1--What is the title of your latest release?
IMMORTAL SECRETS
2--What’s the “elevator pitch” for your new book?
Joanna Shepard knew her childhood home of Good Harbor wouldn't be the same after her parent's death, but she never would have associated it with danger. She returns to deal with the sale of her childhood home, but a sudden attack rips away the safety of a small town. The attack is the first of a series of events that expose dangers lurking in the dark. Lies told to her and her brothers by a beloved family member are revealed and they may be connected to the danger now threatening them. Jo finds herself a pawn in a struggle that is beyond her wildest imagination and she's not sure who she can trust.
Everyone has secrets, but Akantha, now living as Alex Thorne, has more than others. She put the conflicts in her long past behind her and focused on a quiet life on the coast of Maine with an adoptive family. The quiet she sought is shattered when she learns hostile forces are coming after her. She accepts help from her long-time love and sometimes enemy, Damianos, counting on him to keep Jo and her brothers safe from the danger now in their lives.
Secrets exposed. An attack in the night. Sudden betrayals. And a person determined to gain the secret of immortality at any cost.
Joanna has to find the strength inside to accept the new challenges, learn from Akantha, and come out of the other side alive.
3--How did you decide where your book was going to take place?
Sydney Ashcroft: Maine is a great setting for “weird” stuff, and I recently moved to Maine when we started writing Immortal Secrets. We do have our most famous resident, Stephen King, and if you look at the shows/movies set in Maine, most have “weird” elements to them. The coast of Maine is beautiful and fierce, making it a perfect setting for almost any book.
4--Would you hang out with your protagonist in real life?
Sydney: Yes. I’d love to sit and talk history with Alex (Akantha) and Damianos. I love history and we all know that what’s in books isn’t everything that has happened. History is written by the victors, and I’d love to hear the other side of things. Not to mention I know I could get a good cup of tea or a stiff drink.
Dani Nichols: I would love to listen to the stories they could tell.
5--What are three words that describe your protagonist?
Sydney: OMG. There are so many words to describe Alex, but since I have to pick three, I’ll go with thorny, stubborn, unpredictable.
6--What’s something you learned while writing this book?
Sydney: Perseverance. This book went through a few total rewrites until it was where it needed to be. This book took a lot more effort to write and get right than our first book did. It was all worth it in the end.
Dani: That last draft can and will be a long way from where the first draft began, and that’s okay.
7--Do you edit as you draft or wait until you are totally done?
Sydney: Depends on what month it is. If it’s not November, I’ll edit as I go. If it’s November, then it’s all “write as fast as I can and edit later”. NaNoWrMo doesn’t encourage editing as you write.
Dani: Because I work with my amazing writing partner on most things, we play to our strengths. She’s a plotter, I’m a pantser. We add and edit while sending the draft back and forth between us. We each get one last edit before we submit it. For the work I do alone, I try to write straight through before editing, but I don’t make it. I start tweaking and editing as I go when inspiration hits.
8--What’s your favorite foodie indulgence?
Sydney: Tea. Tea is a way of life. One of my superpowers is that I can randomly find tea/a tea shop when I’m traveling. I stumble upon tea shops when walking around cities.
Dani: Ice cream of all kinds and flavors.
9--Describe your writing space/office!
Sydney: Most of the time I write in the family room in a recliner with my feet up. I usually have music or the news on for background noise over the dog’s snores. I do have to take breaks and cuddle with a cat who climbed up on me.
Dani: I’m lucky enough to have a home office with bookshelves and a table that holds my day job computer station and personal workstation, but I end up in the mornings at the kitchen table near the coffeemaker. The view out of the backyard and the early morning southern light is a comfortable way to start the day. I can get an hour or so at the keyboard before the cat has had enough of my shenanigans. Did I mention the coffeemaker nearby?
10--Who is an author you admire?
Sydney: This may sound cheesy, but any author who had the determination and strength to resist distractions to write a whole book. Writing a book is hard, but ignoring distractions is the hardest part of writing. Anyone who can do that deserves admiration.
Dani: Molly Harper. I find her work relatable and laugh-out-loud entertaining.
11--Is there a book that changed your life?
Sydney: This is going to sound weird, but Bullfinch’s Mythology. I love horses and when I was kid, I read every horse book I could find. I stumbled onto Greek mythology, and it opened up a love of heroes, magic, and monsters.
Dani: My Wolf, My Friend by Barbara Corcoran. My fifth-grade teacher gave it to me. The ending hurt so much that I wanted to rewrite it and give everyone the ending they deserved.
12--Tell us about when you got “the call.” (when you found out your book was going to be published)/Or, for indie authors, when you decided to self-publish.
Sydney: The one for Immortal Secrets doesn’t stand out in my mind. The one that does stand out is for Chasing Destiny, our first published book. I was at my sister’s house in New York and it was the day after Christmas. I took five minutes to check my email and saw the one from City Owl Press. I was floored. I called Dani at 12pn Eastern time, 9am on the West Coast where Dani lives and woke her up. I thought it was a very good reason to wake her up. Merry Christmas to us.
Dani: Immortal Secrets didn’t have a special call. The first book, Chasing Destiny, was an early morning call on from my co-writer. I didn’t know she’d submitted it. I nearly hung up on her for waking me up.
