Closing this blog

As I mentioned in March of this year, the need for
this blog is no longer necessary. Therefore, in the
interest of releasing the space and the name,
the blog will be closed as of July 13th.

Thanks for your support.

Allison Knight

It Was A Great Idea

I'm so glad so many people have enjoyed the
interviews we did here, however, as you may have
noticed, there have not been many since the holidays.
The reason is very simple.

It was a wonderful idea and it's always great to be
copied. Many authors who have their own blogs are inviting
other authors to interview their characters or are
doing so themselves. So the interest in this blog has
declined to the point that continuing is unnecessary.

The blog will remain active for the next three months, so
if you see a URL for this blog at a particular author's
web site, the interview will be available for three
months, then - I will have the blog deleted.

Thanks to all the wonderful authors who shared their great
characters with us.

Like other authors, once in a while, I'll ask an author
with a great new book to interview their characters for
my personal blog, www.AllisonKnight.blogspot.com. I'm sure the authors will tell their fans where
to go for their interview.

Again, thanks to the authors who made this site a great
place to visit.

Allison Knight

Publisher's Recognition - Yippee!

No character interview this week. Instead
I want to share a bit of good news. I
received word from my publisher,
CHAMPAGNE BOOKS, that "Heartsong" has
been nominated as Best Book Of The Year!

Recently, I interviewed both Rhianna and
Garrett so check through the interviews and you'll find them.

The award will be presented on April 2, 2009 for the
best book. Check ChampagneBooks.com to see the
outstanding books running against me.

I'll let you know how "Heartsong" does.

Until next week.

Allison Knight

Meet Hagen, the Hero from Invisible, Kimber Chin's New Contemporary Romance

Please have a seat, Mister Rayner. (Chair creaks as he sits down.) I understand you only have a short time to talk.

(A snort) That's what she (he looks back at the empty doorway) says but we have fourteen business days. Fourteen! That's almost a month. All we have to do is search Uncle Birger's house and find a deed. How difficult can that be?

(I open my mouth.)

Not difficult at all. So what's the rush? There's no rush, that's right. I could tear down and rebuild the house in those fourteen days. Not that I would. Not after all the years Uncle Birger and I have put into it. (A flash of pain crosses his homely face and he whispers) I miss that man.

(Louder) I don't know what her problem is. (He stands up, gripping the back of the chair with his huge hands.) And you know what else she told me?

What? (I manage to squeak out in the ten second break)

Not to talk to you. (His gray eyes widen.) Sure, its okay to be interviewed but I'm not supposed to talk. (He paces back and forth.) How is that supposed to work? (He flings his arms out.) How can you sit down for an interview and not talk? You can't. It's impossible. She's impossible. She's a crazy woman, that one. A green eyed witch. She bewitched my great-uncle. Had to. There's no other explanation for it.

And now (he swings around, eyes flashing) she's working her wiles on me. I can't stop thinking about her. Her! The nutcase. She's not even my type! Isabelle, Isabelle is a woman a man could care for. Not that closed mouth basketcase.

(The pacing starts again, faster this time.) If it were my choice, I wouldn't get within one foot of that woman. But it isn't my choice, is it? Uncle Birger and his games!

Time to go, Hagen. (A petite dark haired woman stands on the threshold.)

You've got to be kidding! (He yanks at his hair.)

(She simply tilts her head.)

What's the hurry? She hasn't asked a single question yet!

(Laughing green eyes meet mine.) She has enough information.

But-

You either come with me now (she cuts him off) or you never see me again.

(Their eyes meet, hold, and then he slumps.) Okay, okay, I'm coming. (Smiles at me sheepishly) We'll have to do this some other time.

(I smile back because Maeve is right. I have more than enough information. My client will be extremely interested.)

