Thursday, February 28, 2013

Blog Tour: Interview with Erica Hayes + Giveaway!


WELCOME TO THE BLOG, ERICA! :)


 Erica Hayes was a law student, an air force officer, an editorial assistant and a musician, before finally landing her dream job: fantasy and romance writer.


 
She writes dark paranormal and urban fantasy romance, and her books feature tough, smart heroines and colourful heroes with dark secrets.

She hails from Australia, where she drifts from city to city, leaving a trail of chaos behind her. Currently, she's terrorizing the wilds of Northumberland.



Where to Find Erica:
 
 
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The_Book_Queen: Hi Erica! Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

 
Erica: Thanks for inviting me to visit with you!

I write paranormal romance, urban fantasy and science fiction, and I drink caramel lattes, quite often at the same time. I am owned by a fat orange cat. And I'm an Australian living in the UK for a couple of years. So I'm cold, mostly.

 

TBQ: Those cats truly do own us, don't they? Very different from owning a dog.... Other than writing, do you (or did you) have any other dream jobs? :)

 
E: Apart from astronaut, superhero or the Doctor's companion? When I was at high school, I wanted to be an astronomer, until I realised there'd be physics involved. I went through a vampire phase for a while, too, but that was mostly because I wanted to be Lestat's girlfriend.

 

TBQ: Revelation came out last fall, and starts your new Seven Signs series. Can you tell us a little bit about this book, and why readers are going to love it?

 
E: The short version? The Seven Signs is about a gang of fallen angels in near-future Manhattan, who must stop the Demon King from hijacking the signs of the apocalypse and bringing on the end of the world.

 

In REVELATION, the hero, Luniel, must team up with Morgan, a forensic pathologist who doesn't believe in angels, to stop demon-cursed zombies taking over New York.

 

It's sexy, action-packed and desperately romantic. I mean, look at that awesome man-midriff cover. It has its serious moments, sure – saving the world, one soul at a time – but it's wild, fantastic, over-the-top. I hope you love it as much as I do!

 
TBQ: Oooh, I cannot wait to read it! Are there other genres you would like to write about? Or, if you prefer to stick to fantasy/PNR, are there other ideas you'd like to try?

 

E: Well, I love futuristics and adventure stories with a fantasy streak, as well as full-on romance. I enjoy history, so I'd like to try an historical fantasy or a steampunk adventure. And I'm a sucker for a good historical epic – I'd love to write a big fat Tudor romance, or something set in ancient Rome…

 

TBQ: That. Would. Be. Awesome! :) I know we all hate this question, author and reader alike. :) But I have to ask: What are a few of your favorite books and/or authors?

 

E: Oh, this is such a hard question! I honestly can't narrow it down to all-time favourites. Things change so quickly, there are always new books and authors coming to the fore. But some that I've re-read more than once recently are: Stephen King's Dark Tower books; The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe; the Feral Warriors series by Pamela Palmer.

 
TBQ: We've all fallen for a hero (or two, or three, or....ahem).  Tell us one hero that you've fallen for—who is he and what drew you to him?

 

E: Ah, book boyfriends…there are so many! But I admit I'm fickle. I do have a bit of a thing for Danaus from Jocelynn Drake's Dark Days urban fantasy series. Strong, sexy, a kick-ass fighter and a wounded heart of gold. And the author says he looks like the Prince of Persia, whom I shall one day marry.

 

TBQ: *sigh* I may have to fight you for him! What's next-- Can you tell us a little bit about your upcoming releases or WIP?

 

E: Book 2 of the Seven Signs is called REDEMPTION, and it comes out in March. I've got a short sexy vampire/demon romance coming out soon called HUNTER'S HEART. And I have a few new things in the works.

 

 

SPEED ROUND:

 

A day on a secluded island OR a day at the spa?
Can I have the spa, on a secluded island? No? Just one? Probably the secluded island. So long as it's a tropical one. (There's nothing wrong with picking the "greedy" answer. Nothing at all! :D)

 
Reading a spicy romance novel OR a sweet “my-heart-skips-a-beat” one?
Spicy. Unless it's 'Pride and Prejudice'. I think I'm jaded… (Somethings just shouldn't be messed with, right?)

 
Which would you rather have an affair with: a sexy highlander OR a devilishly handsome English lord?
Highlanders don't do it for me, I'm afraid. I'll take the devilish lord any day. (Ah well--more Highlanders for me!)

