Mythology, Space and Edits Guest blog by Maria Hammarblad

Mythology, space, and edits.

Thank you Fang-tastic books for having me as a guest blogger! It's a pleasure to be here, though I have to admit I panicked for just a second when I realized where I was going. I mean, no one can deny vampires are the big thing. I personally prefer the old-fashioned kind with a touch of evil -- or at least desire -- before the eternally teenage ones frequently featured in media, but they're okay too. My books just don’t have any. (At least that's what I thought.)

My mind has been completely focused on my new release Kidnapped. It is a science fiction romance set in an environment utterly free from anything paranormal. It has evil, aliens, space, love, a cool cover, and oodles of other things, but nothing supernatural.

As I sat here scratching my head, wondering how to tackle the situation, my husband said, "Tell them about the Goddess's Saga." He's clearly smarter than I am: this book has it all. There is a goddess, mythology, genetically manipulated humans, monsters from another dimension, and even a vampire-like being.

The main character, Maria Callaway, was originally invented as a role playing character back in 2007. She took on a life of her own, found relatives, and grew friendships. She is older than she can keep track of, powerful, beautiful, and extremely bored. When I decided to put her in an actual novel, I tried changing her name, thinking of the mockery that would inevitably follow having a heroine sharing your own first name. (Just imagine, "Haha, you would like to be a goddess, wouldn't you?") It didn't work. Every time I changed her name, her personality changed too.

Her counterpart, Stephan Forks, is a genetically manipulated human. He is built to be stronger and smarter than people in general. When the book starts he's also a generally careless drunk, good at finding trouble. They shouldn't even like each other, but after getting over the first annoyance, they make a good couple.

The Goddess's Saga is really a collection volume containing three novels with the same characters. (Touch of the Goddess, Wrath of the Goddess, and Return of the Goddess.) I have learned so much from writing these books! They're self-published, and when I finished Touch of the Goddess, I realized I needed an editor. I hired one online and waited eagerly to get the material back. Let’s just say, it's a small fortune I could have spent better. I did learn some things, but the result wasn't impressive. I re-wrote that book for the release of The Goddess's Saga, and this time I took editing help from an author friend. I'm sure it's not perfect, one always makes mistakes, but it's much better.

Going from this haphazard self-editing to the structured way at a publishing house was a big step for me. Kidnapped was edited four times -- I think, it might be five -- by several different people. It's fascinating how something that seems completely clear in one's own head can puzzle others. My mind knows what the places look like and what happens between the lines.

I fought some of the edits to start with. I honestly thought my original way of doing things was better and didn’t want to re-write, but now when I see the final result, I know they were right and I was wrong.

I'm working on edits for another book now, also with Desert Breeze Publishing, and my editor for this book is tough. We're working on my first re-write and I won't lie; it stings a little when someone wants you to use the language in a completely different way from what you're used to. Still, when I read the parts we've remade, the end result will be awesome.

June 4 Review

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June 5 Guest blog 

Book Nerd Revealed

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Fang-tastic Books

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I Just Want to Sit Here and Read

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JeanzBookReadNReview       

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MarthaE

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June 20 Guest blog and review

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June 20 Review

Books, Books, and More Books

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June 21 Interview and review

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June 25 Guest blog

Katrina @ Kindred Dreamheart

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June 26 Review

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June 27 Promo and review

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Jessica

Simply Infatuated

Kidnapped

by Maria Hammarblad

Blurb 

It's a late winter night when Patricia Risden heads home in her car, on a road she's driven many times before. She doesn't have a care in the world, that is, until a man appears from nowhere, right in front of her.

The next thing she knows is being a prisoner of the unscrupulous Alliance Commander Travis 152; an intimidating man who demands information and complete cooperation. Travis soon realizes his mistake; Tricia doesn't know anything, and she is incapable of even getting a glass of water from the ship's computer. 

Infamous for being a ruthless executioner, conditioned since childhood to feel nothing besides fear and pain, he still deems her harmless, and finds enough pity for the lost young woman to let her out of the cell; a decision that will change both their lives forever. 

