30 Days of Demons, Day 21: One Sweet ARC! Back to Blog
Update: The winner of Jessa Slade’s ARC is…Michele! Congrats, Michele! I’ll email you with prize details. Thanks for all the wonderful comments!
Hi, everyone! You’re in for a serious treat today–one very lucky commenter will win an ARC of Jessa Slade‘s October release, SEDUCED BY SHADOWS. I took a look at the cover the other day–and, wow, what a cover. Wait–look. See what I mean?
This looks like one fantastic new series, and I’ m eagerly waiting for the October release! Jessa, welcome to my demon fun!
***
First, let me say Thank You! to Cynthia for letting me play on 30 Days of Demon. This is my first guest posting, very much in advance of the October release date of my first book. And in a paragraph of firsts, I am thrilled to say that my first box of ARCs came in the mail on Friday! So I’d like to give away the first copy to a commenter here today.
Have you ever had one of those days when you wonder, “What on earth possessed me?”
Possibly I’m revealing too much about myself here on Cynthia’s blog, but I have those days faaaar too often. Since I’ve heard that writing is the poor woman’s psychotherapy, perhaps it’s no surprise that my demons get exorcised on the blank page.
In my debut urban fantasy romance, SEDUCED BY SHADOWS, I asked, “What if some demons felt… well, bad about the whole eternal darkness bit? What if they wanted their shot at redemption? What if they possessed certain tragically unlucky humans in a desperate attempt to repent – only to discover that sometimes being good isn’t as easy as a fallen angel might hope?”
It certainly explains some of my less stellar moments. How ’bout yours?
Because while it might be simpler to explain why bad people do bad things, from my earliest days in Sunday school, I wondered why good people do bad things. We curse. We lie. We neglect to tell the people we love how much they mean to us. What possesses us?
My hero, Ferris Archer, has been possessed by a teshuva – a repentant demon – for a very long time. He knows it’s not an excuse for his bad behavior; no, it’s a challenge, to fight harder for what’s left of his demon-mottled soul. But when he meets Sera Littlejohn, the first female possessed, he fears now for his heart. He’ll have to find the courage to embrace the other half of his soul or face a damnation darker than even he can believe.
But contemplating the infinite concepts of good and evil can overwhelm us, whether we’re demon, human or something in between. And while we’re guiltily wondering what possessed us, maybe you’ve had the sneaking suspicion that being bad can be awfully good, as Sera discovers early on in SEDUCED BY SHADOWS:
***
Sera walked into her bedroom, still naked. Damp heat followed her out of the shower in a slowly uncoiling mist. Only the slant of streetlights through the blinds lit the room, casting deep purple shadows. And he was there, a lean, dark outline with his black trench coat buttoned tight. Spicy musk teased her senses.
She blinked. “I’m dreaming. That’s why I’m wandering around my apartment naked. I never wander around naked.”
“Not wandering. You were coming. For me.” He stood unmoving, but the trailing edge of his long coat shifted in a draft she didn’t feel. “I will make it a sweet dream.”
She touched her forehead, in lieu of pinching herself and drawing his attention to her naked parts. Dripping strands of her hair tangled around her wrist. “I don’t need a wet dream tonight. Go away.”
He moved closer. “You called. You’ve called forever.”
“I don’t even know you… ” She trailed off when he raised a hand to brush back her hair. He had the square, blunt hands of a working man, but his thumb feathered across her temple, almost too lightly to feel. The touch sent ripples of shivery sensation through her body like a pebble in still water.
It was just a dream, she reminded herself.
“So lonely,” he murmured. “So lost.”
“I’m sorry for you, really. But I can’t help you.”
“You’re the only one who can. But I meant you, my love.” He stroked the back of his knuckles along her cheek. “You’ve been alone so long, so long afraid, close to giving in, calling all the while.”
“I’m not . . . I am not your love.” She pulled away.
“I’ve breathed your soul. Whom else can I love?”
“You haven’t breathed on anything of mine.” Her skin prickled at the thought—a pleasure she hadn’t indulged in in a long time.
From behind, his hands slid over her shoulders, down her arms, then skipped to her bare hips.
That made her shy away as nothing else had. “Don’t touch me.” Not there. The unspoken words echoed in her head.
He held his hands framing the scars. The long shadows of his fingers hid the red and white puckers of stitched flesh. “I will make you whole again, as if you’d never been broken, nothing left behind.”
Speaking of dreams, everyone said she was dreaming when she’d promised herself the same after her accident. “What, you’re a physical therapist?”
“Quite the opposite.”
While she pondered what that might be—as if the riddles in dreams even mattered—he eased her back against him. The leather of his coat was cool on her backside and shoulders. Her thoughts scattered.
“I will take away your loneliness, your fear,” he said.
“I’m not afraid.” And, stupidly enough, that was true.
He whispered into her hair, “You will be.”
***
So what do you think? Is the lure of the darkside too strong to resist? As the real-life drama in Tehran plays out, do you wonder if there are times when being ‘bad’ is heroic?
