Romancing My Stories: A Guest Post by Kevin Paul Shaw Broden

Over the last year, I’ve been reading and writing reviews of numerous novels (on my blog “Four Names of Professional Creativity” http://kevinpsbroden.blogspot.com/), and they’ve all been Paranormal Romance. This was all by chance, or so I thought. A year earlier reading a Romance genre in any form was the furthest thing from my mind. Yet, so far, I have enjoyed every one of them.

As a writer, I have done fantasy, science fiction, detective, and super hero fiction, but I would never see myself writing a Romance story. Then, about a month ago, a realization struck me:

The very first short story I wrote for my high school creative writing class would now be described as PARANORMAL ROMANCE.

Having read comic books for years (they helped with my learning to read and write), I had a certain goal in mind: to write and draw comics professionally. But with this story, I was going beyond scripting a story around a twenty-two-page comic.

The story begins on the eve of a wedding when the groom is killed and his ghost must seek to help his bride fall in love again so that he can move on.

The story must have been okay, because my instructor gave it a good grade and positively compared it to professional authors she had read.

 A few years later I would turn in a time travel story to a college class.

In this story man is accidentally transported back into the London Blitz of World War II and meets a beautiful woman, then returning to present day he falls in love with the woman’s granddaughter.

It too received a good grade.

I have not completely gotten away from my original dream of writing and drawing comic books, and have worked professionally in the industry as well as in animation. Currently I co-write and illustrate the online comic book “Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory” (http://flying-glory.com) which is celebrating its 10^th anniversary. It’s a super hero tale about teenagers in a rock band, but as the story progressed it soon became more about those characters and their relationships than any super powered battles or reaching the top of the music charts.

In the comic we have a developing love triangle, as well as another character who can have anyone woman he wants with the flex of a muscle, but now finding true love and will fight to save it.

This comic is as much a romance story as it is a super hero tale, if not more so.

A few weeks ago I completed an online serialized pulp novel entitled: “Revenge of the Masked Ghost” (http://revengeofthemaskedghost.blogspot.com)

This story is about a masked vigilante and how his actions affect his family. What he does is for his lost love, and the repercussions of his death causes his brother-in-law to take up the mask for the love of his own wife.

What have I discovered looking back over my work is that no matter the genre, or the plot, there is some type of romance involved even if completely unintentional. I’ve also learned that not all romance comes as two people falling head over heals in love, or having sex. It’s more about relationships between characters growing closer as they experience the story and their lives together. It might be two partners in the police force who will become so close and love each other, as partners should, that they would die for one another. Though the romance of the heart always adds something to every story.

I am currently finishing and preparing a novel for publication entitled “Clockwork Genie” about a girl who inherits a genie after her grandfather, whom she never knew, is murdered. I had a basic idea of the plot I wanted to tell, but the story didn’t start working until the romance between characters grew into something much more. Though it is indeed a fantasy, plus a good part detective, it is over all a romance tale. In the novel three different couples find love because of the genie.

So I ask myself again, do I write Romance? Most certainly I do. Paranormal Romance? Yep, as well as Science Fiction Romance, Detective Romance, and Super Hero Romance.

I don’t think I could write any of them if there wasn’t romance in there somewhere.

~ * ~

Kevin Paul Shaw Broden was once called “the kid with too many names” by a television

producer, but he prefers to be known for having “four names of professional creativity.”

A published author since his first science fiction story appeared in his college newspaper, he is the co-creator/co-writer and artist for the online comic book “Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory” that is celebrating its 10th Anniversary and can be read at http://www.flying-glory.com.

“All my life I wanted to tell stories,” he said in an interview recently and continues to tell stories in one form or another whether it be in comic books as a writer or illustrator, in animation where his work has appeared internationally, or in prose.

His first professional comic book assignment provided backgrounds and color comps for early issues of SURPREME for Image Comics. In animation he co-wrote several episodes of the Japanese series “Midnight Horror School” which has aired throughout the world, and has yet to

appear on any U.S. networks. Kevin has also been hired to write and develop television series. His work as a writer and artist has appeared in two textbooks on animation “Gardner’s Guide to Writing and Producing Animation” and “Gardner’s Guide to Pitching and Selling Animation”

both by Shannon Muir.

Along with “Flying Glory and the Hounds of Glory”, Kevin writes an online pulp serial titled “Revenge of the Masked Ghost” http://revengeofthemaskedghost.blogspot.com/

Currently, he is completing his first paranormal romance novel.