Brief "about the book" from author Lynette Endicott 

Kidnapped is a well-written Science Fiction story of a woman kidnapped from earth and taken on a whirlwind tour of the universe with a captor whose heart is thawed by her innocence. This does not please his commander, who pursues, captures and loses both characters. In the process there is fun, adventure, sizzle, and an introduction to different worlds and their impact, one day, on our own. Be sure to pick up Kidnapped by Maria Hammarblad available from Desert Breeze Publishing.

Biography Maria Hammarblad 

Born in Sweden in the early 1970's, Maria showed a large interest for books at an early age. Even before she was able to read or write, she made her mom staple papers together into booklets she filled with drawings of suns and planets. She proudly declared them, "The Sun Book." They were all about the sun. She also claimed, to her mother's horror, that her being on Earth was a big mistake and that her alien family would come and bring her home at any moment. This never happened, but both the interest in space and the passion for bookmaking stayed with her. 

As an adult Maria's creativity got an outlet through playing bass in a number of rock bands, and through writing technical manuals and making web pages for various companies and organizations. She did write drafts for a few novels, but the storytelling muse was mostly satisfied through role playing online on Myspace. 

It was here, while writing stories together with people from around the globe, she stumbled onto Mike. They started talking out of character, and she moved over to Florida to him late 2008. Today the two are married and live in the Tampa Bay area with three rescue dogs. 

Besides writing and playing bass, Maria enjoys driving off-road, archery, and Tameshigiri. 

Website: http://www.hammarblad.com 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mariahammarblad 

Blog: http://www.scifiromance.info 

Twitter: @mariahammarblad 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4114780

Maria_Hammarblad Publisher's website: http://www.desertbreezepublishing.com 

Books by Maria Hammarblad: 

The Goddess's Saga, a series of novels consisting of Touch of the Goddess, Wrath of the Goddess, and Return of the Goddess. 

Embarkment 2577, a series of novellas consisting of Brand New World, High Gravity, and Adam and Eve. 

Invasion and other short stories 

Kidnapped Upcoming releases: Undercover, to be released by Desert Breeze Publishing September 11, 2012. 

Youtube book trailers: 

Kidnapped: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPsVFxWCtJo 

The Goddess's Saga: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hSYB3kkXx4 

Embarkment 2577: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8stZVGieh1g 

Invasion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irVn1ky7Roo

Win a PDF of Malevolent Dead by Heather Kuehl

Curiosity got the better of me, as it always does.

This time, it got me when I was writing Malevolent Dead. I knew from the start of Fade to Black that Sarah looked like Damian’s dead wife Phaedra, but didn’t plan to do anything with it.

Damian would always care for Sarah because she looked like Phaedra, but that was going to be it. Until I got curious. I wanted to know exactly how Damian felt, and I wanted to know if Sarah could ever feel the same way. I was dying to write about the feeling of Damian’s hands on Sarah, the feel of his fangs as they brushed across her skin. I knew that I didn’t want a vampire/werewolf love triangle (wasn’t there enough of that going around these days?); I just wanted one night to find out how gentle Damian’s touch could be.

However there was a complication in the form of Jared. Sarah was head-over-heels in love with him and she couldn’t be with the vampire while her werewolf boyfriend was around.

It’s amazing what lengths I will go to sate my curiosity. To say anything more would spoil everything.


Excerpt from Malevolent Dead, Chapter One (before final edits).

When my phone vibrated at 2 am, I knew it wasn’t good.

As I rolled over to answer it, my mind ran through the list of people who could be calling me. Donavan? Nah. He was on his second honeymoon with his wife, Monique. They vacationed in the middle of the Caribbean. Jared? That thought immediately banished as I had to reach over his sleeping body to get to my phone as it crawled across the bedside table. That left only one person.

“What do you want, Damian?” I muttered as I snapped my phone open.

“Good morning to you too,” Damian said, his ancient accent sliding across my skin and slithering down my spine.

I crawled out of bed, doing my best not to wake Jared. Like I even could. He slept so heavily I doubted that Armageddon could wake him. I slipped into the bathroom and shut the door.

“Why are you calling me?” I asked as I flipped on the bathroom light. Damian rarely used the phone. When I did get a call, usually Dez relayed Damian’s orders. This was different and when it came to the born vampire on the other end of my phone, different was bad.

