Infinity

The third book in the Walkers series and my favorite!

Coming Soon!

Was it love or lust at first site? Detective Nelson is no ordinary man and his appetite for all things female is sensatiable but he's never met a woman whom has gotten under his skin and grated his last nerves the way that Detective Green has.

Detective Green knows, no bounds. She's ruthless, tough and down right sexy as hell. She doesn't work well with others. She has no desire for a partner and especially a rookie. There's something very different about the baby faced Detective who she has now found out is her partner. He's arrogant, inexperience, egotistical, and the sexiest man she has ever seen but she has to stand her ground and keep him at arms length.

They are both forced to work together and Detective Green is doing everything she can to get rid of the sexy detective, little does she know all the murders and kidnappings are leading directly to her; someone or something is out to get her and the only person who can save her is her new partner. Will she let him save both her life and her heart and become something greater than herself as she know it...the future.

Tortured Soul Interview

Walkers/Tortured Soul Interview Questions

GR/Patricia-Hola Kyra

KG-Hey

GR/Patricia-Thanks for agreeing to do an online interview with Goodreads and answering a few questions. I know you’re probably excited about the release of your new book and are probably busy with marketing.

KG-Yes I am very excited and I am looking forward to this one. I am still growing as an author and in Tortured Soul you will see that a bit.

GR/Patricia-We had quite a few club members participate in the questions and comments and I don’t want to keep you too long so I guess we’ll get started. First Question: Where do you get your inspirations from?

KG-My inspiration comes from the fascination I’ve always had with vampires and comic book super heroes. When I was younger I always wanted to be a vampire because you live forever…as I grew older I didn’t want to be so much because they couldn’t come out in sunlight; then after a few years that started to change and they were recreated to be beautiful creatures. Though I’m not a kid anymore when I’m writing I always put myself in that ‘what if’ mind set. Now I look at it more on the side of a superhero more so than a vampire; you can come out in the sunlight, most are rich and gorgeous; and not all such as those in Walkers are monsters.

GR/Patricia- Who are your favorite comic book heroes and why?

KG-Mystique is my favorite, she’s bad ass and she can change into whoever she wants to be. Next I would have to say Night-Crawler; he’s a teleported and Mystiques son. Batman I’ve always liked, because he is human but fights for good.

GR/Patricia -How did you first start in Vampire stories?

KG-The first vampire story I read was Bram Stokers and then the vampire Lestat; but after reading twilight and waiting for Midnight Sun to be finished I grew bored, so my husband told me to write my own book, so I did. It was exciting and it was just like reading a good story except for the fact you were creating it as you go.

GR/Patricia -Does music help you a lot when you write?

KG-Music…as you will see especially when you read Tortured Soul is soothing and it helped a great deal. Music helps me write quite a few scenes in the book. Sometimes with music you can feel and I use that a lot when I write.

GR/Patricia-What are some of your favorites?”

KG-Bands or Singers

GR/Patricia-Both

KG-Bands…um Linkin Park…my son love’s Linkin Park and he’s only five years old; Paramore, Seether, Evanescence; 112 and Allure if that counts as a band; N’Sync…I have a lot and I listen to a variety of music. Singer or Artist shall I say; Rhianna is probably one of my favorite now but Aaliyah will always be my top favorite; Amy Lee just to name a few…I can’t even think right now its so many.

GR/Patricia -Yes I have a lot of favorites myself but if you had to choose one singer and one group to sing at your wedding who would it be?

KG-112 at my wedding; probably Debra Cox…I forgot about her at my wedding also.

GR/Patricia-When is the third book coming?

KG-Hopefully sometime in the spring, it will be the final installment for the Walkers trilogy.

GR/Patricia-Are you working on anything else after that?

KG-Actually I’m taking a break from Walkers for a while and focusing on a new book, called Infinity.

GR/Patricia- Is that vampire related also?

KG-Yes

GR/Patricia-Can you tell us a bit about it or is it too early?

KG-Well it’s about a woman who sees her father murdered by a vampire at the age of 4, but of course no one believes her and thinks she's crazy. She’s an only child, an outcast…tough, a menace to society. Her cousin takes her in and she learns to fight and control her anger. When she grows up she becomes a police detective but still has a problem with authority and working with others. A new rookie becomes her partner and she finds out that there is so much more to him than his gorgeous face. That’s all I’m going to say now…it’s still in the works.