Kevin has a weekly blog, which includes articles on writing, comic books, animation, and other subjects related to storytelling: http://kevinpsbroden.blogspot.com/

The Terrible Twos: A Guest Post by Joely Sue

The Terrible Twos

I mean Act 2 of course, the dreaded middle. I don't care how strongly a book starts for me, there's always a point where the plot begins to drag. I get tired. I start to doubt the book, the characters, and myself.

Why did I think I could pull this off again?

This is never going to sell.

This book is never going to end!!!

Over the years, I've learned a key technique that helps me find the strength to push through.

Commit  before writing a single word.

This might seem a stretch at first, but in Linda Spangle's 100 Days of Weight Loss, she asks whether you're interested or committed to losing weight. An interested person may start out strong but as soon as something challenges your willpower, it's easy to slip.

On the other hand, a person committed to losing weight will not stop. No sweet treat challenge at work or disappointing "unfair" number on the scale will affect your motivation, because you KNOW you will succeed if you keep on doing what you know is right.  Even if you do slip off plan a little, you have the confidence to rein yourself in and get right back to work, because nothing is going to keep you from doing what you committed to finishing.

Now apply this to writing. Are you interested in writing this book? Or committed? Ask yourself several key questions before you write a single word.

  * Am I willing to dedicate the next x months to writing this book?  Faithfully, butt in chair, every day, without fail?

  * Does it fit within my brand?

  * Have I prepared myself with as much research, plotting, character development, and world building as possible (suitable to your writing process)?

  * Do I believe in this book? Does it excite me?  Do I burn to tell everyone I know about the great idea?

For me, this last question is extremely important because I do most of my drafting "dark and early" before work.  Is this a book I'm going to WANT to get up at 5 am for?  Day after day, despite Evil Day Job challenges, kid catastrophe, pet emergencies, health scares?

If I'm able to answer yes to these questions, then I COMMIT myself to finishing the book. Even if I start slogging through the middle and can only manage a couple of hundred words a day. Even if a new shiny project pops up and tries to distract me.

Nothing will keep me from finishing the $&@%* book!!

Of course revisions are a whole other type of war, but completing a first draft is the first and most important battle.

~ * ~

Joely always has her nose buried in a book, especially one with mythology, fairy tales, and romance. Find her on her Website: http://joelysueburkhart.com; Twitter: @joelysue; Facebook http://facebook.com/joely.s.burkhart; along with several free reads.

Her latest release is Return to Shanhasson, the final book in an erotic romantic fantasy trilogy.  Also watch for her smoldering hot BDSM novella, Golden, releasing from Carina Press on August 29th!

Series Business: Three Types of Series - A Guest Post by Misty Evans

I love reading books in a series, don’t you? No matter what your favorite genre, you can find a series that grabs you by the imagination and refuses to let go, story after story. The best series are like Calgon…they take you away from the everyday world and give you a free pass to live vicariously through the characters.

As an author, I enjoy writing series as well. When my muse produces a fun character, I want to spend more time watching them get in and out of trouble, and help them on their quests to find true love, save the world, or fight the devil.

I’ve turned my love of reading and writing series into teaching others how to write them too. I thought I’d share info about series from my online workshop with you today.

There are three basic types of series:

Serials: same main character is featured in each book, but each book can stand alone.  Most mystery/suspense and action/adventure series fall into this category. While you learn more about the character as the series progresses, the stories themselves are mostly episodic. A few examples:

Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich)

Kay Scarpetta (Patricia Cornwall)

Eve Dallas (Nora Roberts)

Sookie Stackhouse (Charlaine Harris)

Sequels: a finite number of books where the plot is introduced in the first and concludes with the last. Many fantasy and science fiction series fall into this category. Individual books can be read as standalones, but readers get more out of the stories if they begin with the first book and follow the series in order. A few examples:

Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)

Mortal Instruments (Cassandra Claire)

Twilight (Stephanie Meyer)

Witches Anonymous (Misty Evans)

Spinoffs: a minor character from the original standalone is developed. Spinoffs, or ensemble series, work well for romance writers who need a fresh couple for each book’s romance. A few examples:

Black Dagger Brotherhood (J.R. Ward)

Lords of the Underworld (Gena Showalter)

Dream Hunter Novels (Sherrilyn Kenyon)

Super Agent Series (Misty Evans)

One of my favorite resources is the Los Angeles Public Library’s Index for Series and Sequels: http://www.lapl.org/resources/indexes/sequels.html. Type in an author and get a list of books in their series, including the main characters and special notes about location or other important facts.

Series allow readers (and writers) to get to know fabulous characters and explore their world in detail. There are great series out there, in every genre, and written by many of our favorite authors under pseudonyms. Head to your local library, independent or online bookstore to find a new series. Happy reading!

