a dictionary as your vocabulary is sorely lacking. I am better than all
right. I am spectacular. I am an Adonis. Tantric sex in a suit, is what I am.
And it wouldn’t kill you to pay me a compliment. Here, allow me to demonstrate.
You are stunning, Catherine. You sparkle with the delicate fire of a star. A
vision of grace and beauty that would make Aphrodite herself fume with envy.”
Abashed and red-faced, I looked
away. With a hooked finger he picked up my chin and drew my attention back to
his too sincere face.
“I am truly the luckiest of men to
have the honor of escorting you tonight.” He placed the faintest of
kisses—little more than a breath and the brush of his mustache—on the back of
my hand.
“May I have the pleasure of sharing
a dance with you?”
My stomach fluttered. I wasn’t
snowed by his pretty words, but the intensity of his stare gave me pause. Could
he mean it? Could I actually be entertaining the idea that Marius was anything
other than a bother?
I blew out a breath I hadn’t
realize I’d been holding.
“Sure. Why not? Nothing better to
do.”
What book are you reading now?
With Catching Fire in theaters, I just finished a re-read of
the whole Hunger Games series. I’d forgotten just how awesome and horrifying those
stories can be.
What do you prefer paperback,
hardcover, or ebooks?
Ha! I’m
sure my husband would prefer I stick to hardback or ebooks, what with the way I
treat my favorite paperbacks. I’m horribly hard on them. My copy of Mists of
Avalon is in tatters and dog-eared and the covers are all bent out of shape. I
love paperbacks. However, I’m really seeing the benefit of ebooks. I’m
particularly fond of ebook versions of anthologies. Not sure why that is, but
it just feels better reading an antho on my Kindle.
Do you have anything specific that
you want to say to your readers?
Thank you!
I’m so full of gratitude to everyone who has taken the time to read the book,
review it, share it… everything. Thank you, thank you, thank you for allowing
me to share these characters with you. And stay tuned! There’s more to come.
Giveaway:
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