**Notice** Due to transfering back from a godaddy hosted wordpress blog back to blogger, reviews published before june 2017 don`t all have a pretty layout with book cover and infos. Our apologies.
Showing posts with label Paranormal April Fools'. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Paranormal April Fools'. Show all posts
Today is the last day you can enter the 18 amazing giveaways we have from Paranormal April Fools'! There are some wonderful books and swag available thanks to the generosity of our authors and their publishing houses. You don't want to miss out on this chance!
You can click on the icon above to go to the master list for the event or you can use the links in the sidebar on the left (under giveaways).
Remember, there are different mailing restrictions so make sure you check before entering!
I'll be contacting winners over the course of the week so make sure you check your spam folders or add me (jennblogs AT gmail DOT com) to your contact list so that you don't miss out.
Paranormal April Fools' has come to a close and I wanted to take a moment to thank all of our fabulous authors for their participation. There's no way we could have pulled off this event without them (and their publishing houses).
Let's send out a big virtual round of applause to these wonderful people:
For a master list of all of the interviews and guest posts, click here.
Don't forget to enter the giveaways, which end this Sunday (April 15)!
Today’s post is an interview with one of my favorite authors, Jeaniene Frost! She is popular for her fantastic Cat & Bones series, as well as its spin-offs, and you already guessed, I loved every single book.
Read on to find out what Jeaniene has to say about our favorite couple, as well as some news regarding Vlad’s series, Night Prince, to be released in June 2012!
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1- Hello Jeaniene! I'm so happy to have you on board =) Before we chat about Vlad, I'd like to know, what are your plans to keep Cat & Bones' relationship fresh and surprising now that they are in "married-couple mode"? Is there a tentative release date for Cat & Bones' book #7?
Thanks so much for having me on your site, Tynga! I don’t have a release date for Cat and Bones #7 yet. It will be out next year, that’s all I know for sure. As for keeping their relationship fresh, well, a lot is going to happen in these last couple books before their series ends. To no one’s surprise, those things won’t involve knitting or aromatherapy *wink*. I can’t be specific without spoilering, but I will say that the external hurdles will challenge their lives as well as their relationship.
2- I'm extremely excited that Vlad is getting his own series, I love the guy to death since I first met him, did you expect the fans to react this strongly to this character?
I am SO happy that readers have responded positively to Vlad! It was while writing Destined for an Early Grave that I realized I wanted to give him his own book – and this was before At Grave’s End hit the shelves so I had no idea how readers would react to him. Dracula has been re-imagined so many times before, after all. In fact, when I started writing about vampires, I swore that I’d never touch that character because he had been literally done to death. I can tell you the exact moment that my subconscious changed my mind for me. I was writing the scene in At Grave’s End where Bones, Cat, and the others were strategizing and Bones suddenly announced that “the bloody showhound” was there. I knew at once who he meant. With that, Vlad popped into my mind with most of his personality intact, and one of those personality traits was him loathing the moniker Dracula (not to mention his tension with Bones). To have a character so quickly rounded out in my mind has only happened a few times before, so while part of me cringed that I’d broken my self-imposed Dracula ban, I couldn’t bring myself to delete him from the book. Obviously, I’m glad about that decision now.
3- Correct me if I'm wrong, but you are under contract for two Night Prince books, would you like/do you have plans to write event more books about him?
You are correct, I have two Night Prince books under contract. I don’t know if there will be a third. I’m not intending there to be, but if I get to the end of the second book and realize that Vlad and Leila still have unfinished business, I may make their story a trilogy. I really wouldn’t anticipate it going beyond that. Carrying the same couple through several books is HARD, so unless I’d have stories banging away in my mind that I had to write about them – and readers liked the first two books enough for my publisher to warrant buying more – I see Vlad and Leila’s storyline wrapping up at a three books at most.
4- Are you planning more Night Huntress World books? Who would it be about? Ian maybe?
At the moment, I’m not thinking beyond the second Night Prince novel and the final Cat and Bones books. That’s about two years’ worth of writing right there. I get a lot of requests for an Ian novel, but with my schedule, I’m not ready yet, and more importantly, neither is he. Even if my schedule magically cleared or I could clone myself so I could write twice as fast, if I gave Ian his own story now, it would revolve around him doing nefarious deeds while sexing up various people. That’s not a story I’d want to write for many reasons. I do have hope for Ian, though, that he’ll eventually realize the emptiness of his current lifestyle. If that happens, then I’d be glad to showcase him in a book. I already know who the heroine of that book would be (and no, I’m not telling yet ) but until he’s ready, Ian will have to stay on the sidelines.
