Today’s guest author is Carissa Lusk. Here she talks about how Twilight inspired her to write her debut novel, After The Fall. Check out the post below.
Hello, fellow readers and writers!
How many of you are faithful fans of paranormal romance: stories filled with angsty love, vampires, werewolves, angels, ghosts, aliens, or even zombies? And why did I choose to write this kind of novel? Without a doubt, paranormal romance has become my favorite genre, so it would seem only natural that I’d write this type of book. But what kind of storyteller would I be if my answer was simply that? I’ll start at the beginning.
I loved reading and writing since I was a little kid. I inherited this from my mom, I think. Writing was her occasional hobby, and she was always immersed in some historical romance novel. As a kid, though, I started with Sweet Valley High and moved on to R.L Stine’s Fear Street novels. Yes, I was a total book nerd from childhood. And on top of reading, I would write my own short stories and poems.
College would change everything, though. When I finally decided to pursue an English degree, I no longer had the time to read or write one single thing of my choosing. With classes like Adolescent Literature, Appalachian Literature, and American Literature (and that was just one semester), I was too busy to read one single bestseller for years. If it weren’t for the one Creative Writing class I took, four years would have passed without me writing anything more than assigned essays.
College burned me out. Big time. My mind needed such a rest that I still didn’t read or write anything for a couple of years after I graduated. Somewhere along the way, I had a series of dreams that I found incredibly interesting. I imagined how they could be linked together to form a story, but I still had no desire to write it.
Enter Stephenie Meyer and the fabulous Twilight series. Yes, I just called it fabulous. Don’t judge. Everyone was reading the series, so eventually, I decided to see what the hype was all about. I fell in love with reading all over again, particularly with paranormal romance. Her books ignited my desire to finally write the story that had been swirling around in my head for years, the story I’d pieced together from my dreams.
The end result is my debut paranormal romance novel, After the Fall. My dreams of being a published author are finally fulfilled, and I continue to toil away with a prequel to my first novel. My mind is filled with ideas for other stories, too, all of which are paranormal romance. So…thanks Stephenie Meyer for the inspiration.
Title: After The Fall
Author: Carissa Lusk
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Amity cries out into the darkness that surrounds her, hoping for a solitary voice to provide direction; she hears two.
She has an epic love for Alexander, yet the loneliness brought on by the miles that separate them can only be curbed by the cryptic affection of Marcus Riley. Amity can’t understand the strange familiarity she finds in the wild blue of Marcus’s eyes, but she will soon learn his secret.
Plagued with dreams and memories of lives beyond her own, a tragic fate will emerge from the ashes of a love scorned. Eventually, she will discover the dark truth that will leave her running for her life, and she will learn who sacrificed everything to save it.
Author Bio
Carissa Lusk grew up in a small town in West Virginia and never moved far from home. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from Concord College. She credits her love of reading and writing to Kate Chopin, Emily Bronte, and her mom. After the Fall is Carissa’s debut novel.
Connect: https://www.facebook.com/ckelleylusk/
https://twitter.com/ckelley_lusk
https://www.instagram.com/ckelleylusk/
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31185407-after-the-fall
Links
Book Baby: https://store.bookbaby.com/book/after-the-fall
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01ITQ6XJS
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/after-the-fall-carissa-lusk/1124129458?ean=9781483575759
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/after-the-fall/id1135930254?mt=11
