Meet Us At The Crossroads Tour Day 13: Shannon Delany

1. What inspired you to write Jess' character?

I was coping with the loss of my own mother and Jess just stepped out of the shadows of my mind and fit what Pietr and I needed.


2. What was the first book you read that made you fall in love with reading (past or present writer)?

So many influenced my love of reading--The Ship Who Sang by Anne McCaffrey made me love science fiction, A Walk through Wolf Wood by Mary Stewart encouraged my love of fantasy and the Arrows of the Queen trilogy by Mercedes Lackey cemented that love pretty firmly.


3. What paranormal author are you currently addicted to?

Ohhh. This is a tough one! Okay. Becca Fitzpatrick. I don't know why I didn't read hush, hush until just recently, but the world she's created is richly atmospheric and, well, Patch is undeniably hot.


4. What band or artist currently tops your play list?

It changes from day to day and depends on characters and the story I'm writing at the time. Right now I'm splitting my attention between 3 projects (other than the 13 to Life series). For "ST" the music's part Les Mis, part Linkin Park. For "CL" it's a lot of Linkin Park and Green Day. And for "Project F" it's Annie Lennox, Alan Parsons Project, Meatloaf, Celine Dion and Christina Perri's Jar of Hearts. 13 to Life is Snow Patrol, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, My Chemical Romance and Thriving Ivory.


5. Do you have any projects you are currently working on that you are able to share? And can you give us a little teaser?

Muahaha! Of course I do, silly girl--you know I love to tease you all with what I'm doing. ;-) Because you asked...

Here's a snippet from Secrets and Shadows (book 2 in the 13 to Life series):

As soon as the door closed behind us, Cat was all business. “Since we agreed to one sidearm, I’d like you to carefully produce it. Then Max will pat you down.”
“Not him,” Wanda said, slowly drawing her gun from her ankle holster. “He’s handsy.”
Max barked out a laugh. “My reputation precedes me.”
“Pietr,” Cat instructed.
From behind Max he came. Not even sparing me a glance, he took Wanda’s gun. “Ten shots. Three for him, three for me, two for Cat. Two left. Alexi and Jess,” he presumed. “Good thinking. You might get out alive.” He ran his hands over her arms and legs, skimming down her front and back. “She’s clean.” He handed the gun back to Wanda.
He didn’t miss her look of surprise.
“You can’t take away our teeth or claws—-we shouldn’t take away your weapon either.”
“Now do Jessie,” Cat commanded.
His upper lip curling, Pietr glowered at his sister.
“You’re the one who suggested limiting her involvement. Your attitude toward her has changed. So search her.”
Pietr looked to Max for support.
“I’d search her for you, little brother, but I’d enjoy the job.” He grinned, giving Pietr a smug look. “And I’ll bet I could make Jessie enjoy it, too,” he rumbled, the challenge clear.

Here's a little from the prologue of Bargains and Betrayals (book 3 in 13 to Life):

Pietr steadies himself. His breath stirs the chestnut-colored strands of hair that curl slightly by Jess’s ear and he says, “I won’t let them take you, Jess. I promise. I won’t let you down.”
Some seventeen year olds might make promises hastily. Might not be prepared to back them up. Jess has done her share of that.
But Pietr wasn’t made that way.
Pietr doesn’t take promises lightly.
Clutching his arm she whispers, “Please — puhzhalsta...”
Her breathing calms. The thrumming of her heart slows as she feels a subtle shift in the muscles sliding just below his skin.
Pietr is her hero.
Capable of amazing things.
A growl builds softly in his gut, clawing toward his chest. “Don’t touch her,” he warns.

And for snippets of my other projects you should trail me at my blog or on Facebook. ;-)





HOW THE TOUR WORKS:

Each day of The Crossroads Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page, and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the 16 different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all 16 answers by the end of the tour, on Halloween.