Darkness Awaits Virtus Academy Book 2 by Jamila A. Stone ----- Updated with an interview with the Author -----Urban Fantasy, Contemporary Fantasy, LGBTQ - Unexpected secrets stand to change two witches’ lives forever...
An Interview with Jamila A. Stone
Welcome to JB’s Bookworms with Brandy Mulder.
Darkness Awaits is the 2nd book of a trilogy, called Virtus Academy. The story picks up after the main characters come back from holiday break. Nat is 16 years old and Alex is 17 years old in the start. They were apart during the break and now are reconnected. The main setting is at their magical boarding school Virtus Academy but the location on a map is Rhode Island. The main characters must go through new challenges at school, in their personal lives, and now also in their coven lives. We’ll see both Alex and Nat had to make more decisions based on their covens and futures with their covens. In the previous book we saw the main characters deal with growing up and finding themselves and their way back to each other. In book 2 they are focused on not letting anything tear them apart again while individually securing their futures as heirs to their covens. What responsibilities come with that and how will it change them? A new big bad forces Alex and Nat faster down paths they would’ve tipped toed down and rocks their lives forever, changing them into new people in the third book.
Writing isn’t easy. What was the most difficult thing you
dealt with when writing your newest book?
Having the right team of editors and marketing was the most
difficult for me. I’ve always had a problem with sticking to one tense in my
writing and rely on my editors to fix it for me during their editing process.
This book was not edited to 3rd POV/tense which threw me for a loop.
With large amount of money spent I had to leave things as is until I saved up
more funds. While saving up I looked up other books with my POV(third person
present tense) and found great well known books that was written like mine and
felt more confident in my writing style. Maybe I didn’t need someone to change
my writing style to third person past tense. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur
Golden, The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1) by N.K. Jemisin are books I’ve
heard are in the same pov. The style is not well used so I’m nervous about the
feedback but I’m learning to love my style of writing. I will still write in 3rd
pov past.
Marketing a non YA book with teenagers as the main
characters is difficult. The plot and other subject matters are not for anyone
younger than 17+. The book is rate R if it ever had a rating. Many who share or
review my book call it YA so I am always working to get across the book’s
mature content so readers have a choice on whether to pick it up. There’s
explicit sex, violence, and dark twisted themes.
Also, with marketing a dark mature book with teen(a few are
18+) characters there’s a push back against having a 16 year old having sex. So
there will be negativity I expect which is difficult because some of the same
people love watching shows such as Gams of Thrones, Riverdale, Vampire Diaries,
etc where teens are having sex, doing drugs, killing and being killed, rape,
etc. Why can teens do certain things on screen but not on paper?
Tell us a little bit about your writing career.
I started writing poetry before I ever considered writing a
book. I loved poetry since I was about ten years old. I filled up notebooks and
wrote without censorship, worry about what others might think of my work. I
just wrote whatever was in my head and heart from my interactions with people,
based on ideas and feelings invoked by music, tv shows, and movies. Junior year
of high school I started to dream about being a published poet and author. I
worked at McDonalds and paid to publish my poetry book during my Senior year. I
later worked on novels that never completed. I wanted to get a publishing
contract with Tor but by the time I finished a novel, Strange Things Await I
wanted to create a publishing company that supported writers of color. I and
I’m sure many others of color do not get the same platforms for fair contracts
if we even get one. My book is filled with Black queer characters. A dozen or
more literary agents asked for full manuscript and a few acknowledged they
liked the story but for some reason didn’t move forward. That’s a lot of people
saying they like a story and one or two giving details about what they like and
still nothing. And the literary agent companies didn’t have anyone of color as
an agent. Two had one. I made the decision to create my own company and
self-publish.
They say Hind-sight is 20/20. If you could give advice to
the writer you were the first time you sat down to write, what would it be?
·
Save and save your money for publishing cost
even if you’re going to go the traditional route, you will spend money.
·
Save what you write on thumbdrives and or email
stories to yourself so you always have a backup.
