Update:  Thanks for all the comments!!  Kate’s winners are…Beth and Elaine G! Congrats, ladies!

Our demon time is starting to wind to an end.  Just a few more days of fun…but that’s okay.  We can make the most of our time!

Today’s guest author is Kate Austin. Welcome, Kate! I’m so glad that you could us today. I’m eager to learn more about your books! 🙂

The Demon Next Door

I’ve just finished my first ever demon book and sent it off to my publisher, Cobblestone Press. Now I just have to wait and see if they enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If they do, it’s likely to be available in October.

Ali used to be the lord of all the demons and was as mean and nasty as a demon could be, when a little accident changed everything. Now he’s stuck living in a whole different world and doing something no demon has ever done—falling in love with the woman next door.

Ali’s surprised to find that being a human isn’t anywhere near as easy as it looked to his demon self. He has to look after his house and garden, not to mention making sure that Maryalice doesn’t get into trouble—or at least not any more than she’s already in.

Maryalice’s past is returning to haunt her. Her disastrous prom date has returned, after 20 years, to finish what he started. All she can hope for is that Ali, her sweet and shy neighbor, can muster up some nastiness to help her deal with her past.

My biggest challenge with the book was figuring out a way to turn Ali from an evil demon into a relatively good human being. My partner and I had gone away to the Sunshine Coast while I was thinking about this—and yes, it’s almost always sunny, which is odd seeing as it’s not more than 30 miles from Vancouver, where it’s almost always raining—and one afternoon we sat in a lovely waterfront pub and talked about it over a series of drinks. Yep, sometimes alcohol does help in the brainstorming process. He came up with an idea that I loved to solve this problem and Ali and his brother demons were born. This is the view from the pub—you can see why it was so inspiring.

I’ve also been working on a series of short stories for Cobblestone. They’re included in the line called The Pleasure Club and the first one, The Nymph, is available at the beginning of August.

Professor Geoffrey Jones, noted Marlowe scholar, knows everything about pleasuring a nymph but nothing about real women. So he asks The Pleasure Club to find him a nymph so he can test his fantasy skills before he takes them out into the real world. Calliope has wanted Geoffrey for years and when The Pleasure Club comes to the university looking for an expert in nymphs, they end up in her office. She’s going to do whatever it takes to make sure that Professor Geoffrey Jones never forgets their night together.

The second story, The Nun, should be (fingers crossed) available at the beginning of September. No demons in either of these stories, though I think the next Pleasure Club I write will include a demon. In fact, that’s what I’m going to call it. The Demon.

What else am I working on? As always, way too many things, but I’m doing revisions on the first book in The Losers Club series. That book will go out to agents in the next couple of weeks. I’m preparing to act as bookdoctor at the Pacific Northwest Writers Conference. I’m working on four stories to send to Spice Briefs—my first Brief, Dreamer, is available at eharlequin.com. Eleven other writers and I are working on short stories (I’m one of the editors) for our second annual e-anthology (you can still download the first one, The Twelve Days of Christmas, from my website). This year’s is set on New Year’s Eve and so far is tentatively called First Night.

Thanks, Cynthia, I really enjoyed being here and thanks for letting me tell you all about Ali. I’m looking forward to writing about all his brothers—have they got a surprise coming to them!

I’m going to give away a couple of signed copies of one of my books with a little added surprise included. The only book I can’t send you is Summer Fever because even I don’t have a copy! Go to my website – www.kateaustin.ca – and check out the books page. When you blog about this great month of demons, just mention which book you’d like me to send you. The winners will get picked by Cynthia at the end of the day.

Enjoy those demons!

Kate

Kate writes women’s fiction, magic realism, paranormal and erotica. She writes short fiction, poetry and novels. She’s had dozens of stories and poems published over the years, and her eighth book Seeing Is Believing—about a woman who sees death in photographs—was published in October 2007 and her novella Dreamer is online now from Spice Briefs. She has published nine books since 2005 and has had two stories (and possibly one novella) accepted for publication from Cobblestone Press. Kate blames her mother and her two grandmothers for her reading and writing obsession—all of them were avid readers, and they passed the books and the obsession on to her. You can contact her at her website at www.kateaustin.ca.

Update:  The winner of Angie’s contest is…Tina B!  Congrats, Tina!  Thanks for all the comments!

Today’s guest author is the mega (fabulously!) talented author Angie Fox.  Angie exploded onto the paranormal scene with THE ACCIDENTAL DEMON SLAYER, and now she’s got me hooked on her stories. If you’re looking for a hilarious read, well, Angie is your woman! And did I mention that she’s a New York Times best-selling author?  Oh, yes, she is! Welcome, Angie!

Hi, my name is Angie Fox and I write the Accidental Demon Slayer series. It’s about a preschool teacher turned demon slayer who has to run off with her grandmother’s gang of geriatric biker witches. It happens every day, right?

The series has been a blast to write and I think I’ve had some of the most fun coming up with demons. Yes, they are scary. Yes, they are out to take over the world. But they have to have their own personalities and problems too.

In The Accidental Demon Slayer, Vlad the demon has been imprisoned by my heroine’s ancestor, who was one of the greatest demon slayers. But has he spent his time in the fifth level of hell just moping? No-sir-e-bob. Vlad is a bit of a mad scientist. He’s coming up with ways to beat demon slayer technology.

