Title:
Love in Darkness
(Shattered Castles, #2)
Author:
E.M. Tippetts
Release
date: May 21,
2013
Age
Group: New Adult
Genre:
Contemporary
Romance
Links
to find/buy your books:
Love
in Darkness
Goodreads–| Amazon
– |Barnesand Nobel –
Castles
on the Sand (Shattered
Castles, #1)
Love
in Darkness
Alex
had everything when he was with Madison. But the darkness within him
wouldn't go away. After two years apart, he returns to Pelican Bluffs
and to the girl he never wanted to leave.
Madison
wants to give their love another chance, but Alex can't fight fate.
He is what he is. Ruined. Crazy like his mother. And Madison deserves
so much more. When his secrets spill out into their small town, Alex
has a choice to make. Hide away in the darkness forever, or let love
in.
Castles
on the Sand
If
there’s one thing Madison Lukas understands, it’s pain. The pain
she feels when her mother ignores her completely. The pain her best
friend endures as her parents starve her as punishment. The pain of a
dangerous boy whose mother has to be carried away by law enforcement
on a regular basis.
She
gets it. She feels the pain of others as if it were her own.
But
when a mysterious man claiming to be her long lost brother appears
with promises of relieving her suffering, trusting him could reveal
more truths than Madison is ready for. Because the truth can hurt,
too.
Author
Interview with E.M. Tippetts
Q:
Do you remember how/when your interest in writing started?
Tippetts:
Not really. It’s something I’ve wanted for as long as I can
remember. I started writing short stories in middle school and
attempted a novel in high school, but I didn’t really start to
devote my life to fiction until after I’d finished all my
schooling, which for me was when I earned my law degree. Once I had
my diploma, I went to the Clarion West Writer’s Workshop for
Science Fiction and Fantasy, started to sell short stories to various
magazines and anthologies, and eventually got my first romance novel
published by a small press. Then when indie publishing got going, I
decided to try that too.
At this point, I’ve
wanted to be a writer for as long as I can remember, and I have a
very long memory. I vividly remember my first day of preschool. I
wouldn’t be me without my writing.
Q:
What were the challenges (research, psychological, and logistical) in
bringing this story or characters to life?
Tippetts:
The biggest challenge was writing from the POV of someone with
schizophrenia, because accuracy wasn’t the only issue. I did want
to be accurate, of course and read medical journals and talked to
people with experience with the disorder. Beyond that, though, I
didn’t want people to laugh at Alex, because unfortunately that’s
people’s kneejerk reaction to seeing someone act mentally ill.
There’s such a strong social stigma against mental illness, and
especially psychotic disorders. There’s also a ton of
misinformation out there, ranging from beliefs that mentally ill
people are usually violent to mistaking schizophrenia for
dissociative identity disorder (previously known as multiple
personality disorder.)
So the execution of this
POV, to make Alex sympathetic, was every bit as hard as the research
I did to make it accurate. I did a lot of rewrites on this one.
Q:
What was the easiest part of writing LOVE IN DARKNESS?
Tippetts:
Spending more time with Alex and Madison. Those two will always be
favorites of mine. I started sketching them out by taking my husband
and myself and switching our physical characteristics. He’s blue
eyed and blond (like Madison) while I’m half Asian (like Alex). And
then I did a lot of switching things up. Alex has my sarcasm, but
he’s also very different from me. He’s fluent in Japanese, for
one thing, and flunked out of school, while I was a nerd who sat at
the front of the class.
Madison’s mild mannered
and kind like my husband, but unlike him is an extrovert, has a very
messed up family, and turns down the opportunity to go to college to
start a small business instead. My husband just finished his second
graduate degree.
So at the end of the day,
Alex and Madison are their own people with their own identities, but
the way I built them will always give them a special place in my
heart.
Q:
What is your favorite scene or was your favorite to write? Don’t
forget to tell us why.
Tippetts:
The ending, because I’m a big believer in happy endings. In order
to sell a happy ending to a reader, though, one or more of the
characters has to pay for it. People don’t buy story that’s all
sweetness and light all the time. For Alex, I wanted the ultimate
happy ending. I wanted him to be set for life and have his most
important dream come true, so this was a pretty dark book in places.
Which makes writing the
ending that much more rewarding. And besides that, who doesn’t like
a good kissing scene?
Q:
What’s next for you writing wise that you can share with us?
Tippetts:
I’m going back to the world of Someone
Else’s Fairytale, which is my best seller
to date. In Fairytale
readers met Chloe Winters, a college student in Albuquerque with a
fairly uninspired view of life and Jason Vanderholt, the Hollywood
A-lister who falls for her and tries to get her to believe in knights
in shining armor and happily ever afters.
The book I’m writing now
is about Jason’s niece, who is eighteen and has a major crush on a
certain boy bander. Because she’s got access to the world of the
rich and famous, she manages to meet him, and from there… things
get complicated. I hope people find it an entertaining read. I’m
having a lot of fun writing it. The title is Break
It Up.
About
the Author
Emily
Mah Tippetts writes romance under the name E.M. Tippetts and science
fiction and fantasy under the name Emily Mah. Originally from New
Mexico, she now lives in London with her family. Before she was a
published author, she was an attorney who specialized in real estate,
contracts, and estate planning, especially literary estate planning.
Author
Social Media Links:
twitter.com/emtippetts
facebook.com/emtippetts
Tour
Giveaway:
(5)
Print Copies of Love
in Darkness –
International
Approx.
value = $60 USD
OR click here
To see
other stops on the tour for reviews, guest posts, and excerpts clickhere or the tour button
below.
