Archive for the ‘Paranormal’ Category

I Do Stuff!

Hi, all! And thank you to Selena for the opportunity to take part in this fun blog marathon.

I decided to write about sidekicks, mostly because they’re some of my favorite secondaries to develop. Yes, villains are meaty and dangerous, and without a protagonist, there’s no hope for the world. But sidekicks… Ah, sidekicks bring great balance to a story because they can be the heart, humor, and a breath of welcome relief between all the moments of conflict and intensity.

Consider what the movie Aliens would have been without Hudson, the wisecracking, rude, panicky marine who falls under the command of Ripley. On one hand, we have those aliens—perfect killers—screeching around killing everyone. On the other, we’ve got a perfect heroine—a mainly straight-to-business placeholder for the audience as she uses brain and brawn to battle the enemy. Hudson straddles the middle of this movie, making the viewers laugh when we need to the most, and actually even acting just like most of us would if we were to find ourselves in the same horrific situation: slightly hysterical and flailing in utter disbelief. (“Why don’t you put HER in charge?”) Even though Ripley saves the world, Hudson is the one who saves the audience’s sanity and soothes their nerves with his outbursts and comic asides.
Now, I write an urban fantasy series called Vampire Babylon, and I have my own sidekicks who serve just as much of a purpose as Hudson did. During the course of six books, one novella, and most recently, a short story (see below for details), my sidekicks have not only helped my heroine, Dawn Madison, save the world—they’ve helped to save her sanity in a variety of ways.

First, there’s Breisi Montoya. We meet her in Night Rising (book one) as a lab nerd—a kick-ass one at that. She’s the logistical brains behind the vampire hunting team that sets out to conquer a Hollywood underground lair. She’s a woman of few words, but when she says them, they have some impact on Dawn, who’s been in sore need of a female mentor ever since her mother, a silver-screen legend, suffered a brutal and very public death years ago. Breisi is a soulful sidekick—an Obi-Wan Kenobi of sorts. Instead of humor, she cuts the tension by placing Dawn firmly back in reality just as she’s about to go off the edge.

Then there’s Kiko Daniels, the team’s psychic and resident cut-up. As a “little person” thespian, he tends to “ACT!” quite a bit during the underground hunts. However, Kiko is no mere comic relief. The guy can use a revolver and any number of vampire-hunting weapons, and he can interview a suspect like no one’s business. And as for his “ACTING!”? He’s pretty good at using that skill, too, when it’s time to thrown a suspect mentally off balance. In many ways, Kiko is the younger brother Dawn never had, and the two of them have a deep, easy, goofy relationship that Dawn has never found outside of this vamp hunting circle.

All in all, while finding tragedy in life, Dawn actually finds a family in this group, and that’s an important point about sidekicks, I think. We love them for what they contribute to our heroes (or villains)–we love them because they add something our bigger stars are missing.

But, most of all, we love them because, in all the craziness, they make us, the readers, feel better, as well.

March release: A Vampire Babylon short story in the horror anthology Those Who Fight Monsters. Chris’s entry is entitled “Soul Stains” and it takes place after the events of Deep in the Woods, Vampire Babylon, Book Six.
Dawn Madison, ex vampire hunter, has been lured out of retirement by the sighting of an old, presumed-dead Hollywood starlet in a decrepit Vegas showroom. But is this entity merely a ghost? Or is it one of the escaped, mortalized Hollywood Underground vampires Dawn vowed to wipe off the face of the earth, even at the threat of returning her own soul to darkness?

Coming 07/27/11 Under the Pen Name Christine Cody

Author’s bio: Chris Marie Green is the author of the Vampire Babylon series, which includes Night Rising and A Drop of Red. In 2011, Ace will publish her new post-apocalyptic urban fantasy western noir Bloodlands series under the name Christine Cody. You can check in with her on Twitter (http://twitter.com/ChrisMarieGreen ), Facebook(http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Marie-Green/1051327765 ), MySpace (myspace.com/vampirebabylon), or her blog (http://crystal-green.blogspot.com/ ).

She also has a newsletter (http://www.vampirebabylon.com/lists/?p=subscribe ) and a web site at www.chrismariegreen.com .

Contest: Comment to be entered to win a signed copy of Book 6, Deep in the Woods in the Vampire Babylon series. Good Luck!

Heroes and Villains

Sometimes there is a very fine line between the two. Call it the bad-boy syndrome or the anti-hero, but many story “heroes” often flirt with both sides. It can make for a nice dynamic, particularly if the heroine isn’t entirely sure what to make of it. And of course, she’s most likely going to be attracted to him, just for that reason. If he’s truly bad, can he be redeemed? And will she be the one to do it?

For myself, I don’t mind it if my heroes straddle the line, because people generally tend to exist in shades of grey, and that’s exactly how I like my characters. I enjoy watching a hero’s layers slowly peeling back as we discover what makes him tick and what those inner motivations are. Often we find certain actions that may have appeared villainous or untoward at first become much more heroic once we know *why* he did them.

Not that those reasons necessarily excuse them from being an asshat, but it lends a certain amount of sympathy to their plight and it can be much easier for a reader to connect with that character. We can make allowances as to why he very well *should* end up with the heroine.

In my debut, A Brush of Darkness, Brystion the incubus has a certain element of the anti-hero in him. He’s motivated by the need to rescue his sister, but my heroine Abby has very little incentive to trust him, particularly when she has her own set of missing people to deal with. Of course, they end up having to join forces in the end…but things aren’t always what they seem. As much as Abby is attracted to him, she’s also very much aware that Brystion is an actual daemon, and one known for his overly seductive traits. Although she does give in to him (partially due to attraction and partially due to a deal they worked out), there is always a niggling of uncertainty in the back of her mind. Will he love her? Or betray her?

Here’s a little excerpt of A Brush of Darkness:
“I wasn’t trying to seduce you. The offer was genuine.” He pushed his hand through his hair. “It’s a little disconcerting to be turned down by a mere mortal.”

