All Things Urban Fantasy

Guest Blog: Virna DePaul on Life After Fiction

2012-01-27T12:30:00.000-07:00

Virna DePaul has stopped by this afternoon to tell us a little bit about how her Para-Ops series has broadened her real life horizons. We often ask how an author’s “day job” impacts their writing, today Virna gives us a glimpse of how the international action and drama of her characters has spiced up her actual day.

Life After Fiction

Virna DePaul

It's probably true that there's a little bit of me in each of the characters that I write. It's definitely true that in becoming a writer, I've had to face some fears and dig deep to investigate who I am, what I believe, and what I want out of life. Writing has forced me to try new things, in real life and in my imagination, that have helped me become a more well-rounded person. For example, I not only overcame my fear of flying and started traveling again (had to, in order to go to all those wonderful writing conferences!), but I've done some amazing things through my Para-Ops characters.

I've traveled across the U.S., and to North Korea and France.

Parachuted out of a spy plane in a bat suit.

Competed in drag down-knock out wrestling matches.

Ridden a motorcycle.

Pole danced and stripped in a night club.

Learned to fight with a knife, gun, or whatever else was handy.

Impregnated a vampire.

Had sex in various places in various ways with various....

Well, the list goes on and on. But truly, the one thing that I continue to experience through my characters is learning to love myself and others. In my paranormals, I bring love to vampires, weres, mages, wraiths, and shape-shifters. In my contemporaries, I bring love to ordinary humans, be they wounded cops or women struggling with the hands they were dealt. With every book I write, I hope I bring my readers not just love, but entertainment, emotion, pleasure, thrills, passion, empowerment, hope, and joy. It's a tall order, but it's always my intent.

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About the author:

Virna's latest release is Chosen By Sin, Book 3 in the Para-Ops novels. You can read an excerpt and learn more at www.chosenbysin.com

Virna DePaul is a former prosecutor and now national bestselling author of the Para-Ops Novels. She also writes contemporary romantic suspense for Harlequin Romantic Suspense (It Started That Night, May 2012) and HQN (Shades Of Desire, June 2012).

Visit Virna DePaul online:
Website|Blog|Twitter|Facebook

Want to read more from Virna DePaul

Available now from CreateSpace

Description:

Five years after the Second Civil War ends, humans and Otherborn—humanlike creatures with superhuman DNA—still struggle for peace. To ensure the continued rights of both, the FBI forms a Para-Ops team with a unique set of skills.

For now, werebeast Dex Hunt serves on the Para-Ops team, but his true purpose is to kill the werewolf leader he blames for his mother’s death. Biding his time, Dex keeps his emotional distance from his team members and anyone else he might care for, including a mysterious vampire he met in LA.

As a doctor, vampire Jesmina Martin has dedicated her immortal life to healing others. As a scientific researcher, she’s trying to prolong life spans, in particular those of her adoptive dragon-shifter family and the werewolf who saved her as a child. Her greatest hope lies with Dex, a werebeast she believes can gift immortality to others.

Only Dex knows nothing about his gift or the fact Jesmina wants to harness it. After a passionate night together neither expects to see the other again. Weeks later, they are reunited in France and forced to acknowledge a fragile miracle—a new life struggling to survive. At the same time, they must stop a group of rebel shape-shifters hoping to unleash every demon in hell. But before Dex and Jesmina can save their child or the world , they must relinquish their secrets, face their fears, and open themselves to love.

Read an excerpt

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Guest Blog & Giveaway: Tiffany Allee on Listening to Your Gut & win BANSHEE CHARMER

2012-01-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome Tiffany Alee! Tiffany is here promoting her book BANSHEE CHARMER (available now from Entangled Publishing). This is the first in her From the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency series. Her book features a half-banshee detective Kiera “Mac” McLoughlin who is on the hunt for a seductive incubus serial killer. You can read my full review here, and five of you will win a copy of BANSHEE CHARMER! See details below.

