Guest post and contest with Felicity Heaton

Today we are all being treated to an inside look at how indie author Felicity Heaton has created her own unique vampires. She's also giving away some really cool signed book swag including: cover postcards, bookmarks and trading cards for Heart of Darkness and other books.This contest is open internationally!!! I will draw a winner next week. Please include an email if one isn't in your profile. So leave a comment for your chance to win!

Firstly, I would like to say a huge thanks for having me here as part of the Heart of Darkness leg of my
Paranormal Pandemonium 2011 Blog Tour.

Before I start talking more about the vampire species in the book, I’ll introduce myself. I’m a paranormal
romance author and I’ve been writing since 2005, and turned indie in 2006. In that time I have written
over forty stories under the names Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. Most of my stories are released
under my full name, but I write the Vampires Realm series as F E Heaton. My paranormal romances
are usually focused on vampires and werewolves, but I do also write other shape-shifters like black
panthers, and also demons and witches, and a whole bunch of sexy angels.

Whenever I write vampires, I like to change a few things about them to make them unique. I prefer to
write vampires that stand apart from other vampires and are a little different. All of my vampires are
very dark and deadly, drinking blood fresh from the vein and generally treating humans as an inferior
species that they care little about except for when they’re hungry. Of course, there’s always room for
those vampires to have a change of opinion by falling for a human, but that’s a different story.

When I was creating the world of Heart of Darkness, I spent a lot of time thinking about the vampires.
The vampires in the world continue their species through procreation, live in smaller family units with
their bloodlines, are unknown to us, and breathe and have heartbeats. Although, their hearts do beat
at a much slower pace than ours, which is why they age more slowly than we do. During their first two
decades they age at a rate the same as a human. Once mature, they age far slower, so by the time they
look thirty-five to our eyes, they are really around eight hundred years old. They live exclusively on
blood and can’t go out into direct sunlight, can be killed by all the usual methods and can be poisoned
by certain toxins and also silver. They can touch silver but when it comes into contact with a cut it harms
them. They can’t turn humans. Their bite only brings death. They are also a completely separate species
to us.

Millennia ago, the vampires were little more than demons, beasts who were slaves to their bloodlust
and driven by instinct, mindless and violent. Animals. Over the passing centuries, they found a way to
evolve into something more human by limiting their kills. The vampire bloodline that discovered this
method of achieving humanity and raising themselves up from beasts to powerful creatures became the
royal family. The Nemov bloodline.

Vampires in the world of Heart of Darkness now live in a modern age where each individual in a
bloodline need only kill once or twice a year to provide blood for the entire family, thus not endangering
their precarious humanity. The Nemov line preaches pacifism, leading by example, warning not to fall
prey to their baser instincts that crave killing and feasting on the blood of their victims.

What would happen to a vampire if they ignored the rules? That’s the question posed in Heart of
Darkness.

Aleksandr Nemov, the hero and former heir prince of vampire society, has been tracking and killing
vampire hunters for four centuries. He’s on a mission to avenge his murdered younger sister by wiping
out her killer’s progeny and hunting his line to extinction. Four hundred years of killing has taken its
toll on him. Little by little his humanity has faded and his soul has become corrupted, weak against the
black abyss that lives in the hearts of all vampires—the beast within. That darkness has grown stronger

with each kill, destroying him from the inside out, extinguishing his emotions and allowing his darker
instincts to seize control at times. The extent of the damage is evident in his eyes when he reveals his
true appearance. Normally vampires have red eyes, clear of imperfections. Aleksandr’s are speared with
black, leaving only a small amount of crimson behind. In short, he is devolving, becoming the beast that
vampires once were.

If Aleksandr turns into a beast, what would vampire society do to protect itself?

They would hunt him down and slaughter him, as they do all vampires who devolve. Aleksandr knows
that but he also knows that his battle against the darkness within him is one he is slowly losing.

Is there a way to come back from the darkness?

Some vampires believe that a feral demonic vampire can come back given time away from killing, just as
their ancestors did. Others believe there is no return if a vampire succumbs completely to the darkness.
The easiest method of saving yourself is to recognise the corruption in your soul and find a way to tame
the dark need to hunt and kill, slowly regaining your humanity.

That isn’t a choice that Aleksandr has. He’s so close to the edge that the next kill could push him over
it and there is one final vampire hunter he must face before his vendetta is over. Torn between fear of
becoming a beast and his deep need to avenge his sister at any cost, it is obvious which he will choose.
The only thing that stops him from racing to his death is a female vampire guard that he meets. Elise has
a mesmerising effect on Aleksandr, one that lures him into switching his hunt to one for her while he
awaits the vampire hunter in Prague. When he’s struggling against the darkness, just a glance into her
eyes can chase the shadows back and bring light into his heart. Through Elise, Aleksandr discovers a new
method of restoring some of his humanity—love.

But the final question is whether that love will be powerful enough to stop his descent into the madness
of bloodlust when his faces the final hunter and the end of his mission?

Well, you’ll have to venture into the world of Heart of Darkness to seek the answer to that question.

I hope you all enjoyed this introduction to the breed of vampires in Heart of Darkness. If you would like
to find out more about the book, please read on for the blurb and where the book is available.

