Interview and Contest with Jennifer Armentrout

Jennifer L. Armentrout

Interview Intro:

Hello everyone!  LITERAL ADDICTION and Book Monster Reviews are very happy to welcome Jennifer Armentrout to our sites today!  

Jennifer lives in West Virginia, but all of the rumors you’ve heard about her state are not true.  When she’s not hard at work writing, she spends her time reading, working out, watching really bad zombie movies, pretending to write, and hanging out with her husband and their dog Loki. 

Her dreams of becoming an author started in algebra class, where she spent most of her time writing short stories – which could have a lot to do with her dismal grades in math. 

Jennifer writes young adult paranormal science fiction, fantasy and contemporary romance.  She also writes adult romance under the name J. Lynn. 

As Jennifer L. Armentrout, she is the proud creator of the COVENANT and LUX series. 

COVENANT currently has 3 titles with at least 4 more on the way – “Daimon”, “Half-Blood”, and “Pure” are available.  “Deity” will be released 11/6/12, and “Elixer”, “Apollyon” and “Sentinel” will follow.

LUX is currently comprised of “Shadows” and “Obsidian”, with “Onyx” coming 8/14/12 and “Opal” following after.

As J. Lynn, she gives us the NEPHILIM RISING series and some awesome single titles like “Tempting the Best Man”. 

NEPHILIM RISING’s first book, “Unchained”, will be released 10/16/12.

For those of you not yet familiar with Jennifer’s work, we thought we’d give you the synopses for some of her books to peak your interests a bit.

COVENANT Series

“Half-Blood” Book #1:

The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi-pure-bloods-have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals-well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures. Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is. If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.

“Deity” Book #3:

History is on repeat, and things didn't go so well the last time.

Alexandria isn't sure she's going to make it to her eighteenth birthday—to her Awakening. A long-forgotten, fanatical order is out to kill her, and if the Council ever discovers what she did in the Catskills, she’s a goner... and so is Aiden.

If that's not freaky enough, whenever Alex and Seth spend time "training"—which really is just Seth's code word for some up-close and personal one-on-one time—she ends up with another mark of the Apollyon, which brings her one step closer to Awakening ahead of schedule. Awesome.

But as her birthday draws near, her entire world shatters with a startling revelation and she’s caught between love and Fate. One will do anything to protect her. One has been lying to her since the beginning. Once the gods have revealed themselves, unleashing their wrath, lives will be irrevocably changed... and destroyed.

Those left standing will discover if love is truly greater than Fate...

LUX Series

“Obsidian” Book #1:

Starting over sucks.When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I'd pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring.... until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.And then he opened his mouth.Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well,  something...unexpected happens. The hot alien living next door marks me.You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon's touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I'm getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades. If I don't kill him first, that is.

“Onyx” Book #2:

Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…

Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is more than a product of our bizarre connection. I’ve sworn him off even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But against all common sense, I’m falling for him. Hard.

Our relationship issues aren’t out biggest problem…

The Department of Defense is here. If they ever find out what Daemon can do and that we’re linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And when a new boy shows up a school with a secret of his own, things get complicated fast. I need to choose between my own instincts and Daemon’s.

But then everything changes…

I’ve seen someone who shouldn’t be alive. Daemon’s never going to stop searching until gets the truth. What happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want from them—from me?

No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies

NEPHILIM RISING Series as J. Lynn

“Unchained” Book #1:

Between the pissed off creatures that want demon-hunter Lily Marks dead and the fallen angel who just… wants her, Lily is about ready to trade in forever for a comfy job in a cubicle farm.

Mortal enemies, the fact that Lily and Julian are civil to one another is enough to have her thrown out of the Sanctuary. Even she can build a laundry list of why getting close to him is career suicide, but she can’t shake her not-so angelic stalker or how he brings her dangerously close to ecstasy.

As if Lily already didn’t have enough problems, the hits just keep coming. Blindsided when a traitor is discovered working from within the Sanctuary, Lily is shocked to find he's determined to get her kicked out. Her relationship with Julian provides the perfect fuel for suspicion, and she quickly finds herself being hunted by well, everyone. Her only hope is to discover the real traitor before she loses everything—and she'll need Julian's help. That is, if Julian is really there to help her … or destroy her.

Yeah, being a Nephilim isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be.

They sound fabulous right!!?  They are, and you can find them at your favorite bookseller.  Before you run off to find them though, give us a bit more time so we can tell you some more about Jennifer and her work.

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LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  Hi Jennifer!  We’re so happy to have you here today.  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to sit down and chat with us.

Thank you for having me!

LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  We always start out by getting to know our guest authors a little bit better.

Q1): Can you tell us 3 things about yourself that we couldn’t find out easily on the Internet?

Hmm, let’s see. I’m afraid of heights over water, so that means I’m not a big fan of bridges. I’ve never ate apple pie and I’m not ashamed to admit that. I’ve also saved someone who was drowning once.

Q2):  What are 2 things that always make you smile, and 2 things that never fail to piss you off?

