Friday, September 30, 2011

Guest Post: Trinity Faegen

UFI welcomes Trinity Faegen Author of The Mephisto Convenant. Thanks for Joining us!!

Author This or That

Vampires or shifters

Vampires! Preferably with dental insurance.

Angels or Demons

Demons. I love a tortured soul.

Left or Right

Right.

Coffee or Tea

Coffee. I love the smell!

Coke or Pepsi

Coke! Pepsi is a sin against mankind.

Pizza or pasta

Pasta, especially homemade cheese ravioli.

YA or Adult

Have to punt on this one and say, it depends on my mood.

Facebook or twitter

Totally Twitter! It’s like a big party, all day, every day, whenever you can drop in.

up or down

Generally looking up, which means I fall down a lot.

Book signing or panel speaking

Panel speaking. Book signings are fraught with multitude opportunities for my ego to be
beaten up and hung out to dry.

Reading or Writing

I’ll go with reading when I’m not writing, but when a project is in process, no reading.

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Trinity Faegen wasn’t always a writer. She had an illustrious career as a Campus Cop in college, led many children astray as a camp counselor, and decorated Christmas trees for sweet, and notsosweet, little old ladies. She loves metal and rock, the Rocky mountains, chocolate cake and college football. She hates sappy stuff and hypocrites. Mostly, though, she loves to write.

Trinity lives in the outback of Texas with her husband and a mean cat.
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Find Trinity and her books
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The Mephisto Covenant
The Mephisto Covenant #1
September 27, 2011
Sasha is desperate to find out who murdered her father. When getting the answer means pledging her soul to Eryx, she unlocks a secret that puts her in grave danger—Sasha is Anabo, a daughter of Eve, and Eryx’s biggest threat.

A son of Hell, immortal, and bound to Earth forever, Jax looks for redemption in the Mephisto Covenant—God’s promise he will find peace in the love of an Anabo. After a thousand years, he’s finally found the girl he’s been searching for: Sasha.

With the threat of Eryx looming, Jax has to keep Sasha safe and win her over. But can he? Will Sasha love him and give up her mortal life?

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Thursday, September 29, 2011

Guest Post, Review & Giveaway: Nancy Holzner

UFI welcomes Nancy Holzner Author of the Deadtown Series. Thanks for Joining us!!

Let me begin by thanking Stacy for inviting me to stop by Urban Fantasy Investigations. It's great to be here to celebrate the release of Bloodstone, the third book in my Deadtown series set in Boston and featuring Victory Vaughn, a shapeshifter who kills other people's personal demons for a living. Urban fantasy is my all-time favorite genre to read and to write. Today I'm going to talk about why I love writing urban fantasy, counting down my ten best reasons.


Top 10 Reasons Why I Write Urban Fantasy

I began my career as a medievalist; I earned a PhD in medieval English literature and then taught works like Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Le Morte d’Arthur to college students. A lot of people (including some perplexed family members) have asked me how I made the journey from academic medievalist to urban fantasy author. It was a long trip with several detours—along the way, I worked as a high school teacher, copyeditor, corporate trainer, instructional designer, and nonfiction author. I also penned two other novels—neither of them a fantasy—before I wrote Deadtown, the opening novel in my urban fantasy series. So I didn’t exactly go to sleep one night as a medievalist and wake up the next morning to find that the Urban Fantasy Fairy had left the Deadtown manuscript under my pillow.

Even so, there’s a lot about urban fantasy for a former medievalist to love. Here are the top ten reasons I write in this genre:

10. I get to reinterpret some of my favorite stories. My series underlying mythology comes from the Mabinogi, a collection of Welsh stories and legends written down in the 12th and 13th centuries (although the stories themselves are probably much older). It’s one thing to study medieval stories and another thing to teach them. But using them as the basis for an urban fantasy series brings them to life in a whole new way.

