Guest Blog and Giveaway with Mad Scientist (Author) Caridad Pineiro

Many people ask what made me become a writer of paranormals and I guess the answer is that I was set on that path long ago.



In the fifth grade a teacher assigned our class a project—to write a book that would be placed in a class lending library. That started the writing bug.

My mom and sister used to love to watch creepy movies on Chiller theater on wet Saturday afternoons. Not wanting to be left out, I joined them, forever creating indelible images in my brain of werewolves, vampires, aliens and other creatures who would eat my sorry butt.

The final nail in the coffin came when I got the coolest Christmas gift ever—a chemistry kit filled with all kinds of fun experiments. In the blink of an eye I could make snow in a jar or send up a noxious blast of fumes.

Mad scientist image credit J.J.@en.wikipedia.com

Combine all three and I became a mad scientist intent on writing stories about all those weird happenings and of course, somehow securing a happy ending.

Did I mention that the book I wrote for the class library was a romance? One with hints of the paranormal as a group of students is stranded on a deserted island whose other inhabitants are not too friendly.

In the many years since then, I’ve found it to be quite rewarding to continue melding all those things I loved as a kid into the stories I write. Those of you familiar with THE CALLING series may recognize all three of those elements in books like DANGER CALLS, where Dr. Melissa Danvers is busy trying to find out how vampire blood works. That theme is one I picked up at the end of DEATH CALLS when Diana Reyes is tainted with the blood of her lover, Ryder Latimer. I’m hoping to finish that longer story arc with a novella with Diana and Ryder in the near future.

Readers will also see those elements in the SIN HUNTER series. Love, otherworldliness and romance are in both SINS OF THE FLESH and STRONGER THAN SIN. With books three and four in the series (THE LOST and THE CLAIMED coming in August 2011 and Spring 2012), you will see even more of the weirdness paranormal romance readers love as a new group comes to visit the Jersey Shore—Hunters who can do all kinds of unique things. I won’t spill the beans on that one just yet because it’s just too exciting for me right now as I am finishing the books.

I know I’m blessed to be able to do something I love so much and which is so much fun. I hope readers have as much fun reading the books and enjoying the same things I love, romance, weirdness and maybe even some of the science.

Giveaway Time

One Winner will Receive

A STRONGER THAN SIN tote bag and a copy of SINS OF THE FLESH

Open to US Shipping

To Enter Leave a Comment on This Post

Include Your Email Address

Winner TBA Next Wednesday

Free Book Friday: Sins of the Flesh by Caridad Pineiro and a $25 Amex Gift Card

This week's Free Book Friday is sponsored by Caridad Pineiro.

She's offering one lucky winner a chance to win a copy of her newest book, Sins of the Flesh and a $25 Amex Gift Card.

To enter to win this prize pack from Caridad tell us: how do you like your paranormal books?

Do you like them with less romance and more action and world building (more urban fantasy than romance) ?

Or do you enjoy the romantic elements most? So heavy on the romance low on the action/violence?

Do you like mystery and suspense thrown in?

How about the sex: more, less, hot and heavy, or none at all?

Or how about a combination of all of the above?

Leave your answer in the comment section along with

your email contact info.

This contest is open internationally

5 extra entries for being a follower

5 extra entries for tweeting this post

5 extra entries for following me at Twitter @RoxanneRhoads

Caridad Pineiro and Her New Book: Sins of the Flesh

At this time of year, we’re all busying delighting in things that go bump in the night. Vampires, ghosts and other monsters knock on our doors or fill our television screens and we love being scared! Monsters are scary after all and horror stories are loaded with frightening things to raise our hackles and send shivers down our spines.

The best part of it – we know it’s all make-believe and that no matter what, we’ll be safe.
It’s why we love paranormals.

But what if the paranormal becomes something that’s not make-believe? What if that scary thing that goes bump in the night is possible? What if humans become scarier than monsters?
I had fun with those possibilities in my latest novel, SINS OF THE FLESH, when I decided to explore paranormal things that could actually be real.

