Q+A with V.A. Dold (Le Beau Brothers)

Please welcome today's guest author V.A. Dold!  V.A. is the author of the Le Beau Brothers paranormal romance series, including the novels Cade, Simon, Stefan, and Thomas.

Q+A with V.A. Dold

EJ:  When did you begin writing?

VA:  One and a half years ago. Being an author was a complete accident, I was a publicist helping other authors and I had Cade’s story in my head. Writing it down to get it out of my head turned into a fourteen book series.

EJ:  What brought you to the paranormal genre?

VA:  I write what I read and enjoy. I will also be starting a contemporary Cowboy series later this year.

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

VA:  I would be a shifter and be a badass healer.

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

VA:  Thomas’s book is romantic, funny and packed with action.

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

VA:  Good Lord! I have no idea. How about we let the fans post pictures of who they think should play the leads.

Thank you V.A. for joining us here today at From the Shadows!

To learn more about V.A. Dold and her books, please visit her website.  You can add her Le Beau paranormal romance series here on Goodreads.  Keep reading to learn more about her new release, Thomas.

Thomas (Le Beau Brothers #4) by V.A. Dold

Julia is happy with her place in the shifter community as the owner of the famous shifter bar, The Backwater. But the life she's created for herself isn't enough to satisfy her crazy-ass mother, Lucinda, who shops her and her sister Krystal around to the pure blood shifters like a piece of meat. Only a born shifter mate is good enough for her girls.

Thomas James has his hands full as the shifter king's head of security. He certainly wasn’t looking for a girlfriend during the first annual shifter gathering. He had the king and queen to protect, not skirts to chase.

A childhood of emotional and physical abuse by his birth father has left Thomas emotionally unavailable and uninterested in romantic relationships. His father Tim’s cruelty to his mother and brother molded him into an extremely protective person. No one messes with his loved ones without answering to him.

Even though Julia and Thomas are destined to be mates. The obstacles standing between them and their happy ever after seem insurmountable.
Lucinda insists Julia stay away from the filthy human.

Tim is trying to kill everyone Thomas loves.

The mysterious Benevolent Sovereign who is trying to over through the throne, has sent swampers attack Thomas and destroy Julia’s lively hood.

With family like theirs, who needs enemies?

Will Julia and Thomas’s happiness be snuffed out before it has a chance to begin or will they forge through - obstacles be damned.

Genre: Paranormal Romance

Do you have a favorite Le Beau Brother?

If so, let us know in the comments.  We love comments!

Paranormal Road Trip: Destination New Orleans with Kristen Painter

Come on boys and ghouls!  It's time to hop on Route 666 for a spooktacular Paranormal Road Trip.

This week's stop is New Orleans and our special guide is Kristen Painter author of GARDEN OF DREAMS AND DESIRES, the third novel in the Crescent City urban fantasy series.

Kristen's Top 5 Spooky Places in New Orleans

Just say the words New Orleans and you probably think of jazz music, cobblestone streets, cemeteries filled with monuments, and scrolling iron balconies. You might also think about vampires, ghosts and who knows what else that might be lurking in the shadows. The Big Easy has a certain reputation for the mysterious. And indeed, it is definitely a place filled with a special kind of magic. The tales that surround this city are part truth, part legend, part good old fashioned story telling.

As a writer, it’s hard not to be mesmerized by this place. I’ve been to New Orleans more times than I can count and it never fails to enchant me in some new way. There are moments when I could easily believe I’ve crossed a threshold where all the creatures of my imagination could truly exist. Maybe it has something to do with the city’s own sense of immortality. Very little changes here, whether it’s the architecture, the colorful presence of art and music, the tantalizing aroma of chicory-laced coffee, or the ever-present sense that an undercurrent of something dark and magic thrums just below the surface.

I promise it’s nothing to be intimidated by. The locals are friendly and the tourist even more so, perhaps helped by the loose liquor laws. Whatever the reason, the city welcomes everyone and has become a favorite for so many authors, myself included.

In my new Crescent City series, it became the perfect setting for my fae characters. A place where mortals and othernaturals could indulge in food, drink, music, love, and war, all while fully aware of each others’ existence.
If you find yourself in New Orleans and want to check out some of the places where the lines between this world and the supernatural seem to blur, take this list with you. A few of these spots show up in my series.

