Announcing a sale and blog tour - updated 11/10

The third Lycanthropy Files book Blood's Shadow will be coming out electronically on November 25. If you want to catch up on the series, now is a good time because The Mountain's Shadow and Long Shadows ebooks are now on sale for 99 cents and $1.99, respectively, at all ebook retailers (see links above for excerpts and sale links).

I'm now on a blog tour in anticipation and celebration, and today's stop is at the Creatively Green Write at Home Mom blog, where I talk about my favorite part of Scottish setting - castles! Several of them inspired the buildings in Blood's Shadow including the Institute for Lycanthropic Reversal. Today I also have a spotlight with a scene that takes place in Lycan Castle at Pembroke Sinclair's blog.

This will conclude my blog tour for Blood's Shadow. Thank you for following along!

Previous stops:

11/7/14 A fun interview at Fang-tastic Books.

1. Can you tell readers a little bit about yourself and what inspired to write in this particular genre?

Thank you so much for hosting me today!

I’ve always written fiction, and my mind is drawn to the weird and unusual. As a psychologist, I’m also interested in how people express different aspects of their personalities at different times and how they integrate them as they get older. The Lycanthropy Files series has allowed me to incorporate my fascination with strangeness with the psychology of personality and personality development...

11/6/14 SBM Book Obsession, where I continued on the Scottish setting theme and talked about market crosses.

Unfortunately it doesn't look like my pictures went through for that post, so here they are:

The Market Cross in Culross

The very famous Market Cross in Edinburgh.

The Tollbooth in Culross. This is how I envisioned the architecture in Lycan Village.

11/5/14 Stopped by Book Liaison, where I talked about some of the Scottish places that inspired certain aspects of the town of Lycan Village in Blood's Shadow. There's also an interesting bit of trivia for Outlander and Monty Python fans.

11/4/14 Woo hoo! A five-fang review from Paranormal Romance and Authors that Rock.

This is my first time reading any of Cecilia Dominic’s books.  It won’t be the last. I enjoyed her  spin on the werewolf tales...

11/3/14 A spotlight at D'ebook Sharing. Her excerpt brought in one of my favorite characters from the book, a mischievous fae named Reine.

“To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?” I asked once we were alone.

Reine snapped her fingers, and the overhead light came on. Refrigerated cabinets stood along the walls. Most of them held empty metal racks behind intact glass doors. The racks in the cabinets to the left lay at awkward angles, and shards of glass from the shattered doors sparkled under the light. The dried blood made the white doors and metal counter look rusted, and she stood about an inch off the floor so her white slippers wouldn’t touch the flaky black mess. Again, my stomach turned, and I told it to still, but the black and white photograph of my father’s body blown to bits forced its way into my memory. As a child, my imagination had colored it in even better than the lurid brightness Technicolor had brought to the movies.

“When you build something to look like a castle, you can expect unpleasant things to happen in the dungeon,” Reine said. She floated out of the lab and stood beside me, her feet on the ground.

10/31/14 A spotlight at Sapphyra's Book Reviews. She featured an excerpt where we get to see Gabriel in his more administrative role:

When I returned to my offices at Lycan Castle, the seat of the Lycanthrope Council, I found a stack of files on my desk and a blessedly welcome pot of coffee. Less welcome was the message slip my assistant Laura handed to me. 

“Lady Morena wants you to phone her as soon as you get settled.” 

“I’m going to have to delay getting settled, then, aren’t I?”

10/30/14 The Feed Me In Books blog, which gave Blood's Shadow a lovely review:

"This is the 3rd book in the series, and while I haven’t read the first 2 yet, I do believe I will be going back and buying them..."

10/29/14 An interview at Diane's Book Blog. She asked some fun and interesting questions like,

What is your favorite part of the story, Blood’s Shadow, and the overall Lycanthropy Files series? 

With each of the Lycanthropy Files books, I’ve tried to expand the universe based on the characters’ perceptions. Essentially, they start off in The Mountain’s Shadow as feeling like they’re the only ones with the challenges of Chronic Lycanthropy Syndrome, or CLS, and the book itself focuses on the new sufferers in a little enclave in the Ozark Mountains. Then in Long Shadows, the world expands to wizards, which are hinted at in the first book, and magic. Finally, in Blood’s Shadow, other paranormal beings like ghosts and fairies reveal themselves, and it was great for me to be along as the author as my characters discovered these aspects of their world... 

10/28/14 Suzanne Johnson's Preternatura blog, where I'm allowing one of my minor characters to talk about Samhain, the Celtic holiday that led to Halloween. Comment for a chance to win a copy of Blood's Shadow.

When Suzanne and I talked about what would be a good topic for this guest blog post, we thought it would be fun to talk about how my werewolves celebrate Halloween, but the more I thought about it, the more I just couldn’t make it fit. In my previous post on identity, I talked about how it’s always Halloween in my head. For my lycanthropes, who spend most of their time pretending to be human to fit in to the world, they probably wouldn’t want to dress up as yet something else. So, they just celebrate the pagan feast of Samhain, which is pronounced Sow-when, and which is the root holiday of Halloween.

In my third Lycanthropy Files book Blood’s Shadow, I brought the series to Scotland, which I’ve been fascinated with since starting to date my husband, who is of Scottish heritage...

10/27/14  Jill Archer's blog. Here's a preview of the post:

Robert R. McCammon has the dubious honor of having written one of the few summer reading books I actually enjoyed, Boy’s Life, which was published in 1991. He has an amazing way with description, and the book sucked me in and made me forget I was doing something I didn’t want to do. To clarify, I have always loved to read, but I have a rebellious streak and having someone tell me to do it makes me not want to. I admit I didn’t immediately read more of his books because the horror designation stopped me.