·
Not every story is marketable but every story is
important to share. Use professional beta readers and other reviewers to decide
if your book is sellable(100 copies +) before you decide to query or self
publish. If the book isn’t going to make you a profit then just share it on a
blog or use it as a marketing tool. You can make it part of a special author
website newsletter or subscription package
What was your most difficult scene to write?
The very last scene of the book. It is too much of a spoiler to talk about
Are themes a big part of your stories, or not so much?
Good vs Evil is a big theme throughout Virtus Academy
Loyalty is another
What are you working on now?
I’m working on a novel called She Sees Glory. It’s a
Historical Fantasy book set in 17th century Africa.
I’m also working on the sequel to my murder mystery novel Gates’ Bookstore
Is there a release date planned?
No there is not. She Sees Glory will be available for pre
order around Nov but no release date. The other book maybe a May 2022 pre order
date and maybe released Dec 2022
Who is your favorite character from your own stories, and
why?
Alexandra is my favorite because she is unwavering in her
loyalty and knows herself. Even though she grew up in a family of horrors and
grew up to be just as dark and strong she held onto the light that was inside
of her. She gives me a challenge as a writer. I have to write her growth while
retaining who she is at her core and how that affects her decisions. And how
she’s different with different people in her life especially Natalie who is a
source of light for Alex.
Most writers were readers as children. What was your
favorite book in grade school?
I loved the book Rolling Thunder Hear my Cry, Sounder, and
Where the Red Fern Grows
What are your plans for future projects?
I have 6 book ideas for my Diane Gates series and one more
book of the Virtus Academy series. If people love the books I did write an
outline and plot for a time jump to pick up where Virtus Academy left off. I
also have 10 other WIP. I plan to write until I no longer physically or
mentally can.
Is there anything you would like to add before we finish?
Visitors please buy a copy of the book and leave a review.
It’s currently on sale at $2.99 on Kindle. I will reveal artwork for the covens
and characters on my website JamilaStone.com
Good luck with your newest release, and thank you for being
with us today.
Excerpt
It’s the last week of January and the new school semester since Christmas break starts tomorrow at Virtus Academy. Nat and all her friends, except Alex, have already moved back to their dormitories. Nat is brushing her teeth, getting ready for bed when she suddenly feels like she’s falling. A moment later, her surroundings change, and she finds herself in a dark alleyway. Nothing makes sense, and she jolts around with labored breathing, trying to understand what is going on. When she turns around to her other side, she spots Alex and momentarily forgets her anxiety. Running over to a hunched Alex, she hugs her and is so distracted that she doesn’t notice the four guys in the alley with them.
“What are you doing here?” Alex winces in pain, struggling to straighten up.
Using her toothbrush, Nat taps the ring she’s gifted Alex. “Someone must have missed me a whole lot to get me here,” she jokes.
The good news is that the protection spell she had Sheila help her put on the ring works. If Alex ever needs her badly enough, she’ll appear.
“Crap, it worked! So that means…” Nat looks around further and finally takes in the situation. “I guess you’re still having trouble making friends.” Throwing down her toothbrush, she gets in front of Alex, who’s badly bleeding from cuts on her face, and the arm she holds that seems disjointed.
“Nice outfit, girl.” One of the guys speaks sarcastically.
“This is your backup?” Another speaks, pointing at Nat before they all laugh.
“Remind me to take you shopping.” Alex picks up her fallen blade, and it elongates into a sword as it recognizes its owner.
“What!? This is comfortable and my pajamas. I was going to bed.” Nat keeps her eyes on the guys who are starting to approach. She cannot believe Alex is choosing right now to insult her.
“What do you need to be comfortable?” Alex turns fully toward Nat with her face scrunched up. “Did you sprout something since we were kids?”
“No! Can you focus before we die, you asshole? Boxers can be unisex.” She tries to defend herself, but Alex just scoffs.
Nat, annoyed, blasts Alex to the furthest point of the alley and decides to take on the men herself. It looks as if Alex softened them up enough for her to handle alone anyway.
