SEDUCE ME IN FLAMES! TODAY!!

Hey all! Guess what today is! Yeah, okay, so you don’t have to guess. :P It’s RELEASE DAY!! WOOT!!!! SEDUCE ME IN FLAMES, book two in the Three Worlds series, comes out today! YAY! Okay, so I am a little overexcited. What can I say? These past few months have been incredibly hard on me, so I am taking my excitement where I can get it.

For those of you who have been religiously following me on FACEBOOK and TWITTER, you know that I have lost two of my precious kitty boys, and my daughter B lost her boy kitty on Friday as well. It’s been a horrid streak of bad luck in our home. But they say things come in threes, and so that’s my three, thank you very much. I’m all done! **dusts off hands**

So I interrupt this announcement briefly to say goodbye to my two boys.

This is Damien…and squished beneath him is Magellan as a kitten. Damien had his own special way of showing his dominance, lol. My boys. I don’t have a picture of Max, but I know B will miss him as much as I will miss these two.

Thanks for indulging me. Now let’s get back to business.

SEDUCE ME IN FLAMES!!!

I hope you all have been enjoying my guest bloggers. Natalie, my assistant, and I have been working hard to get you some of the best in paranormal romance for you to get to meet and know. Whether by a blog or my goofy little interview. I hope it’s useful and fun. And please continue to visit here every Tuesday throughout the release of ADAM on October 25th. There’s a lot of weeks and a lot of guests between now and then.

Oh don’t tell me you haven’t heard about ADAM! BOOK 6 in the NIGHTWALKERS series? Come on people, get with it! You’ve been dying for this release for almost three years! Look, I’m not teasing this time! I have the cover to prove it. ☺

Ain’t it purty? I love his chesticles. They are my favorite. ☺

But that’s not until AFTER the August release of KANE in the anthology SUPERNATURAL.

















For those of you who have been dying to know what happened between Kane and Corrine that first Samhain night, I gave a little flashback into the experiences they shared. It’ll give you the warm and wigglies I promise! Don’t forget, Corrine was deathly ill that first Samhain night, and the Imprinting for a Demon doesn’t make room for weakness and illness. Mating is paramount. No matter what.

Intrigued? You should be. **smirk**

But what was I talking about before we went into future releases…? OH YES!!




SEDUCE ME IN DREAMS! The first book in the Three Worlds series. Oh…wait…we did that one already. Or at least we should have done that one already. This book comes before today’s release, but rest assured, today’s release does stand on its own. However, as I always say, the fullest experience of a series does come from starting from the beginning.

Now, all kidding aside, let’s get down to business.

SEDUCE ME IN FLAMES!!

How about a little excerpt? Yeah, I knew you’d say that.

Fire burned everywhere. Cinders clung to long grasses that had been obliterated by it and now, by some miracle, still held together. There was the smell of accelerant still in the air because it had been poured on the field in such a massive quantity. Along with it was the unmistakable stench of char and smoke. Nothing could possibly have survived.
But in the dead center of all of that destruction, something stirred. There was a cough just before the young man sat up and spit. He was charred as black as everything around him, making him blend in perfectly with his surroundings. He took a breath, his first in what seemed like ages. Well, he thought, it shouldn't surprise him that they had tried to kill him. After all, he had accidentally exposed his power in the center of town square during a damned festival.
Shit. He'd kept it secret from everyone for all of his twenty-one years. And it hadn't been easy. Adolescence alone had been a trial for him, and he’d had something of a temper back then. Still, he’d managed to keep it all under wraps.
He ought to have known this was coming. There was no way a mutation such as he was could go an entire lifetime undetected.
But if it hadn't been for that girl...
Yet, how could he turn his back? She would surely have died at the hands of those self-serving sicko bastards...
He shook his head, shook away the memory for the uselessness that it was. There was a bitter taste in his mouth and it had nothing to do with the Axiom fuel they'd dumped on him in hopes of burning him like all the rest of the char and ash around him. He had let them think they were successful. What choice did he have? If they didn't 'kill' him to their satisfaction, they would keep on trying until they actually figured out a way to succeed.
Had he truly thought at one time that his hometown, full of his lifelong friends and family, would be the ones most likely to understand and accept him? How many times had he come close to revealing himself before, thinking they would love him anyway? He had been so naive. Such a fool. And yet, why did this shock him so much if he'd felt so driven to keep it hidden?
He looked around himself carefully before getting to his feet. It was dark now, the only light being the flames that burned so powerfully on the horizon. The damn fools had burned him, yes, but in the process had started a fire on the plains that had quickly raced into town. The screaming had long since died down. He figured they were all dead, if not mostly so.
His secret was once again a secret.
He brushed layers of ash from his bare skin, the remainders of his clothing no doubt. Now he was naked, disenfranchised, and utterly at a loss as to what to do next. Still, he began to put one foot in front of the other, began to move. He had learned new things about himself, he could say that much. But he wasn't sure if that made things worse or better. He was too angry, too hurt to care.
It would take him a very long time to get over both of those feelings.


