Susan Sey's Blog, page 10

CHASE ME with Tamara Hogan!

Hello, Bandita Buddies!  Today, for your reading pleasure, I’ve brought you Tamara Hogan.  I first met Tammy in our local RWA chapter where we were both aspiring writers, nervously clutching our manuscripts and our dreams.  Tammy sold the first three books of her Underbelly Chronicles to Sourcebooks following a Golden Heart final in 2009, & I’ve been gobbling them up ever since.  She’s here today to talk to us about the second book in the series, CHASE ME.

Susan Sey:  Hi, Tammy, and welcome!  Give us the set up for your latest release in the Underbelly Chronicles, CHASE ME.  This is Gabe and Lorin’s story, isn’t it?  Both of whom we met in book one, TASTE ME?

 Tamara Hogan:  Millennia ago, when their ship crashed to Earth, hopelessly marooning them, extra-planetary species of all types settled secretly into our world, quietly going about their business with humans none the wiser. Self–ruling and careful to stay below the radar, their secret is almost exposed when Valkyrie Lorin Schlessinger makes a stunning archaeological discovery while on a dig in northern Minnesota. Her professional nemesis, werewolf geologist Gabe Lupinsky, is quickly dispatched to perform some damage control. Though they were both dating other people at the time, Lorin and Gabe shared a scene – and some sparks – in TASTE ME.  Half a year later, away from the constraints of the office, neither is attached, and…well, you know what they say: What happens in Isabella stays in Isabella. Except when it doesn’t.   

SS:  I love it that your books are set in our beloved Minnesota!  And northern Minnesota to boot!  Isabella!  Love that town.  And speaking of setting, tell us about this world you’ve created with the Underbelly Chronicles.  What particularly appeals to you about this particular take on sci-fi/urban fantasy? 

 TH:  I’m a complete hoor for science—cosmology, theoretical physics, archaeology, computer hacking, astrophysics, science fiction and science fact. I can’t remember a time when space did not fascinate me: the ungodly distance. The long time horizons. How cute Mr. Spock was. I’ve long thought that sheer math supported the possibility that humanity isn’t the only intelligent life in the universe. As the character Ellie Arroway says in the movie Contact, “If it’s just us, it seems like an awful waste of space.”

So I got to wondering, what if the answer to one of our era’s defining existential questions—are we alone?—has already been answered, and humanity simply doesn’t know it yet?   

 SS:  Oooooh, chills!  That question alone could lead to hundreds of books!  Tell us about how you answered it.

TH:  In this series I crafted a backstory where a ship of extra-planetary beings—just going about their business, and en route to somewhere else—crashed here thousands of years ago. Their descendants have been sharing the planet with us ever since, with humanity being none the wiser.  On the ship were a number of species who evolved on adjacent branches of humanity’s family tree, with some strengths and abilities that are not magical by any means, but which provided distinct survival advantages on their planets of origin. 

In the world that I’ve created, incubi and succubi secrete luscious pheromones maximizing their sexual attractiveness, and must absorb emotional energy—particularly sexual energy— for sustenance. Sirens amplify emotional energy with their voices. The Valkyrie have hyperactive adrenal systems which makes them vicious fighters and aggressive lovers. Werewolves, the only shape shifters in my world, typically have amazing scenting abilities and a high level of visual acuity, but are starting to exhibit some genetic frailties as a species due to inbreeding. Faeries have stunning empathic abilities, and my vampires, allergic to Earth’s UV rays, drink blood for its hemoglobin, which has healing properties.  

 I also wanted to suggest that all is not necessarily well environment-wise on other planets. CHASE ME’s villain, the vampire Beddoe, is horrified to find that the locals use water—rare, precious water—to wash their bodies. Such wasteful use is a crime punishable by death on his homeworld.   

SS:  See, this is what makes me love your world-building!  You do it in such an organic way.  Same goes for the paranormal aspect of your work.  The way you use the supernatural elements of the story to underscore the really human elements of the romance is fascinating. For example, Gabe’s failing vision feeds his insecurity about whether he’s an adequate match for Lorin, while Lorin herself struggles with whether her raging attraction to Gabe is love or just her Valkyrie appetites in action.  Can you talk a little bit about how that works?  Did you deliberately write it that way, or did it happen more organically?

