I want to welcome Gemma K. Murray to my blog today. Grab a cup of cyber espresso (I just finished a real one) and enjoy a fun visit with her.
Hello!
My name is Gemma K. Murray and I am an urban fantasy/paranormal romance author.
I was born and raised in Michigan .
After a few attempts at living elsewhere, my husband and I along with our five
canine kids moved back to Michigan .
Instead of living in the Lower Peninsula, we decided to give the Upper Peninsula a try and I am so glad we did. It
provides plenty of fuel for my Cedar River
series as well as the independent stories I’m working on.
So tell us about your latest or upcoming
masterpiece. What inspired it?
Keeper
of the Golden Dragon’s Heart is my debut novel. It actually started as a dream.
I tend to dream in color and, if I don’t write them down right away, they keep
recurring. When I reached a breaking point, I sat down and began to write it
all down. One thing led to another and here I am. One book in the series out,
the second one on its way, and a third, fourth, fifth, etc. waiting in the
wings. There a spin-off coming with Book 3, but I’ll let the readers stew on
that for a bit.
What character out of all your books is the
closest to your personality?
Oh
goodness! I’m currently working on Book 3 in the Cedar
River series and readers will be introduced to Silver Larkin, a
witch. She is naughty and wicked and sexy as sin. She has a mouth like a truck
driver and she makes no apologies. She is as close to me as anyone will ever
find. Her bold and brazen attitude fits me to a tee.
What comes first for you when you sit down
to write a book? Plot or Characters? Characters, always characters. They
tell who they are and they simply begin their story. I write what I am shown
and it takes me down paths I never thought I’d go. With Keeper of the Golden
Dragon’s Heart, I tried to steer Anastasia in a completely different direction.
Let’s just say that didn’t go well. She called me names and yelled at me
constantly (in my head) until I changed it and let her have her way. The story
flowed and I couldn’t stop it. That opened the floodgates for the entire Cedar River series.
Do you "cast" your characters
using pictures or actors to help inspire you when you're writing?
I
do it as I go especially if a character has a particular look. It makes it
easier for me to visualize them. Silver is tattooed and has a very funky look.
I had to piece pics together to find the perfect look for her. Ana and Luna
(Keeper of the Golden Dragon’s Heart and Natural Born Enemies) were very
“all-American” looking women.
Do you work on multiple projects at the
same time?
I’ve
tried to, but it seems to fail me. I started off writing contemporary romance
and I’d like to send them out to publishers, but I can’t step out of the urban
fantasy world without making the characters angry. If I stay in that world, the
stories come together. That being said, I am working on Cedar
River series: Book 3 as well as a series set in the same type of
world.
How much does reader reaction mean to you
as an author?
I
can’t begin to express how much it means to me to hear from a reader. I have
been very blessed. My readers have been so good to me and it means so much. I
had a reader reaction the other day and I laughed out loud. She had been flying
in first class on a business trip. She had told me she reached a point in the
story where she was belly-laughing out loud in a very sedate first class. That
made my day!
If someone hasn't read any of your work,
what book would you recommend that they start with and why?
Keeper
of the Golden Dragon’s Heart is the first book in the Cedar
River series (and currently the only one available). The reader is
introduced to the town of Cedar River
and while it can take a while to become accustomed to the sense of community,
it will be well worth it, if you stick with the series. You will get to visit
with old friends as the series continues and meet new ones along the way.
What is your favorite movie of all time?
The one where you can watch it and still get affected at the same spots each
and every time?
Catch
and Release seems to be the one I turn to a lot. It’s the emotion of watching
Gray discover that her dead fiancée is not who she thought he was and
discovering his best friend, Fritz, is all that and more.
What is one historical figure you would
love to chat with and why?
Mae
West. My grandma used to always compare me to Mae as well as Totie Fields. I’d
love to hear what they think of when now and how far we’ve come. I love bold,
brash and brassy “broads”. (I say that with the highest regards.) Can you just
imagine sitting down for a drink with these two?
What do you have coming up next for your
readers? Care to give us a glimpse into your upcoming projects?
Natural
Born Enemies is up next. It will be released this fall. It’s the story of Adam
Thomas (the deputy from Keeper of the Golden Dragon’s Heart) and Luna McIntyre.
They are star-crossed lovers in so many ways, but second chances are what life
is all about. Will these two get their second time around or will fate decide
to keep them apart?
Where can we find you on the web (website,
Facebook, Twitter, others)?
Please share your cover and a blurb or
short excerpt and a buy-link for your book.
The
Upper Peninsula of Michigan seems like it is another country. The rawness and
beauty of the land draws people from every walk of life. What most people don't
realize is there is a little town nestled on the banks of Lake
Superior that an entire group of supernatural beings call home.
Shifters of every shape and size live there. They raise their families there.
Tourists come from near and far to visit the quaint town of Cedar
River , Michigan .
The tourists never realize they are walking among some of the most unusual
beings on earth.
Bowie
Golden is a dragon shifter who is in charge of Cedar River 's
safety. Until now, the biggest threat to anyone's safety was Anastasia Plum, a
witch/puma-shifter. She has been the town hellraiser since she was a teenager.
Now someone has discovered the secret the residents of Cedar
River keep for one another. These radicals are determined to
eradicate the entire town. It's up to Bowie
to keep them all safe.
Ana
has always idolized Bowie .
She may have stirred up trouble from time to time, but Bowie or one of his
brothers would always get her out of the trouble she was in. One day, it happened.
The unthinkable, the unimaginable occurred. Anastasia Plum fell for the
"golden" boy. What an unlikely duo- the sheriff and the hellraiser!
Just
as these two discover their passion for one another, a group of people is
determined to keep them apart. It's up to Ana to prove that she is the only
Keeper of the Golden Dragon's Heart.
You
can purchase Keeper of the Golden Dragon’s Heart at the following online
stores:
You’re offering a free electronic copy of
the preview of your book to a lucky reader. What question would you like
them to answer in a comment to be eligible for the draw?
If
you visit the Cedar River
series Facebook page, you will find a picture of the actor who inspired Bowie . Can you tell me
the actor’s name?
