Real Vampires Get Lucky by Gerry Bartlett

When I was looking for ideas for the third book, Real Vampires Get Lucky, in the Glory St. Clair vampire series, I wanted to put her in a really bad situation, so bad that it would take the rest of the book for Glory to work her way out of the jam. Hopefully, this would hook the reader and get her to read on. So I dumped a seriously wounded mortal in Glory’s path and gave her a choice: let someone die or turn him or her vampire.

Glory had always sworn never to make a new vampire because she’s had her own regrets about taking on a pair of fangs. For one thing, she would have lost those ten pounds that have been riding on her hips all these years before she’d let her vampire lover turn her. For another she’d never had a chance to sample chocolate truffles. Enough said. Now, although she’s been a vampire for over four hundred years, Glory doesn’t have a clue about how to turn someone vampire. So here she is, in the alley behind her vintage clothing shop staring at this person who is one breath away from death. This alley is significant because bad things always seem to happen here. At least they did in book one(Real Vampires Have Curves) and two(Real Vampires Live Large) of the series. That’s important because when you’re writing a series, you’re juggling not only a continuing cast of characters, but their memories and the settings they’ve lived in.

Back to that mortal bleeding out. Glory’s stuck. She’s got to turn this person vampire. And Gerry, the writer, has to decide whether it’s going to be a hot guy or a woman. Hmm. Hot guy is competition for the love of Glory’s life. Interesting, but not what I need right now. So it’s a woman lying there. And to motivate Glory further, this woman has an expensive handbag and great boots. Her Gucci wallet is lying a few feet away and Glory’s shape-shifting bodyguard Valdez has a laugh when he reads the name on the driver’s license: Lucky Carver(See where I got my title?). A phone call to Glory’s boyfriend finally gets Glory the information she needs to make Lucky into a vampire. Well, that problem’s solved. But of course there are lots more problems ahead for Glory and a woman who turns out to be a loan shark for paranormals.

Loan shark? Where did that come from? I needed a reason for Lucky to be in an alley in Austin, Texas at two in the morning. Authors are constantly working on a character’s motivation, goals, conflict. Fancy words that mean “Does this make sense?” Lucky was used to collecting debts at night in strange places, but this time that habit almost got her killed. When Glory takes her upstairs and begins her vampire training, our heroine is stuck with a woman who doesn’t know the meaning of “low profile” and who has a very unhappy would-be killer still after her.

Since this is also a romance, I gave Lucky an ex-boyfriend whom she hates. Lucky’s idea of revenge is to turn the rock star into a vampire. Then she dumps him on Glory so our heroine can mentor him. Hmm. Imagine waking up with a naked rock star in your bed. And not just any rocker, but one whose music lights your personal fire. Now Glory’s longtime boyfriend finally has some serious competition. And Glory’s life gets really complicated.

Okay, now you’ve got the set-up for Real Vampires Get Lucky: There’s slightly chubby and always independent vampire, Gloriana St. Clair; her hunky Scottish lover, vampire Jeremy Blade; newly made vampire, Lucky and a hot rock star to resist. Sprinkle in all the continuing characters that readers of the series expect to see like Glory’s best friends and her bodyguard/dog Valdez. Oh, and don’t forget the usual suspects like vampire hunters. See why writing a series is such a challenge?

You can read an excerpt from Real Vampires Get Lucky at gerrybartlett.com. It hit bookstores June 3. Also, come visit Glory’s blog at myspace.com/gerrybartlett.

Hope to see you there!
Gerry Bartlett

Cindy Miles

First off, thank you Heather, for having me here today! Now, Everyone--close your eyes and imagine....

What if.....

You happened to travel to the Highlands of Scotland? The air is cool and tinged with the sweet, sharp scent of clover, the moors loll and heather sits in big clumps and turns the entire side of hill lavender. White fluffy sheep dot the land, and rising from beside a dark loch is a formidable stone tower. Imagine if you were able to stay in that tower as a guest...and encountered not one but five big warriors from another century living in a supposed haunted towerhouse? That's exactly what Amelia Landry experiences when her best friend and assistant leases her the dark tower for the summer. You see, Amelia has had a serious case of Brain Fade and has three months left to write and turn in her next novel. But her writer's mojo has disappeared and she's been struggling. Hoping to gain inspiration from the creepy, haunted tower, she packs up and leaves Charleston, SC and makes for the Highlands. A big fan of Bram Stoker, Amelia's imagination takes flight as soon as she steps foot into the dark, stone, fourtheenth century keep. But she also encounters a dead-sexy laird wrapped in plaid--along with his kinsmen.

Centuries before, Ethan Munro's bride was found dead--and Ethan, whose dark reputation follows him everywhere--was blamed. After a battle between his bride's kin, a thick mist envelopes Ethan and his brethren and for centuries, they exist on a plane where for one hour a day, they solidify. Neither dead nor alive, they have long awaited for help from SOMEONE. When Amelia shows up, with her nearly fearless self, Ethan gets way more than he bargains for...

Having had the pleasure of visiting Scotland's lush Highlands a few times, the setting for Highland Knight popped right out at me. Every time I visit a crumbling castle ruin, or traipse through the wood, I can imagine the big, fierce warriors and their kin, swords drawn, curses spewing. It's a magical place alive with history, and I love reading and writing about it. I hope you do, as well!

Enjoy!