TH:  Crafting Lorin and Gabe with these specific character attributes was deliberate, but I never dared imagine how well these choices might drive the conflict, and pull together thematically. One of the things I wanted to try with CHASE ME was to flip the traditional paranormal/UF gender tropes upside down. It’s Lorin, the heroine, who’s the rough and tumble, sexually aggressive alpha badass, and Gabe, the hero, who’s more cautious and deliberate, who’s protective of his feelings, and who, ultimately, is not at all satisfied with the strictly sexual relationship Lorin proposes.   I also wanted to explore the concept of masculinity and strength through the lens of a man who had chronic health problems.  Let me reassure readers that Gabe is plenty alpha when the situation calls for it!  ;-)

SS:    Mmmmmmm.  Yes.  Yes, he is.  Having read CHASE ME, I can attest to this personally.  :-)  And while I adore your heroes, I truly love your way with a villain.  What can you tell us about the villain of CHASE ME?

 TH:  Ah, the sophisticated vampire Beddoe, wheeler and dealer, captain of the intergalactic pleasure cruiser TonTon.  When the ship is underway, his word is law—but his boss, Lorcan, has an extremely long reach, having placed at least one spy on his bridge. He’s almost saved enough money to buy this remote mudball of a planet and its precious water outright when a homing beacon from the long-lost Arkapaedis unexpectedly pops on the planet’s surface, threatening to bring scientists, bounty hunters and all manner of profiteers swarming to the quadrant. Before it blips again, he has to shut it down, once and for all. The scene when Beddoe walks into a northern Minnesota dive bar looking for information while the locals watch the Stanley Cup was my favorite to write. What a blast to see this familiar setting through completely alien (ha!) eyes…       

 SS:  I loved that scene.  So what’s next for you?  Another Underbelly book, or are you branching out?

 TH:  I’m just finishing the manuscript for the third book in the Underbelly Chronicles series. TEMPT ME, Bailey and Rafe’s story, is slated for publication in July 2013.  Book 1, TASTE ME, is getting some love on the contest circuit, having recently been named a WisRWA Write Touch and PRISM paranormal finalist.

For anyone going to the Romance Writers of America conference in Anaheim in late July, Susan and  I are doing a workshop called “Superbad: How Unleashing Your Villain Can Unlock Your Story” which— fair warning— will NOT be recorded due to its interactive nature. (And yeah, because there’s outside chance the language might get a little, erm, spicy.)

SS:  Because we’re naughty like that.  :-)  I’ve had to clean up my language since I had kids, & I tend to cut loose when I’m on vacation.  I’ll apologize in advance.  

TH:  If you’re there, please say “hi!”

Question for readers: Do you think humanity is the sole intelligent life in the universe? Why or why not?

Today, Sourcebooks is giving away paperback copies of CHASE ME to two lucky commenters! (Sorry, U.S. and Canadian street addresses only.)

 

Tamara Hogan loathes cold and snow, but nonetheless lives near Minneapolis with her partner Mark and two naughty cats.  When she’s not telecommuting as a quality and process engineer for a global networking company, she enjoys writing edgy urban fantasy romance with a sci-fi twist. A voracious reader with an unapologetic television addiction, Tammy is forever on the lookout for the perfect black boots. Shopping, anyone?

Tammy’s first book, TASTE ME, won a Daphne du Maurier Award for Mystery and Suspense, and was also nominated for the Romance Writers of America’s prestigious Golden Heart® Award. 

For more on Tamara and the Underbelly Chronicles, check her out on:   

Her website, Facebook, Twitter or Goodreads

CHASE ME Buy Links:

(Amz | BN | Sourcebooks | Powell’s | BAM | Sony |  Kobo | iBooks)

Read an excerpt!

 

 

Debut Day Prize Winners!

Thanks to everybody who stopped by to help Christina Brooke and me celebrate our joint debut!  So now to distribute the prizes….

The winner of Christina’s complete Ministry of Marriage series is….

