Paranormal romance

  • Tia Nevitt and the Sevenfold Spell …

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    Today, I’m thrilled to have Tia Nevitt, my online friend, blogger, and author of The Sevenfold Spell, here on the blog to talk about why she writes fairy tales and for a giveaway (details at the bottom of the post). Welcome, Tia!

    Thanks, Jennifer, for having me at your blog—especially since I’m apparently your first guest ever!

    Hi, everyone. I’m the author of The Sevenfold Spell, a fairy tale retelling published through Harlequin’s new digital-first imprint, Carina Press. It’s short—a novella—based on Sleeping Beauty. As the original story goes, when the king and queen had their daughter, Aurora, christened, they invited all the good fairies in the land to give their blessings to the child. This naturally left out the evil fairy. And naturally, she was annoyed. And so, in her evilness, she cast a curse on the child, that before she turned sixteen, she would prick herself upon the spindle of a spinning wheel and DIE!

    Why would she choose such an innocuous device as a spinning wheel—one that has nary a sharp point? Who knows? That’s one of the many, many plot holes I attempted to fill during my retelling.

    Maybe she chose it because she knew of the economic ramifications. The king, naturally, bans spinning wheels, and all known spinning wheels in the nation are destroyed. That’s why the opening of The Sevenfold Spell goes like this:

    The booted feet stopped before me as I sat on the ground, hugging my knees. A well-worn, black military boot kicked forward, thumping against my shins. It smarted, but it could have hurt far worse. I looked up at the harried constable. He frowned down at us—a troubled frown, but not an angry one. He was portly and balding, and was a common sight in our part of town. This wasn’t an evil man, but a good man who had been sent out to do an evil task.

    “Get up,” he said, his voice so dispirited I almost felt sorry for him.

    “Don’t move,” Mama said. It had been her idea that we wedge ourselves hip to hip in the narrow doorway of our shop.

    He sighed. “Come now, I don’t like this a bit more than you do.”

    “You’ll have to move us,” Mama said.

    The constable looked over his shoulder. The fairy hovered there. She was tiny—no larger than my hand— with shimmery pale green leggings and tunic. Her beauty made it difficult to look away.

    “Can you move them?” he asked her.

    “I am not here to do your job, Constable,” the fairy said, “only to see that you do it honestly.”

    So why fairy tales? Because I love them. There is a definite soft spot in my heart for any story that involves a maiden in distress—princesses are even better—especially when she lacks the power to fight whatever put her in distress. I do prefer the fairy tales where the princess gets herself out of her bad situation, which is why Beauty and the Beast is my favorite tale. She gets to rescue the prince!

    But the catalyst came when I was watching Disney’s Sleeping Beauty with my daughter, and got to the part where they burn all the spinning wheels. I thought, what about the poor spinsters? So I decided to tell the story. When it stalled, I researched the other stories. Beauty and the Beast is terribly unjust—all the inhabitants of the Beast’s castle are turned invisible. For Cinderella, I wondered what might have happened if the fairy could not have conjured Cinderella’s garments out of thin air. And for Snow White, I speculated on that face in the magic mirror—you know, the one who thought the evil queen was so lovely before he decided he liked Snow White better.

    These stories are all simmering on back burners, except the Cinderella story, which I am actively drafting.

    Mostly, I like these tales for the sense of wonder. Since the original stories were not for children, mine aren’t either. Don’t adults deserve fairy tales, too? I think so. But we like our fairy tales somewhat gritty, with unexpected bits of humor along with the tragedy and wonder, and maybe with a heroine that is not as pure as the wind-driven snow. At least I do, for this particular story. And I hope you do as well.

    Thanks for being here, Tia! I thought The Sevenfold Spell was a cool fairy tale retelling, and I’m looking forward to reading more from you. Folks can find my review of the book here.

    For more on Tia, visit her website. Tia is also giving away a copy of The Sevenfold Spell. To enter, just leave a comment on this post about why you do or don’t like fairy tales or what your favorite fairy tale is. The contest will be open through midnight, Friday, Jan. 7, and I’ll announce the winner sometime next week.

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    I dream of cover blurbs …

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    A while back, author Judi Fennell asked me to read her paranormal romance, I Dream of Genies, for a possible cover blurb. I thought the book was a lot of fun (you can read my review here), and I gave her blurb — Cute, quirky, and charming … a romantic, action-packed tale!

    A few weeks ago, I got a copy of the book in the mail thanks to Judi — and they used my blurb on the back cover!  This is the first time a blurb of mine has been on a book cover. Is it wrong that I find this to be super cool? 😉

    Okay, okay, enough about me. The book comes out Jan. 4 (tomorrow) so be on the lookout for it. It really is a cute read and reminded me of the old Romancing the Stone movie … but with genies, magic, and a snarky talking cat. (In fact, I told Judi she should use that as one of her future book titles — Romancing the Genie).

    Anyway, if you’re a little tired of vampires and werewolves (like I am) but are still looking for a fun paranormal romance read, you should give this one a try. Congrats to Judi!

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    A different kind of book …

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    I’m still basking in the glow of the Publishers Weekly review, but today, I want to talk about a couple of things that are mentioned in the review, namely this:

    Bodies litter the pages of this first entry in Estep’s engrossing Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series … Fans of Estep’s humorous paranormal romances (Jinx; Hot Mama) may be taken aback by the gritty violence and steamy sex, but urban fantasy fans will love it. (Feb.)

    In other words, Spider’s Bite is a different kind of book than the ones in my Bigtime series. Spider’s Bite is dark and gritty, violent and sexy — it is not a lightweight comic book spoof like the Bigtime books are. The main character in Spider’s Bite is an assassin, and Gin does kill people in the book — in fact, she kills a lot of people in the book. She wouldn’t be much of an assassin if she didn’t kill people, now would she?

