Goddess fish Blog Tour With Jo Ramsey

So let’s get this party started. Please tell us about yourself. What got you interested in being an author?

Hmm… I love talking about myself, but I don’t know where to begin! LOL. My name is Jo Ramsey, and I’ve been writing since I was five years old. Even before that, I made up stories and told them to my stuffed animals. I knew even then that I someday wanted to see my stories in books like the ones I wrote. During middle school, high school, and college I wrote about twenty book-length manuscripts, all longhand in spiral notebooks that now dwell in the bottom drawer of my filing cabinet.

  have a degree in special education, and I taught for several years until I moved to Massachusetts so my two daughters and I could live with my current husband, whom I met in 2008. I stopped teaching then (trouble transferring my certification from one state to another) and now I write mostly full-time and work for my father-in-law part time.

Can you tell me a bit about your most recent/upcoming release?

Cutting Cords is the third book in my Reality Shift series, which is young adult urban fantasy. It was released by Jupiter Storm, the new YA imprint of Jupiter Gardens Press, on March 17. Shanna Bailey’s life is turned upside-down when her father moves out, leaving Shanna with her abusive mother. At least Shanna has her best friend Jonah Leighton to help her cope. When Shanna’s friend Tammi comes to her for help with an entity who claims to be Tammi’s spirit guide, Shanna expects Jonah to help out too, but Tammi won’t allow it. On her own, with Jonah’s advice and assistance from two beings of light, Shanna must find a way to send what turns out to be a malevolent dead spirit to the other side.

For any readers who may not have read any of your books, can you just give us a little sneak peak into world (i.e. the type of genre you write, type of stories you like to write....etc)?

I write young adult urban fantasy, primarily, though I do have a YA contemporary novel under contract with Featherweight Publishing. My Reality Shift series is about Shanna Bailey, a fourteen-year-old girl who is bullied at school and at home, and her best friend Jonah Leighton, whom Shanna meets on her first day of high school. Jonah practices energy healing and channeling, and teaches these skills to Shanna. Together, the two of them use the skills to banish demons, send dead spirits to the other side, and prevent our universe from being vaporized.

How much of yourself, if any, do you put into your characters?

Shanna Bailey is very, very much me, and I did that intentionally. Mostly, though, I don’t use myself as a character in my stories, or give my characters any of my personality quirks or flaws. At least not on purpose.

Is there a genre you haven’t done that you would like to explore in the future?

I can’t think of one offhand. I really enjoy writing urban fantasy, and I’ve had fun with the contemporary novels I’ve done, so I don’t think I’d want to write anything else.

If you could throw a party with any five people (living or dead) who would you pick and why?

Patricia Briggs, because I love her Mercy Thompson series.

Susan Cooper, because she’s the reason I started writing fantasy.

Joseph Smith (founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), because I’d like to hear about his visions.

My late aunt, Alice Pyke, because she was a fascinating person and she passed away before I really had a chance to know her well.

Meat Loaf, because he’s Meat Loaf.

You write young adult stories. What got you interested in writing this category/genre?

I started writing young adult when I was one. I was about twelve when I wrote my first story that I would consider YA. Even though I’ve grown quite a bit older, it’s still my preferred genre.

What are at least five things you have on your bucket list and have you done any of them?

To be honest, I don’t have a bucket list… Not because I don’t have anything I want to do, but I just haven’t taken the time to make a list. So I guess I’ll try to now.

Being published would definitely be at the top of the list, and I’ve done that. Having a movie or TV show made out of my books. Traveling to Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Traveling to Africa. Meeting my soul mate, which I’ve already done. And there are several famous people I’d like to meet.

Is there one series/author you feel is a must read for readers to explore (can be e book authors or print NY house authors)?

I’m actually going to recommend two: For urban fantasy, I’d say Patricia Briggs’s Mercy Thompson books and her Alpha and Omega series; and for YA fantasy, Susan Cooper’s The Dark Is Rising series.

