A Passion For Reading: Giveaway/Interview: Seeing Red by Sidney Halston

Title: Seeing Red

Release: February 15, 2013

Publisher: Self-Published

Age Group: Adult

Genre: Romance

Tour organized by: AToMR Tours

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Summary:
A love triangle just wouldn't suffice; Jillian Stone had the 'misfortune' of getting herself into a love square-- with twins, nonetheless.

Alexander, Oliver, and Jillian were raised on a deserted island. For 12 years, all they knew were those that were marooned with them. A strong bond would link them forever. At 12 years old, they are all rescued and clairvoyant Jillian is immediately shipped off to boarding school. Ten years later, she is reunited with her twins at the funeral of Helen, the woman who “mothered” them while on the island. The innocent and childhood feelings they shared on the island...well, they aren’t so innocent anymore. Her scrawny gangly twins are now grown men. Oliver, the ever-loyal friend and Alexander the ultimate bad-boy, have her heart in a tug-a-war.

Enter, mysteriously sexy Professor Paul Black. He’s Jillian’s law school professor and she has caught his attention, albeit inappropriate. All the while, Jillian’s clairvoyance is wreaking havoc on her life as visions of a redheaded man are becoming all consuming. The dangerous man in her visions is searching for her and has a big secret to share with her about her time on the island as well as about her psychic abilities. Scared for her life, all three men try to protect her, but she must choose one in order to focus on the problem at hand—the redheaded man’s secret.

Seeing Red is a romance with some paranormal elements and some suspense and a lot of sexual tension.

Interview with Sydney Halston
Q: SEEING RED doesn’t involve just two love interests, but three men for Jillian. How did you make this ‘love square’ work in a time when some readers may be a bit leery of a simple love triangle?
S.H: It wasn’t easy. I saw it as the twins being one entity. Therefore, it was really still a love triangle: The twins v. The professor. Since Jillian really didn’t want a relationship with either twin, I tried to get them both out of the picture when it came to romance. That’s why when Paul came into the picture, it shouldn’t have been a love triangle at all. She was genuinely trying to make it work with him. But her underlying love for the twins kept getting in the way.

Q: What was the most difficult part for you when writing SEEING RED?
S.H: Keeping tabs on dates. The timeline of events. Some of the journals were written before Jillian and twins were born and then there was the crash and the years on the island. Then it jumps to them as adult. It was tricky to keep track on dates and ages.

Q: What was the easiest about writing SEEING RED?
S.H: The banter between Alexander and Jillian. I love their relationship and the arguments. It wasn’t difficult narrating their conversations.
Q: Tell us about your favorite scene to write in SEEING RED. Don’t forget to tell us why.
S.H: First, I love the quotes at the beginning of the chapters. I wanted to tie in Helen to the entire book. That may not be a scene but I love each and every one of those sayings/quotes.
In regards to scenes: My favorite scene was the car ride from the airport (when they are picking Oliver up) back to Alexander’s house. I love the sensuality of his fingers seducing her from the back seat caressing her in the front and the fact that Oliver was there, which made it inappropriate and unexpected. In that scene, he was telling her without words: I know you want me more than you do Oliver, otherwise, why would you allow me to do this with Oliver inches from you. It wasn’t sex, but it may as well have been.

I also really love the scene when Jill and Xander go running. They are both so stubborn that neither will admit they are about to keel over. This was fun and easy to write. It’s not a sexual scene but I think it really shows the effect they have on each other. Plus, it’s cute and kind of funny.

Q: Is there anything in SEEING RED you hope readers take away after reading, or something you want to point out you don’t want readers to miss?
S.H: I’s like people to take away after reading SEEING RED: Chemistry doesn’t go away. Once you have a connection with someone, you can be apart for a day or a decade and it will still be there. You can fight it but it’s not going anywhere.

I want to point out: I want the reader to pay special attention to Paul. He is very important and wasn’t just put in the book to torment Jillian into a love “square”. He is an important character and you will see a lot more of him in the second book. Why is he tormented? I think that when people read the second book, they will go back and reread some of the parts in the first book in regards to Paul (especially that text message that Heather found) and say to themselves: Is Paul really that bad?

About the Author:
Sidney Halston lives her life with one simple rule: “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”–Mark Twain. Or even simpler, “Just Do It”—Nike.

And that’s exactly what she did. After working hard as an attorney, Sidney picked up a pen for the first time at thirty years old to begin her dream of writing. Having never written anything other than very exciting legal briefs, she found an outlet for her imaginative romantic side and wrote Seeing Red. That first pen stroke sealed the deal, and she fell in love with writing.

Sidney lives in South Florida with her husband and children. She loves her family above all else, and reading follows a close second. When she’s not writing you can find her reading and reading and reading. She’s a reader first and a writer second.

When she’s not writing or reading, her life is complete and utter chaos, trying to balance family life with work and writing (and reading). But she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Website: http://sidneyhalston.blogspot.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sidney-Halston/399018833508539
Twitter: @sidneyhalston

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