The Best Reader:
judith graves

1. What book are you currently working on?

I’m working on a few books at the moment – putting the final bits of the third book in my SKINNED series, Skin of My Teeth together, as well as fleshing out the first in my steampunk ghosthunter series, STRANGEWAYS. And, well, yeah, there are other projects too, short stories, other manuscripts, and my screenwriting projects.

Seems like a lot to balance, right? It is, but I thrive on the challenge and find it helpful to have multiple projects to juggle. There’s never a dull moment. I’ve started to divide up days of the week by project in order to devote a few full days on each story.

2. What can you share with us about Killer’s Instinct?

Ah, there’s another one! Killer’s Instinct is a killer monster-hunter tale that I’m co-writing with Dawn Dalton and it is contracted with Leap Books (www.leapbks.com) for a late 2013 or early 2014 launch. I’m keen about this project as the book will be released in six, e-serial episodes, released every two months for one year – the episodes will be compiled into a paperback at that time. Kind of an interesting experiment in publishing.

The book revolves around four main characters, young recruits at a secret monster-hunting academy who have to get over their mutual antagonism and personal demons if they want to survive basic training. Emphasis is on one particular character, Hope, the only girl in the newly formed unit.

Discover the characters by visiting our blog: http://mwmnovels.blogspot.ca/

Here’s the blurb:

Where there is NO life – there’s Hope.

Hope has always been a bit of a freak. But when her mother crawls from her grave and her undead corpse goes MIA, Hope's last thread of normal snaps with a vengeance.

Enrolling in a militia-style school for monster slayers seems the only course of action. And the best bet at tracking her mother down.

But does Hope have a true killer's instinct? If she finds her mother, will she have the guts to do what must be done?

3. Is it more difficult to write a book or write a story for an anthology?

While books take longer to physically write – more words, more depth – short stories are an art form unto themselves. I got my start in fiction by writing flash fiction, or short, short stories – complete tales with a beginning, middle, and end, but under 1000 words, so I’ve been enamored with the format for ages.

Still not sure I’m any damn good though. With a novel, you have time to play, to take the reader on asides (though they have to drive the story forward!) – in short stories you have to lay it all out there. Now. And make every word count.

Hmmm… I’m not sure I’m answering the question… lol… I guess I’d have to say they are both difficult, but that’s part of the fun of writing – challenging yourself to improve with every turn of phrase.
4. If you were going out for Halloween this year, what would be your costume?

My standby costume when I was a kid was a nurse. Easy peasy, since I’d just borrow one of my mom’s old nursing uniforms – you know, the kind from the sixties with the hat, and cape, and everything. Now I’d probably update it with a bit of zombie makeup. Yeah, a sixties zombie nurse. That’s it!

Second Skin by Judith Graves Publisher: Leap Books (October 31st, 2011) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback Series: Skinned #2
With FIENDS like Eryn…

Monsters. Bloodsuckers. The evil. The damned. Eryn McCain knows they exist— she’s been hunting them since she was a child. At sixteen, she’s ready to take on all comers. Being a shapeshifter gives her an advantage when it comes to her unusual part-time job. The hours suck and the pay is, well, non-existent, but bonuses like inhuman strength and night vision make tracking scary beasties a dream come true. Especially in a town like Redgrave.

When an ancient demon targets Redgrave High, Eryn and her crew of hunters must face their innermost fears to prevent the Harvest Moon Dance from becoming one serious Monster Mash. Loyalties are tested and temptations abound. With questions ever brewing, can Eryn share a future with the brooding, noble, human Alec—the hunter after her heart? Or will she succumb to her enemy’s son, Wade, a seductive predator as bloodthirsty as she is?

What happens when you’re both the beauty and the beast?

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HOW THE TOUR WORKS Each day of The Crossroads Blog Tour, a new research question will be revealed on The Crossroad Blog Tour main page: http://judithgraves.com/events/the-crossroads-tour/crossroads-2012/ and each day the answer to that question will be found within one of the different blog posts by Crossroads Tour authors. Your job is to get the question, read the blog posts, and collect all answers by the end of the tour.
Answers are to be emailed to judithgraves @ ymail dot com by October 28th at MIDNIGHT. Winner of the grand prize will be announced on OCTOBER 31st – HALLOWEEN.
The GRAND PRIZE you’re vying for? A brand new KINDLE, preloaded with a title from each of the participating Crossroads Blog Tour Authors. That’s right folks, a free KINDLE and 13 free EBOOKS!