9. Zombies! In the Middle Ages, the faithful believed that on Judgment Day the dead would be resurrected—body and soul reunited—to stand before God and learn their ultimate fate. There are some great doomsday illustrations of corpses climbing out of their graves, animals bringing back half-chewed limbs to reunite them with their owners, sea monsters vomiting up drowned sailors . . . talk about a zombie apocalypse! My zombies are different from that idea of the risen dead; they’re also different from the shambling brain-munchers you find in horror fiction. They’re victims of a mysterious virus, and they’re people who think and talk and act. They’re almost like you or me, aside from their stiff limbs, superhuman strength, and gray-green, spongy skin. Oh, and one other teensy little problem: their frenzied hunger at the scent of human blood.

8. I can use second-person familiar pronouns. After years of reading Old and Middle English literature, I’ve got thee, thou, thy, and thine down cold. And I’m not afraid to use them, either; in my series Difethwr, a Hellion that menaces Boston, speaks in an archaic style. (Try getting away with that in a how-to book!)

7. Magic is real. Lots of people today don’t believe in magic, and I think that’s a shame. To medieval people, magic was real. People used spells and charms to injure and heal, to find lost objects, to make barren land fertile. Often, these spells were pagan in origin but incorporated Christian elements that, in the minds of the practitioners, boosted their firepower. Magic is also a fact of life in urban fantasy. My Deadtown series has witches, who work with natural forces to direct magic, and sorcerers, who summon demons to do their bidding. In Bloodstone, an ancient wizard is resurrected—and he knows how to work a more ancient and dangerous magic.

6. Demons! Medieval Europe was a demon-haunted place. Stories abound of travelers encountering shapeshifting demons on the road, of demons tormenting pious monks, of corpses crawling out of their coffins, possessed and piloted by demons. Medieval demons weren’t just bogeymen in scary stories; they represented evil—its power, its temptations, its consequences—and they were real to people. Urban fantasy lets me set real demons loose in the world and then figure out how to fight them.

5. I get to take revenge on Shakespeare. The great English playwright took old stories, many of them from the Middle Ages, and rewrote them for his own audience. About time someone did the same thing to him. (I know, I’m not the first—not by a long shot. It was still fun, though.) Vicky's vampire roommate, Juliet, is the Juliet—as in “Romeo and.” And she's pretty annoyed with the Bard for the way he messed up her story.

4. I can get allegorical on my story. Allegory is an extended metaphor in which characters and settings are themselves (on the literal level) and also represent something more than themselves (on the allegorical level). Medieval morality plays, for example, have characters with names like Everyman, Death, Good Deeds, and Knowledge. Nothing in Deadtown's world is that obviously allegorical, but do the zombies or Deadtown itself represent something more than the literal? Hmm . . . The cool thing about allegory is that the reader gets to decide.

3. I can ignore the laws of physics. That apple didn’t bonk Sir Isaac Newton on the head until the 17th century. During the Middle Ages, the closest thing to physics was called “natural philosophy,” and it attempted to figure out the workings of the natural world (with the understanding that natural law was subject to divine law). People didn’t worry about things like the law of conservation of mass. My shapeshifters don’t worry much about that, either. Whether turning into a mouse or a wolf or a rhinoceros, they just do it.

2. Flaming swords! Seriously, who wouldn’t want one of these? The archangel Saint Michael had one. He used it to destroy demons and guard the entrance to Paradise. Vicky gets one, too. In fact, hers is named the Sword of Saint Michael, and it’s the only weapon that’s effective against Hellions.

1. It’s even more fun than grading a stack of final exams! There was a lot that I loved about teaching, but sometimes sitting through endless faculty meetings and trying to make constructive comments on last-minute papers could try the patience of a saint. (And I should know; I wrote my doctoral dissertation on saints’ lives.) As much as I’ve always loved reading, analyzing, and discussing stories, writing my own is a lot more fun.

And there you have it, my ten best reasons for writing urban fantasy. I hope you all enjoy reading the genre as much as I enjoy writing it! If you'd like to know more, please visit my website, www.nancyholzner.com, which has information about my books, including first chapters. You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter. Besides urban fantasy, I also write a quirky contemporary mystery series set in a college town in upstate New York. Peace, Love, and Murder has been a bestselling ebook on Amazon, and its sequel will be out in early 2012.
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Personal Demons
Author:Nancy Holzner
Release Date: September 27, 2011
Publisher: Ace
Deadtown Book #3
ISBN:   044102100X
ISBN13: 9780441021000
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Review Copy Source: Publisher 


Boston's Back Bay district is known for high society, not lowlifes. So when mutilated human bodies begin turning up in the area, the entire city takes notice. And even though there's no real evidence pointing to a paranormal culprit, the deaths are straining relations between human and inhuman residents. 