Okay, it’s a very short excerpt. And it doesn’t tell you much. But you know me, I don’t like to give away the juicy bits. Guess you’re just going to have to buy the book.

Like…now.

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR???

BTW if you comment below you are entered to win a copy. ;)

Hugs and Kitties,
Jacki


PS: For those of you going to ROMCON the first week of August, look me up! It’s in Denver Colorado and I’m going to be there! If you live in Denver, the signing is open to the public I believe. ☺

Finding your Inspiration!

Hello there! Jess Haines here. I’m the author of the urban fantasy H&W Investigations series HUNTED BY THE OTHERS, TAKEN BY THE OTHERS, and the recently released DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS. Jacki was kind enough to invite me over to come meet you guys today.

Okay, so I had Chicago’s “You’re the Inspiration” stuck in my head all day today, so I figured I’d talk about some of my writing inspirations over the years.

I’m a huge fan of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show. More than anything else, I think it shaped my expectations of what can be done with a paranormal rom-com-drama. It taught me that you can tackle serious issues in a completely unserious way. It taught me the value of long running jokes and even better one-liners. It taught me how important snappy dialogue and a realistic supporting cast can be.

It also taught me that evil can look damned good.


Yowza!

Ahem. So. Another inspiration for me was the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher. He was not one of my first urban fantasy reads, but he was definitely one of the most inspirational. Harry has taken on some of the most incredible and difficult tasks imaginable while retaining his sense of humor, innate ability to snark, and his humanity. He is one of the most absurd and adorable fictitious heroes I have ever had the pleasure of reading, and again, has an amazing supporting cast to back him up—Bob the talking skull, Molly the mage-in-training, Mouse the loyal dog who might be just a smidge smarter than his master, Thomas the oh-so-sexy vampire—need I go on?

Though there were quite a few other books and movies that inspired me, I’ll wrap it up with a mention of roleplaying games. Anyone who has known me for more than five minutes generally has heard me spout some lame joke about EverQuest, World of Warcraft, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, or Vampire: The Masquerade, to name a few. I got my head start writing by roleplaying on AOL (“*GASP!*” I hear you say. “The horror!”) and it was in no small part responsible for my obsession desire to write. The possibilities are endless when you’ve got a d20 on your side.
So that’s part of how I found my writing inspiration! How about you guys? Where do you find yours? What drives you to read, to write, to tell stories?

You can learn more about my work in HUNTED BY THE OTHERS, or come visit me on the web:
www.JessHaines.com
Facebook
Twitter
Goodreads
Fan Forum
Thanks again having me and the gang over, Jacki!

Vampire Instinct Is Here!