“Just a mortal,” I snorted. “Real nice. I’ll see what I can do about soothing your ego, O gracious and tactful one.” I chewed on my lower lip thoughtfully and gave him a sly smile. “Of course, you probably shouldn’t feel too bad. After all, I am wearing a magical amulet now.”

His mouth pursed. “You are?”

“Sure. It’s made of silver and moonbeams and blessed by a flatulent dwarf,” I intoned gravely. “It’s a guaranteed ‘plus four’ against Incubus Seduction.”

“You’re an ass.”

“Kiss, kiss, darling.” I fluttered my eyelashes, puckering my lips in mock affection.

His hand snarled into my hair, fingers twined tightly at the base of my head. “This is a complication I don’t want, Abby.” He growled the words, but there was no mistaking the desire that smoldered behind his now glowing eyes.

“The bulge in your pants says otherwise,” I retorted, perversely nudging my hips against him. A little voice in the back of my mind was going into apoplectic fits at my boldness. As far as I was concerned, the incubus had been acting like some sort of preternatural cocktease since we’d met and I’d had enough.

He let out a stifled groan, his other hand snaking down to grip my ass. “You’ll regret it,” he breathed, releasing his hold on my hair to trace a curious thumb over my jaw. His face drifted closer until his mouth brushed mine. I shuddered at the delicate intrusion. His fingers slid up to the small of my back.

“Probably.” I sighed, my mind happily unable to focus on anything but the way he was nipping at my lower lip. “I regret a lot of things.”

The incubus stared at me, an unnamed emotion flickering across his face, and then his lips were on mine, fierce and possessive. He devoured me utterly. There was only the sweetness of his tongue, probing hot and wet into the velvet contours of my mouth. It swept shallow, lingering to taste the soft edges, and then moved deeper, pulsing and rhythmic to match the rapid beating of my heart. I jerked forward to bury my hands in his hair, my ragged breathing giving way to a low cry of longing.

“How’s that ego?” he purred.

“Rock hard from the feel of it,” I gasped. “Just the way I like it.”

Book blurb:
I had a naked incubus in my bedroom. With a frying pan of half-cooked bacon and a hard-on. And a unicorn bite on his ass. Christ, this was turning out to be a weird morning.
Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and as sexy as sin incubus who shows up searching for his sister—and is convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts. Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invading her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As Abby is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, she realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.

Author Bio:
A marine biologist in a former life, Allison Pang turned to a life of crime to finance her wild spending habits and need to collect Faberge eggs. A cat thief of notable repute, she spends her days sleeping and nights scaling walls and wooing dancing boys….Well, at least the marine biology part is true. But she was taloned by a hawk once. She also loves Hello Kitty, sparkly shoes, and gorgeous violinists.

She spends her days in Northern Virginia working as a cube grunt and her nights waiting on her kids and cats, punctuated by the occasional husbandly serenade. Sometimes she even manages to write. Mostly she just makes it up as she goes.

Contact Info:
Website – http://www.heartofthedreaming.com
Blog – http://mynfel.blogspot.com
Group Blog – http://word-whores.blogspot.com

Facebook: – http://www.facebook.com/apang
Twitter: – http://www.twitter.com/allison_pang
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3965895.Allison_Pang

Villain or Hero?

He and the hero oppose each other at every turn. His goal damages the hero and prompts him to take action. Yet is this person who stands in the hero’s way or destroys his happiness evil?

The label villain or hero depends on whose point of view the story is told from. The villain or the antagonist often does terrible things to achieve his goal, yet is that goal any less important than the hero’s? A well developed villain is often as interesting and sympathetic as the hero. If the story were turned around and told from the antagonist’s point of view, the man or woman you see as the “good guy” might not look so noble. Often the villain’s goal means so much to him that he’ll sacrifice anything to reach it. The hero usually shares this obsession, but since we’re exposed to his reasons for wanting to reach his goal, he gains our compassion. We want him to win the fight and stop the “bad guy,” but is he truly bad?

An intriguing villain demands his own story, though unfortunately he doesn‘t always get it. He needs a chance to prove that he’s not purely evil and that he has good reasons for his actions. He might even be as right as the hero. When told from another point of view, a story seems quite different than we originally thought.

As a reader and a writer, I love villains and antiheroes. They have flaws and strengths that make them human–even if they’re paranormal creatures. Usually they’re easier to relate to than a perfect hero.

Villains often share many characteristics with the hero, such as courage, determination, intelligence, and a sense of honor. As they’re opposing the hero, the hero opposes them as well. The hero prevents the villain from reaching a goal that might be quite noble or at least understandable, yet the villain has caused harm to a character we’ve gotten to know intimately. We see the villain at his worst, yet sometimes if we look deeper or if we’re given the chance to see inside him, we’ll learn that he’s more than we first believed.

My most recent villain turned hero is Lao from the world of Blood and Soul. Throughout this particular vampiric world, Lao has made many enemies and is considered a villain by most of the other characters. In Villain Tamed, Lao gets a chance to tell his side of the story and even reconciles with some of the people he has hurt. For me Lao always stood out as a character. I enjoyed writing him and looked forward to revealing more about him and his past.

Monstrous or misguided? Attacker or defender? Is he a villain or is he a hero? It depends on how the story is told.

Excerpt from Villain Tamed:

BLOODY OR NOTHING 3: VILLAIN TAMED
by Kate Hill

Format(s): Ebook

Heat Level: Erotic

Pairing(s): M/M

Genre/Themes: vampire

Length: Novella

Publisher: Changeling Press

Cover Art: Zuri

ISBN: 978-1-60521-053-7

Purchase Links:
http://www.changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1473

Related Books or Books Set in the Same Universe: Bloody or Nothing, Blood and Soul, Dangeorus Craving, The Elixir Maidens, Heart’s Blood, The Masters

Related Free Stories: The Halloween Ball
http://kate-hill.com/bloodandsoul/thehalloweenball.html

Blurb:

For centuries Lao has battled humankind and in doing so has made many enemies. Injured while fighting the dreaded new reign, he asks for refuge from Sudsy Waters.