Misty Evans writes the best-selling Super Agent Series and paranormal Witches Anonymous series. She likes her coffee black, her conspiracy stories juicy, and her wicked characters dressed in couture. To learn more about Misty and her books, visit www.readMistyEvans.com.

Connect with Misty on:

Her blog: http://www.magicalmusings.com

Twitter: @readmistyevans

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Misty-Evans-Author/189118401101020

Creepy is the Crack in the Wall, Not the Hammer That Made It: Guest Post by Tim Kane

Most people who attempt horror, hit the narrative with a bag of cliches and heavy handed stage props—swirling fog, glowing eyes, wicked laughs. Don’t get me wrong, I love camp. I’m diehard fan of Hammer films. However, a more subtle approach can work wonders.

Build Up the Details

Use disturbing details or reversals when describing your scenes. Each one, taken by itself, does little, Combined, they imbue the reader with unease. Look at Cold Skin by Albert Sánchez Piñol. Here an unnamed narrator just inhabited a weather station on a deserted island.

Just then, I heard a pleasing sound far off. It was more or less like a heard of goats trotting in the distance. At first, I confused it with the pattering of rain; the sound of heavy and distinct drops. I got up and looked out of the closest window. It wasn’t raining. The full moon stained the ocean’s surface in a violet hue. The light bathed the driftwood lying on the beach. It was easy to imagine them as body parts, dismembered and immobile. The whole thing brought to mind a petrified forest. But it wasn’t raining.

Reversal: The narrator thinks it’s raining, but then there’s no rain. We wonder what’s creating that pattering sound, and the not knowing freaks us out.

Disturbing details: The water is stained violet, an almost bloodlike color. This idea is cemented in the reader’s skull with the driftwood, described as dismembered limbs.

Show Us the Character Freaking Out

Nothing does creepy better service than to see someone freaking out. Ever wonder why there are so many screams in horror movies? As an author, you must find the written equivalent to the scream.

Take Bag of Bones by Stephen King. The protagonist, Mike Noonan, begins to believe that his house is haunted. He’s in the basement and hears the sound of someone striking the insulation, but no one else is home.

...every gut and muscle of my body seemed to come unwound. My hair stood up. My eyesockets seemed to be expanding and my eyeballs contracting, as if  my head were trying to turn into a skull. Every inch of my skin broke out in gooseflesh. Something was in here with me. Very likely something dead.

King lays it on thick here. Instead of one physical reaction, he dumps the whole bucket on us. He doesn’t dazzle us with a etherial decaying corpse. We won’t even see the ghost till the final chapters. No. He tells us how Noonan feels just in the presence of the thing. And it creeps us out.

If you want to make your readers squirm, reading only in daylight hours, shy away from the obvious gore and claptrap. Rather, take the quieter road of tiny disturbing details built up over pages and chapters. Show how your character reacts to what’s happening, and the reader will feel it too.

Bio: Tim Kane researched every major vampire film from the 1931 Dracula to Underworld and Twilight. His study was published in The Changing Vampire of Film and Television, but McFarland Publishers. Visit timkanebooks.com www.timkanebooks.com or read his blog at timkanebooks.wordpress.com http://timkanebooks.wordpress.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @timkanebooks.

Flash Fiction and The Horror Genre - A Match Made in… Hell?

I suppose that depends on your definition of hell, and as readers and writers of the paranormal, we all know just how many variations there are. But if I start by explaining that I’m a traditionalist and my definition of hell is pretty much along the lines of the brimstone, fire, fallen angel Lucifer sort of line, you’ll get the picture. I didn’t much like the idea of combining flash fiction and my genre of choice.

I couldn’t imagine it – trying to cram all the intricacies and false turns and numerous scares into under one thousand words, or better still under five hundred? It wouldn’t work. It couldn’t work. Horror has too much to say to condense it. Even Poe’s ‘The Raven’ has 1,092 words.

So I left flash fiction + horror alone. That isn’t to say that I never wrote any flashes; I did. A lot. I fell in love with flash fiction and even started a blog about it (http://www.themoonlitdoor.blogspot.com). But I couldn’t reconcile it with my beloved horror. Until, on occasion, I found myself struggling to get enough words down when I wrote a short story. The ideas were fine, but they didn’t want or need to be five thousand, seven thousand, ten thousand word epics. They would quite happily, without cutting bits out or chopping bits off (unless the plot called for it, of course…), be an entire story with a beginning, middle and end (no matter how open those endings might be) in under one thousand words. Under five hundred. Sometimes even fewer.

