J. E. Taylor

Interview with J. E. Taylor

Welcome to Cloey's Book Reviews and Other Stuff and thank you for interviewing with me today and sharing your writing process and Night Hawk. 

Cloey: When did you become interested in writing?

J.E.: When I was in fifth grade, I wrote and illustrated my first story. Of course, I couldn't draw worth a darn, but my father kept it and gave it to me recently just to prove I've always had a dark side. One of these days I'm going to laminate the book.

Cloey: What inspired you to write Night Hawk?

J. E.: An old work-in-progress that I found when cleaning off my hard drive. Once I found it, the story in my head took flight and I couldn't concentrate on anything else I was working on, so I tabled the rest and focused on Night Hawk.

Cloey: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

J. E.: No matter what is thrown in your direction, be fearless and tackle it head on.

Cloey: Who was your favorite character and who was your least favorite character to develop and why?

J. E.: At first, I thought Damian would be my favorite, after all, who doesn't want to be in the company of a man who looks like a Greek god, but then Naomi took control and she just developed into a fearless creature that I love. She's brash and daring and not afraid of much. I'm sure this will eventually get her into trouble, but for now, she's just fun to work with.

I'm not sure whether the "least favorite character to develop" applies because I enjoy the creation process for both my heroes and villains, so from a developmental standpoint I can't comment.

Cloey: What did you enjoy most about writing Night Hawk?

J. E.: The fact that the characters captivated me and drove the direction of the story. It was a flurry of writing sessions and I really had quite a lot of fun with this one.

Cloey: What were the challenges (research, literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing the story to life?

J. E.: Time. I have a demanding full time job as well as being a partner in a publishing house. Between those two obligations and my family, it is very hard to carve out dedicated writing time. My family knows I get cranky if I'm not writing at least a little bit every day, so they are patient with me, but I can't put my day job on hold to write the way I can with my personal life. So setting the time aside was a challenge, but one that was worth it when I finally finished.

Cloey: What are you working on now?

J. E.: I'm working on the second book in my son's Death Chronicles trilogy. This is one of the ways I find time to spend with him, writing together is fun and educational for him too. Highway to Hell is due out in July. Beyond that, I'm proofing audio book productions and by the end of this blog tour all my novels with the exception of Night Hawk will be available in audio format.

Cloey: What do you like to read in your free time?

J. E.: I like books that thrill me - horror, thrillers, suspense, anything that gets my blood pumping or engages me from the start. Lately, I've been reading a lot of YA and NA as well.

Cloey: Share with us something about yourself that we wouldn't see in your bio or on any other blogs...

J. E.: Oh gosh, well, people know I'm vertically challenged (short), they know I have small feet (kids size 2), they know I can't cook worth a damn. Oh - I know. When I was in New York with my daughter the weekend she tried out for America's Got Talent, my niece, my daughter and I broke out in random dancing in the Apple store.

Cloey: Thank you again for hanging with us today and for sharing Night Hawk - it looks like a hot read.

“You’re more than welcome to join me,” I said when she showed no signs of moving.

Her mouth opened and she glanced back toward the living room. “When?”

“Right now,” I said, knowing she wasn’t referring to my offer.

She rolled her eyes. “When did you paint that mural?”

“A long time ago,” I said. “Now, are you going to join me or not?” This time I turned toward her, giving her the full view and I smiled at the way her gaze bounced, her eyes widening a fraction before inching their way back up my chest to my face. Her cheeks bloomed and I cocked an eyebrow at her.

She pressed her lips together and slammed the door, marching out of the room in a huff.

I chuckled and ran the soap over my chest, running my fingers over what was left of the welt on my skin. The vampiric healing powers still amazed me enough that I missed the shift in the air around me.

Nails scraped my back and I jumped, swinging my head in the direction of the disturbance. Her wide eyes met mine and I turned, drinking her in from head to toe. Exquisite was the only word that popped into mind and when her fingers touched my chest I reached, covering her hand and holding it against my skin.

“What are you doing?” I whispered because having her undressed and this close put me at a major disadvantage.

“I’m saying thank you,” she said and her hands moved lower.

Catching her wrists, I warned, “Naomi, don’t start something you can’t finish.” My body responded anyway and she closed the distance. Her lips grazed my chest and I closed my eyes, releasing her and surrendering to her exploration.

When her tongue trailed lower, I recalled the memories of her ex and my eyes snapped open. As much as the thought of her taking me in her mouth thrilled me, I didn’t want to be that memory and I grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her up to face me. She wasn’t one of the common harlots from my past that I let drop to their knees before me.

No, Naomi was different and I wanted more.

“You do not have to do this just because you aren’t ready for anything else.”

Her dark eyes met mine and I traced the frame of her face with my fingertips, studying every curve. Leaning down, I took her lower lip in my mouth, sucking gently before shifting and delivering a kiss that started as tender and rich as her blood, but it soon escalated into an all-consuming heat and I could envision living in this bliss for the rest of eternity.

I had lied to her today.

Fear wasn’t the only deep emotion I had encountered since I plucked her out of the sky, this need to connect, to love again overwhelmed me. The irony of her name and the form she turned into added to the feel that fate had prepared this feast just for me.

Night Hawk
Book One – Night Hawk Series J.E. Taylor 


Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Novel Concept Publishing, LLC

Cover Artist: CoverShotCreations.com










Book Description:

Selling your soul has never been so charming and Mark throws in a little something to sweeten the pot, his girlfriend Naomi.

Sentenced to death at the hands of a demon, Naomi Hawk has a firsthand lesson in despair and betrayal in Mark’s deal for fame with all the trimmings. Deep in the clutches of the underground brotherhood, Naomi's light is coveted for the Master's gain.

When she slips and falls eighty stories from a precarious ledge, Naomi resigns herself to the inevitable impact and death by shattered bones. Before she can escape her demons in eternal slumber, something sinister plucks her from the plummet, stealing her out of the night to sacrifice her forever to the shadows.

Imprisoned in bottomless darkness, Naomi thirsts for justice…and revenge.

About the Author:

J.E. Taylor is a writer, a publisher, an editor, a manuscript formatter, a mother, a wife and a business analyst, not necessarily in that order. She first sat down to seriously write in February of 2007 after her daughter asked:

“Mom, if you could do anything, what would you do?”

From that moment on, she hasn’t looked back and now her writing resume includes a more than a dozen published novels along with several short stories on the virtual shelves including a few within eXcessica anthologies.

In addition to being co-owner of Novel Concept Publishing

(www.novelconceptpublishing), Ms. Taylor also moonlights as a Senior Editor of Allegory (www.allegoryezine.com), an online venue for Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror. She has been known to edit a book or two and also offers her services judging writing contests for various RWA chapters.

She lives in Connecticut with her husband and two children and during the summer months enjoys her weekends on the shore in southern Maine.

Visit her at www.jetaylor75.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/JETaylor/190872939774

https://twitter.com/JETaylor75

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3153969.J_E_Taylor

http://www.amazon.com/J.E.-Taylor/e/B003FER8M6/



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