Today, let's welcome Eva Pohler, author of the phenomenal Gatekeeper's series to Pure Jonel!
I've asked her some interesting questions, let's see what she has to say about my nosyness.
I’ve lived in Texas for nearly my entire life (for two years, I lived in the Philippines when my father was stationed there and I was four and five years of age). For years, my education was my top priority. I played the flute and twirled the baton in my high school band. I also loved to swim and taught swimming lessons, both public and private, for many years as I put myself through college. I didn’t stop going to school until I had completed my Ph.D. in English. Shortly after, I married and had three kids while teaching writing and literature at The University of Texas at San Antonio. My teaching job gave me the flexibility to involve myself in my kids’ activities as their cub master and Girl Scout troop leader. I loved those years, but they are behind me now, giving me more time to write and read and live the life of a serious writer. Although my kids are teenagers and I still spend time with them and my husband, they aren’t as dependent on me as they once were, allowing me to give more focus to my writing career.
If I could transport my friends and family with me, I would go to a place where everyone values knowledge and peace and where no war or poverty exists.
Or, if I didn’t have the option of transporting others with me, I would take a family vacation to Costa Rica where you have forest, beach, and mountains all in one view!
I attended writing conferences and workshops and joined critique groups.I wrote several books. I started querying agents a few years ago and took the plunge to self-publish last August (2012). I continue the search for an agent for other projects because I would like to have my feet on both paths to publication.
So many good things have happened that it’s hard to choose. I’ve absolutely loved reading my reviews. They have encouraged me to keep writing when I might have given up after two years of rejections from agents. Hitting number 1 in my category on Amazon’s best sellers list and maintaining that position (so far) has also been extremely gratifying.
Q ~ What inspired you to develop the Gatekeeper’s saga?
A movie starring Brad Pitt called Meet Joe Black portrayed Death taking over the body of a mortal so that Death could learn from a successful man played by Anthony Hopkins. I liked the concept, but felt the movie left a lot of unanswered questions, so I decided to answer them. My love for Greek mythology naturally took me in the direction of Thanatos, the god of death.
Q ~ Do you have a favourite character (or two) in your series? What is it that draws you to them?
That’s a really tough one! I love all my characters, even the bad ones. I guess my very favorites are Than and Therese, and I suppose it’s because they are good-hearted and compassionate individuals who are up against greed and selfishness and who want, more than anything, to be together even though the gods are often against them.
Q ~ Can we expect anything further in the Gatekeeper’s saga?
Yes! I’m writing book four in the series, The Gatekeeper’s House, which begins with an attack on the Underworld. Books five and six, The Gatekeeper’s Secret and The Gatekeeper’s Promise, will follow.
Q ~ Are you working on anything outside of this series?
Yes! I’m shopping the first book in a contemporary series called The Purgatorium, which takes place on a remote island off the coast of California where parents send their lost and suicidal teens to be terrified into loving life.
Q ~ If you could give aspiring authors one piece of advice, what would it be?
Don’t get stuck on the first book. Keep writing beyond the first novel. Not only is it good practice, but it will also give you options as you move forward in this transitional industry.
Eva Pohler writes fiction for teens and adults and teaches writing and literature at The University of Texas at San Antonio, where she lives with her husband, three kids, two dogs, and two rats. She’s also an avid lover of books and animals.
Connect with Eva Online:
Website http://www.evapohler.com/
Blog http://www.teenbookpix.blogspot.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EvaPohler?ref=hl
Twitter https://twitter.com/EvaPohler
Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4888434.Eva_Pohler
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Pohler/e/B009D0TAZ4/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1372795492&sr=8-1
Than makes a deal with Hades and goes as a mortal to the Upperworld to try and win Therese's heart, but not all the gods are happy. Some give her gifts. Others try to kill her.
The deal requires Therese to avenge the death of her parents. With the help of Than’s fierce and exotic sisters, the Furies, she finds herself in an arena face to face with the murderer, and only one will survive.
