Author Interview and Giveaway: Crossroads by Mary Ting

Hi my loves! How are you doing? Guess what??? We have a very special guest on my blog today! A very talented author who I personally admire. Well, can you guess? It's the very talented author of Crossroads, Ms. Mary Ting! She agreed to be interviewed by me! We're very lucky today! So let' not prolong the wait!

Here's the interview now!

· Tell us something about yourself. Something most of the readers don't know yet about you.

Besides being an author, I teach kindergarten. I took several years of piano and flute lessons. I also teach a dance routine every year for my daughter and her friends at their school talent show. I was also one of the five foundering members in a sorority called Kappa Zeta Phi at UC Irvine. For two years, I was PTA president (Parent Teacher Association).

· How and when did you start writing?

I started writing about 3 years ago when my grandmother passed away. It was a way for me to heal. After I started writing, I stopped crying. There is a character named after her in my book. I had so much fun writing Crossroads that I couldn’t stop. I’ve been teaching kindergarten for almost 20 years and never planned or dreamt about being an author. I guess it was meant to be.

· Can you tell us how you published your book?

I first self published. Then I signed with a traditional publisher, World Castle. Publishing a book is a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding.

· How did you make the world of Crossroads as accurate as it is now?

Crossroads was written based on a dream I had in high school. Chapter one and two are based on my dreams. I just added the characters.

What was the hardest part in writing an awesome story like Crossroads?

First of all, thank you for thinking Crossroads is awesome. The hardest part was writing the parts of Gamma, especially the funeral part. The character Gamma is based on my grandmother.

How did you come up with the characters? And tell us how you made the chemistry between Michael and Claudia so captivating? Was it hard to make them as real as possible?

Many of my characters are based on my friends…hehe! Though I don’t like to admit it, Claudia is based off of me. Michael is based off my husband. Claudia’s friend who passes away in a car accident is a true story. My friend had the same first and last name as me and she passed away as I describe it in the book. Patty is also a friend of mine; she’s a social butterfly. Davin’s character is based on my friend who passed away as well. He was loved by many of his friends. I can go on with the other characters. As far as Michael and Claudia’s chemistry, I just had to think about mine…hehe!!!

· Michael and Claudia's relationship is forbidden. Have you ever experience a forbidden love?

I guess you I can say my relationship with my husband when we were dating in college…lol!!! I hid my relationship from my parents because they wanted me to date someone from the same race.

If Crossroads will ever be made into a movie, who would you choose as lead characters?

If Crossroads was made into a movie, I would want new faces; however, here are my dream cast:


Claudia-Nina Debrov

Michael-Ben Barnes

Davin-Channing Tatum

Vivian-Megan Fox

Caleb-Chase Crawford

Patty-Amanda Seyfried

Austin-

Philip-Orlando Bloom

Agnes-Courtney Cox

Margaret-Angelina Jolie

Gamma-Susan Sarandon

Aden-Huge Jackman

And the Fun Part:

Favorite part of the body?

The eyes. I believe the eyes are the window to a person’s soul.

When the word "HOT" is uttered, who is the first person that comes in to your mind?

Besides my husband…right…lol!!! Channing Tatum

If you ever get to heaven and you only have one person to be with, who would you choose?

This is too hard and if my kids ever find out they would be hurt so I would have to say my family. My husband and my two children. I’m not following the rules here am I? lol!!!

If you're going to hell who would you bring with you? (^_~)

Hmmm… how about if I bring a thing. I would bring my laptop. I could write a great hell of a story…lol!!!

And the last question is:What can we expect on the second book of Crossroads? More Action? Romance? (yup I'm fishing for spoilers, LOL)

Lol!!! No problem. More angels on Earth. This group of angels have to work together with the alkins to keep Claudia safe. You’ll get to read multiple point of views. And of course, more romance and action.

Thanks for letting me interview you!

Thanks for having me. I took on a journey not knowing how rewarding it would be for me. I’ve meet so many wonderful people from all over the world through facebook, twitter, goodreads and blog sites. I’ve made everlasting friendship where friendship knows no boundaries. And I have to thank my grandmother who continues to watch over me from Heaven. Thank you for loving Crossroads where love and friendship know no boundaries!!!

Well, there you have it! If you wanna know more about Crossroads just see my review here:

http://journeywithbooks.blogspot.com/2011/12/book-review-crossroads-by-mary-ting.html

Book Blurb:

Claudia Emerson has a good friend who shares the same first name and last name. That friend unfortunately dies in a tragic accident during homecoming dance. Claudia is distraught at the loss of her friend, but is even more disturbed by her dreams, which seem to take her to another place called Crossroads. Unknown to her, Crossroads is like a second heaven, a place between heaven and earth. It is where the souls of humans in comas or near death experiences may wander. 

There, Claudia meets Michael, a nephilim, a half angel, half human, whom she often meets in her dreams. It turns out that this isn’t her first visit to Crossroads, which is an enigma for no human can ever travel there until Claudia. Now the fallen and demons are after her, suspecting she must be special and it is up to Michael and the other nephilims to protect her. 

Can Michael fight his growing feelings for Claudia and protect her as a guardian angel should? The answer awaits you! Follow the exciting path to Crossroads!

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