Friday, March 24, 2017

BLUEBONET BOOK BASH 2017 AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT - SHERITTA BITIKOFER



Name: Sheritta Bitikofer
Genre(s): Paranormal/Shifter Romance

Tell us the name of your last published book, and tell us a little bit about it?
My last published book is titled “Silver Screen” and it’s about a woman names Josie who is a theater makeup artist, but dreams of being an actress one day. Through her connections in the entertainment industry, she’s able to land the job as Rodney Bator’s makeup artist for his new movie, which is a remake of “The Wolfman”. Rodney is about as famous as we would consider Leonardo Dicaprio or Tom Cruise to be in the real world. Only thing is, he’s a werewolf and his starring role in the film was not an accident. He’s on a mission to prove to the werewolf community that they can live in the spotlight without fear of exposure to humans. But, his plans are a little disheveled when he falls in love with Josie. Love was never part of his master plan. This book will be released on April 29th and is available for preorder.

What is your next project?
The third book in my Loup-Garou series is currently being edited and will be available for preorder by the end of April (if not sooner) with an intended release date of the end of June or beginning of July. I haven’t set a date yet. My next writing project will be the fourth book in the series and that will be published in early 2018.

Now, lets get to know you better through this funny questions:

Name of your 5 favorite movies.
Although I have many favorites, the few movies that I will willingly watch again and again would have to be: The Pianist, Blood and Chocolate, Gone with the Wind, Roman Holiday, and The Miracle Worker

Favorite author or actress and movie genre.
My favorite authors are hands-down Susan Krinard and Patricia Briggs. They inspire a lot of my own writing.

Favorite Disney movie and song.
My favorite Disney movie, without a doubt, is Beauty and the Beast and favorite Disney song is “Part of Your World” from The Little Mermaid.

Favorite singer.
My favorite singer would have to be a tie between Amy Lee and Hilary Duff. I know, very opposite ends of the spectrum, but that’s how I roll.

Favorite band.
Again, it’d have to be a tie between Linkin Park and Skillet.

Favorite song.
My favorite song changes with my mood, but I’ll always sing along to “Teardrops On My Guitar” by Taylor Swift (suppress your boos)

Favorite Kareoke tune.
I’ve never sang karaoke, but one time I heard “Before He Cheats” performed and I’ve dreamed of having enough courage to go up and sing it in front of complete strangers.

Tea or Coffee?
I used to be a big coffee drinker, but tea is all I can handle anymore. Darn nerves.

Name a thing you can’t live without.
Writing. I tried to not write or create stories for three years and it was the worst time of my life. Never again. That and my husband.

Cat person or Dog person?
I have two precious shelter dogs, but I grew up with cats and sometimes prefer their independent attitudes.

What is your favorite season? Why?
I love winter. I live in Florida, but I adore bundling up by a warm fire with hot coco and layering my outfits. I get grumpy when I sweat.

What is your favorite kind of food dish?
I’m a big steak and potatoes girl. Give me a ribeye and mashed potatoes and I’m good. Though I do crave seafood from time to time.

What is your favorite love story? (book or movie)
That’s a hard one because I swoon over any sweet romance I read or see. But, I’m going to say that I adore Jane Austen romances. Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensability, Emma, etc.

What would a movie of your life be called?
“Love Inspires Courage”. It’s also my tagline for my author career. Without the power of love, I wouldn’t be here today.

If a genie granted you 3 wishes, what would they be?
3 billion dollars (1 billion to charities, 1 billion to my parents, and the rest for me), the ability to write flawlessly so I’d never have to hire an editor, and the ability to eat whatever I want without gaining weight.

Name a funny trait you have.
I don’t know if I would call it funny, but around close friends I can be extremely sarcastic and banter back and forth until we’re busting in giggles.

Your ideal romantic date would be…
A nice dinner out and walking somewhere. Doesn’t matter where. The park, the beach, the neighborhood, in the woods, anywhere. It frees us from distractions so we can focus on one another.

What items or edibles you need to have when you are writing a story?
My outline and silence.

Favorite childhood book.
The Series of Unfortunate Events… That’s a children’s book, right? I read that as a kid.

If we Googled you, what would we see?
Only me. My name is so unique, you’ll see everything I’ve got out on the internet including my books, Facebook pages, Twitter, blog, etc. Nothing incriminating… yet.

What costume would you wear in Halloween?
I enjoy dressing up as my favorite book characters.

What do you do to help you relaxed?
A hot cup of chamomile tea, chili cheese fries, and a documentary about something I’m interested in learning about.

Is there any specific music you listen too when you write?
Sometimes, if the words are flowing just right and it doesn’t distract me, I enjoy listening to soft instrumental music that fits with what I’m writing.

