Rogue's Angels Present: Fire by Belle Manuel

Please welcome Belle Manuel author of Fire.

Belle will be awarding $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn host.

Fire

by Belle Manuel

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE:  YA (Fantasy & Magic)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

INTERVIEW:

1. What elements are necessary components for this genre?

a)     Honestly it comes down to just a few things, really. You need believable characters, even in a fantasy universe. Readers need to be able to believe that somehow, somewhere the person they’re reading about is a real being. After that you need common things: a little romance, a lot of action, and a show of power from your characters. They have to show the reader that anyone can overcome anything, if they just have the right support system or just believe in themselves. No one was ever inspired by a book about someone who gave up.

2. How did you come up with your idea for your novel?

a)     A friend of mine used to pay me to write stories, and she asked me to write about a boy who could produce ice, and a girl who could do fire. It was 10 chapters long, very fast paced, and not very good. But it was the beginning. I picked it back up in college and it took off on its own. The characters began speaking to me, and then suddenly they were real in my mind.

3. What would you want your readers to know about you that might not be in your bio?

a)     I’m an amazing cook and baker! I revel in making desserts around the holidays! I make ornate pies with detailed crusts and designs in the filling. My husband gets to enjoy my Cajun homestyle cooking and the fact that every dish comes with rice in my house! I love cooking and baking; it’s almost calming for me.

4. As far as your writing goes, what are your future plans?

a)     I would honestly love for writing to become my full time career. What’s better than having a hobby for a job? I’d be able to kick back while watching my tv shows and create for people! Oh it would be such a dream!

5. When did you first decide to submit your work? Please tell us what or who encouraged you to take this big step?

a)     My husband pushed for me to get published while we were engaged. He thought that I had more potential than just letting friends read my work. I got about 75 rejections when he told me to keep trying and ignore all of the people who said no. I remembered how J. K. Rowling had been rejected and told the Harry Potter would go nowhere, and here she is the biggest known author in the world.

6. Do you outline your books or just start writing?

a)     My editor says I have an odd process. Usually, it’ll all start with a scene. I write that down, and then expound upon it until it’s a good two or three pages. After that I build around it with other scenes, eventually getting to where I have all of my plot points down. Once that’s all done I connect with filler information and conversation.

7. How do you maintain your creativity?

a) I have a million notebooks everywhere. When an idea hits, I scratch it down, then make a point to go through my notes later. Most of the time it’s useless or not what I truly wanted, and then other times it becomes a novel. It’s all about realizing that creativity strikes anywhere, and you can’t just remember for later!

8. Who is your favorite character in the book? Can you tell us why?

a)     Chelsea is my favourite because she is all of the things I want to be! She’s strong in the face of danger, independent all of the time, and she’s not afraid to show her feelings when the time comes. But she also has some of my faults, so I feel that makes her more of a goal than some would be.

9. Anything else you might want to add?

No matter what you want to do, don’t give up! Even if my book never sells another copy, I made my dream come true! I’m happy with the accomplishments I’ve made and you should always strive for yours, always!

BLURB:

Chelsea and Chad are twin fire and water elementals, humans born with the ability to control the elements. Chelsea struggles to control her flames, while Chad finds himself under the control of dangerous people. War draws near, and brother and sister must choose a side, even if it’s against each other.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT:

"Chad’s anger was growing as we drove on, forcing the temperature in the car to drop lower and lower. I knew if I tried to heat it up, he’d just get angry, so I forced myself to ignore it as best as I could. If I closed my eyes, I could see all of the events unfold in front of me again. I could see the fire raging through the upstairs hallway, burning every ounce of memories away. I could hear my father’s voice telling us to hurry out of the house, so calm and steady. I could see my father placing his hand to the random outlets in the house as we ran out, setting them ablaze without a thought. I could smell the smoke as it rose throughout the house, making it hard to see as Chad and I ran down the stairs and out the door.

           

I’d gotten out of the house a full two minutes before Chad had. I thought that he’d fallen and I had left him behind. But he had burst through the front door, flames on his heels and plastic bag in his hand. It was a small sandwich sized bag with a big wad of money resting inside of it. Then we’d heard the sirens, and Chad somehow knew what to do. I did what he said and ran to his truck, jumped in and waited.

We finally pulled off the highway and I realized where we were going: Steve’s house. My heart skipped a beat and I finally relaxed. We were going to our backup home, to safety. I looked at the cookie-cutter houses, towering in their red-bricked glory. Then Steve’s house came into view. This was the home that Chad and I would flock to when our dad would work late. Steve wasn’t like us, but he was a good friend of Chad’s who didn’t judge us for our secrets. His parents liked us enough that we had spent the night over there quite a bit when we were younger. And within the last few months, Steve and I had secretly grown closer. But now, Chad and I were on the run. I had ruined everything.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Born in Louisiana, Belle Manuel spent her early years learning to be a good Cajun girl before moving to Texas. She visits Louisiana often, enjoying the quiet break from the active Texas life. When not writing, Belle enjoys crochet and crossword puzzles. Her debut novel, Fire, was released July 1st of this year.

Belle first began writing in middle school, where her first writing job was getting paid by other students to write stories for them. She enjoyed turning their random requests into interesting stories, and the money she made helped fund her reading habit.

Fire began with an idea, but quickly took on a life of its own and changed as Belle wrote it. With all the adjustments and improvements, it eventually evolved into The Elemental Series.

Links

Author Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bellemanuel10?fref=ts

Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14125209.Belle_Manuel

Author Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Belle-Manuel/e/B00YT853NS/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1443402456&sr=8-1

Publisher: https://amberjackpublishing.com/

Buy Links

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Fire-Elemental-Belle-Manuel-ebook/dp/B00YLU1L1W/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fire-belle-manuel/1122038206?ean=9780692446423

Kobo Books: https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/fire-the-elemental-series

Amberjack: https://amberjackpublishing.com/books/books/fire-the-elemental-series/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

Belle will be awarding $50 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn host.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/28e4345f1389