Vivi Anna - Demon Dreamer

What can I say about Vivi Anna? She has novels published by Silhouette Nocturne, Samhain, Ellora's Cave, Loose Id, Kensington Books, Avon Publishing, and Whispers Publishing. Wow. That's impressive.

But you know what knocked me back a step? She's Canadian! Squee! I love featuring Canadian talent on my blog.

Vivi is a member of the Calgary Romance Writers and lives "in the shadow of the Canadian Rockies." Vivi? I LOVE Calgary and Banff, I would move there in a heartbeat if Gizmo Guy could afford to quit his job. (In fact, GG and I have been debating booking a trip to Banff as my birthday present (it was his back in 2006.) Of course that all depends if we win the 6/49, LOL.

So I'm thrilled that she's agreed to be a guest on my blog today.


Okay, Vivi, I'll get this out of the way right off the bat. I know as an author you're not supposed to show favouritism but who's been your favorite character to write?

Well, I have many favorite characters, I couldn’t just pick one. They are all my babies in one way or another. But if I had to make a short list, in random order, it would look like this:

• Hell Kat – from Hell Kat and Inferno
• Kellen Falcon – from The Vampire’s Quest
• The entire cast – from a new UF I’m working on
• Nina – from another new UF I’m working on

Do you "cast" your characters using pictures or actors to help inspire you when you're writing?

Sometimes. Like the hero from The Vampire’s Kiss which will be out early part of 2010, Jensen Ackles was definitely my inspiration. And the hero from the next Nocturne I’m working on The Wolf’s Hart, Misha Collins is the inspiration. As you can tell I like the show Supernatural.

(Leah here: I need to give credit to the picture -- I found it here.)

What advice would you give to an aspiring writer?

Do not be in a hurry. We all have a journey to publication. Sometimes it will take years. For others it may only take a few months. Do not judge your success against others. Write your book, make it the best it can be, write a query, send it out, and start your next book. It is a process we all have to do.

Could you tell us three favorite books that inspired you to write?

These aren’t necessarily my favorite books, but they are books that inspired me to want to be a writer.

The Stand by Stephen King, read it when I was like 13. He’s been the biggest inspiration to me.

Honest Illusions by Nora Roberts. My first romance book that I read when I was 21.

The first Anita Blake book, Guilty Pleasures, by Laurell K. Hamilton. Read that right when I was looking for an avenue for the kinds of stuff I wanted to write.

Do you plot your books out before you write them? Or do you write "by the seat of your pants"?

I plot for the books that are contracted, because I have to give my editor a detailed synopsis. But lately all the other projects I’ve been working on have been by the seat of the pants. And I love it. It’s an organic process that is inductive to the way my brain works. I find I write better that way.

I'm happiest when ... the words are flowing like cool water from a tap.

My favorite way of kicking back and indulging myself is .... watching a bunch of big action movies while eating popcorn and drinking soda with my daughter

One strange writing ritual I have is .... I have to walk around the house at least three times before writing the final scene in a book. If it gets too intense and even if the words are flowing, I will get up and go for a walk, sometimes more than once.

If I could move anywhere in the world, I'd move to .... Europe because of the rich culture and long history. I would die happily in a small cottage in a remote part of Ireland taking long walks and writing for hours at a local pub

My worst habit is ... procrastination. I will procrastinate until the very last second.

Tell me a little about your upcoming release.

My book Demon Dreamer is coming out July 14 from Samhain Publishing. It is part of a connected series I wrote with my buddies Kimberly Kaye Terry and Delilah Devlin. Both their stories are available that day as well.

Submission is the only path to his salvation…

A Captive Souls story.

Born a seer, Kiara Brodie has always been feared for her power to see others’ fantasies. She’s fine with that—it keeps the men of her Irish Gypsy caravan at bay. She wants more than this transient life. A letter from her estranged father, summoning her to Louisiana, could be her long-awaited chance to put down roots.

