Today, I’m guest blogging over at the Romance Vagabonds–my topic is release day.  (Since I’m still celebrating the release of MIDNIGHT’S MASTER, it’s a pretty timely topic!)  If you get a chance, come on by. And yes, there is a prize involved.

Update…the winner is…Angela M!! Congrats, Angela!

My 30 Days of Demons Contest may be over, but I’ve still got some great authors that I’d like to feature here on my blog. And one of those authors is my friend, Liz Kreger.  I was hooked by Liz’s “Tomorrow” books–the woman can write some great action scenes!

Liz, thanks for coming by and answering my interview questions!

1. Please tell us about the genre (or genres) that you write.

First off.  Thanx Cynthia for having me.  I don’t think I’ve done an interview before, so I’m a newbie at this.  LOL.

Okay, let’s see, married, one daughter, I live in St. Francis, Wisconsin where we bitch about the cold winters and hot summers in equal measures.  I’ve been writing off and on for the past twenty years, but it was only about eight years ago when I discovered the paranormal/science fiction romance genre that I finally discovered what I wanted to do when I grew up.  I’ve since written and had published two science fiction/romances and have written, am revising and editing and will be shopping out about four contemporary paranormals and one futuristic.

2.    Describe your current (or upcoming) release in 15 words or less.

Cruel.

“Promise for Tomorrow” is a space opera loaded with action, intrigue and romance.

(With two words to spare.  LOL)

3.   Okay, Liz, now use as many words as you’d like to describe your story.

“Jhaan san deCain has only a few days left to find his psi-mate or lose his place as heir to the throne of Dakar. Rescuing Zarian princess Rianna Chartier from an assassination attempt was supposed to be a temporary deviation from his quest. But the moment he lays eyes on Rianna, he realizes he is looking at his salvation. The beautiful alien is his perfect psychic match.

He is driven to wed her quickly, even if it is without her knowledge or consent. For without a psi-mate, he will not only lose the throne, he will be doomed to a life of sexual dormancy. And his people will be pushed closer to the edge of extinction.

Rianna cannot deny her attraction to Jhaan, but she is already betrothed to a Turnisian prince in a politically advantageous match. Dakarians are respected, even feared, for their formidable psychic power, but she is forced to rely on Jhaan’s charity to escort her safely to Turnis.

Rianna is outraged to discover Jhaan has tricked her into marriage. But his deception proves minor when they discover that someone will stop at nothing to see her dead.”

Probably more than you wanted to hear.

4.    Which character do you like better from PROMISE FOR TOMORROW—the hero or the heroine?  Why?

My heroine, Rianna.  While she isn’t your typical kick-butt heroine, she does come into her own in this book.  She goes from being a matrimonial sacrifice to a woman in her own right.  She finds her strengths and her capabilities.

5.    What is the most challenging part of being a writer?

Finding the time.  Between being a full time mom and a full time legal assistant, sometimes finding the time to write seems next to impossible.  Coming up with ideas aren’t a problem.  In fact, that’s the easy part.  It’s the uninterrupted time I need to get said ideas plugged into the computer that’s a challenge.

6.    In a fight, who would win…Dracula or the wolf-man?  What? This question seems odd? Please, folks are dying to know this answer.

Oh, Dracula any day.  I like werewolves, but after all, they’re still vulnerable to a nibble or two.  Besides, Dracula always struck me as the sneakier of the two.

7.    What’s your favorite scary movie?  Come on, spill.  No explanations—just name it.  Let everyone else guess why.

Not much of a scary movie watcher … but, let’s see … but the last one I saw was “Aliens”.  More ick than scary.

8.    Tell me the one thing you wish you’d known about being a writer, um, before you became a writer.

I wish I’d known exactly how green I was.  I thought you just had to write the book and get it published.  Never knew about all the hoops you had to jump through.  Still, it’s a learning experience and one that makes it all worthwhile.

9.    What is your writing schedule like?

There’s a schedule?  Well, sorta.  I get up at 4:00 a.m and write for about two hours.   It’s the only time that the house is completely quiet and I can concentrate.  Needless to say I’m usually in bed by 8:00 p.m.  I have a hard time writing when people are around, so early morning or the rare couple of hours on the weekend when I’m alone are my primo writing time.

