She killed his father.

She imprisoned and beat him.

And now she thinks he’s her trophy.

Synn El’Asim will do almost anything to prove her wrong. But he’s only proving her right.

Queen Nix awakened his Mark of power and inducted him into the House of Wands. She knew what she was doing. The son of the two most powerful Families standing against her is the ultimate prize. What she didn’t take into consideration was that maybe he was too strong for her.

Maybe.

The Families are weakened, and it’ll take a lot more than one young man with a powerful Mark to take on…

The Hands of Tarot.

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Interview WITH SM BLOODING

Q: Welcome to Beyond the Books, Frankie.  Can we start out by telling us whether you are published for the first time or are you multi-published?

I am a multi-published author. I currently have four series out there, and they’re all doing really well.

Q: When you were published for the first time, which route did you go – mainstream, small press, vanity published or self-published and why or how did you choose this route?

I went the traditional route. I queried Demons and was rejected 70+ times. I revised, trashed and re-wrote 20+ times. And then, one day, I got the call from a small publisher who had queried me! She wanted Demons. I thought my dreams had come true!

Q: How long did it take you to get published once you signed the contract?

It was supposed to be a very quick process. Because the book was so very, very polished, they contracted me in June of 2011 and wanted to publish Demons in Oct 2011. That’s very aggressive. So many things came up. It was a real learning experience for everyone involved. Demons was finally published in May of 2012. It’s a great, GREAT book!

Q: How did it make you feel to become published for the first time and how did you celebrate?

I felt as though a huge weight had been taken off of my shoulders. How did I celebrate? I texted the world! There were also many Tweets. Then I treated myself to a nice dinner and READ a book! It was very therapeutic.

Q: What was the first thing you did as for as promotion when you were published for the first time?

Well, technically, Try Taking Her Down was my first book. I Tweeted like there was no body’s business. I stalked my Klout account and my KDP account. It did…okay. It wasn’t really great, and a lot of people were like, “Frankie, sweetie, we’re excited, but could you stop spamming your Twitter account? Please?” I think people were buying the book to get me to stop Tweeting.

Q: Since you’ve been published, how have you grown as a writer and now a published author?

My writing has just gotten STRONGER. There’s so much more belief in myself.

I don’t get writer’s block anymore. I discovered there’s MeBeingTooPoopedToWrite Block, and MeBeingANinnyAndStressingOverEveryting Block and MeForgettingThatARomanceBookNeedsROMANCE Block, but those are easy to address, deter and redirect.

I think the biggest change I’ve seen is in the promoting side of business. Wow. When I started, I was pretty naïve. Okay. Sure. I’d read the articles about how to do this and that anyone can do that. But I didn’t realize fully what all of that entailed!

Like what does the word “professional” mean when you’re requesting a review? Or where is that line between spamming your Twitter account, and enticing your followers? Or how do you get people to actually read your interview and blog posts?

Those were hard, hard lessons. Ouch! But I survived! It was a close call once or twice, but I survived.

Q: What has surprised or amazed you about the publishing industry as a whole?

You want me to just pick one?

Hmmm…well, I guess the first thing that really surprised me is that people really care about grammar now. You never used to see notes about grammar in reviews until the Indie scene became HOT! And now, it’s almost rare to see a book that doesn’t have a review that mentions grammar, and this includes the books published by the Big 6.

Also, as an Indie, everything moves so FAST! It’s almost hard to keep up! The demand is out there and it’s growing quickly. Write! Cover! Edit! Copy edit! Launch blog tour! Do blog posts and interviews! Final copy edit! Format! More interviews and guest posts! Re-format! Finalize! Promote your butt off! Repeat! It’s a whirlwind!

Q: What is the most rewarding thing about being a published author?

This Tweet: “Nix is so beautiful and deliciously evil. I want to marry her. I might switch teams for her.”

Or this one: “I just got to the sphykntor bugs. LMAO! ROFL! No, you didn’t!”

Or this one: “I may have a slightly odd, yet very inappropriate crush on Queen Nix”

Q: Any final words for writers who dream of being published one day?

It’s a lot of hard work! Don’t do this if you’re a whiner. Do this if you’re a fighter. Fight every single second of every single day and don’t give up.

And when a bad review comes in, sniffle, use a tissue, but then put your Big Girl Panties on and either listen, or move on.