Whether McAdams injured himself in one of her traps or in some other way, he was nevertheless injured, and this added to Therese’s overall optimism as she scrambled beneath the cliff edge with her arms full of rocks the size of softballs. The noise of the falls thundered as she neared them and the spray hit her bare skin and chilled her, a relief after the sweat she had worked up from building her traps in Demeter’s woods.
“How long till nightfall?” she asked Than in her mind. It seemed like hours had passed, and yet the sun still bore down on them high in the sky. “Wait a minute. We never left Olympus, did we? The sun always shines, right?”
If Than answered her, she could no longer hear him this close to the crashing falls. She hadn’t thought of that! How would she make it without him?
Unlike Than and the other gods, she had no powers of telepathy and could not be sure if voices in her head were inspirations or delusions. She almost turned back. In fact, she changed her mind five or six times and nearly wore herself out beneath the cliff edge with indecision. At last she decided it was her best chance of survival to go on with her plan. “I can’t hear you anymore,” she prayed. “But I’ve decided to go on anyway.”
She reached the falls and found a hidden grotto behind the roaring water, but if McAdams came this way to her decoy camp, she would have no advantage for attack. Although there were many little nooks and crevices back here that she could climb onto, she would be open, visible, and vulnerable to his retaliation. She dropped her rocks in a heap, set down her fruit, and looked around.
At the furthest lip of the grotto on the outer edge of the falls, she found a nook way up high that just might work. If McAdams came through the grotto, she would see him, and she would be above him, with gravity on her side. She would also be hidden until he reached the point where she stood now. It also seemed, from down here, anyway, that she might have a view of the deeper canyon in case he came that route. The trick would be hauling the rocks and fruit up the steep wall nearly twenty feet to the nook. First she would try it empty-handed to see if it was possible.
Now that she couldn’t hear Than, she felt really anxious that McAdams could be coming around the corner for her at any moment, and this anxiety caused her to tremble more profoundly than she had before. The trembling made climbing up the nearly vertical wall very difficult. She used her fingers to find places in the wall to grip, and she fished around with her feet for footholds to support her weight. One false step meant falling to her death at the bottom of the canyon.
Dirt from the canyon wall got into her mouth and crunched in her teeth when she clenched them. She ran her tongue around her teeth, trying to wash it out, and she spit and gagged. She reached for another rock, keeping her mouth closed this time, breathing through her nose. A fingernail broke at the tip as she clung to another ledge, but that was the least of her worries.
Thankfully, there were plenty of strong footholds within reach of one another. When she made it to the nook, she found it was actually a cave that tunneled back into darkness. While she was glad to have all this room to store her things and move around, the unknown darkness added to her anxiety. Stop it, Therese! McAdams was the only threat worth fearing right now, she reminded herself. She walked over to the furthest edge and saw that she could indeed see most of the lower canyon from here. This just might work. There were even a few loose boulders she could move, though barely and straining with all her might. Maybe if she scooted them to the edge and found something to give her leverage, she could launch them from the nook. She needed a branch or heavy stick, but there were none around. Would her sword work, or would the rock break it? She unsheathed the sword and tested it, gently at first. The blade gave. It was too flexible. She’d have to find something else. She returned the sword to its sheath.
The sheath! It was light, but it was solid and firm. She unbelted it from her waist and tested it out. It would work! This could be her saving grace! She looked around for other such boulders and found four more loose enough and light enough for her to drag to the edge of her cave.
She re-belted her sword and sheath and climbed back down, quickly but carefully, to carry up her bundle of fruit between her teeth. Then she took the empty shirt back down and filled it with six of the softball-sized rocks. Any more than that might throw off her balance too much or be too heavy and slip between her teeth. She’d have to make a third trip down for the remaining six. She hesitated. If McAdams spotted her, she’d lose the element of surprise. Was it worth getting the remaining rocks? She decided to go for it.
“How long till nightfall?” she asked Than in her mind. It seemed like hours had passed, and yet the sun still bore down on them high in the sky. “Wait a minute. We never left Olympus, did we? The sun always shines, right?”
If Than answered her, she could no longer hear him this close to the crashing falls. She hadn’t thought of that! How would she make it without him?