13--What’s your favorite genre to read?
Sydney: Probably fantasy. I love being whisked away to different worlds full of magic and danger. Big bonus if it has dragons in it. Who doesn’t like dragons?
Dani: Urban fantasy with a side of mystery. Supernatural creatures and magical beings are great, but I want them to do something in the story.
14--What’s your favorite movie?
Sydney: Okay, it’s almost impossible to pick just one, but if I had to, it would have to be Casablanca. The best movie ever made, and the dialogue is on a level of its own. The very close runner-up is the Princess Bride. That movie, and book, is perfect.
Dani: Knives Out is my current go-to movie. Captain America, The Scream Queen, and James Bond. It’s a lot to love.
15--What is your favorite season?
Sydney: Each has its own merits, but I would say spring. Mostly because everything is renewing and coming back to life. I love seeing nature waking up and things turning green again. After many months of grays and browns, green in the spring is the best.
Dani: Fall. The cooling down from the summer heat to the lazy slide into the cold. The air smells and tastes different. It pairs well with pumpkin spice.
16--How do you like to celebrate your birthday?
Sydney: It’s becoming less important as the older I get. I generally like to take the day for myself and spend it at home with the animals. A quiet day is perfect.
Dani: I usually end up working on my birthday and save the time off for a later, longer vacation, but I treat myself to a nice dinner delivered while I shop online for something with sequins to add to my fancy dress vacation wardrobe.
17--What’s a recent tv show/movie/book/podcast you highly recommend?
Sydney: I’ve been on a Mike Flanagan kick lately. The Fall of the House of Usher on Netflix was amazing and such a wonderful love letter to Edgar Allen Poe. That, along with Flanagan’s Midnight Mass have been my obsessions lately.
Dani: The Thing about Austen podcast. If you like Jane Austen, it’s a fun literary guide into the people, objects, and culture that shaped her work.
18--What’s your favorite type of cuisine?
Sydney: I would have to go with Italian. I love a lot of different types of cuisine, but Italian brings me back to wonderful childhood memories.
Dani: Pub food is my guilty pleasure. Nothing beats a bacon blue burger and a good dark beer.
19--What do you do when you have free time?
Sydney: What is this “free time” you speak of? I keep busy. I work 40 hours a week at a day job. When I’m not doing that I write, read, play and run Dungeons & Dragons, I make D&D accessories, and I also crochet. I also love going to see live music.
Dani: I work a full-time job with a lot of self-inflicted overtime. What time I do have left, I write, read, work on house projects, spend time with my grandson, and try to garden without causing too much destruction. Whenever possible, I escape on a cruise with a writing project.
20--What can readers expect from you next?
Sydney: I have a superhero romance called Masks coming out in April of 2024. I’m currently working on another superhero romance along with another Immortals book with Dani.
Dani: I’m currently working on another Immortals book with Sydney.
Joanna Shepard knew her childhood home of Good Harbor wouldn't be the same after her parent's death, but she never would have associated it with danger. She returns to deal with the sale of her childhood home, but a sudden attack rips away the safety of a small town. The attack is the first of a series of events that expose dangers lurking in the dark. Lies told to her and her brothers by a beloved family member are revealed and they may be connected to the danger now threatening them. Jo finds herself a pawn in a struggle that is beyond her wildest imagination and she's not sure who she can trust.
Everyone has secrets, but Akantha, now living as Alex Thorne, has more than others. She put the conflicts in her long past behind her and focused on a quiet life on the coast of Maine with an adoptive family. The quiet she sought is shattered when she learns hostile forces are coming after her. She accepts help from her long-time love and sometimes enemy, Damianos, counting on him to keep Jo and her brothers safe from the danger now in their lives.
Secrets exposed. An attack in the night. Sudden betrayals. And a person determined to gain the secret of immortality at any cost.
Joanna has to find the strength inside to accept the new challenges, learn from Akantha, and come out of the other side alive.
Fantasy [City Owl Press, On Sale: January 30, 2024, Paperback / e-Book, ISBN: 9781648984402 / eISBN: 9781648984396]
SYDNEY ASHCROFT originally hails from Pennsylvania and is a die-hard Penn State fan, but moved to New England over twenty years ago and has never looked back. She currently resides in Maine along with her daughter, a beagle, a cane corso, and a foster beagle. During the day she works full time in the information technology field and writes by night. Tea, chocolate, and folk music fuel her through the day and writing sessions. When she's not writing or working, she enjoys spending time with her daughter and dogs, going to see live music, and plotting shenanigans with her co-author. Sydney can be found on Twitter @sydneyashcroft and at www.nicholsandashcroft.com DANI NICHOLS is a first time author living in the California Central Valley, happily ensconced between the wine trails and the foothills. She's a career public servant who frequently bribes the cat off the laptop so she can write the kinds of stories she loves to read. Dani stocks up with travel experiences, coffee, Ben and Jerry's Peanut Butter Cup ice cream, and the occasional bottle of wine to fuel her literary escapes.
A long time public servant with a desire to tell a good paranormal fantasy story. Dreams do come true, with coffee, supportive friends, and plenty of wine and ice cream.
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