10.    Tell me anything you’d like to tell me.

What?  That most writers are neurotic introverts that shouldn’t be allowed out without a keeper?  No, I won’t tell you that.  LOL.

Again, thanx for having me, Cyn.  I enjoyed the interview.  Incidentally, I’m looking forward to your next release.  Can’t wait for Niol’s story.

***

Got a question for Liz?  Leave her a comment and you could win a copy of PROMISE FOR TOMORROW. Oh, yeah, that’s right.  My Demon Contest is over, but I’m in the mood to giveaway another prize, and I’ll send one winner a copy of PROMISE FOR TOMORROW.

Wow.  30 Days of Demons.  I hope you all had fun reading the guest posts (and winning some prizes!). I sure enjoyed adding more books to my TBR list.

And now that we’re on Day 30, I get to say…

My own demon book is on the shelves of a bookstore near you!  Yes, MIDNIGHT’S MASTER releases today.

Blurb:

Tall, dark, and formidable, Niol Lapen is the last demon on earth most people would ask for a favor, yet the sexy little reporter who wanders into his club dares to do exactly that. Holly Storm already knows too much about his kind, and Niol has no wish to help her get in deeper over her head. But working alongside her may be the only way to stop a killer, even as it ignites a primal desire unlike anything he’s known.

Holly has seen firsthand what Niol is capable of, but that doesn’t frighten her nearly as much as her body’s instinctive reaction to him, or the wild, fierce passion that would tempt her to follow him through hell itself. Something evil and relentless is prowling the streets of Atlanta. And as Holly’s search leads her into danger that even Niol could never have predicted, she’ll uncover a secret that could rip her world apart….

***

Yes, Niol’s book is out today–in the bookstore wild–and I’m very excited about this release. (By the way, if you want more info on the book, Rachael posted a review of my story–thank you, Rachael!)

I want to thank everyone who has visited for my 30 Days of Demon fun–thanks to all the readers for coming by and leaving such wonderful comments and thanks to the authors for posting and donating great prizes.

Ah…and speaking of prizes. I have more prizes to award today.  I *did* say that the 30 Days of Demons Contest was a two-parter, and part one consisted of spreading the word about my book and my demon fun by posting my lovely widget.  So let’s announce those winners, shall we?

First place: $100 gift card to Barnes and Noble:  Pat Cochran
Second place: $50 gift card to Barnes and Noble:  Marjana Kaly
Third place: $25 gift card to Barnes and Noble:  Jackie
Fourth place: ARC of BELONG TO THE NIGHT: Peggy Gorman
Fifth place: Any autographed Cynthia Eden book you’d like: Terri

I’ll email all the winners today with prize claim information.  THANK YOU so much to everyone who entered my contest!  I’ve had a great month, and, yes, more contests will definitely be in the future.

Have a wonderful day!

Note: The Daily Demon posts are below–just scroll down.

MIDNIGHT’S MASTER, the final book in my Midnight trilogy, will be released on June 30th. This book focuses on Niol, the powerful demon first introduced in HOTTER AFTER MIDNIGHT. Ah, I do love a good demon hero. To celebrate the release of Niol’s book, I’m launching a new contest…30 Days of Demons. This is a two-part contest with a ton of prizes.

Read the rest of this entry–>

Update:  The winner is…Booklover1335. Congrats!

I can’t believe it–our month of demon fun is almost at an end.  Where has the time gone?

But, before the fun’s over, I’ve got another great guest author for you…Annette McCleave is here to talk demons with us.  🙂  Annette’s debut book, DRAWN INTO DARKNESS (Signet Eclipse), will be on bookstore shelves September 1.   This is another book that is on my To-Be-Read list.  A great plot, one with new twists I’ve never seen before.  Hurry up, September 1st!

But, you don’t have to wait until September 1st to read DRAWN INTO DARKNESS. Well, one person won’t have to wait anyway–because Annette will give away an ARC to a commenter. Very, very cool.

Welcome, Annette!

