Brought to you by OBS reviewer Heidi

Hello Everyone.  Let’s give a warm welcome to up and coming Urban Fantasy author Jan DeLima!  Jan’s first novel, Celtic Moon was just published September 24th of this year!  I thoroughly enjoyed Celtic Moon and I’m sure you will to!  Jan has been kind enough to stop by today for an interview…

• Be sure to read our review for Celtic Moon here at OBS.

Heidi: Welcome Jan, can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

Jan DeLima: Thank you for inviting me!  I live in central Maine with my husband of twenty years and our two teenage sons, along with two English bulldogs.  Our household is always hectic and the laundry room is never empty.  I recently retired from a beautiful library where I worked for over a decade.  I miss talking about books with patrons and hearing their favorite reads of the week, but it’s wonderful to be able to write full time.  I also love to garden and cook things that aren’t necessarily healthy for me.

Heidi: What inspires you to write?

Jan DeLima:  I have always been a prolific reader.  I love stories and storytelling.  I think it was a natural progression for me to become a writer.  I enjoy building an imaginary world with interesting characters and then sharing their journey, especially if it involves a love story.

Heidi: What can you tell us about your novel, Celtic Moon?

Jan DeLima:  Celtic Moon is a shape-shifter urban fantasy romance.  The fantasy world is derived from Celtic mythology, which is one of the original sources of shifter lore in history.  It is set in current day Maine, in an isolated village surrounded by mountains and wilderness where an ancient clan of Celtic shifters has lived among us in secret for over a thousand years.  Sophie, my heroine, is a mother of a teenager who has been on the run from the father of her son due to some brutal circumstances.  Sophie is forced to return when her son begins to show signs of becoming a shifter like his father.  Dylan, the father of her son, is overly protective and unaware of some events that have kept Sophie away while dealing with an impending war amongst his kind.  I enjoyed pairing a typical alpha hero with a woman who refused to accept his behavior.  The chemistry between these two characters was a writer’s dream come true.

Heidi: I really enjoyed watching Sophie and Dylan rekindle their past romance.  What can we expect to see from them in the future?      

Jan DeLima: In the next book Sophie and Dylan become secondary characters but are still present.  Each installment in the Celtic Wolves series focuses on a love story between a new set of protagonists, while the fantasy and the battle with the Guardians continues.   The second book is Luc and Rosa’s story.  Luc is Dylan’s younger brother, also known as the Beast of Merin.  Readers get to meet Luc throughout Celtic Moon, and Rosa makes a brief but significant appearance toward the end.  I knew who Rosa was, and what her motivations were going to be, but I fell in love with her voice in the very first chapter of book two. I will be starting Elen and Cormack’s story soon, which will be the third book in the Celtic Wolves series. Elen and Cormack are major characters throughout the series. Their personal journeys were interesting to write in the earlier books and I cannot wait to finally get these two characters together!

Heidi: What was your biggest obstacle while writing Celtic Moon?

Jan DeLima:  Finding uninterrupted time.  A good portion of Celtic Moon was written before work, from 4-7 a.m., and I am not a morning person, but that was the only time of day that I managed to be productive.  Writing after work wasn’t an option.  Once I got home, made dinner for the kids and switched a load of laundry… Well, we’ve all been there so I will not go on.  Let’s just say there wasn’t a single creative thought coming from my brain afterward.  It was all worth it though!

Also, the fantasy world of the Celtic Wolves series is inspired by the history and folklore of an actual ancient culture.  I took a logical approach while plotting and always asked the question, “If this were true, what would happen?”   But names were a real challenge for me, only because I didn’t feel a person would change their given name.  I could see surnames being added and adapted to modern culture, but not first names, not what family members had been calling each other from birth.  It was difficult to find simple medieval names from the time period my characters originated from, and I was always mindful of the fact that fantasy readers are savvy; they know history and like authenticity.

Heidi: What drew you to the paranormal romance/urban fantasy genre?

Jan DeLima:  Even as an author I’m drawn toward the type of stories that interest me as a reader.   Romance, fantasy, mystery and suspense are my favorite genres to read.   Celtic Moon combines all the elements that I enjoy together in one story.

Heidi: Do you have anything specific you want to say to your readers?

Jan DeLima:  We are all so busy in our everyday lives.  Our free time is precious, and to give that time to an author is a gift.   So, for those of you who have taken the time to read Celtic Moon—Thank you!  I am honored, and I hope that you enjoyed the adventure as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Heidi: Let’s have a few just for fun questions!  

Baseball playoffs are getting ready to start, football just started, and hockey is just around the corner.  Do you follow any sports, and if so what is your favorite team?

Jan DeLima:  I consider myself a very lucky woman because football is the only sport my husband follows.  It took a few years, but he eventually won me over to the game.  We live in New England, so we are Pats fans.  I’ve been to one game at Gillette Stadium, and the tailgating parties were something I had to see to believe.  Mini living rooms were set up in the parking lot for pre-game news, complete with TV’s, grills, propane heaters, inflatable couches and coolers,  and the aroma of grilled sausage and peppers was everywhere.  It was a blast!

Heidi: If you were stranded on a deserted island and only allowed to bring 3 things, what would you take?

Jan DeLima:  I am always practical, so I would bring a flint, a hatchet, and a large iron pot to boil water.  I debated between the flint and a book on medicinal and edible plant life, but I’ve seen too many Survivor episodes where even experienced survivalists couldn’t get a fire going.  Now, if this were a fictional story about a fantasy island that I was writing about—a genie in a bottle would wash up on that shore!  He would be lovely, of course, and very appreciative for being freed after a thousand years of tormented celibacy.  I’ll stop there.

Heidi: Thanks, Jan, for stopping by!  I wish you the best of luck with Celtic Moon and your future works!  I personally can’t wait to get my hands on the next Celtic Wolves novel.