She finds two half-sisters she never knew she had, and an old mansion haunted by a darkly sexy demon who inhabits her dreams. At night he whispers to her of carnal delight, enticing her on a journey of extreme pleasure—and pain.

Malvo knows just what to do with the curious woman who wandered into his lair behind the library bookcase—lock the door behind her and make her a lustful proposition she can’t refuse. He seeks to temporarily ease his lonely torment, but Kiara’s willing and wanton response opens his eyes to the possibility that she is his path to his own salvation.

If only she is willing to remain captive to his every sinful desire—forever…

Thank you Leah for having me over to your place for a play date.

***
Thanks for coming to play in my sandbox, Vivi. But I want the deets on "being shot at while repossessing a car" that you mention on your website bio.

Vivi has graciously offered a lucky commenter a download of her book Demon Dreamer.

Congratulations to

Joder

Joder requested a copy of Amy Ruttan's Hard Candy.

There were 28 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Joder
2. Eva S
3. Nancy G
4. SiNn
5. Tigger9
6. Mari
7. Hockey Vampiress
8. Natasha A
9. Tetewa
10. Michelle
11. Lesa
12. Jane
13. Kytaira
14. LadyVampire2U
15. Estella
16. I Heart Book Gossip
17. Llehn
18. fcammer2
19. Valerie
20. Marley
21. lindseye
22. Cathy M
23. Iokijo
24. Armenia
25. Susan Helene Gottfried
26. Fedora
27. etirv
28. Karin

Timestamp: 2009-07-13 12:18:58 UTC

***

Quick note for the winners: If you haven't already, please send me an email letting me know that you've received your books. I'd hate to think someone hasn't received their prize.

Amy Ruttan is Bringing Up Baby

Today's guest, Amy Ruttan, is the very first TRW member I met way back in January 2007. Since then we've discovered we have more than just a love of writing in common. Back in 1978 we lived in the same town -- for about a month. You see Amy was a newborn while I was preparing to get married. In the very same church that Amy ended up marrying her hubby in 25 or so years later. Which leads me on occasion to refer to her as my daughter, and she refers to me jokingly as Mom. (We're not really, but I'd be proud to have Amy in my family.)

Amy's one of the writers I turn to when I need advice on my writing, especially since she writes erotic romances with Ellora's Cave, and Linden Bay. This last year she's been hard at work on another project - those of you who follow her on Twitter (@ruttanamy) know all about 'the bump'. Well, I'll let her explain what--or who--the bump is...

Bringing up Baby

And I’m not referring to the 1938 classic with Carey Grant and Katherine Hepburn; I think that a leopard, in comparison to the newest member of my household, would be a breeze.

I’m talking about a newborn. YIKES, and a real newborn, who is only a couple of weeks old.

When I first wanted to pursue writing, when I first turned my thought to really going after my dream my second child was about a year old. I sold in 2007, I had a toddler and a preschooler and writing came easy peasy … because I had a day job and a lunch hour and I’ve only just realized it now. Writing became more prominent in my life, and the day job went bye bye … there were no plans for a baby.

*sigh* How I tempt the fates. In the middle of writing a series, WHAM, the little stick turned blue and my brain and my muse said “See ya later honey.”

I couldn’t think, couldn’t write. I was this quivering giant mass of hormones. The bump, as I affectionately called my fetus, was the focus of my life and I wondered if I would ever write again? I’m sure I was boring my Twitter followers and blog followers, and as the bump grew larger I couldn’t get online, as in my lap top no longer had a lap.

My new addition came, another boy, and suddenly my muse showed up in my hospital room. Really, seriously? You’re coming back after all these months of desertion with a crying, pooping, demanding little thing stuck to my nipples and giving me all these great ideas for erotic romance. SERIOUSLY?

I realized then that my muse is warped, very warped indeed, because the last thing on my mind was the very thing that got me into trouble in the first place.