The cemeteries of New Orleans

Sometimes called the Cities of the Dead because their towering crypts and monuments create mini-skylines, a stroll through any one of these final resting places is something you’ll always remember. My favorite is Lafayette Cemetery No. One in the Garden District and conveniently located across from Commander’s Palace restaurant. Both spots make an appearance in my series, but the cemetery gets top billing as it’s also the location of the fae’s underground headquarters (via a secret entry through one of its crypts).

The Ursuline Convent

Hard to believe this quiet, reverent place is just steps from the constant party of Bourbon Street. But this gorgeous building is such an amazing location, I had to write it into my book as the place my hero’s mother took refuge. Not only one of the few remaining examples of French Colonial architecture, the Convent has been both an orphanage and a school for girls (a usage it’s returned to in my Crescent City series).  Walled off from the rest of the French Quarter like its own little domain, it’s easy to understand how tales arose that vampires were once held prisoner in its attic.

Haunted buildings

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is probably one of the most famous with its long, haunted history that includes its namesake, the dread pirate Jean Lafitte.  Story has it, he apparently planned many of his capers here.

LaLaurie House is one of the most gruesome and has a genuinely terrifying past.  The house’s original owner, Madame LaLaurie became infamous for her torture and mutilation of slaves. (Kathy Bates resurrected her on American Horror Story: Coven.)

Lastly, there’s the Hotel Monteleone, which also makes a guest appearance in my series. This joint has a crowd of ghosts that include kids, guests who never made it out of the hotel alive, and the spirit of the guy who built the Grandfather clock in the lobby. It’s said you can occasionally see him working on it.

As coincidence has it, the hotel sports the French Quarter’s only rotating bar. With the bar’s long history of inventing cocktails, it’s no wonder such authors like Ernest Hemmingway and Truman Capote made this one of their hang outs when they were in town.

If you stop by, you might get to see them still hanging out there. How could I not write about this city? It’s the most amazing place and really, that’s the trouble with New Orleans. No one ever wants to leave.

Take your own trip to New Orleans with my Crescent City series! The final book in the trilogy, Garden of Dreams and Desires, is out April 7th.

Thank you Kristen for giving us such a haunting tour of New Orleans!  

To learn more about Kristen Painter and her books, please visit her website.  You can add her Crescent City series here on Goodreads.

Have you visited New Orleans?  Ever experience anything of the supernatural kind in and around New Orleans?  I'm going to New Orleans this summer for Author Reader Con, and I can't wait to check out the places on Kristen's list!

What did you think of Kristen's picks for spooky places?

Last week on Paranormal Road Trip we visited Sonoma County, California with Sharon Hamilton.  Next week we'll be traveling to Spokane, Washington with Danielle Annett.

Join us for another spine-tingling Paranormal Road Trip...
if you dare!

ARC NOLA Ticket Winner

Congratulations Melanie S. the winner of the ARC NOLA Ticket Giveaway at From the Shadows!  Melanie will receive a reader ticket to ARC NOLA happening in New Orleans July 30-August 1, 2015.

Thank you to all who entered!  Didn't win?  Don't worry.

There's still time to get your ticket to ARC NOLA 2015.

Author Reader Convention NOLA

Author Reader Con 2015 will be in New Orleans July 30 - August 1st.  Here are a few reasons why you should join us.

• Enjoy the tours and fun of the French Quarter with the authors
• Cover Models
• BTS E-Magazine Red Carpet Awards
• Book Signing 
• Panels
• Games
• Ball

E.J. Stevens at ARC NOLA

I will be at Author Reader Con July 30 - August 1, 2015.  Come hang out with me in the Author Lounge on Friday, July 31st and stop by my table Saturday, August 1st.  I'll also be at a few of the mixer events, including the author and reader dinner Friday night and the dance party/ball Saturday night.

In addition to the convention, I'm also organizing a Ghost Tour on July 29th, and a Cemetery Tour on August 2nd.

Come join me in the French Quarter for a weekend of bookish fun and paranormal thrills!