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2013 reading goal:
15 new-to-me authors.
1) Stacy Gail
2) Heather Massey
3) Sidney Bristol
4) Ann Mayburn
5) Thea Harrison
6) Virna DePaul
7) Mary Quast
8) Molly Harper
9) Eleri Stone
10) PJ Schnyder
11) Kait Ballenger
12) Denise L. Wyant
13) Lucy Monroe
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Showing posts with label Author Interview. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Author Interview. Show all posts
Friday, July 19, 2013
Author Guest Post & Giveaway: Sidney Bristol
Today I welcome back one of my favorite peeps, author Sidney Bristol. She’s here today celebrating her new book release, The Harder He Falls, the second title in her So Inked series from Ellora’s Cave. Take it away, Sidney...
Hello, and thanks so much to the ever lovely and beautiful Jen for hosting me ON MY BOOK RELEASE DAY!
I’m sorry, that was a little too much excitement, wasn’t it? I’ll try to tone it down, but I make no promises.
The second book in my So Inked series from Ellora’s Cave releases today. The series focuses on a team of female tattoo artists slinging ink and making a name for themselves in Texas. The Harder He Falls is the second book in this series and follows one of the shops owners, Kellie, as she makes some hard decisions, faces down her worst nightmare and finds love in the arms of a man she never expected to win her over.
But that’s the sales pitch. Why don’t we talk about something fun?
Did you know there are different styles and even schools of art when it comes to tattoos? While most tattoo artists can do all types of tattoos, everyone has something they’re naturally good at. Well the girls at the So Inked tattoo shop are no different!
With The Harder He Falls I wanted to dig into the well-known Japanese elements of tattooing we see everywhere. From t-shirts to phone cases to even your underwear, tattoo art is showing up in all sorts of new places and a lot of it harkens back to the art brought from Japan by artists like Ed Hardy, Yakuza gangsters coming to America, service men stationed in Japan and tourists.
Almost every culture has a history of tattooing unique to them. From geometric designs dating back to the first humans, to markings to denote tribes and designs to evoke the power from the art, tattoos have said a lot about us since the earliest of days.
Japanese tattoos are a language in and of themselves, that isn’t always appreciated by its American audience. Each traditional element can be manipulated, combined and placed to call upon different powers, mean something specific or say a particular thing about the wearer.
For example, a Koi fish depicted swimming up water means that the person is overcoming something. Combined with other flowers, elements or symbols, it can become more specific, speaking to the fragility of life, persevering through a rough time, etc.
While a lot of the American tattoo culture revolves around images and embracing your own meaning, Japanese tattoos come with a rich culture, even a heritage of being part of that language. I’ve always admired the Japanese style tattoos, but could never settle on something that spoke to me and meshed with the tattoos I currently have.
Tattoos are often a love them or hate them choice. Which side of the line do you fall on? Leave a comment for a chance to win a digital copy of the first book in the So Inked series, Under His Skin!
About the Author:
It can never be said that Sidney Bristol has had a ‘normal’ life. She is a recovering roller derby queen, former missionary, and tattoo addict. She grew up in a motor-home on the US highways (with an occasional jaunt into Canada and Mexico), traveling the rodeo circuit with her parents. Sidney has lived abroad in both Russia and Thailand, working with children and teenagers. She now lives in Texas where she splits her time between a job she loves, writing, reading and belly dancing.
GIVEAWAY: Ms. Bristol is offering one (1) a digital copy of the first book in the So Inked series, Under His Skin to giveaway here at That’s What I’m Talking About. To enter, please leave a comment answering Sidney's question “Tattoos are often a love them or hate them choice. Which side of the line do you fall on?" Contest is open to anyone, except where prohibited by law. Contest open from July 19, 2013 until July 25, 2013 at 9:00 PM EDT. One (1) winner will be selected at random from the comment entries. Prize will be emailed to winner directly by author. I am not responsible to items lost in the mail/email system.
The Harder He Falls, So Inked #2
The Harder He Falls, So Inked #2
Ellora’s Cave; Coming soon to Barnes and Noble & Amazon
A woman who doesn’t have time for love…
A hot night full of hotel-destroying sex was all Kellie wanted from her client-turned-sex god. Between family and work, there isn’t room for love, just hot, sweaty lust. An arrangement for mutual gratification is exactly what Kellie wants, but every kiss, each mind-blowing orgasm twines her heart around a man she cannot have.
