Kalayna Price is the author of the Alex Craft Novels, a new dark urban fantasy series from Roc, and the author of the Novels of Haven from Bell Bridge Books. She draws her ideas from the world around her, her studies into ancient mythologies, and her obsession with classic folklore. Her stories contain not only the mystical elements of fantasy, but also a dash of romance, a bit of gritty horror, some humor, and a large serving of mystery. She is a member of SFWA and RWA, and an avid hula-hoop dancer who has been known to light her hoop on fire. To find out more, please visit her at Kalayna Price.

Kalayna Price–Determining where ideas originate is always hard, so I’m not sure where the initial inspiration for the book started. Early on a series of “what if” questions like “what if I had a woman who could talk to murder victims?” “what if this was a known ability so she could work with the police?” “what if I had a killer who could silence the dead?” From there, the characters and the world began building off each other.

DH–2.) How much research did you conduct for Grave Witch?

KP–Tons. I researched folklore. I researched firearms. I researched a whole bunch of information on law enforcement and talked to someone with EMS training. Now, can I point to that research in the books? It would be a challenge as a lot of it is in the background. It always amazes me how you can do hours or days of research and only use that information in a single sentence.

DH–3.) Will you eventually write in other genres? If so, what will they be?

KP–I will probably never leave the fantasy classification, but I hope to eventually write in a couple different subgenres within fantasy. High fantasy was my first love, so one day I plan to once again pen a big epic fantasy, but more than likely if I diverge anytime soon it will be with a fantasy YA or with a cyberpunk or steampunk novel.

DH–4.) What are your favorite genres to read?

KP–I read all over the board. Urban Fantasy is currently my favorite genre (which is why I write it) but I’m also loving the new surge of YA novels I see happening. I read about every subgenre in fantasy but also add to the mix mysteries, thrillers, horror novels, and romances just to shake things up. I’ll read about anything well written—I just love books.

DH–5.) What is currently your favorite television show?

KP–No contest, that would be Vampire Diaries. I usually don’t watch much TV, but something about that show caught my eye last year and I’ve been addicted ever since. It is deliciously dark and twisted—I love it.

DH–6.) What are your writing rituals/habits?

KP–I don’t have very established writing rituals. I prefer to have tea and music when writing but flexibility and the ability to write about anywhere in whatever time available is more important to me than a set ritual.

DH–7.) Do you have any advice for unpublished writers?

KP–Write every day, even if it is only a couple sentences a day. Also, getting published can be a long and, at times, a discouraging journey. You need a thick skin and a dream you can believe in. Stick with it!

I’d like to thank Kalayna for taking the time to stop by to answer a few questions for us. 😀 Now for the contest.

For a chance to win a signed copy of GRAVE WITCH by Kalayna Price, all you have to do to enter is to leave a comment and tell me why you’d like to win a copy. Also, please list your e-mail address as follows: your e-mail (AT) wherever (DOT) com, so you won’t get junk mail. The contest is open to everyone in the world. The contest will end on October 4, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. EST. Good luck. A winner will be picked at random and announced on October 5, 2010.

My blog is usually dedicated to all things dark and scary (for the most part) but today I have a friend–Tatiana Caldwell–who has a new e-book out from Liquid Silver Books called SAY MY NAME. The description from her website is below:

There’s much more to the fable of Rumpelstiltskin than you’ve been told …


Due to her father’s constant bragging, word of Anna Miller’s beauty and virtue piques the interest of King Thomas. Upon taking the boasting of her father too literally, the king of Grimbros imprisons Anna and threatens to kill her and her father if she fails to spin straw into gold.


A mysterious and sensual magical being finds himself drawn to the castle–and the beautiful Anna. He offers his help in exchange for the most intimate, precious gifts she could possibly give. Soon Anna finds herself wanting far more from him than just his help. But he threatens to consume her and all that she holds dear.


Unless she says his name.

Tatiana is guest blogging today and she’s offering a free e-book copy of SAY MY NAME to one lucky commenter. See details in her guest blog.

WHY FAIRY TALES ARE HOT

Let’s face it – fairy tales are hot. If you took a look at some of the most popular tales of all time, such as The Dark Knight, Star Wars, E.T., Avatar, The Lord of the Rings, etc., you’d notice that in some way they are all grown-up fairy tales. Doesn’t matter what subgenre a story falls under; romance, fantasy, futuristic / sci-fi, paranormal or urban fantasy, so many of the stories that have made the biggest impressions hold the basic elements of a fairy tale.