***

Thanks for reading! You can discover more about Drawn into Darkness on my website at www.annettemccleave.com, including the book trailer. I’m also on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you, Cynthia, for including me in this fabulous month of demon madness. I’ve had a blast reading all the posts and I’m looking forward to your release tomorrow!

In the Soul Gatherer series, demons are definitely the bad guys. They come from hell and they’re bent on all sorts of nasty, destructive behavior. Some are mindless and wreak havoc just for fun, while others are smarter and stronger and more interested in corrupting the good. Are they sexy? Well, some are and some aren’t.

The demon in Drawn into Darkness hides behind a guise of blond, curly hair and green eyes. Drusus has old school manners that include bowing to ladies and rarely raising his voice. He’s earnest and charming, at least on the surface. But his demonic purpose is to draw people into a spiral of dark thoughts that eventually leads to suicide—preferably one that involves taking other people along for the final ride. Right now, he’s busy swaying the daughter of my heroine. Yup. Nasty.

My hero, Lachlan, is serving time as a warrior for Death. He gathers the souls of the dead and delivers them to heaven or hell, depending on how they lived their lives. To him, demons are a pain in the ass. They don’t play by the rules and regularly try to steal souls that don’t belong to them. Which usually involves ambushing Soul Gatherers.

Lachlan is undefeated in dispatching demon thieves—until he meets this particular bad, with whom he shares some ancient history. Let’s just say he’s not too pleased with how their first skirmish goes:

***

A dustbowl of swirling red miasma rose up from the damp pavement, encircling the two of them as they dueled. Spinning madly, the crimson tornado lifted higher and higher, until it obliterated every star in the night sky. Then white-hot fireballs began to rain down on Lachlan.

His shield charm took a heavy beating. In a disquietingly short time, the hellish fury pitted the protection spell to rice paper density. But Lachlan had little time to spare for repairs.

He was battling an expert swordsman.

Had he been the same rough soldier Drusus had manipulated all those years ago, his defeat would have been quick and brutal. The demon held nothing back, hitting his blade with powerful, bone-rattling blows, the kind of blows one avoids in practice sessions for fear of irreparably damaging a blade.

Fortunately, though, Lachlan was no longer a backward Scottish knight who only hacked and thrust. With the help of Italian and Spanish masters, at whose feet he had studied for a hundred years after his death, he’d honed his talents to a lethal edge. Talents that now served him well.

He cut and thrust with smooth, almost effortless technique. He broke through the demon’s defenses twice, slicing through the leather jacket and biting deep into flesh. His new sword glowed green with the taste of demon blood.

But victory eluded him.

The sword was not enough. Not only did his opponent’s wounds heal with incredible speed, allowing Drusus to continue fighting without respite, but moments after Lachlan scored his second successful slice, the beleaguered shield charm collapsed, leaving him dreadfully barren of protection. He swiftly called forth another, but it was whisked away before it was fully formed, with no more exertion than a horse swatting a fly.

The swirling red vapor dissolved, carried away in wisps on the night breeze. Drusus paused, staring curiously at Lachlan’s heaving chest and sweat-drenched brow.

“You Gatherers are little better than humans,” he observed, sounding disappointed. “This is hardly the challenging duel I’d hoped it would be.”

Lachlan responded by whipping a restraining spell at him, roping the demon in thick white cords and pinning his arms to his sides.

Drusus broke the binds with a single in-drawn breath. “Very rudimentary stuff, that. There’s a much better spell in the Book of Gnills. Where’s the Linen?”

As the tattered remnants of the binds fell away, the gap in the demon’s leather jacket widened, and Lachlan caught a glimpse of a faint golden glow about his neck—the reliquary. A bitter dose of failure poured into his throat, choking him. Drusus could crush him, right here and right now, if that was his desire. Not without a fight, of course, but slowly, inevitably, courtesy of the indefatigable power the bastard borrowed from Satan. And when he fell, the souls of his family would be cast into hell, never to be recovered.

No. He could not let them down. Not again. He drew deep on his powers and straightened to his full height.

“Fuck you.”

***

My demons have a touch of religion attached to them, being from hell and all. Do you like your paranormal stories to have a familiar motif or mythology behind them? Or do you prefer new worlds created entirely by the author? A blend? Comment and you could win an ARC!