Today’s guest author is D. Renee Bagby. I had the pleasure of cyber meeting Renee through the FF&P RWA Chapter (for those who write fantasy, futuristic, and paranormal romance), and I’ve got to say, she is one busy woman!  Welcome, Renee!

***

Proverb: Raise no more [demons] than you can lay [down].

A good saying except, as much as I would like to lay down Melchior, I can’t. Number one he’s fictional… more’s the pity. Number two, even if he was real, I’d have to go through Serenity to get him… I don’t have a death wish, ’cause that chick is scary. And number three, he’s not a demon.

Melchior may look like a demon—a little over seven feet tall, dark blue skin, blue horns that curve out from his neck and rise above his head, red and yellow dual-colored eyes, a forked tongue, and usually seen wearing nothing but a loincloth—but he’s not one. He and his people—the bhresya—are not from any pits of hell and they generally don’t want to corrupt humans. In fact, they want as little to do with humans as possible.

Humans on the other hand, want to see the bhresyas dead. In order to stop the warring, Melchior proposes a peace that will be solidified with his marriage to Serenity, the princess and only daughter of the ruling monarch of Cheslav, the largest human kingdom. While Melchior’s people object to having a human queen, he ignores their apprehension and follows through with his plan.

When his new wife demands his attention and affection, Melchior begins to think he may have made a mistake after all. Plus there are seemingly random attacks happening around his kingdom with no witnesses and no trace of the culprits—not even if they are human or bhresya.

Melchior is facing a battle on two fronts. Neither of which he plans to lose.

Learn more about Melchior, Serenity, and the bhresya at my website where you can read an excerpt and the first chapter and within the pages of SERENITY, available in ebook and print.

D. Renee Bagby
Building New Realms of Passion…
http://dreneebagby.com

Update:  The winner of the Bath & Body Works gift certificate is…Heather Brewer! Congrats, Heather!  And for all of you who said you hadn’t seen My Demon Lover yet–oh, you are missing out!  🙂

How about a blast from the past?

For today’s post, my topic is “Favorite Demon Movie.”  And my all-time favorite movie?

Please tell me I’m not the only one who remembers this movie.  🙂

And, hey, maybe it’s the nostalgia talking, but when I think about this movie, yes, I think 1st of the demon part, but 2nd, I think of the romance.  Because this movie was a romance at its core.  A funny show, an unusual hero, a heroine who–poor girl–had a few obstacles thrown in her path.  And…you guessed it…a guaranteed happy ending.

Here’s the blurb from imdb: “Denny has yet again been left by her thug boyfriend Chip. It seems as if she is doomed to be stuck with awful guys, this time she has to choose between nerdy Charles and the strange Kaz, who turns into a monster when sexually aroused.”  (Denny would be the heroine.)

Come on–this movie has it all, campy fun, sexually aroused demons, and a happy ending.  🙂

What’s your favorite demon movie?  Tell me and you could win a $15 gift card from Bath and Body Works.(I’ll randomly pick one commenter to win.)

Today’s Saturday Snippet focuses on Outtakes. Those scenes from novels that just, well, don’t quite make the final cut.  🙂  Since I’d celebrating my demon month, I chose to use an outtake from my succubus story, MIDNIGHT SINS.

When I write, sometimes I’ll try a few different beginnings as I attempt to get a feel for the characters and the story.  Today’s outtake is an alternate beginning for MIDNIGHT SINS.  This one didn’t make the cut, but it did help me to get a better feel for my heroine, Cara–the sex demon who really just wants love.

***

She was giving up sex.

Cara Maloan sat at the bar, her fingers idly tapping against the gleaming wood. All around her, voices rumbled and music blasted, but she ignored the sounds, focusing on her more pressing concern.

Sex.

Her head moved in a slow nod. Yes, that’s what she’d do. Give up sex.

Of course, since she was a full-blood succubus and derived her power from the sexual act, much like a vamp from blood drinking, the way Cara figured it, she’d be dead in a year.

“Hell.” She was so damn screwed.