Heart of Darkness is currently available in e-book from my website, Amazon Kindle Stores, Apple
iBookstores, Barnes and Noble Nook Store, Sony Reader Store, All Romance eBooks, and Smashwords. It
will soon be available from Kobo Books. It is also available in paperback at amazon.com and will soon be
available at other Amazon stores worldwide and Barnes & Noble.

I have a limited time fantastic offer on Heart of Darkness. If you purchase the book before December
10th and contact me, I’ll send you free Heart of Darkness romance trading cards. You can find out all
about it at my blog: http://www.indieparanormalromancebooks.com/2011/11/get-your-hands-on- heart-of-darkness.html

Heart of Darkness
A vampire prince on a four hundred year old mission to avenge his murdered sister...

Aleksandr Nemov won’t stop until the last of the vampire hunter’s progeny is wiped from the Earth.
Each kill has stolen a piece of his humanity, pushing him towards the black abyss all vampires hold
within their hearts. Now he is teetering on the edge, close to devolving into a beast, and time is running
out as he tracks the last hunter to Prague. There he finds a beautiful woman who could be his one
chance for salvation, but is it already too late for him?

A vampire guard who will do whatever it takes to protect those she loves...

Elise is dedicated to her duty. It’s the only thing she has left. All that changes when she meets Aleksandr
in Prague and her master grants him permission to stay at her bloodline’s mansion. She knows all about
Aleksandr but none of it prepares her for how she feels when the legendary prince’s hunt becomes
one for her heart. Elise battles him with all of her strength but can she stop herself from falling for the
handsome hunter? When he reveals the depth of the corruption in his soul, will she have the strength to
face the pain in her past and do whatever it takes to save him?

Read an excerpt at my website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk/ebooks.php? title=Heart%20of%20Darkness

Available in paperback from:
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1466452897/

Biography:
Felicity Heaton is a romance author writing as both Felicity Heaton and F E Heaton. She is passionate
about penning paranormal tales full of vampires, witches, werewolves, angels and shape-shifters,
and has been interested in all things preternatural and fantastical since she was just a child. Her other
passion is science-fiction and she likes nothing more than to immerse herself in a whole new universe
and the amazing species therein. She used to while away days at school and college dreaming of
vampires, werewolves and witches, or being lost in space, and used to while away evenings watching
movies about them or reading gothic horror stories, science-fiction and romances.

Having tried her hand at various romance genres, it was only natural for her to turn her focus back to
the paranormal, fantasy and science-fiction worlds she enjoys so much. She loves to write seductive,
sexy and strong vampires, werewolves, witches, angels and alien species. The worlds she often dreams
up for them are vicious, dark and dangerous, reflecting aspects of the heroines and heroes, but her characters also love deeply, laugh, cry and feel every emotion as keenly as anyone does. She makes no excuses for the darkness surrounding them, especially the paranormal creatures, and says that this is their world. She’s just honoured to write down their adventures.

If you want to know more about me, or want to get in touch, you can find me at the following places:
My website: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk
My blog: http://www.indieparanormalromancebooks.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/feheaton
Twitter: http://twitter.com/felicityheaton
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/felicityheaton

Guest post and Contest with Traci L. Slatton

Let's all show some love for author Traci L. Slatton, who is here today to talk about her favorite paranormal shows. I love her choices and have very fond memories of watching X files each week, starved for the truth that I was so sure would be revealed and never really was. I didn't care much for the movies but I attribute that to my overly high expectations at the time. The show was the first television show that I remember talking about with friends, testing theories and plotting possibilities. And Mulder was so hot!

My current favs are Bedlam, Supernatural and Dr. Who. What about you? Leave a comment and you could win a copy of Fallen! This contest is open to US/Canada only. The winner will be chosen at random next week. Good Luck!






My Favorite Paranormal TV Show
By Traci L. Slatton,
Author of Fallen

This question posed a dilemma: do I choose The venerable X Files, because of Fox Mulder's dry, noble passion for the truth, so beautifully counterbalanced by Dr. Scully's crystalline, analytical braininess? Or do I vote for Torchwood, charmed as I was by Captain Jack's lusciousness, and the wacky humor that often made me giggle through my shivers of fear?

Unforgettable images abound in The X Files: remember the slimy fluke man, with his gaping, fanged mouth? Those remorseless, unslaked, sucking prongs still show up in my nightmares. And Eugene Tooms, slithering through the narrowest openings to feast on human livers. But then there's the pterodactyl flying around the Torchwood hub, and the malignant weevils slipping through the rift to torment the citizens of Earth. The episode "Immortal Sins" featured a brain parasite that caused insanity and intended to make Nazi Germany victorious.

In terms of setting, there's the question of Cardiff vs. Vancouver, which I personally think is six of one and half-dozen of another. Neither of those shows depended on place so much as they did on inventiveness, originality, spookiness--and well-drawn characters. In The X Files, Mulder had his heart-rending back story: the abducted sister, his guilt, his anguish over his parents' possible complicity, and his determination and frustration. Scully wrestled with the evidence her own eyes kept showing her, evidence that repeatedly contradicted the scientific paradigm that stood at the heart of her life mission. And how was she to integrate her own abduction by extraterrestrials? In Torchwood, Captain Jack was immortal, warm-hearted, dutiful, and pan-sexual. He fell in love easily but lost his paramours. Police constable Gwen Cooper agonized over what and how much to tell her fiance. She is humane and grounded, leading the life of an ordinary house-holder while fiercely battling the supernatural elements that attack our very existence. She leads a double life, and it takes its toll.

