Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Interview and Giveaway - Patricia K. McCarthy - The Crimson Crimes


Introduction

I’m sitting here with Ottawa’s only vampire novelist, in her cramped kitchen, surrounded by posters of her novel covers with peeling paint. There’s barely enough room in this kitchen to breathe but we will soldier on!

Question: What do you write about and why?

Answer: I write wonderfully eccentric gin and tonic pot-boiler vampire novels because it saves me the trouble of having to serve prison time for infanticide. I have no children of my own nor have I ever desired to have kids so instead I give birth to pulp fiction novels, which are a lot less expensive; they never talk back to me and I don’t have to save for their college education. I put a lot of effort into rearing my novels, of course nowhere near as much as most parents do with raising a child, but it’s still represents a two to three year commitment. As for why vampires I can only say in my defence that they chose me; the sneaky little buggers came in through the backdoor. A pulp fiction magazine in Roswell, George, called Man’s Story 2 purchased some of my erotic poetry and afterward their editor asked me to submit short vampire stories for another of their magazines called Vampires 2.  Apparently they liked what I wrote and bought a few more and that gave me the silly idea of turning my new-found interest in vampire short stories to novels.

Question: As it seems to be case with many novelists, has one vampire novel grown into a series?

Answer: Much to my own surprise, yes. I call mine The Crimson Series; novel number four was released in October 2010 and novel number five is officially being released on October 11, 2012 at Ottawa’s swanky new event location called @TheSpace, after enduring multiple harrowing sessions with my dastardly but wise editor, David Three Rats, who ironically became a character in novel number four. You see this gives me the power of doing with him as I please and maybe even killing him off! Here again I easily escape serving a prison term because no one cares if fictional characters are sacrificed. Actually, I’m having so much fun with my current raft of characters that I can’t imagine killing off any of them at present… maybe in novel number six.

Question: Vampires are the darling of the literary world, why do you think that is so?

Answer: The basic elements of vampires are a human invention, born from mythological story-telling and a pre-industrial ignorance on the stages of decomposition of the human body. Vampires didn’t start out as vampires; they began as the “undead” that rose up from the grave to feed on the living and these folkloric tales date as far back as medieval times. We have 18th poetry and prose to thank for inventing the vampire and specifically Bram Stoker’s Dracula which made vampires a staple of the horror genre. Later, 20th Century film helped the vampire to evolve into an enigmatic and powerful seducer, the perfect predator who embodied sexuality and immortality. Who can resist those compelling qualities? Humans are fascinated with immortality, power and lust and vampires have all of these attributes in spades.

Question: Vampires have been enjoying unprecedented success in film and print, what does your Crimson series have to offer that makes them stand out?

Answer: Oh, that’s an excellent question. There have been a lot of novels written about vampires, and many movies too, but few of these feature just one solitary vampire. In my Crimson series, there is only one vampire – to be precise the One and Only vampire on Earth, whose powers are handed down the line by a predecessor.   In 2006, a physics professor from the University of Central Florida wrote a paper on geometric progression and he argued the mathematical illogic of having more than one vampire in that if every victim bitten by a vampire in turn would transform into a vampire and bite someone else and turn that person into a vampire then there would be no humans left in the world within two years – just vampires. For me, the impact of the vampire has more punch by having only one. But admittedly, I cheat a little because I also have hybrid vampire characters, off-spring from the one and only vampire who bit pregnant women in their ninth month to create a new race of hybrid vampires. In my Crimson series, the hybrids have all but died with the exception of a very small handful of four that remain alive.

Question: Did you set your stories in ancient or modern times?

Answer: Modern times, specifically in the sedate city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada in such old, darling neighbourhoods like Sandy Hill that date back to the times of the lumber barons during the 1900s. The cover photography for the second trilogy, specifically The Crimson Time, features a photo from Strathcona Park taken by David Three Rats. I think it helps readers to connect the story to a real time and place that can be visited. I can even envision a “Crimson crawl” to the various pubs visited by the characters as depicted in novel number four, The Crimson Time: a vampire crawl. And for novel five, The Crimson Crimes: a vampire revenge, the old Carleton County Jail in Ottawa is featured on the cover. I adore Ottawa; we have a lot to offer in our button-down, pinstripe city – get out and explore it.