Vampire Instinct is here!
By Joey W. Hill

One of the things I like most about writing the Vampire Queen series is each book gives me a whole new set of protagonists with personalities and stories to discover. While certain elements of the vampire world remain the same, the challenges they face differ, and the characters often take me by surprise. My muse seems to have a grab bag from which she pulls unlikely or unexpected settings, situations or pairings, and says “have at it!” That’s how I end up having books where two sexual Dominants fall in love (Ice Queen/Mirror of My Soul), an angel is saved by a mermaid (Mermaid’s Kiss), or a hardcore vampire hunter becomes the servant of not one but two vampires (Vampire Mistress). I sometimes think the muse sits back and smirks at me while I bash my head on the keyboard.

For Vampire Instinct, the newest release in the series, the surprise was both my hero/heroine and the setting. Mal is my first “made” vampire hero. Most of my vampires are “born”, the aristocracy of the vampire world. Mal is Cherokee, born right before the Trail of Tears, and was turned into a vampire as a young man. While he does not regret being a vampire, he has never had great aspirations of rising in the very political and brutal vampire hierarchy. Instead, mending some personal demons of his past, he runs a big cat sanctuary on an island off of the U.S. coast. I had the pleasure of visiting Big Cat Rescue in Tampa to research this part of the book. My past settings for this series have been an opulent estate in South America, 1950s Western Australia, a BDSM club, etc, so this was definitely a change of pace. To understand how the sanctuary figured into the plot, here’s a blurb about the book:

As servant to vampire mistress Lady Daniela, Elisa’s devotion is unwavering—until Lady D makes it clear that the children entrusted to Elisa’s care may be destroyed, if they cannot be integrated into the vampire world. Elisa’s young charges are vampires of such potent desires as to belie their youth, given to a reckless bloodlust that makes their assimilation nearly impossible. But Elisa has one desperate option.

His name is Malachi, a Native American vampire who is a legend for his work with rehabilitating feline predators. With his primal understanding of the rules of survival, he is the fledglings’ last hope. But it is Elisa who is feeling the heat of his irresistible animal instincts. Now, as Malachi struggles to control the children’s impulses, he opens himself up to those of Elisa—and the passion they all share for the night could seal their fates forever.

This gave me another research opportunity. I was fortunate that one of my readers was a child development specialist. She agreed to critique the book before submission and give me insights into how the vampire fledglings would react from the “human” side of their nature. Whereas Mal/the muse helped me with the vampire/animal side (wink).

Elisa is not your typical “kickass” heroine, but as the story unfolded, she became the type of heroine I probably enjoy writing the most. She might not have the ability to resist Mal’s will with physical or political strength, but she has a staunch sense of right and wrong, and she has built her life upon it. Therefore, she is able to influence and change those around her who have far greater power. As noted above, Elisa is basically a domestic, an Irish maid who has found herself part of a vampire female’s household, and now must travel with the fledglings and try to work with Mal, a wholly unknown quantity, to protect the fledglings she considers her personal responsibility. Whereas he, having a vampire’s typical sense of superiority over humans, endeavors to teach her what her role truly should be. And of course they both get a little off track because of the chemistry between thhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifem!


If you’d like to read an excerpt for the book, click here. That takes you to my website and the Vampire Instinct book page. However, if you’d like more of a taste, you might want to visit the JWH fan forum. There are two more exclusive excerpts there, and the graphics of the site have just been changed to celebrate the release of this book. If you’re already a fan of the Vampire Queen series and you’ve never visited, you’re in for a treat, because I write free vignettes for the site, shorts where I revisit characters from my full length works, and there are three vignettes there now, based on the characters from Beloved Vampire, Vampire Queen’s Servant and Vampire Trinity. And a couple of them are the length of novels! (Note: you do have to register/login to see the vignette areas, but it’s a quick process, only requiring a valid email to protect the site from spammers.)

Anyhow, hope you’ve enjoyed this short inside glimpse into the new book and that it will inspire you to try my vampires. If you’d like to take your first taste with Vampire Instinct, it can be read alone, though the background of the book would be enhanced by reading Vampire’s Claim first. If you visit the series page on my website, it will tell you what all the books are about, as well as if they can standalone or other books in the series need to be read first.

