When Vivian Cartwright was five years old, she witnessed her mother’s death.

Now, sixteen-year-old Vivian only wants a normal life — hard to accomplish when you possess the power to control energy. Her entire life she has feared her power and its connection to her mother’s murder. She has kept her ability a secret from everyone except her guardian, Charlotte, who has hidden Vivian from the man responsible for her mother’s murder.

Her secret is safe until Vivian subconsciously defends herself at school using her power. After this first use of her gift in many years, Vivian’s power seems to take on a mind of its own, increasing in strength and demanding to be used. This increase in power also brings dreams of her mother’s death and the mysterious man connected with it. When she is assigned to tutor the would-be boyfriend of Trista Parmer (a.k.a. the biggest diva in school), Vivian cannot deny the electrifying connection that she feels for the boy, Easton Garrett. In her desire to get Easton away from Vivian, Trista doubles her efforts to humiliate Vivian, forcing Vivian to use her supernatural gift over and over. With each use, Vivian fears she is losing control and discovers her powers are growing—maybe too much—bringing her unknowingly closer to the man who murdered her mother.

What genre is it?
Vivid is YA paranormal romance.

What kind of readers will it appeal to?
It will appeal to lovers of paranormal but also romance readers.  If you love the paranormal romance genre but want something besides the typical vampire, werewolf, angel characters, you’ll like Vivid.

Tell us a bit more about your main character
Several years ago, I was teaching a class made up almost exclusively of eighth grade girls.  These young ladies were voracious readers, and I was reading one to two books a week just to keep up with them so that I would be able to recommend novels. Predominately, these girls preferred paranormal romance, which is also one of my favorites, so reading for them was no great hardship.  However, as I book-talked these novels, I noticed one similarity–female dependency.  In nearly all of these books, the female protagonist relied upon the male character (endowed with some supernatural ability, of course) to rescue her.  Though the POV was female, the true hero was not.  That really bothered me.  How could I recommend these novels where women were often victims while telling these girls that they could be anything and do anything they set their minds to?  Why couldn’t a female character tell the story AND save the day?  Thus, Vivian was born.  I wanted a strong, quirky girl with real-world problems, like bullying and self-esteem issues, who could finish her English homework and rescue the love of her life all in one night.   

What about Easton Garrett?
Easton is the typical leading man – sweet, devoted, and completely delish! 

Anyone else we need to know?
Abby, Vivian’s best friend, is an outcast like Vivian, but unlike our leading lady, Abby is desperate to fit in and doesn’t always make great decisions because of that desire.

Complete this sentence for us: if you like _________________, you’ll love my book.
If you like paranormal romances like Hush, Hush, Fallen, or Twilight, you’ll love my book.  However, if you like novels with strong female protagonists (like Katniss in Hunger Games), you’ll love my book as well.

Is this part of a series?
Vivid is book one of the Vivid Trilogy.  It is followed by Vicious and Vengeance, which are also out so no waiting six months for the sequel!
Yay!

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
My new novel is in the beta-read stage.  My new novel is called Omni, and it is a dystopian romance (heavy on the romance).  It is based on the story of Paris and Helen but with a modern twist.

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I am an English teacher, have been for about 17 years.  I’ve taught just about every possible English-related subject, including concurrent credit Freshmen Comp and Sophomore Lit for a local community college.  I have a BSE and an MA (both in English, of course), and I am a member of Mensa.  I have been married for close to nineteen years and have two children.  We live in Arkansas in a town so small it barely earns a dot on the map.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
I have a blog on Goodreads.

Feel free to look me up on Facebook under my name. 

What’s next?
I expect to have Omni ready for purchase by December, 2013.