Title: Dante’s Awakening
Author: Devon Marshall
Series: Vampires of Hollywood #1
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Published: May 10th 2012
For readers 18+
Book Description
Dante Sonnier is a successful Hollywood agent. She is also a friend to the secret community of vampires living in Los Angeles, and occasionally she assists them when they have a problem that requires a human to handle it. The vampires are led by Voshki Kevorkian, a gorgeous, sexy female vampire, who has made it clear that she would like Dante to be her human. Dante, although attracted to Voshki, is wary of the possessiveness and jealousy involved in being a vampire’s chosen human lover and resists.
When the Children of Judas, a two-thousand-year-old sect of murderous, rebel vampires shunned by the main community, rise up under a new leader and threaten to topple Voshki’s leadership and expose the whole community, the vampires turn to Dante for help. Dante travels to a small town in upstate California where the Children seem to be active, in the company of Ellis Kovacs, another vampire sired by Voshki, and Voshki’s "right-hand woman."
There, whilst investigating the Children and their leader Robin Shepherd, Dante succumbs to being seduced by the alluring Ellis. When Dante is kidnapped by the Children, Voshki decides it's time to take matters into her own hands.
Hell hath no fury like a vampire scorned.
GUEST POST
Come Over To The Dark Side!
Whenever I tell people that I write fiction, the first - and most obvious - question they ask me is, “What do you write?” Often, when I tell them that I write horror and dark thrillers, I can actually watch as their faces screw up and sort of fall off…even when I add that my 'Vampires of Hollywood' series is more of an LGBT paranormal adventure/romance, all they can muster is a faltering smile and a muttered “Oh well, that’s, um, nice” as they back slowly away.
Rather more bewildering to me than the above, however, is the question, “When are you going to write something normal?”
As if horror and dark thriller were not normal. Well, they are to me. And to the many, many people who read these genres.
I have heard male author friends say that they encounter this question - usually from their mothers and grandmothers who want to show off his books to their friends without said friends wondering if the son/grandson is a closet serial killer! The general reaction that writing dark fiction is somehow not normal seems to be experienced far more often by female authors. Why should anyone still think it more shocking that a woman would write about gore, or violence? After all, women can appreciate the effects of fear and violence on victims just as well as men - some would even argue that women have a greater appreciation of it - and women have a dark side to their own natures, too. Those of us who write dark fiction have simply embraced our dark side, embraced it and harnessed its energy to power our creativity. We are as capable of coming up with five-horned acid-spewing demons, machete-wielding bogeymen in hockey masks, and green slime-monsters from distant planets with which to terrify our readers as our male counterparts. Our styles of narration may differ in some aspects - the emotional experience of characters, for instance - or they may be indistinguishable to the eye of the reader. Either way, I’ll wager that none of us are a closet serial killer.
Whether its werewolves or demon-slayers, vampires (even sparkly ones! ) or un-killable serial killers that you write about, they all share one thing in common with bodice-ripping romances and sassy chick-lit: escapism. And that is the essence of fiction. We write to escape and - hopefully - we will take the reader along with us on a fun, escapist ride. That other old saw gets trotted out “Write about what you know” should be amended to “Write about what your imagination knows”. If your imagination knows fairytale castles in distant lands, and beautiful princesses and the lantern-jawed prince who will sweep her off her feet, then write about that. Equally, if your imagination knows tough-talking demon-slayers or glamorous lesbian vampires inhabiting Hollywood, then you write about those. To label one of those things ‘not normal’ is to denigrate both the experience of the readers and the imaginative capabilities of the writers.
The world of readers is a vast place indeed and ‘normal’ is relative within it.
About the Author
Devon discovered at an early age that she had a fertile imagination and a profound love for words which together led to her writing stories. She has published numerous short stories and articles in the LGBT and mainstream small presses.
Dante's Awakening is her first published full-length novel and spent a week in the Amazon Top 100 in Lesbian Fiction #58
Her second novel, 'Voodoo Woman' is available in PB and on Kindle, and the novella 'The Lives and Loves of The Modern Goddess' is also available on Kindle.
Devon lives on a windswept and remote Scottish island where the 'rat race' is an event at the annual County Fair and the daily view includes boats, birds, and the occasional bottlenose dolphin. When she isn't writing, Devon enjoys reading, watching TV, and spending as much time as possible with her dog. She is currently working on the next book in the Vampires of Hollywood saga and a stand-alone horror novel.
You can stalk Devon online at:
Twitter @DevonWrites
Giveaway
There are 2 prize packs up for grabs where the winners will receive a bookmark, magnet, keyring, bumper sticker, sticky note and poster calendar!! You know you want to win!!
So right the truest form of escapism - a good book! I am a book addict and reading is my bliss. Thank you for sharing with us today!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for taking the time to visit my Book Tour, Denise Z. Much appreciated! I so agree - books are the very greatest form of escapism.
ReplyDeleteVery beautiful post! Dante's Awakening has very interesting story and thank you for the giveaway!
ReplyDeleteYes thanx Devon!! It has been awesome to host you!!
ReplyDeleteIt was a great post, wasn't it? It has definitely opened my eyes to how authors deal and react to other opinions.
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