Blog Tour: Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan

I am so excited to be opening the tour for Fractured Light by Rachel McClellan! Today you'll find out more about the book, and about the author as well, with an interview. Also, make sure you stop by Dark Mind Book Tours (by clicking on the banner here above) to take your chance in the huge giveaway!

Fractured Light

I’m dying, I thought. This was unexpected and not at all how I envisioned my death. I was supposed to die gardening in a flowerbed as a hundred-year-old woman, not as a seventeen-year-old trapped in a lake beneath inches of ice.

Llona Reese is used to living on the run. After a Vyken killed her parents, she knew they would eventually come for her too. She can’t take any chances. But when she starts to make friends for the first time in her life, she gets careless and lets her guard down. Big mistake. As an Aura, Llona can manipulate light and harness its energy. But if she wants to survive, Llona will have to defy the Auran Council and learn to use her power as a weapon against the Vyken whose sole desire is to take her light. Now she’s caught in something bigger than she can understand, with a power she can’t wield, and no one she can trust, except, just maybe, a mysterious stranger.

Purchase Links
Barnes & Noble - Amazon UK - Amazon US

Rachel McClellan

Rachel McClellan was born and raised in Idaho, a place secretly known for its supernatural creatures. When she's not in her writing lair, she's partying with her husband and four crazy, yet lovable, children. Rachel's love for storytelling began as a child when the moon first possessed the night. For when the lights went out, her imagination painted a whole new world. And what a scary world it was... 

Where you can find Rachel
Website
Blog
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Goodreads

Where did you find the inspiration to write Fractured Light?

Llona had been in my head for awhile after completing a short writing exercise that asked me to write about something someone lost. These pages, which later because the prologue to Fractured Light, came very easily to me, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to tell Llona’s story quite yet. However, her personality and voice was so strong, I couldn’t ignore her.

Was there a scene in the book you found particularly hard to write?

The first several chapters for sure. There is so much that has to be done with these chapters to keep the readers’ attention like introducing conflict right away, giving enough, but not too much back story, introducing the antagonist, giving the main character a goal, and many other things. It can be tricky to balance all this while still having enough page turning tension.

Did you get inspiration from someone specific to write your characters?

Not one specific person, but several of my characters habits and likes were taken from people I know. For example, May has a lot of traits that mirror my younger sisters. She’s my best friend, too. :)

How did you become a writer?

Anyone can be a writer, good or bad, it’s the “author” title that’s harder to achieve. The road to being an author is long and often lonely. You have to be dedicated to the craft and have a great love for it. I wrote two novels before Fractured Light, which may never be published without some serious editing-love. Honestly, I look at these two novels as practice. I learned so much from them.

Fractured Light came shortly after. It was easy to write and I wrote it in four months. But then came the hard part – querying it. It’s very time consuming and you have to pull on a thick suit before you do it. Rejections come, more so than the requests, but it’s worth it. Eventually I found a home through Cedar Fort Publishing. I’ve been very happy with them.

Do you have a writing process/schedule?

As a mother of four, I have to write when and wherever I can. To do this, I carry an AlphaSmart with me. It’s basically a small keyboard with four lines of visible text on a small screen. I love it. It’s the only personal belonging I own that if the kids touch, it will mean a swift and imminent death.

Is there a particular place you feel more inspired to write?

I love to write in the New England forests or, if I’m working on a darker novel, graveyards set the mood nicely.

What is the most satisfying part of being an author?

The feeling of accomplishment when you write the two best words in the world “The End”.

What do you usually do when you're not writing?

I love movies (can’t wait for the new Batman: Dark Knight movie to come out!). I also enjoy my TV shows like The Walking Dead, Being Human, Supernatural, The Vampire Diaries, but the reason I watch these shows isn’t just for enjoyment. I study how the characters are developed, how conflict is introduced, how stakes are increased, etc.

When I’m not watching movies or TV, I enjoy reading, playing volleyball and racquetball, watching football, snowboarding, cooking, and any kind of adventure.

Are you working on any new projects at the moment?

Cedar Fort is releasing two more of my books next year. The first is the sequel to Fractured Light, FRACTURED SOUL. The second is a humorous memoir about raising children called CONFESSIONS OF A CEREAL MOTHER. I’m also getting ready to query a paranormal novel titled UNLEASHED. It’s sort of a young adult version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to start writing?

When people find out I’m published, our conversation goes like this:
“I love to write, too,” they say.
“Really? What do you write?” I say.
“Pretty much everything. I’ve got a couple of short stories and a novel I’ve been working on for awhile. I’d love to get them published.”
“Do you belong to any writing groups?”
“No.”
“Have you taken any writing classes?”
“No.”
“Have you read any books on writing?”
“No.” Pause. “Do I have to do any of those things to be published?”
“Yes!”
An aspiring author must learn all there is to writing and publishing a book. It can be discouraging sometimes, but once writing gets into your soul, it becomes just as important as breathing.