“I need you to come to the club. We have a visitor that would like to meet you.”
Several things made my spidey-sense tingle. One, I lived in one of the guestrooms at Damian’s club, Malevolent Dead. Damian made it sound like I lived somewhere else. Whoever was there, the born vampire didn’t want them to know I lived with them. Two, who in the hell would make Damian that nervous?

“Are you in trouble?” I asked. I heard Damian grunt.

“Immediate, no. Given some time, yes.”

Peachy.

“I’ll be right there.” I glanced at my pajamas in the mirror. “I have to change first. I don’t think ‘Hello Kitty’ will make a good first impression.”

Damian laughed. Even over the phone I could feel his laughter travel over my skin, making me shudder. I flipped my phone closed, disconnecting the call.

Grabbing my clothes from yesterday out of the hamper and my Walther P22 from the dresser, I quickly changed and combed out my black hair. My blonde roots were starting to show. I had to either dye it again, or do something to make it look good while I grew it out. I liked myself better with black hair, but it represented a part of me that I’d rather forget.

Six months ago I tried to kill Jared because I discovered he was the Were that changed me. No, not tried. Did. I threw the silver knife and delivered a mortal wound that only Damian could fix. I despised myself for letting my hatred go as far as to hurt the man I loved. I felt guilty whenever I saw the scar over his heart.

Jared still slept when I left the bedroom and headed toward a little known emergency exit. I cautiously exited the club, relieved to find no bad guys around. The only person outside was Nyesha, an ebony-skinned witch that sold her sweet grass baskets near the entrance of Malevolent Dead.

“Sarah, is everything okay?” She knew damn well I lived here and could easily exit the club from the front door.

I shrugged. “Don’t know yet. We’ll see.”

“And you’ll tell me, right?”

That woman just loved her gossip. “If it’s mine to tell.”

She nodded, her head dropping back down to the basket in her lap. With patrons coming in and out of Malevolent Dead until the early morning, Nyesha made a killing on our corner. The chilly Charleston air sent shivers up my spine, and I wished that I had thought about throwing on a jacket. I walked around the corner to the main door of the club.

From the outside, Malevolent Dead didn’t look like much. There wasn’t even a sign out front, just tinted windows and a heavy bass pounding from the inside. Humans who came here to dance slowly left as I walked through the coffin encased foyer and upstairs. I heard them grumbling about it closing early. I didn’t blame them. Most nights, Malevolent Dead stayed open until 5am.

I crossed the dance floor and opened the door marked, “Employees Only.” Everyone in the room looked up as I entered.

Damian leaned against the wall, his arms crossed over his bare chest. He wore a pair of dark-washed jeans tucked into black leather boots. A Celtic knot necklace hung around his neck. When his eyes caught sight of me, he smiled and held out a hand.

“Phaedra, my love. Look who’s come to visit us.”

Phaedra?

I was careful not to let my confusion show as I took his hand. He guided me into his arms. I looked up into his plum colored eyes, waiting for some kind of explanation.

He said nothing. Instead Damian turned me to face his guests. A man sat on the couch across from us, backed by five Necrovamps. Icky, disgusting Necrovamps. They were the product of a vampire transformation gone wrong. Their bodies slowly rotted, exposing muscle and bone. Gore leaked from them, creating a kind of snail trail on the ground behind them. The worst part of all were their fangs. Super long, the Necrovamps couldn’t even close their mouths because of them. They were mindless killers and took orders from only one type of creature.

A necromancer.

“Marcellus, you remember my wife.”

The man in the chair nodded. “Of course. How could I forget such beauty? But as I heard it, she died.”

Damian laughed. “Does she look dead to you?”

Marcellus shook his head. “Not at all. How is it that she’s still alive?”

“I changed her.”

Marcellus laughed. “I can hear her heart beat, old friend. I’d say she’s human, but she reeks of Were.”

I huffed. There was something important about Marcellus thinking that Damian’s wife still lived. I decided to just go with it and hoped to God that Damian explained it to me later. “Shows what little you know, Marcellus.” I turned to Damian. “How much longer will you be, baby? I’m ready to go home and the bed is so cold without you.”