The last thing Lao wants is to fall in love with a human, but when he meets Tyler, the doctor at Blood or Nothing, a love ignites that will burn all barriers Lao has built around his heart.

In the final battle with the Evil Master, the future of the world depends on Lao, but can love redeem the man feared almost as much as the devil?

The following excerpt from VILLAIN TAMED is for readers 18 and over.

Lao lifted his gaze to Tyler and remained still, his expression unreadable. The doctor trailed his fingertips down his cheek and brushed a lock of long black hair behind Lao’s ear. He lightly traced a thin yet jagged scar that ran from the bottom of Lao’s ear almost to his chin. It was the only scar on the vampire’s exotic face.

“Where did you get this?” Tyler asked, referring to the scar.

“Trusting a human.”

Tyler snorted. “As if you ever trusted a human.”

“I’ve had my moments.”

Dropping his hand, Tyler said, “I suppose if you got scarred for it, that didn’t give you much incentive to keep trusting us.”

Lao didn’t reply and Tyler tried to guess what the ancient felt, but it was impossible.

Those black eyes studied him with a detached and keenly intelligent look.

“Is it true what they say about you?” Tyler continued.

“They say a lot of things. Which rumor are you referring to?”

“That you don’t Change blood children out of love.”

“Impertinent human.”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“And have no doubt deserved it.” Lao rose, but Tyler didn’t back away to give him room. They stood so close their chests almost touched. Tyler’s calm blue eyes stared into his and he moistened those beautiful lips with the tip of his enticing pink tongue.

Remembering the kisses they’d shared, Lao wanted to taste him again.

Accustomed to taking what he wanted, Lao cupped the back of Tyler’s strong neck and covered his mouth in a demanding kiss. The doctor’s scent filled him and he heard the mortal’s heart beat faster. Tyler’s eyes closed and he stepped nearer. Had Lao been human, Tyler might have knocked him onto the bed. Their lean bodies pressed closer, hard chests and steely thighs pushed against each other and their cocks heated.

Tyler groaned, a rough, sexy sound that aroused Lao so much that he growled, a sound of vampire passion. Their tongues thrust against each other, engaging in a wet, sexy battle that both men sought to win.

The doctor tasted so fucking good and Lao wanted more. He wanted Tyler’s blood.

Tyler wrapped his arms around Lao. He caressed his back, removed the clip from Lao’s hair and threaded his fingers through his long locks.

When the kiss broke, even Lao was slightly breathless.

About Kate Hill

What do trips around the world, endless nights of breathtaking sex, and a muscular, 6-foot 3-inch, brown-haired, blue-eyed significant other have to do with Kate Hill? Absolutely nothing, but she can dream, can’t she? In reality Kate is a single vegetarian New Englander who loves writing romantic fantasies.

Currently, she might not be traveling around the world, but Kate has visited Europe and Africa and those beautiful places have been wonderful inspiration for her writing. While working at various times as a clerk, assistant karate instructor, house painter and banker, Kate dreamed of being an author. In 1996 her first short story was accepted for publication and since then she has sold over ninety short stories, novellas and novels.

When she’s not working on her books, Kate enjoys reading, working out, and researching vampires and Viking history. Visit Kate online at http://www.kate-hill.com.

Why Being Bad Can Feel so Good

by Beth Kery

My upcoming print release from Samhain, Velvet Cataclysm, involves clones, one who is evil to root of his bones and the other who struggles against his vampiritic, parasitic nature.

We all have a selfish, ego-maniac residing deep, deep inside us—go on, admit it—which is one of the reasons it’s so fun to write and read about a truly nasty anti-hero. Especially when said anti-hero is a gorgeous, walking god. Teslar, the bad-guy in Velvet Catalysm, does bad things because it gets him what he wants…or it feels good. He accepts his nature without doubt, and you’ve got to love a guy who’s decisive.

His face may have been Saint’s, but his luxurious mane of blondish-brown hair hung down his shoulders and back. While Saint wore a neatly trimmed goatee that was a shade darker than the burnished hair on his head, this man was clean-shaven. He wore a pair of circular, mirrored sunglasses that hid his eyes.

“Well, well, well. What have we here?”

His voice was very much like Saint’s—resonant, rich, and mesmerizing. She felt his eyes on her even through the dark glasses.

Heat bloomed beneath the surface of her skin. (From Velvet Cataclysm)

Freud was the one to break down why the bad in us can feel so good. Those id-impulses are alive and well in all of us; that part that would to bare our teeth and claws when we’re pissed or let the clothes fly and get down to it following a passing sexual attraction. There’s a good reason we don’t let things fly, of course; things like morality, the law, loyalty, compassion, etc. Yes, these things are worth the struggle to damp down the beast in all of us.

Yes, we know the superego is good and necessary for civilization and individuals to grow.

BUT, it sure is fun to let that bad girl or guy out occasionally, and books or movie give us that outlet.

The thing that I like about Saint, my hero, is that he’s not the opposite of Teslar. He actually completely identifies with Teslar, and understand that Teslar is—in essence–him. He understands he has the parasitic nature, the bloodthirst, the nearly uncontrollable hunger and lust. Saint’s power is that he chooses to fight it to gain something higher. Sometimes he fails, but the friction of his struggle grants a damned, inhuman creature the unimaginable—a soul.

The soul in this context incorporates Freud’s idea about the ego. The ego negotiates the impulsive beast (id) and the stuffy authority figure (superego) in all of us. It represents something higher than a combination of both. This is the transformation that Saint must undergo to be worthy of a soul…and an amazing woman, Christina.

Do you have a favorite bad guy/gal in a book or movie, someone you secretly root for? If I were an actress, my ultimate role would be a brilliant, ruthless…busty villainess. What about you? Comment to win a print book OR ebook version of Velvet Cataclysm, the first book in the Princes of the Underground series from Beth Kery and Samhain Publishing.

