Friday, May 11, 2012

Finding My Faith


With us today is Carly Fall blogging about her new book, Finding My Faith. Carly will be giving away two eBook copies of The Light Within Me (the first book of this series)at each tour stop and a $15 All Romance eBooks GC for one randomly drawn commenter.



World Building for Faith

While sketching out Finding My Faith, I knew I wanted Faith’s world to run parallel to my hero’s world (Rayner).

Rayner is one of the Forest Dwellers on his planet.  They worship their land, the food the land provides for them, and the different gods of their world.  When looking for a way to incorporate that into Faith, I decided she should be Native American.  Then I did some research into Native American legends, and read some pretty interesting and amazing ones.  I wanted to find one that was real, one that had ancient roots in the Native American culture.  But alas, that was not to be, so I took the liberty of making up my own.

As much as I wanted Rayner and Faith’s upbringing to parallel each other, I also wanted them to be on opposite ends of the spectrum as far as where their lives were when they meet.  Both had grown up wanting to explore beyond their immediate environments, and both were a bit of trouble causing hell raisers (but in a good way) while growing up. 

However, when they meet, they are polar opposites. Faith has moved to the big city, and is busy exploring the life a big city has to offer a woman in her mid-twenties.  She is constantly on the move, going out, seeing new things, meeting new people.  Rayner, however, is not.  He’s an all work and no play guy because his sole focus is to get home to his precious forest and honor the oath he made to his mother that yes, he would indeed come home.

Faith was one of my favorite characters to create.  I love her very distinctive beauty on the inside, as well as the outside.  I love the way she embraces everything life has to offer her, and how she jumps into the pool called life, splashes around, and loves being there.

BLURB:

Growing up in a small Northern Arizona town, Faith Cloudfoot’s life was spent playing in the forests surrounding her house under the protective eyes of her father, and learning about the legends of her Native American heritage. Yearning for more out of her life, she moves to Phoenix, Arizona at the age of twenty-three where she is kidnapped and almost killed.

Rayner has a special ability, one that weighs on him like a curse. He can see spirits trapped in between life and their final resting place. Because he can’t do much to help them, he studiously ignores them. He concentrates, instead, on working with his fellow warriors to right the wrongs caused by the evil criminals from his home planet.

When Rayner sees Faith in her spirit form while investigating a lead in Phoenix, his attraction to her is immediate, yet he follows his own personal code and ignores her cry for attention. When he realizes that she may be a stepping stone to getting him home to his own universe, he engages Faith and begins to use her as a means to an end: going home.

As the attraction grows stronger, Rayner finds himself breaking all sorts of self-set rules, as well as the code of ethics set by him and his fellow warriors. When Faith nears death, Rayner realizes that he must do everything in his power to save her, because if he doesn’t, he may just lose himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Excerpt

I see you, Faith.  He didn't say the words out loud, but instead projected them at her.  Stopping in her tracks, he watched as she turned slowly, carefully looking at the people around her until her eyes settled on his.  When their eyes met, he felt like he had been hit in the solar plexus with a two-by-four.  Jesus, she was incredibly beautiful.  He was certain that she was like no woman he had ever seen.  He wondered how in the world a woman with Native American skin and features could have such fiery red hair.  He had only seen hair like that on women with skin so pale it was almost translucent.  He broke eye contact when some guy in a suit walked right through her.  Literally.

“You can see me?” she asked, giving the guy who had just busted through her a dirty look.

“Yup.”

"How do you know my name?"

He took a second to think about an answer, and then she did something he had never encountered with a spirit.

She turned around and ran.

Rayner sat stunned for a moment, and then he was up after her, his heavy boots pounding on the pavement, his newspaper forgotten on the bench.  He couldn't imagine what he looked like to all the skirts and suits making their way to work.  He wasn't chasing anyone, and he wasn't being chased.  Just some nutjob hauling ass down the sidewalk.
 Faith had an edge—she didn't need to dodge things like people and cars; she just ghosted through them.

She ran for three blocks, then took a right up 1st Avenue.  He kept projecting his thoughts to her, a mantra that started to get on his nerves.  I'm not going to hurt you, Faith.  I'm here to help.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

I live in Arizona with my incredibly supportive husband, our son and our dog.

I love my family, hiking, writing, our pool, and wine, and depending on the day, not necessarily in that order.

To receive my monthly newsletter, please go to CarlyFall.com and sign up at the big box on the right.  I promise not to spam you or sell your information (even if someone tries to bribe me with chocolate chip cookies), but instead I want my newsletter to inspire you, make you laugh, and let you know of super fun promotional activities I'm involved in that usually mean free stuff for you.

To visit my blog, go to www.carlyfall.com, or give me a thumbs up on Facebook at

twitter at CarlyFall1

I also love to see what you're reading, so let's get friendly on Goodreads as well!  http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4877034.Carly_Fall

Here are the buy links:









9 comments:

Goddess Fish Promotions said...

Thank you for hosting Carly today.

Sandra Cox said...

Glad to have her.

Carly Fall said...

Thank you for hosting me today, Sandra!

Shelley Munro said...

Hi Carly,

It sounds as if you've done some very interesting research in the course of writing your book. I enjoyed the excerpt.

Unknown said...

I love how you describe Faith as a character. She sounds like an amazing, fun woman. The kind I could hang with. Can't wait to start reading!
Mel
bournmelissa at hotmail dot com

Sandra Cox said...

My pleasure, Carly. All the best on this one.

Shelley and Mel, so glad you stopped by.

Carly Fall said...

Hey Mel! Thanks for stopping by. Shelley, the research was interesting and fun to do, which is unusual for me as I usually hate research :)

Deb PelletierC said...

Love her name Faith Cloudfoot, sounds like a great read. Deb P
r.d1@myfairpoint.net

wyndwhisper said...

Hi Carly,
sorry, i'm late. i think i'm about to throw this computer through the wall, that or the tech guy that keeps trying to fix it. LOL! i just keep ending up a day behind you on your tour and i am always left siting there pouting. :(

Seriously, i love your books and look forward to reading this one as well as the rest of the series once you finish it. thank you again for the chance at such a great contest.

tammy ramey
trvlagnt1t@yahoo.com