Spotlight & Giveaway: Day of the Demon by Julie Kenner

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Julie Kenner to HJ!

Hi Julie and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Day of the Demon!

 
I’m so excited to be here!
 

To start off, can you please tell us a little bit about this book?:

This is book 7 of my Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series that started with Carpe Demon: Adventures of a Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom. Here’s how it starts out:

I always knew that parenting a teenager would be like living with a demon from hell. The hormonal explosions. The friend drama. The dating drama. The high school drama. All of the little passion plays that make up the theater that is known as adolescence.

I read all the parenting books. I talked with other moms. I watched movies and television shows.
I anticipated everything … except for the one thing I couldn’t possibly have imagined—

My teenager really is a demon.

What inspired this book?

Mommyhood.
The idea that Mommyhood can be hell … but so can adolescence!

How did you ‘get to know’ your main characters? Did they ever surprise you?

I’m a method actor (writer!) in that I really get to know the characters once I am putting them in action on the page. So in every scene I learn more and more about the characters.

What was your favorite scene to write?

ALL OF THEM!!!! I can’t tell you how much I have missed writing in this world! Going back to it was an absolute joy. These books are So. Freaking. Fun.

What was the most difficult scene to write?

Well, you can tell from the snippet above that Kate (the mom who tells the story) has a lot to deal with. As a mom, it’s hard enough when your kids have to deal with something difficult (anything from relationship stuff to pandemic stress to, well, everything). So when Kate is consoling her daughter who is, understandably, a bit freaked by her … shall we say, nature … it was really gut-wrenching.

Would you say this book showcases your writing style or is it a departure for you?

It’s not a departure at all, though some readers who only have read my super-sexy stories like the novels set in Stark World (Release Me, etc) might be surprised!

What do you want people to take away from reading this book?

The power of family and love. That families don’t necessarily look like the family next door. And that everyone has their own personal demons they have to conquer.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have planned?

I’m working on book 8 in the Demon-Hunting Soccer Mom series as well as the next Nikki & Damien Stark novel, Enchant Me, coming in October.

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: Grab the first THREE books for free at this Bookfunnel link!

 
https://dl.bookfunnel.com/wbfffd920w
 

Grab your books using  the link above and  Leave  a comment to this Q: The item directly to your right is all you have to fight off a horde of wild demons. What is it? How will you use it to survive? (Mine is a half-empty Perrier bottle. I’m sure Kate could manage, but I fear I’m done for!)

Excerpt from Day of the Demon:

“No, no, no!” I screeched, my eyes bugged out horror as I stood stock still, completely stymied with absolutely no idea how to deal with this … this … hell.
Seriously, I was looking down into the vast pit of hell in all its slimy, writhing grossness. It had touched me—infected me—and the pure horror of it all had festered a murderous rage inside of me. A rage so intense that I whipped out my phone and hit the speed dial for Allie.
“Hey, Mom! We’re fine. All quiet. No need to check in.”
“Do. You. Have. Any. Idea. What. You. Did?”
The silence hung heavy on the other end of the line for a full count of five. I know, because Timmy was on the floor beside me, counting the writhing little critters as they wriggled on the concrete.
“Um, no?”
“Maggots, Allie. The outside pantry is teeming with maggots!”
“Ew!”
“Yes,” I said. “Yes, that about sums it up. I opened the doors to get one of the cases of green beans and a bazillion of the creatures practically leaped out at me.”
A slight exaggeration, as only a few had squirmed off the shelf. But it had seemed like a bazillion at the time. As far as I was concerned, though, one maggot was one too many.
As a rule, I’m not squeamish. I’ll put up with all sorts of things. I’ve shoved my finger through an eye to expel demons. I’ve changed the dirtiest of diapers. I’ve scraped dishes that my teenager forgot about in her bedroom for over three weeks, not to mention half-finished fast food milkshakes that had solidified into some sort of concrete-like substance.
I’ve even tackled a bathtub ring so intense I actually considered a full bathroom remodel because it would be an easier job.
But I do not—not—deal well with bugs. Especially bugs of the slimy, wriggling variety.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

Mom and Demon Hunter Kate Connor can never catch a break.

She may have just helped save the world from a full-on apocalypse, but there’s still the problem of her dead ex-husband having come back to life in the body of another man. And her current husband wanting to reconcile after walking out on her so recently she can still taste the pain. Granted, he’d been knocked sideways by the news of her secret vocation, but that didn’t change the fact that they were still on shaky ground.

To make matters worse, her toddler’s sudden refusal to sleep at bed-time isn’t helping Kate’s mood. But that’s really just an annoyance. After all, if she can handle demon hordes, a cranky toddler’s a no-brainer.

No, the real problem is her teenage daughter, Allie. Not dating woes. Not grades. Not a desperate lust for a learner’s permit. Instead, Kate’s facing a dilemma that neither her parenting skills nor her demon-hunting prowess can fix.

Because what exactly is a Demon Hunter supposed to do when it’s her very own daughter who’s the demon?

Book Links: Amazon | B&N | iTunes | Kobo | Google |
 
 

Meet the Author:

J. Kenner (aka Julie Kenner) is the New York Times, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Wall Street Journal and #1 International bestselling author of over one hundred novels, novellas and short stories in a variety of genres.
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