Introducing L.K. Below and Stalking Shade

STALKING SHADE by L.K. Below
www.lbelow.net






Blurb:


When the leader of Lori's secret organization goes missing, her life starts to fall apart.

Lori is a member of the Order, a secret organization with an invincible leader, or so she believes--until he disappears. Their mission is all about protecting him, the Spenta Michos, and the Order degenerates into chaos once he's gone.

Lori is determined to find him, with or without the support of the other members. But a madman shadows her every move,and she can barely keep herself out of the growing pile of victims. To make matters worse, she has to deal with a persistent faux-vampire who seems to think she's meant for him.

How can she save the leader of her religion when she can barely protect herself?


Buy it or read an excerpt at http://bit.ly/StalkingShade.




Writing is like the perfect solitary sport. I believe that writers, like athletes, need to be prepped and ready before they can write. What are your routines/preparations before you sit down to write?

LK: I'm always "prepping". When I get an idea, I'm constantly playing and replaying the next scenes in my head. I usually perfect the blurb before starting, and oftentimes the query letter too (even if I'm not sure where I'm sending it). When there's world building to be done, I spend many fun-filled days immersed in the world, writing a manual of sorts on every last detail. To be honest, I enjoy world building far too much... I have many worlds without stories.


Do you have habits as a writer? Always outlining? Never outlining? Keep a notebook with character information?

LK: I tend not to outline. But at the same time, my mind is lightyears ahead of my fingers, so often I'll jot down short-form notes about upcoming scenes or witty dialogue. When I start a book, I don't like to confine myself by laying out an outline. I usually have a rough idea in mind of where the story is going, but I want to be free to move it in another direction if I feel it works better. For new worlds, I like to create manuals or "companions" sometimes with maps. If I get in the mood, I sometimes draw, paint, or photoshop a mock cover for the book.


What was the inspiration behind this book?

LK: This book I wrote in 2007, when I was 17 and still in high school. It was my contribution to a shared-world project with my school writer's club. Lori stuck with me even after, and I decided to turn the one book into three and add a bit of a better conclusion to it, even if it meant bending some of the rules we'd laid down in the club.


Being that we’re now in full-out holiday mode, what would you like to ask Santa forthis year? (And if you say world peace, we’re allowing the reindeer to eat your chocolate).

LK: Books, books, and more books. I'm a total bookworm.

What would a reader discover in your book that excites you? (Such as, I always have characters based on us old farts but usually they’re the strangest or crudestones. Carolyn usually includes a dinosaur or two as a small memento of herchildhood.)

LK: Each book is different. In Stalking Shade, the Spenta Michos is actually a cameo of my high school English Teacher. He switched schools that year and we thought it would be fun to have him "disappear" in a novel and have each character try to look for him. The idiosyncrasies mentioned in the story (for instance, writing in a little gold book) are true.



Did you always dream of being a writer when you grew up? Any words of advice toaspiring writers?

LK: I always wrote, but never considered it as a career option until after high school, when I found myself without enough money to go to university and started submitting projects. My words of advice to aspiring writers is this: don't give up. There are plenty of discouragements along the road to publication, but if that's truly what you want, don't let any of them stand in your way. Brush yourself off and try again.

Thanks for having me, Lori!

**Stalking Shade is available at Lyrical Press

http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_22&products_id=427

and Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Shade-ebook/dp/B005QRPW78/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1323317400&sr=8-1