 
Hot summer days OR cold winter nights?
Hot. Summer. Crying now. See above on Australian in England… (I'll send warm weather wishes your way!)

 
Where would your dream house be: in the city, where all the action is OR nestled in the mountain where you can enjoy the quiet and the wilderness?
Hmm. That's a tough one. I think it'd have to be the city. So long as I can lock everyone out when I want to!

 
If you could live in any time period, past or future, which one would it be?
I'd love to visit loads of time periods! Ancient Rome, Tudor England, Renaissance Italy… but I'm not sure I'd like to live in any of them. Too many horrible ways to die. Plague, execution, childbirth, invading armies, witch burning, homicidal doctors… (Yeah...Visiting would be nice, but only if we can return to modern day!)

 
Cover Lover OR Blurb Fan?
Blurb. I like a sexy man on the cover, certainly, or an intriguing heroine. But I want a good story more! (Yep, I love my covers, but they won't make up for a lacking storyline.)

 
Steamy Novella OR Sweet Novel? (aka, Quickie or Slow Build Up?)
Depends on the day. Sometimes I like the slow build, so long as it does build to something. Other days, I just want. It. Now!! (Hehe...I completely agree!)

 
 
And finally, tell us 3 unique/wacky/fun things about yourself:

Wackiness. Righto. Uhh… I’ll do my best…

 
  • My favorite non-alcoholic drink (in summer, at least) is iced coffee with raspberry syrup. Really. Try it. Your mouth will love you.
  • I can't get in bed until I've smoothed every crease from the sheets first. Perhaps I’m doing it wrong.
  • I love cricket. I know Americans generally don't get it – 'a bit like a five-day baseball game with only two bases!' I say, and get confused, horrified looks—and honestly, it's such a geeky game. But I adore it. I've been known to sit there for five full days in front of the TV.


Okay. Stopping now, before I expose myself as a complete nerd…

 

The_Book_Queen: Ooh--the coffee drink sounds yummy, I must try it! :DThanks so much for stopping by, Erica,  and please know that you are welcome back anytime! Do you have any questions for our readers—something to spark a good discussion? :)

 

Erica: What's your 'most anticipated' for 2013? Everyone waiting for Lover at Last? The new Psy-Changeling book from Nalini Singh? New episodes of Game of Thrones? Me, I can't wait for the new Star Trek movie…  and the next Hobbit!

 
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Revelation by Erica Hayes
Publisher: Berkley (October 2, 2012)
Series: The Seven Signs, 1
Genre: Paranormal Romance/UF
 
A fallen angel with a mission and a medical examiner who’s lost her faith are fighting for their souls in a glittering, near-future Manhattan…
 
Blind faith is for fools. That’s what Dr. Morgan Sterling believes. And she’s going to prove it by curing the zombie plague ravaging her city’s slums. She’s certain it’s not a sign of the End of Days, but a nasty disease—until an angel appears in her morgue in a flash of glory.

 
Luniel is not just a fallen angel. He’s a powerful warrior sworn to fight evil in hopes of a chance at redemption. He’s after the demon princes who are stealing the seven vials of holy wrath which, when perverted, will unleash eternal hell on earth.
 
To stop the plague, Luniel needs Morgan’s help, and her faith. But Morgan believes science is their salvation. If the zombie plague is a demonic curse—and if Luniel is true—he’ll have to prove it. Even if he loses his heart to true love or his soul to Hell…

 
 




 Where to Buy*:
More Info:
 