I stood on tiptoe to place a light kiss on his lips. Damian smiled as he rubbed noses with me, his hand sliding down to cup my ass.

“Not much, my pet. Marcellus was just about to tell me the reason for his visit.”

Marcellus grinned. “I know you killed the Skyner twins, Damian. Only a fool would believe the lies floating around. Only a fool would believe that two Weres from that dreadful corporation did the deed. You know that it’s against our laws to kill another vampire. I’m here for that reason.”

Our laws? I took a deep breath through my nose and finally picked up the scent I hadn’t noticed earlier; vampire. Marcellus wasn’t only a necromancer, but he was a vampire to boot. This didn’t bode well.

Damien’s voice turned to ice. “Excuse me?”

Marcellus stood and slowly walked over to us. “Since you murdered the twins, I’ve been sent here to be the new lord of Charleston. Your position is forfeit.” He drew a sword out of a sheath on his back. “As is your life.”

Damian laughed. I felt his power flowing out, wrapping itself around Marcellus. Damian’s hand cupping my ass moved up and unholstered my Walther P22. He held the gun up, aiming at Marcellus’s face. The gun wasn’t loaded with wooden rounds, but the shot would still hurt Marcellus. It would slow him down enough for Damian to get the upper hand.

“You are no longer welcome here, old friend. Leave and take your rotting scum with you.”

Marcellus hissed as he backed away. I narrowed my eyes as they left, realizing something important. Marcellus had no intention of killing Damian today. He wanted to draw it out. After all, it wasn’t every day that a vampire was allowed to kill one of their own.

Damian sagged against the wall once they left, dropping my gun onto the polished marble floor. “Dammit,” he growled as he raked a hand through his ebony hair.

I sat in the chair Marcellus had just vacated, waiting for Damian to collect himself. “What the hell?” I asked when he finally did. I didn’t need to go further than that. Damian could read my mind like a book. He knew everything I felt curious about. Damian shook his head.

“Not here. I don’t trust it.” He stood up and walked over to a large black door that led away from the club. I stood and followed him, hoping he wasn’t going to keep me in the dark about all of this. I mean, he was the one that dragged me into this.

“I’m not,” Damian said. “We’re going to my study to speak about this.”
Damian’s study was a small room with a bookcase and desk tucked in the corner. A large decorative curtain hung on the wall, and I assumed it covered a window.

The moment we entered Damian’s study I tore into him. “What’s going on? I thought you were safe? Why is Marcellus after you? How can he be both a necromancer and a vampire? And who the hell is Phaedra? And why did he think I was her?”

Damian sighed. “I hope this will answer your last question.” Damian walked over to the far left wall and pulled the decorative curtain aside.






Grab your copy of Promises to Keep and Fade to Black today, available from Eternal Press and Amazon.com.

Get your copy of Malevolent Dead from Eternal Press on September 7th.


Heather Kuehl is the author of Promises to Keep and The Sarah Vargas Series as well as numerous short stories and poems. Visit Heather online at http://www.heatherkuehl.com/, http://www.heatherkuehl.blogspot.com/ or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

Contest Time!

Want to win a pdf of Malevolent Dead?

Just leave a comment on this psot with email address

One lucky person will win

Contest Closes Tuesday at Midnight EST

Bad Girls and Badass Demons! Guest Post and Giveaway from Maree Anderson

I’d never written a novella before, so when I heard about the Red Sage Alpha Male Novella Contest, I figured I’d give it a go. Nothing like a bit of a challenge, huh?

Hang on. Red Sage publish erotic romance? Yikes! Not just a challenge, then, a really biiiiig challenge! So after I’d calmed the “no way can I do this!” demons, the first thing I got stuck into was some research. I bought a couple of Secrets anthologies and a selection of Red Sage novellas to read. Woot! Gotta love that excuse to buy more books ;-)

The research told me that Red Sage editors aren’t afraid to take chances.