As the bodies pile up, demon-hunter Vicky Vaughn investigates, only to find that the creature behind the carnage is after much more than just blood...
Once again Vicky takes on the task of stopping a killer before she ends up dying herself.

There is a lot of new things resolved, revealed and started. I love reading more about Deadtown the people in it and the things that they have to go through.  Vicky and Kane's relationship has grown quite a bit. I was kind of sad with the ending of her "maybe" relationship with Daniel but seeing how much Kane and Vicky have grown together and the situations they go through together in BLOODSTONE I have definitely changed my mind. I actually kind of started to really dislike Daniel, he kinda turned into a jerk. LOVE Aunt Mab, I loved learning more about her and seeing her again. I cant wait to see what else she brings to future books. There wasn't as much action in BLOODSTONE as previous books but the situations were still pretty intense and heart pounding. I'm also interested to see how much more of a role Vicky's sister and her daughter will play in future books after everything that has changed in their lives. If you have not started the Deadtown series yet I would recommend starting at book one and if you have enjoyed the previous books you have to read BLOODSTONE.

I gave it 4/5 stars
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Find Nancy and her books
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Not only is Nancy giving away a Signed Copy of Bloodstone but the winner will also receive this unique Piece of Bloodstone Jewelry


4 Other sites will be giving away a unique piece of Bloodstone Jewelry Check them out

***UPDATE- I recieved an extra copy of BLOODSTONE in the mail and will  be giving that away as well***

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Guest Blog & Giveaway: Spiders Revenge by Jennifer Estep

UFI welcomes Jennifer Estep Author of The Elemental Assassin's series. Thanks for Joining us!!

Greetings and salutations! First of all, I want to say thanks to Stacy for having me on the blog again today. Thanks so much, Stacy!

So today I thought I would talk a little bit about why I like urban fantasy since Spider’s Revenge, the fifth book in my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series, was released on Sept. 27. Here goes:

1) The strong heroines: I love reading and writing about strong heroines, and urban fantasy is full of strong heroines. These women kick butt and save the world on a regular basis. What could be cooler than that?

2) The fight scenes: I love a good fight scene, and there is usually a lot of action in urban fantasy, whether the heroine is chasing someone through a dark alley or facing down the bad guy in the big battle at the end.

3) The creatures: If you can dream it up, you can write about it in urban fantasy. Vampires, werewolves, witches, wizards, elementals, fairies, giants, dwarves, ogres, goblins – you can find all those creatures and more in urban fantasy.

4) The magic and world building: Along with the creatures, you can write about any kind of magic you want to in urban fantasy, from elemental powers to mythology to fairy tale- type magic. Plus, the stories can take place in any kind of setting, from a fictional city to the countryside to another dimension.

5) The variety: All the different creatures, magic, and world building make for a lot of variety. So whether you like vampire stories or ones about witches or something else, you’re sure to find some urban fantasy books that will appeal to you.

6) The cool covers and titles: There are a lot of great book covers in the urban fantasy genre, and I especially like Kim Harrison’s Clint Eastwood movie-themed titles. I just like the dark, gritty, spooky feel that so many of the urban fantasy covers and titles have.

7) The secondary characters: Whether they are the heroine’s sidekicks, the villains, or more mysterious figures, there are some great secondary characters in urban fantasy, like Bob the skull in the Harry Dresden series by Jim Butcher.

8) The love interests: A girl needs a great guy to come home to at night (or vice versa), and urban fantasy usually features a love interest or two. Sometimes, a love match is made in one book, or sometimes, it plays out over several books, but the romance is another entertaining layer in many urban fantasy books.

9) Action, magic, and more all in one: I like reading and writing books with a little bit of everything in them – magic, action, danger, and romance – and urban fantasy features all those elements and more.

10) The community: From authors to bloggers to reviewers to readers, there are so many nice folks in the urban fantasy community (and the book world in general). It’s always fun to interact with folks who love books, reading, and writing.