A man building a new life…
Quinton’s assumptions about the So Inked shop owner are turned on their head after one session under her tattoo machine. Kellie’s not the vandal he’s looking for, but she’s the woman he wants. In his bed, on the desk or under the stars, he’ll take her any way he can get her. But Quin has secrets and someone is out to destroy him. Someone who has their sights set on Kellie now.
---
Excerpt
Kellie shifted on the wooden bench, still restless. The evening breeze was cooler than normal thanks to a cold front blowing in. It was ridiculous that dropping into the nineties was considered a cool spell, but in the height of Texas summer, you took what you got. She swept her hair up into a knot and tipped her head back. The slight dampness of her skin, courtesy of the ever-present humidity, was a small price to pay for being able to sit outside. She’d shed the formfitting dress for jeans and a tank top and felt more like herself for it.
“How hot does it get here?” Quin plunked down their dinner and sat on his side of the picnic table. Behind him the food truck was starting to pack up.
“Can’t handle the heat?” It was too much to ask that the man be able to cope with everything. He’d sat through the tattoo yesterday without complaint, being a heat weenie wasn’t terrible.
His brilliant blue eyes stood out in the dim illumination of the parking lot light. “When you have A/C, why should you?”
“You do realize that it’s going to get at least ten degrees hotter and stay there, don’t you?” She unwrapped the tacos and inhaled the spicy aroma of peppers and onions mixed with tender beef.
Quin made a show of wiping his forehead with a napkin. “I’m going to melt.”
“Why the hell are you still here then?”
He hefted his burrito and wrapped the tortilla tighter. “Family.”
She nodded, understanding that reason above all others.
They descended into companionable silence while they ate. The garbled sounds of a Tejano station melded with the distant sounds of Highway 75 and the light street traffic up and down Greenville Avenue.
“What are you so wound up about, doll?”
Her head snapped around. Quin watched her with one brow arched.
“What?” she asked.
“Your knees are bouncing and you keep looking around. Are you expecting someone I don’t know about?” He glanced over each shoulder.
The bubble of anger swelling in her breast burst. It wasn’t Quin’s fault she was suffering from a case of bitchitis.
Instead of snapping at him, she put her taco down and massaged her temples. “No, I’m just sitting on too much energy and not enough time to expend it.”
“Ah.” He nodded as if he understood. “We used to call that the fight or fuck stage.”
It was her turn to quirk a brow at him. She shivered despite the heat. He had a point; one or the other would help. “Fight or fuck stage? What did you used to do?”
“First I was in the Marines, then I used to fight MMA, semipro.”
Her eyebrows crept upward. Mixed martial arts? She saw Quin in a whole new light, and when she looked at him in this proverbial light, he looked damn good. Fighters came with their own set of issues, but as an MMA hobbyist herself, Kellie had to admit that her bad boy draw was sitting across from her. Growing up around the gym meant she’d become more than competent in a few martial art forms. As an adult, branching out into the grappling, wrestling and more violent aspects had given her a much needed outlet.
Kellie grabbed her drink, the cup covered in condensation, and gulped it down to get moisture back in her dry mouth.
“Why’d you stop?”
“I got hurt. Fractured a few vertebrae. Everyone was amazed I could walk after that. Realized there was little to no chance of me coming back from the injury, so I switched over to training. I like it.”
“Do you train around here?” An invisible fist clenched her heart. There had been a time when she would have known the different gyms, who trained where, which ones were worth going to and so forth.
Quin didn’t answer immediately. He chewed his food without haste and took a drink before replying. “I’m transitioning locations. Parting with someone. It’s a little messy.”
Her nose wrinkled. “Yeah, I’ve been there. I’m lucky to have Mary as my co-owner. The guy I worked with before her was a man-child.”
He snorted. “Man-child?”
“Yeah, you know. Frat boy types.”
He tilted his head back and laughed. “That’s a good one, doll. Man-child. I’ll have to remember that.”
The pet name slid over her nerves as if it were sandpaper. “Do you have to call me that?”
“What?” He blinked as if he had no clue what she was talking about.
“Lay off the doll crap already.”
He shrugged. “You look like a doll.”
Her scalp itched and her hand balled into a fist. “You think I look like a whore?” she growled. Moments like these she felt as if she were a passenger in her own body. The urge to do something, or even the man across from her, had her muscles too tense and her nerves strung too tight.
Quin jerked his face away from his cup. “What? No. That’s not what I meant. You’re attractive and exotic-looking. You look more like a doll than a real person.”
Heat crawled up her neck and she was thankful the parking light was their only illumination. It was the most convoluted compliment anyone had ever paid her, and it turned her on even more. She folded her taco wrapper into a neat square.
