Today I’m very excited to have with me Lucy Swing, one of the authors of the wonderful paranormal anthology, Death by Chocolate.  Death by Chocolate features six supernatural YA stories, each with a cocoa twist. This is my first time hosting an author on my blog, and I am delighted to have Lucy here today.

Hi Lucy, welcome to Emma’s Ramblings… Thanks for stopping by and answering a few questions.                                                                                                Thank you, Emma, for hosting us today! It is an honor to be here.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          How do the authors of Death by Chocolate know one another?                                                    It actually came about by luck and word of mouth. Somebody had dropped out of the anthology and Suz Korb was looking for a new writer. My good friend Keren, recommended me to Kira, another of the authors, and voila! Here I am. I was dumbfounded when I was asked to participate; after all, I had never published anything.

Who is your favourite author?                                                                                                           I can’t say I have just one. I admire many for very different reasons. I will, however, say that Stephenie Meyer is the one that got me back in the game (of reading and writing.) Others I adore are, all in the YA genre are Alyson Noel, Jessica Verday, Hope Collier, PC + Kristin Cast… and the list can go on and on. I also adore Kira, Nikki, Stacey, Suz and Cheryl; everyone needs to look out for these ladies! They are amazing.

What songs would feature on the soundtrack to Death by Chocolate?                               There are six completely different short stories, so each one would have their own. In my part, for “Bloody Valentine” I would have to say “Go Ahead” by Fireflight.

What is your favourite chocolate bar?                                                                                               Oh, goodness. If you ever saw my pantry you would see how I do not discriminate against chocolate. I eat them all! BUT, if I had to choose one… hmm, this is harder than I thought it would be… Kit Kat, Butterfingers, Peppermint patties, M&M’s, snickers… oops, I guess I can’t name one after all.

Ha ha, I can relate to that! If you could save only one book from your personal collection from a fire, which book would you save and why?                                                                                                                                              What are you trying to do to me here?! You are killing me! I have been purchasing books like there is no tomorrow lately, so I probably have about 30 that I haven’t read yet. From ALL of those, I would probably say, “Die for Me” by Amy Plum. I had to have it the second I read the premise. From my already read ones… eeeek! Either “The Willows: Haven” by Hope Collier (I will never stress enough how much I love this book) or one of the Twilight Saga.

Who would play your characters in a tv episode of Death by Chocolate?                            Great question!!!! This is going to be so much fun.  Bailey: Malese Jow (As seen in Vampire Diaries as Anna) I love her! Great choice for Bailey.  Maggie: Brittany Robertson (The Secret Circle)  Jude: Steven Strait (as seen in The Covenant) Chance: Nick Roux

Will there be a second anthology?                                                                                                     I am not really sure. I think, right now, we all have our own novels coming out and keeping busy with that. But, who knows!?

Are you working on another short story/novel?                                                                            I have already finished my debut novel, “Feathermore” and will be releasing it soon. I don’t have a date set yet, but you should all check it out Here

Thanks for being here today Lucy. Best of luck with Death by Chocolate. I’m sure it’s going to be a great success; I really loved it!

Thank you so much for having me, Emma. It has been a pleasure!

Find Lucy online at:

www.lucyswing.com

Goodreads

Twitter

Facebook

My Review     (Scroll down a little to go straight to Giveaway)                                                I really enjoyed reading Death by Chocolate. Maybe it was the delicious descriptions of chocolate, cakes and other sweet treats seeping through the pages that held me in thrall; whatever it was, I’d love to read another anthology by these authors. Like all short story collections, not every tale is going to be everyone’s cup of tea but there is something for every paranormal and chocolate fan here. My personal favourite is Spellbound. It kept me hooked until the last line and I was only sorry it ended so soon. I don’t want to give too much away so I’ll just write a few lines on each short story.

Back in Time by Stacey Wallace Benefiel                                                                                   Life in LA has not been the glamorous affair Aurelia hoped for after graduation. Now she’s on her way home to stop her dad from selling the family business but things don’t go exactly to plan. All the descriptions of the cakes and baking made my mouth water and the sci-fi element was cool. This story was so easy to read and well-written and you can’t help but like Aurelia from the get-go.

