Saturday, June 2, 2012

Seduced by a Vampire King * Author Interview & Giveaway *

I'm excited to have on our blog today an author that I have fallen in love with each of her stories!! 
I will admit that the first novel I read by author Laura Kaye was back in January when In the Service of the King was first released. After that I couldn't help but check out the rest of Laura's works and have loved each one! Now here we are with book 2, in the Vampire Warrior Kings series!! Seduced by a Vampire King Tour stop with an interview & GIVEAWAY!!


Tell us a little about yourself Laura!

I’d love to! And thanks for having me here! I write paranormal, contemporary and erotic romance and Seduced by the Vampire King is my seventh book to be published. I’m also a wife, mom of two young girls (ages 8 and almost 6), college history professor, and complete vampire addict.


With the release of your new book, Seduced by the Vampire King, can you tell followers a little about it?

Seduced by the Vampire King is the second book in my Vampire Warrior Kings mini-series. It’s a play on the enemies-to-lovers trope and is set in Moscow, Russia. Here’s the blurb:

American exchange student Kate Bordessa has fled to Russia to escape her family's hopes that she'll become one of the Proffered, human women who feed and mate with elite vampire warriors. But when she stumbles upon a wounded vampire in the streets of Moscow, she's instinctively driven to protect him--and feels an undeniable spark of desire.

Grieving over the deaths of his brothers, Vampire Warrior King Nikolai Vasilyev has thrown himself into battling his enemies, focused only on vengeance. Until the attack that brought him to Kate. Their sexual attraction explodes into a night of uncontrolled passion--a night that marks them as mates. Is their connection strong enough to convince them to embrace a destiny neither of them was expecting?


What is your creative muse? Do you listen to music or have a certain ritual that needs to be done?

Have laptop, will write. That pretty much sums up my writing ritual! *grins* Music is a huge source of creative energy for me, though I generally don’t listen to music as I write because I like to sing too much and I distract myself! LOL Although, with my last book, Her Forbidden Hero, there was a song that was just the book, and I listened to it on repeat probably hundreds of times—but that had never happened before! I can and do write pretty much anywhere… Maybe my only ritual is I need to re-read what I wrote the previous day in order to get my head back in the story so I can write new words.

How was the writing process? Are you a visual writer or do the characters 'speak' to you?

When I write, I see the story in my head like a movie, but it’s even cooler than that because I can move around within the image to see it from all angles. My characters do also speak to me sometimes. Some characters more than others. And, because I rarely plot out my stories ahead of time, I’m often surprised by where the story goes. Probably THE character that has most spoken to me was Lucien Demarco from my first vampire romance, Forever Freed. He still speaks to me sometimes (he’s a little antsy about his sequel I haven’t gotten around to yet…)


What are your favorite Paranormal beings? (vamps, shifters etc.)

Vampires, hands down. Ever since I read Anne Rice’s books as a teenager, they’ve been my first love as a reader. And now they’re my first love as a writer, too.

What are 3 words you would use to describe Vampire Warrior King Nikolai Vasilyev?

Tortured, Stubborn, Honorable

Did you know you always wanted to be a writer??

Not exactly. I’ve been a writer most of my life. My professional training is as a historian, and I have several non-fiction books published in American history. But though I wrote fiction as a teenager, I didn’t start writing with the intent to publish until about four years ago. Once writing sank its claws into me, though, I knew it was what I wanted to do and I’ve been dedicated to the pursuit of a professional (and hopefully full-time!) writing career ever since.

How did it feel when you found out your first book was going to be published? Is it a different experience for each novel? How did you celebrate?

It felt totally surreal. Like the information couldn’t be absorbed into my brain! It was amazing. I would say it was nearly as exciting for the first five books I sold, because I sold each of them individually after submitting them to publishers. Everything I’ve sold since then has been to two of my existing publishers, and while those are never guaranteed, once you’re more established, you tend to sell multiple books at a time, so each book didn’t go through that pain of submission/victory of acceptance process. I found out I sold my first novel, Forever Freed, while writing at Panera with my best friend, YA paranormal author Lea Nolan (we write at Panera most days). I think we might’ve split a chocolate chip cookie!

What was the most difficult part(s) you encountered when writing Seduced by the Vampire King?

Hmm, well, the story came out pretty fast—which actually was one of the challenges. I got behind on another project which left me very little time to turn this in by the contracted deadline! The second challenge was that the ending I thought was going to happen was not where the story actually wanted to end, which happens a lot.

Who has been your best or favorite character to write and why?

This is such a hard question to answer. Right now I’d have to say it was Marco Vieri, my hero from my May release, Her Forbidden Hero. The reason I pick him is because that story will.not.leave.me.alone! I adored it while I was writing it—especially all of Marco’s angst, and now that it’s done, those characters are still very much in my head. So much so that the next thing I write will be the follow-up to that book which will feature the heroine’s brother in his own story.

A la twitter style…using only 140 characters, describe Seduced by the Vampire King!!

A #vampire king who ONLY wants vengeance...a human woman who fled 5,000 miles to escape a future w/vampires meet in #SeducedbytheVampireKing

Do you have any other projects coming up? Do you know how many will be in the Vampire Warrior Kings series?