So there you have it – some things I like about urban fantasy. What about you guys? What do you like about urban fantasy? What are some of your favorite urban fantasy books and authors?

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USA Today bestselling author Jennifer Estep writes the Elemental Assassin series for Pocket Books. The series focuses on Gin Blanco, an assassin codenamed the Spider who can control the elements of Ice and Stone. When she’s not busy killing people and righting wrongs, Gin runs a barbecue restaurant called the Pork Pit in the fictional Southern metropolis of Ashland. The city is also home to giants, dwarves, vampires, and elementals – Air, Fire, Ice, and Stone. Books in the series are Spider’s Bite, Web of Lies, Venom, and Tangled Threads.

Jennifer also writes the Mythos Academy young adult urban fantasy series for Kensington. Touch of Frost, the first book in the series, was released in August. First Frost, a prequel e-story to the series, is available as a 99-cent download. Kiss of Frost, the second book, will be released Nov. 29.
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Find Jennifer and her books
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Spider's Revenge
Elemental Assassin #5
September 27, 2011
Old habits die hard. And I plan on mur­der­ing some­one before the night is through.

Killing used to be my reg­u­lar gig, after all. Gin Blanco, aka the Spi­der, assassin-for-hire. And I was very good at it. Now, I’m ready to make the one hit that truly mat­ters: Mab Mon­roe, the dan­ger­ous Fire ele­men­tal who mur­dered my fam­ily when I was thir­teen.

Oh, I don’t think the mis­sion will be easy, but turns out it’s a bit more prob­lem­atic than expected. The bitch knows I’m com­ing for her. So now I’m up against the army of lethal bounty hunters she hired to track me down. She also put a price on my baby sister’s head. Keep­ing Bria safe is my first pri­or­ity. Tak­ing Mab out is a close sec­ond.

Good thing I’ve got my pow­er­ful Stone and Ice magic — and my irre­sistible lover Owen Grayson — to watch my back. This bat­tle has been years in the mak­ing, and there’s a chance I won’t sur­vive. But if I’m going down, then Mab’s com­ing with me...no mat­ter what I have to do to make that happen.
Photobucket
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 Giveaway Provided by Jennifer

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Review: Witch Song by Amber Argyle

Witch Song
Author:Amber Argyle
Release Date: September 1, 2011
Publisher: Rhemalda Publishing
ISBN:  1936850168
ISBN13: 9781936850167
Genre: Young Adult
Review Copy Source: Publisher


The world is changing. Once, Witch Song controlled everything from the winds to the shifting of the seasons--but not anymore. All the Witches are gone, taken captive by a traitor. All but Brusenna. As the echo of their songs fade, the traitor grows stronger. Now she is coming for Brusenna. Her guardian has sworn to protect her, but even he can't stop the Dark Witch. Somehow, Brusenna has to succeed where every other Witch has failed. Find the traitor. Fight her. Defeat her. Because if Brusenna doesn't, there won't be anything left to save.

Brusenna one day while in town is accused of stealing and saved from humiliation and pain by a woman that claims to know her mother. Shortly after that her mother is kidnapped by a crazy witch looking for more power and Brusenna with the help of her guardian Joshen embark on a journey of discovery while trying to save her.

Bruesenna (Senna) has always been shunned by her village and called a witch like it was a bad thing. Since that is all she has ever known she is shocked to find out that she is part of a much bigger whole of witches that use witch song to do good for the world. I loved the world that Amber was able to create. It was imaginative and filled with a great array of characters and situations. Senna has to grow up a lot in a short amount of time and learn to depend on others. She is so used to people hating her and losing people she cares about that she pushes people away to keep them safe. Joshen was a great character from the moment he was introduced. He had always wanted to follow in his fathers footsteps and become a guardian, he fell in love with Senna from the moment he saw her. He was protective, loyal and all around a great romantic partner when the two finally realized they both felt the same way about each other. The magic was different and I enjoyed the action that went along with it. All the witches were interesting to read about and came in an array of personalities. I really want to read more so I hope this will be one of many books for Senna and the witches.

