Wolves and Roses {+ Giveaway}

Wolves & Roses
Christina Bauer
(Fairy Tales of the Magicorum #1)
Published by: Monster House Books
Publication date: October 31st 2017
Genres: Paranormal, Young Adult

“If Janet Evanovich teamed with a young adult, fairy-tale author like Marissa Meyer (the Lunar Chronicles) or Alex Flinn (Beastly), the result might be something like Christina Bauer’s Wolves and Roses.” –Blue Ink Review

Seventeen-year-old Bryar Rose has a problem. She’s descended from one of the three magical races—shifters, fairies, or witches. That makes her one of the Magicorum, and Magicorum always follow a fairy tale life template. In Bryar’s case, that template should be Sleeping Beauty.

“Should” being the key word.
Trouble is, Bryar is nowhere near the sleeping beauty life template. Not even close. She doesn’t like birds or woodland creatures. She can’t sing. And she certainly can’t stand Prince Philpot, the so-called “His Highness of Hedge Funds” that her aunties want her to marry. Even worse, Bryar’s having recurring dreams of a bad boy hottie and is obsessed with finding papyri from ancient Egypt. What’s up with that?

All Bryar wants is to attend a regular high school with normal humans and forget all about shifters, fairies, witches, and the curse that Colonel Mallory the Magnificent placed on her. And she might be able to do just that–if only she can just keep her head down until her eighteenth birthday when the spell that’s ruined her life goes buh-bye.

But that plan gets turned upside down when Bryar Rose meets Knox, the bad boy who’s literally from her dreams. Knox is a powerful werewolf, and his presence in her life changes everything, and not just because he makes her knees turn into Jell-O. If Bryar can’t figure out who—or what—she really is, it might cost both her and Knox their lives… as well as jeopardize the very nature of magic itself.

FAIRY TALES OF THE MAGICORUM
1. Wolves And Roses (Fall 2017)
1.5. Moonlight And Midtown (Spring 2018)
2. Shifters And Glyphs (Fall 2018)

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Christina has graciously answered some questions for me concerning her writing. Join me in welcoming her to Thoughts as she shares about her story. Welcome, Christina.

 

Why I Write Paranormal Books, Even Though It Sometimes Sucks To Do So

By Christina Bauer, Author

The lovely folks at the Thoughts in Progress blog asked me to write a post about what drew me to writing books for the paranormal genre, and some of the pros and cons of doing so. Happy to share!

Why I Write Paranormal

To begin with, I read a lot of contemporary romance and I love-love-LOVE that genre, but when I try to write it, I get really hung up on the whole “that guy would never do that” thing.  Here’s a classic example of what the voice in my head says during such times: “Whoa therem Bauer! Bad boys stay bad. Unless you have this guy complete twenty years of therapy or have an anyeurysm, the dude is not going to change.” So, when I start to write 100% contemporary, I end up sticking to real life. All of which brings me to my problem with writing that genre.

Real life is really freaking depressing.

Life is hard and writing is my escape. Long story short, I’ve found that I can make things fun if I stick to fantasy. Within this uber genre, I’ve tried epic-style ‘swords and sorcery’ stuff (my Beholder series) as well as urban fantasy (Angelbound novels). With my new book, WOLVES AND ROSES, I have come the closest ever to crafting contemporary romance. There are certainly some paranormal elements in the book, but it’s not like the book is set in Purgatory or Hell like the Angelbound series (Beholder takes place in a modified version of the middle ages.) So, paranormal has been an evolution for me.

The Pros of Paranormal

I love world building and paranormal allows my imagination to run wild. I have a whole ancient Egypt thing coming with the future books after WOLVES AND ROSES which I am SUPER PSYCHED to share with you. But I can’t because SPOILERS.

All in all, the great part about paranormal is that I’m not stuck with anyone’s rules, even if those rules are so-called reality.

The Cons of Paranormal

In my opinion, the big challenge of paranormal is the same as its greatest benefit: world building. Let me explain. When you’re writing in ‘reality,’ you can just say ‘a guy walks into a bar’ and everyone knows what you mean: the guy is a dude who is not too young or old. He’s also moving forward on two feet and wearing pants. And the bar is a sort of generic place with bottles of booze and lots of tables.

Now say you step into a fairy soiree (this actually happens in WOLVES AND ROSES). What do the fairies look like? Do any of them wear pants? Do they fly or walk? Where do they have celebrations anyway? In other words, I have to set a TON of stuff up without taking up two pages describing everything before I get to the actual story. Not gonna lie. This part is a pain in the ass. But if I do it right, people feel transported to another realty in the story, which is what I’m after.

PRO TIP: It’s easy to get caught up in your own world building. To paraphrase Virginia Wolff: I carve out great caves behind my characters and only allow the reader to see a small sliver. You have to build a ton and pitch it. The reader will only feel that it’s there and that’s OK.

Conclusion

Overall, what’s both the biggest pro and con is that I love sharing my stories with you readers, but there’s no way for me to call you up after you’ve finished and talk. What did you like? What would you change? Where should the story go? So please please please, drop me a note or write a review of WOLVES AND ROSES. I can’t wait to hear from you! 

Christina, thanks for sharing your pros and cons of writing paranormal. I find it fascinating that writers can create other worlds for us readers to visit. Thanks.

Christina Bauer knows how to tell stories about kick-ass women. In her best selling Angelbound series, the heroine is a part-demon girl who loves to fight in Purgatory’s Arena and falls in love with a part-angel prince. This young adult best seller has driven more than 500,000 ebook downloads and 9,000 reviews on Goodreads and retailers.

Bauer has also told the story of the Women’s March on Washington by leading PR efforts for the Massachusetts Chapter. Her pre-event press release—the only one sent out on a major wire service—resulted in more than 19,000 global impressions and redistribution by over 350 different media entities including the Associated Press. Christina graduated from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School with BA’s in English along with Television, Radio, and Film Production.

She lives in Newton, MA with her husband, son, and semi-insane golden retriever, Ruby.

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Tour-wide giveaway (INTL)

• Win The Wolves and Roses Treasure Box
• Bry’s Earrings
• Rose Hair Clip
• Signed Copy Of Wolves and Roses

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