Character Interview: Zander Roth (Wicked Hunger by DelSheree Gladden)

On the outside, Zander Roth is the model of self-control and polite existence. No one else can see the daily struggle to control his hunger, the devastating secrets he hides, or the desires he fights to deny.
1. How did you first meet your writer?
After all the news coverage my family received last year, it wasn’t surprising when DelSheree showed up at one of my football practices wanting to talk. The story of my parents deaths was what drew her to my family, but she ended up with a different story entirely.  
2. Did you ever think that your life would end up being in a book?
I never wanted it to be, but no, it’s not surprising. It seems like no matter how hard I try to pretend everything is fine and normal, it’s impossible to hide all the cracks in that fantasy.
3. Tell us about your favorite scene in the book.
My sister, Van, would kill me for admitting this, but my favorite scene is the first night I sneak into Ivy’s room. Being near her without wanting to kill her every second was intoxicating. It was a moment that changed me. Whether for good or bad depends on who you talk to.
4. Did you have a hard time convincing your author to write any particular scenes for you?
There were times DelSheree wanted me to make different choices, smarter choices. It wasn’t that I wanted to argue with her. I knew what I should do. Ivy was too strong of a pull, though. Denying her anything was simply beyond me.
5. What do you like to do when you are not being actively read somewhere?
Get away from the world. There are fewer chances for me to hurt people if I just stay away from everyone and keep to myself. That’s not always possible, but I’ve learned to keep my distance…from everyone.
6. If you could rewrite anything in your book, what would it be?
That’s a hard question. The right answer would be to have walked away from Ivy that first day and never looked back. The real answer, though, would be to have seen through the lies earlier and seen the truth before people got hurt.
7. Tell the truth. What do you think of your fellow characters?
My sister Van is the most important person in my life. I underestimate her all too often, but she is one of the strongest and smartest people I know. I have a lot of respect for my grandma, but she doesn’t understand as much as she thinks she does. Explaining what I think and feel about Ivy is impossible. There is so much conflict inside of me when I think of her that I don’t even know where to begin.
8. Do have any secret aspirations that your author doesn’t know about?

For all the times I have criticized Van for trying to live a normal life, that is what I really want more than anything. I know being happy, really happy, isn’t something I will ever truly experience, but that doesn’t mean I don’t still want it.
9. If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do?
I really don’t know. I’ve been living this life of careful restraint for so long, I’m not sure I would even know what to do if I was actually free.

10. What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they’ve known you for a while?

Everyone who meets me thinks I am polite, calm, restrained, boring even. It’s a mask I’ve tried very hard to create. No one really gets to know me. I won’t let them. Ivy was the only one who got close enough to see through my mask and I never should have let that happen.

11. What’s the worst thing that’s happened in your life? What did you learn from it?

Losing my parents left scars that will never heal. They weren’t the only people I lost, and each new loss only makes the wounds go deeper, harder to recover from. I’ve learned to stop opening myself to the possibility of being hurt.

12. Tell us about your best friend.

I’ll have to apply that term a bit loosely. Friends aren’t really my thing, but the closest I have to a real friend is Sam, one of my teammates on the football team. It wasn’t really my choice to become friends with Sam, he just always seemed to be at my side. He keeps my mind off darker thoughts, though, so I don’t mind him hanging around. Maybe one day he’ll actually become a real friend, but he’d probably be better off walking away.

13. What are you most afraid of?

Hurting someone. Van thinks I have so much control, but keeping my hunger in check is more of a struggle than she will ever understand.

14. What’s the best trait your author has given you? What’s the worst?

DelSheree and I would probably disagree on whether this would be the best or worst trait, but I see my determination as a good thing. It has kept me out of trouble, kept me focused. She would argue it kept me from backing off from Ivy and call it my biggest fault.

