This week’s feature is TANGLED TIDES, by Karen Hooper. Karen is also one of the co-founders of the YA Confidential blog.

 Here’s the premise of TANGLED TIDES, from Goodreads:

Yara Jones doesn’t believe in sea monsters—until she becomes one.

When a hurricane hits her island home and she wakes up with fins, Yara finds herself tangled up in an underwater world of mysterious merfolk and secretive selkies. Both sides believe Yara can save them by fulfilling a broken promise and opening the sealed gateway to their realm, but they are battling over how it should be done. The selkies want to take her life. The merfolk want something far more precious.

Treygan, the stormy-eyed merman who turned Yara mer, will stop at nothing and sacrifice everything to protect his people—until he falls for Yara. The tides turn as Yara fights to save herself, hundreds of sea creatures, and the merman who has her heart. She could lose her soul in the process—or she might open the gateway to a love that’s deeper than the oceans.

Young Adult fans of Mermaids, Selkies, Sirens and Gorgons will love this tale of the sacrifice one makes for genuine love. Love that could be lost at any moment to the ever-changing tides.

Here’s the trailer:

Below is my interview with Karen:

According to your website, you’re currently living in Florida. Did this setting have an influence on TANGLED TIDES?

Oh, yes. I love living near the water. Many times I’ve walked the beach or watched the sunset while imagining all kinds of magical worlds beneath the surface.

 I see you’re part of a writing group called The Indelibles. (I featured another Indelibes member, Michelle Muto, a few months back.) Can you tell us more about how this group was founded and how it’s helped you and your writing?

The group was founded by Shelli Johannes and Megg Jensen. Basically, they wanted to create a group where authors could share, learn and support each other in closer and more in-depth way than just blogging. I have learned tons from them, everything from formatting an ebook to coping with bad reviews. We’re a great team, and we keep getting stronger (as writers and friends) as we get to know each other better.

That’s great! I’ve heard a support group of writers can be extremely helpful. I love the pitch for TANGLED TIDES. What do you feel is the most difficult part of writing a good pitch?

Thank you! I love it too, but I have to give credit to my editor because she really helped me strengthen it. The pitch is a topic I struggle with a lot. As the author, it’s sometimes tough to know what concept or area to focus on, but you always want to establish the conflict and what’s at stake. And you want to give enough details to paint an enticing picture, but not so many details that you give the whole story away.

    
 Great advice–and one I plan to use to make my pitch pop a bit more. What do you want readers to take away after they finish reading TANGLED TIDES?

I hope they feel like they’ve had a magical and exciting escape from reality, but I also hope they take away the message that with love, anything is possible.

Absolutely! What other projects are you currently working on?

I’m writing the sequel to Tangled Tides (things didn’t end as happily ever after as they seemed), and I’m also preparing to release the first book in my YA reincarnation series, Grasping at Eternity. 

TANGLED TIDES is now available for purchase through the following retailers:

Rhemalda Bookstore: http://tiny.cc/BuyTangledTides

Barnes & Noble:  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tangled-tides-karen-amanda-hooper/1035791101?ean=9781936850433&itm=1&usri=tangled%252btides

And here’s Karen’s author information if you’d like to find out more:
Author Website: http://www.karenamandahooper.com

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