Yet, here I am two weeks in the trenches, the slave to a demanding man (yeah my daughter seemed to be easier) and during the night when he’s attached to my poor bountiful heaving bosom, I’m making notes. While he’s filling his diaper and sleeping in his bouncy chair or bassinet and my other two are happily engaged in activities I run for the computer.

Bringing Up Baby seemed to be the cure for my writer’s block, for the few moments I have to write and leave behind smelly diapers and sour milk is precious. Writing is a joy a pleasure and not my job.

Of course I don’t recommend this as a cure of writer’s block, unless of course you really want to, but my writing is coming along again. It’s like I found the joy when I was a fresh new writer, those first sun kissed days were there were no bad reviews, promotion and other assorted fun things which gave my muse her own little bump to haul around.

Since this is my last guy, I’m going to enjoy the few stolen moments I have to write. The words are flying on the page, since the water retention is gone and my fingers are back up to their 70 wpm. As for the rest of the time I’m going to enjoy Bringing Up Baby, because frankly they grow way too fast for my liking. I may resent the sore nipples and sleepless nights now, but I’m sure one day I’ll miss them.

Just don’t tell him that! ;-)

Amy
www.amyruttan.com

***

Amy is giving away a copy of the winner's choice of her books - so head over to her website, read about her books, then head back here and post your congratulations to Amy along with which book of hers you'd love to read.

Daily Draw Winner #15

Today's winner hails from Kentucky ... Yup, it's:

Ioki_jo

Congratulations, Ioki_jo. I will be contacting you (and Vivi) in order to arrange for your choice of format of Serengeti Heat to be sent to you. (I'm in the middle of reading it right now - it's a really fun read.)

There were 32 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Ioki_jo
2. Valerie
3. Michelle
4. Chandra Ryan
5. Kaye Chambers
6. VSU69
7. Chris
8. Cathy M
9. Susan Helene Gottfried
10. Joder
11. Julia Smith
12. Tigger9
13. Melissa
14. Aliens
15. Inez Kelley
16. Joy Roett
17. Nancy G
18. Eva
19. tikarain
20. Marley Delarose
21. Fedora
22. Jane
23. SiNn
24. lindseye
25. Hockey Vampiress
26. Blodeuedd
27. Karin
28. Host
29. Reneewildes1
30. Estella
31. LadyVampire2u
32. Natasha A

Timestamp: 2009-07-12 11:41:00 UTC

Vivi Andrews: Rrrrrowr, Baby

A while back I blogged about what a diverse group of readers visit my blog. Today's author is no exception. Vivi Andrews hails all the way from Alaska. That explains why she writes about hot African animals - she needs something to keep her warm on those long, cold winter nights. She also has a book with the longest (and one of the funniest) titles I've ever seen: The Ghost Shrink, the Accidental Gigolo and the Poltergeist Accountant. Absolutely hilarious!

Anyway, here's to Vivi Andrews who writes fantastic paranormals...

***

Thanks so much for having me as a guest during your Birthday Bash, Leah!

Hi, I’m Vivi Andrews and I’m a paranormal junkie… and I’m not alone. Paranormal romances are everywhere these days. Someone asked me recently why I thought shape-shifter romances were such a hot commodity. Why is it we can’t seem to get enough of werewolves and werecats? As a devoted reader of all things paranormal, here’s my verdict: We’re animals.

Homo sapiens may have a lot of civilized rules to keep ourselves in line, but we still have that animal instinct. There is a primitive, animalistic edge to our natures and shape-shifter stories revel in that very animalism. And as readers, we get to revel too. Sex is part of our base animal nature, so a man who can turn into an animal at will? He’s gotta be more in touch with that rawness, right? And how hot is that?

In shape-shifter romances we can immerse ourselves in the primitive forces of lust and possession. It gives us the chance to ignore all those irritating higher brain functions in favor of the animalistic urges lurking deep down inside us.

Pheromones and fate make for some pretty hot shifter lovin’. Rough. Fun. Instinctual. Uninhibited... what's not to love?