Alas, I shall have to ramble along both roads at once, and name two favorite paranormal shows.

Author Bio

Traci L. Slatton, author of Fallen, is a graduate of Yale and Columbia, and she also attended the Barbara Brennan School of Healing. She lives in Manhattan with her husband, sculptor Sabin Howard, whose classical figures and love for Renaissance Italy inspired her historical novel Immortal and her contemporary vampire art history mystery The Botticelli Affair. Fallen is the first in a romantic trilogy set during the end times.

For more information please visit http://www.tracilslatton.com and follow the author on Facebook and Twitter

Guest post with Jessica Sims

I hope you haven't all overdosed on Halloween candy because I have a fun guest post from author Jessica Sims about why she wears the crown for least cool PNR author. Me, I think these might actually be a reason why her latest book is so much fun...different muse + different inspiration = a totally different reading experience. Both Jenny and I enjoyed Beauty Dates a Beast and we think you will too (already looking forward to the next book).

100% True and Embarrassing Confessions of the Least Cool Paranormal Romance Author

Paranormal romance tends to be a fairly dark genre. How can it not be when you’re dealing with things that go bump in the night? Vampires? Ghosts? Ghouls? Demons? Not exactly light fare, right?

And a lot of the time you’ll notice that authors encourage this ‘darker’ mood. They wear sunglasses in their photos. They listen to music by Godsmack and Slayer (or something) to get in the mood for writing darker fare. The favorite movies of a paranormal romance author? “Interview with the Vampire” or “Underworld” or “Blade”.

And while these are all really awesome, I am sort of…not like that. I wish I could sit here and tell you that I’d written my last book to the soundtrack of “Queen of the Damned” but I’m afraid it’s a little more embarrassing than that.

So without further ado here are the top 10 reasons why I am the Least Cool Paranormal Romance Author:

1) I wrote my last paranormal romance to Taylor Swift…

2) …and Katy Perry.

3) I like Buffy the Vampire Slayer. You know, the one with Kristy Swanson and Luke Perry, not the one with Sarah Michelle Gellar.

4) I don’t own sunglasses. In fact, I even like the sun.

5)  I cross myself when I pass a graveyard, and I certainly don’t investigate them!

6) The thought of visiting a haunted house fills me with terror.

7)  The last time I was at an ‘edgy’ club, some old guy wearing his shirt unbuttoned to his navel and too many gold chains hit on me. He was fifty or so. I was eighteen and wore a fluffy pink headband in my hair. I haven’t been back since. I’m pretty sure I’m still scarred.

8) I think Bloody Marys are GROSS.

9) I can’t remember the last time I saw a full moon. Bedtime is 9:30 at night, yo!

10) I wear black a lot, but it’s only because I’m lazy. Black matches everything!

So there you go. If there was a test for paranormal romance authors, I’m pretty sure I’d fail it. I’m not even sure I could be mysterious. But that doesn’t mean I can’t write a nice, funny, romantic book about people that go bump in the night, right?

...Right?

Author website here.

Guest post (and free books) with Mayra Calvani

As a special Halloween treat and thank you to readers we have the prologue to Mayra Calvani's latest book AND if that wasn't cool enough, she is also offering free downloads for two of her previous books! All the details are at the end of this post. Enjoy!

Embraced by the Shadows
Prologue

Istanbul, Twelve Years Ago

The Grand Bazaar was bustling with locals and tourists, as it had always been on warm summer
nights for the past few centuries. The glitter of gold and copper and brass, lavishly displayed
behind dozens of shop windows, could dazzle anybody's eyes. Heavy spices, Ottoman sweets of
grape and nut pastes with the promise of aphrodisiac qualities, sacks filled with Arab coffees and
the best teas from the northeastern little city of Rize, almond oils and musks, hennas, hundreds
of hand-made silk carpets, their bright colors and details blinding. And the leather…endless rows
of leather shops, filled with the soft yet pungent scent of animal skins. A very loud, wildly exotic
belly-dancing melody came out of one of the shops, and an oddly pleasing smell, that of cigarette
smoke mixed with incense and raki—the local alcoholic drink made from anise—hovered in the
air.

The girl with long red curls stood in front of one of the many shops which swarmed this ancient
place. She gazed intently at an oil painting of angels displayed in the window. Dramatic and
disturbing, the painting depicted in painful detail an auburn-haired angel being cast out of
Heaven.

From afar, the vampire watched.

Same profile, same hair. Uncanny, the resemblance. Just like...

For a bitter second the vampire closed his eyes and commanded himself to forget. Then
everything was fine again, and his eyes opened and the ghost of a smile crossed his face.

Three centuries ago he would have drunk from her. No man, woman or child could be safe from
him during those first dark days. His hunger insatiable, he would have been lost in the rapture
of the draught. But that was three centuries ago. Nowadays he preferred men with cold murder
in their past, and he liked to take them completely, loving the gush of warm blood in his mouth,
until he ceased to hear the haunting, drum-like beat of the heart.

The girl seemed mesmerized by the painting of the fallen angel. The virulent clouds; the
agonizing faces of the good angels surrounding the “fallen” one; the almost palpable sadness and
rage, all stroke a deep cord within her.

The vampire could see through her artistic soul; unbeknown to herself, she had fallen in love
with the beauty of the colors, the purity of the lines, and the tragic fatalism of it.