Question: The Crimson series is comprised of The Crimson Man, The Crimson Boy, The Crimson Woman, The Crimson Time and now The Crimson Crimes. What is the name of the sixth?

Answer: I named the first trilogy with a similar subheading on each cover A Fantasy, A Fantasy Continued, A Fantasy Realized. In the second trilogy, I’ve used the sub-heading, A Vampire Crawl, so for the fifth I named it The Crimson Crimes: A Vampire Revenge and for the sixth, The Crimson Dream: A Vampire Escape. Each story can actually be read as a standalone or in sequential order or as many people have taken to reading them backwards.

Question: If these are stories that are set in modern times, then are the characters concerned with regular human issues, such as acquiring wealth, raising families, saving the world?

Answer: (laugh) I wish my characters were as lofty-minded about doing well in the world. Unfortunately my characters are lacking in many of the attributes that would be assigned to saints. They are anything but upstanding – they drink too much, smoke too much, break judicial laws, kill and fornicate at every opportunity. In short, my Crimson world is a place where you can live out your wildest fantasies.

Question: Which brings me to my second last question – what about the erotic element in your Crimson series?

Answer: A relatively unexplored sub-genre of the vampire mythology and one that more authors are discovering is worthwhile to write and read. For me vampires are sex; they take what they want, when they want with no regard for consequences. The erotica in my Crimson series is not to window-dress the fiction but to add a more human element that readers can relate to and that is lust. Besides who doesn’t want to get their partner all hot and bothered from reading? I always recommend to readers to keep their partners close by, especially with the first installment in the Crimson series.

Question: Where and how can readers buy the Crimson series?

Answer: If you live in Canada, U.S. or International, through my website: www.patriciaKmccarthy.com where you can download eBooks or purchase right on-line the paper versions. My Crimson series is specialized and perhaps the most graphic fiction you will ever read, for a reason. Some independent bookstores sell the Crimson series in Ottawa.  My email door is always open and if any publisher listening to this interview is interested in becoming that international distributor let’s get together for a drinky-poo and discuss our new partnership.

Thank you for taking the time to chat!

It’s the dead of night in the dead of winter, and bodies have been found, stacked ceiling-high, in a hillside cave in Ottawa’s Strathcona Park; necks pierced, blood drained – the usual. The city is gripped by a dusk-till-dawn curfew. The press, police and public have whipped each other into a glorious panic over someone or something called the “Vampire Undertaker.” Well, when did a silly curfew ever shut down the kitchen party at the Crimson house? Bring beer, bring smokes, but please bring yourself to meet The Vampires (there are at least four of them) and their quirky human pals. We can take turns feeding the baby vampire, stalling the cops when they come knocking, and tripping out on that time-dream machine up in the bedroom. You’ve got to love people who know how to make their own fun! You’ll never know where Patricia K McCarthy’s “Crimson” stories will take you or guess what’s going to happen next, not that you’ll be complaining! Oh, and of course this novel is well-seasoned with smutty bits – every good plot deserves pepper.



About the author:

Patricia K. McCarthy lives and writes in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Her Crimson vampires series has received extensive media coverage in national and local newspapers, as well as on radio and television. For details, visit her website.



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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Guest Post and Giveaway - Patricia K. McCarthy - The Crimson Crimes


Why are vampires so attractive to readers? 