I gave it 4/5 stars

New Releases Sept 25- Oct 1


Tues Sept 27

A Beautiful Dark by Jocelyn Davies
Bound By Blood by Amanda Ashley
Bloodstone (Deadtown, #3) by Nancy Holzner
The Faerie Ring by Kiki Hamilton
Lost in Time (Blue Bloods, #6) by Melissa de la Cruz
Must Love Vampires by Heidi Betts
Oceanborne (Seaborne, #2) by Katherine Irons
The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin
Thurs Sept 29
Please let me know if you see a mistake or if anything is missing. Happy Reading =)

Monday, September 26, 2011

Take my books Giveaway




My bookshelf is drowning in books so I'm giving some away. Some are finished copies, some are ARCs, some might not be UF or PN but what is mine will become yours if you are the lucky winner. Here is a picture of what you will definitely be getting and there is a very good chance more will be added to it before they ship out. 

**CLICK READ MORE TO GET TO GIVEAWAY ENTRY FORM**


Review: Working Stiff by Rachel Caine

Working Stiff
Author:Rachel Caine
Release Date: August 2, 2011
Publisher: Roc
Revivalist Book #1
ISBN:   0451464133
ISBN13: 9780451464132
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Bryn Davis knows working at Fairview Mortuary isn't the most glamorous career choice, but at least it offers stable employment--until she discovers her bosses using a drug that resurrects the clientele as part of an extortion racket. Now, Bryn faces being terminated--literally, and with extreme prejudice.

Wit the help of corporate double-agent Patrick McCallister, Bryn has a chance to take down the bigger problem--pharmaceutical company Pharmadene, which treats death as the ultimate corporate loyalty program. She'd better do it fast, before she becomes a zombie slave--a real working stiff. She'd be better off dead...
I was pleasantly surprised with WORKING STIFF. I'm not crazy about the cover so I wasn't overly excited to pick this book up but I saw some 5 star reviews from reviewers I usually agree with so I traded for it. Bryn is former military and decides to work in a funeral home. On her first day everything starts out ok until she ends up working late and seeing things she isn't supposed to and is murdered. Only she doesn't stay dead, she is resurrected with a drug that keeps her alive as long as she keeps getting the shots on time and if she doesn't help catch the dealer supplying the drug on the black market she wont be getting her shots anymore.

The whole concept and story was very unique. I was engrossed in the story from the beginning. Bryn turns out to be very intriguing, strong, and all around a great heroine. Although  she had her "why me" moments she kept on going and doing what she needed to do. Patrick starts out being so so. I didn't really like him a whole lot in the beginning but he slowly grew on me and when I got to know him a little better I really started to enjoy his character as well. Their romance is gradual and flows into the rest of the story well. I really liked Joe Fideli. I kinda actually thought him and Bryn would end up together until I found out he was married with kids and happy lol, he really was a down to earth loyal guy though. WORKING STIFF was a tiny bit disturbing, full of action & suspense and an all around a great read. I am looking forward to book two.

I gave it 4/5 stars

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Winner: Dragon's Oath by P.C. & Kristin Cast (Audio)


Thank you to everyone that entered!!



PRIZE: One Audio copy of Dragon's Oath

The winner chosen by Random.org is…


Temperance 




Congrats!! I have emailed winner who has 48 hours to respond with mailing address or I will pick another.

Week in Review: 9/18-9/24



Books Ive Bought/received

* Drink, Slay, Love by Sarah Beth Durst- From Publisher for review

* Immortalis Carpe Noctem by Katie Salidas- Signed- From Author as thank you for hosting her.

* Dragonswood by Janet Lee Carey- ARC- From publisher for Teen book scene review


Books I read

Shadow Kin by M.J. Scott
Crave by Melissa Darnell
Concrete Savior by Yvonne Navarro
Blood On Silk by Marie Treanor

Reviews posted


Ardeur by Danielle Gavin
Blood Rights by Kristen Painter
Spiders Revenge by Jennifer Estep
Eve by Anna Carey

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* New Releases for the week. Was there anything you were looking forward to reading?


* Scott Tracey Stopped in on Thursday with a guest blog.


* Katie Salidas was here Friday with and Interview and Giveaway.

