Virtual Book Tour + #Giveaway: Finding Persephone by P.J. Braley @PJBraley @GoddessFish

Finding Persephone

by P.J. Braley

GENRE: Science Fiction, Romance

BLURB:

Caroline Taylor is very good at pretending.

The polished surface of her life appears perfect until the morning a smitten grad student brings the cracks in her illusions into sharp focus. No longer willing to live a lie, Caroline’s journey of transformation sets her on a collision course with Dr. Grant Gates. Blinded by his quiet power, good looks, and impressive credentials, Caroline fails to see that Grant is also very good at pretending.

Created from flesh and fire, Grant has a past he would like to forget, an assignment he cannot reveal, and a forbidden obsession with his newest client whose beautiful eyes miss nothing. As the enforcer of an underground brotherhood, he must protect their secrets at any cost, but Grant is determined that Caroline will not become his latest victim. Striking a devil’s bargain to keep the woman he has been searching for safe from his brothers’ plans, Grant struggles to hide who–and what–he is until he becomes her only hope of escape...but will he let her go?

There’s not a chance in Hell.

A contemporary retelling of the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, Finding Persephone is a compelling tale of an alien assassin's search for absolution and the human woman who becomes the catalyst and heart of his redemption.

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Book Video: 

Excerpt:

Why was she different?

He, more than anyone else in the colony, knew how a single curious mind could affect the colony’s safety.

Taking the nearest employees’ exit to the catwalks, Grant scanned the building to make sure no one was around to see him. He grabbed the black metal railing with both hands. Even as he fought the urge to kill her, he found himself calculating the different ways he could lure her into one of the empty rooms where he could sedate her and devour her at his leisure.

The image of the gold ring on her left hand flitted through his mind. A woman with a job and family couldn’t just disappear. Well, she could, but inquiries would be made. A quick risk assessment put killing her out of immediate consideration. Nevertheless, he had to do something. In the facility for less than an hour and she suspected—out loud—that certain areas were designed to elicit a specific response. Allowing that level of awareness to continue unmonitored was more than dangerous; it was reckless.

What else would she notice in the days, weeks, and months ahead? And why now, when they were so close…

Working with a non-negotiable deadline, Grant knew he could not allow anything—or anyone—to delay or distract his brothers from achieving their objective on time. His hands tightened and twisted on the rail. He tried to imagine them on her neck but instead saw the way her eyes lit up when she smiled. His hands slowly relaxed.

She would see nothing.

For reasons he did not fully understand, Dr. Grant Gates decided to let Mrs. Caroline Taylor live a little longer.

Interview with PJ Braley

Author of Finding Persephone

How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?

Writing Finding Persephone was a very long process. I think I spent ten years pre-writing the book in my mind before I ever sat down to a keyboard. It started one afternoon when a program my husband was watching about archeologists finding humanoid skeletons in a cave caught my attention. There were a lot of questions such as “Who are they?”, “Why aren’t there more of them?” etc., so I began imagining an alien culture and working out the answers to those questions, plus a few of my own. I thought I’d worked out most of the answers, but it wasn’t until I started writing about Grant and his brothers that I knew I had a real story to tell.

What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?

One of my goals in writing this book is to suggest to readers that we may not be alone in our awareness of climate change or anxious about the effects of nuclear war. We cannot assume that we are the only species on Earth that cares about the planet’s ability to continue to sustain existing life forms. Whether Finding Persephone contributes to that conversation remains to be seen. Another goal was to demonstrate how an alien species could evolve to the point where they can hide in plain sight to further their own agenda for survival. I believe that goal was met.

What was the hardest part of writing this book?

The genetics! I spend hours/days, even weeks trying to understand the DNA and genetic technology well enough to write those scenes clearly and convincingly. As far-fetched as this scenario may seem, Finding Persephone is science fiction, and it was always important to me to get the science right.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?

Two things, actually. I enjoyed writing the struggle Grant experienced by viewing his relationship with Caroline objectively as an experiment while, at the same time, he was falling in love with her. The second was writing Grant and Caroline’s dialogue, taking their romance just so far and then pulling it back. Maintaining a balance within their feelings for each other was essential to keeping their individual character arcs on track.

Were there alternate endings you considered?

No, in my mind, there was only one possible ending to this book. However, there were several alternative plot twists to get there. For instance, at one point, I was unsure if Grant was going to risk exposure by killing Eric or Dan or both of them. It wouldn’t have altered the ending but could have changed the readers’ feelings toward Grant.

Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?

Most of the research for this book was done on the internet, especially for, as I mentioned earlier, the scenes about DNA and genetic technology. This is a pure work of fiction, and none of the characters are based on real people. However, I did join a local gym for a short time to see how it operated. It wasn’t anything as elaborate as the Gatesway facility, but I was able to observe and get a little exercise at the same time. Win-win.

What genre of books do you enjoy reading?

I enjoy reading almost anything. For the last year or so, I’ve been focusing on writer biographies, including Eleanor: A Life by David Michaelis, The Magician: A Novel by Colm Tóibín, and The Life She Wished to Live: A Biography of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings by Ann McCutchan. I am always interested in reading about how other writers write – their process – and, if possible, learn something from them that will improve my own writing.

Thank you.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

Deciding that copyediting other writers’ manuscripts was not enough, PJ decided to do something about it. Purchasing a new laptop because new beginnings require new tools, she began transitioning from copy editor to author. Her debut novel, The Fire Slayers, blended science fiction with love, friendship, and horror. Her newest book, Finding Persephone, takes all those genres a step further when an alien assassin charged with keeping the secrets of their underground brotherhood at all costs risks everything when he falls in love.

When PJ isn’t writing novels about aliens saving the planet, you can find her sitting on the sun deck with her husband, Jim, and their rescue corgi, Nymeria. She will be the one with a book in one hand and a glass of sangria in the other. More of her work can be found at http://pjbraley.com/.

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