Two of the men reach her before the others. One throws a punch at her face while the other tries to punch her abdomen. Nat is light on her feet and spins away from the one aiming for her face and shoves him into the other male before she uses her magic at the remaining attackers.
“Instead of attacking young women to stroke your egos, maybe you all should go to the gym.” She blasts one with a scar on his cheek into a wall knocking them out before she is blasted herself. In complete shock, she did not keep her guard up, she grumbles as she slowly gets back up to her feet. Nat blocks another blast of magic as she parts her feet for better balance. Nat sends a few blasts back, but her adversary blocks them all. Nat should have known these men were not mere humans if they were able to beat up Alex.
Nat is so preoccupied with the witch that she fails to deflect the attacker on her left properly, who charges her with his clawed hand in the air, ready to come down on her hard. There was little for her to do, so she stopped shielding herself from the witch’s attack, so the attack would knock her away from the attack that would be the deadliest.
The impact of the witch’s attack does the trick and sends Nat backward. The claws of the man from her right give her a nasty gash, nowhere near the damage which would have been inflicted if she did not think quick on her feet and use the witch’s attack to save her own life.
“Alright, playtime is over.” Nat lifts her hands and moves them hastily in front of her creating a linkage of pentagrams all while beads of her blood float into the amber symbols. She sees the shock on the witch’s face, and it makes her grin before she locks her fingers over each other, bends her arms inward, then thrusts her arms out, causing the spell to wrap around the first body, and the man explodes.
Nat moves her arms until everyone is dead. One black eye and a gash on her arm later, Nat walks over to Alex, who is hunched over.
“I should leave you here. I can’t believe you got back without telling me. How long have you been back in town? Tomorrow is the first day of school back from break.” Nat places her hands on her hips, letting Alex suffer for a bit more before she attempts to heal her.
Alex stands straighter, leans her head back against the wall behind her, and closes her eyes. “I forgot how much you love to bitch and moan.”
Nat is opening her mouth to respond, but promptly stops when she spots a smile creeping on Alex’s face.
“I missed it.” Alex turns her head and smiles so charmingly even with her face all beat up, Nat’s walls break.
“Ugh, I can’t stand you.” Nat shakes her head and starts to heal Alex’s easy wounds, then wraps Alex’s good arm over her shoulder and helps her to stand off the wall. “We’re too far from the dorm or my house for me to teleport us both.”
“And here I thought an overachiever such as yourself would have become a pro by now.” Alex coughs then halts her steps taking time to take deep, ragged breaths.
“Hey, that month was our break. I can get us near the school gates, but it might knock us out if I use all of our energy combined. Or worse.” Nat struggles to keep Alex upright.
Alex struggles to stand on her own feet as she pulls her good arm away from Nat so she can grab her cellphone out of her pocket. Nat watches as Alex makes a call, trying to keep her upright by the waist. “Julian, are you on campus? Good, sneak out with Olivia and come find me by the gate…just do as I asked, Olivia, will be able to track us. Yes, us, bye.”
Nat arches a brow at Alex before focusing her mind on the school gates. Once she has that clear in mind, she works on syncing her magic with Alex.
“What’s taking so long?” Alex grumbles.
“You, that’s what. I’m trying to find your source, but you’re too weak.”
“You’re a weirdo.” Alex sighs exaggeratedly.
Nat finally syncs successfully and teleports them. They land hard a few yards away from the school gates.
About the Author:
Jamila A Stone lives in Washington, D.C with her two dogs. Jamila is driven to tell stories without censorship and for the continued creativity in the world of literature. As an African American woman, she understands the lack of opportunity persons of color have to let their artistic creativity be seen on equal platforms, so she created her own publishing company called Black Glory Publishing House. She thinks not just of herself but of the current and future of literature namely increasing the diversity and inclusion within the literary community.
https://twitter.com/AuthorJStone
https://www.facebook.com/JamilaAshaStone
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