What are your favorite hobbies?
Writing, writing, writing, and medieval reenactment.

Is your last day on Earth, what would you do?
Spend it with my husband. I’ll willingly forsake everything for that man.

What items do you collect, if any?
 Books and coffee mugs. I buy myself a new mug for every book I finish.

On a more serious note:

How long, on average, does it takes you to write a book?
My record is 2 months and that included my one round of edits. Comfortably, it takes about 2.5 months with a regiment of 2,000 words a day, if not more.

If you could tell your younger self writer anything, what would it be?
Don’t stop. I stopped writing for three years because I thought that I needed to focus on more important things. I was incredibly wrong and I know I should have never stopped. I could have a lot more experience under my belt if I did. Also, get a fantastic editor.

What is your writing kryptonite?
Action scenes. I hate them. I do better with emotionally charged scenes between the main characters.

Are many of your characters based on loved ones? Can you mention some?
My heroines have a little bit of myself and my heroes have a small piece of my husband. Some secondary characters have traits of my friends, family, and other people who were influential in my life, but I try to never “base” my characters off of real people.

In your writing world, who is your favorite character and why?
Katey McCoy from my Loup-Garou series. The Enigma was my first book I ever endeavored to write and she’s been my literary companion for almost my entire life. I think if she were real, we would be good friends.

How would you describe your writing style?
I try to emulate a descriptive writing style, but focus a lot on introspection. Many of my books are driven not only by external conflict, but also by the internal conflict of the characters and I endeavor to make that perfectly clear to my audiences.

If you didn’t write, what would you do for work?
Didn’t write? What does that mean? I’m always writing. If you mean a menial job, I currently work as a bookkeeper and seem to do very well in office management.

How do you choose the names of your characters?
If the character is specifically from a certain time period or country, I make sure that whatever I pick matches. For instance, in The Decimus Trilogy series, I have many characters who are Italian or from the first century Roman empire, so I had to do extensive research to make sure their names were right.

For modern characters, I look through a list of baby names and pick out which one sounds the prettiest or the meaning fits with the character themselves.

Do you read your book reviews? How do you deal with them?
I love reading my reviews because they give me a little confidence boost. If I get a bad one, I take it as constructive criticism or I try to reason through why they wouldn’t like something. If I can understand their reasons, it doesn’t hurt so bad.

What has been the hardest scene you have written?
In the first book of The Decimus Trilogy, Decimus is a gladiator who has to face half a dozen other gladiators to win his freedom. As I said before, I hate writing action scenes, so it took a lot of planning and choreograph. I pulled my husband in to help on that one.

As a writer, what is your favorite genre?  Is it the same genre you like as a reader?
My favorite genre to write is paranormal/shifter romance and those are also what I love to read, but I tend to curl up with a contemporary romance from time to time. I’m currently reading a series by Mary Jane Hathaway. I adore her stories, though we’re on opposite ends of the genre spectrum.

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot /avatar/spirit animal?
Wolf. It’s my favorite animal and is what inspired me to write shifter romances.

How would you describe your writing?
It’s captivating. The one compliment I always get is that people can’t seem to put my novels down. I had a friend tell me that she stayed up the entire night reading The Enigma. That gave me a big head for a few days.

Before we go lets have some must needed fun

What is the first story that made you cry?
Titanic. “I’ll never let go, Jack”. My throat’s getting a little tight just thinking about it.

Theater or Movies?
Movies. I enjoy watching in the privacy of my home where my husband can make as many comments as he likes without disturbing everyone else.

Listener or talker?
I’m a listener, but if you get my talking about something I love, you won’t be able to shut me up.

Go to movie.
Pride and Prejudice (the one with Keira Knightly)

Go to book.
These Sheltering Walls by Mary Jane Hathaway. Gideon just makes me drool!

If given a chance, who would you want to be for a day?
Myself. I don’t want to be anyone different.

Tell us something about yourselves that nobody knows about.
The majority of my wardrobe hasn’t changed in the last ten years. I take good care of my clothes.

Pool side or beach?
Poolside.

If someone made a movie about your life, what would it be called, and what genre would it be?
Again, “Love Inspires Courage” and it would totally be an inspirational drama or a romance.

What Star Trek or Star Wars character would you be?
Oh, lord! Don’t get me started on Star Trek. Captain Janeway is fantastic, though I would totally be Diana Troi so I could have Reiker sweet talk me. 

The Walking Dead or Supernatural?
Supernatural, every day and all day.

Sam or Dean?
Give me the Dean! I could watch that pretty face for hours. 

Anything you want to say to your readers?
You guys are awesome and I encourage you to stay tuned through my blog, Facebook, and Twitter for updates on releases, giveaways, and ARC opportunities!

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