Unlike Than and the other gods, she had no powers of telepathy and could not be sure if voices in her head were inspirations or delusions. She almost turned back. In fact, she changed her mind five or six times and nearly wore herself out beneath the cliff edge with indecision. At last she decided it was her best chance of survival to go on with her plan. “I can’t hear you anymore,” she prayed. “But I’ve decided to go on anyway.”
She reached the falls and found a hidden grotto behind the roaring water, but if McAdams came this way to her decoy camp, she would have no advantage for attack. Although there were many little nooks and crevices back here that she could climb onto, she would be open, visible, and vulnerable to his retaliation. She dropped her rocks in a heap, set down her fruit, and looked around.
At the furthest lip of the grotto on the outer edge of the falls, she found a nook way up high that just might work. If McAdams came through the grotto, she would see him, and she would be above him, with gravity on her side. She would also be hidden until he reached the point where she stood now. It also seemed, from down here, anyway, that she might have a view of the deeper canyon in case he came that route. The trick would be hauling the rocks and fruit up the steep wall nearly twenty feet to the nook. First she would try it empty-handed to see if it was possible.
Now that she couldn’t hear Than, she felt really anxious that McAdams could be coming around the corner for her at any moment, and this anxiety caused her to tremble more profoundly than she had before. The trembling made climbing up the nearly vertical wall very difficult. She used her fingers to find places in the wall to grip, and she fished around with her feet for footholds to support her weight. One false step meant falling to her death at the bottom of the canyon.
Dirt from the canyon wall got into her mouth and crunched in her teeth when she clenched them. She ran her tongue around her teeth, trying to wash it out, and she spit and gagged. She reached for another rock, keeping her mouth closed this time, breathing through her nose. A fingernail broke at the tip as she clung to another ledge, but that was the least of her worries.
Thankfully, there were plenty of strong footholds within reach of one another. When she made it to the nook, she found it was actually a cave that tunneled back into darkness. While she was glad to have all this room to store her things and move around, the unknown darkness added to her anxiety. Stop it, Therese! McAdams was the only threat worth fearing right now, she reminded herself. She walked over to the furthest edge and saw that she could indeed see most of the lower canyon from here. This just might work. There were even a few loose boulders she could move, though barely and straining with all her might. Maybe if she scooted them to the edge and found something to give her leverage, she could launch them from the nook. She needed a branch or heavy stick, but there were none around. Would her sword work, or would the rock break it? She unsheathed the sword and tested it, gently at first. The blade gave. It was too flexible. She’d have to find something else. She returned the sword to its sheath.
The sheath! It was light, but it was solid and firm. She unbelted it from her waist and tested it out. It would work! This could be her saving grace! She looked around for other such boulders and found four more loose enough and light enough for her to drag to the edge of her cave.
She re-belted her sword and sheath and climbed back down, quickly but carefully, to carry up her bundle of fruit between her teeth. Then she took the empty shirt back down and filled it with six of the softball-sized rocks. Any more than that might throw off her balance too much or be too heavy and slip between her teeth. She’d have to make a third trip down for the remaining six. She hesitated. If McAdams spotted her, she’d lose the element of surprise. Was it worth getting the remaining rocks? She decided to go for it.
Check out my review of The Gatekeeper's Sons, as well as my reviews of the other books in the series, The Gatekeeper's Challenge & The Gatekeeper's Daughter.
Buy your copy of The Gatekeeper's Sons online today!
Buy your copy of The Gatekeeper's Sons online today!
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Gatekeepers-Sons-Saga-ebook/dp/B008YNLXW4/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=1-1&qid=1373076517
Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gatekeepers-sons-eva-pohler/1112676640?ean=2940044789807
Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/214128
Audible http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00CZD1MHU&qid=1373076673&sr=1-1
Barnes & Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-gatekeepers-sons-eva-pohler/1112676640?ean=2940044789807
Smashwords http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/214128
Audible http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=sr_1_1?asin=B00CZD1MHU&qid=1373076673&sr=1-1
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