Thanks for reading! You can find Jessa at:
http://jessaslade.com
http://www.facebook.com/jessaslade
Yay! What a rockin’ cover! Opening a box of those babies must have been a hoot! Get ready in October to start stalking the NYT list… 🙂
Annie Melton:-)
Being bad can be heroic at times. I mean standing up for what you believe in is not always done in the best of ways or the easiest either. Sometimes you need to let that bad side of yourself out to get the job done right?
Love the excerpt!!! I so wait to read this one. October cannot get here quick enough for me.
LadyVampire2u(AT)gmail(DOT)com
Oh wow! does your book sound good. I’ve added your title to my wish list and I’m sure it will be at the bookstores in October so I’ll keep checking.
Thanks for the contest and the chance to win an ARC.
Hi Jessa,
Sounds really intriguing. Love the cover! The exerpt was smokin! Can’t wait to see it in stores. Thanks so much for the contest. 🙂
denlsn@msn.com
Come to the Darkside! We HAVE cookies!!! 🙂
I’m loving that color. very nice! 🙂
Hi, Jessa, sounds like a good read. I know you’re over the moon here. Thanks.
This sound terrific, I can’t wait to read it. October seems so far away.
Sounds great and I love the cover!
I love the cover. The blurb sounds great.
OMG! What an amazing excerpt, and congrats on the fantastic cover. I agree with Virginia sometimes you just have to say ” Come to the darkside! ” Hope you all had a great Sunday and to all fathers, Happy Father’s Day!
Hi Jessa! Gosh I’ve been so excited about this book since I heard about it!! I want it to be out NOW, LOL. You’ll lure me to the darkside with this book too 🙂 I think the lure is the almost a wish to want things challenging, to want to experience too, just so you know your answer to ‘what if’. I’ve challenged myself in the past and I’ve learned from some!
cathiecaffey(at)gmail(dot)com
Great cover and blurb. Sometimes you have to be a little bad in order to set things right.
Love that cover. Hey Jessa. 🙂 Great excerpt too!
> Come to the Darkside! We HAVE cookies!!!
Virginia, I’m assuming those would be double dark chocolate cookies, yes? And how nice that the dark is good for your heart. Romance knew it all along.
Fantastic cover and loved the excerpt. Thanks for sharing!!
Wow, Jessa, can’t wait for the book to hit the shelves.
So proud of you!!!
Hi Jessa~
This sounds really interesting and I love the cover. I am looking forward to reading it.
awesome cover!
Jessa, thanks for sharing today–I’m definitely looking for your new one! The darkness you paint definitely seems hard to resist!
Thanks for stopping by. The book sounds very interesting and I can’t wait to see where the 9 story arc you came up with goes. The cover is HOT by the way.
This sounds like an awesome book!! This is definately on my list to look for (of course, that’s if I don’t win this copy!). 🙂
Great excerpt and the cover is so hot…wow! Am looking forward to reading the book…sounds very exciting.
Thanks for the post and congratulations.
Jessa!!!!!! I can’t believe the book is finally here. Ever since you won the GH with this manuscript, I’ve been dying to read what your twisted mind concocted. 🙂
In spite of the fact this is a romance and a demon story, I really appreciate that you ask some tough questions. Is being bad every heroic? I just watched Valkyrie last night with Tom Cruise. Stafford is a hero in many ways, but he was certainly bad for his time–he went against his oath to the German military.
In terms of being overwhelmed by the ability to do evil–it reminds me of a class I took once with a Jesuit priest. The class was about depth psychology and the exploration of ourselves and our own ability to do true evil (even the best of us) or at least to allow evil to be pervasive by doing nothing. It was both fascinating and horribly frightening to face myself and know I have the ability to be both saint and satan. I think that’s why redemption stories are so powerful to all of us.
I can’t wait to read Seduced by Shadows!
I want an ARC!!! Am I too late to be in the winner circle??? I can’t wait until OCTOBER!!
I want and ARC!!! I want an ARC!!!
Lately I’ve been reading lots of urban fantasy and would surely love to read this one. The cover is one of the hottest this year!
Well, the difference between good and bad isn’t always so clear but depends on who you ask. One person’s “good” is another’s “bad” and vice versa. Even ethics and laws don’t always go hand in hand.
I want that ARC – if I don’t win it I WANT that book 😀
*maybe a few hints before my birthday will get the kids on the right line lol*
I just heard an interview on NPR with a guy reviewing the “shock a co-worker” experiments done in the 1970s where unsuspecting test subjects were told to give a “shock” to another subject (secretly in cahoots with the experimenters). The majority shocked away, despite screaming, pleading and, eventually, terrible silence. Oops.
We’re all ridden by demons. Knowing that is half the battle. Okay, maybe only a quarter, but still 🙂
wow that cover its self is hot the story sounds just as awesome cant wait to read
Being bad can definitely be heroic. Sometimes that is what is needed to get the job done!
When will the winner of the ARC be announced? Just wondering, the suspense is killing me! 🙂
You’re not the only one Leslee!
Congrats, Michele!
Way to go, Michele! Thank you, Ms Slade.