Title: COMPULSION (Heirs of Watson Island #1)
Author: Martina
Boone
Pub. Date:
October
28, 2014
Publisher:
Simon
Pulse
Pages: 448
Formats: Hardcover,
eBook
Find
it: Amazon, Barnes
& Noble, Goodreads
Beautiful Creatures meets The Body Finder in this spellbinding new trilogy.
Three plantations. Two wishes. One ancient curse.
All her life, Barrie Watson has been a virtual prisoner in the house where she lives with her shut-in mother. When her mother dies, Barrie promises to put some mileage on her stiletto heels. But she finds a new kind of prison at her aunt’s South Carolina plantation instead--a prison guarded by an ancient spirit who long ago cursed one of the three founding families of Watson Island and gave the others magical gifts that became compulsions.
Stuck with the ghosts of a generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, Barrie must find a way to break free of the family legacy. With the help of sun-kissed Eight Beaufort, who knows what Barrie wants before she knows herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted secrets. What she finds is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.
"Darkly romantic and steeped in Southern Gothic charm, you'll be compelled to get lost in the Heirs of Watson Island series." -- #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Jennifer L. Armentrout.
Check out the awesome book trailer!
Now on to the post!
Hi
Martina! Happy Halloween!!! First I want to say welcome back to Two Chicks on
Books! I always love it when you stop by to visit! Thanks for stopping by to
answer my questions! I loved COMPULSION and can’t
wait for its sequel!
Thank you for letting me come hang out with you again. (I
totally still owe you that giant glass of wine!) And I’m thrilled (and
grateful) that you loved COMPULSION. I’m sending you a big hug for that!
For the readers: can you tell us a little bit about
COMPULSION and the characters?
Barrie Watson is shuttled off to the deteriorating
plantation in South Carolina that has been in her family for three hundred
years, and she finds more there than she expected. Stuck with the ghosts of a
generations-old feud and hunted by forces she cannot see, she has to search for
a way to break free of the compulsions that are part of the family legacy. With
the help of dreamy Eight Beaufort, who knows what she wants even before she
knows it herself, the last Watson heir starts to unravel her family's twisted
secrets. What she discovers is dangerous: a love she never expected, a river
that turns to fire at midnight, a gorgeous cousin who isn’t what she seems, and very real
enemies who want both Eight and Barrie dead.
What about the sequel? PERSUASION right? That’s the name?...Ooh what about the cover?
I’ve seen the cover for PERSUASION and
it is fantastic. I’m beyond in love with it, but unfortunately, I can’t share
yet. :(
Things get even more complicated for
Barrie in PERSUATION. She and Eight have to come to terms with their
gifts—Barrie with hers growing more toward finding truth as well as lost
things, and Eight discovering that his gift and Barrie’s aren’t necessarily
compatible. At the same time, there’s a twist with the Colesworth treasure, and
of course, we finally start to see that the Colesworth version of what happened
three hundred years ago and set things with the Fire Carrier in motion isn’t
what everyone believes. There’s some very cool magic in this book, and some new
characters that I seriously love, love, love! And more Eight and Barrie. I’m so
excited to share!
Were any of the characters in the book inspired by
people from your real life?
My mother-in-law is a bit of a homebody,
and part of that is fear and part of that is that she’s just genuinely happier
at home. It got me curious and wondering about all the people who are isolated
or afraid to set off in pursuit of their dreams.
Has your writing changed at all from COMPULSION to PERSUASION?
I hope it’s getting better! I know I’m
working on growing and COMPULSION was my training wheels book. It’s even more
complex and layered, and the themes and subjects were deeper and more
difficult, at the same time, the paranormal elements and magic are much more up
front and bigger, and the pace is faster because we’ve not established the
world and the mysteries that anchor the island.
What can readers expect in this next installment? Are we going to cry or want to kill any of the characters?
LOL! Hopefully we’re done wanting to
kill Barrie. She’s grown a lot in the course of COMPULSION. But Cassie? Sorry,
she definitely still has her moments. Eight and Barrie have some hard times to
work through, and they both begin to grow into their gifts in their own ways
and as a couple. There are some beautiful, romantic scenes. But there are
definitely also some creepy and difficult scenes. We head over to Colesworth
Place, where we discover there’s a twist on the treasure and the whole story that
Cassie told about the Fire Carrier wasn’t exactly accurate. We raise the
specter of the burned mansion and the people who died there that night, and in
the aftermath of that, Barrie discovers the true depths of her gift. We also
see why Cassie is the way she is, and we find some redemption for her. We get
an eerie and wonderfully magic man and a chance to remove the curse and
possibly the Watson and Beaufort gifts. And did I mention more romance? Lots of
that. : )
What is your favorite passage/scene in COMPULSION?