Beth Kery

Velvet Cataclysm, in bookstores, March 1

Bio:

Beth Kery is the National Bestselling author of more than twenty novels. She writes for Berkley, Harlequin and Samhain Publishing, both as Beth Kery and Bethany Kane. Beth holds a doctorate in the behavioral sciences and spends a busy life balancing her family life and two careers.

www.bethkery.com

Captain Mal, The Ultimate Antihero

I love anti-heroes, men who make you question their motives and their morality but always come through in the end as men of honor even if their methods are a bit tarnished. One of my favorite anti-heroes is Captain Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly. Mal fought for the independents because he believed in a world where people could live free of the Alliance’s control. He did his best to care for the men and women who served under him. And later when he becomes captain of the Firefly class ship, Serenity, Mal truly cared about his crew even if he’s didn’t always show it.

Mal doesn’t behave as a traditional hero should. He prefers to shoot first and ask questions later. He takes jobs that put him on the wrong side of the law, content to steal when necessary to support his crew. He kills when he needs to and doesn’t spend time on remorse.

But “Bad” as he may be, Mal protects his crew even when he doesn’t like them personally, and he never leaves a man or woman behind. Once someone is under his protection, he’ll risk his life for them even if he thinks their predicament is their own fault.

Captain Marc Devlin from my Shifter’s Station Collection is a similar type of anti-hero. He served Terra Gov as a special forces officer until they chose to experiment on him and other members of his battalion, turning them into shape-shifting killing machines. A natural leader, he gathered a group of the genetically-altered shifters and helped them escape and form a mercenary company.

But he’s no do-gooder. He’s harsh and controlling, and he isn’t the least bit concerned with the legality of the jobs he takes on. As long as the money’s good and he can support his crew, he’s content. He’ll shoot any man or woman who threatens him or his crew without a second thought. He’s gruff and tough as hell on the men and women who work for him, but he has their loyalty, because they know he’ll do anything to keep them safe.

Captain Devlin is also not above abusing his power when it suits him like when Larissa delivers a faulty shipment of weapons to his station. He and his lover, Commander Kirlos Adesta, determine that she had no part in the sabotage attempt, but Marc wants her in his bed so he refuses to release her, eventually making her a wager he’s confident he’ll win.

Read an excerpt below of the meeting between Marc, Kirlos and Larissa and see if this anti-hero doesn’t make your pulse flutter…..

Coming March 1th to Changeling Press

Bio
Silvia Violet writes erotic romance in a variety of genres including sci fi, paranormal, and historical. She can often be found haunting coffee shops looking for the darkest, strongest cup of coffee she can find. Once equipped with the needed fuel, she can happily sit for hours pounding away at her laptop. Silvia typically leaves home disguised as a suburban stay-at-home-mom, and other coffee shop patrons tend to ask her hilarious questions like “Do you write children’s books?” She loves watching the looks on their faces when they learn what she’s actually up to. When not writing, Silvia enjoys baking sinful chocolate treats, exploring new styles of cooking, and reading children’s books to her wickedly smart offspring.

Blog: http://silviaviolet.wordpress.com
Website: http://silviaviolet.com (website redesign coming soon)

Shifter’s Station Collection by Silvia Violet

Years ago, the Terran Government betrayed special forces officer Marc Devlin, forcing him to flee for his life. He rescued several fellow officers and built a new life as the head of his own mercenary force. When he captures a beautiful Cerian diplomat, he thinks to torture the man to learn Cerian secrets. Instead, he finds a lover. Months later, Marc and his Cerian lover, Kirlos, take a young woman captive, fearful she might be an agent of one of Marc’s oldest enemies. The two men strike a bargain with her that lands her in their bed for a month. As they dole out exquisite torment with their Cerian sex table, passion builds and turns to love. But Marc and Kirlos must fight to keep her and the life they’ve made for themselves.

This e-book collection contains the previously released Shifter’s Station series novellas Pilot’s Bargain, Pilot’s Heart, Loving the Enemy, and Eye of the Tigress.

Buy it at Changeling Press: http://changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1315
Buy it at All Romance Ebooks: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-shifter039sstationcollection-419034-144.html

Excerpt from Shifter’s Station 1: Pilot’s Bargain

The commander cut off whatever Captain Devlin was going to say. “I have the ability to probe your mind to determine if you’re telling the truth. And if you are lying, I can compel the truth from you.”

Larissa studied him for a moment. He seemed sincere and somewhat dismayed by the captain’s brusque manner. “Do it.”

She felt pressure on her head, as if someone were mashing the heel of their hand against her forehead. Then the pressure turned to pain. It grew sharper until it felt like a needle was boring into her skull.

She felt tension radiating from Adesta. “Stop fighting it.”

“I… can’t. I don’t –”

Then the pain spread as if her skull had cracked. She fell to her knees, panting. The world began to go black. But just before she passed out, the pain disappeared.

“Fires of hell, she’s strong.”

The captain snorted. “Did you get through?”

“Yes, she’s telling the truth.”

Thank the god. They would have to let her go now. Larissa heard the men speaking, but they sounded very far away. A dull pounding still echoed in her head. Nothing like the tearing pain of the scan, but she still wasn’t sure she could stand.

Then she felt a hand on her arm. It was the commander. She wanted to refuse his assistance, but she didn’t want to be on her knees in front of the captain. He was arrogant enough without her prostrating herself like a slave.

When the commander helped her to her feet, she stepped away and forced herself to focus on Devlin. His dark eyes were narrow and cold. “Who taught you to shield your thoughts?”

“My boss.”

Devlin raised his brows. “You need this ability often on cargo runs?”

“When you take these kinds of jobs, you do.”

He laughed. “I suppose you are right. Federated Transport isn’t exactly a legitimate business.”

“And yours is?”

Adesta’s lips curled into a wicked smile. “You seem to be losing your touch, Captain. You usually have them trembling in their boots by now.”

Larissa just managed to keep from rolling her eyes. The captain might be one delightfully put together man, but she had no intention of rolling over for him. “Can I go now?”

