Win a $50 GC - Virtual Book Tour: Lake of Sins by L.S. O'Dea

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. One randomly drawn commenter via Rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon/BN Gift Card. Please click on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

If you could apologize to someone in your past, who would it be?

I know that this is going to sound arrogant, but I cannot think of anyone who I’d apologize to. I am a very honest person, so I don’t often say something that I feel the need to apologize for. People may not like what I say, but that doesn’t mean that I have to apologize for it. With that being said, if I do hurt someone, I will apologize right away. I may apologize for what I said or for how they took what I said. It all depends on the situation.

If you could keep a mythical/ paranormal creature as a pet, what would you have?

Definitely a Pegasus. I would love to fly!

How do you keep your writing different from all the others that write in this particular genre?

This is going to sound weird, but I don’t really worry about that. I mean, I do try and not have it too similar. For example, in the first book of the Lake of Sins series, I had a scene where Trinity describes the Almighty coming into camp and reading the Harvest List. I had quite a few of my beta readers say that it was too similar to The Hunger Games. I cut the scene.

In general, though, I write the story that is. I don’t worry if it is too similar to other works. I just write what plays out, the stops that the story takes. Then if people mention it is too similar to something else, I’ll revisit that section and determine if I agree with them and if I can change it while still remaining true to the story.

What are the best and worst pieces of writing advice you ever received?

I’d have to say that the best and worst advice is the same. Add more background.

Many in my SciFi/Fantasy class said that I didn’t have enough background story. They wanted a day in the life before the action. I added more background. It made the story slower. I modified again and again. Too much, too little. I don’t think that I ever hit the right mix, but I think I came close. It is a fine balance. One of those things that either works or it doesn’t.

I still have some readers who want more background and some who want less. I think I should have left it how it was originally but if I did that, I wouldn’t have gotten to know Trinity as well as I did. That would have affected the rest of the series. So, it was good and bad advice.

Are the experiences in this book based on someone you know, or events in your own life?

No, not literally, but I guess there is a little of me in there. Before I explain, let me say that I would never tell anyone how to live his/her life. I am vegetarian, but that is a personal choice. I helped my sister raise three children and have just recently taken care of my niece’s children for ten weeks. Only one of my family members is vegetarian. When I have the family over to visit I cook meat for them to eat. It is their choice. I don’t believe that you can force anyone to do anything, not really.

Let me also say that I can’t help what I think and to me most Americans are hypocritical regarding their opinions on meat. We find it disgusting that other cultures eat dog and cat meat, yet we eat pig, cow and chicken. I have dogs and cats as pets. I love them but I also understand that they are no more special than a pig, chicken, cow or any other animal. They all want to live. They all want to eat, play and have a nice place to rest. They all love and have friends.

So, with that understanding about who I am, I’m sure you can see my influence in the books.

In a world where class distinction means the difference between imprisonment and freedom and even life and death, being chosen to stay in the encampment and breed is the only way to guarantee survival for a teenage Producer.

Every year after harvest, the finest examples of teenage Producers are assigned mates; the rest are loaded onto carts and hauled away, never to be seen or heard from again. Trinity, a sixteen-year-old Producer, knows that she has no chance of being chosen to stay. She isn’t even full-blooded Producer. Her father is a House Servant and she’s spent her entire life hiding her differences, especially her claws and fangs.

She has one week to sneak into the forest and discover what happens to those who are taken. Her plan is simple, but she doesn’t count on being hunted and captured by predators long believed to be extinct. Can she elude her captors to uncover the fate of her kind and return to camp before her escape is discovered?

Trinity's plans have gone horribly wrong and she is now fleeing for her life, but at what cost to her friends and family. Can she save any of them without sacrificing herself?

Hugh Truent, an Almighty, learns of Trinity’s escape and that she is the offspring of two different classes which is supposed to be impossible. If it’s true, it would be the discovery of a lifetime, but he needs scientific proof. In his quest for answers, he soon realizes that there are those who will kill to keep this find a secret.

Trinity’s struggle to survive in a society based on absolute segregation of the different classes along with Hugh’s dogged determination to find the truth at any cost, sets into motion a collision between the groups that shatters the foundation of their world.

Read an excerpt from ESCAPE

She ran blindly away from the sound of the Guards, her backpack slamming against her spine with each stride. If they catch my scent, they will find me. She skidded to a stop. The forest had ended. A rock wall loomed in front of her, stretching to both sides as far as she could see. Little crevices and divots peppered the wall, but it was too steep to climb. She had to make a choice. The wrong one would cost her freedom, maybe her life.

The trees rustled behind her. Too late. They found me. This had all been for nothing. Now, the best she could hope for was to be taken with the others. Her chest tightened. She had to make sure that her mom and Remy weren’t punished because she escaped. She raised her hands to her shoulders and slowly turned. Her breath caught in her throat. A Tracker, the deadliest of predators, stood on its back two legs, towering above her, front legs hanging down like arms. Brindle fur covered its body and its eyes glowed yellow in the shadowed forest. Its tongue lolled out the side of its mouth, exposing a row of sharp teeth on the other side. Someone should tell it that they no longer exist in the wild.

About the Author: L. S. O'Dea grew up the youngest of seven. She always wanted to do what her older siblings were doing, especially reading stories.

Ill at a young age, she immersed herself in books. Her life changed when she read a short story written by her older brother and realized that normal (somewhat anyway, since her brother was a bit weird in her opinion) people created these amazing stories. From that day forward, she wanted to write.

However, as with all good stories, obstacles rose in her path (mostly self-created obstacles) and it took her many years to put finger to keyboard and type her first book.

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