Q+A with Nikki Jefford + Bad Blood: Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter Giveaway

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Nikki Jefford.  Nikki is the author of BAD BLOOD.

Keep reading for a chance to win Bad Blood swag!

Q+A with Nikki Jefford

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Nikki:  The moment I could hold a pen. My stories got more interesting after I learned the alphabet.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Nikki:  Early on it was the love of magic in fiction: Diana Wynne Jones (Howl’s Moving Castle) and Roald Dahl (Matilda). Movies and TV shows were a big inspiration. I used to think my daydreams were too outlandish to put into books. Then I watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer and other Joss Whedon creations and realized anything was possible.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Nikki:  I have always wanted to teleport. Above all else, I value my time with family and friends. What an amazing thing if I could see them whenever I wanted.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Nikki:  First of all, they have to like dark, slightly morbid humor. If that’s your bag, welcome to the world of Aurora Sky!

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Nikki:  In the spirit of indie hood, I actually think it would be cool to cast never-before-seen talent. This is the first time my Aurora Sky cover model posed for book covers and I think that is so cool. It’s not like, “Oh, there’s so-and-so.” She’s Aurora Sky, that’s all there is to it. That’s how I feel about actors and actresses. I love seeing someone really good for the first time during that initial stage where they are the character.

Bad Blood (Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #3) by Nikki Jefford.

Aurora returns from boot camp to a new assignment, an unwelcome roommate, and the increasingly amorous attentions of a certain vampire hunter.

College is starting, and so is Aurora’s undercover work at a network of swanky parties known as “Tastings” for high rolling vampires who like their blood laced with fine wine. But Aurora’s not the only one on the prowl. An underground investigation is under way to find out who killed one of Anchorage’s most prominent vampires… and Aurora is a prime suspect.

Release Date: June 2, 2014
Genre: Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Young Adult
Add to Goodreads.

Thank you Nikki for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Nikki Jefford and her books, please visit her website.

Bad Blood Giveaway

The author is giving away a Femme Fatale handmade sterling silver pendant and a "Bite Me" drawstring bag with swag.

To enter, please use the Rafflecopter form below.  This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL.  This is a tour giveaway and winners will be randomly selected by the author or publisher.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Also, Aurora Sky: Vampire Hunter #1 is FREE now on Amazon Kindle!

Paranormal Guest Author: Kristen Painter (House of Comarré Series)

Please welcome today's paranormal guest author Kristen Painter!  Kristen is the author of Heart of Fire, Dark Kiss of the Reaper, and the House of Comarré series which includes Blood Rights, Flesh and Blood, and Bad Blood.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Kristen:  I've been writing all my life in some form: poetry, short stories, non-fiction articles. I began writing with the goal of publication about six years ago.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

Kristen:  I love the open-endedness of the What If that paranormal offers. There are truly no limits in that genre, only those you impose on yourself.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Kristen:  I'd love to be able to teleport, mostly because I hate waiting. lol

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Kristen:  I hope they enjoy it because it meets their reading need - to be swept away into another place, to forget about life for awhile, or just to experience something new.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Kristen:  That's a tough question. There aren't any actors in Hollywood that immediately come to mind, so I'd probably want unknowns.

Blood Rights (House of Comarré #1) by Kristen Painter

The lacy gold mapped her entire body. A finely-wrought filigree of stars, vines, flowers, butterflies, ancient symbols and words ran from her feet, up her legs, over her narrow waist, spanned her chest and finished down her arms to the tips of her fingers.

Born into a life of secrets and service, Chrysabelle’s body bears the telltale marks of a comarré—a special race of humans bred to feed vampire nobility. When her patron is murdered, she becomes the prime suspect, which sends her running into the mortal world…and into the arms of Malkolm, an outcast vampire cursed to kill every being from whom he drinks.

Now Chrysabelle and Malkolm must work together to stop a plot to merge the mortal and supernatural worlds. If they fail, a chaos unlike anything anyone has ever seen will threaten to reign.


Thank you Kristen for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Kristen Painter and her books, please visit her website.

Guest Author Interview: Mari Mancusi

Please welcome today's guest author Mari Mancusi!  Mari is the author of the Blood Coven series including Boys that Bite, Stake That!, Girls that Growl, Bad Blood, and Night School.

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

Mari:  I've always loved to tell stories. When I was too young to pick up a pen, I would draw pictures and have my mother transcribe my words onto paper. All through school I wrote short stories and in high school I graduated to longer, serial pieces--usually romances starring my friends and the rock stars who loved them. (If only David Bowie knew what he's done in my books!) When I got to my twenties, I realized if I wanted to get serious and get published, I'd need to dedicate myself to writing one full novel. My first novel or two ended up under the bed, but my third full length book, "A Connecticut Fashionista in King Arthur's Court" scored me an agent and eventually a publishing deal at Dorchester.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?
 
Mari:  I've always loved the dark and spooky. As a goth girl I listened to dark music and watched dark films. Vampires became an obsession after reading Anne Rice and seeing films like The Hunger. Later, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Sherrilyn Kenyon novels solidified the desire to create my own fanged world, which I did with The Blood Coven Vampire series.

EJ:  If you could be any paranormal or have any one supernatural talent, what would it be? Why?

Mari:  Invisibility because then I could be a fly on the wall. I'm nosy like that and I love observing people. I believe this would make me a better writer, as well, studying people as characters without them knowing.

EJ:  Tell us why readers will enjoy your new release.

Mari:  In January, readers will be able to pick up Book 5 of The Blood Coven Vampire series, called Night School. It's a young adult series, but has a lot of appeal for adults as well, especially those who are Buffy fans. My books always have a mixture of dark angst, romance and humor. After all, if we can't find something to laugh about in the darkness, then we are truly doomed.

While I try to make all the books understandable if a reader were to pick them up out of order, I hope people will check out the first four books in the series, which are available now in bookstores or online in print or ebook formats.

EJ:  If your book(s) were being made into a movie, who would you cast for the leading roles? Why?

Mari:  I just saw Easy A in theaters and I think Emma Stone would be amazing as my heroines. (They're twins so she'd have to play both parts.) She's cool and tough, but pretty at the same time and I think she could easily encompass both the good and bad girl roles. For the boys, Magnus, the Blood Coven Master is supposed to be like a Pirates of the Caribbean Orlando Bloom type, with long brown hair. And I think the guy who plays Jasper in the Twilight saga could be my Jareth, Rayne's vampire boyfriend.

 Night School (Blood Coven, book 5) by Mari Mancusi.

Vampires, Slayers and…FAIRIES? Sunny and Rayne McDonald are about to get SCHOOLED. 

After their parents’ shocking revelation about their fae heritage and an attack on their lives, the McDonald twins find themselves on the run—forced to hide out at Riverdale Academy , a boarding school for vampire slayers, deep in the Swiss Alps. With no cells, no internet, and no way to contact their vampire boyfriends—the twins are on their own.  Being a vampire stuck in a school full of slayers isn’t easy. Especially with no blood substitute stocked on campus. Soon Rayne finds herself succumbing to her bloodlust and losing control—especially around the arrogant, but devastatingly handsome Corbin Billingsworth the Third—who isn’t sure whether he wants to kiss her…or kill her.  But when Sunny starts acting strange, Rayne realizes Riverdale Academy may be hiding some deadly secrets of its own—leading to a showdown in Fairyland that may cost the twins their lives.


Thank you Mari for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about Mari Mancusi's and her books, please visit her website.