She loved the painting. She wanted her mom to buy it for her, but she knew her mom wouldn’t.
It looked way too expensive…

And then something happened. She seemed to sense his presence, turned around, and stared right
into his direction.

She frowned, uncertain. Something about him had caught her attention. His tall frame dressed in
black, a flash of white teeth.

The vampire retreated into the shadows of the alley. He felt a twinge of guilt. He had not meant
to frighten her.

The girl’s mother and uncle, carrying bags of goods and souvenirs in their hands, stepped out
of the shop. The girl pointed to the painting and pleaded with her mother to get it for her. Her
mother took one look at it and shook her head. “That’s morbid!” she said, then went on to argue
that she had already bought her many gifts and her unreasonable requests would make them
bankrupt. Nevertheless, she went inside the shop to ask for the price. A moment later she came
back, looking incredulous and muttering in disbelief, “Ridiculous! A thousand dollars for that
thing. Sorry, mi amor, but I can’t afford it.”

As they headed toward the exit of the bazaar, the girl glanced over her shoulder to the alley. But
this time she didn’t see him.

After the girl was out of sight, the vampire walked into one of the many ill-reputed, dark narrow
streets near the bazaar and finished off a couple of shabby, despicable-looking mortals in two
intense short draughts.

Then he walked back to the shop to purchase the painting.

-----------------------
To celebrate the release of my novel Embraced by the Shadows, now available on Kindle for
$2.99, I’m giving away two of my other books for FREE. This offer will run until Halloween
night only. Of course, I hope you’ll consider supporting my work by purchasing a copy of
Embraced by the Shadows, but if for whatever reason you decide not to, the two free eBooks are
still yours to download. This is my Halloween gift to you!

The FREE eBooks I’m giving away are: Dark Lullaby and Cat Cellar and Other Stories and
they’re available in various formats on Smashwords:

Dark Lullaby https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/94529

The Cat Cellar and Other Stories https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/95031

Halloween guest post and contest with Marie Treanor

Thanks to Marie Treanor for treating us to such a fun and informative guest post. I had a lot of fun learning more about Halloween customs and I hope that you find it as cool as I did. It's always interesting to me that when we Americanize a holiday it seems to become more commercial and less about traditions. Sad really. I think I prefer the old ways more. 

Our traditions are pretty simple: We take the kids to Apple Annie's, this little orchard up in Willcox, to pick pumpkins and vegetables, walk through the creepy corn maze, and maybe go on a hayride. We stock up on local food stuffs like desert honey and apple butter too. Then we spend an afternoon turning our front yard into a cemetery and hang spiderwebs and lights on the porch. Costumes are usually pretty simple for monster #1: Jedi, Stormtrooper, or homemade Ghostbuster. Monster #2 changes about a million times every year but this year we have settled on Frankiestein, a Monster High character that she loves (She wanted to be Draculaura but mean 'ol mommy thought the outfit was too skimpy for a 9 year old). Over the years I have tried to teach them the more traditional aspects of the holiday, like celebrating the end of summer and honoring those that have left our world behind, but I imagine that those details won't be as important until they grow up a bit. We'll see. 

CONTEST DETAILS:

*One lucky reader will win a print copy of Blood Eternal (U.S. shipping only)
*Leave a comment about your favorite Halloween traditions
*Please include an email if one is not easily located in your profile
*Winner will be drawn on October 31st


Enjoy and good luck~


Anna

As Halloween approaches, all things scary, spooky and monstrous seem to be on everyone’s
minds. It’s no different in my house, where my eight year old daughter is desperately trying
to work out whether she should be a werewolf or a zombie for the occasion!

I know America has a particular fondness for this “holiday”, with long-standing “trick or
treat” traditions – which, incidentally, have been spreading around the UK in recent years.
Even in my home country, Scotland, where we have our own very distinctive traditions,
many of the kids I open the door to at Halloween, greet me now with, “Trick or treat!”
Although I’m a traditionalist at heart, I don’t mind that, because they’re not substituting one
tradition for another, they’re just adding to their own customs.

Anyway, I thought I’d tell you today about Scotland’s Halloween habits. As you’ve probably
guessed, the children dress up and go round their neighbours’ houses, much like American
children. Only, we call it “guising” – as in “disguising”, I suppose! – and the children are
all prepared with some sort of turn – a song, a dance, a scary little play, or just a Halloween
joke or two – which they do at your door or in your house, and then receive sweets, nuts,
fruit, cake or other goodies, and sometimes a bit of loose change. I believe it’s a hangover
from medieval times, when visiting mummers would dress up and entertain in the spirit of All
Hallows Eve.

We live in a village, so it’s usually great fun and quite safe for guisers. One of the kids in a
given group nearly always knows someone in each house, so they usually just keep going
from house to house until they get too cold and decide to come home and divide the spoils.
The “turns” they do can be amazing, everything from the tiny child clutching his mum’s hand
and telling a bad joke about a skeleton, to an elaborately choreographed dance routine from
well rehearsed eleven or twelve year olds.

We have Halloween party traditions too. Including “dooking” for apples: you can either kneel
on a chair, with a basin of water and apples on the floor beneath you, stick the handle of a
fork in your mouth and then drop it into the basin and hope to prong an apple; or you can
just stick your face right in the basin of water and grab an apple with your teeth . Neither’s as
easy as it looks!

