A Word Please

I’m excited to be part of this blog tour! I received a review copy of Sundowners by Tonia Brown. This is a great read that I highly recommend to anyone who likes a chilling horror story with a lot of depth. As part of this tour, you could win one of  5 eBook copies being offered! Details on the giveaway will follow my chat with Tonia. First, let’s get to know the woman behind the words

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Tonia Brown’s short stories have appeared in a variety of anthologies. She has cranked out several books, including The Cold Beneath, Badass Zombie Road Trip, Skin Trade, and the erotic steampunk series Clockworks and Corsets. Tonia lives in North Carolina with her genius husband and an ever fluctuating number of cats. When not writing she raises unicorns and fights crime with her husband under the code names “Dr. Weird and his sexy sidekick Butternut.”

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Tonia-Brown/201358633233742
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/ToniaBrown1 or @ToniaBrown1
Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/author/show/3160763.Tonia_Brown
Blog: http://thebackseatwriter.blogspot.com

*** SUNDOWNERS is a backwoods southern horror about the importance of family, the power of gossip and the nature of the artistic muse.

Fifteen years ago, siblings Coil and Cassiopeia suffered an incident in the woods behind their family home. An incident that neither of them can remember in full, that nearly killed Cass and left Coil accused as her abuser, and robbed young Coil of his artistic potential yet boosted his little sister into an almost overnight sensation in the art world. Now, fifteen years later, the self-exiled Coil has been called home to deal with his world famous sister as she suffers from Sundowning; severe and violent personality shifts after the sun sets. In order to cure her, the pair of siblings must come to terms with their old demons, both figuratively and literally. An ancient and terrible horror has risen once more from the backwoods of the family home, and this time it threatens to not only tear their family apart, but also the entire world.

Find this title and others by Tonia brown on her Amazon and Amazon UK author pages.

***On to our chat:

Sundowners is a real, somewhat mysterious medical disorder that effects many people with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. What inspired you to use this as a basis – or launching point – for your story?

One evening I was discussing unusual medical stuff with some friends, and one told me all about sundowning, and how the old folks at her nursing home got easily confused and some even became violent just after the sun set. I had never heard of sundowning, but was enthralled with the idea of it. I began to wonder, what would it be like if a whole town started sundowning? That’s where the inklings of the story first began. The rest unfolded along the two years it took to write it.

Your characters personalities and the dynamics of their relationships are very well developed. What is your creation process like? Do you have specific intentions and create characters accordingly? Or do your characters emerge seemingly out of the blue with their own personalities?

Thanks so much! I would like to take the credit for this but I find most of my characters arrive in the story with a personality attached. If I have trouble with a character that refuses to take on dimension, I sit back and think of someone they remind me of, and then use that memory to shape their attitude and dialogue.

Painting is a big part of your main characters’ lives. As they created their paintings, I could almost see the canvas in front of me. Do you paint and/or have an interest in art?

I have always loved art and am very jealous of folks talented enough to transcribe their ideas onto the canvas. I have tried many a time to do so, with no success. I do paint miniatures and some other stuff, but paintings on a canvas? Nope. I like to think I paint with words instead. Did that sound as lame as it did in my head? *face palm*

That didn’t sound lame at all. Actually, I agree that good writing is like painting with words.

You touch upon the issue of a creative muse. Many authors think of writer’s block as a time when their muse is lost to them. What or who is your creative muse?

My muse is a satisfied reader. Nothing drives me to create more than positive feedback. Even negative feedback has its place in the creative cycle.

What do you find hardest to write, beginning, middle or end? Why?

The end. Because I’ve lived in this novel’s world for weeks and weeks and I know that as soon as I write the end, I will be relegated to the ranks of an outsider. I may look in from time to time. I may tweak or adjust or edit, but never again will I be such an intimate part of that world. Unless of course I write a sequel.

What scares you the most and why?

Spontaneous human combustion. Why? Seriously? Who isn’t afraid of just catching fire and burning to death for no apparent reason? *shudders*

What are some of your favorite pastimes, aside from writing and reading?

I love to sew and crochet. If I didn’t spend so much time writing then I would probably sew as a freelance job.

Describe yourself in one word or phrase.

Curious

***Thank you, Tonia, for taking the time to answer my questions and hang out with us here!

Now on to the giveaway! This is a tour wide international giveaway of 5 ebook copies (Mobi or PDF) of Sundowners by Tonia Brown. Entering is simple and painless with the Rafflecopter form. Go ahead. I know you want to.

a Rafflecopter giveawayTour Schedule:

• November 5th – Cameo @ Cameo Renae
• November 6th – Delphina @ Delphina Reads Too Much
• November 6th – Autumn @ Books, Reviews, Wine and Cheese!
• November 7th – Sabrina @ Sabrina’s Paranormal Palace
• November 8th – Flora @ From the Bootheel Cotton Patch
• November 8th – Darcia @ A Word Please
• November 9th – Brittany @ The Cover by Brittany
• November 12th – Jaidis @ Juniper Grove
• November 13th – Ladies @ My Home Away From Home
• November 14th – Daniel @ Parenting from a Child’s Point of View
• November 14th – Jennifer @ Phenomenal Reviews
• November 15th – Laurie @ Laurie’s Paranormal Thoughts and Reviews
• November 16th – Darcia, Maria & Michael @ BestsellerBound Recommends

Good luck in the giveaway!

Thanks for reading.

literature blog

Tags: Badass Zombie Road Trip, Blog Giveaways, Blog Tours, Clockworks and Corsets, free ebooks, Free Kindle Books, horror authors, Horror Novels, Juniper Grove, Juniper Grove Solutions, Rafflecopter Giveaways, Skin Trade, Sundowners, Sundowners Syndrome, The Cold Beneath, Tonia Brown, Zombies