Strange. Was this my subconscious telling me I was still interested in attempting horror flash fiction? Or was it simply a coincidence? I still don’t know. But I did decide to give it a shot. With a vague story in my head, I started typing. I wanted to write about a man trapped in a coma, aware of everything, unable to move, to speak, to live without machines. I wanted him to have a wife who chatted to a doctor – in front of her husband – about turning those machines off. I wanted to know what his feelings were about it. And that was it. None of the characters needed a background. It wasn’t important why the man was in hospital in the first place. It didn’t even really matter if we, the reader, ever found out if the machines were switched off or not. What mattered was that tiny fraction of time, that conversation, and the comatose man’s reaction to it.

That was the story. It comes in at 530 words. It scared the hell out of a lot of people.

And that was my first piece of flash fiction in the horror genre. It’s called ‘I Know’ and you can read it on my blog http://www.themoonlitdoor.blogspot.com/2011/03/flash-fiction-i-know.html.

I still find it difficult. I often begin what I think will be flash only to find it’s a short story in the end. But I have changed my opinion in one regard; now I think some of the best horror I’ve read in the past few months has been flash. Short, sharp shocks. It’s perfect, really.

~ * ~

Lisamarie Lamb is a 29 year old mother of one. She was five when she wrote her first short story - it involved a car going over a cliff, Jessica Fletcher and the Phantom Raspberry Blower. It didn't have much of a plot (he did it, she solved it) but it did have rather colourful (crayon) illustrations and it did make her realise that writing was for her. 

At 12 Lisamarie wrote her first novel during the school summer holidays. Loosely based on the Famous Five with a bit of James Bond thrown in, it was an adventure story and her English teacher made her read some of it out in class. And that's when she realized that she wanted people to hear her stories and read her work. 

Over the intervening years, Lisamarie has written various short stories, plays, poems and novels in different genres, including romance and children’s books. If you wish to see more examples of her writing, she has a blog in which she showcases flash fiction www.themoonlitdoor.blogspot.com and soon poetry as well.

She has recently self published her first novel, Mother’s Helper.

Lisamarie promises she’s better at plots now, and she uses her own characters, but the excitement, fun and just a little wonder are still there. Her crayon skills have not improved.

Aside from her blog, you can also connect with Lisamarie on Twitter @lisamarie20010; and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/lisamarielambwriter

 

Where Did the Story Idea Come From? Guest Post with Stacy Eaton

There are a few things that police officers do that are beyond the obvious that everyday citizens see. Yeah, we right lots of tickets and we arrest people and sometimes we do have coffee and donuts. Okay more coffee then donuts these days, but you get the idea.

On long nights as we drive around we play a game with ourselves. It’s called What if/What then.  If this particular thing was to happen to me, what would I do? We run these scenarios through our minds all the time to prepare ourselves to act.

So it was in this mindset that I found myself one beautiful fall night.  I was standing outside my patrol car enjoying the fresh air of the night. It was dark and the feeling that I was being watched ran over me. Police officers have a heightened sense of this, and normally are correct in those feelings.

So I searched the area around me with my eyes, listening intently to see if I could hear anything that was not normal for the area I was in. I heard and saw nothing. Yet the feeling didn’t go away. I continued to search although by now the hairs on the back of my neck were standing at attention. That’s when I saw it.

On the other side of the parking lot from where I stood were eyes. Just a gleam in the darkness coming off of some faint light that reflected back off of the eyes as they stared at me from just inside the dark tree line. My heart was beating fast and since I have a crazy love for things unnatural the thought of, “It’s a vampire” crossed through my mind. Of course, I know that’s not true, but sometimes you just can’t control the thoughts that race through your mind.

The eyes disappeared shortly after and I finally found my will to move again. Chances were it was an animal of some kind searching for food, but the idea that a vampire could exist and be out there watching people at night had found a place in my mind. What if it had been a vampire and I was to be his food? Would I fight him? Would I die?

I spent the rest of that quiet shift driving my township and thinking about the idea of vampires in our society and how they could co-mingle easily. Even do the jobs that we do, like being a police officer.

It was not long after that, that the story line started taking form and I found myself sitting at my laptop and weaving a tale that brought vampires into the life of Officer Kristin Greene and Fawn Hollow Township.

I still find myself driving my township roads late at night, searching for eyes in the woods and wondering if they could really be true.

Bio:

Stacy Eaton is a full time police officer, crime scene investigator and business owner when she is not working on her books.  She lives in South Eastern Pennsylvania with her husband, daughter and her Shiloh Shepherd Garda.  She is also the proud mother of a US Sailor.

My Blood Runs Blue is the first in the series. Book two, Blue Blood for Life will be going through publishing soon, and is expected to be available early fall of this year. Book three whose title has not been decided is in the plot stages.

