Author Interview & Giveaway: Nightmare Ink by Marcella Burnard

Nightmare Ink
Marcella Burnard

Release Date: April 2014
Publisher: Intermix
Genre:Urban Fantasy

Book Description:
With the needle of a tattoo gun, Isa Romanchzyk has the power to create and destroy. In her shop Nightmare Ink, Isa helps those in need by binding the powers embedded in their Live Ink—the magical tattoos that can enhance the life of the wearer, or end it.  But binding tattoos has earned Isa the contempt of her fellow artists—including her former lover Daniel.
When a friend comes to the shop with a tattoo on the verge of killing him, Isa can’t turn him away. For the first time in years, she works Live Ink into someone’s skin—something she swore she’d never do again. But breaking her vow soon becomes the least of her problems.
Isa is horrified to discover her friend’s body in the shop, but the real nightmare begins when she’s abducted and inked against her will.  Now, as she seeks retribution from the man who betrayed her, Isa must figure out how to bind her Living Tattoo before it consumes her completely...

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PRFL would like to extend a very warm welcome to Marcella Burnard, author of Nightmare Ink. Marcella, can you tell us where you're from, and where/whom did your love for writing come from? 

Air Force brat – born in Alaska, but moved all over. If I’m from any place, it’s Seattle, which is where I choose to live now. The love of writing came directly out of a childhood spent consuming books like they were candy. When I ran out of books, I coped by making up my own stories.

Can you say that your journey to publication was difficult? If so, what were the hardest moments to get through? 

Certainly, I had a learning curve. From the moment I began finishing projects and actively trying to publish to the day I got the call – took just over a decade. The worst point for me came when a terminally ill friend died after urging me to write a particular story. His death was hard enough, but when the book got rejected over and over again (deservedly so, it turns out) it got pretty tough. Felt like those rejection letters were killing my friend over and over again.

How do you overcome i-suck-it is, that little voice in your head that tells you your writing isn’t good enough?

It’s possible there are obscenities involved. That said, I don’t overcome them, really. I think it’s a case of ignoring them, of saying, “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for your opinion. Shut it.” If that fails, I shake out those voices and peer at them – I learn the shape and texture of them. I figure out which emotional razorblade they wield. Then I ask where in a story my hero or heroine is feeling the same thing and I use those voices/emotions/etc in the work they tried to stop me from doing. Never fails to shut ‘em down. <Insert evil cackle here.>

What is your dream vacation? 

Antarctica. http://www.mtsobek.com/trip/antarctica-cruise-mountain-travel-sobek-crossing-the-antarctic-circle  This same company had a tour called The Great Walk of Africa – 11 days hiking across Tsavo National Park. I still really want to do that.

Describe your writing style in five words. 

O_o You assume I know what my writing style is – Okay. I’ve been told: Dark, cerebral, thriller-y, strong heroines.

What movies are you currently excited to see? 

Movies = migraines for me, so I don’t often get to see anything in the theater. My husband goes and then tells me if a movie is worth a migraine. He hasn’t been wrong yet. It isn’t likely that I’ll see it, but the CGI for the new Godzilla movie looks awesome.

What are you currently reading? 

The Pizza Bomber – it’s a book detailing an FBI case. I’m reading it for a criminal justice class I’m taking online (no credit – but lots of great details for use in writing law enforcement characters).

If you weren’t a writer, what other careers would you pursue? 

Sang professionally for a little while…day late and a dollar short, now, but I’d like to pretend it was still an option.

If you could create a holiday of your own, what would it be called? 

Day of the Cat (I’m owned by a few). 

For people who haven’t read your novel, how would you summarize the plot?

If you’re going to sew a second soul to your hide, shouldn’t the two of you get along first?

What are two of your pet-peeves? 

People who mistreat animals (10% of all my book proceeds goes to Best Friends Animal Society because they’re actively working to end the killing of healthy, adoptable animals in shelters in the US) and then boaters who go out on the ocean without a life jacket. There are too many people in the Seattle area who drown every year because they won’t put on a PFD. There’s no excuse – PFDs aren’t the huge, orange things you remember from childhood – they can be flat, unobtrusive things that only inflate if you hit the water. Boat safe, people.

To you, what makes a good story? 

The rumors are true. I’m easy. If an author makes me care about the characters, I’m in for the ride.

What usually turns you off about a story? 

When characters do something stupid that isn’t adequately motivated – which is to say – hey. We all do stupid stuff, even when we know it’s stupid. But we have reasons which seem really, really good at the time. I need that in a story, too, please.

If you could collaborate with any author, who would you choose, and why?

Oh, my childhood hero – Andre Norton. Her stories had a sense of fun I love.

What is on your night stand? 

My Kindle and an asthma inhaler. :P

What is your favorite book?

Sunshine by Robin McKinley.

Thank you so much for joining us today, Marcella. We really enjoyed the visit. Good luck and great sales with Nightmare Ink. And now, a little bonus from the author ~

The writing playlist leans to the creepy. Usually, I don’t want someone else’s words competing with writing, so most of the music is instrumental. Lisa Gerrard is the exception. The Myst soundtracks in my mp3 player are Myst, Riven and Exile. Exile is my favorite (Peter Gabriel had a bit of a hand in that soundtrack and that’s a huge win from my perspective.) The Halo soundtrack is usually reserved for writing science fiction, but there were scenes in NIGHTMARE INK that called for some fight music. By far, however, Nox Arcana got the most play. Nox Arcana defines creepy. Every one of their albums is a concept album built around a theme. But here. Here are the YouTube links so you can sample the music I piped directly to my brain while I wrote NIGHTMARE INK:

Lisa Gerrard from The Silver Tree | Myst III Soundtrack | Halo soundtrack | Nox Arcana

About the Author:

Marcella Burnard graduated from Cornish College of the Arts with a degree in acting. She writes science fiction romance for Berkley Sensation.
Her first book, Enemy Within won the Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice award for Best Futuristic of 2010. The second book in the series, Enemy Games, released on May 3, 2011.
An erotica novella, Enemy Mine, set in the same world as the novels was released as an e-special edition by Berkley was released in April 2012. Emissary, a sword and sorcery short story released in the two volume Thunder on the Battlefield Anthology in the second half of 2013.

Author Contacts:
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Tour Wide Giveaway:

5 ecopies of Nightmare Ink by Marcella Burnard

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