Fabulous and Brunette: Fox Tale by Karen Hulene Bartell - Book Tour - Guest Post - Giveaway

Fox Tale

by Karen Hulene Bartell

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GENRE: Paranormal Romance

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BOOK BLURB:

Heights terrify Ava. When a stranger saves her from plunging down a mountain, he diverts her fears with tales of Japanese kitsune—shapeshifting foxes—and she begins a journey into the supernatural.

She’s attracted to Chase, both physically and metaphysically, yet primal instincts urge caution when shadows suggest more than meets the eye.

She’s torn between Chase and Rafe, her ex, when a chance reunion reignites their passion, but she struggles to overcome two years of bitter resentment. Did Rafe jilt her, or were they pawns of a larger conspiracy? Are the ancient legends true of kitsunes twisting time and events?

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EXCERPT THREE:

“Ava, are you all right?”

“Yes…” His anxious eyes cleared my mind like fog lights cutting through mist. “I am all right…no thanks to you.”

“I deserve that.” His chin dropped on his chest.

“That and so much more.” This time, anger rose in my throat like acid reflux.

After the breakup, I couldn’t mention the bastard’s name for a year. Always questioning what I’d done wrong, I finally realized his leaving was his flaw--not mine. Then I fantasized telling him off, rehearsing what I’d say and how I’d say it…

But now, face to face, the bluster left me.

Worry lines radiated from his glistening eyes.

Mute testament to what? Grief? Remorse? Like drops of water eroding stone, what thoughts etched those furrows? His face was haggard. His looks have changed, but has he?

“Your behavior two years ago was unconscionable.” I pressed five, and the elevator doors started to close. “I shouldn’t have come.”

He intercepted, and the doors reopened. “Please stay…”

I took a deep breath, debating. Then rather than hold up the car again, I stepped into the vestibule.

“Can you forgive me?” A deep V showed between his red-rimmed eyes.

“No. Standing me up on my birthday was bad enough, but eloping…That was unforgiveable--and crocodile tears won’t help.”

“Yet here you are…” A light flickered in his moist eyes.

“I know.” I glared at my nemesis in a silent standoff, annoyed as I stifled a sigh. “What I don’t know is why.”

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GUEST POST:

How I Handled the Research for Fox Tale

Researching can be an occupational hazard to a novelist. Because some of my characters meet with suspicious demises, I have an online search history that (hopefully doesn’t but) probably does put me on some sort of FBI-CIA-NSA watch list.

For instance, in Fox Tale, I researched the Japanese Yakuza (organized crime syndicate), suicide by jumping from dangerous locations, drug overdoses, Senicide (the abandoned of elderly relatives), doomsday cult members, the splitting of the Sessho-seki or killing stone, and whether kitsunetsuki is a disease, mental illness, psychosis, culture-bound syndrome, or what many believe, fox possession.

You may wonder why I chose Japan as the setting for Fox Tale. My husband works for a Japanese company. When he was instructed to meet with his Tokyo team, I leapt at the chance to accompany him to the Land of the Rising Sun.

The next thing I did was research Japan’s cryptids. What appeared were Inari’s kitsunes or fox spirits—and voilà, the idea for Fox Tale was born.

While my husband attended meetings, I explored Tokyo, sometimes alone on foot and sometimes with a group tour. I took copious notes, and each site I visited became part of my developing story. With the supernatural element, as well as the locale established, my imagination began taking flight.

I spoke to locals as often as possible, asking if they believed in kitsunes--or if their neighbor or grandmother believed in them. (Luckily, many Japanese speak English!) Not one admitted to believing in the old superstitions, but almost all knew of someone who did.

By gathering all the information I could from interviewing locals, as well as researching online, the plot for Fox Tale began to take shape. Once I had the realistic component that tied the supernatural to the natural, I had the storyline. Then the characters emerged as the story unfolded in my mind.

When my husband finished his meetings in Tokyo, we visited Kyoto, where we toured Fushimi Inari. The mountain is sacred in the Shinto religion, a place where “deities coexist with nature” and where, some believe, Inari resides.

Fushimi Inari has an ethereal presence. Its otherworldly aura and scenery are difficult to describe, but if anything supernatural could occur, it would happen on that mountain.

While at that shrine, the various parts of Fox Tale fused into an organic whole: the supernatural element, general locale, plot, characters, and finally the specific location for the otherworldly activity.

Lo and behold, a novel was born.

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AUTHOR BIO:

Author of the Trans-Pecos and Sacred Emblem series, Karen is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, wife, and all-around pilgrim of life, who writes multicultural, offbeat love stories. Born to rolling-stone parents who moved often, Bartell found her earliest playmates as fictional friends in books. Paperbacks became her portable pals. Ghost stories kept her up at night—reading feverishly. The paranormal was her passion. Novels offered an imaginative escape. An only child, she began writing her first novel at the age of nine, learning the joy of creating her own happy endings. Professor emeritus of the University of Texas at Austin, Karen resides in the Texas Piney Woods with her husband Peter and her “mews”—three rescued cats and a rescued *Cat*ahoula Leopard dog.

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CONNECT WITH KAREN:

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/KarenHuleneBartell

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https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/611950.Karen_Hulene_Bartell