Connect with Stacy on Twitter, Facebook, FB Fan Page, Goodreads, as well as her Blog

Stepping Out of the Shadows... Guest Post by Julia Kavan

I grew up reading and listening to ghost stories – so I guess it was natural that when I started writing seriously I would try my hand at horror and tales of the supernatural. I also sought out real life mysteries and accounts of paranormal phenomena – spontaneous human combustion, demons, vampires...vengeful ghosts and poltergeists. The idea of encountering any of these things in the cold light of day (well, not vampires, obviously!) is what provides the inspiration for the stories I write. I am also intrigued by the workings of the human mind – the tricks it plays on us, and its ability to create the fantasies both wonderful and terrible that play out in our sleep. Dreams and nightmares will always have a place in my stories.

Tales of ‘monsters’ do not scare me, and blood, guts and gore either leave me cold or feeling queasy. And it’s the scare factor I look for, along with the feeling that this really could happen. I also like to be tricked or seduced into reading something I’d really rather not, but the writing is so enticing you just have to read on...

I always enjoyed writing as a child, often reading out my work at school events - at least until teenage awkwardness kicked in! I was then more than happy to watch others bring my words to life – and it was at that point I really started to consider the audience, and started writing with a view to affecting how they felt and thought.

I have been working on a novel for quite some time, however life tends to get in the way every now and then and I’ve also taken the odd detour. I’ve taught creative writing for ten years and have also written four television screenplays.  My first short story, Dreaming, Not Sleeping , was epublished earlier this year, and I am on the brink of completing the novel, While Yet A Boy I Sought For Ghosts – a more gentle supernatural mystery.

While Yet A Boy... is more of a traditional ghost story, with mysteries to be solved and tragedies to be played out. I set the story in the area where I grew up in England, and local landmarks make an appearance. The wonderful Ely Cathedral with its surrounding buildings is a central landmark in the story, and we spend some time in the forests of Norfolk and Suffolk. But it is the ghosts I love the most – evil, flawed, vulnerable and vengeful – they prove a real challenge for forensic artist, Nick Colton, as he tries to lay his own, personal ghost to rest.  I hope these spirits get to see the light of day very soon.

~ * ~

Born in the University city of Cambridge, England, Julia Kavan has spent most of her life living in Cambridgeshire - atmospheric and the perfect inspiration for ghost stories.

She has taught creative writing classes for the last ten years, whilst writing screenplays, tackling a novel and experimenting with short stories.

A true Scorpio, her tastes definitely err towards the dark side. She devoured horror stories as a teenager, including James Herbert and Stephen King in her list of favorite authors, moving on to Clive Barker and Peter Straub. As a child she would watch anything that even vaguely looked as if it may be scary... so perhaps it is only natural that this is the area her writing tends to wander into - even if she don't always intend it to! 

You can find Julia on Twitter,  Facebook, and her Website. 

Purchase Dreaming, Not Sleeping at the following links:

http://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Not-Sleeping-ebook/dp/B004LGTKJQ/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreaming-Not-Sleeping/dp/B004LGTKJQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296488292&sr=1-1

http://www.etopia-press.net/

Interview with Theresa Meyers, author of The Truth About Vampires

Hi everyone. Have you adjusted to the time change yet? We are, slowly. Makes you wonder if vampires hate this time of year? Less time for them to go hunting :-) #don'tneedgrouchyvamps

With us today is Theresa Meyers, author of The Truth About Vampires. What would happen if the world found out that vampires really existed? If you want to know the answer, you'll have to read the book. She is giving away a printed copy to one lucky commenter. Don't forget to leave your email address in your comment so we can contact you. This contest ends Saturday, March 26th at Midnight PST. Now, let's get to the interview.

PYN: What interested you most about writing?

Since about junior high, I found writing to be a fantastic way to express ideas. At first I thought I was going to be a journalist, then in college I looked for a major that I could use my writing no matter what industry I went into and ended up in public relations. But I’ve always been a story teller. I just get to make up the stuff in my stories now instead of reporting about other people’s stories. And let me tell you truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.

PYN: Who is your favorite author?

Not a fair question because I have so many! I love to read (which is really saying something since it took me until about fifth grade to be able to read well with my dyslexia). Right now I’m enjoying Gail Carriger’s Soulless series, Yasmin Galenorn’s Otherworld series and a new book by James Rollins. I love reading P.C. and Kristin Cast’s House of Night books. I’m a huge fan of historical romance author Julia Quinn (and have all her books on my keeper shelf). I’m also reading Zoe Archer’s Blades of the Rose series.

PYN: How long did it take you to write The Truth About Vampires?