This year we have 23 authors that I'll be featuring over 7 days and each day you'll have a chance to enter to win! There's also a scavenger hunt going on, so be sure to check out The Crossroads Tour Post to see what questions will be asked, what blog you'll be able to find the answer on and enter to win!
Today I am featuring Jackie Morse Kessler, Judith Graves, and Nicola Marsh. Be sure to check out the rafflecopter giveaway, too!

1. Which character from your Riders of the Apocalypse series has been the most difficult to write about?

JMK: Writing Death’s story in BREATH was the most difficult. And it wasn’t just coming up with an origin story for a godlike entity and have it mesh with human history that made it challenging. The character Death is depressed and suicidal in BREATH, and at the time I was writing the book, it was a very low point in my life. I’m very fortunate that I have an amazing support system in my family and very close friends. (Seriously, each and every one of them should have their own national holiday!)

2. Can you tell us 3 things about Xander, from Breath, that we wouldn’t know from reading the book?

JMK: Hmm. Stuff that’s not in the book. Stuff that’s not in the book. Stuff that’s… nope. Sorry. But I can tell you there’s a massive clue early on in Breath, something that indicates what’s going to be revealed at the end. But no one has mentioned it or asked me about it. It has to do with Xander’s friends. Can you find it?

Tell us 5 little known facts about Hope’s life from Killer’s Instinct?

1. Hope has seen more dead people than most morticians, but one thing she’ll never get used to – the

hallow, wheezing sounds of zombies as their lungs continue to work. It’s a reflex. Nothing more. But it’s always given her the willies.

2. She downloads romantic comedies on her Le Manoir issued tablet. Her dirty little secret. But she deletes them right away so the guys in her unit can’t use the evidence of her addiction against her. Hyde, Caddoc, and Kain would never let that go.

3. She can’t sing for shit. Don’t ever suggest a karaoke night. Ever.

4. Hope’s often thought of getting one of those medical bracelets and having this etched into the metal, “In case of death – cremate remains.” Her rationale: No body? No coming back from the dead.

5. Hope might have a deep down, won’t even admit it to herself, case of the hots for one of the guys in her unit. I said, MIGHT.

2. If you could bring any 2 paranormal creatures into a future book, what would they be, and why?

I’ve written about a lot of beasties, but two I haven’t tackled yet:

Evil paper dolls – seriously, those fashion plates make evil zombie cheerleaders look tame. And the paper cuts? Deadly.

Possessed dog – as I have three labs, this is one that actually haunts me. Man’s best FIEND, times three. Ultimate trust turned ultimate danger and betrayal. Our pets know all our secrets. Yeah, there’s a story there.

1. You write a large variety of books. What is the biggest challenge of each genre?

I’ve had over 40 books published and the biggest challenge is keeping the language fresh, making sure I don’t repeat the same words or phrases.

2. Tell us about your Halloween traditions.

Sadly, we don’t celebrate Halloween here in OZ. If we did, I’d love to throw a huge spooky dress-up party every year!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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I'm pleased to have the lovely Judith Graves on my blog again today. This time she is going to share something very important with us. And that is how to tell if you are a werewolf because ya never know! It could happen! So in case you worry you may be a werewolf, or that you may turn into one in the future, take this list and keep it with you!
Ten ways to know you're a werewolf

1. You can’t help giving love bites. There’s no denying the urge to make your mark.
2. You heat up a room just by being in it. That’s right, you’re hot, in so many ways.
3. You try to go vegetarian, but in a few days it’s back to meat lover’s pizza.
4. Fur coats greatly offend you.
5. You are often restless.
6. Chuck Norris has nothing on your competitiveness.
7. You have a loyal pack of friends but there are times you prefer to be alone.
8. When you feel the most vulnerable, you attack.
9. You aren’t always comfortable in your skin.
10. You’re style is simple: jeans and no shirt. (If you’re a guy… lol… )

Do you have a reason to worry? How many of these characteristics do you already have?: )

Under My Skin by Judith Graves Publisher: Leap Books (March 27th, 2010) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 328 pages Series: Skinned, book #1 All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life…

Redgrave had its share of monsters before Eryn moved to town. Mauled pets, missing children. The Delacroix family is taking the blame, but Eryn knows the truth. Something stalks the night. Wade, the police chief's son and Redgrave High's resident hottie, warns her the Delacroix are dangerous. But then so is Eryn--in fact, she's lethal.

But she can't help falling for one of the Delacroix boys, dark, brooding--human Alec. And then her world falls apart.

A normal life? Now that's the real fairytale.

Second Skin
- book 2 in the Skinned series -
will be out sometime in 2011.