Kelly!  (Comment #29)

And the winner of a copy of Susan’s KISS THE GIRL (your choice of the Kindle or Nook version) is….

Crystal GB!

Congratulations, ladies!  Email us your snail mail info (Kelly) or your email info (Crystal) and we’ll get your prizes shipped right off!

susan@susansey.com

christina@christina-brooke.com

Kiss the Girl

Date Night!

So I had a delightful experience recently.  I discovered that my kids–both of them!–had been committed to a sleep over on a Friday night.

 Like, this Friday.  

I can’t quite believe this slipped my mind.  I mean, Mr. Sey and I have the occasional date night but do you people have any idea what a sitter costs these days?  Suffice it to say, it’s a lot.  So much, in fact, that rather than the more traditional “movie and dinner” date, we often opt for what we call “Movie Dinner.”  This is when still go to the movies, but we eat popcorn for dinner.  In addition to cutting our date night costs way down, it also knocks a good hour or two off our babysitting bill. 

(Note that our priorities are firmly in order: Good food vs. good story?  Good story, no question.  And the fact that this isn’t even a point of contention between us is probably the reason we’re so happily married.)

So how I managed to forget that we were getting a date night minus the babysitter is beyond me, but there you have it.  I was suddenly in the enviable position of having twice the usual budget for a date night, & absolutely no need to be home by midnight.  

Did we promptly book a table for two at the fanciest French restaurant in town?  Did we zip over to Fandango to buy our movie tickets? 

We did not.  We went out for pizza & beer.

To be fair, it was designer pizza & craft beer.  And in the city, too!   Then we went to Lee’s Liquor Lounge–(Why, yes, taxidermy does feature prominently in the decor.  However did you know?)–where we danced to those local kings of rockabilly swing, Trailer Trash.  (This, by the way, is an almost exact replica of our very first date.  We try to tell the story to our children without using any proper nouns.) 

 And we were not home by midnight.  It was lovely.

So how about you?  If you had an unexpected night off with your sweetie–and twice the usual budget for such things–what would you do?

How did I miss that?

I’m a huge Little Women fan.  I’m sure this shocks nobody, but it’s true.  I read it for the first time when I was about nine, & I still give it a read at least once a year.  Sometimes that’s enough, but sometimes it’s just a jumping off point.  Sometimes I spiral into a Louisa May Alcott binge that won’t be satisfied until I’ve torn through her entire backlist.  

When my firstborn turned out to be a girl, I tried to name her Louisa.  My husband vetoed that for inscrutable reasons, so I suggested Josephine.  Who doesn’t love Jo, right?

My husband, evidently.  He vetoed that, too & I gave it up.

So let the record show that I am an afficianado of the spunky heroine.  I adore flawed little girls who desperately want to be good.  Who want to be worthy of a family they cherish.  I have a real soft spot for old fashioned lasses with plenty of imagination,  oodles of courage & dresses that leave something to be desired.  

So how the heck did I miss Anne of Green Gables? 

I was telling a friend a few weeks ago that I was reading Little Women aloud to my girls (joy of  joys!), and she was properly appreciative.  She recommended Anne of Green Gables as a follow up & I had to confess I’d never read it.  I couldn’t imagine why not.  I mean, I’d knocked off Laura Ingalls Wilder’s entire ouevre by second grade.  I’d eaten up Caddy Woodlawn, Pippi Longstocking, Ramona Quimby.  How had I missed Anne Shirley?

Well, I had.  But fear not, good people.  I have a Nook.  I snapped up the entire nine book series for 2.99.  (A real bargain, considering that adds up to about 2000 pages of happiness.)

I’m currently on page 1568, & I have to say, I’m a fan.  Anne’s such an exuberant little soul–all imagination & heart.  I like to think she’d find me, in her immortal words, a ‘kindred spirit.’  I, too, appreciate situations that allow ‘scope for imagination.’   You don’t want things too defined, after all, too cut-and-dried.  You want space between the lines.  Where else are you going to write your story but in the spaces between what you know & what you wish?