I keep a day by day progress log for my writing so I keep on track with my deadlines. Looking at that it took me 2.5 months to write the story. Usually I try to schedule it so I’m writing 5-7 pages a day and give myself two weeks for editing. I can write 10-15 pages a day if I really push myself, but then my family doesn’t like me too much because mommy gets “grouchy”.

PYN: What intrigues you most about vampires?

I suppose it’s their grasp of immortality. The search for immortality (or at least a life after this one) has been the root of every major religion of the world. It taps into the very basics of who are we and what happens to us after we die. In lots of ways vampires are kind of the ultimate when it comes to looking at the question of immortality because they have fears and needs and passions just like us, but they also have eons to get it right.

PYN: How many times did you query before an agent/publisher picked you up?

Bwahaha. Want to see my rejection file? It’s about six inches thick with single page rejection letters from agents and editors. You know what they say about persistence? Yeah, that. I went through two major agent hunts. Had my first agent from 1996 to 2004 and my current agent since 2007, both times required lots and lots of queries. I found tracking them with an Excel spreadsheet help me know who I’d sent to when, what I’d sent, what their response was and what they requested. Being organized makes all the difference. I also recommend www.querytracker.com

PYN: Have you ever pursued any other artistic venues?

My friends laughingly refer to my other artistic interests as playing Martha. I love to sew (and make all my own steampunk costumes), I enjoy painting and love to dance. I love to listen to music, but I have a really hard time reading it so other than plinking on the piano now and then I don’t play an instrument. I’m just lucky everyone else in my house does!

PYN: Besides writing, what are you passionate about?

Life! Ok, I suppose I should break that down a little more, hum? My family, definitely. I love history and folklore/mythology. I enjoy spending time gardening and growing green things. I’m a bit of a nut about tea and have an entire kitchen cupboard that’s just my tea and tea things. I enjoy costuming and painting, canning my own produce from my garden, watching movies and cooking-particularly baking.

PYN: How many books have you written?

I’ve written about 15 books, but only some of those went on to be published.

PYN: Do you have any other project you’re working on?

LOL. Lots! Right now I’m in the middle of the third book for the Sons of Midnight series, tentatively titled The Half-Breed Vampire (which will be done by May). Then I’ll be working on the second of my Legend Chronicles steampunk trilogy, titled The Slayer (which will be done by mid-July). After that I’ve got a dark fae novella in a new Shadow Sisters series to write before August titled Shadowlander, then I’ll be working on my next story for the Sons of Mindnight series which will be done by Nov. And that’s just this year! Currently I’ve got contracts for three dark fae novels in the Shadow Sisters series, and the final book in the steampunk trilogy secheduled to be written in 2012.

PYN: Where can readers purchase your books?

Anywhere Harlequin books are sold – bookstores, grocery stores, Walmart, online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble and eharlequin.com

PYN: Where can readers connect with you on the web?

The best place to find out what I’m working on is my website www.theresameyers.com but readers can usually find me Twittering in the mornings at www.twitter.com/Theresa_Meyers and occasionally on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TheresaMeyersAuthor   I also teach a lot of online writing classes (one on writing Steampunk starts today at www.SavvyAuthors.com)

PYN: Can you share a small excerpt of your work? 

“Why don’t you get her a Vampire.” The sexy-as-hell male

voice, with a slight Italian lilt, soaked into Kristin Reed’s skin

and elicited a flutter in her stomach.

She glanced behind her and found herself face to broad

chest. Encased in a crisp white shirt and fitted black jacket,

the plane of muscle led to a deeply tanned throat, firm jaw

and sinfully sculpted lips. She turned her gaze upward and

found herself staring into a set of intense brown eyes, so dark

they looked nearly black, and so deep they seemed soulless. A

jolt, like caffeine from a double shot of espresso, raced down

her spine and made her limbs tingle.

“Don’t look quite so appalled,” he offered in a deep, rich

voice laced with amusement. “I think you’ll enjoy it. No, put

that away, this drink is on the house. Anastasia, please prepare

a Vampire for our guest.”

Kristin returned her wallet to her purse. “Thanks.” Lord, he

had a great mouth. What would it feel like to brush her mouth

against his? To have his mouth crush hers in a soul-stealing

kiss? Whoa, put on the brakes, she warned herself. This guy

is a total stranger. Sexy and great to look at, but still a total

stranger.

He put out his hand, and Kristin suddenly found her fingers

enveloped in the coolness of his. “Dmitri Dionotte, manager

of this establishment.” He brought her hand up to his mouth,

brushing dry lips across her skin. A shiver, part fear, part

fascination, raced down her spine.

Still holding her hand, he lifted his head, his eyes all pupil

as he held her gaze. He was like no one she’d ever met before.