*If you see something on my books Ive read list that you are dying to know about let me know I'm back logged on reviews and can move it up on the list if I know people are wanting one.

* I love comments so if you see something you like (or not) please comment away and let me know.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Early Review: Eve by Anna Carey

Eve
Author:Anna Carey
Release Date: October 4, 2011
Publisher: Harper Collins
The Eve Trilogy Book #1
ISBN:   0062048503
ISBN13: 9780062048509
Genre: Young Adult/Dystopian
Review Copy Source: Netgalley


Where do you go when nowhere is safe?
Sixteen years after a deadly virus wiped out most of Earth’s population, the world is a perilous place. Eighteen-year-old Eve has never been beyond the heavily guarded perimeter of her school, where she and two hundred other orphaned girls have been promised a future as the teachers and artists of the New America. But the night before graduation, Eve learns the shocking truth about her school’s real purpose—and the horrifying fate that awaits her.
Fleeing the only home she’s ever known, Eve sets off on a long, treacherous journey, searching for a place she can survive. Along the way she encounters Arden, her former rival from school, and Caleb, a rough, rebellious boy living in the wild. Separated from men her whole life, Eve has been taught to fear them, but Caleb slowly wins her trust . . . and her heart. He promises to protect her, but when soldiers begin hunting them, Eve must choose between true love and her life.
In this epic new series, Anna Carey imagines a future that is both beautiful and terrifying. Readers will revel in Eve’s timeless story of forbidden love and extraordinary adventure.

Eve spent most of her life in a school for girls, she has looked forward to her graduation so that she can move onto the new school where she will learn her trade which will take her to the City of Sand and her new life. All her thoughts of her future get turned upside down on the day before her ceremony when a schoolmate Arden, someone who she does not like tells her what really happens across the lake where she thinks her new life is going to begin. It all starts a journey that will make her grow up fast, get over all her brainwashing, learn what she really wants and see her world for what it really is.

The book has a ton of character building, adventure, suspense and action. The plot flowed pretty well, I found some thing inconsistent at times but it wasn't enough to take the enjoyment of the story away.  I enjoyed Eve's progression from naive book smart school girl to a young woman with a backbone and the start of street smarts. There were definitely times where I wanted to yell at her and ask her what the heck she was thinking with some of the moves she made, and the people she put in danger. I also liked Arden from the beginning, she was nothing like what Eve thought she was and as the story continues their bond as friends grows into something extraordinary, I really hope to see her in book 2. Caleb the romantic interest also had a really tough childhood. He was also an orphan and we find out that the boys are sent to labor camps. He was easy to like and fit in the story well. I wish we would have gotten a little more information about the plague. Where did it come from? Is there still a big threat or has it been eradicated? Some stuff about it is just left to the imagination really. I have to say I hated the ending. After everything that Eve and Caleb went through I just don't get it. I of course cant tell you what happened but my thoughts when I read it was Really?? After all the fighting and declaring your love your just going to go in? And your just going to turn around and go back? Just doesn't mesh with me. I'm sure it will be rectified in books to come  but I really disliked how EVE ended. I enjoyed the book and didn't want to put it down at any point so I will definitely look out for book 2.

I gave it 3.5/5

Friday, September 23, 2011

Guest Blog & Giveaway: Katie Salidas

UFI welcomes Katie Salidas Author of the Immortalis Series. Thanks for Joining us!!

What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?

You wouldn’t guess it from talking with me online, or seeing me on Facebook or Twitter, but I am an extremely shy person. It’s really easy to seem outgoing online, but the reality of it is, I am very awkward in social situations. I never know what to say and often end up being a wallflower. On the plus side, it makes me a very good people watcher and that turns into a good character artist. I take what I see, when I’m blending in with the scenery, and use that to help me in creating my characters.

What do you enjoy doing on your down time?

Down time for me is a foreign concept. Between family and writing, I don’t have much time for myself. I do love a good soak in the tub though, with a steamy novel to read. I admit that is one of my guilty pleasures.

What is your Favorite part of writing?


