Color Blind
Color Blind # 1
By- Penny Miller
Genre- YA paranormal
Genre- YA paranormal
All her life Harmony Phillips has felt defective. Growing up in a paranormal community where magikal abilities come from the wavelengths of color, a color blind girl is worthless, and they haven't let her forget it. No one but her adoptive parents, Charlie a Were-Lion and Sarah a Witch, along with her best friend Tesch, a Siren, have ever given her an ounce of esteem. When a fit of outrage unlocks the color yellow to her eyes, Harmony passes out cold with shock over her eggs and accidentally glamours her nemesis Challen Parks into a cowardly golden retriever. As other colors unfold before her eyes, so do new abilities. Love and friendship get turned upside down as Harmony struggles to have faith in people, discovering they are not always as they seem. The misfit becomes the outlaw as she is once again different from everyone else. What began as joy turns to peril when the paranormal Council finds out she is more than a Witch, or a Were or a Fae... oh my.
For lots of fun games, q & a with the author and prizes head to the Facebook Party Event!
What inspired you to write Color Blind?
My daughters.
I was part of a writing team. I
co-authored a set of erotic romance books with another woman, We wrote as Jp
Archer (me) and Lani Rhea. I enjoyed the experience but at the time my daughter
Amy was thirteen and immensely curious about the books. Of course, I couldn’t
(and wouldn’t) allow her to read them, They were for an 18+ audience, She kept
asking when I was going to write something she could read.
Color
Blind was my answer to her question.
But more importantly, I found the genre that I truly love.
That Color Blind is a story for
anyone, of just about any age, tickles me pink. I have had readers old and
young, male and female alike that have read it, enjoyed it and asked me for
more. I am an equal opportunity, non-discriminatory purveyor of fictional fun
for all.
I wrote my first short story when I
was maybe seven years old? I know it was first grade. I have been writing
poems, lyrics, stories and bits of dialogue all my life. My english teacher,
Ms. Sue Campbell was the first person to ever tell me I should be a writer. It
wasn’t until I learned of her untimely death to cancer that I decided to take
her advice. No one has forever to follow their dreams, but better late than
never.
What is the earliest age you
remember reading your first book?
I can’t remember when I couldn’t
read, honestly. I know I started reading very early, at three or four years
old. I was even included in a study on early readers and advanced placement
needs. I have my mom, Connie to thank for my love of written words. She read
for her own pleasure as well as reading to me every night from a huge book of
fairy tales when I was little.
I still have that book and I would say the first book I ever
read were stories from that book. The Little Red Hen, The Wolf and Seven Little
Kids and Puss and Boots were my favorites.
What genre of books do you enjoy
reading?
Of course, I love paranormal,
fantasy, adventure. But I also love a good mystery, horror, true crime,
romance, history. Anything really. I’ll read the ingredients on a cereal box if
there is nothing else, just to keep from being bored. But I don’t have to do
that often anymore, thank the godz for Kindle.
Damn. Now that is a HARD question.
That’s like asking a mother to pick her favorite child. It can’t be done. That’s
how I feel about books. Each one is special and unique in its own way.
If you ask me who I read most, it Laurell K. Hamilton. Her
stuff is awesome. I like Sherrilyn Kenyon and Gena Showalter. I loved the Harry
Potter books by J.K. Rowling and the Gunslinger series by Stephen King as well.
And I know everyone talks about Tolkien being THE fantasy writer, but I was
hooked on Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragonlance in my teens. So, I
can’t just pick one. Sorry.
Laurell K. Hamilton. Her primary
characters Anita Blake~ Vampire Hunter and Meredith Gentry ~ American Fairy
Princess are the bomb. They are smart, sassy, independent women that speak
their minds and aren’t stereotypical anything. Ms. Hamilton has that way of
blending fantasy and reality that I hope to aspire to. And her characters have
better punchlines than most comedians.
Such as, “...the true way to a man's
heart is six inches of metal between his ribs. Sometimes four inches will do
the job, but to be really sure, I like to have six.” Anita Blake- Narcissus in
Chains.
