Welcome Hanna Martine!

Thank you for coming to my blog to tell us about your book and answer some questions! I LOVE that cover. LOVE IT. And it sounds really interesting. I’m looking forward to reading it.

Hannah will be doing a giveaway, of three (3!) books, so don’t forget to check out the contest and rules and then enter for your chance to win. Also, Hanna, I forgot to mention that I have a niece with one of your names. Did you know you spell your name wrong? She wants to have purple hair. I notice your hair is not purple. Huh. Fashion hints are free here, by the way.

About Hanna

Hanna Martine’s only goal growing up was to become a writer, specifically a fantasy writer. That dream stuck until she realized that most speculative fiction novels faded to black during the best parts or skipped over love stories altogether. When she discovered paranormal romance and urban fantasy, she found the genre of her heart. After the arrival of her daughter, she couldn’t think of a better lesson to teach the little one than: Have a dream. Go after it. Be fulfilled. So she set aside all thoughts of returning to the business world and focused on writing and learning about the industry. She finished two novels before coming up with the idea for the world of The Elementals. She joined the Romance Writers of America (RWA), placed in numerous contests, and found an agent and editor who believed in her unique stories. She loves writing about secret worlds, magic, and the intense emotional and physical relationships that exist within them.

About the book

Magic is Corporate America’s best-kept secret

Gwen possesses the unique ability to pick up any language in an instant—a power that will globally expand the profitable family business. As dutiful future leader of her race of water elementals, she’ll do anything to protect her people’s secrets and bloodlines—including enter an arranged marriage. Inside, however, she yearns for forbidden human men.

Reed is a mercenary addicted to the money and adrenaline rush of his work. After he inadvertently saves Gwen’s life, he ignites her taboo desire for men without magic—and with bodies of gods. Just as things heat up, Reed discovers that Gwen is exactly who he’s been hired to kidnap. He resolves to put work before lust, yet her luscious beauty and fiery spirit unravel him…

But there is a terrible truth behind Gwen’s family business—and now, caught between the kinsmen she no longer trusts and an enemy bent on vengeance, the only ally she has is her abductor…

Buy the Book

Read an Exceprt

The Interview!

1. So. “Elementals” What that heck are those? Is there anyone named Watson in the book? Does anyone say “It’s elemental, my dear Watson?” (If you want to use that phrase in your next book, feel free! You’re welcome.)

Ruin my hook for book 2, why don’t you!

The series circles around different races who control the “classic” elements– earth, air, fire, water–and who live outside human awareness in modern-day America. Liquid Lies focuses on the Ofarians, the water elementals.

2. What kind of sick, twisted mind thinks up people selling magic to corporate America? Or did you not make that up? To your knowledge, is that actually happening? Because I think this would explain some irregularities in my power bill. Is this an idea that came to you all at once in the shower or did it develop slowly over time? Or did you just take really good notes from your whistleblower friend?

It totally could happen, couldn’t it? The sick, twisted mind who thought this up survived ten years working with corporate types. When I was writing this book, I knew I wanted to use elemental magic, but I needed a new twist. With phrases like “mission statements,” “break-even,” and “synergy” stamped in my mind, I went with the corporate angle. The story also came about during all that Bernie Madoff craziness, which got me thinking about greed and power, and how it shapes a person (or group of people) over time.

3. I love “the call” stories. Will you tell us about selling your debut novel?

It happened so incredibly fast, I barely remember the details. In my head, three furious, nausea-inducing days have melded into a blur. I signed with my agent (whom I met through an auction when I bid on and won a lunch with her), and she somehow managed to get me a two-book deal barely two days later, right in the middle of BEA 2011. I may have hyperventilated when she called to tell me the news, I don’t recall. And I’m sure my timeline is off as I describe it here; I was a basket case for days. I do remember a really fine bottle of champagne being opened, however.

4. If you were in charge of casting the movie of your book, who do you call in for a screen test?

If Jason Statham could magically grow five inches and put on forty pounds of muscle and lose the accent, he could be Reed. Though she’s a little young, Blake Lively might work for Gwen. She did gritty and angry really well in The Town.

Another tidbit about Gwen: when I first saw the cover of Liquid Lies, I started crying because the model is exactly how I pictured her. I was choking and sobbing because she (and the whole cover, really) was so perfect. My husband jumped off the couch and rushed to me in worry, asking me who’d died. True story.

5. Got any cute pet pictures?

Why, of course. Mackenzie the Bernese Mountain Dog wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving!

6. Drop some hints about book two.

One, it’s allllll about sex, by nature of the hero and his tragic past. Two, it has my most favorite (and by that I mean the most twisted) character I’ve ever written (who also gave me the most trouble). And three, you will never look at city buses in the same way again.

7. Do you listen to music when you write? What kind? Now look to your left and tell us what you see.

I’m one of those people who can’t write to music, but I love writing in a super noisy bar or coffee house. One voice is distracting; lots all at once are the best white noise ever. If I do have to drown out the world, I listen to wordless electronica: Explosions in the Sky, Boards of Canada, that kind of thing.

Looking to my left … over the giant, furry dog hangs a board made of wine corks I pieced together myself. I used to remember for what occasion I drank all those bottles, but hell if I know now. Tacked on it are magazine photos of things I will never buy, a timeline for book 2, my first business card, and drawings from my kid that say “For Mom” in that wonderful, shaky writing.

8. What’s next for you?

Book 2, A Taste of Ice, is currently snuggling with my editor and awaiting release on December 31, 2012. Also fighting for the sheets is a novella in the Elementals world, to be included in a Berkley Sensation anthology, Unbound, with Angela Knight, Jennifer Ashley and Jean Johnson. I’m working on a hot bonus scene between Gwen and Reed to be released to my newsletter subscribers, and another extra (hopefully) to be released around the time of A Taste of Ice. Between those, more book proposals!

Contest

Hanna: To one winner I’m giving away three great books, all releasing July 3: my own LIQUID LIES, Roni Loren’s MELT INTO YOU (format of your choice), and Britt Bury’s THE DARKEST DAY (ebook only). Good luck and happy reading! I hope you discover a new author to love.

Rules

Void where prohibited. Must be 18 or older to enter. US residents only. No purchase necessary. Winner will be chosen via Random.org on or about Saturday July 7, 2012. You must comment by Midnight Pacific Friday July 6, 2012.

To Enter

To enter leave a comment in which you caption the photograph of Mackenzie the Bernese Mountain Dog. As you can see, I have myself added a caption. Go.