Not to mention the fact that a man who can turn into a lion can pretty much keep you safe in any situation. Of course, the heroine in my latest novella, Serengeti Heat, can turn into a lioness, so she’s not exactly someone muggers should be messing with.

What do you think? What draws you to the shifters? Or, if you aren’t a fan, what sucks you into your favorite romance genre? Comment with your thoughts and be entered to win an ebook of my new release, Serengeti Heat, where my lion-shifters are at their most animalistic.

Vivi Andrews
www.viviandrews.com

***

Vivi is giving away an e-copy of her novella Serengeti Heat.

The fur’s about to fly…

A Sexy Shifter story.

Ava Minor is done being the good girl. As the smallest and weakest in a pride of shape-shifting lions where size and strength rule, she’s never had any choice but to toe the line. Now, with sexy, nomadic alpha Landon King winning control of the pride, she grabs her one chance to let her inner feline out to play.

Landon would rather focus on reforming the antiquated traditions of his new pride than taking a mate…until the rebellious Ava crosses his path. All his noble intentions go up in flames, incinerated by the heat she exudes—especially when he realizes she’s in heat.

Ava, knowing she isn’t mate material, is determined to revel in one wild night before she’s sent back to her place in the pride pecking order.

Except Landon has no intention of letting his daring, seductive lioness go…

Warning: This book contains sizzling heat, adult language, no-holds-barred cat fights, and hot shifter lovin’ with an alpha male who takes inspired leadership all the way to the bedroom.

(Here's a link if you want to read an excerpt.)

Hmm, now shall I have you comment about today - okay, I said how scattered we are. So in today's comment, tell us what country/state you're commenting from. I'll start. I'm from Ontario, Canada ... and you're from?

Daily Draw #14

Today's winner of an autographed copy of Delilah Marvelle's Mistress of Pleasure is

Karin

Congratulations, Karin, I've sent you an email - if you don't get it, please email me at Leah @ leahbraemel.com so we can arrange for you to receive your book.

There were 26 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Karin
2. tetewa
3. Hockey Vampiress
4. Natasha A
5. joder
6. Michelle
7. Lindseye
8. Susan Helen Gottfried
9. Blodeuedd
10. tigger9
11. Valerie
12. Jane
13. Housemouse88
14. Caffey
15. SiNn
16. Karen H
17. Etirv
18. Kytaira
19. LadyVampire2u
20. Viv Arend
21. Llehn
22. Minna
23. Amy
24. iokijo
25. Estella
26. Nancy G

Timestamp: 2009-07-11 12:03:54 UTC

(Note to FLChen - you asked that you not be entered for today's post as you already had read Delilah's book, so you don't appear on the above list, but you have been added to the weekly draw.)

Delilah Marvelle's Call to Action

There's been a slight change of plans - today's blogger was going to be Rob Graham, but he's out of town this weekend and wouldn't have been around to answer your comments, so Delilah Marvelle has graciously offered to switch spots with him.

Delilah is a fellow member of the Hearts Through History Romance Writers group (I originally joined the RWA with a historical manuscript that is now gathering dust.) Her first book, Mistress of Pleasure, was released in September 2008 by Zebra books, and her second Lord of Pleasure is out next month. Unfortunately, the financial crisis has hit her publisher and Delilah's become an unfortunate victim ... so when I read about what was happening over on the Hearts through History loop, I emailed her and asked her to blog here.

Please welcome Delilah Marvelle

When I was in high school, I had a dream. I was going to be the next Stephen King. Heh. Yeah. Stay with me. Please. I knew my ideas were fabulous and I knew all it would take is for an editor to look at it and they would offer me up the moon and the stars and best of all, a contract. I had my girlfriends read everything I wrote. And they kept telling me, “This is fabulous! It's SO funny! Hilarious!” Seeing it really wasn't supposed to BE funny, I immediately changed course realizing I actually had a better handle on being funny than scary. I also figured adding a romance into it would even make it better since that is what I loved to read.

