A Mish-Mash of Monsters

Please welcome guest author Maree Anderson! She's a talented and very sweet author and I'm so glad she's blogging here today! She's also generous enough to offer 3 of her ebooks to one commenter :)

When I was a kid, my idea of monsters was pretty limited: Frankenstein's monster, vampires, werewolves, zombies, aliens, whatever creature featured on the latest Dr. Who series—that was about it. And boy, that was more than enough for an active imagination like mine! Monsters under the bed? Oh yeah. I was that child who took a running jump from the doorway and leaped onto her bed each night so those monsters couldn't reach out and grab her legs.

Although I did try to get over my childish fears by reading a few horrors in my teens, I quickly decided they weren't for me. Dracula I could handle. Stephen King's It, not so much—hence a DNF grade on that one. I did get through Aliens, but that book scared the bejesus out of me. And watching it on the big screen? Um. I don't think so! Eventually, I was brave enough to watch Aliens on TV because my dad promised he'd watch it with me. Except he only stayed for the first half hour and then went to bed, leaving me freaking out in the lounge, all on my lonesome. I've never quite forgiven him for that one L.

After that experience, what really put the nail in the coffin for me was watching my first ever horror movie at the cinema. I was seventeen. A group of us from work were "supposed" to be going to see Flashdance. Somehow (and I suspect the guys had a lot to do with this "somehow") we ended up at wrong cinema watching Amityville 2: The Possession… or rather, everyone else watched it. Me? I cowered in my seat with my hands over my eyes and always managed to peek just at the wrong moment. Yep. You got it: nightmares for months afterward, and the conclusion that horrors and monsters were not my thing, LOL.

Funny thing is, as soon as I started writing this post I realized things have changed. I now quite like monsters… of the fictional creature paranormal persuasion, that is. Vampires. Werewolves & shifters. Zombies. Aliens. Oh, yeah. Bring it on, baby. So I guess when I was sorting out a giveaway that might fit a Monster Mash-Up theme, it shouldn't have come as such a surprise that so many of my published stories features a monster or two.

EVEN DEMONS GET THE BLUES:
The hero, Rez, is a Drakon demon whose dragon form is pretty darn awe-inspiring. And his nemesis, Malphas, in complete contrast is one ugly-ass pig demon—not at all awe-inspiring by any stretch of the imagination:
"…a hideously twisted creature with features that reminded Leisa of a boar, all squinty red eyes, hairy ears and mashed-in snout with wickedly sharp tusks. His body was covered with bristles. His shoulders were wide, arms and thighs bulging with ropy muscle. His stomach, though, was beer-belly rotund. From his groin sprang an erect penis about two feet in length. The glistening purple member was the worst feature as far as Leisa was concerned. It was even more ugly and perverted than the thing it was attached to."

Eeeew! Where Malphas came from, I have no idea. Must have had a doozie of a nightmare about pigs at some stage *g*.

And let's not forget the Demon King, Asmodeus. Any demon misfortunate enough to irritate him is likely to find their hide adorning his throne as a throw rug. He's also rather fond of skating in the blood of those who cross him—there's a reason why the floor of his throne room is black marble ;-). He may look human, and be painfully handsome, and he may be charming and oh-so witty, but he's most definitely a monster.

LET SLEEPING DEMONS LIE:
This one's chock-full of monsters *VBG*. It kicks off with Asmodeus, whose behind-t[image error]he-scenes machinations don't bode well for the Felinoid demon heroine, Naamah. But he deserves some thanks, at least, because if not for Asmodeus's wicked plan, Naamah wouldn't have met our Lycan prince hero, Brennan… who just happens to be a lion shifter. Kitty vs Lion. Yep. The fur sure does fly *g*.

Then there's Councilor Belphegor, the hapless toad demon Asmodeus is hoping to get shod of—and yes, a toad demon is just as gross and disgusting as it sounds. And last but never least (or she'll rip your throat out—no exaggeration!) the hyena, Cass, my ode to the whole female monster is deadlier than the male concept. Cass is fond of meat—the more alive and kicking the better. She's a piece of work, all right—truly monstrous in the dictionary definition of the word: "a person of unnatural or extreme ugliness, deformity, wickedness, or cruelty." Worse, she's skilled in magic, and very very intelligent.

FROM THE ASHES:
I created my very own brand new monster for this story. His name's Asher, and he's a Phoenixae alien. If he dies, he can be resurrected once his body is burned. His kind have been genetically designed and bred as sex slaves. Confession time: my editor was begging me to write a ménage story, but I was too chicken to give it a go, so I appeased her by giving Asher an extra set of man-parts instead. How monstrous is that? *g*.

Asher must psychically bond with his "master" as soon as he hatches. As you can imagine, if he falls into the hands of a sadist, it's not gonna be pretty. He can be tortured, murdered and resurrected over and over again, and because his genetic imperative is to ensure the happiness and contentment of his master, he won't fight it. Just as well it's the heroine of the story, space courier, Calista, who accidentally bonds with him rather than his intended master, Leighton.

This story has a couple of human monsters, too. Leighton is a sexual sadist who'd kill to get his hands on a Phoenixae. And Nate is a space-pirate with all the morals of pond-scum, who once sold Calista into slavery to pay off his gambling debts. Leighton, at least, has the excuse that he was born "wrong". But Nate? IMO he's the worst monster of the two, as his only motivation for the horrible things he's done have been greed and revenge.

SCENT OF A MAN:
Joseph, the hero, is a Scentinel, a spoiled young nobleman who exudes pheromones that make him irresistible to women. And if you're thinking this doesn't sound particularly monstrous, then think again. Joseph's a virgin, and this monstrously seductive scent does not discriminate. It entices all women and turns them into wanton creatures who won't take no for an answer. Plus, Joseph lives in a religious society were chastity is prized and rigidly enforced by the clerics, so Scentinels are considered the spawn of the devil, and executed on sight.

Even when Joseph does find a society willing to accept him, it's only because they covet his unique abilities—he'll become a spy for their Empress… provided he can survive learning to control his pheromones with his sanity intact. But by embracing his abilities and learning how to control and use them, Joseph risks becoming the very monster his family believe him to be.

FREAKS OF GREENFIELD HIGH:
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, meets… I dunno… the latest popular TV series set in a small-town high school? Ah, heck. I've got nothing. Sorry. I suck at those kind of high concepts. In a nutshell[image error], Jay is a teenage cyborg who's forced to kill her creator—the man she calls "Father." She's now being pursued by a covert organization that want to use her as a weapon, and she's struggling to cope with a sudden and baffling onslaught of human emotions. When she hides out at a local high school, the unthinkable happens: she meets a boy and falls in love.

If you're thinking that my monsters are becoming more humanoid, you could be right. Maybe that's because the monsters who walk amongst us undetected—the ones who look exactly like our neighbors, and friends, and that charming guy who seemed just a bit off but you couldn't put your finger on exactly why—sometimes turn out to be the scariest monsters of all.

Happy Halloween!

Now for the fun part: the giveaway. I thought I'd give away three books today—spread the Halloween monster-love and all that *g*.

One commenter will win their choice of three of the eBooks I've listed here today. In your comment, all you have to do is tell me which three take your fancy. Easy, huh? (And you can read excerpts on the Books page of my website if you're having trouble deciding.)

Thanks for stopping by to check out my Monster Mash-Up Party post. And a huge thanks to the lovely Katie Reus for inviting me to a party with such a stellar line up of authors. Excuse me while I have a bit of a fan-girl moment. *SQUEEEE!*

Cheers,
Maree

Website: http://www.mareeanderson.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/MareeAnderson
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MareeAndersonAuthor