I’m already dreading the end, though I’ve got another 500 pages at least.  I’m going to miss Anne Shirley.  But she has made me wonder when the last time was that I met a fictional character that felt like such a friend?  When was the last time you opened a book & found a ‘kindred spirit?’  Closed a book & thought, “Man.  I’m going to miss her/him?”  Share!

April’s Members Only Prize Pack Goes To…..

….ASHLEY MARCH!  

Congratulations, Ashley, you’re April’s big winner!  You’ve won the following dazzling prizes!

A copy of:

Cowboy to the Rescue by Trish Milburn

Frail Blood by Jo Robertson

Money Shot or Money Honey–your choice!–by Susan Sey

An ARC of Eloisa James’ Paris in Love

Your choice from Kate Walker’s backlist

 Magic Unchained from Jessica Andersen

Check your email for more details, & congratulations again!

Reading Romance

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away (okay, it was the late nineties), I was a dewy young thing, freshly shed of an annoying boyfriend.  

This is an interesting time, isn’t it?  The days just after a deeply desired break up?  When nobody’s heart is particularly broken, and you’re both better off without the bad habit you’ve become to each other?  It’s strangely optimistic.  And you’re wise.  You’ve learned so much.  You’re thinking, “No more musicians, & I mean it!”  Or “I’ll never move for a guy again.”  Or “My mother was so right,” not that you’d ever admit it.

At this point of my life, Mr. Sey was right around the corner.  (Not that I knew it, even though my mother had always said that’s exactly where I’d find him.  Because what kind of twenty-five year old thinks her mother knows anything about love?)  So I had no knowledge yet that the next boy who caught my attention would be the love of my life, the father of my children, & the best thing since paperback novels.  

No, all I knew was that I was diving back into the dating pool.  And this time, I was going in with a list.  I had criteria.  The next guy I dated would fit them, too.  This paragon of manhood would do the following three things, or be summarily dismissed from consideration.  He would:

1) Run with me.  I’ve always been a sporty girl, & have been jogging since the tender age of 8 when my mother decided I was old enough to defend her from the neighborhood dogs on her jogs.  I was tired of being able to kick my date’s butt, cardiovascularly speaking.  In the event of the zombie apocalypse, I wanted a guy I wouldn’t have to piggy-back to safety.  Is that so much to ask? 

2)  Dance with me.  I was in that stage of life where a lot of friends were getting married & I was sick to death of attending receptions with guys who wouldn’t shake a tail feather.  I wanted to dance, & I wanted to do it with joy and laughter and in somebody’s arms, darn it.  I wanted somebody with the confidence (and, okay, the hand-eye coordination) to shake his booty occasionally and not give a rip who was looking.   

3)  Read with me.  I, like you all, am a voracious reader.  I read books like a lot of people breathe.  It’s just something I do somewhat compulsively & without conscious thought.  I have at least two books going at a time, sometimes three.  One upstairs, one downstairs, one in my purse.  When I have a minute to spare I want to stick my nose in a book, & it kills me when one isn’t handy.  The only thing I like about as well as reading is talking to people about reading.  What I’ve read, what they’ve read, what we think about what we’ve read.  This is particularly satisfying when we’ve both read the same book, because then we can argue about it.  And I refused to get involved with even one more guy who didn’t love books.

So along comes Mr. Sey, & you know where he took me on our first date?  That all-important first date, when we barely knew each other?  Dancing.  Swing dancing, to be exact.  The old-fashioned kind of dancing where you have to put your hand in his & let him spin you around.  I’ll never forget standing up to walk to the dance floor with him for the first time.  The place was packed so he grabbed my hand as we squeezed through the crowd & said, “Don’t want to lose you, right?”

You know how strange it is the first time somebody holds your hand?  How it feels all weird & new?  This didn’t feel like that at all.  It felt like he’d been taking my hand all my life.  So I let him have it, & I have never for a single moment considered taking it back.

Now lest you think I somehow stumbled across everything my 25 year old self thought she wanted, the running thing?  That’s a wash.  He runs if chased, & once in a blue moon, when I express my concerns about his stroking out in front of his iPad, he’ll lace up his sneakers & trot along on a jog.  But I keep him anyway, & do you know why?

