BLIND ALLEGIANCE
By
Violetta Rand
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and you should be able to comment there. I apologise for any inconvenience and will move this Blog to the above address at the end of the month, unless Gmail+ changes its commenting policies.
How about you tell us a little more about yourself , with three things not many people know
about you.
VR: I’m addicted to Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers (cheddar cheese and pizza flavors)
I’m a die-hard Philadelphia Eagles football fan
In the 1990s I raced motorcycles (I really loved doing this!)
HL: Wow, fascinating! What do you do for fun when not writing?
VR: I’m a voracious reader—reading just about anything I can get my hands on. I live in Alaska, so I’m outside fishing or four-wheeling whenever I can.
VR: I started writing short stories (illustrated by my best friend) when I was five years old. I sold these little treasures in my neighborhood for about 25 cents each.
HL: LOL, Nothing like starting young! So what comes first: the plot or the characters?
VR: My brain doesn’t work that way (I wish it did). I just sit down and write. A character might pop into my head first or the story unfolds as it will. Overall, I’m an undisciplined writer.
HL: Tell us about your latest release and what you think readers will enjoy about it.
VR: Blind Allegiance is my debut novel and Book 1 of a new series.
Eleventh century Norway faced many challenges, including religious turmoil between the pagans and growing Christian community. It was an age of struggle and discovery and I believe my characters display the courage and faith it takes to survive under harsh conditions. Above all, it demonstrates how two people (Randvior and Noelle) grow to respect each other’s cultural and religious differences and eventually fall in love.
HL: Sounds like a wonderful read! Tell me, If someone were to play one of your characters in a movie, which character and
VR:My hero, Randvior Sigurdsson, is a classic Viking. He’s incredibly tall and tanned, with blond hair, and totally ripped. I’d love Timothy Oliphant to play him, but he’d need to wear high heels and gain 50 pounds of muscle to match the body type! Hugh Jackman fits the profile nicely. Hope he doesn’t mind dying his hair.
HL: Great choices! What have you learned about writing since you were published that surprised you the most?
VR: Hurry up and wait! Publishers and editors aren’t on your time schedule.
HL: So true! What’s you’re writing process? Has it changed since writing your first book?
VR: This reverts back to the undisciplined thing. I don’t really have a process. My favorite writing spot is at the end of my dining room table facing the four windows that overlook the mountains and woods behind my house. If natural splendor can be seen as a writing process, I guess that would be the most consistent factor. I like seeing nature when I look up.
Nothing has changed after writing my first book.
HL: Do you listen to music when you write and if so, what kind of music – or do you find it distracts you?
VR: It’s a 50/50 split for me. Music never distracts me when I write, if anything, it helps me find my rhythm. I’m a heavy rock kind of girl (from classic to new). I love everything from Pink Floyd to Disturbed. But I also enjoy classical, country, and R&B.
HL: What is your personal definition of success?
VR: My definition of success as a writer is the same as the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. If you don’t keep doing the same thing (edits, queries, synopsis, and submissions) and don’t expect different results, you’ll never get published.
HL: So true! Now, who is your most favorite character of all time from any book?
VR: One of my favorite books is Kepler’s Witch (James A. Connor). Mr. Connor describes my favorite character, Johannes Kepler, as the Protestant Galileo and a neglected hero of science and faith. Known for his laws of planetary motion and as the founder of modern optics, Kepler defended his professional research and maintained his faith through war, religious conflicts, and personal tragedies. He’s an academic warrior and definitely a hero worth reading about.
Thank you so much, Violletta, it's been so interesting finding out more about you. Now let's find out some more about your book!
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It’s a risk of a lifetime loving a man you’re supposed to hate…
Betrayed by a brother she hardly trusted before the bloodthirsty Viking, Jarl Randvior Sigurdsson, attacks her home, Noelle Sinclair is conveniently bartered as a means to save her cowardly sibling’s skin. Forced to leave her homeland and accompany the petulant Viking to the untamed wilderness of central Norway, Noelle is ever-aware of the burgeoning dangers around her—including her weakening resolve to resist Randvior.
Should Noelle surrender to his resplendent charms and seduction, or fight with every ounce of strength she possesses to get home?
EXCERPT:
Dark clouds always gathered in Noelle Sinclair’s dreams. Hundreds of nightmares had played out in her mind since childhood. Why should tonight be any different?
The smell of burning wood invaded her sleep. Smoke snatched her breath and she tried to purge her lungs by taking deep breaths. She ran for the great hall and all she could see were scorched rafters and floorboards. Guards scrambled to the battlements, while women and children fled the castle. She searched for her sisters among the people migrating outside ...
Noelle’s eyes snapped open at the sound of dire warning. By God, this was no dream! She flung blankets aside and rolled over, shook her older sister awake, and jumped out of bed.
“What’s wrong?” Margaret asked sleepily.
“The castle’s on fire. Get up, now!”
Margaret scurried from bed and ran with Noelle to the windows overlooking the eastern edge of the castle. Through the swirling fog, Noelle could make out a tangle of men with torches and weapons in the courtyard below. She further scanned the shoreline where the North Sea pounded against the rocks and dunes. The castle was under siege and poorly defended. Most of the soldiers and her father were in Ireland, leaving only her brother and a skeleton army behind.
Her gaze still locked on the beach, Noelle caught sight of three, silvery-white longships anchored beyond the walls. Their blood-red sails snapped in the wind. She stared in horror as the pattern on the sails came into focus—the shape of a dragon.
AUTHOR INFORMATION:
Violetta Rand holds a bachelor's degree in Environmental Policy and a master's degree in Environmental Management. Serving as an environmental scientist in the state of Alaska for over seven years, she enjoys the privilege of traveling to remote places few people have the opportunity to see.
Violetta has been "in love" with writing since childhood. Struck with an entrepreneurial spirit at a young age, at five, she wrote short stories illustrated by her best friend and sold them in her neighborhood. The only thing she loves more than writing is her wonderful relationship with her husband, Jeff. She enjoys outdoor activities, reading whatever she can get her hands on, music, and losing herself in the ancient worlds she enjoys bringing to life in the pages of her stories.
http://www.violettarand.com/
Violetta will be awarding a $25 Amazon Gift card to one randomly drawn commenter. Follow her Tour at the address below - the more you enter the better your chance of winning!
'STARQUEST' 'CHILDREN OF THE MIST' (The sequel to Starquest) Dancing With Fate 'Freeread':'A BARGAIN WITH DEATH
Also available on Kindle