Or well, actually, she wasn’t, and didn’t have any future plans to be—that was the problem. How come there just weren’t any good guys left to drain these days?

She swung away from the bar, swiveling on her stool. Her gaze swept past the dancers, most of them Other, and drifted to the door. The bar, Paradise Found, was a haven of sorts for the paranormal kind. A place to drink, party, and to stop pretending to be normal.

It was also a very, very dangerous bar. Because the paranormals, well, they all tended to have serious attitude problems.

There was usually blood on the floor by midnight, much to the enjoyment of the vamps who hung back in the shadows.

Oh, damn but she was tired of being a freak.

***

If you’d like to read more outtakes, visit these participating authors:

Cynthia Eden
Victoria Janssen
Lauren Dane
Leah Braemel
McKenna Jeffries
Moira Rogers
Sylvia Day
Vivian Arend
Mark Henry
Shelley Munro
Jaci Burton
Mandy Roth
Eliza Gayle

Update:  My IOU winner is commenter #4, Marnie Colette! Congrats, Marnie!  And thanks for all the comments!

Today, we’re not talking about the literal demons that can burn up the pages of a novel; instead, the focus is on the inner demons that drive characters.

For my upcoming romantic suspense series with Grand Central Publishing (due out in 2010), I deal with characters who carry a lot of inner demons.  My heroine (in the first RS book) is a woman with a particularly dark past–the darkest I’ve ever written.  She has fears that she keeps locked deep inside, fears that whisper to her late at night.  But my heroine has to face her fears–face her demons–in order to do her job as an FBI agent and to get her happy ending.

When I read a book, I don’t expect to open the pages and find a perfect hero or perfect heroine. I want someone with flaws, and, yes, even demons. Because real people carry secrets, fears, worries–that’s what makes us human.  If I see a character without these traits, I find that I have a hard time relating to her (or him!).

For the prize today, well, it’s an IOU.  🙂   Tell me your thoughts about the inner demons that plague characters, and I’ll pick one commenter to win an ARC of the first book in my romantic suspense series.  Now, this ARC isn’t available now, and it won’t be available for quite some time. (I think we’re looking at tentative release dates for next summer.)  But, as soon as I do get an ARC, I will send it to the commenter.  So the prize is an IOU–one that will give you a sneak peek at the agents in my Serial Services Division–a division of the FBI that tracks and apprehends serials (killers, rapists, arsonists, kidnappers…)

Update:  The winner of DARK IMMORTAL is commenter #22, Elisa Jankowski!  Congratulations, Elisa!  And thanks for all the comments!

Are we really already up to day 11?  Time flies, right?  Thanks so much to everyone who has been coming by to check out the posts and to comment.  🙂

Today’s guest is talented author J.K. Coi–she’s the author of the Immortal Series and the Destiny Series.  One lucky commenter will win a print copy of DARK IMMORTAL (and this book has gotten some great reviews).   Welcome, J.K.!  Glad you could join us for demon fun.

Vampires and Werewolves and…Demons. Oh my!

First of all, I’d like to say thank you to Cynthia for having me as a guest today. I’m very excited to be a part of her 30 Days of Demons!

So what is it with the dark characters? You know the ones I mean. The strong, generally silent type that seem most at home in a dangerous back alley. The ones who snarl with a curled lip that a normally savvy heroine can’t help but think is sexy. The ones who make her blood heat when that bold gaze rests on parts of her body it really shouldn’t?

We used to look for these characters in the vampires and werewolves of our paranormal romances—and I still love a really well-written vampire, I’ve gotta tell you. But when I sat down to write my own heroes and villains, it wasn’t vampires that came to mind exactly, but a band of immortal warriors who fought to protect the world from…Demons.

That’s right. My demons are the bad guys. They’re evil beings born of hell who live to destroy mankind, and my heroes take them out in a really big way.

Mostly.