Devlin scowled. “No.”

“The commander has established my innocence.”

“He has established that you were unaware that the weapons were faulty. But I still have one dead crewman and several more injured. Someone has to pay.”

“Yes. That someone is my bastard of a boss.”

“But he’s not here, and you are.”

“Captain.” The warning glare in the commander’s eyes gave Larissa hope he might convince his superior to let her go.

“She stays.”

Larissa’s heart pounded. “You can’t be serious.”

He gave a cold smile. “I’m always serious.”

Larissa clasped her hands behind her back to hide their shaking. “You can’t just keep me here.”

“I can do anything I damn well please.”

“But –”

The captain stepped toward her. She stabbed her nails into her palms, hoping the pain would dull her fear and help her hold her ground.

Devlin grasped the single braid that hung down her back and jerked her head to the side. “I am the law here. No one questions what I do. If I wanted to shove you out an airlock, that’s exactly what I’d do. No one would dare protest.”

She held her breath, and commanded her suddenly rubbery legs to keep her upright.

He let her go and stepped back. “Fortunately for you, I have something far more pleasant in mind as repayment for your crimes.”

Larissa’s lungs burned, but she couldn’t seem to fill them with air. She forced herself to look him in the eye. “I have no intention of letting you punish me for a crime I didn’t commit.”

Adesta smirked. “I like her spirit.”

The captain stared at her intently. “So do I. The spirited ones are so much more fun to break.”

Larissa’s heart hammered against her chest. She knew her eyes were wide and her fear shone all too plainly. She felt like a rabbit cornered by a wolf — a big bad wolf with plans to eat her.

Now why the hell did that thought make her body feel hot and tight? She was so damn wet she’d likely soaked through her flight suit. What was wrong with her?

Devlin took a long, deliberate inhale. “Mmm. I think she likes us more than she wants us to know.”

Shit! The last thing she needed was for him to be aware of how she was responding to them. She needed to convince them to let her go. But before she could think of anything to say, Devlin’s lips curled up in a wicked smile.

“Since you seem so interested in the issue of fairness, why don’t we strike a bargain?”

“What bargain would that be?” Larissa mentally cursed the quaver she heard in her voice.

His smile widened. “I will spend the next two hours convincing you that you want to stay. If you can resist, you go free. If you can’t, you agree to remain on the station as my servant for the next month.”

Larissa took a deep breath. Her initial reaction was to tell him to go to hell, but something told her this might be her only way off the station. “How will you convince me to stay?”

“That’s my secret, but you have my word you will come to no harm.”

“Why should I trust you?”

The captain’s face froze, and a sound too like an animal’s growl rose from his chest.

Larissa glanced at Adesta. He shook his head. “I wouldn’t go down that road if I were you.”

“Fine. If I were to lose, which I have no intention of doing, how would you expect me to serve you?”

The captain’s smile returned instantly. “With every last inch of your naked body.”

Purchase Link: http://changelingpress.com/product.php?&upt=book&ubid=1315

Purchase from ARe: http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-shifter039sstationcollection-419034-144.html

Contest: Comment and be entered to win a book from Silvia’s Backlist! Good Luck!

Silvia’s Blog: http://silviaviolet.wordpress.com

Silvia’s Website: http://silviaviolet.com

To watch episodes of Firefly online go to Hulu here: http://www.hulu.com/firefly

Those wonderfully flawed heroes…

Heroes and villains—often two sides of the same coin. We can have heroes with rough edges, questionable backgrounds, possibly scarred or crippled—either emotionally or physically—and yet they’re still heroic, they still come through for the heroine, and they always leave us wanting more. The same with villains—a villain can have a few good points and still be thoroughly evil, though a good villain is rarely redeemable—unless, of course, he’s going to appear in a later story as a hero.

Then, of course, it generally takes a good woman to redeem him, right?

But what about those flawed heroes—the ones who make mistakes and screw up, who are somehow damaged or imperfect—what is it that makes us want more of them? I’ve become intimately acquainted with a terribly flawed hero, a man who has greater strengths than most, and yet who continues to make the kinds of mistakes that make you want to strangle him. And yet, in spite of his flaws, I find him one of the most compelling men I’ve ever met within the pages of my own books—he’s Anton Cheval, my über-alpha in the long running Wolf Tales series.

The spirit guide Igmutaka describes Anton perfectly: “His power appears absolute, at times, but what makes all of us love him the way we do is that he is very much, at heart, a simple man. He’s not perfect. He makes mistakes. When he succeeds, he does it with great modesty, when he fails…Ig’s chuffing snort had to be laughter…when he fails, he does it magnificently.

Ig is right. Nothing Anton does is done without passion. He’s never half-hearted, never merely trying. He does. He errs, and yet when he realizes his mistakes, he never hesitates to ask forgiveness, to apologize. And sometimes, when he’s done something wrong for all the right reasons, he will apologize with the caveat that, if faced with the same circumstances, he’ll probably do the same thing again. No, he’s not a perfect hero—he’s complex, he’s flawed, and to me, he’s a more powerful character because of those flaws.

One of his most redeeming traits? Anton loves unconditionally. He loves his packmates, his mate Keisha, his closest friend Stefan. He loves his daughter Lily more than life, and he recognizes Lily as the finest accomplishment he’s ever achieved, and that’s only because half of her DNA comes from Anton’s bonded mate. He’s quick to recognize Keisha as the true head of their pack—even though he’s more powerful, he respects her common sense, her good heart, and her ability to turn him inside out with a single glance. He loves her, and while he occasionally infuriates her, everything Anton does is motivated by love.

Coming to Kensington Publishing April 5th, 2011

And what of the beta hero? The average man thrown into extreme circumstances who is still able to prevail? That would be Dawson Buck, the hero in my upcoming DEMONSLAYERS story, StarFire. Dawson Buck is an average guy, a veterinarian in a small Arizona town, a true geek at heart who loves his work and knows he’s chosen animals to care for because they rarely come with emotional baggage. But when he’s thrown into an unbelievable situation—asked to care for a badly injured woman from another dimension—Dawson not only rises to the challenge, he goes above and beyond what is asked of him. He becomes a true hero in every sense of the word.