HagenFinding
Once I 'met' Maeve, finding the perfect guy to drive her crazy was easy. Maeve doesn't talk. At all. Lives depend on her keeping her mouth shut. So pairing her up with an ex-auctioneer, chatterbox like Hagen was a no-brainer, and as I'm married to a salesguy, I have first hand knowledge of the talkative male. The most challenging part was hushing Hagen up long enough to write 'the end.'


Invisible, Kimber Chin's second contemporary romance, is a treasure hunt through the world of hidden identities. A world where loyalty and love can be found in the most unexpected places. To read more, visit http://businessromance.com/

This week, let J K Coi introduce Alric of DARK IMMORTAL

First of all, wow. You’re huge. Are the other Immortals as intimidating as you?

Um, yes and no. When we go through the transition to Immortality, it comes with a few perks, like increased mass and strength, but the process hurts like a son of a—well, it’s no picnic. On the other hand, I was pretty big to start with, even for a human—especially in my day.

And when was that?

About eight hundred years ago—give or take a few.

You have a bit of a European accent. Norwegian? Saxon? What brought you to the United States? When?

Saxon. I came to the States a couple hundred years ago. Wandered around a bit, just stopping where I was needed. Back then none of us were real organized, and we mostly kept to ourselves. Now things are different. There are five Immortals who operate out of Chandler. Me and Rhys, the twins—Kane and Roland—and the newbie, Baron. Well, actually there’s six of us if you count Amy, but Rhys is protective of her, doesn’t let her do much fighting. She’s our doc. Gideon left a while ago. I think he’s still out west in L.A.

You say you went where you were needed. Needed how? What exactly does an Immortal do?

We fight. Most of you humans don’t want to see what lives beneath the careful shell of civilization you desperately cling to, but that doesn’t mean those things can’t see and touch you. Or that they can’t hurt you. A long time ago—before you and before me—there was a great battle in the heavens. Those that lost were sent below, to a place that has been aptly called the Abyss. It’s a prison of sorts, for demons and other nasty creatures you wouldn’t want to face in a dark alley at night. But like all prisons, the imprisoned seek to escape...and some of them succeed. It’s our job to send them back.

And have you always done your job? Don’t you ever wish you could just be...normal?

We don’t ask for this life, that’s true. But I was born in a time of war. And I had been a warrior long before destiny demanded it of me. It’s all I know how to do.

But what about your wife, Diana? Do you think she really wants to live this kind of life?

It has been a struggle for her. I hate that I’ve put her in danger by bringing her into my world, but I can’t let her go either. I spent one hundred years chained up by demons in an underground cave and she found me. She rescued me. She’s the only reason I stayed sane. Her love gives me strength and purpose. Without her, I fear the rage would consume me.

She’s human?

Yes.

And...how do you feel about that?

It tears me apart that I’m going to have to watch her grow old—as long as I don’t get her killed first—and that she’ll never have my children, and that ...but we’re not thinking about those things right now. We love each other and for now that’s enough.

Is it?

Is this interview over yet?

Author’s Comment:

Dark Immortal is the third book in my Immortals Series. Alric’s book has proven especially compelling to me—maybe because I hadn’t actually planned to write his story. When he and Diana first came onto the scene in Book 1, they were strictly supporting characters. I thought their story had already been told—they were married after all, already together and in love. But just as I was finishing up Book 2 (Baron’s story) and getting ready to start Gideon’s (what will now be book 4), Alric stepped forward, no longer content to stay in his “supporting role”.

Alric. In the first two books, he is strong, centered, happy. Then his past was revealed to me; the torture, the darkness, the rage. After living so close to madness for so long, I needed to know how he had gotten past it to become the man he is now—and of course, the answer was Diana. She is his light. But what would happen if that light were taken away? If darkness were to envelop him once more?

The story just had to be written.

J.K. Coi writes dark and edgy paranormal romance, where love is all consuming, the stakes are always high, and the immortals are to die for...

Book 3 of the Immortal Series, Dark Immortal, is available now…

Five years of happiness, erased in one vicious act of violence.

