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Hi Rebekkah! Thanks for being my guest at New Adult Addiction. I just finished your new book, Beyond the Eyes, and loved your protagonist, Paige. It seems to me that Paige is somewhat fragile and emotional, yet also strong and determined. How did you come up with the idea for Paige’s character?
Thanks for having me. The idea for Paige just came to me. However, I have to admit her feelings of abandonment regarding her father stems from my own personal experience. So some of the aches she had in her heart were mine as well.
I have a pet peeve on my blog about the “V” word (virgins) but that’s mostly because I deal in New Adult books. In your young adult book, Paige starts off “innocent” but gains some experience as the story progresses. Have you gotten any blow-back about the steamy scenes from readers?
No. Not yet, but I’m bracing myself for it. But seriously, I thought about the possibility of some people slinging mud at me for writing those scenes, but they’re tastefully done and honestly teenagers are not stupid. People don’t give them enough credit. What I wrote is nothing compared to what’s on TV or the internet.
Spill some secrets about Nathan. Since this is a first person novel (a gripping one at that) we don’t get to know Nathan as well as well as Paige. What more can you tell us about Nathan that might not be clear in the book?
First off, I want everybody to know in my next two books in this series, there will be chapters in Nathan’s POV. So the reader will get to know him personally, which I’m excited about. He’s a great character and is fun to write.
Hmmm. Secrets about Nathan. If I tell you what the secrets are it’ll spoil it for the readers. I’ll give a little teaser, though. He’s not a witch, but he knows about the craft and is hiding something from Paige that in his eyes is the right thing to do.
What is your favorite scene from Beyond the Eyes?
I have lots of favorite scenes. One of them is when Paige, Nathan, Carrie and Matt are at Cafe’ Nation listening to the hippy chick recite a poem. That scene was borrowed from a real life experince I had and it still cracks me up every time I read it.
OK, now for some easy ones – what was the first story you ever wrote?
I can’t remember. The one that stands out in my mind, though, was one I wrote in seventh grade. It was a horror story. I stood up in front of the class and read it. As I was reading the story, I noticed I had their full attention and when I got to the scary parts, the whole class did a collective gasp. I was hooked from there. It was a defining moment for me and still makes me smile when I think about it.
What author had the most impact on your writing style?
I grew up reading Anne Rice and wish I could write like her. My writing style is nothing like hers. It’s just . . . Me.
If you could claim authorship of one book, which one would it be?
Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice.
What advice would you give to young writers who feel discouraged as they try to write their first novel?
Don’t write what’s popular. Write what you’re passionate about. Otherwise, it’ll show in your writing and readers will be able to tell. You have to have that fire in your heart. That passion. And the more you write, the better you become. Also, read, read, read. Reading other books helps you become a better writer as well.
What’s up next for you and Paige?
There are two more books in this series–Dark Spirits and The Devil’s Third. Paige is a much stronger person, emotionally and physically. She starts having visions in the next book and discovers she has extraordinary powers she never knew she had. Since she found out what resides inside her, it had awaken those gifts. And in book three, she finally finds out what she really is. She comes from an ancient line of witches, but is she really a witch? And will she find the incantations and destroy them or use them against the dark spirits?
Can you give us a taste of your work in progress? A favorite scene or teaser for the next book?
Sure. But forewarning: it might be a spoiler alert . . . In this scene Nathan and Paige are at the Sunday Market. They just finished shopping and eating their corndogs.
I rose, and stuck my hand out for him to give me his corndog stick. He handed it to me, and I went to the overflowing trash can a couple yards away. Then my ears began to ring. I looked at Nathan, and he hurried to me at a painfully human pace. We looked around, but the few people strolling by were immersed in conversation and paid no attention to us.
Nathan took my hand and steered me in the other direction. “C’mon, let’s get back to the truck.” As we rushed off, Nathan kept glancing over his shoulder, his posture stiff and alert.
Our ears continued to ring, but still nothing out of the ordinary caught my eyes. When we reached the parking lot, there were people filing into their vehicles and exiting the premises. I wondered if one of them could be a dark spirit. I was just about to get inside the truck when a soft crying noise tore at my heart. It sounded heartbroken and lost. I followed the sound while Nathan stuck our bags in the backseat. I moved to the front of the truck and there sitting on the curb was the most angelic-looking little girl I’d ever seen. She had to be about five years old, and I wondered where her mommy was. My heart immediately went out to her. She was crying in her tiny hands, leaning forward on her knees, her blonde curls tumbling over her face. She scooted her elbows above her knees while she continued to cry, pushing her blue dress up, revealing black patent leather shoes and white laced socks.
“What’s wrong, sweetie? Did you lose your mommy?” I asked, kneeling in front of her.
“Paige, no!” Nathan hollered at the same time she dropped her hands and grabbed my wrist, yanking me toward her. She was amazingly strong, completely throwing me off guard.
She slowly rolled her head around her neck, her baby face contorting into a ghastly mask, her mouth opening and closing like a fish. Then her dark glowing eyes poured into mine. I was too stunned to do anything but stare, even though her grip was like a tourniquet around my wrist.
“Let. Her. Go,” Nathan demanded, now by my side.
The girl jerked her head up, her glowing orbs on Nathan now. “You have no power over me,” a man’s deep voice spewed forth from her pink, pouty lips, chilling me to the bone.
“No?” Nathan said, bending so his eyes were leveled with hers. “But I can break her neck, which will take you out of the equation.”
“You can’t do that, Nathan,” I gasped. “She’s a child!”
“She’s soulless, Paige,” he said, keeping his eyes trained on her. “I’m going to tell you one more time . . . Let. Her. Go.”
Nathan wasn’t playing around. He was serious, and his ears were red, signaling the rage boiling inside him. The dark spirit must have realized it because he released me. I stumbled sideways, falling into Nathan’s quick arms. The sheer force of it knocked us to a sitting position on the asphalt.
The little girl hopped to her feet and moved her head clockwise in little jerks, her mouth opened in a silent scream. She stepped forward and stopped in front of us. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, then focused on me, dark and glowing.
She grimaced, then blinked, and her eyes turned blue. “Help me,” she said in a sweet toddler voice.
I reached for her, but Nathan snatched my wrist, locking his arms around mine. The girl scowled, then blinked, and her eyes were dark and glowing again. I sucked in a sharp breath, and her mouth formed a circle. Her head fell back in deep laughter. It was dark, sinister, and male.
She stopped, looked at me, and pointed. “Vos ero pessum ire,” she said in the same deep man’s voice as before. Then she turned and ran away.
Oh, I love it! I can’t wait for the second book, make sure you keep me updated on the release day so we can do this again! 
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Rebekkah’s Bio
Rebekkah Ford grew up in a family that dealt with the paranormal. Her parents’ Charles and Geri Wilhelm were the Directors of the UFO Investigators League in Fairfield, Ohio, back in the 1970s. They also investigated ghost hauntings and Bigfoot sightings in addition to UFO’s. Growing up in this type of environment and having the passion for writing is what drove Rebekkah at an early age to write stories dealing with the paranormal. At one point in her life, she thought she wanted to be a journalist, and although she enjoyed writing articles, she quickly discovered her real passion was writing fiction. Her fascination with the paranormal is what led her to write the ‘Beyond the Eyes’ series. Visit her online and read her blog at http://themusingwriter.blogspot.com
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