Milla Vane Interview - A Touch of Stone and Snow

Photo Content from Milla Vane 

Milla Vane is an alternate name for author Meljean Brook.

Meljean was raised in the middle of the woods, and hid under her blankets at night with fairy tales, comic books, and romances. She left the forest and went on a misguided tour through the world of accounting before focusing on her first loves, reading and writing-and she realized that monsters, superheroes, and happily-ever-afters are easily found between the covers, as well as under them, so she set out to make her own.

Meljean lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband and daughter.

        

  

What inspired you to pen your first novel?
Wonder Woman did! I’ve always loved fantasy, science fiction, and comic books — and I’ve always loved writing, but never thought that I’d really make a living at it. But there came a point in my life when I wasn’t really happy with the direction I’d chosen during and post-college, and I thought: I need to know if I can actually write something novel-length. At the time, I was also dabbling in some short superhero fanfiction. So I buckled down, decided to write a novel about Wonder Woman, Batman, and the rest of the Justice League just to see if I could…and I did.

Tell us your latest news.
Nothing too exciting! Like everyone else, I’ve been at home and social distancing…and writing the final book in the Gathering of Dragons trilogy.

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way?
Is it fair to say “everything”? I’m one of those writers who sees something, hears something, reads something, and I lock ideas away in my head — and they stew together with all the other ideas, and finally turn into something I want to write. For this series, I think it’s easy to point to 80s fantasy movies, especially.

Tell us your most rewarding experience since being published.
Not a one-time experience, but every time a reader emails to say that my work affected them in a positive and important way — I’m always humbled and touched and blown away.

What do you hope for readers to be thinking when they read your novel?
I hope they have a good time! I try to pack these books with emotion, but also try to make them as fun to read as they are to write. I’m so aware that readers have so many options when they decide to spend their money and time with my work, so I just want them to put it down feeling as if neither their time nor money was wasted.

In your new book; A TOUCH OF STONE AND SNOW, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it
This is the second book in the Gathering of Dragons trilogy. In the first book, A HEART OF BLOOD AND ASHES, we learn that the Destroyer is approaching the western realms, and the realms hope to build an alliance to stand against him. In this book, we see a few familiar faces from book one, but the main characters are completely new — and we’ll see how the alliance begins to come together.

For the romance, it’s a second chance story between a bastard prince and an exiled soldier. He’s a feral cinnamon roll, basically, and she’s bitter and angry because he’s the one who made certain she was exiled from her home — but she’s also been ordered by a goddess to protect him. So they have a lot of history to reconcile, and all the while they are on a journey to save their realm from a demon sorcerer.

TEN REASONS TO READ A TOUCH OF STONE AND SNOW

• 1. Barbarians! If you enjoy Red Sonja or Conan, this is the kind of fantasy for you!
• 2. The hero has a pet sabertooth cat!
• 3. Dinosaurs! Because what’s a barbarian fantasy without giant reptiles?
• 4. Warrior women! I love a girl with a sword, don’t you?
• 5. It’s a second-chance romance with a feral hero who would do anything for the heroine!
• 6. Sexy times! And sheer, unadulterated LONGING.
• 7. The heroine is snarly on the outside and so softhearted on the inside (but she’ll still use that sword when she needs to.)
• 8. Magic! It permeates much of the world, but is only used by a few…and usually to create threats for our heroine and hero to face.
• 9. Alliances made and broken, and ancient secrets revealed!
• 10. But seriously, the sabertooth cat is probably reason enough.

What part of Lizzan and Aerax did you enjoy writing the most?
I loved how much they cared for each other, despite the bitter history between them. Lizzan is in a terrible emotional spot when they meet up again, and though she’s angry about what happened to her — and Aerax’s part in it — they can’t stop trying to help each other.

What do you usually think about right before falling asleep?
The next scene I need to write!

What was the best memory you ever had as a writer?
A few years back, I had a massive burnout. So finding my mojo again and finishing that book was simply incredible.

Milla Vane returns to a world of kings, magic, and passion in her exhilarating A Gathering of Dragons series, as a great alliance forms to stand against an evil warlord intent on their destruction.

Danger lurks in the western realms. The Destroyer’s imminent return has sent the realms into turmoil as desperate citizens seek refuge—but there’s no safety to be found when demons and wraiths crawl out from the shadows. Even Koth, a northern island kingdom left untouched by the Destroyer a generation past, is besieged by terrors spawned from corrupt magics.

When Lizzan leads the Kothan army against these terrors, only to see her soldiers massacred and to emerge as the only survivor, she is called a coward and a deserter. Shunned from her home, Lizzan now wanders in solitude as a mercenary for hire, until she encounters a group of warriors seeking new alliances with the northern kingdoms—a group that includes Aerax, the bastard prince of Koth, and the man who sent her into exile.

Though they were childhood friends, Aerax cannot allow himself to be close to the only woman who might thwart his treacherous plan to save their island realm. But when a goddess's demand binds them together, Lizzan and Aerax must find a way to overcome their painful pasts. Or there will be no future for the western realms...

You can purchase A Touch of Stone and Snow at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you MILLA VANE for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a Copy of A Touch of Stone and Snow by Milla Vane.

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