Cindy

THE ART OF DESIRE by CHERIE FEATHER

In the old days, I used to get censored by my editors because my love scenes were too graphic, so when the erotica subgenre exploded on the scene, it seemed inevitable that I become part of it. Even my readers kept asking, “When are you going to write an erotica?”

So I did it! The Art of Desire is my first really, really sexy book. No censorship. No holds barred. But in spite of the sensuality, I wanted it to be highly romantic and deeply emotional, too. So I created a contemporary story with a historical twist. The historical portions gave me the opportunity to write a classic romance with tragic elements. The contemporary portions gave me the chance to spread my naughty wings and write in my most erotic voice.

The result has been rewarded. So far, The Art of Desire has garnered exceptional reviews, including a Top Pick from Romantic Times. I couldn’t be more thrilled. It’s truly a book of my heart.

If you’re curious about the RT review, this is what it says:

“This story has it all--hot and varied sex scenes, a hunky hero to die for, a tough-yet-insecure heroine to identify with and a diary that links the characters to a tragic Old West love affair from a hundred years ago. The happy-ever-after ending is icing on the cake! Feather is an excellent writer who knows which details will evoke just the right emotion.” Romantic Times, 4 ½ stars, Top Pick!

Who wouldn’t be happy about that review? Lol. If you want to know more about the plot, here’s the back cover blurb:

Museum director Mandy Cooper has always been obsessed with nineteenth-century artist Catherine Burke—and the artist’s erotically charged relationship with Atacar, her enthralling American Indian lover. But Mandy’s link to the legendary couple runs deeper than she knows. She’s having a heated affair herself—with Jared Cabrillo, Atacar’s perilously handsome great-great nephew. And the consuming passion Atacar once used to seduce Catherine is now being engaged by Jared. He knows precisely what it takes to move a woman…

He’s in possession of Catherine’s wildly explicit journal. He knows every intimate detail of what she wanted and needed. But he also knows how desperately Catherine had loved Atacar and how dangerously he’d loved her. The journal is timeless and tragic, and the secrets contained within its pages can bring Mandy and Jared together, or just as surely destroy them both—desire by shocking desire.

If you’d like to see the book trailer, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ls0rwEM29iY&eurl=file://C:%5CA_Websites%5CSheriWhitefeather%5CTMPy9xpmttouo.htm

If you’d like to read an excerpt, click here: http://goodbadandunread.com/2008/04/26/book-alert-the-art-of-desire-by-cherie-feather/

For news, contests and to read my blog, you can visits my websites at: http://www.cheriefeather.com/ and http://www.sheriwhitefeather.com/

Hugs and Happy Reading!

Cherie

Donna MacMeans

Invisibility can be most revealing.

I remember precisely when I discovered the idea for THE TROUBLE WITH MOONLIGHT. It was the summer of 2006. My husband and I decided to go to the movies and chose My Super Ex-girlfriend (crummy movie, but great scene of the super girlfriend tossing a shark at her boyfriend through a skyscraper window.) I was casting about, looking for a fresh idea and thought – superpowers are hot. Look at the popular TV series – Heroes. Other recent movies: Fantastic Four, Spiderman. Perhaps I could do something with a superhero story.

I had just finished my Victorian novel, The Education of Mrs. Brimley, and had fallen in love with the time period. I figured there aren’t many superheroes in historical settings, other than vampires, so this might be good. Plus I wouldn’t be wasting all that research I did for Mrs. Brimley. So I had my setting – late Victorian England.

Now I needed a power. I thought about flying, but that would be difficult with all those skirts and whatnot. If faced with imminent death or flying, would a proper Victorian woman choose the latter if it meant someone could see up her skirt? Sorry, Mary Poppins, I don’t think so. So flying was out. I considered other powers. One of my favorites is invisibility. Remember how Harry Potter had a cloak of Invisibility – so did Frodo didn’t he? It’s a cool talent – and visual (so to speak J). I could already see the opening scene in my mind. Things floating on air with no obvious explanation.

I don’t know about you, but I hate it when the hero can turn his power on and off like a light bulb. I decided pretty early that I wanted this power to play havoc with my heroine, cause her lots of worry and anxiety about her ability to control it. And she had to be visible sometimes – I mean the hero has to be able to find her. My daughter and I talked it over as we waited at the airport for her plane to Chicago. What normal occurrence could we use that would have been available in Victorian times and would play havoc with my heroine – the moon!

We discussed the problem of clothes. That Susan chick from the Fantastic Four had her genius boyfriend come up with some clothes that could turn invisible. My poor Victorians couldn’t have had that technology. Then I remembered the headless horseman. Do you remember him? He’s really what sealed the deal. I decided he must have been of the same race of people as my heroine (nuclear accidents also were out). He rode his horse in Moonlight and his body turned invisible, giving the illusion that he was headless. Perfect.

Now all I needed was a reason to force my heroine out of her house when the moon was full, and a hero who would fall privy to her secret. The book was born.

In the midst of a moonlit safe-cracking mission, British spy James Locke witnesses a ruby necklace spirited away as if by conjurer’s trick. Following the jewels leads him to Lusinda Havershaw who’s inherited the talent of turning invisible in moonlight – at lest, the parts of her that are unclothed. Locke trains Lusinda in espionage, even while he finds her close proximity bewitchingly distracting. And as their mission to track Russian spies grows treacherous, they’ll find that the heart behaves even more mysteriously than Lusinda in moonlight.

The Trouble with Moonlight will be available June 3rd. ISBN: 978-0-425-22198-3
Read an excerpt at http://www.donnamacmeans.com/

Donna