Danger. Heroism. Mystery. Magic, myth or fictional science. A tale of a person a lot like you but nothing like you, living in a time or place you never have and never will. An interpersonal relationship is often at the heart of it and a triumphant, happy resolution is always at the end of it.

I’ve loved these kinds of stories since I was a little girl. Now that I’m a grown woman, I find that I still enjoy these kinds of stories, but long for them to divulge further into the relationships, to more fully explore the effects of the danger, magic and science on the mentalities and sexualities of the characters. Some may ask “but why romance”? And I can’t help but answer – “why not”? I can’t think of any adventure truly worth having without the love of something. Would Indiana Jones bother risking his life to hunt treasure if he didn’t love rare archeological finds? What’s the point of a super hero fighting to save the world if there’s no one in it that he cares about?

But not only is love a great motivation, it’s also an obstacle. I can’t think of many daring feats that leave you more vulnerable than opening yourself up emotionally to someone else.

These stories draw me because they provide an escape. We live in a world where the things we don’t fully comprehend often get disregarded as implausible. Tales with fantastical elements tend to allow us to more fully explore these concepts intellectually, emotionally, politically, interpersonally, without a biased need to be “right”. They provide worlds that are limited only by the author’s – and reader’s – creative imagination.

My first published book is a fantasy romance novella, titled SAY MY NAME, and it is a sensual, adult retelling of the fable Rumpelstiltskin (learn more about why I chose this particular fairy tale on my blog). Leave a comment here sharing a fairy tale that you’d love to see retold and why, for a chance to win a free copy of the SAY MY NAME eBook. All entries need to be in by 11:59 p.m. on August 31, 2010 (EST). A winner will be chosen on September 1, 2010. Good luck!

Thanks for stopping by, Tatiana! Okay guys, you have one week to enter Tatiana’s contest.

Sorry I’ve been absent, guys. My computer died, so I’m dealing with the aftermath of that. I don’t have another one yet, but I plan to very soon. When I’m back to blogging regularly, I promise to visit all of your blogs. 😀

Debates about the future of publishing have been going on for quite a while now. I do not wish to partake in said debate because I’m not sure how I feel about it one way or another, but I do know that nothing will replace the feel of a book in my hand–it’s my preference. I’d like to share a video with you from the folks at Penguin Books.

Please check out the entire video and tell me what you think.

The awesome Stacia Kane has a hot dystopian urban fantasy series out right now–the Downside books–that addresses some real world issues, which makes it even better for me.

The MC, Chess Putnam, is a Debunker for the Church of Real Truth. She is also a fully tattooed witch and ghost hunter, and she gets into some really spooky situations.

The first book in the Downside series, UNHOLY GHOSTS, debuted on May 25, 2010. Here’s the description from Stacia’s website:

The world is not the way it was. The dead have risen and constantly attack the living. The powerful Church of Real Truth, in charge since the government fell, has sworn to reimburse citizens being harassed by the deceased. Consequently, there are many false claims of hauntings from those hoping to profit. Enter Chess Putnam, a fully-tattooed witch and freewheeling Debunker and ghost hunter. She’s got a real talent for nailing the human liars or banishing the wicked dead. But she’s keeping a dark secret from the Church: a little drug problem that’s landed her in hot and dangerous water.

Chess owes a murderous drug lord named Bump a lot of money. And Bump wants immediate payback. All Chess has to do is dispatch a very nasty species of undead from an old airport. But the job involves black magic, human sacrifice, a nefarious demonic creature, and crossing swords with enough wicked energy to wipe out a city of souls. Toss in lust with a rival gang leader and a dangerous attraction to Bump’s ruthless enforcer, and Chess begins to wonder if the rush is really worth it. Hell, yeah.

The second book in the series, UNHOLY MAGIC, debuted on July 6, 2010.

Stacia was nice enough to grant me an interview to share with you guys. I hope you like it and will pick up these books. You won’t be disappointed!

1.) Demon Hunter–What makes your MC, Chess Putnam, different from other Urban Fantasy main characters?