“You realize the term china doll is what men called Asian prostitutes and war brides?”
“The fuck—no. No, that’s definitely not what I meant. Hey, guys probably hit on you all the time. I figured I had to be a little creative.”
She rolled her eyes. “At least you don’t talk to my boobs.”
His gaze dipped to her chest and her nipples perked up at his inspection. She squeezed her thighs together. This was ridiculous. She was not an animal in heat ready to throw herself at some random guy.
“Well, in their defense, most guys probably only come up to your chest, so it’s not entirely their fault.” One side of his mouth kicked up in a roguish smile.
She chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, blame it on me because I’m tall.”
“It’s not your fault you’re tall. It’s their fault they’re short.”
Her phone buzzed against her hip. Conversation forgotten, Kellie dug it out of her pocket and unlocked the screen. The home-care provider always texted her when Grandma finally went to bed. She breathed a sigh of relief when nothing else was mentioned, which meant the day had passed without incident. She had all night before she would need to go home and face those troubles. For now she was her own woman.
“Everything okay?”
She glanced up from the phone. “Yeah.”
“Good.”
“So you moved here for family. Wife? Girlfriend?”
“None of the above.”
He was unattached and available. She went very still, the possibilities running through her head.
Quin cleared his throat. “My schedule right now doesn’t lend itself to dating.”
Even better. She laid her palms on the rough wooden surface of the table. “Neither does mine.”
His stillness echoed hers. A predatory awareness came over him, but she wasn’t prey. “That’s a shame.”
She looked him over, even as he did the same. He wouldn’t be the first client she slept with, she wasn’t a saint. But neither did she know him.
“Excuse me.” The food truck cook had walked up on them without either noticing. “I need to load the table, sorry.” He smiled and wiped his hands on the dirty apron.
Kellie swiped the napkin across her face. Had she really inhaled the burrito? Judging by the sad remnants left, yes she had.
“That’s fine. Thanks for the food.”
She rose, gathered up her trash and tossed it in a recycling bin, then leaned against the front of Quin’s truck, out of the way while Quin lent a hand to their cook and helped load the table. Too many thoughts spun around in her head, she needed a minute to get her head screwed on straight, but she wasted those watching Quin’s arms and the way his t-shirt stretched across his back. She pretended she hadn’t been staring when he headed for her, perching her elbows on the hood and leaning back. The truck’s grille pressed into her back but with her elbows perched on the edge, it thrust her breasts out. As if she needed to draw any more attention to them.
Quin’s gaze roved freely over her body and she could already anticipate his strong touch. He would be an energetic lover, but would he be gentle? Or rough? Did he always have to stay in control? Because sometimes she liked to put a man through his paces.
“I can’t tell what you’re thinking and I’m dying to know.” He stopped less than a foot away.
She smiled slowly, already having a pretty good idea what his answer to her question would be. “I was wondering if you would like to get a room?”
Friday, July 12, 2013
Author Guest Post: Tracy Cooper-Posey
Today I am pleased to introduce you to romance author Tracy Cooper-Posey. Tracy is an Amazon #1 Best Selling Author who writes erotic vampire romances, hot romantic suspense, paranormal and urban fantasy romances. She has published over 50 novels since 1999, been nominated for five CAPAs including Favourite Author, and won the Emma Darcy Award.
She turned to indie publishing in 2011. Her indie titles have been nominated four times for Book Of The Year and Byzantine Heartbreak was a 2012 winner. She has been a national magazine editor and for a decade she taught romance writing at MacEwan University.
She is addicted to Irish Breakfast tea and chocolate, sometimes taken together. In her spare time she enjoys history, Sherlock Holmes, science fiction and ignoring her treadmill. An Australian, she lives in Edmonton, Canada, with her husband, a former professional wrestler, where she moved in 1996 after meeting him on-line.
Tracy is here today to give us the top nine laws of time-travel in romances. In addition, she tells us about her latest title, Kiss Across Chains, the third story in her Kiss Across Time series.
Please help me welcome Tracy toThat’s What I’m Talking About.
The 9 Laws of Time Travel in Romances
A tongue-in-cheek and (very) generalized look at the genre of time travel romances.
1. There will be no mechanics, gears, wheels or electronics to aid the time travel.
The traveling through time will happen spontaneously, without the need of equipment, tools or machines…or Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.
2. The traveller will experience very little disorientation upon arrival in the past/future.
There will be no side-effects from the traveling, and when the traveller arrives, they can figure out very quickly where they are, and what has happened. They accept the idea of traveling through time without question.