Darker, more imposing in a way that filled up the room, not

just with his size, but also with the power radiating off him

in pulsating waves.

She’d never had her hand kissed in her life and the contact

alone was making her body buzz. “Kristin. Kristin Reed.” Her

pulsed kicked up double time, as if she’d made several trips up

and down the staircase to the newsroom. Kristin swallowed

and pulled herself together, kicking her brain back into gear,

and withdrew her hand from his. She was here to find a lead.

That’s what she should be concentrating on. Not Mr. Tall,

Dark and Delicious.

“Want that Vampire?” The bartender jarringly interrupted

the silent connection shimmering between them.

Eyes still locked with his, Kristin pushed out something

vaguely intelligent, though her brain had shut down and her

body went into lust mode. “What’s in it?”

The mountain-size guy beside her answered, “Chambord,

peach schnapps, red Vampyre Vodka, a splash of 7-Up and

some cranberry juice.” The words were prosaic enough, but

he made them sound like seduction.

The drink sounded harmless enough. The man was anything

but. “Sure, I’ll try it.”

The bartender slid across a hurricane glass filled to the rim

with ruby-red liquid and capped off with a black straw and a

pair of plastic vampire-costume fangs on the rim. Cute, but

a little tacky.

Kristin took out her wallet, pulled out a ten and tucked it

in the tip jar. Good information was hard to come by and the

man at her side was more a distraction than a good source. She

forced her attention away from him and back to the bartender.

“Have you worked here long?”

The bartender popped her gum as she sliced lemons and

limes and dropped them into a container behind the bar.

“Since they opened in October.”

The sharp smell of citrus overwhelmed some of the

mouthwatering cooking scents, which were making Kristin’s

stomach grumble. She’d forgotten lunch again.

She swizzled the straw in her crimson concoction, casting

a glance under her lashes at the hunky guy beside her. “Yeah,

I heard you had the best Halloween costume party in town.”

“We get some real characters in here,” the bartender

confirmed.

As she took a sip of her drink, the fruit flavors burst on

her tongue. A delicious combination of sweet and tangy. She

glanced at the manager and gave him a little smile. “Hey, I

think I like Vampires. Thanks for the suggestion.”

The bartender snorted.

“You say that now,” he said. The smoky quality of his voice

both tempted her and put her on edge at the same time. “But

watch out. They seem harmless, but they’ve got some serious

bite.”

Kristin paused a beat. There was no point in seeming too

eager to talk with him. She took another sip, then looked up

at him. “I’ll try to remember that.”

“Welcome to Sangria.”

He sat down on the stool beside her, his focus on her so

intense it wrapped around her like a warm down jacket.

Comfortable. Heated. Welcoming.

“Interesting decor.” She glanced around, taking another

sip of her drink, acutely conscious of him sitting beside her

and how it was making her light-headed. Maybe it was the

alcohol on an empty stomach, but somehow she doubted it.

“A place for the curious.”

“You mean vampire wannabes.”

His lips stretched into a subtle smile over very white, very

even teeth. His eyes made her feel as if he was reaching inside

her. Searching the deepest corners of her mind, her heart. “Not

exactly.”

His wavy dark hair curled over the edge of his collar and

she resisted the urge to slip a ring of it around her finger.

Maybe that Vampire drink was stronger than she thought.

A wave of dizziness crashed into her and Kristin sucked in a

gulp of air. She smelled the clean scent of starch, the spiciness

of cloves and something darker, rich and sweet like brandy

laced with dark chocolate. It reached out and coiled about

her senses, both arousing her and making her wary of how

relaxed she seemed to be.

“What are you really here for?” The tenor of his voice

stroked her skin, making her shiver and, odder still, making

her desire to tell him everything. Every secret she’d ever kept.

Every thought she meant to be private. “A man?” His eyes

glittered with invitation.

“No, information. I’m just curious.”

“So you’ve heard about the club.”

She nodded, then peered intently into his eyes. “Only a

few stories. But I hear that you cater to people who are a little

more exotic in what interests them.”

“Really, like what?”

A rush of heat washed over her skin. Just how much should

she reveal? Interviewing was a delicate balancing act. Give

too much and you got nothing. Give a little and sometimes

you got a lot more.

She turned and peered at the kaleidoscope of colors in

the bottles that lined the back of the bar and wondered for

a moment what exactly was in them. Some of the red ones

appeared more dense and opaque. Her source had said people

with vampire fantasies, or kids into cutting, were regulars at

the club. Either way, blood was a big deal. It had seemed like

the best place to find a lead to the weird Bloodless Murders,

since the cop shop had been less than helpful. Again.