Revelation by Erica Hayes
Excerpt


Today, of all days. It was Thursday. The world couldn’t end on a Thursday.
Luniel, the fallen angel, crouched on the shore of Liberty Island in a hot August sunset with blood lapping at his feet. It licked the rocks beneath his boots, clotting. All the way across the bay, to the firelit Brooklyn shore and the gleaming blue arcs of the Narrows Bridge, what used to be water gleamed sick and scarlet.
The angel sniffed the air, and tasted copper. A dead fish bobbed belly-up, pale white flesh and fins. He poked the warm liquid with his finger, and licked. Yeah. Definitely blood. And human. There were seaweeds and algae that sported the same fleshy color. But Luniel had tasted enough blood in his three thousand years to know this wasn’t algae.
He straightened. No breeze flicked his long black hair back. In his human guise, he had no wings. He scanned the distant shore with sharp blue eyes, further than any human could see, and his nose twitched. Hunting. For something. Anything. A trick. A college prank. A fish slaughterhouse. Overflow from some industrial accident, one of the factories along the built-up Jersey waterfront spilling toxic chemicals.
Not a sign of the Apocalypse. Not God’s wrath.
Across the bloody bay, Babylon’s glittering towers razored the red sky, the decadent sprawl of skyscrapers and spires they once called Manhattan. The sunset flashed on steel and mirrored windows, glaring in competition with neon lights and rainbow columns of virtual advertising. Even from here, Lune’s preternatural ears detected buzzing electrics, the faint digital beep of comms towers, snatches of conversations, and in his magical angelsight, the city glowed, green with the living, pulsing energy of human souls.
Helicopters lasered their searchlights through smoke and heat haze, sweeping over burned-out housing projects and shining condominiums. Traffic noise hummed, the groaning subway, horns and engines and wailing sirens, police and fire and the ever-more-urgent ambulances. At the height of summer, plague had stolen into the Empire State like a homicidal houseguest, more frightening than California dengue and deadlier than arctic flu, and people were afraid.
But terror happened in Babylon, the world’s richest, rottenest city of sin. You only had to look at the shining glass spire piercing the sky, one hundred and ten stories high, built back in wiser days where a pair of ill-fated twin towers once stood. The world had turned ever more rapidly to shit since then, but Luniel still remembered that day well. That day, angels dived for earth, fiery wings flashing, but it was too late. Even the fallen, like Lune, were powerless. The people screamed and died and thought the world was ending.
Horrific? Yeah. But the monkeys had no idea what they were in for.
What the end of the world would really be like.
Luniel shivered. This wasn’t over yet. It couldn’t be.
He dug into his jeans pocket for his phone, and speed-dialed. Trendy SIM implants in your ears were all very well for humans, but fast-healing angelflesh rejected biotech. The irony was pleasing and bitter. “Come on, Ithiel,” he muttered. “Answer your rotted phone.”
Ithiel was still on heaven’s A-list, but he and Lune stayed in contact. If anything was going down, Ith would know. But voicemail kicked in, his brother’s laid-back laughter: I’m busy. Leave a message. If I give a shit, I’ll call back.
Luniel swore—even after centuries, defiance felt good—and waited for the beep. “Party never stops upstairs, huh. Call me, asshole,” he said, and ended the call.
A week. Ithiel hadn’t answered for a week. And now this.
It could be stupid luck. Coincidence. Random events colliding like flotsam.
But after two millennia spent dealing out heaven’s wrath, and going on another one walking the earth and seeing it all from the other side, Luniel was wearily certain that what goes around, comes around to kick you in the balls.
Coincidence was bullshit. Nothing was random. Everything happened for a reason, and fate was one dastardly, despicable motherfucker you just couldn’t avoid.
But inexorably­—inexplicably—the blood lapping at his feet made him angry.
Defiantly, recklessly, sinfully angry.


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Tour Wide Giveaway
 
1 $25 bookstore gift card (winner's choice of bookstore)
 
1 a signed set of the Shadowfae series (4 paperbacks)
 
2 Kindle copies of short vampire romance HUNTER’S BLOOD







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Thanks for stopping by today, Erica, I enjoyed reading your responses--I hope it gets warm, soon! Here in UT, our weather is always confused--warm, hot, freezing cold. I'm waiting for the warm weather to stay, too!
 
 
Don't forget Erica's question:
 
 
What's your 'most anticipated' for 2013? Everyone waiting for Lover at Last? The new Psy-Changeling book from Nalini Singh? New episodes of Game of Thrones? Me, I can't wait for the new Star Trek movie… and the next Hobbit!
 
 
 
I think you hit on every most anticipated for the year--I still need to see the first Hobbit though. :) And catch up on both book series (so many books, so little time!).
 
 
 
 

Enjoy!




Until Next Time,


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*TBQ's Book Palace is a member of both the Amazon and Barnes and Nobles affiliates program. By using the links provided to buy products from either website, I receive a very small percentage of the order. To read my full disclosure on the matter, please see this post!

1 comment :

Lover Of Romance said...

Nice interview. It made me laugh at times. (Definitely a good thing!!) I haven't heard of this author so I am planning on checking her out. Hope you are having a good weekend so far!