GR/Patricia-Okay well that sounds interesting. When should we expect that? And how long does it take to complete a book?

KG-I’m hoping late January or February. It usually takes me about 4 months for the first draft; going through the editing that I try to do and choosing or designing a cover a total of 6 months. That with everything else I have to do while trying to write a book.

GR/Patricia-If you’re not writing what are you doing?

KG-First and foremost I’m a mother and a wife; secondly and student and I coach basketball and volleyball and I am also a volleyball player. On top of that I have a full time job.

GR/Patricia-If you had a major book deal would you quit your full time job and coaching?

KG-Well….I would probably still work maybe not full time. Basketball I thought I was done coaching but I’m volunteering so I may give that up once the girls move on to another team (due to age) but volleyball No…I love to play and coach volleyball; that wouldn’t stop I’d just work around it as I always do. Believe it or not I do most of my writing while at volleyball tournaments; it’s comforting.

GR/Patricia-How in the world do you find the time to do all of that? Your son is 4 or 5 right?

KG-Yes he’s five. I have a great support system, my husband coaches as well but my mom and a family friend makes sure that he gets to tball or karate if we can’t take him. During the season (high school volleyball) he’s mainly with us. We try to keep him around positivity through sports. But because I co-founded my program we work around his schedule but for our high school season he only competes on the weekend just so happens my husband is the varsity coach, so everything pretty much works out.

GR/Patricia-How did you develop your characters? (Or where does the attitude and demeanor come from)

KG-My characters’ names come from either a name that I think is cool or they are named after friends that I have. Some of my characters’ personalities are developed from people that I know and of course their powers are a combination of the fantasy world that I’ve created.

GR/Patricia-Who's your favorite author and did he or she give you much inspiration when writing your book?

KG-Oooh, good question. Well I’ve never fancied reading until I read the Twilight books; however, I think I mainly read those books because Robert Pattison was cute. I realized that after a few years I guess. So I would have to say at this point my favorite author would have to be…besides myself…Jeaniene Frost. A lot of my inspiration comes from self motivation, my husband, and my son. He loves vampires too and monsters and he loves batman, wolverine, and robin. However I was never really truly inspired by an author until I read Eternal Kiss of Darkness by Jeaniene Frost….she pushed the limits in her books and before I read her books I was limiting myself to where I wanted to push things not understanding…truly understanding the different genres and not wanting to offend a possible reader but after reading her books I found that I could still express myself to an adult audience and still be classy.

GR/Patricia-Any others?

KG-Amanda Ashley Bound by Night; Amanda Hockings My Blood Approves Series; and TR Graves Warriors of the Cross

GR/Patricia-Team Edward or team Jacob?

KG-Easy question, though I love Jacob remember I am a vampire fanatic so I’d have to say TEAM EDWARD!

GR/Patricia-Okay this question is specifically from Robin one of the only male members we have he wants to know what can we expect to see from Anthony in the second book. He says that he was one of his favorite characters and who was your favorite character in book I and does it change in book II?

KG-Thank you Robin. You will see a different side of Anthony in book II. In book I he was confident, courageous; and he loved Lasette Aaliyah unconditionally…in book II let’s just say you’ll find out why he loves Lasette Aaliyah unconditionally. I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t read it. In book I my favorite character was Mechelle for her tenacity; aggressive behavior; and her evil demeanor. Secondly Daron because he is a free spirit. In book II Daron because he matures into a man and you also see his growth in book II. Also Nicholas because we learn more about him and when he fights he fights hard. He is still arrogant but confident and I love that in a man. He’s strong and loves hard.

GR/Patricia-Why did you decide to self publish and do you hope to one day get an agent and be signed to a major book deal?

KG-Well I self published because I’m limited in resources for one and also because that is what I knew at the time. I mainly write for me it’s a hobby the bonus for me is if some one reads it and enjoys it as much as I do. If I don’t get a major book deal I won’t regret self publishing; if I do get a major book deal one that’s going to mean a lot more work and two if that happens it happens….not really my focus right now.

GR/Patricia -If you could live the life of any character who would it be and why?

KG-_Do you mean any character in my book or any character in any book?