And then there are the sex-on-the-brain succubi in The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers. They’re out to conquer the world, one man at a time. Problem is, no one seems to take sexy creatures seriously. The magical bureaucracy has ignored the succubi problem in Las Vegas. After all, they’ve added a certain “what happens in Vegas…” charm. But demons, left to their own devices, will get out of hand.

You can read more here:
The Accidental Demon Slayer
The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers

Tell us about the most interesting demon you’ve read about/seen in a movie and you’re entered to win a copy of one of my books (winner’s choice) or if you already have the Accidental Demon Slayer series, you can have a Kiss My Asphalt t-shirt like the biker witches wear in the books.

Hi, everyone!  Just wanted to make a quick post to announce Elisabeth Naughton’s winners!

And they are…Ashley Madden (copy of STOLEN FURY) and Eva S (that gorgeous necklace).  I’ll email you ladies in just a few moments.

Now back to your demon fun. Come by tomorrow for a fun treat!

Update: The winner of the gift certificate is…Sarah!  Congrats, Sarah!

Want to know how I make my demons?  Well, I just follow this secret family recipe. (Um, not so secret anymore.)

Recipe for a sexy demon hero:

1. Start with one huge helping of sexy.

2. Remove pointed tail and cloven feet–just won’t work (what with that previously mentioned huge helping of sexy).

3. Throw in a dash of darkness…because, come on, we all like the bad.

4. Add a tortured past.  Cause…he’s a demon.  Not like his life has been all sunshine and sweetness.

5. Drop a heroine in his path, one who won’t faint when she learns that her new lover comes with a few special”extras”–extras can be good. Note: Extras do not include that tail or the cloven feet; hence the removal.

6. When preparing, be sure to turn up the heat. Demons like the heat.

7. Mix well. Don’t forget to throw in some drama, some plot twists, and a villain or two–so that our demon can prove his strength.

8. Enjoy!  Your demon is ready.  🙂

***

Got your own demon recipe to share?  Post away!  One commenter will win a $15 gift certificate to Bath and Body Works.  And, if you’re looking for more demon posts, I’m blogging today at The Bradford Bunch, Novel Thoughts, and the Brava Authors blog.  Have a great day!

Update:  Thank you for all the congrats (and the kind words on my cover!). The winner of the IOU is…Fedora! Congrats, Fedora!

Okay, before I get to my demon talk, I need to do some updatey type info.

First up…I’m doing a writing round robin over at Romance In The Backseat.  The first installment of White Wedding Nightmares was written by the fabulous Angie Fox. I took the second round.  🙂  And now, Michelle Rowan (an author I love) has posted the third installment.  Check it out and let me know what you think.

I’ve also got a cover to share. ETERNAL HUNTER is the first book in my new paranormal bounty hunter series for Kensington Brava, and here’s the cover:

Blurb:

Cynthia Eden delves into the dark realms of the Others, where desires and dangerous games await the unsuspecting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Assistant DA Erin Jerome has a secret. Make that two. One: She’s not entirely human–she’s Other, desperately trying to keep her supernatural strength under wraps. Two: she’s got a killer stalking her–an Other rogue set on “gifting” her bloody corpses, not to mention nights lying awake in terror. Small wonder she’s been having bad luck with men.

But the bounty hunter on her new case isn’t worried about any of that. Jude Donovan is a shapeshifter himself, and the new DA’s midnight hair and addictive scent tell him all he thinks he needs to know:  She’s gorgeous, she’s definitely not human, and she’s bringing out the animal in him in a really good way. He might have to track a psychotic Other stalker through half of Louisiaian. But he might also get the chance to watch Erin’s wild side come out and play.

***

ETERNAL HUNTER will be a January 2010 release.  And, while the book’s hero is a shifter, don’t worry, there’s a demon in the story, too.  🙂  Come on, I couldn’t leave out the demons, now could I?  Zane’s the demon in this book, and I hope to begin writing a separate story for him within the next few weeks.

Ah…see, now on to the demon discussion!

One of the things I enjoy about demons is that, by their very natures, they *should* be bad.  I mean, come on, when you think demon, you don’t instantly think great savior of the world, now do you?  So for my demons–okay, for Zane–I’m going to create a character who fights his own kind. A hero who knows about the darkness inside of him, and he knows just how deadly that darkness can be.

The demons I’ve created for my stories aren’t evil. Well, not entirely. Because I don’t believe anyone can be entirely evil or entirely good. Myth might have set the demons up as the all-around bad guys,  but I like to think the power of redemption is pretty strong.  So my demons get a chance–a chance to prove if more than darkness waits inside of them.

Okay, I’ve rambled a bit.  If you’ve read this entire post, then you deserve a reward!  Well, how about an IOU?   How about I give one commenter an IOU for the ARC of ETERNAL HUNTER?  As soon as I receive my Advanced Reader Copies, you’ll get the first one!    And you can leave me a comment about anything. Got a question for me? Ask away. Read a good demon story lately? Tell me!

And, hey, stay tuned. I’ve got some more fabulous demon authors scheduled on the line up…including the previously mentioned New York Times best-selling author Angie Fox!