By Blood by Tracy E. Banghart
Series: By Blood #1
Publication date: February 18th 2013
Genre: YA Paranormal
For 17-year-old Emma Wong, spending a summer in England should be a dream come true. Gorgeous scenery? Check. Lots of hot guys with accents? Yes, please.
Throw in an estranged mom, annoying new stepdad, and drooling baby half-brother, and it’s a disaster even her favorite cherry red leather jacket can’t fix. Even worse, there’s (hot) live-in research assistant Josh to contend with. The only thing more embarrassing than drunk-kissing him hours after they meet? Knowing he’ll be witness to her family’s dysfunction all. summer. long.
But when Emma meets a mysterious girl who happens to be a Druid, her vacation suddenly promises to be far more intriguing than she anticipated. Powerful rituals, new friends, an intoxicating sense of freedom...and Simon, the sexy foreign stranger she was hoping for. It’s all a perfect distraction from dirty diapers and awkward family dinners.
Trouble is, intriguing doesn’t often mean simple. And Emma is about to discover just how not simple her life really is.
By Blood is a novel about the ways that blood can bind us to others – or tear us apart.
Author Bio:
1.
What inspired you to write By Blood?
Emma's character first appeared as
a supporting player in Moon Child, and as soon as she appeared, I just knew she
needed her own story. She's feisty, dramatic, tough…but also really vulnerable.
At the time, I was also feeling homesick for England (I went to grad school
there) so I thought - wham! How about I ship Emma off to Oxford with her
estranged Mom? Bet that'd be fun! ;-)
2.
What
books have influenced your life most?
The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley;
On Fortune's Wheel, by Cynthia Voigt. For Writers Only, by Sophie Burham. Also,
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. As a young adult, I read A LOT…and
frequently re-read my favorites. I think that's one reason I prefer to write
young adult…I remember those books having such an impact on me. It might sound
weird, but I think I figured out the kind of person I wanted to be through the
strong, adventurous heroines of my favorite books, like those of Robin McKinley
and Cynthia Voigt.
3.
What
was the hardest part of writing this book?
Because I couldn't travel to
England while I was writing, I had to rely on my memories, as well as Google
Maps! Sometimes that would sap my writing momentum a little, trying to get all
the geographical details right.
4.
If
you could change ONE thing about your novel, what would it be? Why?
Ooh…interesting question. I'd say
probably the second line of the book. Emma has a thought about trying to keep
her little brother quiet…it's a sentence I wrote a number of years ago now,
before I had my son (who's 10 months, about the age of Fermin)…and now that I
AM a mom, it seems so violent! I wondered if I should change it, but I
ultimately decided not to. It's a split-second thought Emma has, one that she
has NO intention of acting on, and I think it really speaks to both her
mindset/inexperience with children as well as her frustration with this fussy,
screaming baby on a plane. I mean - we've all felt that frustration, right? Still…every
time I read it now I think of my adorable little son and it really bothers me.
Emma would NOT be my choice for a babysitter! ;)
5.
Can
you give us an interesting fun fact or a few about By Blood?
The house Emma lives in for the
summer is the same I stayed in when I lived there - and yes, I had the same
closet-sized room (seriously, it was REALLY small).
All the pubs, museums, cookie
shops, etc., are all real places with their real names except for the Wisteria
Cafe. It's a real place, but I couldn't remember the name or find it online, so
I made one up!
And, here's a juicy one….Simon
looks exactly like a guy I had a crush on in grad school. But don't tell him I
said that! ;-) (this was pre-hubby and baby, of course!)
6.
And
now, before you go, how about a snippet from By Blood that is meant to intrigue
and tantalize us:
Here you go! :-)
Caught up in the moment, I ran my
hands down his chest, over the smooth, slightly damp cotton of his shirt, and
pulled him closer. I felt him resist, just for a second, and then his hands
slid to my back and suddenly we were pressed tight against each other.
The heat, the sweat, the pounding
music throbbing in my veins—I felt about thirty seconds away from bursting into
flame.
The music changed to a swing
number all technoed out. Josh’s hands dropped to his sides and he stepped away.
Oh come on. What had I done this time?
But instead of running off, he
grabbed my hand and spun me out, laughing. I twirled, skirt fanning, and bumped
into another warm body.
Simon.
Somehow, suddenly, his arms were
locked around me, and I was no longer holding Josh’s hand. We were almost the
same height so he didn’t have to lean down to bring his lips to my ear. “Meet
us Wednesday night,” he said, his breath cool against my hot skin. He held me
but didn’t move to the music; it felt strange, like we were hugging in the
middle of the dance floor. But I didn’t pull away.
“Meet you where? For what?” I
asked, a little breathlessly.
“Come to the Wisteria. Eight
o’clock. And wear white.”
“A Druid ritual?” I thought of
the girls dancing in a circle, arms entwined. The freedom in Ash’s eyes.
“Do you want to see what we’re
all about?”
I stared into his shadowed eyes,
his face close enough to kiss. I could feel his body from my knees to my
breasts. His arms tightened, like he wanted me there, close to him.
“Definitely,” I replied, heart
pounding.