Since I write about lycanthropes and it’s close to Halloween, I thought it would be fun to do a Character on the Couch analysis of Allied spy Michael Gallatin, aka Mikhail Gallatinov, the main character from McCammon’s The Wolf’s Hour... 

The complete list of tour stops is at the Bewitching Book Tours site.

Book Review and Character Interview: Snow the Vampire Slayer

This week I'm happy to welcome characters from Rebekah Ganiere's new book Snow the Vampire Slayer. But first the gorgeous cover:

BLURB:

Lady Snow Gwyn is tired of playing "mother" to her seven Vampire Slaying brothers. For the past two years, she's yearned to be out there fighting at their side as they hunt for bloodsuckers in the black of night. Snow is as good a fighter as any man, but she wasn't called to be a Slayer. A mere formality in her book.

Prince Sageren, Son of Lothar has spent the last fifty years in exile, awaiting the day when he can finally avenge his family and take back his throne. Barely existing, he's forced to face his inner demons and the monster he once was, compelling him to vow to never drink from humans again. A simple enough task--until he crosses paths with a human who makes his fangs ache to drain her.

When Snow runs into Prince Sage on a late night trip to the woods, she's torn between the urge to kill him and the desire to succumb to the feeling he stirs within her. And when Snow's life is threatened by the same evil that murdered his family, Prince Sage must enlist the aid of Snow's brothers to not only help him save her life, but to also regain his rightful place as King of the Vampires.

If Sage can keep the Slayers from killing him first.

And now I bring you Snow and Sage:

1. If your character were to go to a psychologist – willingly or unwillingly – what would bring them in? Yes, a court order is a valid answer.

Sage: I'm sorry a psy-whatagist?
Snow: A psychologist, Sage.
Sage: (perplexed look) Is that even a real word, love?
Snow: My toth, Sage. A psychologist is someone you go to talk to about your problems.
Sage: (perplexed look) So you're my psychologist then?
Snow: (shakes her head) Nevermind, let's move on.

2. Is the presenting problem one of the main internal or external conflicts in your book? If so, how does it present itself?

Sage: Problems? I have no problems.
Snow: (pats his hand while rolling her eyes) Of course you don't. Like the fact that your uncle tried to kill you and steal your throne and you had to run into the Daemonlands in exile for fifty years. Or how about the fact you are a vampire and my family are vampire slayers? Or what about--
Sage: All right, enough. But I'll have you know those aren't really problems as much as they are... obstacles.

3. It's always interesting to see how people act when they first enter my office. Do they immediately go for my chair, hesitate before sitting anywhere, flop on the couch, etc.? What would your character do?

Snow: I would sit like any Lady of Gwyn Manor would sit.
Sage: (snickers and pats her hand) Of course you would, love.
Snow: What does that mean?
Sage: It means that I've never seen you do anything like a Lady of Gwyn Manor before.
Snow: Well at least I'd have the decency not to walk in and act like I owned the world.
Sage: Why shouldn't I? I do own the world.

4. Does your character talk to the therapist? How open/revealing will your character be?

Sage: Ask away, I'll tell you anything.
Snow: (holds up her hands) Please don't. He really will tell you anything. He loves to see people squirm.
Sage: So I shouldn't talk about the time we were in the woods and I had you pinned to the ground and you--
Snow slams her hand over his mouth and smiles.

5. Your character walks into the bar down the street after his/her first therapy session. What does he/she order? What happens next?

Sage: Well if I went into a bar I would probably order a feisty brunette with a great pair of legs.
Snow: (Her eyes narrow at him) I beg your pardon.
Sage: You love, I'd order you.
Snow stares.
Sage: Honestly, Snow. You know you're the only one I want my fangs sunk into. Don't be jealous, it doesn't become you.
Snow: (faces the psychologist) I'm done here. (She storms out)
Sage: Snow, love don't be like that, I was playing.
Snow:(keeps walking) RAKE, she calls over her shoulder.
Sage: (shakes his head) I guess I better go after her before she gets herself into trouble. He nods and leaves.

6. Since you've already answered my original number 6, I'll ask this time if you did anything different for this new book regarding building characters.

In this book I really wanted to make the villain super bad. And I wanted my hero to have a fun playful sense of humor to cover up his pain. Sage is actually my favorite character of all my characters. I love him the most. I also wanted to add a very human quality to Snow and her brothers. A real sense of family, since Redlynn in the first book had no family. It was important to me that the bonds in Snow the Vampire Slayer, be extra strong.

My review:

I have to admit I rarely read the second book in a series because I have so often been disappointed. However, and I'll use this as my disclaimer for the FCC, I actually requested the review copy of this book because I enjoyed the first one so much. Once again Ganiere managed to strike an urban fantasy tone in a high fantasy setting with a feisty heroine, hot hero, and lots of action.

Lady Snow Gwyn gets to stay at home and cook for her seven feisty vampire-slaying brothers, but early in the morning when they're all asleep, she sneaks out to her cabin in the woods to practice swordplay. One night a handsome stranger surprises her there, and of course they fall for each other, but there are many obstacles between them and their happily ever after that keep the reader turning pages.

I was a little concerned at first when I realized who the "dwarves" would be because wow, that's a lot of character introductions at once, but I was able to keep them generally straight. Enough characters returned from Red the Were Hunter that I felt clever for recognizing them from the first book, but I think new readers to the series could start here and not be confused. The fairy tale retelling was again nicely done with enough elements included to be recognizable but not in a predictable way.

So once again, five glasses of wine, and I'm looking forward to the next one.