And then there’s “biting the treacle scone” – which is extraordinarily messy. Some scones are
hung from a piece of string at around head-height, and covered in black treacle. The kids are
blind-folded and have to try and take a bite of a scone. You really need a hosepipe to clean up
after that one!

I’ll probably avoid the treacle scones, but we may dook for apples. My daughter will
certainly want to go guising, although my teenage sons are too old to go on their own behalf
now. And we’ll have some fruit and sweets ready to give to the guisers who’re bound to come to our door.

What will you do this Halloween? Will you dress up, party, take kids out on their scary
missions? What’s the custom where you are?

Secrets don't disappear after seduction...

Elizabeth Silk is struggling to reconcile her passion for the vampire overlord Saloman and her allegiance to the vampire hunters. When a shocking vampire revolt calls Saloman away from her, she refuses to follow him.

To make matters worse, Saloman’s beloved cousin Luk has been found and awakened by one of his greatest enemies. Frenzied with bloodlust, Luk embarks on a killing spree and prepares to expose Saloman’s biggest vulnerability: Elizabeth.

But under Saloman’s regime, vampires have become less concerned with secrecy, no longer willing to hide their power. Rumors are swirling about attacks on humans. After Saloman joins forces with the vampire hunters to consolidate his power, Elizabeth begins to understand her role in the inevitable collision of the two worlds. 

She could bring resolution between vampires and humans—if she can manage to stay alive long enough to play both sides….

Guest post with Stephanie Draven

Every author can tell you what’s awesome about her book--and I can tell you what’s awesome
about mine. Greek mythology, adventure, hot sex scenes on a train, page-turning plot and a
layered story about breaking free of slut-shaming. All that’s in my new romance and I’m proud of
it. But now I’m going to tell you about some of the things I’m not as proud of.

1. My Hero Isn’t Muslim Enough. I wanted to create a multi-cultural hero, and wow, the Greek-
Arab immigrants from Aleppo was a rich place to mine for culture. But as I was writing the story,
I found it more difficult--and even a little hazardous--to get too much into the religious aspects.
Like other paranormal authors who have to deal with mythology and its clash with modern
religion, I’m afraid I punted a little. Rayhan Stavrakis is certainly culturally Muslim, but he’s a
doubter.

2. My Heroine Takes a Long Time to Be Worthy of the Hero. I like bad girls; there’s no
secret about that. But Layla Bahset isn’t a bad girl. She’s the ultimate good girl. So good, so
stilted, that when the hero enters her world, she becomes a hot mess. She’s hot, she’s cold, she
means well, but she inflicts more damage on an already damaged man. It takes a long time for
her to be lovable, but in the end, I think she was.

3. My Secondary Characters Almost Steal the Show. Oh, I fell in love with the secondary
heroine in my novel--a sassy Aztec goddess of prostitutes with a heart of gold. And she, in turn,
falls in love with the villain, Seth, the dark god of Egypt. These two larger than life personalities
take over on every page. I probably should have used them a little more sparingly.

So, what do you think, readers?

Wrongfully accused and broken by torture, an American soldier transforms into a mind-controlling minotaur bent on revenge…

Escaping a hellish Syrian prison, U.S. serviceman Ray Stavrakis emerges with uncanny powers and an eerie ability to morph into a mythical Minotaur, half-man, half-bull. Only one woman can prove his innocence and soothe the savage beast inside–the same woman who’d driven him to the brink of insanity with her cool-eyed interrogation and her hot-blooded sensuality.

But Vegas psychologist Layla Bahset has no memory of Ray or her past. Only a feeling of being stalked by a nonhuman predator. Is it Ray…whose eyes condemn her soul even as his hands ignite her body? Or is another evil force hunting her down like prey?

Now nothing can stop Layla from remembering what she really is…and what her evil creator has planned for her and her soldier lover…

Available November 2011

Other books in the Mythica series:

Midnight Medusa

Wild, Tethered, Bound

Poisoned Kisses 

Siren Song

Author website:

http://stephaniedraven.com/

Bloodstone Blog Tour, Contest and Guest post

Looking for a job? Have you ever thought about becoming a demon fighter? Well, you've come to the right place! Today we have a guest post by non other than Mab Vaughn from the Deadtown series by Nancy Holzner. 

 

Nancy is also offering a tour-wide giveaway- readers can enter at each stop for a chance to win 1 of 5 books being offered. That's right, folks. 5 book giveaways and 5 lucky winners! Each of the five winners gets his/her choice of a signed copy of Deadtown, Hellforged, or Bloodstone. This giveaway is open to US only. Good luck!

Fill out the form for your chance to win!

 

 

 

Programme for Apprentice Demon Fighters

Hello. My name is Mab Vaughn, and I'm a retired demon-fighter. Well, perhaps semi-retired would be
more accurate. One never knows when one's services may be required.

I come from a long line of demon slayers, stretching back to Ceridwen, a Welsh goddess well known
for her shapeshifting ability. My race, the Cerddorion, have opposed demons since our mutual origins.
I have trained many a Cerddorion demon fighter, including my niece, Victory. Recently Vicky has
undertaken to train an apprentice of her own, a young, so-called “zombie” named Tina. So I thought
it would be helpful to put together a training programme for Vicky to use. Other experienced demon
slayers thinking of taking on an apprentice may find it helpful, as well.

