Hello everyone! Please welcome today’s ALL THINGS GIRL guest, author Aimee Laine. I was introduced to Aimee by one of my besties, Claire Gillian (Claire knows the most interesting people!), and I’m so glad she did! Aimee’s a new multi-published author of paranormal romance and urban fantasy.
SB: Welcome to ALL THINGS GIRL, Aimee! I feel you learn a lot about a person by their shoes. Describe the shoes you are currently wearing and what you love about them.
AL: They are black flip-flops with sequins and plastic jewels on the part that goes over the top – through your toes. I wear them year-round. I love them because they are super fast to get on and off and look cute with everything I wear.
SB: Ooo, they sound very cute! 
When and why did you begin writing?
AL: I began in May 2009 just for the fun of it – literally, I was bored and wanted to try something new. This new ‘hobby’ really stuck!
SB: How did you come up with the titles of your books?
AL: I never come up with titles, they come up first and the book follows. In the 20 or so stories I’ve started, only 1 didn’t start with a title and that came sooner than later.
SB: Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
AL: In Surrender, yes. Never, ever, ever give up. Love is there, just waiting for you.
AB: Aww, that’s a sweet message. Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
AL: Not in Surrender. Because my characters are Mimics, I really did get to make everything up. I don’t know anyone who’s been through abuse like Lily, especially since no one could have been, though I’m sure it would be comparable to what some have gone through.
SB: What inspires you as a writer?
AL: Everything. The way a bird flies or drops to the ground to eat carrion. A broken down shack becomes the location of hidden bones. A mountain becomes a series of expensive hilltop homes. A person becomes able to mimic other people (Mimics). A sleeping cat becomes a familiar. A dinner can inspire a story idea. A conversation can do the same. Anything can inspire me and that’s what I LOVE about being a writer. I can take anything and run with it.
SB: Fantastic! Can you share a little of your current work with us?
AL: Sure! Here’s the ‘current’ opening to Redeemed, Book 3 in the Mimic’s of Rune series, something I hope to have published in 2013 if I can get it finished!
Twenty-thousand feet in the air. Door ripped off its hinges. Air rushing in. The jet dove toward the ground, sirens blaring, rudder jutting.
One man clung to his chair, sucking in oxygen from a mask, absolute terror reflecting in his eyes. Ten other yellow cups lashed panels, swinging upward, to the side and back as the plane banked and dipped. A child, mask firmly attached and belted in, had passed out after screaming for several seconds, his head lolling with the plane’s roll.
James Henry stood, his feet braced between two seats, one hand on the roof, his own oxygen lifeline in the other. Pressure broke in his ears, building, popping and cracking with each meter they fell.
Body braced within the open frame, Maggie Reynolds turned back over her shoulder, her entire form trembling. Her eyes reflected sorrow not fear, pain but not anger, relief and despair. She closed her lids and reopened them.
James brought a mask up to his mouth, breathed deep and removed it.
She lurched forward toward the sky.
“Don’t, Maggie!” If sound passed through his lips, it didn’t reach his ears over the roaring of wind.
As her lips formed the words, “I’m sorry, James,” she jumped.
“No!”
Gone.
SB: Wow! That is an action-packed opener! So tell me, when will you know that you really “made it” as an author?
AL: I said the moment one person I don’t know falls in love with one of my books, I’d make it. That happened in book 1 of Mimics of Rune and jumped greatly in Hide & Seek (Games of Zeus #1). To me, that’s all it take. I write because I love to write. It makes someone happy and that’s even better.
SB: Do you have any advice for other writers?
AL: Write what you love. Sit on it for 6 months before looking at it again. Before you submit it anywhere, get 3 really good writers to read it (not readers – they don’t count) and use their feedback in your edits. This path/method/whatever you want to call it helps me tremendously.
SB: Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
AL: Always: THANK YOU!
Thanks Aimee! Here’s a little bit about her new release, Surrender…
Blurb:
Face the past or look to the future? Both will hurt. One could kill her.
All her life, Lily Crane has supressed her childhood memories, masking the signs of abuse with a variety of looks. From brunette to blonde, tall to short — as a Mimic, changing shape is her gift. Her right. Her achilles heel.
It’s Lily’s latest likeness, chosen simply by accident, which threatens to repeat a history she’s desperate to forget. Worse, she must do so without the one man who takes all her pain away: Cael Aldridge.