GR/Patricia-Both

KG-Okay let’s see…Aaliyah in Walkers and Tortured Soul and probably Cat Crawfield in the Night Huntress books. If you’ve read the books you’d definitely understand why but more than that they are powerful, stubborn, confident, and for the most part they know what they want.

GR/Patricia-This question is from Nana she writes: Yippee Four more days! Kyra I'm not the biggest fan of vampire books, etc however I am a fan and my question is (question/comment) Many people believe that others such as yourself are into vampires due to being afraid of death; what are your thoughts on that and did this play into your infatuation on the subject?

KG-No I am not afraid of death I look at vampires as more of heroes than monsters, so no it didn’t play into the book at all; even vampires can die.

GR/Patricia-Thank you so much for taking the time out to speak with me on behalf of our book club. I look forward to purchasing book II and good luck with Infinity.

KG-You’re welcome.

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message 16: by Elaine

Nov 30, 2011 12:11pm

Great interview.

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message 17: by Yusonoz1

Nov 30, 2011 12:17pm

This interview was great and gave some good personal incite on who she is as a mother/wife and author. It makes me feel good about reading books from author's that are personal with their fans. hope to hear more from her and maybe she will think about getting a twitter page HA!

Tortured Soul Give Away

Wanna win an autograph copy of my second book?  Follow my blog and leave your email address as a comment and I'll let you know if your name was pulled.  Names will be pulled November 18, 2011.  Good Luck.

Interview With TR Graves

INTERVIEW WITH TR GRAVES author of Warriors of the Cross; Guardians of the Cross, and Enemies of the Cross and native of North Louisiana spent a few moments in an online interview with the Underground Book club.

Mrs. Graves is a fellow Good Reads Author and a member of the Underground Book Club.  First I would like to thank her on behalf of the club for taking the time out of her busy schedule to spend with us and be apart of the book club.

*UG (Underground)

*TG (TR Graves)

UG:      When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

TR:       I never had a life shattering realization where I just knew writing was what I wanted to do; instead, my passion for it gradually evolved from 'I wonder if I could write a book' to 'I can't live without writing' over the course of the last four years.

UG:      How long does it take you to write a book?

TR:       Keeping in mind that I have a full-time job and a family of three, I would say it takes me about six months to a year from beginning to end.  This includes writing, editing, formatting, cover selection, book trailer, and publishing the paperback/eBook.

UG:      What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

TR:       I devote my weekends to family and writing.  My weekdays are primarily spent working, commuting, helping my son with his homework, answering book related emails/messages, and marketing.

UG:      Where do you get your information or ideas for writing?

TR:       I'm a nurse by profession.  After spending years of taking care of patients and seeing family members stand by and watch their loved ones die, I decided to create a world I could control...a world where the characters could prevent death.

UG:      What do you do when you are not writing?

           

TR:       I have two passions besides writing, my work and my family.  My family couldn't be more supportive of me and my writing.  For that, I will forever be grateful.  My work is important to me because there I'm given the opportunity to be an advocate for appropriate healthcare while remaining committed to and compassionate about our indigent population, people whose voices are not always heard.

UG:      Where do you draw your inspiration from?

TR:       Anything and everything.  Each step I've taken (personal and professional) has led me to where I am today.  When writing, each word is drawn from experiences I've enjoyed, suffered, endured, watched, heard...I leave no stone unturned when it comes to creating believable characters and an exciting story.

UG:      When you develop characters where do you draw their make up from?

TR:       I constantly watch people's actions and reactions to situations, so I can embed those exact mannerisms into my characters.  Realism is the only way to make the book come to life.  Many authors tell you to read as much as you can in order to write a great book; instead, my philosophy is to watch as many people in as many conditions as you can in order to write accurate storylines.

UG:      How many books have you written and which is your favorite?

TR:       I've only published one, Warriors of the Cross.  I've written Guardians of the Cross and am now editing it in preparation for its December release.  I've planned out and have begun writing Enemies of the Cross which should be released at the end of the summer next year.  As for my favorite, I am completely torn between Warriors of the Cross and Guardians of the Cross.  With Warriors, I fell in love with the characters and their story.  But, the editing for Guardians breaks my heart every single time I read it.

UG:      How do you feel with negative remarks regarding your book?