3. The traveller will instantly understand the local language, dialect and idiom.
Even if the locals are speaking a northern Italian early medieval version of Latin, the traveller will be able to both understand, speak and write in that language. Ancient English dialects present no barrier at all.
4. The traveller invariably meets someone famous in the past.
Time travel authors can’t help themselves. The historical personage not only appears in the story, but they are usually enamored with the traveller and their “advanced” thinking…
5. The traveller will find the contemporary clothes of the time they are visiting suits them perfectly.
There is never any disorientation about how to don historical garments, and the traveller never, ever finds the clothing irritating, frustrating or just plain uncomfortable.
They do, of course, look fabulous in their new garb.
6. The traveller will never fall ill of local and contemporary diseases.
There are some deadly diseases that have been all but contained or completely wiped out in our times, that a modern traveller would have no antibodies to resist if they met a nasty virus. Even a common cold would be an ancient variant that modern travelers should succumb to. Nevertheless, the traveller will breeze through their time in the past with nary a sniffle or spike in their temperature.
The traveller will also be able to consume and digest all local foods without ill effect or an adjustment period. No food intolerances are permitted.
7. The traveller will never fall foul of local laws, unless it brings them into contact with the hero/heroine.
Breaking the law, falling foul of local customs and ignoring the etiquette of the times never happens. The traveller, regardless of the degree or lack of historical education, manages to avoid all entanglements with the rules. They instinctively acquire a working knowledge of the local laws when they arrive.
The only time they will screw up is when it helps bring them together with the hero or heroine…or drives a wedge between them.
8. People in the past will not be suspicious about the traveller.
Despite the traveller having the most odd accent the locals would have ever heard, a lack of familiarity with current events, and a general air of ignorance, locals will overcome their usually hostile or suspicious reception of strangers and accept the traveller as one of their own.
9. Whatever the traveller does in the past, it will rarely have any affect upon the future.
Einstein’s theories dictate that a visitor to the past must change the past, and even the smallest changes can ripple down through time, their effect expanding as history becomes more and more changed as the new events unfold. But that doesn’t happen in time travel romances. The traveller can bumble around in the past, meet and interact with key figures, even interfere with and change the course of key historical events, but because it is a time travel romance, they will find everything right with their world when they return to their own time.
-----
For every law, above, there is probably a time travel romance out there that proves it is an exception. But time travel romances are too much fun to read and write to ever let little things like Relativity to get in the way.
I know I’m not about to abandon the genre!
Kiss Across Chains
Self-Published, July 1, 2013
When dying becomes an act of love.
It is four years since Taylor and Brody almost lost Veris during the First Crusade. Now they know how to control time jumps, they have settled into a very nearly perfect, nearly human life, raising their daughter Marit.
When Brody defies Queen Tira to protect Marit, the three of them jump back three days in time to collect evidence the queen set up Brody for a drug bust in retribution. The jump sends them back to Brody’s personal nightmare: Fifth century Constantinople.
While Brody survives as a flogged slave, Taylor masquerades as the wife of an aristocrat and searches for Brody to release him. They must wait for Veris to find them before jumping home and Taylor watches each brutal chariot race, wondering if this will be Brody’s last. Brody once died in the Hippodrome and he is human this time, too….
Warning: This story features two super hot alpha vampire heroes, multiple sex scenes, including anal sex, MM sexual play, and MMF sex. Do not read this book if frank sexual language and sex scenes offend you.
The time-space continuum was restored to order at the end of this book. Promise.
Books in the Kiss Across Time Series (click for review)
Book 1: Kiss Across Time
Book 2: Kiss Across Swords
Book 3: Kiss Across Chains
You can find Tracy on the web:
Monday, June 24, 2013
Author Guest Post & Giveaway: PJ Schnyder
Today I have the honor of bringing to you one of my favorite people, paranormal/ sci-fi author PJ Schnyder. Born and raised in the North East, PJ spent her childhood pretending to study for the SATs by reading every fantasy and sci-fi novel she could borrow from the local and school libraries. She scored fairly high in the verbal portion.
She was introduced to the wonderful world of romance a decade later by her best friend at an anime convention in Seattle.
She now lives somewhere temperate watching the seasons go by with her two dogs and super stealthy ninja kitty, writing her stories and gaming.
PJ is here today to talk about her new release, Bite Me, the first book in her new London Undead series. Keep reading to learn more about her book and enter an awesome GIVEAWAY!
Please help me welcome PJ toThat’s What I’m Talking About.
Werewolves, hunting zombies, in London!