Now for the extra fun part. Leave a comment on the blog post and you’ll be entered for a drawing to win the book-of-your-choice from my current available titles! I’ll also be happy to answer any questions you may have.


Thanks so much for letting me visit with you today.

Undead and Undermined Releases Today!!

Hi all, we are lucky enough to be here today with the USA and NYT Bestselling Author MaryJanice Davidson! She is famous for her Undead and Mermaid series. Book ten in Undead and Undermined Releases Today! So with out further ado...

Here as promised, is a series of weird and seemingly pointless questions. But I am assured that these are the types of things readers are truly curious about.

Yes! You certainly did promise weird and pointless questions. Um, congratulations? ;-)


1. If you could transform into any animal, what would you choose? Please tell us, as only an author can, why you would make this specific choice?


Oh my God. Seriously? You will never convince me readers give a tin shit what animal I would like to be. Mallard duck, by the way. They're gorgeous, they're plentiful (e.g. not hunted to the point of extinction), and can live anywhere in the Midwest. As can I!


2. Please share with us your most embarrassing moment with a fan or another author

I threw up during a signing. Don't worry, I made it to the bathroom, and then after I rinsed my mouth and washed my face, returned to the signing. It was one of the Romantic Times Conventions...Dayton, maybe? Anyway. Too much coffee on an empty stomach and no sleep.


3. Which do you prefer to write? The hero or the villain? And why?

Villain, for sure. I just like giving him/her different perspective (like a grumpy mermaid, say, or a secretary who loves shoes becoming a vampire). In one of my trilogies, UNDER COVER, I wrote 3 novellas. The villain of the first novella was the hero of the second novella...that was great fun!


4. Do you have someone in your life that you model your heroes after? What about those villains?


Yep! People on the planet Earth. But not any one person...my characters tend to be amalgams of people I know or read about (Sinclair, for example, is an amalgam of my husband, some old boyfriends, a villain or two...like that).


5. I am a woman who is 43 years old and has a crush on her 25-year-old gardener, what naughty secret do you have to share?


The same one! Is your gardner's name Paul? Oh, and I'm 41. Other than that, we could be twins! Oh, and Paul is a part time fireman. And is, um, in really good shape.


6. I’ll go easy on you this time. What is your sinful pleasure? I have two. Gluttony: where I eat to much Ben & Jerry’s Pistachio Pistachio, and Sloth : where I laze in bed all day watching HGTV (Mike Holmes…mmm nummy!) or Farscape. Please be equally specific.


This is getting creepy. I like to loll around like a pissy walrus eating Skittles, and I'll watch FX all day long: It's Always Sunny; Louie; Wilfred; rinse, repeat.



7. Do you sing in the shower? What would Simon Cowell think of your performance? What is your favorite song choice?


Nope! I barely wash in the shower. I prefer my big Jacuzzi tub, and graphic novels I can read wherein.


8. If you could be any of your characters whom would you choose? Tell us why of course.

Oh, Fred, natch. In fact, Fred sort of came to be when I thought, "If I was a mermaid, I wouldn't be one of those cute fluffy big-boobed ones who want to give it all up for a man. I'd be bitchy and I'd eat a lot. Yeah." Sha-zam! Ah, the power of literature.


9. Who did it the best? Out of all of your favorite paranormal authors’ works, who wrote the BEST SCENE EVA? Explain.

When Anita Blake quit dithering and nailed Jean Claude in THE KILLING DANCE. I'm definitely a "classic Anita" fan.


10. You are now a published author, which some would say is the pinnacle for any writer. Now that you have achieved this goal, what is your new dream? What is it that you now aspire to do?

Be a mallard duck who eats Skittles and belongs to a part-time fireman named Paul.
Remember book ten in the Bestselling Undead Series hits shelves TODAY! Feel free to contact MaryJanice Davidson at MaryJaniceDavidson.net