Welcome back for another day of Great Book Discovery! Joining me this morning is the lovely V.L. LOCEY to talk about her Romantic Comedy Of Gods & Goats.
SHR: What makes this particular series your favorite?
VLL: It`s my debut novel and it holds so much emotion for me. The characters of Libby and Ares meet in this first book of the trilogy and a great love begins. We get to meet the secondary cast of quirky rural folks and a very unique Minotaur, and travel to the Greek underworld and Olympus. For a Greek mythology freak like it`s a win-win. Romance, action, adventure, Greek Mythos, and humor all rolled into one book!
SHR: Who published it? When?
VLL: It`s a self-published book that was released on my 50th birthday, April 6, 2012. (Happy Birthday to you!!!)
SHR: Tell us a little about what you went through to get it published.
As any author knows, writing the book is the easy part. I attended a few self-publishing seminars hosted by my local Indie bookstore first. There I learned a great deal about the ins-and-outs of self-publishing. Those seminars were a huge help as I didn`t go into this with my eyes filled with stars. One thing I did want to do was try to keep as much of the process based in my home state of Pennsylvania as possible.
I first had to find a professional editor for the manuscript. I got very lucky to find a retired English professor who lives nearby. After three rounds of intense editing and revisions it was time to locate a printer. While the search for the right printer was going on, I was also trying to find someone to do the cover art. A friend of mine offered to send me a few things they had fiddled with and I was blown away by one of the images. The chosen cover art is bold, humorous, and reflects the book perfectly!
I was fortunate to locate a wonderful printing house right here in the Keystone state. They did a wonderful job and the book looks superb! They worked closely with me through the whole process, even taking a specific Grecian font I found for the chapter headers and was adamant about using. The books were even hand-delivered upon completion! That is small business at its best.
SHR: On writing in general: What’s the hardest part for you? Why?
VLL: For me the hardest part of writing is the editing and revision phase. My grammar leaves a bit to be desired to put it mildly. I have found some amusing notes in the side-bars of my manuscripts from my editor. One was ‘V-Turn in your apostrophe key now!’ in that big bold red pen editor`s are so fond of. ‘Of Gods & Goats’ was my first novel, and the amount of misplaced commas and apostrophes nearly made me weep. But, I have learned from those mistakes and the subsequent novels have far less red marks. Thank the gods!
SHR: Unrelated: What’s your favorite color?
VLL: I`m quite partial to lilac.
ABOUT OF GODS AND GOATS:
GENRE:
Paranormal Romantic Comedy
BLURB:
‘Of Gods & Goats’ is a fun, sexy romp through rural lifestyles, Olympian temples and goat barns. It will remind mortals and immortals alike about the power of love and laughter.
“My sister Artemis just now begins her race to catch Apollo in his golden chariot,” he said directly behind me. “Her conveyance is pulled by silvery stags while Apollo whips his four steeds of glimmering gold. Across the heavens they race, each child of Letos and Zeus forever bound to this duty and the need to spur their twin onward.”
A million and three things spun through my mind as his breath moved over the back of my neck. Maybe I should have nodded in silence and ignored the radiant heat of his body. Perhaps I should have dropped into a conversation about how many siblings he had from different mothers. I didn`t do either of those. What I did was turn from the huge celestial body outside and stepped closer to the huge celestial body inside. His hands rose upward and settled on my hips. I let my head drop back and witnessed an explosion of warmth light up his eyes.
“Do not come into my embrace if you plan to leave it again, Bunting,” Ares told me, his voice rough and smoky.
“I don`t plan on leaving it until Apollo shows his face,” I told him and meant it.
WHERE TO GET IT:
MORE ON V.L.:
WEBSITE ♥ BLOG ♥ FACEBOOK ♥ TWITTER
Romance Author Siobhan Kinkade 
Thanks for having me, Siobhan!
This is a good interview/review. I have this book and it is with a few others on my winter’s ‘reading list’!! I promise, Vickie!!
I have always wished I could write like writers do……..maybe some day.
Thanks for this Siobhan!
Thanks for dropping in, Jim. I hope you enjoy ‘Of Gods & Goats’!