Guest Blog and Giveaway with Marta Acosta

First, I’d like to thank Roxanne for having me here at Fang-tastic Books! One of the best things about being a writer is meeting all the book lovers who spend so much time and energy sharing the book love.

I was listening to the radio the other day and I heard an interview with Woody Allen. The reporter was asking him if characters were based on him and he said no, that that’s always the assumption, but that he makes up stories. And I thought, oh, it even happens to famous directors/writers – because that’s the question most people ask writers: “Who are you in your book?”

The answer is “None of them and all of them.”

Writers are grown-up versions of kids who spent all their time daydreaming and making up stories and games. We treat experiences, facts and observations like an interior designer treats an economy motel room. We alter and arrange them until we’re happy. We’re always thinking “what if?”

Urban fantasy and paranormal romance give an author the freedom to say “what if?” about any situation. So I thought, “What if there were vampires and they were as wealthy, sophisticated, and attractive as the stereotype? Wouldn’t they be terrible snobs? What if a quirky, broke, bright, and fun girl got involved with them?” That’s how I thought of the premise to my Casa Dracula series.

And Milagro, my heroine? I created her with the traits I loved most in fictional characters: cheerfulness and determination, a lively mind, and an affectionate and impulsive nature. Because she’s young and optimistic, she tends to believe people who shouldn’t be trusted. She’s got a sense of humor that helps her survive. She tries to do the right thing even if it means that she’ll suffer for it.

I’m a Jane Austen fan and I was always fascinated by the decadent and charming brother and sister in Mansfield Park. (To the best of my knowledge, I’m the only living person who likes this novel.) Henry and Mary Crawford are attractive, sophisticated, fun, and all kinds of wrong. I adored them and wanted to use that idea in a book. So I came up with Ian Ducharme and his sister Cornelia.

A few characters come to me whole, like Edna Grant, the snarky grandmother. As soon as I imagined her, I knew what she’s look like, what she’d say, and how she’d behave.

While I research some locations and settings, others are taken from places I’ve been heard about. One of my friends was humiliated when she failed a test for a job polishing silver at a department store. I worked that into Milagro’s story.

Writers like to claim that writing is really hard work. Oh, it’s so difficult, it’s so terrible, it’s a struggle! But the next time you see a few children acting out imaginary characters, ask them if it’s hard.

This book is the conclusion of my Casa Dracula series – and the really hard part is letting go of Milagro and the other wonderful imaginary friends I’ve had in her world.

~Marta

Learn more about Marta & her books:

website: http://www.martaacosta.com/

Vampire Wire: http://www.vampirewire.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/MartaAcosta

Vampire Wire Twitter: http://twitter.com/vampirewire

Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Marta-Acosta/615530904

Newsletter: http://www.martaacosta.com/contact-me/

Giveaway Time

Marta is offering one lucky reader a copy of Haunted Honeymoon

US and Canada shipping only please

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did you ever have an imaginary friend?

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One Winner will be chosen

Winner TBA Announced Wednesday Oct 13

A Review of Haunted Honeymoon by Marta Acosta

Five Fangs for Marta Acosta's Haunted Honeymoon

Book Description:

THERE’S MORE THAN HER HEART AT STAKE. . . .

As the only human to survive vampire infection, Milagro de Los Santos has become quite a celebrity among the blood-drinking elite. Too bad the perks of her condition—increased strength, super-fast healing—don’t pay her condo fees. There are other complications too. She’s feeling guilty about her fling with enigmatic Vampire Council member Ian Ducharme, and pining for her ex-fiancé, Dr. Oswald Grant . . . the fabulous man whose kiss changed her life. It’s when Milagro—irked by Ian’s attentions to his neighbor—travels to London and enjoys a sexy flirtation of her own, that the blood really hits the fan.

Suddenly, those around her are dying gruesome deaths and Milagro’s being interrogated. Who would kill to set her up as a murder suspect? Milagro just wants to turn back the clock and have another chance to make things right, but no sooner has she escaped to Oswald’s ranch than an accident obliterates her memory. Will the murderer come after her now? And will amnesia spark a romantic do-over with Oswald—or will she make all the same mistakes before she ever gets to say "I do"?

My Review:

If I had known Marta's books were so damn hilarious I would have started reading them along time ago.

Seriously I had so many laugh out loud moments...then I kept snickering and my four year old kept asking me why I was laughing.

Come on the first line reads "The next time a sex toy sales consultant offered to teach me how to unlock handcuffs with a paper clip, I would accept."

Then every time Ian tells Milagro he has something for her she says "Is it in your pants?"- that got a giggle from me especially when he finally said "as a matter of fact..."

Sure there are some serious parts in the book- like Milagro being held against her will and people trying to kill her and then there's the amnesia but just like Milagro all the bad stuff comes with a shrug and a way of just getting beyond it. She sure has a way of looking to the positive or else completely ignoring the negative- either way it works for her.

I would have thought I would hate a party girl, leopard print loving, fashionista like Milagro- she's just the opposite of everything I am, except the books. She loves books, I love books then there's the men, she loves men, I love men. So we have more in common than I would have suspected.

And her wacky sense of humor...it works without being annoying. Milagro is likeable and believable and even non-Californian, non clothes loving, non party girls can relate.

This action packed book kept me turning pages wanting- no needing to know what was going to happen. Would Milagro end up with Oswald or Ian? Would she get her memory back so she could make the right choice?

Fabulous book.

This is the first Casa Dracula book that I've read- now I have to go back and get the whole story even though this filled me in quite a bit easily letting me know what has happened before without going overboard on the detail. I'm sad to say this is the fourth and final book in the series but don't fret it has a happy ending- just perhaps not the ending you were expecting. Of course it depends on which guy you were rooting for.