TR:       At first, it really bothered me.  Then I researched some of my most admired authors and found even those phenomenal people have endured their share of scathing criticism and horrible ratings.  IN lots of cases, the people rating my book negatively rated my favorite books the same or similar

Honestly I'm a grown woman who works in a HIGHLY stressful environment.  Constructive criticism does not bother me.  In fact, I welcome any piece of advice that will make me or my writing better.  It's the only way to evolve.  What I'm not tolerant of are mean-spirited reviews meant to tear down, demean, demoralize, or belittle others (not just me but anyone who is courageous enough to share their writing with the world).  I'm always disappointed when I realize there are people who think that type of bashing is appropriate or even worst, funny.

UG:      What did you mean when you said you planned out Enemies of the Cross, I guess what I'm asking is do you set up an outline or develop characters and situations one at a time and then add them to the book (such as the way movies are made)

TR:       I’m more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants writer. Like life, I let the story evolve naturally. I’m not sure I could be creative enough if I knew at the beginning where the story was going to end. Later, I go back and make sure each chapter meets my own personal and critical criteria. If not, I bend and mold the storyline to achieve my expectations. With each phase of editing, I add a new layer of action, emotion, and personality. This helps me to create stories, which may look simple on the surface, but in reality, they are very rich and complex.


UG:      In getting your ideas and information for your book do you find your personality in any of the characters or maybe even friends and family members you know.

I’m confident anyone who knows me will say Allison Faith La Crosse embodies my morals and my ethics. By this I mean, I’m compassionate and tolerant, and I love my friends and family without conditions.

As for her physical characteristics and those of the other characters, I find it easier to write if I envision someone else. I could never see myself objectively enough to create a realistic character. In the end, each character ends up being a good mix of dozens of people’s mannerisms and features.

UG:      Such as the two sisters in Warriors or the mother?

TR:       The only one-to-one matches are The Sisters. My husband’s mother and her sisters have always intrigued me, so I wrote them in the story. They are (were) the most kind people I’ve ever met. They are (were) extraordinarily gifted, one a singer, one a writer, and one an artist. I should also mention that my mother-in-law died seven years ago. Writing her into the series allowed me to 1) remember her the way she was, and 2) feel like she was still with me (even if only in my fantasy world).

Brody and Clark how did you develop their personality?

Brody and Clark evolved over time. With the first draft, they were barely even noticeable. As the story developed and become more sophisticated, they began to take shape and become strong characters who were worthy of Allison and her miraculous powers.

UG:      How important is it to you to grab reader’s attention with your cover?

The cover is the first thing people see. In most cases, it is an author’s one shot at winning people over. Knowing they will only open their hearts and minds to the inside story if they have been intrigued by the outside, I make sure to invest a huge portion of my budget there.

Fortunately, I’ve been blessed and have been given the opportunity to work with the best-of-the-best when it comes to book covers. Claudia with Phatpuppy Art is so easy to work with. I tell her what I’m looking for, and within hours we have the book cover done. I love collaborating with people who have work ethics comparable to mine. Claudia surpasses my expectations every single time. It’s important to mention that she does covers for Amanda Hocking, JL Bryan, and many other great authors. In fact, she was recently hired by a major publisher. Anyone interested can contact her @ http://phatpuppyart.com/p580158177.

T. R. Graves

Finished Tortured Soul

Finally!  It's finished.  I enjoyed writing the sequel to Walkers.  It was a ride and I must say I am extremely proud of the hardwork that went into book II.

Here's what to look for:
Aaliyah will become stronger both mentally and physically.  Daron will mature and create an army of loyal soldiers that will fight for the survival of his family. 

A surprise is in store for Lasette Aaliyah that will change her life and alter her existence.  Now you're all probably wondering who fathered the twins...find out in Tortured Soul.  Find out what type of power they have and who they'll save in the middle of a feud that's been brewing for over 200 years.

Aaliyah will make her decision 'Who she loves and who she'll spend the rest of eternity with'  But will that decision be accepted?

Stay tuned and look for your answers in Tortured Soul, available October 28, 2011.

Breaking Dawn Part 1

Only 80 more days till opening day!  Yeah!

Book Completion Near

I have postponed some of my reading to focus more on Tortured Soul.  It is coming along great.  I should be done with the first draft in a few weeks.  Wish me luck!