As a writer, I tend to keep an eye on calls for submissions, especially when they’re from my editor. Back in fall of 2011 and likely earlier, Mallory Braus included a request for a “zombie hunter romance” in her call for submissions via Carina Press.
On reading that, I giggled. And then I had an idea. That idea almost became a whole bunch of different things. The final result, though, evolved into the London Undead series and I am very happy Mallory and Carina Press acquired it. I’m elated to celebrate the release of the first book in the series, Bite Me.
The moral here is to have fun imagining what you’d do in a zombie apocalypse and also to keep an eye on those calls for submissions. You never know when inspiration might lead to a great match. ;)
Blurb:
Few people walk the streets of London since the zombie outbreak, but that’s not an issue for Seth. As a werewolf, he can handle himself and save humans reckless enough to take a nighttime stroll. While on patrol he comes across a group of people under attack. The one woman brave enough to take a stand against the zombies catches his eye—and not just because of her way with a gun. Learning the beautiful woman is homeless and fends for herself despite her disability only intensifies his urge to protect and care for her.
Maisie can’t help but admit that she’s attracted to her werewolf rescuer. She’s drawn to Seth’s strength and ferocity, and finds herself opening up to him in ways she never imagined, even though she’s determined to not to rely on Seth or anyone else. She doesn’t want another person to get hurt—or die—for her sake. She has enough scars, physical and emotional, from the last time…
But when Seth realizes something is drawing the zombies to Maisie, there may be nothing he can do to save her….
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| Prizes, enter below |
Open to International entries. Follow the instructions on Rafflecopter to enter.
Play find the PJ around the Internetz:
Website: http://pjschnyder.com
Twitter: @pjschnyder
And be sure to stop back later today for my review of Bite Me!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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Friday, June 14, 2013
Author Guest Post & Giveaway: Tammy Falkner
Today I have the honor of bringing to you paranormal/ historical romance author Tammy Falkner. As half of the Lydia Dare writing team, Tammy has co-written ten books, including A Certain Wolfish Charm and In the Heat of the Bite. A huge fan of Regency England, her regency paranormal series combines the magical elements of both mystical faeries and the glittering regency ton. Tammy lives on a farm in rural North Carolina with her husband and a house full of boys, a few dogs, and a cat or two. Visit her website, www.tammyfalkner.com, for more information.
Tammy is here today to talk about writing regency paranormals and tell us about her new release, The Magic of “I Do”. Keep reading for a chance to win a copy of A Lady and Her Magic (Book 1 in the regency faery series, directly preceding The Magic of “I Do”).
Please help me welcome Tammy back toThat’s What I’m Talking About.
When I started plotting my faerie books, I had already written vampyres and werewolves in the Regency period, writing as half of the Lydia Dare team. I started to think about what other beings might live and interact with the members of the ton. Believe it or not, I was out with friends and saw this adorable little garden gnome and I dreamed up Ronald, the menace of a garden gnome in my fae books, before I even began to think about faeries. I knew he was quirky, he wore a waistcoat and a cravat, and he was no more than two feet tall. He was also fiercely protective of the people he loved.
Now, who would interact with a garden gnome? Faeries! Yes, that’s how the faeries were born. Every fae family is assigned a garden gnome to take messages back and forth from the land of the fae and to generally oversee their well-being.
How do faeries interact with the lords and ladies of the ton? They are mission faeries, so they help the humans, particularly children, to find peace from things that would do them harm. They assimilate into households and do their magic. Then they leave and they go on another mission.
Then the question was – How could I keep my faeries and humans apart? So, I created the Unpardonable Errors, which make it impossible for a human to fall in love with a faerie. I love mixing historical and fantasy/paranormal. I get to have all the glittering balls, the lord and ladies of the ton, and I get to bend the rules of the Regency a little bit to suit my faeries. My heroines get to be witty and outside the social norm. They say things that are inappropriate, they don’t always know how to interact with Society, and they cause scandals at times, which is a tremendous amount of fun for me.
I am having a great time with my faeries, and I hope you do too. Just for you, here’s a sneak peek at The Magic of “I Do”...
A faerie without magic was about as useless as a carriage without a horse. If Claire Thorne had known that this would be her reward for trying to save her sister from the dangerous Duke of Robinsworth, she never would have gotten involved in her sister’s mission. She would have stayed at home. The land of the fae was so much more comfortable than the land where others resided.