15. What do you like best about Ketchup? Least?

Ketchup is persistent. I’m not sure if that’s what I like most or least about him, but I can appreciate his refusal to never give up. I know he loves my sister, and despite the fact that I find him rather annoying 90% of the time, I’m glad he hasn’t walked away from Van yet.
16. How do you feel about your life right now? What, if anything, would you like to change?
My life has never been more uncertain. I thought I had the basics figured out. I can’t even begin to explain how wrong I was. If I could, I would have tried harder to find out what I suspected my grandma was hiding.
17. What aspect of your author’s writing style do you like best?
It’s honest. She doesn’t let me skate by when I make mistakes. She forces me to face them and deal with the consequences, no matter how unpleasant.
18. If your story were a movie, who would play you?
I’d have to go with either Channing Tatum or Kellan Lutz, although I’m not sure how either of them would look as a blonde.
19. Describe an average day in your life.
An average day in my life is hardly average. Controlling my hunger all day in place that is teeming with physical and emotional pain that teases my hunger relentlessly is not an easy thing. Football and other sports help me get through the days, but sometimes I have to turn to something less…socially acceptable.
20. Will you encourage your author to write a sequel?

Encourage might not be the right word. Do I want to have any more of my failures displayed for everyone to see? Not particularly. But do I want people to know the truth? Absolutely. 
·         DelSheree’s Blog
·         DelSheree’s Website
·         Facebook
·         Twitter
·         Goodreads
·         Wattpad
·         Amazon
      ·         Amazon Kindle US
·         Amazon Paperback US
·         Amazon Kindle UK
·         Amazon Paperback UK
·         B&N
·         Kobo
·         Goodreads

Distractions…

“I use Grammarly for english proofreading because me and commas are not friends.”

When you’re an author, sometimes multitasking isn’t a good thing

In between graduating with my degree in Dental Hygiene and staring my new job, I had the summer to spend time with my family and get caught up on a few projects. Well, I planned to get caught up on a few projects anyway. 


With my To Do list looking something like this…
And my reading list looking something like this…

I didn’t get quite as much done as I thought I would. 

But, the real reason I didn’t finish as many projects as I would have liked was because I kept starting new ones! 

My main goal this summer as far as writing went was to learn a ton about promoting my new book, Wicked Hunger, and finish writing the sequel, Wicked Power. I did spend a lot of time figuring out how to market my book (the jury is still out on how effective it was) and got a lot done, but I made only about 12,000 words of progress on Wicked Power. 

Why? 

Because I wrote a completely different book instead and almost finished another one besides that. I thought taking a break from Wicked Power would help me work through a few plot issues I was struggling with. Instead, I got completely distracted. Sorry readers! I know you’re waiting for Wicked Power, and I promise I will get it done over the next few months. 

So what got me so distracted? 

My very first published novel, Escaping Fate, has been falling behind my series lately. As a standalone book, it just wasn’t grabbing as much attention. So, I decided to turn it into a series. Soul Stone is the second book in the series and follows Arrabella as she begins to realize her connection with Aztec gods has left her with an ability she’d rather not have and a new curse to figure out before someone gets hurt. Soul Stone is now going through beta readers and is planned to be published in early 2014. A third book, still unnamed, will complete the series, but will likely not be ready until 2015. Anyone who’d like to take a peek at Escaping Fate in preparation for Soul Stone can check it out Amazon, ibooks, and most major ebook retailers. 


The other project that stole my time away from Wicked Power was a story about an Invisible boy named Mason. After watching his family murdered in front of him, Masons tries to get help, but realizes no one can see him…except for Olivia. They become best friends instantly, but now as teenagers they begin to realize their feelings go beyond friendship. In the midst of trying to figure out the logistics of falling in love when one of them is invisible, Mason and Olivia become aware that a group of killers is hunting Mason, and if they find him, they have no intention of letting him live. The book is temporarily titled “Invisible” but I’m working on coming up with something better suited to the story. You can check out Invisible now on Wattpad
One last project to share, even though this one didn’t take up much time this summer since it was already written. You can check out my YA post-apocalytptic novel, Child of Destruction, right now on Swoon Reads for FREE! Swoon Reads is a new pilot project from Macmillan Publishing where readers and editors get to vote and comment on the novel uploaded to their site. The novels that garner the most attention may just be published by Macmillan! So stop by Swoon Reads today and check out Child of Destruction

Book Trailer Contest!

It’s time for another contest!