I’m sure you’ve been hearing a lot in the press and on television about genetically modified organisms. Some of them are in our grocery stores in the form of tomatoes that ripen earlier or corn that lasts longer. What would happen if someone decided to genetically modify a human to give them desirable traits? Someone stronger, faster or in this case, able to change skin tones.
A little unrealistic?

Did you know that scientists have genetically engineered a number of different animals so that they have glowing skin? Cats, mice and even fish that you can buy at your local department store that all have been modified so that they glow under certain light. If you drop by my blog, you can see a video of a glow in the dark cat (http://www.caridad.com/2009/09/30/science-fact-and-fiction-in-sins-of-the-flesh/).

What about scientists and what they should and shouldn’t do? Think about Dr. Frankenstein and his monster. Totally fiction when Mary Shelley wrote FRANKENSTEIN but advances in science now allow transplants of all kinds, from complete faces to necessary organs, a la Dr. Frankenstein.

I guess that’s one of the things I love best about the paranormal genre – it’s so flexible. From the safety of monsters like vampires and werewolves to the slightly scarier possibility of real life monsters created by humans, the paranormal genre lets writers explore all those different facets in new and interesting ways. Ways that keep our hearts racing and the pages turning.

I hope you’ll keep checking out what’s happening with paranormals and all the fascinating facets the genre is bringing to the fiction world.

Sins of the Flesh Blurb:

Caterina Shaw’s days are numbered. Her only chance for survival is a highly experimental gene treatment – a risk she willingly takes. But now Caterina barely recognizes herself. She has new, terrifying powers, an exotic, arresting body — and she’s been accused of a savage murder, sending her on the run.

Mick Carrera is a mercenary and an expert at capturing elusive, clever prey. Yet the woman he’s hunting down is far from the vicious killer he’s been told to expect: Caterina is wounded, vulnerable, and a startling mystery of medical science. Even more, she’s a beautiful woman whose innocent sensuality tempts Mick to show her exactly how thrilling pleasure can be. The heat that builds between them is irresistible, but surrendering to it could kill them both . . . for a dangerous group is plotting its next move using Caterina as its deadly pawn.

Want to Know More?

Read an Excerpt here: http://www.pumpupyourbook.com/2009/10/20/sins-of-the-flesh-virtual-book-tour-november-09/

For Behind the Scenes blogs where readers can find out about the places where the book is set, you can go to: http://www.caridad.com/books/paranormal/sins-of-the-flesh/

Want to Win a Copy ?

Leave a comment on this post for your chance to win a

copy of Sins of the Flesh.

US shipping only please.

Guest Author Caridad Pineiro and her Free Book Friday Giveaway

Today we have the fabulous author of many, many books including her fang-tastic vampire series, The Calling, Caridad Pineiro.

Caridad is going to tell us a bit about her series and do a giveaway for Free Book Friday.

Welcome Caridad, thank you for joining us today at Fang-tastic Books.

I want to thank you for letting me visit and share the world of The Calling vampire novels. The Calling is a series of my heart and I’ve been very lucky to be able to continue it with Silhouette Nocturne.

I created the world of The Calling back in 2003 when I was going through a dark phase in my writing and decided I needed a change. I wanted to try my hand at something dark and edgy. Plus, I’d had a very positive response to the female FBI Agent in my very first book and wanted to do a series featuring a female FBI Agent. Since I worked in New York City and loved the many facets of Manhattan, I decided that would be the perfect location for my vampire underworld.

That’s how The Calling was born. To date there have been 7 novels and 3 novellas, but each one stands alone in the series, although those readers who have been following the series love seeing old characters pop up in either cameo or secondary roles in later stories.

The two current releases in The Calling, HONOR CALLS and FURY CALLS, feature both new and familiar characters.

