Monday, October 29, 2012

Oxford Whispers


Today's special guest is Marion Croslydon. Marion is a true citizen of the world. She was born in West Africa, grew up in the South of France, and studied in Vienna, Paris, Berlin, Cape Town, and Oxford before finally settling down in London. This wide variety of cities has provided lots of inspiration for her writing. Talk about culture exposure!

In addition to being an author, she works as an entrepreneur, wife and mother-of-one but spends a good deal of time with books, DVDs and listening to her mp3 player; all for the sake of inspiration, of course. She says her debut series, The Oxford Trilogy, has been a blast to write because she can indulge in her favorite types of music: Country and English rock.

Her main goal as a writer is to make readers dream bigger and cause their hearts to beat a little faster. Since her writing is all about sharing dreams and stories, she loves connecting with fellow readers and authors.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR

Oxford Whispers is the story of Madison LeBon, an American student at Oxford University, with psychic powers she prefers to ignore. But when the tragic lovers in a painting begin to haunt her, she must learn to accept her gift. Otherwise, life will imitate art and Madison's own first love will be doomed.

Oxford Whispers is a New Adult Paranormal Romance (Upper-Young-Adult / MatureYoung-Adult). It’s a “college-lit” fiction. I’m sure people can come up with many other names ;-)

So, yes, there’s some Voodoo, a few homicidal ghosts, and some psychic tricks, but the story is also about these “in-between” years.

I dived into Harry Potter. I devoured Twilight. But then what?

I’m not a teen anymore. But in some time-defying ways, I grew up with those heroes. They nurtured my thoughts, my dreams. I cheered for them, cried with them… and fell in love with them (you, broody vampire whose name starts with an “E”, yes you!).

“Coming-of-age” doesn’t only happen in high school. A lot of the excitement, joys and heartbreaks also fill those “in-between years,” when you’re legally an adult but don’t always know how to be one. Or why you should even try to be. But hardly any book deals with this transition into the “big bad” world, about these life-changing, earth-shattering “first-times.” The first time we leave home, our family, our parents, the friends we grew up with, but didn’t always choose. The first home, the first job, the first real love.

So really these are some of the things I wanted to explore through Madison. She’s passed the rebellious teenage years (although hers were very tame because she’s a nerd ;-)). She’s on her own and has to construct her own identity. For her, it will mean accepting where she comes from, her roots, and her heritage.

Independence, uncertainty, building your own life are all themes specific to the New Adult genre.

I’m about to write “The End” on the sequel to Oxford Whispers, Oxford Shadows. The release is scheduled for early May 2013.

Before getting to the last installment in the series, I’m dying to write a contemporary romance (also New Adult). I can’t say too much at this stage but I’m planning to publish it in July 2013, then will come the last episode in the Oxford trilogy in October 2013.
  ABOUT THE BOOK

Two star-crossed lovers in the English Civil War
A painting with haunting powers
A murderous ghost back for revenge

Madison LeBon is dead set against the dead. She has vowed to ignore her Voodoo-stamped heritage and the psychic gift passed down through her Louisiana family. The world of the living is where she wants to belong.

But her resolution shatters when the ill-fated lovers in a painting—the subject of her first history class at Oxford—begin to haunt her. The lovers warn her against their own nemesis, a Puritan from the English Civil War.

In misty present-day Oxford, Madison embarks on a quest to unravel the secrets of the past and understand her personal bond with the painting. To protect herself, she must learn to accept her gift before life imitates art, in all its tragedy.

College becomes more complicated when she falls hard for Rupert Vance, a troubled aristocrat and descendant of one of the characters in the painting.

With the spirit of a murderer in hot pursuit, Madison comes to realize that her own first love may be doomed…

Based on a real Pre-Raphaelite painting, Oxford Whispers is full of romance, drama and suspense.

Fall in love for the first time… Again
 
HOW TO CONTACT THE AUTHOR

Marion will be giving away a $20 New Adult Reading pack --i.e. selected NA titles on Amazon to one commenter on the tour) Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found here: http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2012/07/virtual-book-tour-oxford-whispers-by.html.

Connect with Marion here: