GtPGKogPYT4p61R1biicqBXsUzo" /> Google+ Interview: YA Fantasy Author Valerie Storm and her MC Kari + giveaway | I Smell Sheep

Monday, March 13, 2023

Interview: YA Fantasy Author Valerie Storm and her MC Kari + giveaway


VAL
: Hi! Valerie Storm here, and so very pleased to be on I Smell Sheep! I’ll happily introduce Kari, my beloved and very often frustrated wolf demon. She’s not much for talking normally, especially to strangers, but we’ll try our best here. Kari. KARI!
KARI: Gods above, I said I didn’t want to talk to anyone!

VAL: Come on, Kari! These nice people just want to get to know you.
KARI: What, some nameless humans? They’re just flaunting their sick curiosity. Ugh! Where is Ari? He’s better at this.

VAL: He IS much less grumpy than you, and would probably be more polite…
KARI: Polite? Polite. Would YOU be polite if someone had written your life the way you’ve written mine?

VAL: I mean—
KARI: No! The things I’ve gone through, the people I’ve lost—it’s all your fault!

VAL: I MEAN TECHNICALLY, but without me, you wouldn’t know who Ari is!
KARI: …

VAL
: Annnnyway Kari, wanna tell the readers about THE STORM DARKENS? It’s the third novel in your series! I’ve even given you some really nice downtime, haven’t I?
KARI: I do love spending time with Ari. He’s going to show me how to shoot his bow—no. No, you won’t distract me! What is the catch?!

VAL: Well, we all know how much I love drama…
KARI: Drama?

VAL: Yeah! You know, you’ve got a lot of inner turmoil to work through and I think we should do it together.
KARI: I don’t want any part of your sadistic madness!

VAL: How about this! Tell us the one thing you wish could happen.
KARI: …Why?

VAL: I told you, we’re in the middle of an interview! The readers want to know these things!
KARI: You know what I want. I want peace and quiet. I want to live with Ari, and forget all about everything.

VAL: Like Rav—
KARI: ESPECIALLY her.

VAL: Yup, fair. She’s totally irredeemable.
KARI: Exactly. You could remove her—you’re like our god, if gods existed.

VAL: You’re right! I definitely could.
KARI: …So?

VAL: We’re off-topic here! So, peace. You don’t have any other desires…? Maybe something deep, deeeeep down?
KARI: I know what you’re doing, and no. I refuse to acknowledge that part of me.

VAL: The Catalyst, right? But Kari, without it, you’d probably be dead!
KARI: I don’t care! It’s dangerous, and—you know what, you’re starting to sound like Raven!

VAL: Oh, that’s disturbing…wonder what that says about me. And you, really. You know you’re a deep part of me!
KARI: Please, gods of nalmi or wherever we are, let this end…let me go back home…

VAL: Oh…there she goes. Hmph. Well, you know what they say about lone wolves. Anywho, THE STORM DARKENS, my third book in the Demon Storm series, will see Kari go through quite a few tribulations! She’ll get her lovely time with Ari, but not without a cost…just the way I like it!

Storm and Shadow (
Demon Storm Book Two)
by Valerie Storm
11/13/2022
Genre: YA Fantasy
Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-956883-06-0
ASIN: B0BHYWJNKD
Number of pages: 317
Word Count: 88352
Cover Artist: Ginka Jack
The shadows call. Will the lightning answer?

Kari was dead—and then, she wasn't.

But for the wolf-demon with lightning in her fists, resurrection is no reprieve from exile. After old witch Zina revives her, Kari must conceal her true nature better than ever before, lest her slayers find her breathing and put her down for good. And since she can no longer return to what she once knew, Kari finds herself adrift—in search of purpose.

She gets it when Zina entrusts her with the Lapis Anima, a gem imprisoning the soul of wicked woman, Raven. This brings Kari into conflict with Raven herself, who's still very much a threat without her soul…and has devious plans in mind for Kari's destructive abilities.

Will the wolf-demon succumb to Raven's cruel temptations?

Or will Kari turn to an unlikely ally for help—the very man who killed her, one year ago?


Book 1              Book 3

Excerpt
Before she could answer, Raven’s words filled her mind. Such needless fear and
indecision. There is nothing wrong with wanting to survive, Kari. The only ones who will blame
you are the ones who deserve to die.

Kari staggered to a stop and ripped the necklace off. She held the gem in a hand, fingers
wrapped so tight the jagged edges cut her palm.

Kari’s vision swam. She recalled the redheaded woman leaning closer, her eyes glowing embers, her smile long and large. I’ve thought of the most wonderful plan.

“You!” Kari shouted.

“Oh,” the Fire Witch said. “And I thought my day would be dull and dreary.”

“You!” Kari yelled again. Her legs were numbly locked in place, but her chest was
aflame. Lightning crackled to life at her fingertips. She mouthed exclamations, insults, but her
voice failed. The woman was here, the one who had ruined everything!

She extended a shaking hand. Zina dropped the gem into her palm, where it flashed as it
touched her skin.

“Since you have taken it of your own will, you and the gem are now Bound.” As she said
the word, the air around Kari stiffened. Magic. “Should you die an unnatural death, the gem will
shatter, destroying the soul within.”

The palm-sized crystal tumbled to the ground and began to bounce. Kari watched, her eyes widening. Dark smoke issued from the gem, curling over the ground, swirling until it took the form of a kneeling woman. Her features coalesced: long, dark hair to match her wintry robes and contrast her ivory skin. The woman lifted her head, looking about with eyes cut from obsidian.

Her pale-pink lips were uplifted in a sneer, betraying little surprise.

The woman spared Kari no attention as she stood to her full height and looked around. She faced the nearest patch of darkness and raised a hand, curling her fingers into a fist. The shadows stretched away from the trees, bending toward the woman in lazy snake-like wisps.
They lifted off the ground and twisted around her fingers.

About the Author:
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Valerie Storm was raised in Tucson, Arizona. Growing up, she fell in love with everything fantasy. When she wasn’t playing video games, she was writing. By age ten, she began to write her own stories as a way to escape reality. When these stories became a full-length series, she considered the path to sharing with other children and children-at/heart looking for a place to call home.

Tour Giveaway
5 $5 Amazon Gift Cards
a Rafflecopter giveaway


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