In spite of his fears, in spite of the unbelievable situation, Dawson prevails. He’s afraid, he doubts his abilities, and yet he puts fear and his lack of confidence aside and takes unimaginable risks for the greater good. And, he also manages to find the love of his life along the way.

So what makes a hero heroic? I think it’s his willingness to give everything to keep his loved ones safe, his ability to make mistakes and then correct those mistakes, to admit when he’s wrong, to keep quiet when he’s right (no, gloating is NOT allowed!) and to love without reservation.

I write my heroes from the perspective of a woman who’s been married to her very own hero for almost forty years. There’s a lot of my man in every hero I write—his quirky sense of humor, his powerful need to protect, even his ability to admit mistakes. Neither of us is perfect, but I think that’s part of what makes a marriage work, and it’s what makes a fictional hero more heroic—the chance to make mistakes, and the courage to make them right.

BIO:

Kate Douglas is the lead author of Kensington Publishing’s Aphrodisia imprint and the author of the popular erotic romance series Wolf Tales as well as the Zebra series, The DemonSlayers. She is currently working on her newest Aphrodisia series, Dream Catchers. Kate and her husband of almost forty years have two adult children and five grandchildren. They live in the beautiful mountains of Lake County, California, north of the Napa Valley wine country

www.katedouglas.com
www.katedouglas.com/eroticromance
www.facebook.com/katedouglas.authorpage
www.twitter.com/wolftales
kate@katedouglas.com

1st chapter excerpts:

StarFire: http://www.katedouglas.com/id56.htm
Wolf Tales 12 (Adults only): http://www.katedouglas.com/eroticromance/id67.htm

Contest:
Comment to win your choice of either Wolf Tales VII-11, Sexy Beast VII & VIII, DemonFire or HellFire! Good Luck! Winner Announced at the end of the month.

Ah, Villains. My favorite. They add tension, conflict, danger, and suspense to any story. And in the case of The Zero Dog War, they bring the humor by the busload.

Yes, I just finished writing a comedy Urban Fantasy. It stars a heroine who is a mercenary captain trying to save her team from bankruptcy and save her heart from a potential rival—Green Beret Jake Sanders. But the craziness really ramps up when the villain strolls onto the scene. Meet Jeremiah Hansen, capitalist necromancer whose business plan involves using the zombies he controls to work in a factory that produces powdered gelatin. The Zero Dog mercenaries are ordered to stop him, and wild zombie-fighting mayhem ensues.

And if that scenario wasn’t wacky enough, Evil Overlord Jeremiah has a few odd personality quirks that sometimes hinder, sometimes advance his plot for world domination.

1) Jeremiah is a necromancer overlord and entrepreneur who hates golf. Hates it. He’s horrible at it. And despite the golf course being the “green boardroom,” he still can’t get a handle on the game. When he rules the world, golf will be banned.

2) He transports his zombie hordes around in a yellow school bus. This is by necessity, and not a stylistic choice, as school buses generally score low on the Villain Cool Scale.

3) He robs banks. With zombies. Enough said.

4) He has a crush on the heroine. And I think we can all guess this can only end badly.

5) Keeping zombies in line is a thankless, 24 hour a day task. Yes, when your employees are largely hungry mindless undead, it can be a struggle dealing with HR issues, productivity challenges, and manufacturing safety. If a few zombies end up in the powered gelatin mix, he’ll never be able to get the factory ISO 9000 certified—not to mention it throws off the color and taste of the lime flavor product.

6) All this and more! Seriously, there’s a ton more jokes/humor/comedy in this book. Everything from nudist-inclined werewolves to mages who can summon alien ferrets and demonic kittens.

Also includes: Action, romance, more action, forklift accidents, dark elves, and fire.

Here’s the blurb:

The first bullet is always free. After that, you gotta pay.

Zero Dog Missions, Book 1

After accidentally blowing up both a client facility and a cushy city contract in the same day, pyromancer and mercenary captain Andrea Walker is scrambling to save her Zero Dogs. A team including (but not limited to) a sexually repressed succubus, a werewolf with a thing for health food, a sarcastic tank driver/aspiring romance novelist, a three-hundred-pound calico cat, and a massive demon who really loves to blow stuff up.

With the bankruptcy vultures circling, Homeland Security throws her a high-paying, short-term contract even the Zero Dogs can’t screw up: destroy a capitalist necromancer bent on dominating the gelatin industry with an all-zombie workforce. The catch? She has to take on Special Forces Captain Jake Sanders, a man who threatens both the existence of the team and Andrea’s deliberate avoidance of romantic entanglements.

As Andrea strains to hold her dysfunctional team together long enough to derail the corporate zombie apocalypse, the prospect of getting her heart run over by a tank tread is the least of her worries. The government never does anything without an ulterior motive. Jake could be the key to success…or just another bad day at the office for the Zeroes.
Product Warnings
Contains explicit language, intense action and violence, rampaging zombie hordes, a heroine with an attitude and flamethrower, Special Forces commandos, ninjas, apocalyptic necromancer capitalist machinations, absurd parody and mayhem, self-deluded humor, irreverence, geek humor, mutant cats, low-brow comedy, and banana-kiwi-flavored gelatin.

Get it here! Samhain Publishing

And Get it Here! ARe

And Don’t Forget Here! Kindle

Or Here! Nook

How about Here! Borders

Keith Melton
BIO:

Keith Melton writes Urban Fantasy. He is the author of the Nightfall Series and the Zero Dog Series. His next book, 9mm Blues, releases in April.

Hero or Anti-Hero? By Marie Treanor

For me, the hero of a romance is the lead male character who gets the girl.