Years 1-3: Know Your Enemy

Before an aspiring demon fighter can even begin to think of actual combat, it is essential to understand
the nature, habits, strengths, and weaknesses of the demons eventually to be encountered in the
field. There's simply no point in charging in unprepared, trying to fight (for example) a Glitch, using
techniques best suited for opposing Drudes. To do so is, quite frankly, to court disaster. A Glitch is
an anti-technology demon; a Drude is a nightmare-causing demon. Combat in the technological realm
requires a completely different strategy from fighting in the realm of dreams. Anyone who fails to
understand this has no business fighting demons.

So a firm grounding in the fundamentals of demonology is the necessary first step in any training
programme. The apprentice must gain an encyclopedic knowledge of demons before proceeding. For
this phase of training, the indispensable text is Russom's Demoniacal Taxonomy. Yes, it's dry. Yes,
it's lengthy. And yes, it's a couple of centuries old. But there's no better resource on demons. If an
apprentice cannot get through the book due to tone or length, that apprentice should not—indeed, must
not—continue training. As for age, some argue that Russom's has become dated, yet how much have
demons changed over the centuries? Very little. I can vouch for that from personal experience.

For the first three years of training, the apprentice must become thoroughly familiar with the contents
of Russom's, to be supplemented by other texts as required. Written reports, oral reports, and frequent
pop quizzes are the best means for demonstrating knowledge. In the third year, the apprentice may
move on to analysis of complex scenarios, such as “Is it likely that Imps and Hellions would form an
alliance? Why or why not? In the event of such an alliance (whether likely or unlikely), describe the
best strategy for defeating the enemy.”

Year 4: Introduction to Weaponry

After the apprentice has demonstrated a thorough understanding of the demon world and its
inhabitants, it's time to introduce weaponry. This year is reserved for gaining familiarity with the
different types of weapons. I recommend the following units, in order: the properties of bronze, bladed
weapons, projectiles, and techniques to enhance weapons' effectiveness (holy water, sacramental wine,
basic spellcraft, etc.).

Although the apprentice may view and handle individual weapons during this phase, the apprentice
should not use them, even in mock combat. The goal of this year is to know the different weapons
available and understand, in theory, which weapons are most effective against a particular type of
demon.

Years 5-6: Combat Fundamentals

This phase marks the beginning of the apprentice's physical training. It begins with a fitness regimen
designed to prepare the apprentice for combat training. Assign weight training to bolster strength and
long-distance running to increase endurance.

When the apprentice meets a high standard of physical fitness, weapons training—using wooden or
blunted weapons—may begin. The course of instruction should include swordplay, axes, throwing
(knives and spears), archery, marksmanship, and hand-to-hand combat. In Year 6, the apprentice may
accompany the instructor on demon-fighting excursions, but only as an observer.

Year 7: Advanced Combat

If the apprentice has progressed satisfactorily through the previous phases of training, advanced combat
may begin at this time. A word of caution, however: Do not embark upon this final phase of training
unless the apprentice has thoroughly mastered all previous phases. It is useful to test the apprentice's
knowledge and skills before proceeding. Better to spend another year or two on an earlier phase as
needed than send an unprepared demon fighter into the field. Too many have perished from going into
the field too early.

Advanced combat begins with a review of combat skills already learned—this time with sharpened
blades. The instructor must not pamper the apprentice during drills; demons most certainly will not
do so in an actual combat situation. Next, the instructor conjures small demons for the apprentice
to fight under controlled circumstances. The apprentice continues to accompany the instructor to
demon exterminations, moving from observer to back-up as individual progress warrants. Finally, the
apprentice takes the primary role in an extermination, with the instructor providing back-up. When
the apprentice has successfully exterminated at least one of each of the main types of demons without
excessive assistance from the instructor, the program is complete.

___________________________________
Bloodstone, the third novel in Nancy Holzner's Deadtown series, is now available. For information
on Nancy and her books, visit her website. You can also find Nancy on Facebook and Twitter, and
blogging with other fantasy authors at Dark Central Station.

*Don't forget to check out the other stops on the book tour (only a few dates remaining) for more chances to win great books!

*And fill out the form for your chance to win Bloodstone! You can't win if you don't play.

Guest post and contest: Nightingale by Ashley M Christman

Today we have author Ashley Christman in the house and she's giving away one ebook copy of Nightingale to one lucky commenter. So let's show some love and give a big Bite Club welcome...

Tales of vampires have been around for centuries. Slowly, they’ve evolved from tales of horror to tales of sensuality and sexuality because vampires are monsters. Beautiful monsters that look like human beings. This sensuality began with Bram Stoker’s Dracula with the title character and his seduction of Lucy, Mina, and of course the brides who seduced and fed from Jonathan. The thing that has never changed with vampires was that they represent death. They are affiliated with something so unnatural that they strike fear. They feed on the living to maintain their static state.

In my novel, Nightingale, the character of Grace Caldwell is a vampire. Where she’s different is that she came from a vampire father (death) and a sidhe mother (life). She’s grown, matured and changed as a living creature ought to, but she’s so intimately connected with death that it frightens her. The first in the Nocturne series, Grace Caldwell creates a juxtaposition even in her own world. Vampires are afraid of her and the Sidhe are confused by her. In the faery world, vampires are walking abominations and reminders of death and she is one of them.