Stacia Kane–Well, the obvious answer is that she’s an addict, but I think that’s actually kind of peripheral, in a way. Chess is different because her magical ability–she’s a witch–requires tools and rituals and memorization; it’s not like a muscle she can flex; of course, not all UF heroines are like that, but a lot of the ones I’ve seen are. I think she’s different because of the depth of her self-destructiveness and self-loathing; she’s someone who is constantly ashamed of herself, who constantly wants to escape herself. But at the same time there’s hope in her, and loyalty, and friendship and even love. I think she’s tough and kick-ass without being stereoptypically “kick-ass;” she can take care of herself, certainly, but she doesn’t relish the prospect of violence and the way she makes her living isn’t violent, although the potential is there.

That’s a difficult question to answer, I think, because it sounds like I’m dumping every other UF heroine into a pot and declaring them all alike except mine, and that’s not the case at all. There are as many different kinds of UF heroines as there are UF novels. But I do think Chess’s self-destructiveness and shame combined with her sense of hope and loyalty make her unique, or at least, make her like a real person.

2.) DH–Chess is a drug user. What made you explore that angle within your character?

SK–I don’t really remember how the idea came to me. I really wanted to write a UF heroine with real problems, someone who wasn’t just an outcast but who deliberately hid. I wanted someone who was tough but who had this one major vulnerability, and I wanted that vulnerability to be something plots could spin from and which would contribute to the world and the stories; you know, if your story isn’t unique to your character and your world, if it could happen with other people in other places in exactly the same way as it happens in your book, maybe you shouldn’t be writing that story.

Sorry for the delay guys, but I was rather busy for the past few weeks. 😀 Anyway, my friend, the wonderful Bernita Harris has an e-book out called DARK AND DISORDERLY, available here. I asked her to do a guest blog, which is available below. The blog is all yours, Bernita. 😀

Hellbenders

Tyhitia, you lovely girl with the lovely name, thank you for inviting me to guest blog today.

I love a kick-ass heroine. I love the warrior-woman trope. And I’m very anti-heroine-as-victim, especially of her own stupidity. That’s stupidity as a character trait, the lack of common sense, not the occasional miscalculation that any character can make because of an absence of credible information about risks. A heroine can be a victim of circumstances without being a “victim.” I have no use for the TSTL girl that sneaks out from a safe house to phone a friend just because of some rebellious denial of reality. Perhaps a similar wall-banging revulsion among readers has led in part to the creation of heroine who can kick ass and take names.

So what makes a kick-ass heroine? Often she is adept at martial arts via the Buffy syndrome, because if you are going to put your heroine in dangerous physical environments, she has to have equalizing talents at her command. So martial arts, knife savy and/or gun expertise are an obvious given. Urban fantasy meets heroic fantasy. Red Sonja lives in Chicago, or New York, or St. Louis.

Unfortunately, this trope is meeting a bit of a back lash. One reader wrote me that they were so glad that Lillie St. Claire didn’t do martial arts, that she was so over Buffy. Seriously.

But it doesn’t have to be a strict either/or in heroines.

Superficially, my heroine doesn’t qualify as kick-ass. Further, she throws up from stress and once even passes out (though after the immediate danger is over–she doesn’t cringe at the crunch) and isn’t trained in karate, judo, savante, marksmanship… no street skills at all. In effect she is more a civilian than a warrior, or, perhaps, she is a warrior for the working day.

But she does have other characteristics necessary for kicking ass: courage, determination, dedication– above all a willingness to confront evil — to stand between the helpless and the forces of darkness.
And something else rather needful in fighting paranormal enemies, magic in some form, an internal magic, an innate ability that doesn’t rely on magic talismans or enchanted swords.( I must say though, that I’m fond of the magical accessory trope too and doubt I’ll ever get tired of reading stories that utilizes it)

Genres develope and change, and it will be interesting to see how heroines of Lillie’s type are received by the reading public. So far readers have been overwhelmingly positive, but I’d really like to have your opinions on the type and style of heroine who satisfies you the most.

