Seduced by Shadows and other things.

Hello Friends,

Again I apologize for the delay in my blogging. The month of June as been one big blur of birthdays, writing, anniversaries, writing, book events, plotting a possible new series, Father's day, editing, housewarming parties, editing, graduations, editing, traveling, editing, festivals, editing, friends having babies, editing and everything else in between.

I currently find myself in a hotel in Victoria, BC with a free moment to blog about the book which has filled my well during all of the madness of the month. Seduced by Shadows by Jessa Slade has been one of the most fascinating novels I've read in a long time.

Jessa has created a spectacular urban fantasy world based in Chicago. The way she describes the sights and sounds of the city, I thought I was there smelling the vile demonic creatures roaming the streets at night and freezing my butt off as the chilling winds off the gigantic lake sweep through the city in the late fall. Jessa's use of words is not only amazing but intellectual. She challenged my knowledge of vocabulary and therefore filled my well.

The main story is about Sera Littlejohn and Ferris Archer, one about to become demon possessed and the other already. Ferris is there for Sera who is going through the possession. Their chemistry is fiery and explosive. I loved the romance, but what attracted me most was the premise of the story. We're talking DEMONS here, BUT they are repentant demons. Basically they are fighting evil to win back favor with God. It's a concept I've wondered about all of my life. What if there were demons who realized they had totally gone wrong and wanted to repent? It's a fantastic idea to explore.

If you like urban fantasy with adrenaline pumping action and blazing romance weaved throughout, Seduced by Shadows is the book I STRONGLY recommend. This is the first book of The Marked Souls series. Forged in Shadows is the sequel. Vowed in Shadows is book three. All are available for purchase a your local book store or here.

And one of these days I'm going to post the crazy dream I had after reading the first chapter of Seduced. Till then I bid you farewell.

Dark Days of Summer Tour

Greetings!

Last Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend the Portland stop of Dark Days of Summer Tour sponsored by HarperTeen. YA Authors featured (in above photo left to right) Amy Plum author of Die for Me, Tara Hudson author of Hereafter, Aprilynne Pike author of Illusions, Veronica Roth author of Divergent,  and Ellen Schreiber author of the Vampire Kisses series.

The main reason I attended was Aprilynne Pike. I love her Wings series and she is such a delight to speak with, listen to, and all round great person. She is funny and very down to earth. I first met her two years ago when I attended this event to meet Kim Harrison, my favorite urban fantasy author EVER. Aprilynne was the debut author that year and I took note of her book for future reading. Three months later I checked Wings out from the library, read it in one day, and fell in love with the faerie world Aprilynne had created. This year, I had books for her to sign and even got my picture with her.

This year the there were three debut authors: Amy Plum, Veronica Roth, and Tara Hudson. All three debut novels captured my attention. I wanted to buy them all and have them signed, BUT I only allowed myself one this time. Which book did I buy?

The winner was Die for Me by Amy Plum. What about the book attracted me? 1. The author lives in France. That factoid triggered all sorts of romantic ideas about writing and inspiration. 2. The story takes place in Paris. PARIS! The perfect place for a supernatural setting. 3. The immortal creatures in her story are a cross between zombies and gods. I want to know what kind of mythology she has developed. 4. The cover is absolutely gorgeous. Me being a total dork, I didn't hold up the book when I got my picture taken with Amy.

I haven't read the book yet, but once I do I'll post a review and cover. Till then, Click here to view cover.

Speaking of reviews, stay tune next week for a review on Jessa Slade's Seduced by Shadows. Now that I've finished my first draft of The Vampire Novelist, I've been reading again which means book review posts the next couple of weeks just in time for Summer.

Writing Progress: First editing phase 70% complete. So far so good. :)

Cheers!

Walking on stars

Above is the reason I haven't blogged in a while. And no, I wasn't shooting a vampire flick even though I was in Hollywood surrounded by stars-literally.

Bela Lugosi, in my mind, will always be THE Dracula, though Gary Oldman did a phenomenal job portraying the blood sucking fiend.

Seeing his star on Hollywood Boulevard sparked a desire to share with you a few factoids Mr Lugosi:

• Did you know Bela Lugosi played Dracula in a Broadway show before he went on to play the role in the famous film?
• Bela Lugosi is NOT Romanian, but Hungarian. Romanians weren't to pleased by the fact a Magyar was to play the most famous Romanian of all even though Mr Vlad Tepes himself had strong ties with the Hungarian royalty. But I digress...
• Bela Lugosi's children had him buried with his cap, but it's not the original one he wore during the 1931 film Dracula.

 Thank you for reading and I will leave you with the highlight of my walk on stars.

Emma, Daniel, and Rupert. The fab three of Harry Potter! Evidence of how well-written books can have such a huge influence in pop-culture.

What are your favorite books turned movies?