He reads with me.  He not only reads with me, he scours the internet for the most interesting, talked-about books of the year, & he reads them.  And when one grabs his imagination, he puts it on my nightstand–right on the top of my towering To Be Read pile–and badgers me until I read it too.  And why?  So he can hear what I think about it.   Because he wants to hear what I think about it.  He likes how my brain works, & he wants to know how our experience of a cool story stacks up. 

I know, right?  Sometimes I remember how lucky I am & it gets all caught in my throat.  I’m wading through The Stand by Stephen King right now because he said it was awesome, & you know what?  He’s right.  It is awesome, & at least half of the awesome is because now we’re talking at the dinner table every night about the nature of gods and demons, & the likelihood of that zombie apocalypse.  And you know what?  If there really was a zombie apocalypse?  I’d totally piggyback him to safety.

So what about you?  Are you the couple that reads together?  Does your partner read for fun at all?  Do you read the same books?  Or do you prefer your reading life to be separate?  How much should the happy couple have in common, anyway?  And in  the event of the zombie apocalypse, are you the piggy-backer or the piggy-backee?

 

 

Festival of Sweets!

Welcome to my annual stomache ache.

It’s Easter & I simply have no will power.  It’s all about the candy & I can’t resist. 

There are your traditional favorites:  your chocolate bunnies, your jelly beans, your chocolate eggs.

You have your new favorites:  the Snickers eggs, the Reeses Peanut Butter cup eggs, the Whoppers malted milk ball eggs. (Those rock, btw.)

Then you’ve got your new-fangled jelly beans–the Jolly Rancher ones, the Jelly Bellies ones, the Life Savers ones.  

 

Me?  I like the old fashioned ones from Brach’s–with that thick, gritty, sugary coating & the gooey, jellyish inside.  You remember those?  Mmmmm.   I particularly like the white ones.

But there is one thing I simply will not eat.

I will not eat a peep.

Those nasty marshmellow chicks?  Ick.  Peeps are, to my mind, the second worst excuse for candy a grown up has ever come up with.  (Number one is black licorice.)  They are invariably stale, the sugar squeaks on my teeth & the texture is…bouncy.  I can think of no other word.

And yet I know there are people who wait all year for Peeps.  They wait for them like Christmas morning, & mourn when they are gone. They stockpile them & freeze them.  They re-create famous works of art using them.  I do not understand this, but as somebody who eats ice cream year-round, I’m fully prepared to live and let live.

Or eat & let eat. 

So what about you?  What’s your favorite thing to find in your Easter Basket?

It’s all in your head

I’m a hat person.  I don’t wear them often–sadly my life doesn’t involve many royal weddings, nor a church life in which hats are permissible–but I do love them.  

 

When Kate & William married earlier this year, I watched the wedding mostly because I was fascinated by the fascinators.  And kudos to Lady Beatrice for rocking hers with aplomb, then auctioning it off for charity.

 

I love My Fair Lady, because of Audrey Hepburn, of course.  But also I adore the scene when they go to the races.  And why?  The hats.

 

Once upon a time, a lady wasn’t properly dressed without a hat.  Neither, for that matter, was a gentleman.

 

Can you picture Indiana Jones leaving his hat behind?  I think not.

 

I doubt I’d recognize Darth Vader without his.  Nor would I want to.

 

And why do I have hats on the brain?  Easter!  Easter is the one weekend every year when hat wearing is absolutely permissible.  And I have never gathered up the courage to wear one as an adult.

 

 But if I did, I’d go bird-nest nuts.  Like Camilla here, bless her.  If you’re going with headwear, you’ve got to commit, you know?

 

How about you?  Are you a hat person?  Will you be wearing one this Sunday?  What’s your favorite?

April’s Coming Attractions!

Welcome to April, & we’re not fooling!  There are tons of treats & hijinx to be had in the lair this month.  Here’s a quick preview of what’s in store….

WE HAVE GUESTS!