Claire refused to look at her abductor. She refused to acknowledge his presence, although he did have her magic dust. It was in his pocket at that very moment. Despite the fact that she’d warned him it could explode in untrained hands, he’d taken it with no hint of hesitation. And now he refused to give it back. Claire lifted her chin and stared out the coach window. If anyone had told her a sennight ago that Lord Phineas would take her hostage, she would have laughed in his face. Yet here she was, at his mercy.
“Oh, blissful silence,” he said. He must have said it to himself, because he certainly couldn’t be talking to her.
“You really should return my dust to me before it does you harm.” She didn’t look at him as she talked. She continued to stare at the changing landscape. They’d left behind the bustle of Mayfair and were headed toward… nowhere, it appeared.
“And just what kind of harm might a little bottle of shimmer do to me?” He looked much too composed.
“It could explode and blow off an arm.” She finally turned to look toward him and found him grinning at her unrepentantly. That man had a smile that could stop a lady’s heart. Though it had no effect on hers. Well, almost no effect. His sparkling blue eyes made him look impertinent enough to annoy her to no end.
He held out his hand and appraised his arm with a critical eye. “I can live without an arm.” Lord Phineas swiped a lock of hair from his forehead and lowered his arm back to his side. He arched a golden brow at her as though taunting her to continue her threats. He hadn’t seen threats yet. Just wait until she turned him into a toad. Or a pig so that his outside could reflect his inside.
Claire let her gaze roam up and down his body slowly. “It might blow off something you use on occasion.” Her eyes stopped at his lap. He fidgeted in his seat. “It’s really quite volatile in the hands of the untrained.”
That wasn’t true. Not in the least little bit. But he didn’t need to know that. In his hands, the dust was useless. Just shimmery flecks of shiny things he didn’t understand. In her hands, however, it was quite useful. If she wasn’t afraid to commit one of the Unpardonable Errors—never use your magic to do harm—she would take a chance and wrest it from his possession. But if she had the dust in her hands right at that moment, she would use it to harm him. In a most satisfying way.
She forced herself into a casual shrug. “Take a chance. Blow off an appendage. Perhaps you’ll be lucky and it’ll be the smallest one. One you probably don’t get to use much.”
His smile vanished. “I can assure you there’s nothing small about my appendage.”
She grinned. “That’s not what she said…” She left the taunt dangling in the air. His face flushed. She must have touched a sore spot. But since he was holding her hostage, he deserved to be just as uncomfortable as she was.
***
How the devil could a faerie be aware of his problems with his mistress? Katherine had only left him a few weeks before. It wasn’t his fault that she’d spread a bit of a rumor about his prowess in the bedroom. One that was completely unfounded upon reality. He narrowed his eyes at Miss Thorne. “Are your people omniscient?”
She didn’t answer. She simply turned to look out the window again. Blast and damn. The woman was already driving him toward Bedlam and he’d only had her in his possession for a few hours. His brother, Robin, would owe him dearly for this. Very dearly.
The carriage hit a rut in the road and she bounced in her seat. She uttered a most unladylike oath as her head bumped the roof of the carriage. “Beg your pardon?” he asked. He cupped a hand around his ear. “I didn’t quite hear that.”
“If I’d meant for you to hear it, you would have heard it.” She adjusted her skirts, settling back more heavily against the squabs. The bounce had left her looking a bit disheveled, with a strawberry blond curl hanging across her forehead. She blew the lock of hair with an upturned breath.
She really was quite pretty if one could get over the shrewish behavior. Her body was tall and willowy, her limbs long and graceful. Her heartshaped face would probably be beautiful if she ever graced it with a smile.
“Just where are we going?” she asked. She still didn’t look at him. She gazed out the window with the countenance of someone who had the weight of the world upon her shoulders.
“My house in Bedfordshire.”
Her shoulders stiffened and then she exhaled deeply.
“And just what recommends such a place?”
“It has bars on the windows and heavy locks on the doors.” It didn’t. But she didn’t have to know that.
“It will take more than bars and windows to keep a faerie under lock and key.” She sniffed and raised her nose in the air.
“Then thank God there are ropes aplenty. I will tie you to my side if I must. I did promise Robin I’d take care of you.” That was a bit of a long and sordid tale, and he still didn’t understand the half of it. “Pray tell me how you people came to exist.”
She arched a delicate brow at him. “The same way you did.” Her face flushed scarlet. “Do you really need me to tell you about reproduction?”
Damn her hide. He didn’t need her to explain anything about reproduction. This lady knew how to jab him where it hurt, though. He would have to take great care with her. He grinned slowly and leaned forward. “Please do. If you’re lacking anything in the telling of how babes are made, I’ll fill in the blanks for you. Certainly, you have questions about it.”
