New Release and Guest Post by Monica Sanz, Author of SEVENTH BORN ***Giveaway***
Seventh Born
by Monica Sanz
Genre: YA Paranormal/Mystery & Suspense
Release Date: September 4th 2018
Entangled Teen
Abandoned as a child, Sera dreams of becoming an inspector and finding her family. To do that, she must be referred into the Advanced Studies Program at the Aetherium’s Witchling Academy. Her birth order, quick temper, and tendency to set things on fire, however, have left her an outcast with failing marks…and just what Professor Nikolai Barrington is looking for.
The tall, brooding, yet exceedingly handsome young professor makes her a proposition: become his assistant and he’ll give her the referral she needs. Sera is quickly thrust into a world where witches are being kidnapped, bodies are raised from the dead, and someone is burning seventhborns alive. As Sera and Barrington grow ever closer, she’ll discover that some secrets are best left buried…and fire isn’t the only thing that makes a witch burn.
Purchase links can be found HERE!
An Interview with Monica Sanz
Welcome to Character Madness and Musings. Tell us a little bit about why you write in your chosen genre, and if you have books in other genres as well.
My favorite genres to write in are romance and fantasy. Love is such a complex emotion that is so tightly wound to every other possible emotion. It can be a beautiful experience or responsible for our greatest pains and disappointments, and writing allows me to explore this range with my characters.
As for fantasy, my own personal belief in God and my upbringings have led me to write fantasy as an outlet to express my awe at how magical and perfect the universe is. When I was younger, my mother taught me to see the beauty in nature just as her mother had taught her and her sisters. Things as simple as the way the grass bends under a breeze, the hush of the trees, or the glow of a full moon. I think this was my first introduction to real magic and why the magic in my books tends to be elemental/nature based. There is something so… well, magical about the various life forms and how in sync the universe works. Writing fantasy and romance have become an outlet of sorts where I interpret both emotions and nature through my characters.
My other fantasy romance is FINVARRA’S CIRCUS which is about a girl with a damaged heart who sneaks into a cursed circus and has to overcome her fears of failure and death and love in order to save them all.
What was the title of your first book, and what was/is it about?
The title of my very first book was Children of the Dark and I wrote it when I was 8! It was a portal fantasy about a group of friends who find a book that’s actually a portal and they wind up in this fantastical world full of monsters. I still have it and it’s pretty bad, but also interesting to see how I’ve been writing fantasy since the very beginning.
Was it a series?
It wasn’t a series, it’s wasn’t even finished. I only got a few chapters in, but who knows, maybe it might have been a series if I actually finished it.
The first book seems to be the most difficult to get off the ground. What inspired you to write it?
SEVENTH BORN was inspired by a portrait I saw of a girl who turned out to be my main character. In the picture, she was gazing down as if she wasn’t allowed to meet anyone’s eyes, yet she was giving off serious rebellious vibes with just a touch of arrogance, and I immediately wanted to know more about her. In thinking more about the portrait and the girl, the story that ultimately became SEVENTH BORN was born.
What is your most current book?
SEVENTH BORN is my most current book!
Is it a series?
SEVENTH BORN is book one in THE WITCHLING ACADEMY series.
New books are so exciting. Do you have more stories planned or that you’ve been working on for the future?
YES! I’m always working on future books. At the moment, I’m writing book two in the Witchling Academy series. I also have another fantasy romance that I’ll be querying soon called PHOENIX RISING. There are a few other ideas brewing in the back of my mind, so I’m sure one of them will demand to be written soon.
Can you share a little bit about your main character’s, and what drives them?
Sera only remembers the prior two years of her life. Everything before that is a mystery. She wants nothing more than to recover these memories and find out more about her family. This is what drives her every waking moment and what ultimately leads her to accept Professor Barrington’s offer to become his assistant. It’s also one of the things I love about Sera. She is so motivated and driven, and when she’s thrown off course or falls down, she thinks of her goals, gets back up and back to work. There are distractions, but she remains focused and heaven help whoever gets in her way. For her, failure is not an option, and given her position in society (seventhborns are highly undesirable and discriminated against) the fact she weathers this discrimination to achieve her dream is truly inspiring.
Some stories have strong themes. How important are themes in your writing? Is your theme based on the story, or are your stories birthed from a theme/or themes?
Themes are very important to me BUT I don’t go into a story thinking of what the theme is, they are based on the story and manifest as I write.
If the answer was yes, is the theme personal for you, or simply an important issue?
It depends on the story. All the themes I’ve tackled in my stories are personal in that I care about them and have experienced some of them, and they’re all important issues to different people. I’ve tackled fear and discrimination, forgiveness, and an array of themes that affect people every day, so in that sense, yes, they’re very personal for me.
What other stories have you written?
Aside from SEVENTH BORN, my other stories are: Finvarra’s Circus, The Awkward Love Song of Abigail Archer, and the Faethfully Yours duology.
So many Authors are artists by nature. Do you have any other artwork or hobbies you do on a consistent basis?
I like to repurpose furniture. I love taking something old and battered and breathing new life into it. Recently I started diversifying my cooking now that my kids have grown a bit more adventurous. I’ve also started baking more often which is dangerous for my waistline, but it’s so relaxing and I find it satisfying to bake a cake from scratch and see it become this delicious thing I can share with my family.
What were your passions growing up?
I’ve always loved writing, reading, and music so all of my passions revolved around one of those things or a mix of them all.
What are your passions now?
My passions have pretty much stayed the same. If anything, I’ve grown more passionate about them.
Thank you for joining us today. We’re looking forward to seeing the books you’ll be showcasing in the future.
About the Author
Monica Sanz has been writing from the moment she could string together a sentence. Her stories have come a long way from mysterious portals opening in the school cafeteria, transporting classmates to distant worlds. A classic by the name Wuthering Heights is responsible for that. She's been lost to dark romances and brooding fictional men ever sense. Now she writes about grumpy professors, cursed ringmaster, tortured soul collectors, and the girls they fall in love with. Monica’s books have received many accolades on the social writing website Wattpad. She’s accumulated over six million reads, eighty thousand votes, and fifteen thousand comments since posting her books on the website. She is also a member of the Wattpad4, a group of writers who host weekly Twitter chats on the subjects of writing and publishing.
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