Listening To Your Gut

Tiffany Allee

I'm an analytical person by nature. I've worked almost entirely in analytical jobs that required stepping back, looking at the numbers and information, and making logical decisions. But even when doing this, I tried to listen to my gut. Because the emotional impression we get from people or situations can be important.

The main character in Banshee Charmer, Mac, is a cop. She looks at the evidence and she does her best to think through crimes to find the criminal. But she is also likely to rely on her gut when it comes to judging situations or people.

Her gut makes her almost certain that an incubus is responsible for the murders she's investigating, and her gut makes her believe—despite her suspicions to the contrary—that the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency (OWEA) agent she finds in her living room is a good man.

Here's their first meeting. You can probably see why she's a bit suspicious.

I swung my gun up then rounded the corner into my dining room. A man—or something that looked like one anyway—sat at the oak table. He was reading a book. A cup of coffee rested on a coaster in front of him and he’d propped sock-covered feet on my table. Settled in, right at home.
I gaped, unsure of what to say. My face grew hot when I saw the cover of the book in his hand. A beautiful woman held in the arms of a tall, too-handsome hero with abs of steel graced the cover of the romance novel. I barely resisted the urge to shoot him. Who says I don’t have fan-freaking-tastic self-control?
“Who are you?” I finally spluttered out.
He set the book down and smiled at me. It was one heck of a smile on one heck of a face. A strong jaw covered in five o’clock shadow, dark eyes, and a head of messy black hair set on a very fit, long body.
“Ah, Kiera McLoughlin, I presume?” I thought I detected a slight Irish lilt to his voice, but if he had an accent, it was subtle. He took his feet off the table, moving slowly.
“Presume away. Who are you and what are you doing in my house?”
His smiled turned into a full-on flirtatious grin. “Why don’t you put your gun away so we can talk? About your interesting taste in books, perhaps.”
I glared at him, face burning. Handsome or not, I was in charge in my own house. “No way, cupcake. Tell me who you are and I might consider putting my gun away.”
He sighed, his chest pressing against his tight T-shirt. I glared harder.
“All right. My name is Aidan Byrne. I’m here to talk to you about the murders you’re investigating.”

She is suspicious—rightfully so—but something about the man charms her, and she lets her guard down around him during the course of the story. For Mac, listening to her gut turns out to have…well without spoilers let's just say she gets mixed results.

Are you likely to listen to your gut about people and situations?

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About the author:

Tiffany Allee currently lives in Phoenix, AZ, by way of Chicago and Denver, and is happily married to a secret romantic. She spends her days working in Corporate America while daydreaming about sexy heroes, ass-kicking heroines, and interesting ways to kill people (for her books, of course). Her nights are reserved for writing and bothering her husband and cats (according to them). Her passions include reading, chocolate, travel, wine, and family.

Visit Tiffany Allee online:
Website|Blog|Twitter|Facebook

Giveaway provided by Entangled Publishing

Five e-copies of Banshee Chermer by Tiffany Allee

Available now from Entangled Publishing

Description:

When she’s sent to a crime scene and finds her second dead woman in as many weeks, half-banshee detective Kiera “Mac” McLoughlin is convinced a serial killer is on the loose. Incubi are extinct, her boss insists. But what else can kill a woman in the throes of pleasure? When her partner is murdered after using witchcraft to locate the killer and Mac is thrown off the case, her frustration turns to desperation.

Certain the killer is an incubus, Mac works behind her department’s back to chase down slim, sometimes perilous leads. While the killer eludes her, she does discover handsome Aidan Byrne, an investigative counterpart from the enigmatic Otherworlder Enforcement Agency. Mac typically runs her investigations fast and hard, but with Aidan at her side, she’s running this one “hot” as well. But Aidan knows more than he’s letting on—something that could shatter their blazing romance and add Mac to the killer’s growing body count…

Read an excerpt|Read our review

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