I laughed my butt off over that one. But I have a twisted sense of
humor.
and why?
Wow. I love history and there are
some epic moments that I would have loved to see. Unfortunately, I would be
burned at the stake for being a witch or a heretic or both at most of them.
But I think if I had to choose one,
I would pick to go back to the court of Queen Elizabeth the First. It was the
time of the Renaissance and a certain amount of elegance and civility had
become the norm, The art produced during these times is magnificent. The
advances of science and modern medicine were in their infancy. Shakespeare was
performing at the Globe theatre in 1601 in London. So much to witness!
But I would only go back if I could be a moderately wealthy
widow or courtesan. I am an independent woman who likes running her own
finances and future, so I don’t think I would do well in a situation where I
had to answer to a man or be treated as chattel .
Both. I am a what I think of as a
“blitz” writer. I know what and where my stories are going to. But due to my
schedule ( have a full time job as an RN and hospital supervisor), I have to
write in frenetic bursts. It is nothing for me to spend a couple of days
writing 5 to 10 thousand words a day on a story, but it may be another 10 to 12
days before I get the chance to do it again. Sometimes finding time and
inspiration at the same time can be
difficult. I don’t want what I write to be crap. It has to come from the heart
to be any good.
Yes, I do. I have two cats. Sim
(short for Simile) and Merle. Sim is a fat princess of an orange tabby, very
girl Garfield. Merle is a Russian Blue, with soft silky fur that blends
perfectly with the chenille blanket on my bed. I think her realizes he is
camouflaged on it because he hides there and gets my toes when I lay down. If
you ever come to visit, don’t take off your shoes! He will not be happy until
he has pounced on your little piggies.
What is your "to die for",
favorite food/foods to eat?
I like Mexican food, tacos, nachos,
enchiladas, fajitas, etc. But if I was offered my last meal, I would choose
steak (medium rare) and eggs (over medium) with hashbrowns and biscuits with
pecan pie for dessert. We have breakfast for dinner at least once a week at my
house. And I make French Toast to die for out of King’s Hawaiian bread.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it
again. The first step is WTFS. Write the Freaking Story. If you have a story to
tell, that only YOU can tell, then by godz sit down and write it. It will be in
your mind and on your heart like a stone until you do. The editing and
rewriting will come later if the story is worth it.
When I write, my daughter Amy is my
first guinea pig. When I finish a chapter I have her read it aloud to me. It’s
the quickest way for me to find holes, mistakes or repeated words. It also
tells me if the pacing is right and if the voice is “true”.
Be careful of passive voice. Ask
yourself, “Am I telling a story or making a speech?” Because if it sounds more
like a speech, then back up and put some action in there. Practice with 100
word flash.. Find a random photo, or have someone just pick one for you. Then
tell a story about that picture with 100 words, no more and no less. I used to
do them all the time. There are several flash fiction groups on Facebook. It
really helped me to learn to get down to the heart of the matter and lose my
passive voice. You find that words like ‘was’, ‘am’, ‘I’ and ‘the’ are
superfluous.
But mostly, don’t give up. If this
is what you want to do, then do it. I can’t say if you will be published or
not, but I believe that you will be proud of yourself either way.
Thank
you Nancy for having me on your blog. I
enjoyed the questions. I hope your readers will put Color Blind on their ‘must read’ list. It’s a great book to have
and share. If anyone has a question or a comment by all means contact me at my
blog https://pennymillerbooks.wordpress.com/ or by email at pennymiller70@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!
Happy
Reading. #whatcolorisyourmagik
My Review-
Harmony Phillips has grown up in a paranormal
community with her adoptive parents, Charlie a Were-Lion and Sarah a Witch, a
world filled with magikal abilities. Humans have no clue that they live among
Were-Lions, Witches, Faes, Sirens along with other paranormals and that is just
the way paranormals would like to keep it. If humans found out they exist it
would probably scare them so bad that their survival instinct would kick in and
they would start to hunt and kill anyone whom they thought had magikal
abilities. Their fear of the unknown would take them down paths that they have
never traveled before.