Writing is freedom. I can shape a scene in any way I want and that is fun. When you write a story, you are 100% in charge. You can kill off a character, make the hero fall in love, be as evil or as good as you would like. In a way it’s therapeutic. You can work out aggressions by writing a very detailed fight scene. And when it is all said and done, you have a product that others will be able to enjoy.

Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?

I must have silence! Not total silence though. I tend to have a bit of ADD and when there are distractions around such as, hubby watching an interesting show on TV or my daughter asking 100 questions a minute, I can’t concentrate. I tend to do most of my writing when I’m alone. That often equates to long hours at night when the hubby and munchkin are sleeping.

What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Genres?

I’m a Patricia Briggs, Sherrlyn Kenyon, Anne Rice, Laura K. Hamilton, (the list could go on and on) fan. Basically, if there is a vampire, werewolf, or fae creature in your work, I want to read it. I’m addicted to anything paranormal, with only one exception… Zombies. I just can’t do zombies. They scare the crap out of me. LoL.

How would you pitch the Immortalis series to someone who has not heard of your books before?

My favorite line is actually the tag line to my first book. “Becoming a vampire is easy. Living with the condition, that’s the hard part.”

You might have read books about vampires, but how many of them took you step by step through the emotional turmoil of what that change actually entails? In Immortalis you’ll see a normal, everyday girl lose everything as she becomes a creature of the night. But it’s not all doom and gloom. Sure, there’s a learning curve there, but if she can overcome it, both she and you, the reader, will find that it can be pretty sweet!

Can you tell us a little bit about the world that the Immortalis series is set in?

The Immortalis series is set in modern times. Books one and two are set in Las Vegas Nevada, which, by the way, is the best city out there for creatures of the night. Book three, Pandora’s box takes you to Boston. There you will learn even more about the world of unnatural creatures and some of their origins in Ancient Greek Mythology. What I wanted, was to show you how easy it would be for these creatures of the night to actually exist and oftentimes co-exist within normal society.

Do you have a favorite scene in Pandora‘s Box?

Without giving too much away, I love it when Nicholas taunts the head of the Olde Town wolf pack, Connor, into a fight. Nicholas is one of my favorite characters and his attitude makes him so much fun to write.

Which character was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?

Nicholas is my favorite to write about. He’s annoyingly antagonistic, but he’s always right and always on the side of good. He’s the guy you love to hate. Oddly enough, Alyssa, the main character, is very hard to write. Through the series she has a lot of growing up to do both in the vampire and human world. Sometimes I really have to play with her immaturity and even I get annoyed with her. But, feeling that deeply about  character (sometimes you just want to smack some sense into her) means I’m striking the
right chord. She’s real because of that flaw and as she grows up through the books, you’ll be able to see that and really connect with her.

What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?

Book 4 is in the works right now and I hope to have it out by spring 2012. I can’t give too much away, but suffice to say the cliffhanger of book three will be resolved.

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Katie Salidas is a Super Woman! Endowed with special powers and abilities, beyond those of mortal women, She can get the munchkin off to gymnastics, cheerleading, Girl Scouts, and swim lessons. She can put hot food on the table for dinner while assisting with homework, baths, and bedtime… And, She still finds the time to keep the hubby happy (nudge nudge wink wink). She can do all of this and still have time to write.

And if you can believe all of those lies, there is some beautiful swamp land in Florida for sale…

Katie Salidas resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mother, wife, and author, she does try to do it all, often causing sleep deprivation and many nights passed out at the computer. Writing books is her passion, and she hopes that her passion will bring you hours of entertainment.
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Find Katie and her books
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Thursday, September 22, 2011

Winner: Meredith Allard Giveaway


Thank you to everyone that entered!!


PRIZE: One e-Copy of Her Dear and Loving Husband

The winner chosen by Random.org is…



Na





Congrats!! I have emailed winner who has 48 hours to respond with mailing address or I will pick another.

Guest Blog: Scott Tracey

UFI welcomes Scott Tracey Author of Witch Eyes. Thanks for Joining us!!

