Guest Blog and Giveaway with Tina Folsom

Darker, more sensual vampire rakes: Venice Vampyr
By Tina Folsom

Some readers will know me for my Scanguards Vampires series, an erotic vampire romance series set in contemporary San Francisco. While my Scanguards Vampires are more on the lighter side, I decided I wanted to do something a little darker and steamier.

When I visited Venice, Italy in October 2010, I knew I’d found the ideal setting for my slightly darker, slightly more sensual vampires. Venice Vampyr was born. As soon as I returned from vacation, I sat down at my computer and started writing. In December, I published the first novella Venice Vampyr, and in early January the second, Venice Vampyr: Final Affair.

Venice Vampyr is a novella series (length of each novella approx. 30,000 words), which follows the lives of vampires Raphael, his brother Dante, and their friends. The common thread running through all the novellas is the threat posed by the Guardians, a secret society of wealthy Venetians set out to kill every vampire. By keeping the stories at novella length, I can concentrate on the relationships between the hero and the heroine, rather than get lost in a complicated plot.

The idea of setting this series in the Regency period (early 1800s), came instantly. I wanted there to be more societal constraints for one reason: the (v)amp up the heat. The more constraints a society has, the hotter things get when you break their rules. Contemporary society has very few rules left when it comes to sex, relationships, and courting/dating. Very little is considered taboo or forbidden. But in a society where meetings between men and women were chaperoned, a stolen kiss packs more intensity and heat than today. I wanted to draw on this – the forbidden, the breaking of society’s rules, the devastating consequences if a woman’s reputation was compromised.

Venice Vampyr, particularly the first novella which follows Raphael, explores some sexual taboos and is not for the faint of heart. While it is not considered Erotica in its true sense (since it does have a Happy End and the characters are monogamous), it is certainly more erotic than any of my previous books or short stories.

I’m planning more novellas for the Venice Vampyr series. They are a welcome change from writing my longer books for Scanguards Vampires or my Out of Olympus series.

At present, Venice Vampyr novellas are only available as e-books, however, I am planning to release them as a collection in paperback once I have three novellas finished.

If you would like to see the trailer for Venice Vampyr, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glx7mGT9u10

You can also listen to an audio excerpt of Venice Vampyr (read by me – excuse the accent):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTuKy6zw1yQ

Thanks so much to Roxanne for having me on her blog today.

Author’s Website: http://www.tinawritesromance.com/

Author’s Blog: http://authortinafolsom.blogspot.com/

Giveaway Time

Tina is giving away one e-copy of each novella (pdf, kindle or ePub) to one lucky reader

To enter simply leave a comment on this post

Winner TBA Next Wednesday