The polished surface of her life appears perfect until the morning a smitten grad student brings the cracks in her illusions into sharp focus. No longer willing to live a lie, Caroline’s journey of transformation sets her on a collision course with Dr. Grant Gates. Blinded by his quiet power, good looks, and impressive credentials, Caroline fails to see that Grant is also very good at pretending.
Created from flesh and fire, Grant has a past he would like to forget, an assignment he cannot reveal, and a forbidden obsession with his newest client whose beautiful eyes miss nothing. As the enforcer of an underground brotherhood, he must protect their secrets at any cost, but Grant is determined that Caroline will not become his latest victim. Striking a devil’s bargain to keep the woman he has been searching for safe from his brothers’ plans, Grant struggles to hide who–and what–he is until he becomes her only hope of escape...but will he let her go?
There’s not a chance in Hell.
A contemporary retelling of the Greek myth of Hades and Persephone, Finding Persephone is a compelling tale of an alien assassin's search for absolution and the human woman who becomes the catalyst and heart of his redemption.
Well, one of the interesting things to me about Finding Persephone is although it is the second book, it is actually the first book I wrote of the trilogy. When my friend finished reading it, she handed it back and said, “I want more Grant!” so I wrote The Fire Slayers for her. They are both stand-alone books because they can be read in any order. I am very grateful to her because I learned more about my own characters and discovered some new ones. You never know from where inspiration can spring or where it can take you.
One of the ways my co-workers and I used to spend slow afternoons when I was writing Finding Persephone is I would tell them where I was in the book and they would assign actors for the characters based on what was going on. I think Grant went from George Clooney to Viggo Mortenson…Carrie from Kate Winslet to Michelle Pfeiffer. I think we finally settled on Alexander Skarsgård and Kate Winslet. It was a fun way to imagine the characters and there were a lot of interesting suggestions as the story progressed that made the narrative real to us.
I have evolved into a bit of a pantser (a writer who writes by the seat of her pants), but for this book, I had an outline of the story arc. So, there I was writing, sticking to my outline – more or less – and met Grant who was just supposed to be the reader’s information source for the way the facility was operated. And he charmed me the same way he charmed Carrie and suddenly went from a minor character to the primary male character of the entire trilogy. I think a writer has to be open to those kinds of changes in narrative or character development and run with them. You can always go back to the outline if it doesn’t work out. To me, that is what makes fiction writing an adventure; you never know what is going to happen.
“Grant, will you do me a favor?”
“If I can.”
“Tell me when it’s okay to love you,” she said softly, “I don’t want to miss one moment of you.”
He pulled away a bit and looked into her eyes. “Caroline, you love me?”
“Oh, yes.”
“And our child,” he said hesitantly, “do you…could you ever…love him, too?”
Grant grew very still; so much depended on her next words.
“I’ve loved him since the beginning. Even before I knew he existed, he was part of the dream of you.”
As if she were a bubble that if pressed too hard would burst, his hands began to tremble.
Speaking barely above a whisper, he asked humbly, “Caroline…may I touch you?”
She stood up and locked the door.
“Yes, Grant.”
After she left, he held the quilt to his face.
She loved him.
Not as a Lyostian loves from necessity and gratitude, but as a human loves: freely from desire and choice. His analytical side felt vindicated; the experiment worked and now she would obey him—but everything that was human in him rejoiced. For the first time in twenty–eight years, a small sliver of light entered a dark and dusty room that Grant thought was closed to him forever.
When PJ isn’t writing novels about aliens saving the planet, you can find her sitting on the sun deck with her husband, Jim, and their rescue corgi, Nymeria. She will be the one with a book in one hand and a glass of sangria in the other. More of her work can be found at http://pjbraley.com/.