5- To keep with our Paranormal April Fools' theme, which of your characters would be the hardest to fool, and how would they react?
Mencheres might be the hardest to fool because of his occasional glimpses of the future combined with his ability to read minds. Plus, as he puts it, he’s “older than dirt” so there wouldn’t be many things a person could put over on him. For example, in This Side of the Grave, Cat and Vlad thought they were outsmarting Mencheres over something only to find out later that he was the one who’d set them up.
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Thank you so much Jeaniene for taking the time to answer my questions! I can’t wait to read Once Burned!
I little dose of Vlad anyone?
She’s a mortal with dark powers...
After a tragic accident scarred her body and destroyed her dreams, Leila never imagined that the worst was still to come: terrifying powers that let her channel electricity and learn a person’s darkest secrets through a single touch. Leila is doomed to a life of solitude... until creatures of the night kidnap her, forcing her to reach out with a telepathic distress call to the world’s most infamous vampire...
He’s the Prince of Night...
Vlad Tepesh inspired the greatest vampire legend of all — but whatever you do, don’t call him Dracula. Vlad’s ability to control fire makes him one of the most feared vampires in existence, but his enemies have found a new weapon against him – a beautiful mortal with powers to match his own. When Vlad and Leila meet, however, passion ignites between them, threatening to consume them both. It will take everything that they are to stop an enemy intent on bringing them down in flames.
Click the covers to read my review of the other books in this world:
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Avon is graciously offering one (1) copy of ONE GRAVE AT A TIME to a lucky reader.
How do you send a killer to the grave when he’s already dead?
Having narrowly averted an (under)world war, Cat Crawfield wants nothing more than a little downtime with her vampire husband, Bones. Unfortunately, her gift from New Orleans’ voodoo queen just keeps on giving–leading to a personal favor that sends them into battle once again, this time against a villainous spirit.
Centuries ago, Heinrich Kramer was a witch hunter. Now, every All Hallows Eve, he takes physical form to torture innocent women before burning them alive. This year, however, a determined Cat and Bones must risk all to send him back to the other side of eternity–forever. But one wrong step and they’ll be digging their own graves.
Frost lives in Florida with her husband, Matthew, who long ago accepted that she swears like a sailor, rarely cooks, and always sleeps in on the weekends. She and Matthew are the proud parents of Gypsy, their very spoiled dog, who believes Frost's only purpose in life is to cater to her. Aside from writing, Frost enjoys reading, poetry, watching movies with her husband, exploring old cemeteries, spelunking, and traveling—by car. Airplanes, children, and cookbooks frighten her.
Today, our Christine is interviewing the talented Stacia Kane! Stacia's visiting the blog to talk about her new release, SACRIFICIAL MAGIC, the fourth book in her Downside series.
Stay tuned to learn more about this fantastic series and enter to win your very own copy of SACRIFICIAL MAGIC from Random House!
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Welcome back to Tynga's Reviews, Stacia! For all those those who haven't read your latest release Sacrificial Magic yet, can you describe in three words what they can expect?
Mystery, darkness, complications.
Who is the most important person in Chess's life?
Oh, Terrible, absolutely. No one matters more than he does.Oh, Terrible, absolutely. No one matters more than he does.
So far, Chess has been able to manage her addiction and her job quite well. Will that last?
Now, that's a big spoiler. :-) She's certainly going to try, unless she just gives up and stops trying. Heh.
Are you afraid that reading your books might play down drug addiction and drug dealing in the eyes of the readers?
Not really, no. I don't think anything I put in a book is going to change anything in the real world. And if it does? Well, it's nice to think maybe someone out there is realizing that there are actually millions of functional addicts in the world, people just like the rest of us, and addicts are still human beings.
If you could live in the world you created, where would you want to live or work? Downside or Church grounds?
Definitely Downside. It'd be scary but much more fun.
The last question is pretty simple (for me): if you could choose, who would you rather date, Lex or Terrible?
It is simple. Terrible for me, too. :-)
Thanks very much for visiting us, Stacia! It's been a pleasure.
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Here's the scoop on SACRIFICIAL MAGIC:
READING, WRITING, AND RAISING THE DEAD
When Chess Putnam is ordered by an infamous crime boss—who also happens to be her drug dealer—to use her powers as a witch to solve a grisly murder involving dark magic, she knows she must rise to the challenge. Adding to the intensity: Chess’s boyfriend, Terrible, doesn’t trust her, and Lex, the son of a rival crime lord, is trying to reignite the sparks between him and Chess.