Two things that make me smile: Tosh.0 and getting emails from readers. Two things that never fail to piss me off: People that are snobby or judgmental and any kind of cruelty or neglect of animals.

Q3):  We found out in your bio that you love to read.  Are there any titles and/or authors that you continually return to when you get the time to do some pleasure reading?

Right now, I’m a big fan of JR Ward’s BDB books. They always make me giggle, true. I also love the Soul Screamers Series, Demon Trapper Series, and Midnight Breed.

Q4):  What’s your favorite inspirational quote?

This may sound really terrible, but I’m not one of those authors who do quotes.

Q5):  What are some of your favorite TV shows and movies?

TV shows: Tosh.0, Vampire Dairies, anything on the ID channel, Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, True Blood (but its losing my interest). Ghost Hunters, and oddly enough, Dance Moms. Don’t ask. My favorite movies range from Talladega Nights (yeah, that movie just cracks me up) to really bad zombie movies.

Q6):  With Fantasy and Romance being such popular genres these days, what made you choose them, and what about it fascinates you personally?

I’ve always read romance books, ever since I was a youngin, so it seemed natural that when I started writing the books would have heavy romantic elements. Fantasy is fun because it’s a pure escape. I love reading and writing it.

Q7):  What is a typical writing day like for you?  Do you have a routine that you follow?  Are there specific things that you have to have with you to get the creative juices flowing? Do you have any interesting writing quirks, etc?

My typical day starts depending on when I went to bed the previous night. If it was a somewhat decent hour, then I’m up early in the morning, but if it was like past 3am, then my morning gets a late start. The first thing I do every day is respond to Tweets, Facebook message, look at my email and *try* to respond. I try to clean up all those things first, then I stare at my Word program and usually find someone to call. After that, I stare at my Word program, but end up checking out Twitter, blog, Goodreads, and other shiny internet things. Most of the time it’s hours later before I start writing.

Q8):  Was there any specific inspiration behind the creation of the COVENANT and LUX series?

Other than always being fascinated with Greek Mythology and wanting to create strong female leads who may start off one way but experience some form of character growth, not really. The Lux Series is a series of mistakes that actually worked, lol. My editor asked me if I’d write about aliens in high school and my immediate response was a laugh and an unapologetic no, but the more I thought about it, I came up with the idea of Obsidian. 

Q9):  How many books do you have planned for each series?

As of right this very second:

Covenant Series—5 books total, two novellas

Lux Series—3 books total, one novella

Nephilim Rising—3 books total

Q10):  What about the NEPHILIM RISING series, why did you feel you had to tell that story and what can we expect when it’s released?

When I write, it’s never about feeling a need to tell a story. Every story I write starts off as entertaining myself basically (I bore easily) and spirals into a full length novel. I write what I want to read. From the Nephilim Rising series, you can expect humor, action, danger, and lots, lots of romance—romance of the steamy, adult kind. Lily is one of my favorite characters. She’s kick ass and strong and has a love for Big Macs. And Julian, well, he’s yummy. Also one of my favorite creatures I’ve created exists in that Series and they’re called dead heads. =)

Q11):  If you could spend the day with any of your characters, with whom would you want to spend it, and what would you like to do?

Daemon. I’d like to spend the day watching him tick off the masses.

Q12):  What were some of the challenges (research, literary, psychological, logistical, etc) in bringing your current series to life?

Ah, none of the above? My current challenge is impatience with what I’m writing. I like to finish things.

Q13):  What are you the most proud of with regards to your career thus far?

My readers—I have the best readers in the world, honestly. They are just the coolest and I’m proud of all the things they do to spread the word about my books.

 

Q14):  Is there a question you thought it would be great to be asked in an interview but have never been asked?  How would you answer that question?

Ah, I think I’ve been asked just about everything except “What would you do for a Klondike bar?” And my answer would be: kill? Giggle.

Q15):  Is there anything special you would to say to your readers while we have you here today?

I love you guys. I’d like to give you all a hug, but that would get kind of awkward.

LITERAL ADDICTION/Book Monster Reviews:  Thank you so much again for being with us today.  We’d absolutely love to have you back to promote the actual release of “Unchained” in October if you’re interested.

I’d love to come back. Thanks!

If you would like to keep up with Jennifer, you can find her online here:

Website:  http://jenniferarmentrout.blogspot.com/

Facebook:  http://facebook.com/jenniferlynnarmentrout

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/jlarmentrout

GoodReads:  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4476934.Jennifer_L_Armentrout

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CONTEST:

Jennifer is graciously offering up  one copy of any of her currently released titles, US Only to a winner from Book Monster Reviews and another winner over at the LITERAL ADDICTION website. 

TO ENTER:

1)  Please become a member of the Book Monster Blog by clicking on the “JOIN THIS SITE” button at the top left hand corner of blog page.

2) Leave a comment on this post and be sure to leave your email address.

*Any comments without an email addy will NOT be entered into contest!

Don't forget to drop by the LITERAL ADDICTION website (http://www.literaladdiction.com/) and follow the directions and links to enter their contest for an extra chance to win!!!