Perhaps she ought to go for broke. “Is that blood?” She

indicated a bottle of opaque dark red liquid on the shelves

behind the bar.

He didn’t even flinch. “We try to appeal to all our customers.”

Her curiosity spiked. “And is any of that from donors?”

Dmitri stiffened, turning guarded. Bingo. Her pulse sped

up, this time not from attraction but from excitement. If she

could score a lead on the Bloodless Murders, even just enough

to write up one article, it would give her time.

“So you’re interested in the backroom activities we

offer?”

“Perhaps. I’m a little picky about who I’d partner up with.”

He inclined his head. “Naturally.”

“And I’d like to know a little bit more about what you

offer before I decide if I just want to watch or would rather

participate.”

Oh, God. Had she just said that? Smooth, Reed. Real

smooth. She covered her flub by taking a last sip of the drink

and found herself loudly sucking air instead.

“You really do like Vampires.” He motioned for the

bartender to refill her glass.

Kristin held up a hand. “Oh, I don’t need another right

now.” His eyes bored into hers, searching, weighing, but

revealing nothing. Kristin gave what she hoped was a smile

rather than a grimace. “So, about these other activities?”

“Of course.”

He held out his hand. Grasping it, her hand tingled. She slid

off the high bar stool, and quickly released his hand. What

was up with that? Sure, she’d met cute guys before, but her

body was in overdrive and it shocked her. Grabbing her purse,

she slung the strap over her shoulder and tried to cover how

flustered Dmitri Dionotte seemed to make her. He led her to

the row of crimson-draped rooms on the far side of the club.

“These would be our tasting rooms.”

“Tasting what?”

“Our clientele is interested in unusual vintages. Hard to

obtain wine like, say, a 1945 Mouton Rothschild Pauillac that

retails for about nine thousand dollars a bottle, if you can find

it.”

“Oh.” Who had swung by and stamped a giant L on her

forehead? Her reporting career seemed to be shriveling before

her eyes and her tongue was completely uncooperative. For

some insane reason, she’d hoped she would stumble upon a

solid connection to the murders, a lead that could take her

somewhere with the story and save her ass in the process. Her

editor, Rex Hollander, had been very specific—get a frontpage

investigative story or get a pink slip.

Dmitri lifted one of the heavy velvet curtains aside and

gestured her ahead of him. As a last resort she straightened

her shoulders and tried the vapid smile that got her far more

information than direct questioning ever had. Especially from

a guy like this—cool, reserved, with just enough swagger to

think, or rather know, that he was worth a second look.

“It’s pretty,” she said, keeping her voice artificially highpitched,

shaving another ten points off her IQ. She glanced

around the room, pressing as many details as she could into

her memory. Honestly, it was more like some Goth sitting

room tricked out in crimson faux leather on the walls, soft

black leather couches and lounge chairs, chrome-and-glass

tables, with an enormous flat-screen television on one wall.

A tall black lacquered cabinet stood in one corner. “What’s

in there?”

“Supplies. Glassware, napkins, trays.”

“May I see?”

He moved his hand with a flourish. “But of course.”

He didn’t move to open it, so she took it upon herself to do

the honors.

The doors hid a bit more than napkins and glasses.

Hermetically sealed razor blades, tubing, individually wrapped

packets of gauze, tape. She picked up a plastic-encased blade

between her fingers. “And this would be for slicing…”

“Olives.”

“Riiight.” She tapped her finger on the cabinet door.

“They make the best practice,” he added, his lips tipping

up in the corners in a knowing way.

Kristin’s stomach dropped to her shoes. “Come again?”

“If people are interested in blood activities, we have them

first practice on olives, or grapes. Either tends to simulate

the necessary balance between pressure and precision that’s

required.”

“For…” Kristin rolled her hand, wishing she could pull the

words out of his mouth faster.

            “Some people like to drink blood.”

“Annnnd we’re back to the vampire wannabes.”

He stepped closer, making the room seem all of a sudden

way too small and intimate for her taste. “Not all of them.” He

slipped the cabinet door from her fingers and lightly closed it,

the clicking sound echoing through the hollow in her chest.

Kristin could feel her heartbeat fast and thick in her throat.

His lips twitched and his eyes seemed to take on a golden

glow. A trick of the light, Kristin was sure.

“Some are wannabes. Some, my dear Miss Reed, are the

real thing.”

***

We'd like to thank Theresa for taking time out of her busy schedule to talk with us about her book. We will be interviewing her live on Blog Talk Radio, Monday, March 21. Be sure to listen in or call us with any questions you might have.

Next week we're bringing you some more vampire love when we interview Katie Salidas, author of Karma & Melodies. Until then, we'll see you on the stream.