    So why am I bringing this up? Well, because I want readers — especially those who enjoyed my Bigtime series — to know what they’re getting with Spider’s Bite. Because it’s definitely a different kind of book, and those looking for a more lighthearted read may be disappointed.

    We’ve all seen blog posts bemoaning the fact that an author has switched genres, and I’m sure that I’ll get some e-mails from readers telling me that they don’t like Spider’s Bite and that I should have written another Bigtime book instead. So why didn’t I do that? Well, there are a couple of reasons.

    First, my previous publisher decided that they didn’t want any more Bigtime books. As much as I love writing the series, I have to eat and pay my bills just like everyone else. And in the book market right now, dark, gritty, urban fantasy and paranormal romance is where it’s at — that’s what editors are buying and that’s what readers are reading.

    Second, I had been wanting to write an assassin story for a while now and penning an urban fantasy gave me the opportunity to do that — and really stretch myself as a writer. That’s important to me because I think that writers who write the same kind of book over and over again get stale. I know that I’ve loved the first few books in a series only to be disappointed by the later titles that just seem like retreads of those first great books (Janet Evanovich comes to mind).

    But I hope that my Bigtime readers will give Gin Blanco and Spider’s Bite a chance. In the end, I think that Spider’s Bite and my Bigtime series have a lot of the same elements in common — a sassy, sarcastic, kick-ass heroine, cool world building, lots of fight scenes, and some sizzling romance. Everything is just much darker in Spider’s Bite, including the humor. In fact, I’m billing the book as dark, fun, sexy urban fantasy — we’ll see if my Bigtime readers and others agree.

    What about you guys? Do you like it or loathe it when an author switches genres? Share in the comments.

  • Holiday gift guide …

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    I love buying books to give as Christmas gifts, and I’m pretty good at picking out titles that my friends and family like. Seriously, it’s a weird, random skill that I have.

    So I thought that I’d put my skill to good use and share some of my picks for gifts for the book lover on your holiday shopping list. Here goes:

    Contemporary romance: Nobody writes it better than Lisa Kleypas, so check out Sugar Daddy, which is part romance, part coming-of-age story about a girl growing up in Texas. Another good bet is Kristan Higgins, whose books like Too Good to be True feature lovable dogs.

    Epic fantasy: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch focuses on a group of thieves and a con gone wrong. Also, check out The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe, which features a Sam Spade-type private investigator in a sword-and-sorcery fantasy world. For dragon lovers, you can’t go wrong with His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik. Magic Lost, Trouble Found by Lisa Shearin is good for those who like female-focused epic fantasy.

    Paranormal romance: Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark series is great for romance readers who like a variety of paranormal creatures and books with a dark, fairy tale feel. Start with the first book, A Hunger Like No Other. For vampire lovers, check out Halfway to the Grave by Jeaniene Frost or Dark Lover by J.R. Ward.

    Romantic suspense: Roxanne St. Claire’s Bullet Catchers series is fun, action-packed romantic suspense. Kill Me Twice is the first book in the series. For darker reads, check out Anne Stuart’s Ice series, which focuses on a group of spies and includes Black Ice.

    Thrillers: Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series is a solid choice. The first book is Killing Floor. For more of a vintage read, check out Devil May Care by Sebastian Faulks. It features Ian Fleming’s super spy, James Bond.

    Westerns: Although he’s better known for his detective novels, Robert B. Parker has written a couple of westerns, including Appaloosa, which was recently turned into a movie. And there’s always Louis L’Amour. Several of his short story collections are available.

    Western historical romance: Try Jodi Thomas’ Whispering Mountain series, which kicks off with Texas Rain. Also, A Creed Country Christmas by Linda Lael Miller would make a great before-Christmas gift. Never Love a Lawman by Jo Goodman is another good western romance to check out.

    Young adult: For teens who like epic fantasy, Graceling by Kristin Cashore is a good bet. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is another great YA read, and for teens who can’t get enough vampires, check out Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead.

    I could go on (and on … and on …), but those are some pretty good choices when it comes to books. Looking for something besides a book to give? Check out these items:

    Harlequin Notables stationary: I love this vintage line of stationary that Harlequin is offering, which features everything from notepads to collectible postcard tins. Also, watch the site for special deals, like buy 2 books get 1 free. Plus, if you’re a new customer, shipping is free on your first order. (I took advantage of that offer myself).

    Holographic bookmarks: I saw some of these at my local Hallmark store. Basically, they’re bookmarks that you turn this way and that to make the images on them move. Pretty cool and a little more interesting than your typical bookmark.

    Gift cards: Yeah, I know they’re a little boring, but sometimes, it’s just easier to give a gift card than it is to hunt for a certain book. And then, the person you’re buying it for can get exactly what he or she wants.

    What about you guys? What books would you suggest? Which ones are you giving or getting for Christmas? Share in the comments.

  • Urban fantasy arrival …

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    So I went to my local used bookstore this weekend. All I have to say is that you know your genre has arrived when it gets it own shelves in the used bookstore. I was thrilled to see some new shelves devoted exclusively to urban fantasy this time around, and the paranormal romance section had taken over some new shelves as well.

    As a result, I came home with several books. 😉

    I picked up Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole; Exit Strategy by Kelley Armstrong; Rachel and the Hired Gun by Elaine Levine; and Storm Born by Richelle Mead, along with a few others.

    Which, of course, means that my TBR pile is now pushing 20 books again. But there’s just something about all those glossy covers together in one place that I can’t resist. Hello, my name is Jennifer, and I’m a book addict … 😉

    What about you guys? What have you been reading lately? Share in the comments.