Thursday, February 7, 2013

Blog Tour: Ocean Kills by Jade Hart

This virtual book tour is presented by Bewitching Book Tours.
Click HERE for more tour information.
Welcome to The Wormhole and my day on the tour.
It is my pleasure to feature Jade Hart and Ocean Kills.
Jade has stopped by for an interview:
? When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer? I wanted to become a writer when I was little, but it wasn’t until I was older and still a complete book-worm that I decided to get my ideas onto paper.

? How many jobs did you have before you became a writer?
I’ve been very lucky in my life to have some interesting jobs. I was a flight attendant. A travel agent and owned my own business before becoming a full time writer. (Can you guess I love to travel!)

? How long does it take you to write a book? Depends. I write in blocks. So some days I can do up to 12,000 words. But then I might not touch the manuscript for the rest of the week. So I’d say from start to finished copy it would be about 2-3 months.

? What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
Um, I often make up words because I speak faster than my brain catches up. For example I’ll go to say excellent, but have fantastic in my mind so it will come out as: Fancellent.

? Do you have a routine that you use to get into the right frame of mind to write? Not really. It has to be deathly quiet though. No TV, music or husband. And I love to have a glass of Coke Zero to sip while my fingers type furiously.

? Where do you get your ideas or inspiration for your characters? Ideas just spring out of no-where, but Ocean Kills came to me in a dream. I dreamt I teleported and it killed me with a migraine. I thought it’d be cool to have a heroine with a special gift but has to pay such a high price to use it.

? How do you decide what you want to write about? I pick my projects. For instance, this year I aim to have 3-4 Ocean Breeze books out. And inbetween publishing those I will have a contemp romance that are stand alone. The first New Adult Contemp Romance will be released in March and it’s called Coffee and Cockpits. (Can be found on Goodreads)

? What books have most influenced your life?
I really like long series. Diana Gabldon (Jamie Fraser and Clare. Swoon)
Terry Goodkind and Seeker of Truth / George R R King – Game of Thrones. But the biggest one that influenced my writing style is Laini Taylor, Daughter of Smoke and Bone. Loved her lyrical writing.

? What is the first book you remember reading by yourself?
Do picture books count? Haha. Um, I can’t remember exactly but it would have been either a Nancy Drew or Goosebumbs.

? What are you reading right now? Currently I am reading No Time For Love. Written by two of my fabulously talent critique partners. The next on my list is Bared to you by Sylvia Day.

? What do you like to do when you are not writing?
Travel. Hubby and I adore traveling. If we don’t go somewhere exotic often I go mad. If I can’t travel we go for a walk or the movies. I also enjoy doing arty stuff. J

? What is your favorite comfort food?
Because I was born and raised in Hong Kong to English parents, my palate is a little different. My fav food is Peking Duck. Yum… drooling right now.

? What do you think makes a good story?
Great writing, a unique concept, characters you root for, and a worthwhile theme.

? Who would you consider your favorite author and why?
Liani Taylor – for her wonderful writing and showing me how to paint with colour, rather than type in black and white.

? What book, if any, do you read over and over again? I haven’t read books over for a long time, but I could re-read Jean M Auel – Clan of the Cave bear again. They were fantastic and you learn so much from all the research the author put in. Fascinating.

Fun random questions: 
·        dogs or cats? Neither – House rabbits. I have one – she’s adorable.
·        Coffee or tea? Neither – don’t like hot drinks. Only things I drink are Coke Zero and water.
·        Dark or milk chocolate? Milk
·        Rocks or flowers? Rocks. Can’t stand paying money for flowers and they die. Not very romantic am I? J
·        Night or day? Both. I love night as I’m a night owl, but if it’s sunny and hot then day. J
·        Favorite color? Black and Purple. (can I have two?)

·        Crayons or markers? Crayons.
·        Pens or pencils? Pens


More about the author:
Jade Hart is a self-confessed book worm who is happiest glued to a lap-top with an eternal battery life, and typing up stories running rampant in her head.

Her three favorite things are:
1. Unlimited books on an Ebook Reader
2. Cracking the sugar on a creme brulee
3. Travelling

She writes New Adult 'smexy' fiction.


 
Ocean Kills: Ocean Breeze Series Book One by Jade Hart
Genre: new adult sexy urban fantasy
Number of pages: 344
Word Count: 97,000

Book Description:

Around the world, murderers and rapists pick off the innocent. Killing loved ones, separating families, and ruining lives.

As an eight-year-old girl, Ocean witnessed her family’s massacre and something altered inside her. Twisting her genetic code… unlocking an ability to teleport.

Ocean Breeze was never destined to be normal, especially being named after air-freshener. She’s a shadow, a ghost—a dark savior of the innocent. Armed with a switchblade in her bra, and a box-cutter in her pocket, she hunts the filth of the world.

Callan Bliss is a Sydney Police Officer whose skill set is far above a normal cop. All his fellow officers see is a hard-worker who loves to catch perpetrators and surf, but that’s because they don’t know his past. When Callan arrests a suspicious looking prostitute, coming face to face with a self-confessed vigilante, his secrets aren’t that easy to keep silent anymore.

Ocean hates the police with a passion, and has no intention of being held captive by a cop, even if he is sexy as hell. Teleporting from under his nose, Ocean hunts her next target—a man responsible for the largest sex ring in South Africa—and he’s about to die. But she doesn’t count on Callan giving chase, nor the body-quaking lust which consumes them. However, Ocean's dark hobbies take precedence over what her heart wants—her thirst for murdering is killing her too, and not even Callan can save her.

Excerpt:

My name is Ocean Breeze. Yep. Ocean freakin' Breeze. It was my mom's attempt at some posh-sounding name. She was inspired by—get this—a bottle of toilet air-freshener. My heart squeezed at the thought of the cookie-scented woman with hugs as warm as sunshine.
The sound of my Nikes pummeling the pavement chased away my thoughts, and the slapping of rubber against asphalt was similar to the slap the last prostitute-abusing john gave me. Stinking bastard. No one raises a hand to Ocean Breeze without losing an appendage. Or more, as the case may be.
I swiped my hands on my red vinyl miniskirt. It wasn't exactly an attractive outfit—Nikes with a miniskirt? But I'd learned the hard way. Running in heels never worked. Ever. The sleazy men who paid for sex didn't care what was on my feet, only what was between them.
I jumped and jived through the crowd. It was two in the morning, and the streets of Kings Cross, Sydney, were a hive of activity. Drunken students hauled themselves from karaoke clubs. Rich business men back-slapped each other for the lap dance from the uni-student, who pocketed their tips to pay for her law degree. This place was full of clichés and smut.
And I loved it.
I could disappear here. I was a nobody. Even boasting a pair of ruby lips and a figure that could've graced the center fold of Playboy, I didn’t stand out. Beauty was coveted in the Cross, and plastic surgery was the salvation if nature didn’t do the work.
So why was I running?
I just killed a guy. That's why.


 My Thoughts:
Fantastic story!  Well-written, engaging, and wonderfully paced.  The author is descriptive and detailed without being long winded or weary.  The setting changes rapidly and often but the reader is never left behind or confused.  The characters are amazing.  They are interesting, well developed and impossible not to completely invest in.  The story is an action packed edge of the seat read.  It has you balancing on the fine line between justice and vengeance.  I couldn't put it down.