Author Interview and Book Spotlight with Sherri Lackey of The Darkness Below

1. What made you want to be a writer?

I have always enjoyed writing. I think it is something I was born to do. I recently spoke to a friend who was commenting on the fact that many teachers today don’t teach phonics and spelling because they are afraid it might cause a student to not want to write. I laughed at that. I still remember how my teachers used to make us write and re-write and re-write until I wanted to scream and run away. However, it never caused me to not want to write ever again. No amount of phonics drills, grammar homework, or having to write misspelled words ten times ever changed that. Writing is what I do.

2. Who is your favorite author?

Dean Koontz is my go-to guy for contemporary fiction. I can usually count on him to keep me happily reading. I started reading his stuff back when I was pregnant with my twin sons; they are twenty-one now. So, it’s safe to say he’s my favorite.

3. What is the name of the last book you read?

The last book I read was Scarlet, the YA fantasy novel by Marissa Meier. It’s book two in her Lunar Chronicle Series. I like all of the characters in her series except for Prince Kai who is her version of the prince in the classic Cinderella tale. I want to throttle her prince, but maybe she made him annoying on purpose.

4. Tell us about yourself in 3 words?

Loves to write

5. What is your favorite activity?

I like to go camping and hiking in the short summer months where I live. We live close enough to the Rocky Mountains so that we can either drive up for a day hike, or we can take our camper and spend the night.

6. If your book could be made into a movie? Which actors would you have play the main two characters?

That’s a tough one. I’m going to have to say I would like to have new actors who are not well known yet. Maybe the movie would launch their careers. At any rate, the female lead playing Kaie would have long and wavy dark brown hair. She would be tall; she slightly resembles her father, Severin, a native of Athens, Greece. The male lead portraying Amaury would have to wear makeup giving his skin a blue-black cast since he is a dark elf. He is supposed to bear a striking resemblance to Narcissus of old. Of course, my version of Narcissus is far different from the original paintings of that Greek legendary figure.

7. Who is your favorite character in your book?

I spent a lot of time with Kaie, my main character. She is a favorite. This is a tough question. I am also fond of Sedge who is a supporting character and I think I’ll choose him. He is Kaie’s best friend. In the story he is first introduced as a slave boy who is in his teens. He spends his days trying to avoid work in the kitchens which is where he first meets Kaie who is also working as a slave in the kitchens. She doesn’t think much about him until he follows her while she is attempting to escape. She doesn’t want an escape partner or a friend. Sedge won’t take no for an answer though. As their friendship grows, he won’t let Kaie get away with her self-centered ways. In a way, he is her conscience.

8. What's in your TBR ( to be read) pile?

I’m currently reading Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein series; I’m on book three so I’ll be reading the others as well. I’ll also be reading Enclave by Anne Aguirre, The Hollow City by Ransom Riggs, and I’m still waiting for Patrick Rothfuss to release the third book in his Kingkiller Chronicles series.

9. What are 3 of your pet peeves?

1. I like reading book series but I don’t like it when they become redundant, recapping all the past events over and over again in each subsequent book. 2. I don’t like it when you are loading the dishwasher and someone comes by with a dirty bowl and puts it in the sink instead of the dishwasher. 3. I don’t like it when telemarketers call, but especially not when they call early in the morning or late at night.

10. What's your favorite ( cats or dogs), ( coffee or tea), and what's your favorite food?

I have been a cat lover since I was a toddler, but I got a dog about ten years ago for my kids. For some reason he bonded with me and not anyone else. I can’t figure it out. He likes to sit next to me when I write; we also share an affinity for cheese.


Coffee – two or three cups in the morning, maybe more if I’m really tired in the afternoon.

I love Mexican food: enchiladas, chile rellenos, burritos, fresh salsa and chips, guacamole, sopapillas, beef, fish, or chicken tacos, taquitos, flautas, etc. Those are a few of my favorite things!


Sherri will be awarding a $25.00 Amazon gift card to a randomly drawn commenter during the tour.

 The tour dates can be found here: 

http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2014/04/virtual-nbtm-book-tour-darkness-below.html

The Darkness Below
by Sherri Lackey

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BLURB:

Twenty years have passed since Keeva killed her grandfather, Delius.  She drank in his powers and became the Queen of the Vrykolakes, known by the ancient Greeks as the bloodless vampires.

She and Severin have settled into some semblance of a normal life, living in rural North America with their two kids, Connor and Kaie. Their neighbors would never suspect that they are anything more than a typical family.

Aside from keeping their true identity a secret, everything seems to be going well for the small family.

Until their twelve year old daughter, Kaie, goes missing.

Are monsters ever afraid of the dark?

When Kaie awakens from a prolonged sleep, she is no longer a child, and she is no longer in familiar surroundings. In a realm where no sunlight penetrates the dark cloud layers, a place called The Forbidding awaits. Echoes of madness surround her. Something lurking in the Belows warn of her doom. Legend holds that whatever is born or brought into the Belows must remain there.

Kaie vows to find a way to return to her family, but first she must learn to face her darkest fear, if she is ever to escape from the darkness below.


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Excerpt One:

Here it was, her childhood nightmare in the flesh. Cold dark flesh. It thrashed back and forth, screaming so loudly that Kaie felt like her eardrums would burst. She held onto the sting blade and felt it sink deeper into the specter’s flesh. It ripped downward into muscle and tendons, tearing as she slipped farther down into its throat.

Down she went into the beast’s stomach. She was greeted by a numbing cold that crept upwards from her feet, making its way throughout her body, into her arms and hands, making it hard to hold onto the blade. She flexed her arms and felt the blade continue to slice into the creature’s stomach.

She wasn’t alone. The denizens of its stomach sprang to action at the bidding of their master.
They were trying to pry the blade out of her hands. Their touch was freezing cold. She felt her hands slip on the hilt. They clawed and shrieked at her in anger. She fought back with her banshee fire and some of them responded by recoiling. With a thought directed at them she flung the nearest ones away and regained her grasp on the sting blade.

She was so tired. Something told her if she would simply let go, she would slip into a cold oblivion, be free from all pain and suffering, free…

No, it was a lie. With the remaining strength she had, she plunged the blade deeper and she saw it, pulsing away steadily. The creature’s heart was a deep, dark chasm…but it pulsed, pumping great blasts of cold with each beat of its heart.





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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Sherri Lackey lives in Montana where the cold northern climate inspires her to write foreboding tales. She writes the way she cooks, and that is by using dashes of speculative fiction, a pinch of steampunk here, and a touch of urban fantasy there. She lives with her husband, Paul, in a house on a hill that she prefers to think of as an island. She has a faithful dog named Raymond, who likes to sit by her side while she writes, and a vampire cat named Penny who likes to sit on her shoulder purring or trying to nip at her neck.

Links:

Website: www.sherrilackey.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SherriMLackey

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/The-Darkness-Below-Narcissus-Legacy-ebook/dp/B00D8F2Y8U/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-darkness-below-sherri-lackey/1117683898?ean=9781304133816