Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Interview with authors behind Gabriella Hewitt pseudonym

Today's interview is with the authors behind the pseudonym of romantic suspense writer Gabriella Hewitt to talk about their novel Shadow Visions.


Bio:
Gabriella Hewitt is the pen name of creative writing talents Sasha Tomaszycki and Patrizia M.J. Hayashi. Together, they weave tales of romantic suspense and dangerously sensual paranormals. Check out the website www.GabriellaHewitt.com to find out about upcoming releases and events on their blog.

Welcome Sasha and Patrizia. Please tell us about your current release as Gabriella Hewitt.
Shadow Visions is the second installment in the Shadow Warrior series.

Manuel has been tracking down a demon bent on sacrificing women with hummingbird tattoos. He is in danger of losing his humanity to his eagle spirit until he comes across Ixa Reyes, a beautiful San Diego Detective working on the same case, who also bears the mark of Huitzilopochtli. She is his salvation and redemption from a past filled with failure. Only she wants nothing to do with him or her heritage.

When a demon kidnaps her grandfather, the wind god, they must work together to save him and all mankind. He has twenty-four hours to help her control her elemental power over wind that is if he can control his own desires to claim her body and soul. Because if he should fail, then the god of war will bring in a new era filled with blood and destruction.

When the last Shadow Warrior falls, so will humanity.

What inspired you to write this book?
Aztec warriors were a huge inspiration for this story. Eagle warriors were an elite division of the Aztec army, think of them as the equivalent of the US Marines. They were fast, lethal and stealthy. They were considered highly intelligent and closer to the Sun God due to their status and position on the temple. Warriors were allowed to walk up the steps and the closer to the top of the temple, the closer to divinity. They were a symbol of strength, aggressiveness and nobility and they were highly feared.

Manuel is cunning, quicker and uses his brains more than his brawn to figure out how to reach Ixa, his spirit mate and a hardened cop bent on denying her heritage. He could have flaunted hi muscle, or even his keen sense of style with his feather mantle and skimpy loin cloth, but instead he has another way directly to her heart—seduction and deduction.

Oh, Manuel is a very different kind of Shadow Warrior.

What exciting story are you working on next?
The third installment of the Shadow Warrior series -- Mountain Shadows -- It is a full length novel featuring some new characters and new gods but the same intense passion and kick-butt action scenes.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like?  If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
No, we both are mothers of 3 and work. Patrizia is an Assistant Professor of English at a Japanese university. Sasha is a former NYC public school teacher, who now works as a substitute teacher in her new community.

Still we make it a point to get in a chair and write, write, write. Patrizia lives in Japan and Sasha lives in the USA. They zing the manuscript back and forth via the Internet. One writes while the other one sleeps and vice versa.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Sasha - I drink 2 cups of coffee and keep a stash of chocolates nearby for inspiration.

Patrizia – I can write with the kids around or the TV on, but for the life of me, I can’t write with music playing. Sasha will send me songs for inspiration that go with our current manuscript. I listen to them, but when it comes time to write, off they go. I can’t think with music on. Go figure.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Sasha - A Television/Movie Producer. In a way, I got to live my dream. Instead of movies, I write books that let people enjoy my crazy imagination.

Patrizia – I think it changed with each grade. I probably touched on every career choice at some point—even a forensic pathologist. Now I get to tackle all these jobs vicariously through my characters, and that’s just fine with me.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Sasha and I are often asked how we write as a team. We have been partners for several years now. I can’t imagine writing with anyone else. There’s no magic involved. It’s hard work, patience and the ability to take ego out of the equation. It always comes down to what’s best for the story. We know what we want to achieve and though it’s been a long road to journey, we’ve enjoyed every minute of it (well, mostly—rejections are never any fun. ;-)  ). We make a great team and we expect to be around and on the shelves for many years to come. After all, our motto is Think Big! And we always do.

Thank you for having this be tour stop. It's a pleasure meeting you both.

No comments: