Guest Author: Sonya Clark and giveaway!

The Deeper Vision of Roxanne Mathis

The main character of Mojo Queen is Roxanne Mathis, a paranormal investigator who can see auras and spectral energy. She uses that ability along with hoodoo folk magic to help people with supernatural problems. I don’t remember where I first read about auras but I’ve always found the idea intriguing. Simply put, an aura is an invisible layer of energy that surrounds all living things. The color of a person’s aura reflects the tone of their emotions, the state of their health, and other things. Different people will see and interpret auras in different ways and I found a ton of various color correspondences in my research. I wanted to settle on one system for Roxie so I went with the chakra colors.

Chakras are believed to be centers of energy within our bodies, the main ones being seven centers from the top of the head to the base of the spine. Each chakra corresponds to a different part of the body and purpose of energy. For instance the brow chakra is located on the forehead between the eyes (hence it’s other name, the third eye chakra) and its associated with intuition and psychic abilities. The color correspondence for the third eye chakra is indigo. When Roxie looks in a mirror and sees her own aura it will always have at least some indigo present, because of her paranormal abilities. Any time she sees the aura of anyone with paranormal abilities, their aura will have indigo in it. I used the rest of the chakra color correspondences as a baseline for how Roxie interprets auras and it seems to work pretty well.

Roxie can also see spectral energy, which means a spirit doesn’t need a very strong energy signature for her to see it. This comes in handy when she’s hired to evict bothersome ghosts from a home or help reverse a case of demonic possession.

I didn’t want Roxie to have to constantly be surrounded by all this nebulous energy that no one else could see, so I knew I had to figure out a way for her to “turn it off’ so to speak. To do that, I gave her glasses. Roxie is near-sighted. She doesn’t have to take off her glasses in order to see with her “auric vision” but she has learned to use them as a sort of shield. It helps to keep her from being overwhelmed.

Roxie is used to certain colors and imagery and hasn’t seen anything she couldn’t interpret in years. That changes when she first sees the aura of a sexy, dangerous sorcerer named Blake Harvill. She actually sees his aura before she sees him. It’s unlike anything she’s ever seen before, a black starfield full of rippling color. My inspiration for this was the amazing imagery from deep space brought to us by the Hubble telescope. His aura is the first thing that attracts Roxie to Blake and it had to be special. I wanted something that represented beauty and mystery, danger and limitless possibility, and when I happened across a Hubble image of a far flung nebula I knew I’d found something that fit the bill.

To Roxie the shade of a person’s aura represents the color of their soul. It gives her a level of insight normal people don’t get. That’s one reason she needs a shield – to give people privacy. It’s also why when she decides a bad man like Blake is worth saving her instinct should be trusted. Roxie’s auric vision lets her see what people are made of – good, bad, and all shades in between.

Blurb:

Hoodoo and high magic are on a collision course.

Roxanne Mathis isn't like everyone else. Not only can she see auras and spectral entities, she can mix herbs and roots for spells to do good or ill. She can even light a candle without the benefit of a match. But when she’s hired to exorcise a demon from a young girl, she discovers the limits of her powers. 

With her vampire cousin at her side and a sexy sorcerer chasing her on the rebound, Roxie sets out to send that evil entity back to where she came from. 

Nothing is as it seems and Roxie’s in over her head. It’s not going to be enough for her to just be a paranormal investigator and old school root worker – to defeat this demon, she’s going to have to be the Mojo Queen.

Excerpt:


I sat in the chair opposite the loveseat, placing the candles on the coffee table. Glanced at him to make sure I still had his attention, which of course I did. One side of his mouth still curled up in a smirk, eyebrow quirked. I sat back, let myself sink into the comfy chair and relax as much as possible. First the candle on the left. Focusing on the wick, I visualized a tiny flame erupting from it--concentrating my will, pouring energy into my intention. I could feel myself sliding further into exhaustion as energy curled inside me, but after a long, agonizing moment the candle came to life. I let out a breath before I could stop myself, avoiding his gaze. I didn’t want him to know how much this was taking out of me, but I had a bad feeling it was obvious. I turned my attention to the other candle and though it took even longer this time, it too lit. I felt almost as bad as I had this afternoon.

Blake reached for a backpack on the floor I had not seen in the darkness. He opened it, fished something out, and tossed it to me. I didn’t so much catch it as let it fall in my lap. A chocolate candy bar.

It was my turn to quirk an eyebrow. Waving the bar at him I said, “What, is this to ward off dementors?”

The smirk became a genuine smile again briefly. “Something like that. You need to eat.”

I gave him a skeptical look.

“You know you’re using energy with that.” He gestured at the candles. “The energy needs to be replenished.”

I rolled my eyes but tore open the wrapper. The chocolate tasted, well, damn, like mainlining something illegal. Maybe he had a point. I was halfway through the bar when he spoke again, as if there had been no pause.

“Especially since you don’t really know what you’re doing yet.” Even in the low candlelight I had no trouble seeing the wicked amusement in his dark eyes.

I managed to finish chewing without choking, tossed the remainder of the candy bar on the coffee table and sat up straighter. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re here? Or better yet, tell me where I can find your demon lover? So I can send her back to Hell.”

“Well, actually, that’s exactly why I’m here, Roxanne.” Like we were discussing insurance or something. “I want you to find my demon lover.”

Gob-smacked, all I could manage was, “Huh?”

“And I want you to send her back to Hell.”


Author Bio:

Sonya Clark grew up an Army brat, living all across the United States as well as Japan and Germany by the time she graduated high school. Books were one of the few constants in her life. An eclectic reader, she always had a special love for the paranormal and is a lifelong fangirl of all things that go bump in the night.

A deep love of music is another constant thread in all of her fiction. She writes at a desk equipped with High John the Conqueror root and a mojo hand. She has worshipped at the mother church of country music, traveled the back roads of the blues highway, been to the crossroads at midnight, and though she’s never cooked up a mess of polk salad, she has been to Graceland four times.

She lives with her husband and Yorkie in Tennessee.

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Buy Links:

Direct from Lyrical Press, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Fictionwise.

And an awesome prize pack! See cool photo to the left. And since I'm not 100% sure the embeded form will work, here's the link to enter!

Giveaway Details:

Winners will be chosen from all of those who enter via the form, leave comments at tour stops for bonus entries you can also enter at each tour stop.

 
10 winners will receive signed book plates 

2 winners will receive free ebook copies of Mojo Queen 

1 grand prize winner will receive the Mojo Prize Pack, which includes:

·         Signed book plate

·         Mojo Queen playlist CD

·         A voodoo doll

·         A protective mojo hand

·         Spirit of Good Luck incense

·         A seven day spell candle

·         A bag of graveyard dirt

The winners will be announced on Sonya's blog on Friday, August 19. Physical prizes open to US Shipping Only Please. Ebooks international.