Cael has no intention of leaving Lily on her own. He never has. Now, with the woman he loves in the hands of a predator who wants Lily for her genetics, Cael will do everything he can to bring her home.
Alive.
He can only pray he isn’t too late.
Excerpt:
Face the past or look to the future? Both will hurt. One could kill her.
All her life, Lily Crane has supressed her childhood memories, masking the signs of abuse with a variety of looks. From brunette to blonde, tall to short — as a Mimic, changing shape is her gift. Her right. Her achilles heel.
It’s Lily’s latest likeness, chosen simply by accident, which threatens to repeat a history she’s desperate to forget. Worse, she must do so without the one man who takes all her pain away: Cael Aldridge.
Cael has no intention of leaving Lily on her own. He never has. Now, with the woman he loves in the hands of a predator who wants Lily for her genetics, Cael will do everything he can to bring her home.
Alive.
He can only pray he isn’t too late.
A car horn blasted Cael Aldridge’s eardrums as he raced into oncoming traffic. His hands reached the hood of a sedan before his body slammed into the side. He bounced off but kept his footing and spun away, ignoring the driver yelling through the window.
No more than twenty paces had separated Cael from the man he sought.
The bump into the car gave his target an additional ten.
Cael focused every ounce of energy he could into lengthening his stride. With longer muscle fibers and increased lung capacity, his endurance grew, and the distance between himself and his prey shrunk again.
Roy Marlow could not get away.
The ding of a doorbell sounded to Cael’s left an instant before a woman exited a doorway laden with shopping bags.
Cael swung around a black metal light pole to avoid her. Even that millisecond of a detour gave Roy a greater lead. A deep breath added more build to Cael’s hamstrings and thighs. The exhale came with a slap to his side-piece—just in case.
Determination filled him as only one town block remained before Roy could dart left or right, and Cael would lose him.
Again.
Black dress shoes slapped against concrete as he pressed forward, breathing in small, shallow gulps, concentrating his efforts on closing the distance.
Scenery blurred.
Sounds passed in a rush of air.
Friends went by ignored.
The only person Cael wanted to talk to came in the form of a five-foot male who somehow managed to disappear anytime he zipped around a corner.
As Roy made it to the intersection, a black FBI-issue pulled up along the curb, screeching tires and scattering the few people who stood in wait for permission to walk across.
Two doors burst opened, releasing bodies from within.
No different than a cartoon character, Roy skidded to a halt, pivoted and darted straight back toward Cael. As their gazes met, Roy stopped again. His head darted back and forth between the car and Cael before Roy ran straight into the road.
Horns blasted.
The screech of tires rang out.
A scream came from somewhere behind Cael as he slipped between two other vehicles, dancing his way into the road. Roy had already impaired traffic enough for Cael to avoid another run in. He pushed off from the back of a slow-moving car and raced toward Roy.
At any point, Roy could have snuck inside a store or jumped a car and become as invisible as a scrap of dust. That he continued on meant the game had to be played, and Cael refused to lose.
Again.
Roy hit the opposite corner of the intersection as a silver hot-dog cart with a bright, neon pink umbrella appeared in his path, and his entire body slapped against the metal contraption before he fell backward to the ground.
The cart tipped, pink arcing like a rainbow on its way down as bread and cans flipped from the top surface, dumping its contents to the side.
Cael overtook Roy and slammed to a halt, a wide grin on his face. Breathless, Cael stood over the man he’d pursued for a month at least, but he’d known of for years. “Hello, Roy.”
Bio:
Aimee is a romantic at heart and a southern transplant with a bit of the accent (but not a whole bunch). She’s married to her high school sweetheart, and with him, she’s produced three native North Carolinians, two of whom share the same DNA.
With an MBA and a degree in Applied Mathematics, there’s absolutely no reason she should be writing romance novels. Then again, she shouldn’t need a calculator to add two numbers, either … but she does.
Find Surrender here:
Amazon / All Romance ebooks / Books on Board / Diesel / B&N
Find Aimee here:
Very interesting and informative interview. Thanks for those valuable tips, Aimee. They’ll certainly be a great help to me. Your books sound like must reads and since I’m a fan of paranormal, I’ve gotta check them out. Thanks, too, to Sandra for the great interview.
Thanks for coming by to see what Ms. Laine’s been up to, Ryan!
Oh, my gracious! You posted this for me ages ago and somehow it slipped my radar and I didn’t come to say a HUGE thank you! So … thank you!