I don’t mind if there are two heroes. I don’t mind if he’s got fangs, fur, dubious habits, immoral – or even amoral – behavior, so long as he has that something to make my toes curl. In fact, I’ve always had a soft spot for the hero with a hint of bad – or even a villain with the tiniest hint of good feeling. I like my heroes and my villains to have layers (like Shrek and onions ), so I suppose it’s not surprising if my boundary between hero and villain gets blurred occasionally.

Saloman, the hero of Blood on Silk (and of the whole Awakened by Blood trilogy), was described in a recent review as an antihero. And although he’s certainly the male lead, I suppose for much of the book he doesn’t behave a lot like a true hero. For a start, he aims to kill our heroine (which is hardly “cricket”!) and throughout the story, he murders without an obvious qualm. Well, he’s a vampire. He’s meant to drink human blood. And besides, he’s very sexy, and Elizabeth, the heroine in question has the sneaking suspicion that one night with him might just be worth dying for.

Let’s face it, we’re all attracted to bad boys from time to time. We like the risk (even if it’s more comfortable to read about a romance heroine taking that risk for us!). And vampires are the ultimate bad boys. I had great fun with the wicked sides of Karoly in Hunting Karoly (also in the Seducing Scots anthology), and of Max in Loving the Vampire (City of the Damned ebook collection). They paved the way, to some extent, for Saloman in Blood on Silk.

So what makes Saloman a hero instead of a villain? Surely not just the fact that he inspires all those inappropriate, not to say inconvenient, feelings in Elizabeth, even while she knows she has to kill him before he kills her?

To me, he’s saved from villainy in the end, by his “differentness.” He isn’t a human so he doesn’t think like one. Gradually, throughout the series, it becomes clear that Saloman does indeed have a strict moral code, even if it’s not one that a human can easily understand, let alone identify with. By his own lights, he’s behaving perfectly reasonably. And I think that has parallels in older and greater stories – for example, the heroes from two of my earliest favourite American novels, Mark Twain’s eponymous Huckleberry Finn, and Joseph Heller’s Yossarian from Catch 22, both of whom behaved in unconventional ways and held unconventional views that would have been considered anti-heroic at best to many of their contemporaries, even though they’re perhaps more clearly heroes to modern readers.

(Coming Soon)

Now, I couldn’t behave or even think like Saloman and I don’t want to. Neither does Elizabeth (mostly!). But I don’t believe that makes him a villain. What do you think? Is Saloman a hero or an anti-hero? If you like, read the excerpt below to see if it helps you decide .

BLOOD ON SILK: an AWAKENED BY BLOOD novel
By Marie Treanor
Out Now from NAL – Signet Eclipse.
Order from Amazon; Barnes & Noble; Borders; Book Depository; Penguin; Kindle; Nook; Penguin ePub

Scottish academic Elizabeth Silk is spending the summer in Romania researching historical superstitions for her PhD. While she is tracing local folktales, one subject in particular sparks her imagination. His name is Saloman, legend’s most powerful vampire, a seductive prince staked centuries ago. Now, in the ruins of a castle crypt, Elizabeth discovers the legends are real. Her blood has awakened him. Her innocence has aroused him. But Elizabeth unleashes more than Saloman’s hunger.

An army of vampire hunters has amassed to send Saloman back to hell. Sworn to help – yet fearing Saloman’s deadly blood lust – Elizabeth seeks to entrap him, offering her body as bait. But something stronger than dread, more powerful than revenge, is uniting Elizabeth to her prey. Caught between desire and rage, Elizabeth must decide where her loyalties lie…and what the limits are to a yearning she can no longer control.

***

Saloman went very still, and for a moment, she wondered if she’d won a breathing space at least. Then his lips closed on her throat, caressing and teasing her skin. She was sure he even flicked the vein with his tongue, tapping it like a nurse before inserting a needle.

She trembled, both yearning and dreading and unable to distinguish one from the other. Saloman relaxed the pressure of his body on hers, and the hand on her chest slipped lower between them and closed over her naked breast. She let out a tiny, inarticulate sound that might have been a sigh or a sob.

Saloman lifted his head. His black eyes burned into hers. “I know,” he said, and dropped his gaze to her mouth, to her breasts. His palm moved, gliding over the aching peak of her nipple.

“Know what?” she demanded with desperation, having lost the thread.

“That Zoltán attacked you. He has no finesse.”

“You were there,” she blurted. “You were the other shadow. . . .” And yet she could have sworn she’d surprised him by her original revelation.

“The other shadow? I’m not sure I like that. It offends my sense of superiority.”

A breath of laughter escaped her, as unbidden as it was appalling. “Are you for real?”

“Oh yes.” His hand released her breast to draw the sheet farther down. “Don’t I feel real?” His fingers touched her lips, parting them with a downward sweep that continued over her chin and throat and down between her breasts to her navel. She moved with the caress, arching under his hand because she couldn’t help it. She felt like a musical instrument, played by his careless, talented fingers.

“I began this meal the night you wakened me,” he whispered. “And I will finish it. All of it.”

She swallowed, trying not to squirm under his devouring gaze. Jesus, no one had ever looked at her like that, with such greedy, urgent passion . . . but then no one had ever regarded her as a meal before either.

His finger circled her belly button, dipping in and out.

She gasped, “What do you mean, all of it?” Was there a choice? Could she convince him to leave her alive?

The almost- smile dawned and died on his lips.

“Sex,” he said unexpectedly. She blinked, and his gaze moved up to her face, mocking, yet scalding in its intensity. “That’s what you call it these days, isn’t it? When you’re being polite.” He laid his whole hand flat on her stomach, then swept outwards and downward to her thigh. “Let me say it in my own more familiar terms. Tonight, I will pleasure you. I will take every delight your sweet flesh can give me. And just before sunrise, I will finish the meal.”

Could she negotiate for one without the other? Burning up with his words, she wanted all of it. She remembered the staggering bliss of his killing mouth on her throat, and she was only too aware of her helpless reaction to his touch right now.

He could make me orgasm just by looking at me. . . . Oh shit, what is the matter with me?