By making my main character a vampire-faery mix, I had to explore weaknesses and strengths. She does need blood to survive, like all vamps, but she doesn’t need it as often. Sunlight doesn’t affect her, like a fae, but neither does cold-iron (very unfae-like).

I think readers will be interested in a world where faeries, vampires, werewolves, and other manner
of supernatural cross on a daily basis. Grace Caldwell walks these worlds not like a pro, but struggles
through them, and struggles to find herself in them. I think people can identify with it. I think readers will enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Thank you.

Ashley M. Christman

Author: Ashley M Christman
Genre: Romance/Paranormal
Digital ISBN: 9781616503284
Length: Novel
Digital Publication Date: October 17, 2011
Cover art by Renee Rocco

Published by Lyrical Press

Being Sidhe is hard, but a Sidhe without a heartbeat?

Life is lucrative and easy for Dr. Grace Caldwell--daughter of vampire father and fey mother--until her ex-boyfriend, FBI agent Jack Montgomery, blackmails her into helping him solve a prostitute's murder. If only she wasn't as attracted to Jack as ever, she could concentrate on finding the murderer and get back to her regularly scheduled life. And then there's the vampire Constantine, seductive and powerful, a family friend she's supposed to marry...

Not much of a vampire, and clueless about her fey powers--if she has any--Grace must journey to the Sidhe and enlist the help of the fey to unravel the riddle of the murder. She and Jack might just get killed, but then, two worlds depend on her success. If she fails, both her worlds and all of humanity will descend into chaos of epic proportions.

 About the Author:

As a child, Ashley M. Christman spent many hours in imaginary worlds, exploring the depths of mythology and immersing herself in a breadth of classics. After spending so much time reading, she decided to try her hand at writing.


An avid fan of film noir, she combines fantasy, noir style heroes and heroines, and the paranormal in a modern day setting in such a way that hopefully would make even Bogie proud.


When not writing, she can be found in the wilds of Minnesota enjoying great cuisine, avoiding the gym, and being walked by the dog with her partner, Tom.


 Lots of links:

Author Website and Blog: www.ashleymchristman.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ashley-M-Christman/270726188001


Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/AMChristman


Email: Ashley@ashleymchristman.com

Guest post with Stefan Petrucha

Birth of a Dead Mann: Where One Writer Gets His Ideas

By Stefan Petrucha

It’s the cliché questions writers are asked: Where do you get your ideas? Not that I’ve ever been asked myself, but I’ve seen it happen. There’s nearly always an obligatory eye-roll from the author, than an answer ranging from the humorous (a small company in Illinois), to the true but painfully obvious (From everywhere! I’m a sponge! Sucking up information and squeezing out novels! Whee!).

As I understand it, some writers don’t want to discuss their process for fear of being copied. Others, like a centipede asked how he coordinates his legs, don’t have a clue.

I can’t claim to remember where I get all my ideas, but I do know exactly where I got, or rather had, the idea for Dead Mann Walking. It was in my car, while listening to the radio.

To be clear, I’d been thinking about zombies, not at the moment per se, but they were in the back of my mind. I love genre, and I’ve loved George Romero since my college days. In 1978, after failing to convince anyone to accompany me (I’ll pay for your ticket! ) I saw Dawn of the Dead all by my lonesome. That same year, I wrote, shot, directed, edited, etc. a B&W video spoof of same called Afternoon of the Airheads (When there’s no more room in the dorms, the dead will walk the campus!). In it, students were infected by a creeping insipidness that made them pale-faced and deeply inept.

Point being, Z’s have been in my bones for decades. Past that, to be honest, creatively, I didn’t think much of them. I enjoyed the hell out of them, but didn’t see how to add to the existing mix in any new and/or creative way. They shambled, they ate people. So what? Sure, I saw ideas I wished I had (Shawn of the Dead, for instance), but as far as my own muse went, it felt like the proverbial dead end.

With the zombie craze swelling, though, I started thinking I should give it a shot, try to come up with something. Everyone else was having such a good time, why not me? Even so, the walking dead remained semi-vegetative in the back of my mind, the spot where I leave things in the vague hope my subconscious will ponder them without me.

One day, I was driving, maybe to get groceries or something equally exciting. Now, when I’m away from my computer, I always try to bring a pen and pad, lest some fantastic idea strike and I’ll have no way to remember it. Experience has since shown that by keeping that pen and pad nearby I am assured I will not have any great ideas. At least it frees me up to listen to the radio.

In this case, I was half -paying attention to the local NPR station, which was airing a lively discussion on the death penalty. And then, one of the speakers said something to the effect of, “Well the root cause of the opposition to the death penalty is the fact that it can’t be taken back. If someone’s unjustly jailed, they can be released. If the state kills them, there is no restitution possible.”

I stopped listening, started thinking, and the internal verbiage went something like:

Well, what if they could bring them back? What if, like most things in the world, the process is flawed? They’d be made sort of like zombies, only not the traditional sort. They’d be dead, rotting, and impaired, but otherwise what they were, creating an underclass that’d be misunderstood and mistreated. That would make the Z’s the victims, turn the whole freaking trope on its head. That could be good.

Awfully dark, though, very noir. Noir zombies? Aren’t zombies already noir, as in dark? Nah. Not really. Noir isn’t about the survival of individuals, not classic noir. It’s more about the survival of principles, usually in the form of a jaded detective clinging to his moral code in a deeply evil world. Sure, survivors in zombie stories can try to cling to their morals, but they usually drop them in a pinch go tribal, and it’s not the center of things.