Because when I was writing my last book, Dark Immortal, I surprised even myself with the demon who played such a large role. Karnage is one of the most powerful and feared creatures to dwell within the demon realms. He and his brother Mastema have spent many millennia torturing humans in their bid to be released from the demon realms. Death and destruction practically seep from Karnage’s very pores he’s so evil.

And yet, I couldn’t help but be fascinated by him. His one redeeming quality is his love for a single mortal woman. And love makes all the difference, doesn’t it? If a being can love, he can’t be all bad, can he?

© Dark Immortal by J.K. Coi

“Karnage.” Mastema leaned forward, gnashing the name through his grinding teeth. He tightened his clawed hands into fists over the arms of his chair. It never failed to irritate him how easily the elusive, sorry excuse for a demon slipped past his guards. When he was so close to his destiny he could almost smell the warm blood of the Prophecy, so close that his mouth watered as he thought of the rich fluid coating his tongue and falling down his throat. Now especially, Mastema could not have Karnage getting in the way of his plans. “What nasty little bug did you crawl in here with, demon?”

“Mastema.” Karnage straightened and started to make his way forward. Mastema noted with disgust that most of the demons in the room either cowered back in fear or stepped aside in deference, the result being a long, clear path that parted to make way for the towering figure. Mastema glared with contempt at the useless demons. It was no wonder he was still trapped in this dungeon, with such pathetic creatures as his only link to the worlds beyond.

“Still intimidating the help, Mastema?” Karnage taunted, lifting a brow at the bloody example Mastema had made of the Rage demon. “I guess there aren’t a lot of other job opportunities for bloodthirsty demons in hell, or you might be forced to look for some new minions.” Karnage stopped a few feet away, seemingly unconcerned that the demons had finally found what remained of their balls and were starting to close ranks.

“Get out of my hall, Karnage,” Mastema growled. “Nothing here can be of any concern to a worthless demon such as yourself.”

“On the contrary.” Karnage swung around to the demons hesitantly starting to crowd in behind him, then back at Mastema with a raised brow. “I’m finding this quite fascinating.”

Mastema curled his lip and growled. Karnage was a constant thorn in Mastema’s side. Thousands of years ago, they had battled for dominion over all the worlds, gaining in power until the Destroyer herself had been called upon to imprison them both—and even that had been possible only because Mastema and Karnage were too busy fighting each other to protect themselves from the Destroyer’s sneaky, underhanded tricks. It had occurred to Mastema over these many centuries that, had they been able to work together, they might yet have succeeded where each separately had failed.

Karnage was the only demon with a strength and power equal to Mastema’s own, and it galled him to no end that in the thousands of years they had been forced to share this hell dimension he had been unable to bring the other demon to heel. It set a bad example for Mastema’s minions—some of whom had begun to think they could also get away with a similar insolence—and forced him to make more frequent examples of the offenders in order to keep the rest in line. His enjoyment in the chore had faded long ago.

But even that wasn’t the reason why Mastema despised the other demon.

Somehow Karnage was able to do the one thing that Mastema could not—he had found a way to escape the demon realms.

“What a pathetic excuse for a demon you’ve become, Karnage.” Mastema sneered. “You are even dressing like the humans now?”

Karnage just laughed, his eyes flashing to black. “You’ve got to give them credit for a few stellar ideas. Cell phones and MP3 players, for one. That Punk’d show is hilarious. And a good pair of Diesel jeans sure beats the alternative.” He gave Mastema’s straining erection a deliberate look. “Considering the intimidation factor you’ve been working so hard to maintain these days, brother, I suggest you give them a try.”

J.K. Coi writes dark and edgy paranormal romance, where love is all consuming, the stakes are always high, and the immortals are to die for.

Dark Immortal is available now in ebook and in print!

(http://www.lindenbayromance.com/product-darkimmortal-7307-149.html)

Forever Immortal is coming June 16, 2009 from Linden Bay Romance (http://www.lindenbayromance.com/product-foreverimmortal-7193-193.html).

Website: http://www.jkcoi.com

Blog: http://www.jkcoiblogspot.com

Myspace: http://myspace.com/jkcoi

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jkcoi