My next big release will be West of Want, book 2 in my Hearts of the Anemoi series which is based on Greek mythology. And I’m extra excited about the release of this book because it will be my first one in bookstores! Otherwise, I’ll be writing the follow-on story to Her Forbidden Hero, South of Surrender (Anemoi book 3), and some other projects I’ve got going on.

Will we see previous characters such as Kael, as your Vampire Warrior Kings series continues?

It is possible you will see return characters in the final book!

Who is your favorite Paranormal Romance Author? Any specific books or series?

No question: J.R. Ward, particularly her Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Those males are real, right? They really do exist up in Caldwell? Right. Okay. I thought so.

What is you favorite drink or food to have at a Party?!?!

Anything that can be dipped! Chips and French onion dip. Chips and salsa. Carrots and ranch. I could go on and on!


Thanks Laura for stopping by!! I can't wait to read this!!

GIVEAWAY!!!!
Laura will be giving away one ebook copy of Seduced By a Vampire King to a lucky person!! All you need to do is leave a question or comment for the author AND be a follower of the blog (email, GFC, Linky, FB etc.)! 
**Please leave your name, email, question/comment to author & how you follow in a comment to be entered!!** Contest ends 6/4 @ 11:59.

For more chances to win check out the rest of the book tour HERE


About Laura Kaye:
Voted Breakout Author of the Year in the 2011 GraveTells Readers’ Choice Awards, Laura is the bestselling and award-winning author of over a half-dozen books in paranormal, contemporary and erotic romance. Hearts in Darkness is the EPIC eBook Award Winner for Best Novella and HOLT Medallion Award of Merit Winner for Best Romance Novella, Forever Freed is the NJRW Golden Leaf Winner for Best Paranormal of 2011 and is a finalist for two GDRWA Booksellers’ Best Awards, and North of Need, the first book in the Hearts of the Anemoi series, is a finalist for a FF&P PRISM award, was named GraveTells’ Best Book of 2011 and won their 5-STAR Gold Heart Award, and won Sizzling Hot Read of the Year at Sizzling Hot Books. Laura lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and cute-but-bad dog, and appreciates her view of the Chesapeake Bay every day.


19 comments:

  1. I just love Laura's books and this new series is an ultimate winner. Sexy Russian vampires- man, who can resist. Thanks Laura for the great writing. sdylion(at)gmail(dot)com

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  2. I couldn't go without music in my life on a daily basis and I am not near as creative as an author ;)
    Great interview!

    GFC follower : Kassandra
    sionedkla@gmail.com

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  3. Thanks for kicking off the comments this morning SdyLion and Kassandra! Good luck!

    And thanks to PNR Party for hosting me! :)

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  4. I have not read any of Laura's books as of yet but they are now on my Wish List@! Thanks..
    Yvette
    yratpatrol@aol.com

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  5. You are a nice person and i wish i had read your book.
    Take Care Laura i wish you the best in life

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  6. I love Laura's work. I swear with each new hero she writes I find a new hero to love. Thank you so much!

    vsloboda(at)gmail(dot)com

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  7. I love Laura's books. This book sounds amazing. Can't wait to read it. As the series goes on, will you revisit the characters from the first few books?

    GFC follower- Joanne B

    e.balinski(at)att(dot)net

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    Replies
    1. Hi Joanne - it's possible some of the earlier characters will make an appearance in later books! Stay tuned! ;)

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  8. I loved Kael's story so I cannot wait to read Nikolai's. I just got Forever Freed when it was on sale for its birthday. Looking forward to reading about all these characters that won't get out of Laura's head. ;D

    Thanks for the giveaway opportunity.
    GFC: Sophia Rose
    sophiarose1816@gmail.com

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  9. Thanks for all the great comments everyone! I'm enjoying reading them! :)

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  10. Congrats Laura! Nikolai sounds yummy. How did you know his character was going to be as tortured as he was?
    gfc: Julianne
    luvfuzzzeeefaces at yahoo dot com

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    1. I knew Nikolai before I even wrote Kael's book (book 1) - the first chapter of Seduced has been in my head for two years. Characters just come to me, and then their story. So, the "how" is somewhat mysterious even to me! LOL

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  11. Alyssa and Marco will show up in her brothers book, won't they??? My cousin just finished Hearts in Darkness and love it! A new fan! WOOT!!!

    email follower

    suz2(at)cox(dot)net

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    1. Thanks for your comment, Susan! Yes, Alyssa and Marco will show up in Brady's book! (tentatively slated for September!). And yay--thanks for letting me know about your cousin! :)

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  12. I can't wait to read SEDUCED BY THE VAMPIRE KING. I loved the first book in this series and know I will love this one too. Congrats on the recent releases :)
    manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

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  13. Another great interview! I cannot wait to read Nikolai and Kate's story but first I have to start with In The Service Of The King :) I love blog hops! Which song did you listen to while writing HFH, Laura? Thank you for sharing and celebrating with us.

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  14. I love Laura's books since reading North of Need (can't wait for the rest of that series). I was excited when this series started; hope I win a copy! Love the sound of the tortured hero.

    thumbelinda03@yahoo.com

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  15. Thank you everyone who entered and Laura for letting us be part of this tour!! The contest is closed and the winner is Sophia Rose!! I will contact you!! <3

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