Hmm… a detective wrongly accused of murder, brought back as a zombie, trying to continue his existence, follow his principles.

And that was about it.

Once I had that initial impetus from NPR, the rest felt obvious, interesting, and exciting. From there, Hessius Mann spewed forth like Athena from the head of Zeus (he not being Athena, me not being Zeus). And of course, harkening to the inspiration, I had to call it Dead Mann Walking.

I pulled over and looked for the pen and paper. Naturally, I’d forgotten to bring them, leaving me to wander the supermarket muttering key words to myself, in the hopes my brain could hold on to them…

Many thanks to Anna for inviting me here. Happy to respond to any comments, questions, etc. Please follow me on Twitter via @SPetrucha, where I’m tweeting a Dead Mann Quote a Day for a total of sixty day, and do check out the book!

Anna here~ First, a huge thank you to Stefan Petrucha for taking the time to put together a post for us. Cliche or no, I like finding out how authors come up with all the cool stuff. DMW is on my Kindle and I hope to have it finished for review this weekend. Zombies seriously creep me out (horrific nightmare type creepy) so I must read during the day, which is harder to do than it sounds and makes me seem like a big baby, but it can't be helped. I have added a few links for you, all loaded with bookish details. Enjoy! 

*Dead Mann Walking goes on sale October 4th.
*Check out an excerpt (which I grabbed from Stefan's website).
*Website http://www.petrucha.com/
*Check out the sidebar which has info on Ripper, an upcoming title that sounds awesome. And then check out the comics tab. I want to get the Nancy Drew graphic novels for my daughter. She'd flip! Maybe I should ask Stefan to come back and talk to us about the Papercutz line for Spooktacular Sunday?

Guest post with Aubrie Dionne

Elements of Great Sci Fi Romance

I’m so excited to talk about one of my all-time favorite genres today! I’ve seen lists of what makes great science fiction, but today I’m talking about what makes great science fiction romance. (The best kind in my opinion!)

I’ve always loved Star Wars and Star Trek because they had it all: adventure, science fiction, romance, action. (Although Star Trek could use a little more romance here and there for my tastes! I loved the relationship between Jean Luc Picard and Beverly Crusher, and who can forget Riker and Deanna Troi? Even Datat had a bit of romance here and there.)

To write a great sci fi romance you need it all, and the blend has to be just right. I’ve come up with a list of what I feel makes a great sci fi romance story. In the comments section, I’d love to hear your own ideas.

1. Must have romance. The romance should drive the plot forward, but also somehow be
linked to the science fiction aspect. In Paradise 21, conditions aboard the New Dawn dictate all romantic encounters (The colonists are there to preserve human DNA without genetic mutations or inbreeding), and for this reason Aries escapes. I’ve linked the romance to the science, and made it all drive the plot forward from the very beginning.

2. Must have adventure in cool settings. The best part about science fiction is that you can write it anywhere; aboard a space ship, on an alien planet, or on Earth. Setting is very important, and traveling to different backdrops increases the adventure by tenfold. In Paradise 21, I made sure to have scenes aboard the deep space transport ship, on a desert planet, and even in an alien ship.

3. Must have action. Another awesome part of science fiction romance is all of the various technological weapons you can create: lasers, blasters, subsonic tranquilizer rays. In Paradise 21, I made sure to have at least a couple laser fights, some with people and others with monsters!

4. Must have science. The story must have some basis in reality with fantastical scientific ideas linked to today’s science. In Paradise 21, I posed certain questions: What if people could live their entire lives on a space ship? What would people do when the Earth becomes uninhabitable? Although these ideas seem far-fetched today as you drive to Dunkin’ Doughnuts to order your latte, reality is: the sun will burn out someday, and we may even pollute the Earth before that happens. People will have to find somewhere else to live if humanity is going to carry on. I took a scientific fact and ran with it, creating a fantastical scientific idea.

I’d love to hear your own ideas for what makes a great sci fi romance!

A New Dawn Book One by Aubrie Dionne

Title: Paradise 21
Author: Aubrie Dionne
Genre: Sci Fi Romance
Length: Novel
Release Date: August 2011
ePub ISBN: 978-1-937044-02-2
Mobi ISBN: Coming soon!
Print ISBN: 978-1-937044-03-9

http://www.entangledpublishing.com/paradise-21/

Book Blurb:

Aries has lived her entire life aboard mankind’s last hope, the New Dawn, a spaceship traveling toward a planet where humanity can begin anew—a planet that won’t be reached in Aries’ lifetime. As one of the last genetically desirable women in the universe, she must marry her designated genetic match and produce the next generation for this centuries-long voyage.

But Aries has other plans.

When her desperate escape from the New Dawn strands her on a desert planet, Aries discovers the rumors about pirates—humans who escaped Earth before its demise—are true. Handsome, genetically imperfect Striker possesses the freedom Aries envies, and the two connect on a level she never thought possible. But pursued by her match from above and hunted by the planet’s native inhabitants, Aries quickly learns her freedom will come at a hefty price.

The life of the man she loves.


My thanks to Aubrie Dionne for stopping by today, and to Roxanne from Entangled Publishing and Bewitching Book Tours for making all the arrangements.