Sweet Witchery by Cheryl J. Carvajal                                                                                             I love reading tales set in another time and in foreign lands. This medieval story features  the greedy and repulsive Domn Marius and the handsome blacksmith Antole.  If you were our young heroine Catelana, which guy would you rather hook up with? Hmm, that’s a tough one. 🙂 Ramnusia reminded me of the witch from Hansel & Gretel with all her sweet delicacies.

Spellbound by Nikki Jefford                                                                                                        This is a great story about teenage witches. Spirited and sassy, Graylee is the complete opposite of her popular and shallow twin Charlene. When the battle between these sisters kicks off, I was rooting for Graylee. She’s spunky and brave, simply a great character to read. I enjoy stories to do with magic and witches so it’s no surprise I loved this.

Bloody Valentine by Lucy Swing                                                                                                        First off, I love the name of the high school, Hollow High. We know early on that the Sweet Valentine dance is going to be anything but, especially when girls from school start disappearing. Bai (short for Bailey) is dating the school heartthrob Chance but finds herself drawn to the mysterious Jude who goes from quiet loner to creepy womanizer overnight. The tension builds up to the night of the school dance.

Sweet Torture by Kira Saito                                                                                                               Out of all the stories this is the one that made me get up and go hunting in the cupboards for a chocolate bar. I was laughing out loud at Claudia’s hungry reaction to any and every offer of chocolate. We’ve got some Voodoo doll action going on here; hey who hasn’t wanted to use voodoo on the bitchy, popular Queen Bee at school? This is the funniest of the stories and I liked it a lot.

The Girl with Three Heads by Suz Korb                                                                                 Kate’s Death by Chocolate cake proves surprisingly popular at the school fundraiser.   Unfortunately it seems to do what is says on the tin and she’s pretty sure she’s killed everyone. This fantasy story is written in the present tense and is very different to the other stories. It’s weird but riveting. 2Unlimited’s song “Faces” was going around in my head the whole time I was reading this.

Giveaway*******Giveaway*******Giveaway*******Giveaway*******Giveaway****

Lucy would like to give away an ebook of Death By Chocolate. All you have to do to be in with a chance to win, is leave a comment letting us know which Chocolate Bar is your favourite. Competition closes Friday at midnight (Irish time). Winner will be chosen randomly.

Find out more about Death By Chocolate HERE

Buy Death by Chocolate from Amazon HERE

About the Authors

Stacey Wallace Benefiel                                                                                                            Stacey Wallace Benefiel is the author of the Zellie Wells trilogy for YA’s, the Day of Sacrifice series for the over 18 set and The Toilet Business, a collection of essays for people who like to laugh.

Cheryl Carvajal                                                                                                                          Cheryl usually goes by the name of Shakespeare when she’s online. Her plays have been produced in several states, she was co-founder of the Tazwood Community Theatre in Eureka, Illinois, wrote for the William Inge Center for the Arts in Independence, Kansas, and was one of the first members of the Seattle Playwrights Collective. She writes novels for the YA audience and poetry.

Nikki Jefford                                                                                                                                Third generation Alaskan. World Traveler. Married to a Frenchman. Westie Mama. Reader. Writer. Hiker. Journalist. Vegan. Nikki Jefford writes YA paranormal and historical romance from the San Juan Islands in Washington State.

Lucy Swing                                                                                                                                    Lucy has been a writer as long as she can remember. She loves reading and writing YA fiction and is currently editing her first book Feathermore. She lives in sunny Florida with her husband, kids and dog Luna.

Kira Saito                                                                                                                                         Kira loves magic and writing. She’s originally from Canada but lives in Brazil at the moment. Her dream is to have her YA paranormal books turned into movies. (I think a lot of us can relate to this dream Kira).

Suz Korb                                                                                                                                           Suz is the author of Eve Eden vs. the Zombie Horde – Book 1 in the Bedeviled trilogy and blogs about writing over at Bang out the Prose.