For centuries, throughout many cultures, stories have circulated of supernatural beings (the undead) rising up from the grave to feed on the blood and flesh of the living. Ignorance of the stages of decomposition of the human body furthered the undead mythology. Today, we would call these beings vampires. Of course, that name didn’t always exist; 19th Century poetry and prose are responsible for popularizing the word vampire. In particular, Bram Stoker’s Dracula made the vampire a staple of the horror genre, while 20th Century film turned the vampire into an enigmatic and powerful seducer, the perfect predator. We humans are fascinated with immortality, power and lust and vampires have all of these attributes in spades. Writing and reading about vampires resonates with many because of those compelling qualities. But rarely will I read vampire fiction (with the exception of Dracula which I had read long before I started my series). I travelled to Vienna in 2011 specifically to see Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss, a sumptuous portrait of a man devouring the object of his love with a kiss. I intended to take advantage of the time away to work on my fifth vampire novel in an entirely new environment. As it happened, my editor had given me a copy of Oscar Wilde and The Vampire Murders, the fourth installment of Gyles Brandreth’s series featuring Oscar Wilde as a sleuth – credible story, sharp prose, well presented in Wilde’s typical witty manner. His story has less to do with vampires and more to do with crime solving but he brilliantly draws gloomy atmospheres that are the perfect vampire setting. From my perspective, it was clear to me that Brandreth understands why humans created demons; we did it to scare ourselves. Eventually, I had to stop reading his novel. The writing was so damn good that I found myself trying to emulate Brandreth’s style (the bastard!). When I write fiction, I read only non-fiction or poetry, and I especially avoid all vampire fiction. But after writing vampire fiction for years, I can honestly say there is no one-answer-fits-all to the question: why vampires? I touched on some common themes; others have gone so far as to base their theses on the proposed answer. Ask anyone; each will give their own version while others will tell you, as I have heard said myself, “I don’t ‘do’ the vampire thing.”

It’s the dead of night in the dead of winter, and bodies have been found, stacked ceiling-high, in a hillside cave in Ottawa’s Strathcona Park; necks pierced, blood drained – the usual. The city is gripped by a dusk-till-dawn curfew. The press, police and public have whipped each other into a glorious panic over someone or something called the “Vampire Undertaker.” Well, when did a silly curfew ever shut down the kitchen party at the Crimson house? Bring beer, bring smokes, but please bring yourself to meet The Vampires (there are at least four of them) and their quirky human pals. We can take turns feeding the baby vampire, stalling the cops when they come knocking, and tripping out on that time-dream machine up in the bedroom. You’ve got to love people who know how to make their own fun! You’ll never know where Patricia K McCarthy’s “Crimson” stories will take you or guess what’s going to happen next, not that you’ll be complaining! Oh, and of course this novel is well-seasoned with smutty bits – every good plot deserves pepper.



About the author:

Patricia K. McCarthy lives and writes in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Her Crimson vampires series has received extensive media coverage in national and local newspapers, as well as on radio and television. For details, visit her website.




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Monday, October 29, 2012

Interview - Shiloh Walker


Please describe your novel twitter style 140 characters or less.

Inspired by twitter. Involves crazy people, a solid, stand-up,sexy as hell hero, a messed-up heroine. Hero runs a bookstore-reading is sexy!

What is the one thing you wish you knew before you tried to get published?

How much work there is to being an author besides…ya know…writing.  Of course, if I’d known?  I might not have gone through with this… LOL.

What to you is the best part of being a writer and what is the part you wouldn’t mind giving up?

I love story-telling.  It’s the best thing about being a writer…and my readers are great.

I’d love to never have to worry about promo.

What city would you love to set a story in but the right one hasn’t come along yet?

Sleepy Hollow, New York… it’s a real city! That’s so awesome.

Vampires, Shifters, Zombies, Angels - who wins the final ultimate battle?

Angels.  Definitely.

If you could witness any historical event past, present or future what would it be and why?

Geez…none of them.  I don’t want to go back and view the past-I worry too much about the implications and just thinking of it hurts my brain.  The future?  Ah, how about the birth of my grandkids.  In fifty years.  When I allow my kids to grow up.  That would be a momentous thing for me.

Anything else you would like to share today?

There’s a blog tour going on for STOLEN… you can check it out here… some crazy prizes by some awesome authors.


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Shay Morgan has stayed hidden for a long time. Living a reclusive life in Earth’s End, Alaska, she’s as far away as she can get from the trauma of her childhood and the man who hurt her long ago. But terror takes over Shay’s life yet again when an unknown stalker steals away the fragile peace she’s built for herself—targeting not only her but the one man who’s ever managed to get past the walls she’s built around herself.

Elliot Winter has lived through being falsely accused before—it ruined his military career. Now it’s happening all over again. And this time, his accuser is a twisted impostor who’s targeting his ex-girlfriend, Shay. Despite a fierce mutual attraction, Shay and Elliot broke up because Shay couldn’t let her guard down, couldn’t let Elliot in. But now they both need to trust each other to confront a psycho who seems to know all their secrets.


Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Review - Absolution


ABSOLUTION
The Penton Legacy, Book 2
By Susannah Sandlin

Release date: October 9, 2012
Publisher: Montlake Romance

Book Description:

With the vampire world on the brink of civil war over the scarcity of untainted human blood, battle lines are being drawn between the once peaceful vampire and human enclave of Penton, Alabama, and the powerful Vampire Tribunal.

A Scottish gallowglass warrior turned vampire in the early 17th century, Mirren Kincaid once served the Tribunal as its most creative and ruthless executioner—a time when he was known as the Slayer. But when assigned a killing he found questionable, Mirren abandoned the Tribunal’s political machinations and disappeared—only to resurface two centuries later as the protector and second-in-command of Penton. Now the Tribunal wants him back on their side—or dead.

To break their rogue agent, they capture Glory Cummings, the descendant of a shaman, and send her to restore Mirren’s bloodthirsty nature. But instead of a monster, Glory sees a man burdened by the weight of his past. Could her magic touch—meant by the tribunal to bring out a violent killer—actually help Mirren break his bonds and discover the love he doesn’t believe he deserves?

It’s a town under siege, a powerful warrior in a battle with his past, and one woman who can make the earth move—literally—as the Penton Legacy continues.



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My review:

I loved the first book in this series - Redemption.  (click here for my review) So while I was hoping the second book would be as good as the first.  I wasnt sure what would happen when I started reading it.  I really liked Aidan and Krys and enjoyed their story.  Mirren who was a great and interesting secondary character I wasnt sure about when it came to getting his own story, but I loved the town and had to read it as soon as I got the chance.  And it is totally possible for a second book to be as good as the first because this one is and I am so glad I read it.

Mirren is a warrior from way back.  Until he ended up with Aidan and helping to build and keep Penton safe it was all he had known.  Once in Penton he keeps to himself and exists.  But does he really enjoy life and living, its hard to tell.

Glory is a clerk in a gas station.  But she has dreams, she wants to be a chef and open her own restaurant.  It is really just her bad luck to be working when she is and have a vampire sense she has hidden talents.

Mirren has been captured and is being held until he breaks and becomes the warrior he once was.  And Glory ends up being held by the same vampire in the same location.  When neither will cooperate with their captors they are thrown together to either die or break.   They are freed before either gives in to their darker side they are fighting and end up back in Penton for the majority of the story.

Here they learn about each other and Glory learns how she can help the fight to keep Penton and its citizens safe.  While Glory learns about her new life and Mirren learns to enjoy life again, the whole town must come together and figure out what to do and how to face the ever looming threat against them.  With unlikely friends and unknown enemies can Penton survive?

I cant wait for the next in the series to see what happens next.  I am also looking forward to checking out more from this author.  She really knows how to weave a story with great characters and settings.

Guest Post and Giveaway - Susannah Sandlin - Absolution


The Care and Feeding of a Vampire

Pity the poor vampires, consigned to a permanent low-carb diet, rich in protein and iron, with a taste he enjoys but, really—it’s blood. Night after night after night.

This situation doesn’t sit well with Glory Cummings. She’s an unvaccinated human, but she wants to do something special for Mirren, the vampire who recently saved her from a dire situation. Problem is, Glory doesn’t have much to offer because what she’s really good at is something Mirren can’t use: she’s a great cook with aspirations of owning her own restaurant.

But Glory’s stubborn, so she comes up with a solution: An hour before Mirren rises, she eats something rich that he can taste in her blood. She discovered this quite by accident when she was stuck at his house for her own protection, and a girl’s gotta eat, right? Who knew the big boy would get all fangy over the smell of a pot of her favorite beef stew?

So in honor of Mirren and Glory’s story, which is told in Absolution, is one of Mirren’s favorite food.