 

On April 2nd, our own Anna Campbell hosts Lair favorite Miranda Neville!  Miranda is coming back to us to cause general mayhem & talk about her wonderful new Burgundy Club book CONFESSIONS FROM AN ARRANGED MARRIAGE.  A lot of romance fans have been hanging out for Minerva’s story and it’s about to arrive.  Huzzah!

 

 

 

 

On April 3rd, Suzanne Ferrell brings JD Tyler to the lair to talk about SAVAGE AWAKENING, the second full book in her Alpha Pack series.  She and Suzanne will discuss   JD’s sexy wolf shifter, Arik Savage, and all the newest developments in the world of the Alpha Pack. Will Arik meet his mate or find himself a victim of secret experimentation claiming more than one shifter?

 

 

On April 4th, Anna Campbell’s back with Maggie Robinson who will tell us about her latest release MASTER OF SIN.  Maggie writes a really hot historical so we’re expecting the windows of the lair to steam up when she starts talking about her latest hero Andrew Rossiter.  

 

 

On April 5th, if she escapes from the chaos of having her house totally revamped–walls knocked down, kitchen replaced, etc.—Kate Walker will be talking about the publication of her latest Presents Extra title–THE DEVIL AND MISS JONES– and celebrating being 60.  In book terms, that is.

 

 

 

On April 6th, Jessica Andersen returns with the penultimate Nightkeepers book, MAGIC UNCHAINED.  Join us for a chat about the hunky hero, Sven (no relation to our equally hunky Sven, alas) and his magical familiar.

 

 

 

On April 9th, Eloisa James will be back in the Lair to chat about her fabulous memoir, PARIS IN LOVE, and the year she spent in Paris. 

 

On April 18th, Trish will host Mari Mancusi, who will be celebrating the re-release of her zombie post-apocalyptic YA, Tomorrow Land.  Can true love survive the apocalypse?  How about the walking dead?

 

 

 

And finally, on the 27th, Grace Burrowes comes to the Lair to discuss the latest release in her delicious Windham series, LADY MAGGIE’S SECRET SCANDAL.  

It’s sure to be an exciting month,so don’t miss a day!

WE HAVE CONTESTS!

First of all, a great big round of applause for our very own Anna Campbell & Donna MacMeans, both of whom are finalists in the Birmingham Southern Magic Chapter Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence.  Anna’s finaled with MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION and Donna with REDEEMING THE ROGUE.  Congrats, ladies!

Now, for your chance to win something wonderful, check out Anna Campbell’s CATCH UP ON A CAMPBELL contest!  During the months of March and April, Anna is giving FIVE lucky people the chance to win a book of their choice from her backlist.  That’s CLAIMING THE COURTESAN, UNTOUCHED, TEMPT THE DEVIL, CAPTIVE OF SIN, MY RECKLESS SURRENDER or MIDNIGHT’S WILD PASSION.  Just email Anna at anna@annacampbell.info and tell her which book you’d like and you go into the draw.  The contest closes April 30th, 2012, and entry is open internationally.  For more information, please check out Ann’s contest page:  http://annacampbell.info/contest.html

And don’t forget our monthly prize bundle for one of our lucky Romance Bandits members!  This month’s Members Only prize bundle will include: 

*An Advance Reader Copy of Eloisa James’ PARIS IN LOVE!

*A copy of MAGIC UNCHAINED from Jessica Andersen

*Your choice of one book from Kate Walker’s backlist!

*A copy of COWBOY TO THE RESCUE from Trish Milburn!

*A copy of FRAIL BLOOD from Jo Robertson!

*Your choice of MONEY HONEY or MONEY SHOT from Susan Sey!

 

WE HAVE EVENTS AND APPEARANCES!

Ever want to see a bandita in person?  Here’s your chance!  Our own TRISH MILBURN is all over the map this month!  Catch her at the following events: 

April 10, at the Barbara Vey Readers Luncheon in Oak Creek, WI

April 11-15, at the Romantic Times Booklovers Convention in Rosemont, IL

April 21, at the Southern Kentucky Bookfest in Bowling Green, KY

It’s going to be a wild ride this month, so buckle up and we’ll see you along the road!

What are YOU looking forward to this month?