Friday, January 13, 2012

Celebrating Ann Gimpel's New Release

Today on our Cyber Launch Party Blog, we're celebrating the release of Ann Gimpel's  new book PSYCHE'S SEARCH, the book two in her Transformation Series.

PSYCHE'S SEARCH  by Ann Gimpel

Transformation Series Book Two

Born with the sight, Laura McInnis is ambivalent about her paranormal ability. Oh it's useful enough some of the time with her psychotherapy patients. But mostly it's an embarrassment and an inconvenience - especially when her visions drag her to other worlds. Or into Goblin dens. In spite of escalating violence, incipient food shortages and frequent power blackouts, Lara is still far too attached to the comfortable life she shares with her boyfriend, Trevor, a flight attendant who lost his job when aviation fuel got so expensive - and so scarce - his airline went out of business. Forced to seek assistance to hone her unusual abilities in Psyche's Prophecy, Book I of this series, Lara is still quite the neophyte in terms of either summoning or bending her magic to do much of anything.

Reluctantly roped into channeling her unpredictable psychic talents to help a detective who saved her from a psychopathic killer, Lara soon finds herself stranded in the murky underbelly of a world inhabited by demons. The Sidhe offer hope, but they are so high-handed Lara stubbornly resists their suggestions. Riots, death on all sides, a mysterious accident and one particular demon targeting her, push Lara to make some hard decisions. When all seems lost, the Dreaming, nestled in the heart of Celtic magic, calls out to her. Heeding its summons brings sorrow, while opening the gates to a new life.

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Ann Gimpel is a clinical psychologist, with a Jungian bent, who practices in a very isolated area high in California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. Her avocations include mountaineering, skiing, wilderness photography and, of course, writing.

A lifelong aficionado of the unusual, she began writing speculative fiction three years ago. Since then her short fiction has appeared in a number of webzines and anthologies and she has published two novels, Psyche's Prophecy and Psyche's Search.

A husband, grown children, grandchildren and three wolf hybrids round out her family.

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WIN - Leave Ann a question today at her Cyber Launch Party and your name goes in the hat for an autographed copy of either her first book or her new book! Please leave your email address so we can contact you if you are today's winner - Good Luck!

15 comments:

  1. Good morning Ann and super congrats on the new release!

    For those not familiar with your Transformation Series, can you tell us all about it and how the books fit together? How many books do you plan for this series?

    This sounds very much like a fantasy adventure with quite a journey for your heroine, can't wait to read it!

    Enjoy your party today and I hope PSYCHE'S SEARCH is a bestseller for you!

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  2. The books are the story of Lara McInnis, a psychic psychologist, as she transitions from "normal" life in a dystopian near-future to survival mode. Ambivalent about her magic, she finally comes to accept it towards the end of the second book. Psyche's Promise will be the final book of this series. It's due out next July.

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  3. Hi Ann.
    This is a great series and I love the mythic element added to it. My question is: Are you drawing parallels between Jungian theories and Greek mythos to show that your character arcs are based upon lessons humans as a collective have learned in our past lives?

    Wishing you all the best with your novel.

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  4. Hi Liz,
    Part of Jungian training is solid grounding in mythology. Not just Greek and Roman, but Celtic, Sumerian, Norse, etc. The reason Lara McInnis draws material from mythology is because that's where she lives, at least metaphorically.
    Hope that's clear. If not, shoot me another message.
    Ann

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  5. Sounds like a great series! How did you come up with such an interesting storyline?

    books4me67 at ymail dot com

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  6. Hi books4me,
    They say to write what you know. I've been a psychologist for a very long time. The topic of recurring dreams and shared dreams has always fascinated me, so it's not surprising that's one of the plot threads in Psyche's Prophecy.
    Ann

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  7. Hi, Ann, and congrats! I found it interesting that your character can be psychic and a psychotherapist. Is she telepathic, and if so, how does she keep from being influenced by the thoughts of her patients?

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  8. Hi Karina,
    Nice to see your name! Lara reads auras. And she has visions of things that relate to her life. Like any empath (for want of a better word), she's developed lots of walls to keep her work life in a nice, neat little corner of her mind. Until her magic becomes more intrusive, that is. When that happens, she goes in search of a mentor and gets a whole lot more than she bargained for.
    Ann

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  9. Congrats on your new book, Ann! I love these story descriptions. They sound so very interesting! Good luck to you with all three books in this series!

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  10. Hello Ann,
    I was wondering - how long does it take you to write one of your books? For the first draft? And do you have the entire story arc planned out, or does it develop as you write it?

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  11. Hi Clare,
    It takes me about two months to knock out a first draft of a 100K word novel. Then it takes another 2-3 months to polish it. In the past the story arc has developed as I've written. That has led to some plotting issues and some loose plot threads. The novel I just finished (not related to the Psyche series) went really fast. Think I was done with that one in about 5 weeks. I think it's because I knew the characters from an earlier book that never went anywhere. There's something called the Snowflake method. You can hunt them with your browser. It seems sound and I may try it (without buying the software) for my next novel. Basically, you develop the characters and the plot first. If my current experience is any indication, doing things that way would make the actually writing a snap. Sorry this was a bit long winded.
    Ann

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  12. Congratulations on the release Ann. Sounds great. It must be neat to watch the series grow.

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  13. Hi! Congrats on your release! It sounds so good! Who are some of your favorite authors? Where do you get your inspriration from?
    shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com

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  14. Some of my favorite authors are Ursula K. Ke Guin, Patricia McKillip and Robin Hobb. I also like Greg Iles and Nelson DeMille in the dramatic suspense genre.
    Most of my inspiration comes from modern events. Thanks for asking.

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