Today I am so pleased to welcome Courtney Maguire to Joyfully Jay. Courtney has come to talk to us about her latest release, Blood Bound. She has also brought along a great giveaway. Please join me in giving her a big welcome!

Courtney has written some questions and answers to share with us today!

Q1: How would you describe your writing style/genre?

My style is a little all over the place, honestly. I’ve made it no secret that I am heavily influenced by Anne Rice, which means my style can drift into the decedent and melancholy, but I also have a strong affection for the witty banter found in contemporary romance and find excuses to sneak it in wherever I can. I’m also a big fan of the horror genre and strive for the ability to build dread like Paul Tremblay or Grady Hendrix. Para-contempo-horror romance? Is that a thing?

Q2: Do your books spring to life from a character first or an idea?

This is always a difficult question to answer for me. I tend to be a very character-first writer in practice, but those characters often start from some kind of ‘what if’ scenario. The Youkai Bloodlines series, for example, sprang from the desire to write a vampire book in a time where the market was dominated by beautiful monsters trapped in an eternal state of teenage angst. I craved something different. A large majority (at least in my experience) of vampire fiction and lore was very Euro-centric and so I thought about how a vampiric creature might be viewed under a different cultural lens. What if the vampire was also a samurai or a daimyo or a geisha? How would they make sense of what had happened to them in the context of their own experiences and belief systems? The characters of Youkai Bloodlines sprang from that idea. Now they run the show. I don’t make the rules.

Q3: Are you a full-time or part-time writer? How does that affect your writing?

I am a part-time writer. The dream, of course, is to be able to write full time, but balancing writing with a full-time job means carving out writing time wherever you can find it. It can be exhausting at times and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel resentful on occasion about having to turn down social invitations because I was on a deadline. Sometimes I wonder if the pressure I put on myself could be detrimental to my writing, but I think, in small doses, it’s actually good. It keeps me sharp and focused and always doing my best no matter the circumstances. I just don’t have the time to slack off.

Q4: Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with bad or good ones?

There has been a lot of discourse lately in author circles about if and to what extent authors should engage in their reviews. I’ll be honest, I do read reviews. I don’t, however, engage or comment on the content of the review beyond the occasional ‘thank you for reading,’ and only then on blog posts. Have I ever felt slighted by a bad review? Sure. But I have my feelings in private, maybe rant to a friend, and move on. Publicly ranting about reviews does nothing but make you look like an entitled brat. Reader reviews, especially unsolicited ones, are not meant for us. They are not a method of constructive criticism and are largely based on emotion and opinion. If you are a writer who plans to read reviews, you have to be honest with yourself about how those negative reviews–which you will get no matter how great your book is–will affect you. They can be confidence crushing and the hit to your mental health just may not be worth it.

Q5: What does success mean to you?

I like to count my successes in small victories. Getting the book written is a success in itself, not to mention getting it published and people actually reading it. The biggest success for me is when a reader tells me how much they loved one of my books. Seriously, it’s the best feeling ever. I may not have the biggest reader base or make it on any fancy lists, but one person in my DMs telling me my book meant something to them makes it all worthwhile.

Q6: What are you working on now?

I’m working on something quite different, actually. It’s a dystopian scifi. Think Hunger Games (but adult) meets Ursula LeGuin’s Left Hand of Darkness. It’s a weird little thing and I often feel in over my head, but I love it. I’m also, of course, working on another Youkai Bloodlines book which, if I do my job, will hopefully make it out this year.

Blurb

Two hundred years can strain even the seemingly eternal love of the youkai.

When Hideyoshi’s coldness drives them apart, Hiro finds comfort in his friendship with Takanori, a vociferous human man he met at a ramen shop and can’t seem to keep away from.. Everything Hiro had to fight for from Hideyoshi, Takanori gives freely, making it all too easy to turn away from his responsibilities–and Hideyoshi–in favor of something sweeter.

But while Hiro is off playing human, danger is brewing among the Youkai. Hideyoshi, still reeling from his breakup with Hiro, struggles to uphold the promise they made to the Hunter leader, Kyo, but the Youkai’s loyalty has been challenged by Hiro’s abrupt disappearance. With Hunters literally banging at the door, Hide must find a way to bring Hiro home or risk igniting the war they’ve spent the last two hundred years trying to prevent.

Buy Links:

• Publisher: http://cityowlpress.com/product/blood-bound/
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PTZ4RMG
• Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/blood-bound-courtney-maguire/1140257317?ean=2940165477225
• Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/blood-bound-63
• Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/b6voRy
• Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/59070430-blood-bound
• QueeRomance Ink Link: https://www.queeromanceink.com/book/blood-bound-2/

Bio

Courtney Maguire is a University of Texas graduate from Corpus Christi, Texas. Drawn to Austin by a voracious appetite for music, she spent most of her young adult life in dark, divey venues nursing a love for the sublimely weird. A self-proclaimed fangirl with a press pass, she combined her love of music and writing as the primary contributor for Japanese music and culture blog, Project: Lixx, interviewing Japanese rock and roll icons and providing live event coverage for appearances across the country.

• Author Website: https://www.courtneymaguirewrites.com
• Author Facebook (Personal): https://www.facebook.com/courtney.maguire.37
• Author Facebook (Author Page): https://www.facebook.com/CourtneyMaguireWrites
• Author Twitter: https://twitter.com/PretentiousAho
• Author Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtneymaguirewrites/
• Author Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19774498.Courtney_Maguire
• Author QueeRomance Ink: https://www.queeromanceink.com/mbm-book-author/courtney-maguire/
• Author Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/~/e/B082S34S7W

Giveaway

Courtney is giving away a $10 Amazon gift card with this tour:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Courtney is also giving away free character cards with proof of order in —the “Blood Bound Preorder Campaign” – the offer is being extended through March 1st.

• By entering the giveaway, you’re confirming that you are at least 18 years old.
• By entering you are agreeing to the Terms and Conditions set out by Rafflecopter for entries.
• Winners may be announced on the blog following the contest. By entering the contest you are agreeing to allow your name to be posted and promoted as the contest winner by Joyfully Jay.
• Prizes will be distributed following the giveaway either by Joyfully Jay or the person/organization donating the prize. In order to facilitate prize distribution, the winner name’s and email may be provided to a third party awarding the prize.
• By entering you are agreeing to hold Joyfully Jay harmless if the prize or giveaway in some way negatively impacts the winner.
• Void where prohibited by law.