GLORY’S VAMP-FRIENDLY BEEF STEW
2 pounds stew beef
2 tablespoons oil
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon each thyme, black pepper, marjoram, basil
1 bay leaf
10-1/2 oz. beef broth
12 ounces beer, preferably a dark or stout (Glory likes to use Abita Turbo Dog)
4 medium carrots, chopped
4 medium potatoes, cubed
6 small onions, loosely chopped
Brown the beef in the oil, place in slow cooker with remaining ingredients. Cook on low ten hours or high 4 hours or until veggies are tender. A half-hour before serving, mix ¼ cup all-purpose flour with ¼ cup cold water, mix well, and stir into stew to thicken.

Consume one hour before vampire rises.

Bon appetit!

ABSOLUTION
The Penton Legacy, Book 2
By Susannah Sandlin

Release date: October 9, 2012
Publisher: Montlake Romance

Book Description:

With the vampire world on the brink of civil war over the scarcity of untainted human blood, battle lines are being drawn between the once peaceful vampire and human enclave of Penton, Alabama, and the powerful Vampire Tribunal.

A Scottish gallowglass warrior turned vampire in the early 17th century, Mirren Kincaid once served the Tribunal as its most creative and ruthless executioner—a time when he was known as the Slayer. But when assigned a killing he found questionable, Mirren abandoned the Tribunal’s political machinations and disappeared—only to resurface two centuries later as the protector and second-in-command of Penton. Now the Tribunal wants him back on their side—or dead.

To break their rogue agent, they capture Glory Cummings, the descendant of a shaman, and send her to restore Mirren’s bloodthirsty nature. But instead of a monster, Glory sees a man burdened by the weight of his past. Could her magic touch—meant by the tribunal to bring out a violent killer—actually help Mirren break his bonds and discover the love he doesn’t believe he deserves?

It’s a town under siege, a powerful warrior in a battle with his past, and one woman who can make the earth move—literally—as the Penton Legacy continues.


 
REDEMPTION
Book One Penton Legacy series
By Susannah Sandlin

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Following a worldwide pandemic whose vaccine left human blood deadly to vampires, the vampire community is on the verge of starvation and panic. Some have fanned into rural areas, where the vaccine was less prevalent, and are taking unsuspecting humans as blood slaves. Others are simply starving, which for a vampire is worse than death—a raging hunger in a creature too weak to feed.

Immune to these struggles—at first—is Penton, a tiny community in rural Chambers County, Alabama, an abandoned cotton mill town that has been repopulated by charismatic vampire Aidan Murphy, his scathe of 50 vampires, and their willingly bonded humans. Aidan has recruited his people carefully, believing in a peaceful community where the humans are respected and the vampires retain a bit of their humanity.

But an unresolved family feud and the paranoia of the Vampire Tribunal descend on Penton in the form of Aidan’s brother, Owen Murphy. Owen has been issued a death warrant that can only be commuted if he destroys Penton—and Aidan, against whom he’s held a grudge since both were turned vampire in 17th-century Ireland.  Owen begins a systematic attack on the town, first killing its doctor, then attacking one of Aidan’s own human familiars

To protect his people, Aidan is forced to go against his principles and kidnap an unvaccinated human doctor—and finds himself falling in love for the first time since the death of his wife in Ireland centuries ago. 

Dr. Krystal Harris, forced into a world she never knew existed, must face up to her own abusive past to learn if the feelings she’s developing for her kidnapper are real—or just a warped, supernatural kind of Stockholm Syndrome in which she’s allowing herself to become a victim yet again.

Susannah Sandlin’s REDEMPTION is the first in the Penton Legacy series. Book two, ABSOLUTION, will be out September 18, and book three, OMEGA, on December 18.




 About the Author:

Susannah Sandlin is the author of paranormal romance set in the Deep South, where there are always things that go bump in the night.

A journalist by day, Susannah grew up in Alabama reading the gothic novels of Susan Howatch and the horror fantasy of Stephen King. (Um…it is fantasy, right?)

The combination of Howatch and King probably explains a lot. Currently a resident of Auburn, Alabama, Susannah has also lived in Illinois, Texas, California, and Louisiana.






Tourwide Giveaway

1 Kindle Paper White (or $100 U.S. gift card to Amazon, B&N, or Book Depository winner's choice),

5 signed print or audio copies of Absolution winner's choice of print or audio

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