“Should any pressing questions arise, I’ll be sure to let you know.” She looked back out the window. Damn, he hoped that Robin finished up his business soon so he could free the harpy.
“How long do you plan to keep me there?”
“As long as it takes for Robin to finish his business.” The sooner, the better.
“I’m certain he’s done by now. So we can turn around and go back to the city.” She looked quite pleased by that idea. A smile tipped her lips and the beauty of it nearly took Finn’s breath away.
“He’ll send word when he’s done. I’ll set you free not a moment before.”
She laughed lightly, and the sound raked over his skin like silky fingertips in the night. “Only an idiot would think he can keep a faerie confined.” She snorted lightly. It was a most unladylike noise, but he found himself biting back a grin at the sound.
Finn leaned over and looked out the window at the cloud-filled sky. If he couldn’t keep her confined, the inclement weather would. Unless he was mistaken, the snow would begin to fall before they reached their destination. Then she would be as confined by the elements as she was by him. Perhaps he wouldn’t have to tie her to him. He’d have to wait and see.
Tammy, once again thank you so much for taking the time to tell my readers a little bit about yourself and your writing.
GIVEAWAY: I have one (1) copy of A Lady and Her Magic by Tammy Falkner to giveaway here at That’s What I’m Talking About. Thank you to Sourcebooks for sponsoring the giveaway of Book 1 in Tammy’s regency faery series. To enter, please leave a comment answering the question “What your favorite fae / fairy related story?” Winners restricted to US and Canada mailing addresses. Contest open from June 14 until June 19, 2013 at 9:00 PM EDT. One (1) winner will be selected from the comment entries using random.org. Prize will be mailed to winner directly from publisher.Thursday, June 13, 2013
Author Guest Post: SM Blooding
Hello Readers! Today I bring you author SM Blooding. SM lives in Colorado with her pet rock, Rockie, Ms. Bird, the Chicken and SistaPITA. It's quite the zoo. She’s taken a break from the piano, which Ms. Bird is quite happy about, and now knows more than one word in Arabic. Basically, she can say hello, good-bye, give it to me, and hurry up!
She’s dated vampires, werewolves, sorcerers, weapons smugglers and US Government assassins. Yes. She has stories.
SM is here today to talk about the world-building in her new release, Fall of Sky City (Book 1 of the Devices of War Trilogy). Please help me welcome SM to That’s What I’m Talking About.
Thank you so much for having me and letting me talk about the coolest part of this series, the world building. I have to say that building the world for this trilogy has been more challenging than any other series I’ve ever written. There have been so many discoveries along the way, but let’s stick to the Top 10 World Building Moments that led to what we have now.
10. The Solar System
It would be silly of me not to mention it. This solar system is how the whole idea behind the book began. I wanted to do something wildly different, so I took the coolest solar system that I’d been building over the past several years and said, “Let’s write a book.”
9. Understanding the Seasons
Looking at this system (which is hanging from my ceiling), you can see that everything is going to be different. Day, night, seasons, years, everything. The biggest impact was winter, which spans up to five years at a time. It’s like a mini ice-age every turn. So in order to survive this, all the cities and civilizations had to develop around the ability to move. This led me to thinking. What are some of the different types of cities we could have that would allow us to be mobile?
8. Discovering the Air Ship
The easiest way, of course, is to be on a ship. That was kind of a no brainer. My favorite steampunk element is the air ship. I love ‘em! I knew as soon as I said “steampunk”, there was going to be an air ship.
7. Figuring Out How to Keep the Ship in the Sky
But this led to several troubling questions. I couldn’t rely on what other authors had done because they were alternate histories of Earth. We’re on a different planet. Who’s to say they know what hydrogen is? Were they able to study elements the same way we did? I’m sure someone somewhere on their planet is doing something similar, but were they able to make the same leaps?
The answer I came up with was yes and at the same time no. Life on this planet is very symbiotic. So with that in mind, my next question was, what creature could I put in the sails of this ship so that would allow it to float? I discovered that I have a secret love affair with the jellyfish. Even I didn’t know this, but every time I dipped a toe into research mode, it came out “jellyfish”. So on this planet, we have several different types of jellies, one of which is the air jelly.
5. Keeping the Air Jelly Alive
Now, in my travels on this newly developing world, I came across some interesting knowledge. The air jellies volunteer to be harnessed to the air ships and in return, the airmen keep them safe from the sky cats! We’ll get to them in a minute. But this also opened my mind to the vast ecosystem of the sky and how the air ship has to somehow incorporate that in order to exist.