Harmony has never had any friends well except for
this one guy Tesch, a siren, has been her best friend since elementary school. Harmony
is colorblind with no magikal abilities and so therefor no one wants to be her
friend just because she is different. Tesch has never treated her like she is a
piece of trash like everyone else. He has always cared for and taken up for her
practically their whole lives. He would do whatever needed to be done to keep
her safe. No matter what that entailed.
Charlie and Sarah have never treated her any
different either. They have always loved and cared for as if she was their biological
daughter. They raised her with love and tried to teach her about the paranormal
world and the world outside of theirs. Charlie and Sarah have tried to be as
honest as they could about everything and everyone. They taught her to always see
the good in everyone but with some people you may have to look a little deeper
to find the goodness. And still there is a possibility that you can look as
deep as you want and never find a smidgen of goodness. But even then if it is a
possibility you still try to be there friend if they will let you. You just might
be that one friend that could change their lives forever.
Harmony has not quiet reached that point in her life
where she can trust anyone except her best friend Tesch and her parents. None
of the kids at school want to be her friend but she tries to stay out of their
way and get along with them. She doesn’t want any trouble. But when Harmony
gets really angry at another student and lashes out at him she starts to see
colors and unlocks her magikal power. When the other students find out that she
has powers then Harmony’s life begins to change. Everyone see her in a
different light now and some even want to be her friend but Harmony doesn’t
know who to trust or who not to trust. She is very afraid of being stabbed in
the back.
Now that Harmony can see some colors she starts to
see the world in a whole different way. She is so happy and fascinated with the
colors that she doesn’t see what is coming for her. Harmony is so naïve and so
into seeing color now that she is not actually ready for it when she is
blindsided by someone who she thought was her friend. Now I am not trying to say
that Harmony is not a good and brave heroine she is. She is one of the bravest heroines
I have seen in a long time. The way I am using the word naïve is a good thing
in my opinion. Being naïve is this case just means that Harmony is not like the
other kids in her life. She would not treat people differently just because
they are different. I see Harmony as
someone who cares about all life and thinks that it is precious and that is not
a bad thing that is a good thing. She would never treat anyone the way she has
been treated by her peers. She would be their friend and even give them a
second chance if that person would allow it.
If you love a good book that will pull at your heart
strings and have all different kinds of emotions coming to the surface then you
will love Color Blind. Warning: a few tidbits to get you through Color Blind.
Things you made need before starting to read it. First you may want to grab a
box of tissue just in case you may need them to wipe all your sad tears away or
you may need them for the happy tears. Oh and you might just want to grab
something to punch and have it ready in case you need that too when you get
upset at some of the characters and what to hit someone or something. There are
characters that you want hug and squeeze and then there are character you would
love to punch in the face. So grab your copy of Color Blind, a box of tissue
and something to hit and commence to reading!
About the Author-
Penny Miller is a born and bred Oklahoman. She has a nursing degree from Eastern Penny Miller Oklahoma State College and is a Registered Nurse in addition to being an author. Penny wrote her first short story complete with illustrations when she was seven-years-old and has been writing ideas and bits of dialogue ever since. As a child, her mother regularly read to her classic faery tales. It was those stories that ignited her imagination and attraction to the magical and whimsical. With her three children Robert, Amy and Cheyenne, she carried on the tradition of introducing them to fantasy and other worlds through stories. Three years ago, she co-authored erotic romance e-books under the pseudonym Jp Archer. At that time her daughters asked her when she was going to write stories they could read. Penny went to her keyboard and dug in and her debut solo novel, Color Blind, was born. Most importantly, creating a story in the Young
Adult/Paranormal genre is where she found her true voice as a writer. She hopes readers will become fans of her heroine Harmony Phillips and follow her story through the next phases; Colorful and Colorless.
Social media links-
%20by%20Willow%20Thorne.jpg)