I then entered college as an English major. I was going to be teacher and write during the summers. Even then I was a smart girl who knew I wasn't going to make jack and that I needed a job to support the “creative” one. Throughout all of college I wrote historical romances. One right after another. And kept submitting. And submitting. And submitting. And kept getting rejected and rejected and rejected. In the meantime, I got married. I had two kids. I joined RWA. I got critique partners. I did honed and honed and honed the crap out of my writing. And kept writing and getting rejected. I eventually racked up over 200 rejections and had written over 40 books in those 11 years of trying to get published.

When I finally sold my first historical romance, MISTRESS OF PLEASURE, and my second book, LORD OF PLEASURE, I was beside myself. It didn't feel real. To FINALLY arrive at a destination I had been traveling toward for 11 long years seemed like a mirage. Which fortunately, I quickly snapped out of. Because after all, most of my friends are all published and unpublished writers and the stories they all have told me throughout the years made me realize I had to fight with fists up for myself every step of the way. I knew publishers did little to no promotion for their authors, so I spearheaded my own promo, ready to be more than just an author. And even though I was budgeting very well and spending countless hours networking and promoting on websites and blogs, doing tons for free, I still ended up spending $7,000 on my first book. Which was way more than my advance. But hey, every business starts in the red. Right?

Then the reviews started coming in about my series set in 1830 London England about a school that educates men on the topic of love and seduction. People loved it! Wow. It got nominated for awards. Wow. Readers are e-mailing me raving. Wow. Readers from France, Austria, Poland, South Africa and from all over the U.S and the world.. Wow. It just kept getting better and better. I was beginning to feel as if every penny I spent was all worth it (even though my family and I weren't going on any vacations and were eating out of cans). Because all that mattered was that my publisher loved me and my readers loved my series.

Come contract time, I'm ready for whatever they wanna throw at me. Or so I thought. Mistress of Pleasure, though completely sold out and unavailable anywhere (unless it's a used copy, some going for a ridiculous amount of $40.00), hadn't done as well as my publisher had hoped. So without waiting for the second book to come out to see if the series was even worth saving, I get a rejection from my own editor citing lack of sales.

I have to say this rejection felt more personal than any of the other two hundred and some rejections I'd received. Because it was no longer “Your book isn't good enough” it became “Your sales aren't good enough.” Since when is an author supposed to be a market guru AND a fabulous writer? Eck.

I love this series. The men in it make me laugh and it broke my heart to think that my readers will never get a chance to read about Lord Brayton, my glorious male virgin. The only alpha virgin I've ever written about. Then I realized something, why I am letting a publisher decide what is worth holding on to? Shouldn't that be a reader's job?

Ah. Herein lies the purpose of my post. I am challenging everyone, be they readers or writers to help me do something that's never been done before. Save a series from a death sentence given by a publisher. Can it be done? Who knows. But I eat challenges for breakfast and I hope you do to. Please join me in saving my series. Come August 4th, tell everyone you know (yes, even your 72 year old grandfather) to buy the book, Lord of Pleasure. In doing so, you'll have a chance to win one of three $50 Visa Gift Cards. How? Check out my website for details at www.DelilahMarvelle.com

That said, thank you for all the support and love everyone has already shown me by allowing me to blog about this. Feel free to post and repost this to everyone under the moon and the stars. To all you readers out there, thank you for supporting us writers. To all you writers out there, don't ever give up on your writing. The moment you do, you give up on yourself. Which is why I'm not giving up on my series.

Cheers and much love,
Delilah Marvelle

***

Delilah has graciously offered one lucky reader a copy of Mistress of Pleasure - which has sold out and is unavailable anywhere else unless you want to buy a used copy. So leave your comments today for a chance to win Mistress of Pleasure. Then order her Lord of Pleasure (and don't forget to enter her contest for a $50 gift certificate when you do) and help support the authors who are being squeezed out in this economic downturn.