In HONOR CALLS, my February Nocturne Bite, I’ve brought back a character who may be familiar to some readers – FBI Assistant Director in Charge Jesus Hernandez. Since DARKNESS CALLS, he’s been in the periphery of the stories, advising Diana and her partner during their assignments. Always calm and reserved and functioning by the letter of the law. Honorably discharging his duties until the day he runs into Michaela, a vampire slayer who’s now challenging what Jesus knows to be the right thing to do. What will win out -- honor or Michaela’s need for vengeance against the vampires who killed her mother and forever changed Michaela’s existence? I’m looking forward to writing a full story around these characters in the future.

FURY CALLS is definitely one of my favorites in THE CALLING series. It features Blake Richards, a hesitant hero if ever there was one, who finds the strength to reveal his true self and redeem himself in the eyes of not only the vampire underworld, but the young woman who he turned four years earlier. The heroine, Meghan Thomas, is a young coed who lost her life thanks to Blake’s actions but has found the strength to build a new one as a vampire. Her anger at Blake is hopelessly entangled with her attraction for him and the love which is slowly growing as Blake proves himself time and time again. The villain in FURY CALLS is an Asian vampire – a Kiang-shi – with very different powers and little regard for life. Sun Tze Lee, the villain, takes what he wants and as you will discover during the story, that taking mirrors Blake’s tortured past.

There are two other THE CALLING vampire novels coming out in 2010, namely ARDOR CALLS and VENGEANCE CALLS. In ARDOR CALLS, fans will see an old favorite – Stacia, the vampire elder – get her own unique twist in The Calling since this story will be set in Miami. In VENGEANCE CALLS, we’ll see two totally new characters as the heroes and I hope readers will enjoy the visit to the series from a different kind of immortal.

Besides writing about vampires, I do romantic suspense with other paranormal elements. In 2007, I participated in the NY Times bestselling anthology MOON FEVER and my contribution was a story about a clan of shapeshifters in the Amazon.

In November of this year I will be releasing the first book in an exciting new paranormal romantic suspense series – SINS OF THE FLESH – from Grand Central Forever. SINS OF THE FLESH is the story of Mick Carrera, a mercenary hired to find and bring in a ruthless killer–no matter what. But when his target turns out to be Caterina Shaw, a celebrated cellist suffering from a terminal illness, the lines between innocent and guilty blur. Instead of a violent criminal Mick finds an injured woman who, having undergone what she believed to be experimental gene therapy treatments, possesses some unusual powers…. Mick soon realizes that Caterina was just a pawn in a terrible game–one that will claim more victims unless they can clear her name and capture the true criminal.

If you want to find out more about me or contact me, please visit http://www.caridad.com/ or http://www.thecallingvampirenovels.com/.

Thanks again for giving me the opportunity to drop by and visit! I hope you liked learning about The Calling.

As for the giveaways, I'd like to offer up a SINS OF THE FLESH T-shirt and copy of TEMPTATION CALLS.

To enter to win just leave a comment on this post and a winner will be announced next Wednesday on Winner Wednesday (along with the winner of Angie Fox's giveaway)

Check out the books in The Calling series:




Honor Calls

Guest Author News

The contest is still open to win a copy of The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers by Angie Fox, just leave a comment on her guest post.

Tomorrow we have Caridad Pineiro blogging about her vampire series The Calling.

Caridad will also be giving away a T-shirt and a copy of Temptation Calls.

On Tuesday March 31, I will be posting an interview with Vicki Lewis Thompson author of the funny and sexy Hex series.

On Friday April 3 I will be having a special Free Book Friday Giveaway. Not only will I be giving away a book, I'll also have a fun little goodie bag to give away.

So make sure you stop by often, we always have something fang-tastic planned.

Winner Wednesday and Great News About Caridad Pineiro

Da Da Da Dah!

And this week's winner is...Linda H also known as Readingissomuchfun. Linda you have snagged yourself an ARC of Private Places. I'll be sending an email shortly to grab your address so I can send it to you.

Also I want to announce that Caridad Pineiro, US Today and NY Times Bestselling Author, will be joining us here at Fang-tastic Books for a guest blog and giveaway on March 27th. Her latest book is Fury Calls in the vampire series The Calling.

Hope you'll all drop by to read her guest post and join in the giveaway.