Find Judith Graves Judith Graves / Goodreads / Twitter
Purchase Under My Skin Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository

Book Trailer

By: Judith Graves

People often ask me why I choose to write horror/paranormal stories. And I usually give them a standard reply: I love a good scare—I’m a fan of mythology and folklore. Rarely do I get into the nitty-gritty details.
Until now.
When I was thirteen, an unlucky age for so many reasons, a visiting aunt gave me a spectacularly wrapped present. About two feet long and a foot wide. The rectangular box could have contained anything. My aunt was from away. Surely she’d have brought me something amazing!
Looking back, I know she thought she was being generous, kind, aunt-like even. She was just trying to bring a smile to the face of a girl she barely knew, but was tied to by blood. That she didn’t know anything about me was painfully obvious as I unwrapped the present. A hush fell over the room when the gift was revealed.
A beautiful, lifelike doll stood in the box encased behind a clear plastic lid. Her eyelids flickered as the box dipped in my trembling hands. I dropped her to the floor and her eyes closed as if she were asleep. Or dead.
My aunt rushed forward to scoop the doll up. “Good God, be careful! She’s made of porcelain. An antique.”
Covering over the awkward silence and my pronounced lack of appreciative gushing, my mother assured my aunt that I was overcome by the generosity of her gift. As she told the lie, my father, leaning in the kitchen doorway, a silent observer as always, gazed at me with concern.
You see, I’d had a fear of dolls as far back as the family could remember, especially old dolls with aged, knowing faces and eyes that rolled back in their heads. Dolls so lifelike you could almost hear the faint gasps of their breathing.
For the entire duration of my aunt’s visit I had to sleep with THE DOLL propped up on my dresser. My mother insisted, not wanting to offend her older sister (the one who was only visiting us because she had to come to town for a funeral and didn’t want to pay for a hotel). When mother insisted, there was no plea-bargaining.
My father saved the day—marginally. “She should keep it in the box,” he announced. “We wouldn’t want it to get wrecked.” After the sisters left on a shopping expedition, he helped me seal the edges of the doll’s box with duct tape. She was locked inside. Or so I thought.
I’ll never know exactly how the doll ended up on the floor at the foot of my bed the last night of my aunt’s visit. I had jerked awake at the sound of a crash, and there she was, illuminated by the three nightlights my father placed in each plug around my bedroom. The doll had burst through the confines of her box and lay sprawled on the cold hardwood floor. Amazingly, she was in one piece with her head turned in my direction, staring at me with a strange gleam in her eyes. A hungry, I’m-going-to-get-you gleam.
Suffice to say everyone in the house charged into my bedroom, sure it was a burglar, an ax murderer, or a fire, at the very least. I had no control over the sounds of terror that ripped from my throat. I remember my mother apologizing to my shocked aunt, and guiding her back into the hall. I remember my father’s grim face as he stuffed the doll into a black garbage bag that magically appeared in his hands. I remember my aunt hugging my brother and sister—but not me—before she got in her car the next morning and drove away.
But mostly I remember those eyes. Those ancient, evil, hungry eyes. And that, my friends, is why I write about things that go bump in the night—because certain events can’t be explained and those are the ones that haunt me. So much so that I write about them and struggle to fabricate my own explanations.
In my writing, I share them freely. For what they’re worth.

Under My Skin by Judith Graves Publisher: Leap Books (March 27th, 2010) Reading Level: Young Adult Paperback: 328 pages Series: Skinned, book #1 All her parents wanted was for Eryn to live a normal life…

Redgrave had its share of monsters before Eryn moved to town. Mauled pets, missing children. The Delacroix family is taking the blame, but Eryn knows the truth. Something stalks the night. Wade, the police chief's son and Redgrave High's resident hottie, warns her the Delacroix are dangerous. But then so is Eryn--in fact, she's lethal.

But she can't help falling for one of the Delacroix boys, dark, brooding--human Alec. And then her world falls apart.

A normal life? Now that's the real fairytale.

Second Skin
- book 2 in the Skinned series -
will be out sometime in 2011.

Prize:

• 1 winner will receive a Under My Skin necklace and character card, a Class of 2k10 postcard, and some gothic"Death Mints".

• You must be at least 13 to enter.
• Name and email must be provided and counts as 1 entry.
• Extra entries are possible and links must be provided.
• Contest is INTERNATIONAL and ends October 29th.
• Once contacted the winner will have 48 hours to respond with their mailing address.
• The form must be filled out to enter.

Find out more about Judith Graves Judith Graves / Goodreads / Twitter
Purchase Under My Skin Amazon / Barnes & Noble / The Book Depository
Book Trailer

* Check out Lisa's Haunted Halloween post.

*Reminder: If you are interested in the COMMENT CONTEST, remember to include your email address with your comment for an extra entry! Please read full entry rules here.