I tripped upon this fantastic website called The Featured Creature, where I discovered the Chinese Dragon Worm and the feather starfish. At this point, my brain pretty much exploded. Between this and the Blue Dragon nudibranch, which keeps the toxicity of the jellyfish to a minimum so they’re not inadvertently killing the crew, I had a pretty good start to a working ecosystem.
4. Killing the Parasites
When you have an ecosystem like this, you’re going to have parasites. Actually, Miss Think and Miss Sunshine pointed out how cool parasites could be. I think they were trying to gross me out. They succeeded that night, but it got me to thinking. Parasites really do happen everywhere. What would happen if a…iridescent feather worm started infecting the ship? What if they preyed on the red feather worm that the El’Asim fleet relies on to feed their air jellies? What if one of the air jellies at one of the iridescent feather worms and was poisoned by it?
SistaPITA decided that we needed to have spitfyre falcons to protect the ships. The leaders of the El’Asim go to the volcanoes of the Koko Nadi Islands and chose one egg each spring. Once the egg hatches, they raise the falcon and bond with it. It really changed the whole feel of the ship. It was a family before, but all of a sudden there was a great bond, one that you could hear as well as see.
3. Discovering a Volcano City
When Egolda City was destroyed, I didn’t know what to do with all the survivors. I was like, “Doh! I’m so sorry! I didn’t plan for this. You guys might be hooped! My bad.” But then I was listening to MerBear, a coworker of mine, and she was telling me a this peacock rock. You’ll have to Google it. It’s absolutely stunning.
At the same time, I was watching a documentary about volcanoes. Since this world is mostly air and water, studying volcanoes was a good idea. I learned about lava tubes, and those two ideas collided in my brain! We uncovered a newly formed series of islands riddles with lava tubes, with walls covered in peacock colored algae. Inside these tubes and series of caves was an entirely self-sufficient ecosystem. Egolda City survivors were saved!
2. The Most Versatile City…EVER
As much as I loooooooove the air ships, I have to admit that the coolest cities are on the letharan. These guys are massively HUGE jellyfish that can house a city the size of Denver! The trunks become the columns of the city. The finer tendrils are like the arms that help to raise and lower the platforms of the each level of the city. The veins of the jellyfish line the walls, and the “lights” are the jellyfish’s blood which glows in the dark, radiating from blue to green to yellow to orange to red to pink to purple and back to blue.
I admit. I’m torn. I don’t know whether I should love this city more or if I should remain stubbon and continue to love the ecosystem of the air ship. The lethara are able to reside above the ocean. The smaller ones have to remain in constant contact with the water, but the older ones that are several hundred years old can actually rise into the air. They typically don’t, but that doesn’t mean they can’t.
They’re also able to completely submerge without harming the people living inside their city. The lethara has a film that drops from the medusa (hood or bell), that envelopes the entire city. Oxygen is created through the type of synthesis as the jelly pumps the ocean water through his veins. He’s cognizant, aware, and able to communicate to his citizens.
1. The People
The greatest world building element for this series has been discovering the people. Each tribe, each Great Family, each religious sect, they have their own rhythm, language, set of values. It was so very interesting to meet each of them, and I think I convey that in the book, especially in book 2. We speak each other’s language as a sign of respect. We honor each other’s ways.
This book truly has been a great challenge to write, but it has been incredibly rewarding at the same time. I hope you enjoy! And thank you again for stopping by!
SM, thank you so much for stopping by and tell us all about your new series. Here is more about SM and where to purchase her book:
Fall of Sky City
Book 1 of the Devices of War Trilogy
April 5, 2013
In a world governed by the opposing forces of the mystical House of Tarot and the tribal Great Families, Synn is caught in the crossfire. He witnesses the slaughter of innocent people, and the devastating murder of his father. This act awakens his Mark of power, a Mark greater than any the world has seen in a very long time.
Queen Nix thought she won a great prize when she destroyed Synn’s father, the leader of the strongest Great Families. She had no idea she’d be doubly blessed by capturing his son. However, before Synn can become her treasured weapon, before she can use him to bring the rest of the world to its knees, she must break him and bind his soul to hers.
She does her job with brutal brilliance. Synn’s mind is broken and his soul is seared to hers in an unbreakable bond.
That doesn’t stop him from wanting to be free. She may have broken his mind and claimed his soul, but he will find a way to destroy her.
Experience a world of ships that sail the clouds and cites buried beneath the ocean, and survive the fiery battle brought forth by those who control the forces of nature!
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