GUEST POST: The Northern Gate by J.C. Clarke

On December 6, 2013 the first of four volumes of The Edelyn Legacy  released on Amazon.
The Northern Gate by J.C. Clarke

Genre: Fantasy/Romance


I asked J.C. Clarke a couple of touch questions for today's post, and I am so amazed by her answers!



Question 1:Being a graphic artist, too, who has made some incredible covers, how hard is it for you to step out of the mind of the artist and move into the role of a writer? And how do your covers effect your writing?
Hmm, now that first one is a tough question to answer. The simple answer, I think, would be that I never step from one mind to the other. I never switch off at all. The more complicated answer, I suppose, is that I see both graphic design and writing as art, just in different forms. I use pictures to create a new world when I’m writing and use my writing to create pictures. You should see me when I add music into the mix, lol.In general, I do find it hard to bounce between the two different subjects most of the time, but I do get the rare day when I can use both together and it works out okay in the end. I’ll see a random picture and I get an instant story idea hit me and I just have to write it down, even if I never write any more about it. The same goes for my writing. My mind will come up with the perfect picture, so I go hunting and the next thing I know, a few hours have gone by and I have practically nothing written!With The Northern Gate, from very early on I didn’t want people on the cover. I wanted a nice, simple cover that drew in the reader because of the book, not who was on it. I promise not to rant too much here, but most of the book covers these days are full of half-naked people that don’t really portray the books at all. Now, if that sells a book, good for them, but I didn’t want that. The logo, which took me hours to design and used up every swear word known to man, is very important to the books and I knew that was what I wanted on the cover. I also had great help from R.E. Hargrave and M.B. Feeney with the design, because I’m my own worst critic. I’m never happy with my own designs, so having them there helping out was amazing.Now, how do my covers affect my writing? A lot, I think is the best answer, really. As I mentioned above, the pictures can take over or the writing does. I haven’t found the happy middle ground yet, but I’m working on it :)
Question 2:What challenges do you face while writing!Now, does that include the standard ‘Being a mum, wife, cook and cleaner’ etc. . . ? Well, I have the normal challenges that come along with the above and those of an author, too. I have trouble finding the time to write, because the characters never have a routine of when they want to talk to me and I can’t work to a timetable either. I’d get a lot more written if I had the ‘Ooo, five minutes spare, let’s speed write’, but I don’t. I have gotten into the routine of taking a pen and pad with me when I’m out, too, because I’ll get a good idea and by the time I’m home, I’ve forgotten it.One challenge I’ve faced when writing, was what I was writing. I’m from the sunny south of England (although it’s rather cold and cloudy today) and because I wrote Fanfiction for nearly four years with American spelling and grammar, I get stuck. I’m so used to writing this way, that even when I write a letter to my kid’s teachers, I have to double check I got the spellings right!Content is another issue I have. I can speed write until I end up with about 10-12k and then the plot goes dead, or slow moving. I have about nine stories that are currently in this state. I’ll get back to them one day, but until then, I’ll just wait for the next storyline to hit me.



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Summary:
According to the Bible, God created the world in seven days, but what if the beginning happened before Humankind documented it for posterity?

Humans didn’t see everything clearly, because they didn’t understand. They turned away in fear, forgot the beings that had come to Earth and, over time, the Seraphim became nothing but a legend, a bedtime story. Corruption and greed, bred from hatred and evil, spread across the face of the earth as Humans evolved and developed. It was in this filth, and amongst the seven deadly sins, that Tabitha Morgan was born and kept alive, hidden in plain sight from the darkness.

For seventeen years, Tabitha thrived under her grandmother’s guardianship, living a normal life and not knowing the truth about her heritage or the roots from which she came.

That all changes the day a handsome stranger named Nathan walks into her life. Will the ancient secrets he holds be enough to earn her trust? Is it the Light, or does Darkness await them beyond The Northern Gate?

Excerpt:
The thick bonds ate into the prisoner’s pale, filthy skin, and it bled against the steel. He was numb to the pain now. Instead of letting the misery cripple him, he smiled with a dark grimace and channeled the biting sting into anger. Knowing they thought he was weakening, though he was far from it, he had bided his time. With each new moon, he had grown stronger; he was fighting back. The prisoner was going against what was in his blood by nature; he was resisting what his father had given him, the tainted blood.
For centuries, maybe even longer, he’d been held in that small cell, not being fed except when his captors saw fit, and he’d spoken to no one. His jailers refused to even breathe near him, let alone converse. All he’d had to occupy his time were his thoughts and the constant, slow trickle of water seeping down the damp walls of his underground prison to pool at his feet.
Soon, the time would come when he would be free of the tomb in which he’d been encased, and he would be a person of freewill once again; he would make sure of it. So very soon.
The prisoner planned to ensure he would hear, and remember, the sounds of his captors’ deaths: every bone crushed would be a manacle opening and the sound of tearing flesh, a choir of the Seraphim.
His freedom was paramount if he were to accomplish the job he’d been given so many millennia ago. He would end the vicious circle of chaos and fear his world had been turned into.
Every mark and scar on his body would serve as reminders of what he had been birthed to do, willing him to follow his destiny. A course had been set for him to walk the earth to complete his mission: to find her. His goal was to hunt her down and tell her everything that had been kept from her: who she was, who she belonged to, and where she came from.
He would become her protector.Would fight for her.Live for her.And die—for her.

About the Author:


J.C. Clarke lives in the heart of the New Forest in England with her husband and four children. Never a dull moment, her full house provides no shortage of inspiration which fuels her writing. She loves reading and writing a variety of genres in addition to dabbling with graphic art to create book covers, swag and more.
Author Blog I Legacy Blog 
Twitter I FacebookGoodreads I Wattpad

The Northern Gate Blog Tour Schedule:
December 1Promo & Excerpt: http://www.fsmeurinne.com/
December 2Guest Post: http://www.lisabilbrey.blogspot.com/
December 3Promo & Excerpt: http://lorenzfont.wordpress.com/
December 4
December 5Review: http://www.rehargrave.com/
December 6Review: http://michbookreviews.wordpress.com/
December 7Review: http://theworldofljharris.blogspot.com/
December 8Promo & Excerpt: http://reyes139.blogspot.com
December 9
December 10Promo & Excerpt: http://itlnbrt.com/
December 11Promo & Excerpt: http://lifebecomesme.wordpress.com/ (possibly Review)
December 12Guest Post: http://www.rehargrave.com/
December 13Review: https://www.authorsajones.com
December 14Promo & Excerpt: http://fit4amom.blogspot.com/Promo & Excerpt: http://babusbookshelf.blogspot.com/
December 15Review: http://cometothedarksidewehavebooks.wordpress.com/
December 16Review: http://simplymcrayne.blogspot.co.uk/Promo & Excerpt: http://inkedfairysobsession.blogspot.comReview/ Promo & excerpt: www.lilylovesindie.co.uk