Dark and Disorderly – the Adventures of Lillie St. Claire – is published by Carina Press, Harlequin’s new digital first imprint, and is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or where ever ebooks are sold. The first chapter can be downloaded free at http://carinapress.com/blog/2010/06/launch-book-excerpts/

Thank you so much for stopping by and talking with us about heroines in urban fantasy, Bernita. If you guys have questions you can ask Bernita in the comments or visit her blog here. 😀

As you guys can see, I changed my template. After three years of you guys seeing pink, I thought I’d offer a change. You may see a few more templates in the near future after I really settle on one. 😀

I traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina on the weekend of June 4th and attended the sci-fi/fantasy convention known as Con Carolinas. I had lots of fun hanging out with old friends and making new ones as well. I attended many, many panels, and had a blast. I’ll share some pictures below of convention goers, then authors:

This is Kyle. His Godzilla shirt rocked! Plus he had some awesome figurines of some characters he’s made over the years.

These guys on the right work for the Umbrella Corporation. They were there to ensure that the zombie apocalypse did not take place. A zombie was chasing the guy in the far right of the photo.

He was back-up.

Yay! Star Wars! These guys were giggly at first, but then they kept it real for the 2nd photo. 😀

Oh, where did that pic come from? This Spartan was back-up too. Yeah–that’s right–back-up.

Who you gonna call?

And his car.

Scary Monsters and Super Freaks Panel

(Left to right: Robert S. Snare, artist; Kalayna Price, Urban Fantasy

author; Carrie Ryan, YA author; and Gail Z. Martin, Fantasy author)

Left: My friends and Urban Fantasy Authors Marcia Colette and Kalayna Price!

Right: Me and my new friend, YA author, Carrie Ryan!

The wonderful authors over at Magicalwords.net

(Left to right: Stuart Jaffe, A.J. Hartley, Kalayna Price,

Misty Massey, Faith Hunter, and David B. Coe)

The vampire panel with urban fantasy authors: Karen Diaz, Marcia Colette, and Kalayna Price. The latter two authors informed the audience that I was yawning. LOL. I was tired. Revenge is sweet, ladies. 😉

Lots more contests and book reviews are coming. Stay tuned! 😀

Rue McClanahan, born Eddi-Rue McClanahan in Healdton, OK, died at 1 a.m. this morning of a stroke. Her best known role–and my favorite–was that of Southern Belle Blanche Devereaux on the legendary Golden Girls.

Everyone who knows me well understands how much I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Golden Girls. I have the entire collection but I still watch it on tv. There will never be another show like it or as good, IMHO.

I don’t have much else to say–sigh. We’ll miss you, Blanche/Rue. RIP.

Here’s one my favorite episodes where Blanche steals the show:

The Marks of Cain is a thriller by Tom Knox, a pseudonym for journalist Sean Thomas.

According to the publisher, Viking, The Marks of Cain is a parallel mystery that takes two men from the jagged cliffs of north Atlantic islands to the heart of the Arizona desert, from the cursed graveyards of the Basque countryside to a horrendous and earth-shattering secret that lies in wait in the heart of old Colonial Africa.

My review: The story centers around a young lawyer, David Martinez, who receives an ancient map from his dying grandfather. At the behest of his grandfather, David travels to the Basque mountains and runs into danger immediately.

Meanwhile London journalist, Simon Quinn, stumbles into several murder mysteries where rich elderly people are being murdered in horrific ways.

The novel is told from the points of view of both men and is based around a mystical race of Cagots, who are thought to be humans but not from Adam and Eve.

The Marks of Cain is a fast-paced thriller that centers on Nazi eugenics, which will offend a great deal of people. It also ties in a religious slant that will again offend some people.

For me, it didn’t have shock value, even though I think that was the intent. It has been touted as the next DaVinci Code. It was a fast read, but it didn’t “wow” me. It was only okay for me. Based on a five star rating, I’d give The Marks of Cain a 2 out of 5 stars.

To find out more about Tom Knox and his books, go here: http://www.tomknoxbooks.com/

Disclaimer: As per FTC guidelines, I received a review copy of The Marks of Cain from Viking. I did not receive any endorsements of any kind, whether that be monetary, gifts, etc.

There were 23 official entries. I used random.org to choose a winner. And the winner is Marianna, who was commenter #12. Marianna, send me an e-mail that includes your mailing address and Jess will send you a signed copy of HBTO.

Thanks to all who entered. There will be more reviews, interviews, and giveaways. 😀