Redemption blog tour: Guest post by Erica Hayes + giveaway!

This week, we have a guest blog from the talented Erica Hayes, author of the Shadowfae Chronicles and the new Seven Signs series. She's here to promote her newest Seven Signs book, REDEMPTION, the second book in this apocalyptic urban fantasy romance series, as part of her blog tour. She's put together a lovely guest post for you and there's also a great giveaway for the tour. Please join me in welcoming Erica back to Tynga's Reviews!

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Thanks to Tynga and the team for hosting me on the blog today! My new romance series, the Seven Signs, is about an angel vs. demon Apocalypse. Y'know, the kind with plagues and portents, rampaging demon hordes, seven vials of holy wrath and fire raining from the sky. Awesome!

But that's not the only kind of world destruction. The End can happen in many fascinating ways.

Imagine you want to stage your very own Apocalypse. You're getting your supervillain on, and you've decided this pitiful fleshbag world just has to go. But how to proceed? Naturally, you want to impress all your villain friends with just how destructive and evil you can be. You want your Apocalypse to be the very best, not some cheap imitation.

So here are a few factors to consider when throwing your end-of-the-world shindig:

1. How will you end it?

Alien invasion, nuclear holocaust, zombie hordes, super-viruses, rogue meteorites, global famine or water shortage, even just a good honest world-wide war. Your options are multitude. Which brings me to question two:

2. Who lives and who dies?

In my Seven Signs series, the villains are a gang of demons intent on busting Satan from the pit where he's been imprisoned for thousands of years, and creating hell on earth. They don't really care who lives and who dies. They just want to eat everyone's soul. So they've stolen the Seven Signs of the Apocalypse, and they're just pouring out the wrath willy-nilly. Death and destruction ahoy.

But your choice of catastrophe will depend on the sort of destruction you're looking for.

Blowing up the entire planet? Perhaps alien invasion is for you. Call 1-800-DEATH-STAR.

Or, if you'd prefer some survivors to lord it over? Consider a rogue meteorite (effective, but difficult to arrange on short notice) or a super-bug. Super-bugs can be awesome – fortified enclaves of terrified survivors are brilliant fodder for an iron-fisted authoritarian regime – but ensure you have exclusive access to the cure, or it could be your corpse moldering by the wayside.

For a good all-purpose end, consider a zombie horde. They can be unreliable, but very amusing. And their ugly flesh-munching antics tend to bring out the worst in survivors. If you like the idea of food shortages and rampaging mobs of shotgun-wielding rednecks, definitely try a zombie horde.

How will you establish control?

However you do it, eventually you'll want to rule over the ashes. Unfortunately, your innate villain's charm, smoldering good looks, British accent (optional but useful) and fabulous evil laugh will probably not be enough.

So make sure you have something that everyone else wants. Water, food, gas, the cure to the virus, surprise magical powers or the only super-weapon that can defeat the aliens. You might need an army of minions to keep the peasants in line, so brainwash early, brainwash often – there'll be no time to recruit thousands of greedy followers once the destruction starts. If you're going to start your own religion and enslave the population that way, sow the seeds early with a few well-staged miracles, before the internet collapses and no one can see you on YouTube.

Be prepared to wipe out anyone who opposes you. Now is not the time for tedious scruples about human rights and the rule of law. Summary execution is your friend. No one will notice a few thousand illegal guillotinings once the sky starts raining fire.

Also, your fellow villains will try to take advantage of your good work, so have a dastardly plan ready to thwart them. Luring them into a barn with promises of an unholy alliance, and then setting fire to it, has worked well in the past.

4. Who will try to stop you, and how will you deal with them?

The good guys. Sigh. Yeah. Eventually, you'll have to deal with these do-gooders. Scientists intent on curing your super-bug, political leaders who insist on keeping law and order, or gangs of super-powered warriors who go around killing your rampaging aliens or sending your vicious demon hordes back to hell.

It doesn't matter what form the good guys take. Whoever that is over there on the soapbox, shouting with the voice of reason? They must be silenced.

So make sure you know in advance who the do-gooders will be, and have a plan in place to discredit them. Failing that, see above on summary execution.

So there you have it. How to build your own Apocalypse.

So you tell me: if you were a supervillain intent on destroying the world, which method would you choose, and why?

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Thanks so much for visiting us again, Erica! I'm looking forward to the rest of your tour!

Want more Erica? You can find her online at her website or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.

You can also see the rest of her tour by clicking on the tour button below.

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More about REDEMPTION:

Japheth the Tainted is on the hunt for a mysterious demon vampire. But meeting her face-to-face might disarm his warrior spirit—and spark an unquenchable passion with apocalyptic consequences.

As a fallen angel, Japheth is determined to make his way back to heaven by staying pure and slaying hellspawn. With a new scourge of vampires unleashed by a blood-drinking demon, the Prince of Thirst, there’s plenty to be done. But Japheth is after one vampire in particular—the one they call the Angel Slayer.

Rose Harley never wanted to be a vampire, but the Prince of Thirst can turn even the kindest soul into a soldier of hell. Feeling abandoned by God, she stalks the West Village taking revenge on his angels—until she meets her match.

When Japheth and Rose encounter each other, the battle is fierce and charged with desire. But when they discover a common enemy—the Prince of Thirst himself—they form a dangerous alliance that could either cost them their eternal lives, or spark a love more powerful than heaven or hell.

Read an excerpt

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

Here's the scoop on REVELATION, the first book in the series:

A fallen angel with a mission and a medical examiner who's lost her faith are fighting for their souls in a glittering, near-future Manhattan...

Blind faith is for fools. That's what Dr. Morgan Sterling believes. And she's going to prove it by curing the zombie plague ravaging her city's slums. She's certain it's not a sign of the End of Days, but a nasty disease—until an angel appears in her morgue in a flash of glory.

Luniel is not just a fallen angel. He's a powerful warrior sworn to fight evil in hopes of a chance at redemption. He's after the demon princes who are stealing the seven vials of holy wrath which, when perverted, will unleash eternal hell on earth. To stop the plague, Luniel needs Morgan's help, and her faith. But Morgan believes science is their salvation. If the zombie plague is a demonic curse—and if Luniel is true—he’ll have to prove it. Even if he loses his heart to true love or his soul to Hell...

Read an excerpt

Purchase: Amazon | Book Depository

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There's a tour-wide giveaway from Erica Hayes: a Kindle Fire (or an equivalent value Amazon gift card if the winner lives outside the US)

To enter the giveaway, obey the Rafflecopter!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Posted by jenn at 05:49

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Born and raised in the Toronto area, Jenn moved to St. John's, Newfoundland, eight years ago for school. She's still in school (thankfully on another degree!), now trapped in her dissertation. When she's not dissertating, which happens more often than it should, Jenn spends her time reading, watching movies, playing volleyball, travelling, and enjoying the local music scene. Her latest addictions: yoga and Almond Crunch cereal.