Plus there’s the little matter of Chess’s real job as a ghost hunter for the Church of Real Truth, investigating reports of a haunting at a school in the heart of Downside. Someone seems to be taking a crash course in summoning the dead—and if Chess doesn’t watch her back, she may soon be joining their ranks.
As Chess is drawn into a shadowy world of twisted secrets and dark violence, it soon becomes clear that she’s not going to emerge from its depths without making the ultimate sacrifice.
Stacia Kane is the author of the gritty dystopian urban fantasy “Downside” series starring Chess Putnam and featuring ghosts, human sacrifice, drugs, witchcraft, punk rock, and a badass ’69 Chevelle. She bleaches her hair and wears a lot of black.
I’m thrilled to welcome Kevin Hearne back to the blog today for a chat about his upcoming release, TRICKED. He’s the brilliant mind behind the Iron Druid Chronicles and one of my favourite authors, as you probably know if you’ve read my posts about his books.
Read on to learn all about TRICKED, the upcoming fourth installment of the Iron Druid Chronicles, and have a chance to win a copy of your very own!
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Hi, Kevin, and welcome back to Tynga’s Reviews! Thanks very much for participating in Paranormal April Fools’. I can’t tell you how excited I am for TRICKED.
Much appreciated, Jenn! Kind of you to remember me.
If you had to list the top three reasons someone should pick up TRICKED, what would they be? (Woo, shameless self-promotion!)
First, fans of the series would want to find out what happened to Mrs. MacDonagh and Leif Helgarson—those answers will be coming. We meet “new” gods from about five or six different pantheons, and Atticus has to be especially clever since he runs into something his magic can’t handle very well.
What was the biggest challenge about writing TRICKED?
Whew. Tough question, because this was my toughest book to write on many levels. I thought I had plot issues, but once my editor took a look at it she said well, you have plot issues because you have character issues. Once I recast a couple of characters the plot issues worked themselves out. But there was much more revision required on this book than my first three.
Coyote has popped up in other urban fantasy or paranormal series, like C. E. Murphy’s Urban Shaman novels and Allyson James’ Stormwalker books. Why do you think Coyote (in all of his various incarnations) is so appealing to authors and readers alike?
His unpredictability is charming, and his tendency to do stunningly stupid things out of pride or a sense of braggadocio is amusing. Perhaps what makes him most endearing is that he manages not to come off as inherently mean, even when he hurts people. That might be because he hurts himself as often as not. I also think he has a bit of the outlaw’s mystique about him; many people are fascinated by those who simply don’t give a damn about rules.
Will we be seeing more Granuaile in TRICKED? I love her relationship with Atticus and I’d like to know more about her path to becoming a Druid.
Absolutely! Quite a bit of the book concerns her training and her relationship with Atticus, and the reason Atticus is exerting himself so hard to make everyone think he’s dead is that he wants the time and peace to train Granuaile properly. You’ll also learn about Atticus’s two-hundred-year marriage to Tahirah in Africa.
And now here are a couple of April Fools’-related questions:
Who’s your favourite trickster (fictional or otherwise)?
I actually prefer Coyote. He’s usually not driven by malice the way Loki is, for example, or some other tricksters.
Which of your characters would be the mostdifficult to prank?
I think it would be Granuaile. She earns the nickname “Clever Girl” from Oberon in TRICKED. All of the older characters are susceptible to modern trickery.
Thanks again for stopping by, Kevin! As always, it’s been an absolute delight.
Thanks, Jenn! Cheers to you and all your readers!
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Intrigued? Here’s more on TRICKED, which hits bookshelves on April 24:
Druid Atticus O’Sullivan hasn’t stayed alive for more than two millennia without a fair bit of Celtic cunning. So when vengeful thunder gods come Norse by Southwest looking for payback, Atticus, with a little help from the Navajo trickster god Coyote, lets them think that they’ve chopped up his body in the Arizona desert.
But the mischievous Coyote is not above a little sleight of paw, and Atticus soon finds that he’s been duped into battling bloodthirsty desert shapeshifters called skinwalkers. Just when the Druid thinks he’s got a handle on all the duplicity, betrayal comes from an unlikely source. If Atticus survives this time, he vows he won’t be fooled again. Famous last words.
Kevin Hearne is a native of Arizona and really appreciates whoever invented air-conditioning. He graduated from Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff and now teaches high school English. When he’s not grading essays or writing novels, he tends to his basil plants and paints landscapes with his daughter. He has been known to obsess over fonts, frolic unreservedly with dogs, and stop whatever he’s doing in the rare event of rain to commune with the precipitation. He enjoys hiking, the guilty pleasure of comic books, and living with his wife and daughter in a wee, snug cottage.
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