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ReplyDeleteLooks like a very interesting book.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover, synopsis and excerpt and the trailer is awesome, Finding Persephone is a must read for me. Thank you for sharing your fun facts and book details and for offering a giveaway, I have enjoyed reading about you and your work and I am looking forward to reading your story
ReplyDeleteBea, thank you for your kind words. I've been writing essays, poetry, etc., most of my life, but it wasn't until I started writing about Grant and his brothers that I felt I had a real story to tell. I hope you enjoy reading Finding Persephone as much as I loved writing it. - PJ Braley
DeleteI love the fact that you wrote book 2 first! I have never heard of an author doing that before! How fun!
ReplyDeleteSue, Thank you for your comment! You're right, it doesn't happen often that way - it's just the way the book came to me. I didn't know Grant nearly well enough to be able to write The Fire Slayers without writing Finding Persephone first...I was just discovering who he was and, more importantly, what he was. And the best part about that is you can read The Fire Slayers before or after Finding Persephone, it all meshes together. – PJ
DeleteLauren, thank you so much for hosting Finding Persephone on your beautiful website. I am happy to be here and look forward to responding to questions or comments. In the meantime, I have a question for you and your readers. What do you like best about romance novels...the innocent beginnings, the steamy scenes, or the happy endings? And why?
ReplyDeleteSounds like an interesting book
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, Elaine. Finding Persephone has aliens, love, and romance, with a murder here or there thrown in for balance. I know it was fun to write. - PJ
DeleteCongratulations on your release of Finding Persephone, P.J., I enjoyed the trailer, the fun facts and the excerpt! Your book sounds like a fantastic read and I am looking forward to reading it! Good luck with your book and the tour! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a marvelous week!
ReplyDeleteStormy, Thank you so much for your kind words! I expect a wonderful week with such a great beginning as today and I hope your week is marvelous, too! PS - Love your name <3 - PJ
DeleteGreat excerpt
ReplyDeleteEdgar, I'm happy you liked it. I really tried to keep it in the book but had to admit that Emilee was right and took it out. Have you ever had to delete a scene or a chapter in your books?
DeleteEdgar, I'm so sorry...you were referring to the excerpt. On Andi's Book Review, there is a deleted scene and I got confused. So sorry! The excerpt is really one of my favorite scenes...Grant goes from being caring, loving. and almost human, to a calculating alien intent on his experiment's successful outcome. It is representative of Grant's struggle throughout the book.
DeleteI like the artwork on the cover.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Of course, like most book covers, it was a collaborative effort, but the designer Suzanne Johnson did a marvelous job of pulling it all together. The symbol on fire is the alien's symbol for a Man on Fire.
DeleteReally nice cover and excerpt, looking forward to reading this!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! What other kinds of books do you like?
DeleteThis sounds very interesting! Thanks for the introduction to a new to me author. :-)
ReplyDeleteGlenda, how nice of you to say that! What other authors do you read?
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ReplyDeleteWhat book are you currently reading?
ReplyDeletePlease see comment below.
DeleteI recently started reading All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. It's fairly interesting so far. What are you reading?
ReplyDeleteWhat books do you recommend starting out with for your backlist?
ReplyDeleteThe Fire Slayers was published in the Fall of 2020. Although Finding Persephone was written first, a friend handed it back to me and said, "I need more Grant." So, I wrote The Fire Slayers, which explains who the Lyostians are, why Grant was created from flesh and fire, and his mission within the collective. Because it was first chronologically, I decided to have the books published in order. Still, it can be read anytime, and I think that reading The Fire Slayers after Finding Persephone compliments it rather than the other way around. You can find more information about The Fire Slayers at http://pjbraley.com/hello-world/thefireslayers/.
DeleteWhich of your characters do you relate to the most and why?
ReplyDeleteExcellent question. While Carrie and I shared some experiences, I found a dark side of me coming out in Grant's character that I never knew existed. Up until Grant, I had never written anyone so powerful and dangerous. Although I don't relate to Grant's methods, I admire his fearlessness and confidence, which is why, as the story progresses, these same attributes start to appear in Carrie's character arc.
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