Do you listen to music when writing? Do you feel like some stories write themselves a soundtrack with specific music? If so, what book and what kind of music influenced it?

I don’t usually listen to music while I’m writing, because I’m too easily distracted and I’ll start singing instead of writing. Sometimes I just need background noise, though, so I do put on some music. I don’t have a particular playlist or soundtrack, though, and I haven’t had any of my YA stuff inspired by songs.

  

What is coming up for you in 2011?

Quite a bit! In May, Black Bridge, book one in my new series The Dark Lines will be released by Jupiter Storm. In July, they’ll release Reality Shift 4 (we still need a title for that!). I recently sent them When Darkness Falls, which is The Dark Lines book 2, and Reality Shift 5, both of which are tentatively planned for release in the fall of 2011. Also planned for sometime this year is Cluing In, the YA contemporary from Featherweight Publishing.

Are any of your characters just like you or have personality quirks/traits of you or someone you know?

As I mentioned, Shanna Bailey pretty much is me. Jonah Leighton is based on a friend I had four or five years ago, who practiced energy healing, channeling, and yoga and taught me about those things.

Where can readers find you on the web? (Please list all your links plus your publisher link(s) as well)

My website is http://www.joramsey.com. I’m on Facebook and Twitter, and I have links to those from the home page of my website. I’m also on Goodreads, http://www.goodreads.com/jo_ramsey, and I have an Amazon Author Central page, http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B0034HD29M.

My Reality Shift and The Dark Lines series are/will be available from Jupiter Storm, http://www.jupiterstorm.com (also at http://jupitergardens.com), and my YA contemporary novel Cluing In will be available from Featherweight Publishing, http://wwwfeatherweightpublishing.com. 

Sneak Peek into Cutting Cords

Young Adult Fantasy

 Jupiter Gardens/Jupiter Storm Publishing

Buy HERE

When Shanna’s father moves out, leaving Shanna alone with her mother, her home life goes from bad to worse. At least she has Jonah to remind her that she deserves a good life, even if she doesn’t always believe him.

Stressed about her parents’ separation and worried about what it will mean for her, Shanna is glad for the distraction of her friend Tammi’s request for information about guides. Although Shanna is still learning, she knows how to answer Tammi’s questions. The problem is, the entity Tammi is asking about isn’t really a guide. It’s a dead spirit who wants to take over Tammi’s life. And Shanna discovers that another entity, one with the power to destroy our universe, wants to use Tammi as well.

Guided by Jonah and Tethys, and helped by another being of light, Shanna must send the dead spirit to the afterlife before it’s too late—for Tammi and for the entire Universe.

Excerpt:

Jonah confirmed my instinct by saying, “Yeah, Shanna and I have some important stuff to do. She’ll call you later and let you know what we can do to help you.”

Tammi glared at him. “Why do you have the right to decide what Shanna’s going to do?”

“He isn’t deciding,” I corrected. “He’s agreeing with me. Tammi, I’m sorry. I have plans with Jonah.”

“Yeah, I can just imagine what those plans are,” she said snottily.

I bit my tongue. Literally. I refused to give in and run off like I usually did when someone implied something like that. I didn’t think the words had actually come from Tammi, even though they’d exited her mouth. Tarina wanted to try to shake me. “You have a better imagination than I do, then,” I replied, keeping my voice calm. “Like I said, we’re going to talk about how to help you.”

“I don’t need any help from freaks like you,” she snapped.

I started to answer. Jonah put his hand on my arm and said to Tammi, “I’m sure you feel that way now. However, you’ve already asked for our help. We don’t give up that easily.” He let go of me. “Come on, Shanna.”

I didn’t even bother taking my books out of my locker. I only had two assignments due the next day, and if I didn’t finish them, I’d take the consequences. Hurrying away from Tammi/Tarina was more important, before the ache in my gut became real pain. The ache in my third energy center, to be precise. Where I always felt something when a negative entity or even a negative person hung around me. Somehow I knew Tarina’s presence caused the feeling. “See you tomorrow, Tammi,” I said sweetly.