Marked By Books: Alien Bride Blog Tour: Interview & GIVEAWAY!!!

Alien Bride by Brie McGill

Ninkasi Mara didn’t plan to celebrate her university graduation entangled in a bungled kidnapping meant for her father, a corrupt senator in the pocket of Techthonic Innovations. Locked alone in the gilded tower of Chateau Bernadette, Ninkasi fears its opulent pleasures will erode her will until she collapses into the comforting arms of the mysterious masked man who frequents her chamber with vintage wines and sumptuous dinners.

  For more than twenty years, Orion has plotted the perfect revenge. Manipulating the hand of an insurrectionist faction, he intends to settle a shadowy score with Techthonic Innovations, a biotech giant with a history of dubious experiments. When the faction’s amateurs fail to return with the senator, they further complicate Orion’s task by returning instead with a woman who is a painful reminder of a love lost long ago. Torn between risking the secrecy of the faction and a maelstrom of emotion, Orion secretly visits her chamber in disguise.

  When Orion disappears, Ninkasi is dragged into the search and rescue mission. To find him, she must learn the truth of his secrets about his hatred for the company and the physical anomalies he tries to hide. The answers await discovery in a terrifying alternate world beneath her feet in which human sacrifice is the least of her worries.  

There is a reason Orion went alone...

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Doctors suspect Brie developed an overactive imagination during childhood to cope with the expansive corn maze known as rural Pennsylvania. Unable to afford an operation to have the stories surgically removed from her brain, she opted instead to write them down.

Brie lives with two devious cats, Lunar and Loki. In her spare time, she enjoys making laser sounds with her MiniKorg, channeling entities in hyperspace, and roflstomping video games from the nineties.

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Interview

1.   For those who don't know much about Alien Bride, how would you describe it?

Alien Bride is a Gothic/Paranormal Romance, with elements of science fiction and horror. It's Dante's Inferno, meets Story of O, meets Flowers in the Attic.

2.   What was your favorite scene to write in Alien Bride? Your least favorite?

I won't spoil it, but I had a blast writing the ending--it's both romance and satirical romance, lots of laughs all around. Also, the lovemaking between Ninkasi and Orion became quite intense. As for difficult scenes, certain characters have some deep trauma in the backstory. One of my intentions in writing Alien Bride was to explore the way trauma shapes a person, so while it was necessary and brings value to the story, some of it was tough to write.

3.   How did you come up with the names for your characters?

I hijack character names from relevant mythology as much as possible. I'm a shameless mythology nerd.

4.   Are there any fun facts about your characters that you can share with us?

Ninkasi is named after Ninkasi, the Sumerian beer goddess, said to warm men's hearts.

5.   What has been your favorite moment as a writer?

Holding my printed books in my hands. Nothing ever beats that moment. POD is a brand new thing in the course of human history. Gutenberg would flip.

6.   What food can you not live without?

Dark chocolate. I get ornery if I have to skip a day.

7.   What do you do on a rainy day?

Write, do yoga, and angst about how I can't go for a walk.

8. If you had a code name, what would it be? Why?

First, you'd have to promise not to say it three times.

9.   What's the strangest fact about your life?

For many reasons I was drawn to Emily the Strange...

This or That

Ice Cream Cone or Bowl? Bowl, with 50% ice cream and 50% toppings.

Morning or Night? Mornings hurt my brain!

Paperback or eBook? Despite the fact 98% of my sales are electronic, I'm a sucker for the paperbacks. I like that I can hold them and take them with me anywhere independent of a battery. I can hear and smell the pages turning.

Call or Text? Face-to-face. Life is too short not to be real. I don't have a cell phone; I'm obstinately refusing the cyborg revolution (or, refusing to upgrade the level of convenience in my life for no apparent reason).

Coffee or Hot Chocolate? Mmmmmmm... hot chocolate!

Happily Ever After or To Be Continued? As I get older, the more and more difficult it becomes for me to deal with investing myself in any kind of series where major characters die. Sometimes I check on Wikipedia to see if anyone dies before engaging. When Richard Dean Anderson left Stargate SG-1 after season 7 (he just left, he didn't even die, and had lots of cameos after the fact), I had no idea what to do with myself, so I watched his Mastercard commercial on Youtube. If I'm telling a story, I can't willingly send my readers into that same place. It's a dark place.

Star Wars or Star Trek? Ewoks or Wesley Crusher? Tough call.

I completely agree with you about face-to-face conversations being better. I only have a cell phone for safety's sake, and I'm not afraid to admit that I definitely prefer voicemail over talking through the phone. While that's not much better, it always bugs me to listen to people talk without being able to see their face.

Hot chocolate all the way!

Okay, you pass the Star Trek test, but only because you mentioned Wesley Crusher. He's pretty great.