The beach scene after Barrie and Eight
go see Cassie’s outdoor play of Gone with the Wind and have the confrontation
with Wyatt.
What kind of research did you have to do for the story?
Tons of historical research. I had to
research the history of South Carolina; pirate, privateering, and shipping
history and it’s connection to the Charleston area and the plantation
settlements; Native American history, mythology and trading routes; voodoo,
hoodoo, and the Gullah culture; the history of slavery in the area; tunnel
construction; rice cultivation; and tons more. My favorite part of the process
was working with one of the archeologists from Charles Town Landing to develop
the physical settings for the plantations.
What are you reading right now? Or what do you have on your TBR that you’re dying to read?
I just finished AFTERWORLDS by Scott
Westerfeld, and I can’t wait for BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE by Maggie Stiefvater. I’m
dying for that book.
Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend?
I can’t say Eight, right? In that
case, I’m going to go with either Gansey or Sean Kendrick.
What inspired you to write YA?
My daughter has a learning disability
that makes it difficult for her to read. It also makes it really not fun. I
used to read to her, but after a while that gets weird for a teenage girl :),
so I was thrilled when she discovered YA and she got excited about books. But
we would read the books together so that she could stay excited, and then I
went from reading to writing. I wrote Compulsion for her—to give her an example
of a real girl who can be strong and stubborn and brave and clueless and scary
smart—the way it’s okay to be at seventeen.
Do you have a favorite Halloween/Ghost story?
Anything by Edgar Alan Poe. I used to
tell his stories around the campfire at Girl Scout camp and scare the crap out
of the other girls.
And since it’s Halloween. What
was the best Halloween costume you ever wore? What about the worst? LOL do you
have pics?
No pics, but I did my share of bunnies and lame costumes. The
best was probably the television set that I made out of a cardboard box and a
bunch of actual knobs, and worst was maybe the year my husband and I dressed up
as Sarah Palin and her secret service agent.
Thanks
so much Martina for answering my questions ****HUGS***! And yes we must have a glass of wine soon that sounds amazing! I can’t
wait to read PERSUASION!
Thank YOU for having me on your blog! I love being here, and I
can’t wait for you to read PERSUASION. It makes me truly happy and thankful
that you liked COMPULSION!
About Martina:
Martina Boone writes contemporary fantasy set in the kinds of
magical places she would love to visit. She is the founder of YASeriesInsiders.com and AdventuresinYAPublishing.com,
a two-time Writer’s Digest 101 Best Websites for Writers blog. If you like
romance steeped in mystery, mayhem, Spanish moss, and a bit of magic, she hopes
you'll look forward to meeting Barrie, Eight, Cassie, Pru, Seven and the other
characters of Watson Island.
Website | Tumblr | Twitter |Facebook | Pinterest AdventuresInYAPublishing.com | YASeriesInsiders.com
Giveaway Details:
(1) $100 Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Book Depository Gift Card. International.
(1) Prize pack with 10 books! SWEET EVIL, DEATH SWORN, MADMAN’S DAUGHTER, ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD,ECHOES OF US, A THOUSAND PIECES OF YOU,THE BODY FINDER, THE TAKING, and STONE COLD TOUCH. US Only.
(3) Swag packs containing a Compulsion necklace, key bookmark, signed bookplate, and “I have a Compulsion for reading” temporary tattoos. International.
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Check out the Tour Schedule for more awesome posts!
Week One:
10/20/2014- Once
Upon a Twilight- Guest
Post
10/21/2014- The
Eater of Books!- Review
10/22/2014- Xpresso Reads- Interview
10/23/2014- Book Briefs- Review
10/24/2014- Reading YA Rocks- Guest Post
Week Two:
10/27/2014- Reading with ABC- Review
10/28/2014- IceyBooks- Interview
10/29/2014- Book
Beasties- Review
10/30/2014- Seeing Night Reviews- Guest Post
10/31/2014- Two Chicks on Books- Guest Post