Character Tweets
If your characters had Twitter accounts, what would their conversations look like?


witcheyedboy Braden Michaels
Okay guys, help me out.  Which pair should I wear today? These? or these?

royaljade Jade Lansing
@witcheyedboy This is a joke, right?  What about the pair of Versace's that I bought you last week?  Those pairs aren't even designer. 

rileynewsnow Riley 
Will die without coffee.  Double shot soy machiatto.  Will to live....fading....

witcheyedboy Braden Michaels
TV does not prepare you for exactly how much homework you get every night.  I'm never going to finish all this! 

shiftingalliances Drew Armstrong
@witcheyedboy Do what I do.  Don't do it. 

royaljade Jade Lansing
@shiftingalliances @witcheyedboy Yes, Braden, take advice from the sociopathic dropout living in the woods.  Best decision yet. 

shiftingalliances Drew Armstrong
With great looks, comes great responsibility. 

rileynewsnow Riley 
@shiftingalliances You're kidding, right? 

shiftingalliances Drew Armstrong
@rileynewsnow It's very hard to be pretty, Riley.  I'm sure you understand. 

rileynewsnow Riley 
@shiftingalliances ........ 

witcheyedboy Braden Michaels
Watched the X-Men movies at @TreyL's behest.  I get why he calls me Cyke, but Cyclops was kind of a douche.   

TreyL Trey Lansing
@witcheyedboy Relax, I wasn't calling you a douche. 

witcheyedboy Braden Michaels
@TreyL Good, because you act like him more than I do. Especially last night. 

rileynewsnow Riley 
@witcheyedboy @TreyL You guys are such weird friends. 

royaljade Jade Lansing
@rileynewsnow @witcheyedboy @TreyL *sigh* Riley, we've talked about this.  
  
TreyL Trey Lansing
"Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiam." -Winston Churchill 

royaljade Jade Lansing
@TreyL Really, Grandpa? @witcheyedboy, are you really sure about dating this nerd? 

witcheyedboy Braden Michaels
@royaljade @TreyL Uhm, I thought it was a good quote? 

royaljade Jade Lansing
I love when guys think we should be flattered by their attention. 

royaljade Jade Lansing
Boys, if I didn't make the first move, then your application was not approved. 

shiftingalliances Drew Armstrong
@royaljade Applications?  I thought you were just using a turnstile.  

royaljade Jade Lansing
@shiftingalliances Turn on the GPS tracking on your phone before you tweet next time, and we'll see which one of us is a turnstile. 

shiftingalliances Drew Armstrong
@royaljade And make it easy on you?   

witcheyedboy Braden Michaels
@shiftingalliances @royaljade You sure that you two broke up?   

TreyL Trey Lansing
I know that Lady Gaga is supposed to be the wind beneath my wings or whatever, but really? Really? 

royaljade Jade Lansing
@TreyL I hope you know you're a waste of a perfectly good stereotype.
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Scott Tracey lived on a Greyhound for a month, wrote his illustrated autobiography at the age of six, and barely survived Catholic school (and definitely not for the reasons you might think).

His career highlights include: accidentally tripping a panic alarm and nearly being shot by the police, being attacked in a drive-thru window by a woman wielding a baked potato, and sending the health department after his (very brief) place of employment.

His gifts can be used for good or evil, but rather than picking a side, he strives for BOTH (in alternating capacity) for his own amusement.
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Witch Eyes
Witch Eyes #1
Sept 8, 2011
Braden was born with witch eyes: the ability to see the world as it truly is: a blinding explosion of memories, darkness, and magic. The power enables Braden to see through spells and lies, but at the cost of horrible pain.

After a terrifying vision reveals imminent danger for the uncle who raised and instructed him, Braden retreats to Belle Dam, an old city divided by two feuding witch dynasties. As rival family heads Catherine Lansing and Jason Thorpe desperately try to use Braden's powers to unlock Belle Dam's secrets, Braden vows never to become their sacrificial pawn. But everything changes when Braden learns that Jason is his father--and Trey, the enigmatic guy he's falling for, is Catherine's son.

To stop an insidious dark magic from consuming the town, Braden must master his gift—and risk losing the one he loves.
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Find Scott and his books
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Winner: Dreamland by Alyson Noël


Thank you to everyone that entered!!


PRIZE: One copy of Dreamland


The winner chosen by Random.org is…



Vivien





Congrats!! I have emailed winner who has 48 hours to respond with mailing address or I will pick another.