I’d recently watched the TV series, Saving Grace. Grace is a cop who’s lost someone she loves. Her coping mechanisms are booze, cigarettes and sex…with her married partner. Only three or four episodes of the series screened here in New Zealand but Grace’s flaws, her strength and vulnerability in the face of her determination to do what she wanted and to hell with the consequences, stayed with me.

So I decided to take a risk and write heroine who’s not at all a “nice” girl.

Leisa, the heroine of Even Demons Get The Blues, sure looks like an angel but she’s on a slippery slope straight to Hell. Under the influence of a Destroyer demon, Leisa was provoked into committing a terrible crime. She’s lost everyone she loves and she’s filling the empty space in her soul with alcohol and casual sex. And those morning afters, when she wakes up next to some guy and can’t even remember his name, sure ain’t pretty.

So what kind of hero would be man enough to cope with a woman like Leisa?

Someone strong and determined, someone with a dark soul of his own, someone who wouldn’t be put off by the things she’s done. Hmmm. Perhaps not a man, then, but a demon. And not just any old demon, but the most badass demon in my version of Hell.

Introducing Rezon, the sole surviving Drakon demon.

Rez spent the last 4000 years as his king’s enforcer. And no-one kicked demon butt better than Rez. But he got fed up with all the gory bickering and back-stabbing, and much to King Asmodeus’s disgust, Rez opted out and took up Beguiling. When he can be bothered fulfilling his quotas, Rez is the quintessential poster-boy of the Beguiler Unit… until he cops a glimpse of Leisa.

Rez watches Leisa in a be-spelled mirror — he’s got that whole borderline stalker thing going on. Then Leisa picks up one loser too many and Rez convinces himself that if she’s going to fuck anyone tonight, it might as well be him. He whisks her off to his lair to show her what a real man — uh, make that horny demon! — can do for her.

Of course, Hell hath no fury like a Felinoid demon scorned. Rez’s current lover doesn’t take Rez’s unsavory obsession with a slutty human female lying down. She rats him out to King Asmodeus… who’s righteously pissed. Now that Rez’s transgression has been made public, Asmodeus must “officially” kick his scaly lizard ass into oblivion and beyond to teach him a lesson. And Asmodeus isn’t at all certain his own handsome ass wouldn’t get whupped in the process. Lucifer’s hairy balls, sometimes it just sucks to be king!

When the scales of good and evil are in balance, life is all peachy keen for my denizens of Heaven, Hell and Earth. But when Rez and Leisa indulge in a session of hot demonic sex and Leisa accidently breaks through Rez’s defenses and bonds with him, the scales aren’t just tipping, they’re verging on meltdown!

The sole surviving Drakon demon bonded to a human whose soul is tagged by a Destroyer? Now there’s Hell to pay. Not to mention Heaven. And an even higher power that has the potential to redeem both Leisa and Rez… if they manage to fulfill their destinies before they’re obliterated from this life and the next. Now they just have to figure out what those destinies might be!

I was rapt when Even Demons Get The Blues finalled in the Alpha Male Novella Contest. I was even more delighted when Red Sage offered to publish my manuscript—it was a June 2009 Red Sage Presents release. I hope you enjoy reading about how Rez and Leisa finally get their happy ending, despite some pretty dire odds.

And for those of you who might be wondering what happened to Rez’s Felinoid ex, Naamah’s story is currently with my editor. In “Let Sleeping Demons Lie” Naamah tangles with a Leonine Lycan prince, so it’s kitty vs lion, with some truly heinous hyenas thrown into the mix…mwah hah hah!

If you’d like to sign up to my website newsletter I’ll keep you posted on my progress. Oh, and don’t forget to leave your postal address in the confirmation email, so I can post you an Even Demons Get The Blues bookmark!

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I’d like to thank Roxanne for letting me wax poetic here on Fang-tastic Books and if anyone has any questions, please feel free to post a comment and I’ll do my best to answer.

Oooh, almost forgot. Through a random selection process—namely me putting all commenters names into a hat and one of my kids rummaging about and picking a name—one commenter will win a pdf of Even Demons Get The Blues. Talk to you soon!

Cheers
Maree Anderson
http://www.mareeanderson.com/
http://www.writersgonewild.blogspot.com/
http://www.eredsage.com/