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Thursday, February 25, 2016

Meet Author Karilyn Bentley



Author Karilyn Bentley is here today. Let's get to know a little about her and her latest release. 

Welcome, Karilyn. Please tell us about yourself. 

I'd love to! I'm married to the best husband ever (he puts up with me, after all! Ha!) and we currently share our home with a crazy dog nicknamed The Kraken along with a handful of colorful saltwater fish. My day job is as a clinical research coordinator for a busy oncology practice but in the evenings I'm all about writing the stories of my heart. My website says I write Fantasy with a Touch of Funny, and since you can read it on the internet, it must be true!

How long does it take you to write a book?  

Forever! Usually about 9-12 months, but I'm aiming for faster.

What do you like to do when you're not writing? 

Read and spend time with my husband. I've also gotten into taking the dog to agility class, which is a lot of fun!

How many books have you written? 

I've published two novellas, and 6 novels. I've written a couple more than that, although those books are hiding in a box in the closet. Which is your favorite? My favorite is the Demon Huntress series (Demon Lore and Demon Kissed).

How many hours a day to you spend writing? 

Not enough! I go by word count, not hours, so some days I sit for longer than others.

If you could give the younger version of yourself advice what would it be? 

The business of writing is way more involved than just writing a book.

If I was a first time reader of your books, which one would you recommend I start with and why? 

I have three different series. If you want to read the urban fantasy series, start with Demon Lore, then Demon Kissed (there will eventually be 5 books in the series). If you like dragons, fantasy and romance, try my Draconia Tales series. The order is Magical Lover, Warrior Lover, Dragon Lover and The Detective's Dragon. They can also be read individually. The novellas are part of my werewolf series: Werewolves in London and Wolf Mates. They can be found together in the anthology After the Moon Rises.

What two authors would we find you reading when taking a break from your own writing? 

J.R. Ward and J.C. McKenzie.

Tell us about your latest release. 

Demon Kissed is my latest release and it's an urban fantasy. It has some romantic elements but definitely isn't a romance. It's the second book in the Demon Huntress series (the first book is Demon Lore).

Demon Kissed by Karilyn Bentley

Blurb:
Gin Crawford, the world's latest demon huntress, has no time to mourn her dead lover as she's called in to determine why a demon attack occurred at the local medical school. And not just any demon, but the one demon that gives her demon-killing bracelet the shivers. A dead professor, a lab full of missing anthrax, and a demon who turns good people into minions complicate her life. Can Gin and her mentor Aidan Smythe solve the mystery of the missing anthrax and the identity of the demon before someone else dies?

Excerpt:
     The scent of sulfur hangs in the air like a demonic stink bomb. I want to slap a hand over my nose, but no one else seems affected by the stench. Must be a demon huntress thing.
     Justitian,” Smythe mutters. “Not demon huntress.”
     “If you don’t like my new title, then stay out of my mind.”
     He glares. I swallow. Cross my arms. Refuse to take a step back. I’m learning not to be intimidated by his anger. Go me.
     My justitia vibrates, throwing me out of my internal battle, pulling me back to the land of death and minions. The blob of colors pulsates, a glowing reminder of a moment of terror. The moment the demon appeared to the grad student.
     Granted, I’m still taking Demons 101, but I thought demons formed minions in private.  Usually after the human committed a crime, not before. A tryout, so to speak. And maybe that happened, but it sure seems to me like the black blob of demon force appeared to the grad student smack in the middle of the hallway.
     Or maybe that always happens, and I just now noticed it.
     The justitia’s vibration grows stronger, trembling my arm, my veins. Not its normal excited tremor upon seeing a minion or demon. A rush of images spikes through my mind, scenes of terror coupled with blood and death, memories of the justitia’s former wearers captured in time by the entity in the bracelet.
     I’m not the only one freaked out by the colored blob. How bad was this demon to scare a justitia?

Links for Demon Kissed:




One last question. Where can readers find you?


I'm all over the place! J Here are my links:
Website:           www.karilynbentley.com
Twitter:             http://www.twitter.com/karilynbentley1
Blog:                http://plottingprincesses.blogspot.com
Pinterest:          http://www.pinterest.com/karilynbentley
Newsletter:      http://eepurl.com/ba_0Rf
Thanks for stopping by today, Karilyn. Wishing you much success with your latest release.
 

Monday, February 22, 2016

Aliens



What is it about the word "aliens" that sends people into a tizzy and makes politicians talk about building electrified fences or walls? Unless we're one hundred percent Native American, our ancestors were aliens.

Since I steer away from political issues, that's not the kind of aliens I write about. My aliens are from another world. Outer space. That conjures up Devil Girl from Mars. Men in Black. Invasion of the Body-Snatchers. Planet of the Apes. Alien.

Hold on. I do not write about creepy aliens. I write science fiction romance. My stories are more like Buck Rogers, Star Wars, and E.T. with some Star Trek for good measure. Space adventure. My characters are people, more like you and me, living and working on starships or planets in other galaxies. Why, you may ask, do I write about them?

Because it's fun. I love a good adventure. Space exploration has fascinated me since we finally put a man on the moon. No, wait. Even before that. During every space launch, I was glued to the television set—black and white, at first, but that didn't make it any less exciting. The possibility of exploring beyond our universe intrigues me, captures my imagination. What if . . . Isn't that the way all stories begin in the author's mind?

What if people from an advanced society in another galaxy parked a starship above Earth? Does that sound like Independence Day? Nothing like that. This starship wanted to research our civilization? While the serious researchers examine Earth because of its similarity to their own world of the past, the younger, more enthusiastic crew members become enamored with  transmissions of our communication satellites. Forget War of the Worlds. How about Galaxy Quest meets Desperate Wives? Throw in a deranged scientist and a rebellion and you have the beginning of my Switched series.


What happened to the romance part of science fiction romances? Well, of course, there has to be hunky heroes (aren't they always?) and beautiful (ditto) heroines. (As we all know, hunkiness and beauty are in the eye of the beholder.) What if the hero and heroine are from different worlds, different cultures? The possibilities of conflict increase. The series revolves around two sets of twins, separated before birth. Yes, you read that right. Before birth.


 What if these twins switch places? Not once, twice. Will anyone figure it out? Can the "impostor" fool their twin's best friends, mother? 


Each book in the series demanded a sequel. Until the last one. "What if . . ." guided the stories. Just as we look at space exploration and wonder what's next. 

As our own space exploration ramps up with NASA pushing ahead on deep space exploration and private enterprise venturing forth, we might just come across those aliens. They're probably sitting back, watching us take our first steps, waiting for us to catch up with them.

To find out more about my Switched series, visit my website or my Amazon author page