Friday, May 3, 2013

Book Tour--ELVEN BLOOD

Goddess Fish Book Tour

ELVEN BLOOD by Debra Dunbar
An urban/contemporary fantasy

AN INTERVIEW WITH DEBRA
-What book and/or experience made you want to be a writer?

I’ve always been a storyteller, and becoming a writer was just a natural growth from my love of sharing my imagination with others. At five I found a neighbor’s flower garden in a clearing surrounded by woods. It became a magical place between the worlds. I’d convinced all the neighborhood kids that we could see the elves and fairies at dusk, if we were very quiet and didn’t scare them off.

Once I learned to write, my storytelling just moved to the page. I wrote animal stories, mysteries, and fantasy tales as early as the first grade.

-What genre(s) do you write?

The IMP series is urban/contemporary fantasy, but I also have a horror short story, a set of erotic romance stories, and a YA Wiccan romance in an anthology. I love to challenge myself with new genres, but I’m particularly fond of fantasy and supernatural.

-ELVEN BLOOD

Sam may be the Iblis, but she is also an imp with a price on her head. The powerful demon Haagenti won’t rest until she’s dragged back to Hel for “punishment”. Sam knows she can’t face Haagenti and win, so when an Elf Lord offers to eliminate the demon in return for her help, Sam accepts. It’s a simple job – find and retrieve a half-breed monster dead or alive. But finding this demon/elf hybrid isn’t proving easy and time is running out.

-Spoilers?

It was after lunchtime when Gregory arrived for our meeting. So much for “early”.

He usually appeared in my house, unannounced, but this time he strode in the front door holding a head by the hair. He plopped it down on my dining room table and waved a hand, causing a depressing amount of paperwork to cover the table surface. I ignored the paperwork and focused my attention on the more interesting item.

“Is this a present?” I asked in delight.

I picked up the head and sat it like a hat on top of my own head, modeling it with a flourish.

“How did you know? I’ve always wanted one of these. And it fits perfectly.”

The angel was not amused. “We’ve got a lot to review today, and as often as you get sidetracked, we’re liable to be at it for a week. Put the head down and focus.”

Why the fuck did he bring a head if he didn’t want me to mess with it?

“Should I put it in a vase? Display it as a centerpiece on the table? How can you expect me to focus on stupid, boring paperwork when I’ve got this amazing, decomposing flesh tempting me with its beauty?”

“Fine. We’ll address this matter first, and then I’ll get rid of the thing so it won’t continue to distract you.”

He took the head from my hands and stuck it back on the table. It made an entertaining squelch sound.

-For aspiring writers, any tips?

Don’t let the meanies get you down – especially if you find yourself being the meanie. Sales may be sluggish at first, you may doubt yourself, but keep your chin up. Enchant one reader at a time, and with patience and perseverance, you’ll succeed.

-What’s your favorite book/genre to read?

I’m all over the place. I really love urban fantasy, and paranormal, but there are times when I’ll jump to a Regency or even a sweet romance. I’m reading a paranormal thriller on my Kindle right now – it’s so good I don’t want it to end!

-What’s your favorite thing you’ve ever written?

Oh no! That’s like asking me to pick my favorite child!

I do love the humorous scenes in my books the most. Almost everything I write has a comedic scene in it - even the erotic romances. Life is funny, and a good laugh helps us get through with the painful things, the embarrassing things, and the downright boring things we have to cope with as humans. So when Sam gets summoned by three teenage boys or Naughty Mom jokes about her elastic waist pants, I hope you laugh.

ABOUT DEBRA
Debra Dunbar lives on a farm in the northeast United States with her husband, three boys, and a Noah’s ark of four legged family members. Her urban fantasy novels feature supernatural elements in local settings. In addition to A DEMON BOUND, SATAN’S SWORD, and ELVEN BLOOD, she has also published a short story erotica series titled NAUGHTY MOM. Connect with her on Twitter @debra_dunbar, on Facebook at debradunbarauthor, and on her website at debradunbar.com .

Get started reading books 1 and 2 in the Imp Book series before tackling ELVEN BLOOD.
-A DEMON BOUND
-SATAN’S SWORD

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Hey readers,

Love me a good urban fantasy, and love me a character that plays with a decapitated head. That’s hilarious. Thanks for the interview and excerpt, Debra!

Want more? Follow the tour here.

And don’t forget to comment for a shot at some awesome prizes.

Debra will be awarding an e-book copy of A DEMON BOUND (book 1 in the Imp Series) to a randomly drawn commenter at every stop, and a grand prize of a Kindle Fire with an ELVEN BLOOD book cover skin to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour (US ONLY).

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

A Writer's Favorite Words

Good Wednesday,

And what a lovely Wednesday it is.

I wrote every writer’s favorite words last night.

THE END

Yes, that’s right. The rough draft of my thesis is done! At present it consists of 33 chapters, 403 pages, and a whopping word count of 107,297 words. A bit on the long side, but it’s epic fantasy. That means I’m not too far over the mark.

Am I done? Hells no. I’ve still got revisions up a storm. The first 16 chapters need to be seriously looked at and reworked. But I wrote THE END. Love that feeling. Who’da thought two words could give such a high, huh?

In honor of this momentous occasion, I’d love to say I’m taking the day off from the thesis. But I tend to be a workaholic, so we’ll see how that goes. The only way I see that happening is if I work on my 3000-word submission for June res. This project (which will sit on the side lines until after graduation with the exception of this submission) is what I’d term epic fantasy. I think I’d also term it new adult. It used to be a short story, but my writing group informed me it was too big to be a short story. “Mary, you need to make this a novel.” Yeah, cuz I have time for that.

In retrospect, it does probably need to be a novel, and when I’m not drowning in thesis and a lack of time, I’ll thank my writing group instead of glaring at them.

But I do have time to do a first chapter. That and I need something to submit by May 17. Yes, one short week after my last thesis submission is due.

*mutter, grumble, grumble, mutter*

But enough grumbling. I wrote THE END! Party time till revisions start.

Have an awesome day and thanks for reading.