“Well, that’s novel,” she managed, with what mockery she could summon, forcing herself to be still under his idly caressing hands. “Dalliance and dinner instead of the other way round.”

His lips quirked. “I offered them both together, as I recall. I believe I can still manage that. Afterward.”

She squirmed, and he smiled, pleased and predatory.

Fighting herself at least as much as him, she tried for further delay. “Why didn’t you just do it then? What’s the point of all the cat-and-mouse?”

“Fun,” he replied, as though surprised. “And the fact that I barely had the strength to stand, let alone fuck.”

Her face flamed all over again, and his hand on her nape massaged the muscles there, sending shivers all the way down her spine. They felt more like bolts of lust.

He said, “I’m better now,” and drew her forward by the nape until her naked body rested against him. There was no time to struggle, if she could have forced herself to it, before his mouth closed on hers in the most sensual kiss she’d ever known. His lips dominated, tasting, then sucking, while his tongue thrust in deliberate simulation of sex. She felt his teeth, those terrible fangs, and without really meaning to, just unable to resist, she touched one with her tongue.

A sound like a groan escaped him. She was swept closer into his body, her breasts crushed against his hard, powerful chest while the hand not caressing her nape splayed flat against her naked back and began to play among her vertebrae, spreading wild, devastating lust straight between her legs.

He opened her mouth wider with his, deepening the kiss. She felt dizzy, as if she were falling, and realized he was pressing her back into the pillows, moving the rest of his body onto the bed with her.

This is it. He’s really going to do it; have sex with me. Everything in her leapt toward that goal, that yearning which had become a need, a necessity. In just an instant, she’d feel the weight of his hard, muscular body. As he removed his clothes, she’d feel his naked skin on hers, his hardness pressing between her thighs. This amazing, beautiful being wanted to have sex with her.

And then he would kill her.

Blood on Silk is available now .
Blood Sin is released on 5th April and is available now for pre-order.
Hunting Karoly is available in e-book from Ellora’s Cave, and in the paperback anthology Seducing Scots, also from Ellora’s Cave.
Loving the Vampire is available as part of the City of the Damned (Book 1 of the collection, Loving the Wolf, is available for $.01 at Changeling Press) e-book collection from Changeling Press.

Marie Treanor lives in Scotland with her eccentric husband and three much-too-smart children. Having grown bored with city life, she resides these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing sensual stories of paranormal romance and fantasy.
You can find out more about Marie and her books on her website: www.MarieTreanor.com.
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Join the party on her new blog: Marie Treanor’s Romantic Theme Party.

Anyone Want a Slightly Damaged Hero?
By
N. J. Walters

We all love a hero, that brave stalwart soul who will stand side-by-side with the heroine to face down any foe. He’ll use whatever weapons he has at hand—a clever wit, sword, gun, tire iron—to rescue the heroine and vanquish the villain.

Then there is the everyday hero, the man who does what needs doing whether it’s taking out the garbage, changing a tire, or helping the single mom with her kids. Maybe it’s the corporate raider who reforms for just the right woman. There are all kinds of heroes and each of them has a place in romance literature.

I don’t know about most readers, but I’m partial to the anti-hero, that brooding, dark male who is reluctant to help but does it anyway. In spite of his penchant for being a loner and not caring about the world, he is drawn into the heroine’s problems. He may grumble and complain, but he does it because of his own code of honor.

This guy is a hero in spite of himself. He doesn’t think of himself as a hero. He doesn’t want to be a hero. Yet, somehow, it happens as he becomes more and more entangled in the heroine’s life.

I’ve written a lot of these men. What can I say? I can’t help myself. These men are fascinating to watch as they evolve.

My latest in a long line of dark heroes is Isaiah Striker from my newest Legacy werewolf book, Isaiah’s Haven. His past has made him turn his back on the position of enforcer with his pack. He feels he doesn’t deserve the position because of his sister’s disappearance years ago. All he wants is to be left alone. (Brooding hero anyone?)

His downfall from his self-imposed solitude comes about because of one underlying reason—his loyalty to his family. That character trait sends him on a mission to Chicago and it is there he meets the beautiful and independent Meredith Cross. She’s not looking for a male to handle her problems. She’ll take care of them herself, thank you very much. But when she and her family are threatened, Isaiah can’t make himself leave. In spite of his determination to stay away, he’s drawn to her and the plight of her small pack. He’s willing to sacrifice everything and to face his own demons to ensure their safety.

Thus the slightly battered and worn male becomes a hero in spite of himself. His true self emerges from the darkness as he embraces his future.

BLURB:

Isaiah Striker puts family first, the pack a distant second. Which is precisely the reason he’s in noisy, crowded Chicago instead of alone in his beloved woods. One look at the owner of Haven nightclub, however, and a simple favor for his brother turns into something else entirely.

Meredith Cross holds her small pack together with sheer determination. After years on the run, they hide in the glare of the city’s nightlife. Isaiah may heat her blood, but she can’t afford to risk the lives of the outcast half-breeds in her care. Once exposed, every bounty hunter and werewolf purist in smelling distance will hunt them down.

But when their sexual attraction spirals out of control, a moment’s distraction is all it takes to lead danger right to Meredith’s door. For Meredith there’s only one choice: her pack.

But Isaiah knows his mate when he sees her. And he’s not giving up without a fight.

Read an Excerpt: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/isaiahs-haven-p-6034.html
Buy the Book: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/isaiahs-haven-p-6034.html

Some authors like J. R. Ward and Christine Feehan excel at the dark hero. Who are some of your favorite dark heroes? Share. We all love them in spite of themselves. 

—

N.J. has always been a voracious reader, and now she spends her days writing novels of her own. Vampires, dragons, time-travelers, seductive handymen, and next-door neighbors with smoldering good looks—all vie for her attention. It’s a tough life, but someone’s got to live it.

Check out all my books at http://www.njwalters.com
http://www.njwalters.blogspot.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/awakeningdesires/ (newsletter group)