Last year, one of my readers named Kaylee Blair created a music video for Twin Souls. You can watch her video here on YouTube. This was so neat to see her video! I want to give more readers an opportunity to share their creativity, so I’m having a Book Trailer Contest! 

So, how does this work? 

Anyone who would like to participate (you don’t have to have read my books) is welcome to try their hand at creating a book trailer for Twin Souls Saga, The Destroyer Trilogy, or Wicked Hunger.

You can use any of the info and pictures on my book pages for each series to create your video, or do something completely unique. 


How do you Enter?

Post a link to your video on my Author Facebook Page between now and September 15th, 2013. I’ll share your link all over the place so readers can take a look and vote. 

What do you win?

The winner of the book trailer contest will win a prize pack of goodies the includes signed a signed copy of Wicked Hunger, signed bookmarks, ebook copies of my other books, Wicked Hunger tote bag, and themed ribbon bookmarks for each series. 

I’ll also be posting the links for each entry on my Facebook pages, blogs, and Twitter accounts. 

The winner will be chosen based on “Likes” on YouTube, votes/comments on FB and my blog. 

Thank you for participating and I look forward to seeing everyone’s videos!

Summer Giveaway Hop

Welcome to the Summer Giveaway Hop Hosted by I Am A Reader and Book Hounds. 

Even though summer is winding down, there’s always time for a few more books! As a part of the hop, I’m giving away a signed paperback copy of my new book, Wicked Hunger, the first book in the SomeOne Wicked This Way Comes series. 

Tucked inside the book will be a ribbon bookmark made just for the series and a Signed bookmark!

Here’s a little more about Wicked Hunger to get you excited!

Wicked Hunger

Vanessa and Zander Roth are good at lying. They have to be when they are hiding a deadly secret. Day after day, they struggle to rein in their uncontrollable hunger for pain and suffering in order to live normal lives. Things only get worse when Ivy Guerra appears with her pink-striped hair and secrets. The vicious hunger Ivy inspires is frightening, not to mention suspicious. 


Vanessa’s instincts are rarely wrong, so when they tell her that Ivy’s appearance is a sign of bad things to come, she listens. She becomes determined to expose Ivy’s secrets. Vanessa tries to warn her brother, but Zander is too enamored with Ivy to pay attention to her conspiracy theories. 


One of them is right about Ivy … but if they lose control of their hunger, it won’t matter who is right and who is wrong. One little slip, and they’ll all be dead.
Wicked Hunger is available now from: 
·        Amazon Kindle US
·        Amazon Paperback US
·        Amazon Kindle UK
·        Amazon Paperback UK
·        B&N
·        Kobo
·        Goodreads


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Giveaways, Contests, and more!

Who’s ready for some fun?

With the release of Wicked Hunger, I’ve been up to my eyeballs in promoting. It’s been a lot of work, but a lot of fun too! Now I’m passing on the fun to my fans!! Keep reading to find out more about the contests and giveaways going on right now. 

Wicked Hunger Autographed Copy Giveaway!

Just click on the button below to enter the Goodreads giveaway of 3 signed copies of Wicked Hunger. Time is almost up, so hurry!


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Goodreads Book Giveaway

Wicked Hunger by DelSheree Gladden

Wicked Hunger

by DelSheree Gladden

Giveaway ends July 31, 2013.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Twin Souls “Like” Contest

Twin Souls needs more “Likes” on Facebook, so we’re having a contest! 

At 100 Likes we’ll be giving away a signed bookmark! 

At 300 Likes we’ll be giving away a signed paperback copy of Twin Souls!

At 1000 Likes we’ll be giving away signed copies of ALL 3 books in the Twin Souls Saga!

So, stop by the Twin Souls Facebook Page and enter to win, and don’t forget to invite your friends to like the page also!

The Destroyer Trilogy “Like” Contest

The Destroyer Trilogy is already over 500 likes, but we’d like to make it 1000! 

Stop by The Destroyer Trilogy FB Page and like to the page to enter for a chance to win autographed copies of the ENTIRE series! 

And don’t forget to invite your friends so the prizes get handed out sooner 🙂 

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Thanks to everyone for checking out the Giveaways and Contests!

Stop back by soon for more contests and giveaways, including a book trailer contest!