Diana freed Alric from his prison and the insanity of his own mind, offering him the kind of love only a fool would deny. Now she lies broken and comatose from a vampire attack, locked deep inside herself where he cannot reach her.

Awakening in a strange bed, Diana has no memory of how she got there. The huge, muscled man leaning over her is straight out of nightmares full of blood and pain. Married to him? It can’t be true…even if her body craves his touch, and the anguish in his eyes shatters something deep inside her.

Alric has no intention of giving up on the woman who never stopped fighting for him. His one hope is that time will heal her mind. But with a demon god poised to tip the balance of power, time is not on their side…

Meet the hero of "A Treasure For Sara"

Good afternoon, sir, er, Mr. Bear?

Yah!

Pardon me, but could a have a word with you?

Me? What do ya want to talk to me about?

I understand that you are here to meet Sara McGuiness.
Is that true?

How'd ya learn about that?

I have my sources. I take it, it's true.

Yah!

Well then, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?

The huge man looked around, as if he didn't want to talk to me, or didn't want anyone else to hear our conversation.

I suppose.

What you plan for her, here in the northwest. Word is you don't have a wife. Is she here to marry you?

Marry? Ya outta your mind. Don't plan a thing for her. Ifin ya know I'm to meet her, ya gotta know her pa is waiting for her at my place.

I leaned closer, for it was obvious he wasn't about to tell me much.
Isn't Irish sick?

Damn! How'd ya find out about that?

I told you I have my sources.

Yah, her pa is ill, so when he gets well she'll go with him or back where she came from, back to Philadelphia.

You intend to stay here?

No secret. This here is my home now.

Bear, I'd loved to know where you came from.

Don't got a whole lot of manners do ya? Here in the Yukon askin' those kinds of question can get ya a bullet in your gut.

Okay then, let talk about this Sara.

Can't talk about her. Know nothing about her.

But, Irish should have told you something.

Ya don't get it. Out here ya don't ask questions.

But, he's your friend.

Especially not to friends. Look! the ship's tender is docking. I gotta get Ms. McGuiness. Don't have time for more questions.

How Bear came to be!

Bear appeared like many of my characters, as I thought about
where I want to put a story. I knew instantly the hero would
have to be someone unique, big, loyal, trustworthy, skilled
and silent. I also knew, he had to have a very special reason
for coming to the northwest. I found his reason when I read
about the great die-up in the western US.

I will admit the whole idea for Sara's story came as a result
of something an editor told me. She said very few authors
could write a story without a subplot and secondary characters. That keeping a heroine and hero together alone would never
work. I just had to prove her wrong. Sara and Bear are all
alone through a Yukon winter, with only one brief incident
with a neighbor and his wife miles away from Bear's cabin.

Hope you enjoy A Treasure For Sara as much as I enjoyed writing it. And there will be no introduction of secondary character interviews, because there aren't any.

Allison Knight
www.AllisonKnight.com
"A Treasure For Sara" is available
from Champagne Books, Inc.

Meet Margaret L Carter's "Therapist to the Not Quite Human"

I’m interviewing Dr. Britt Loren from DARK CHANGELING, CHILD OF TWILIGHT, and SHADOW OF THE BEAST. She’s a tall woman with golden-red hair in a loose French twist, green eyes, and a remarkably youthful appearance for late middle age.

Dr. Loren, please introduce yourself.

I'm a native of the Baltimore area and received my M.D. from Johns Hopkins University. I've practiced psychiatry in Annapolis for my entire career.

I understand you're in a long-term relationship with a vampire.

Yes, but not the undead type you're probably thinking of from legends and movies. My partner, Dr. Roger Darvell, belongs to a nonhuman species living secretly among us. Or, to be more accurate, he's a vampire-human hybrid, an extremely rare phenomenon. His mother was a vampire in love with a human male. They were killed in France in the late 1930s, and he grew up as the adopted child of human parents, with no idea of his true origin until the age of forty.

Finding out the truth must have been traumatic for him.

While he had major adjustments to make, of course, I think in a way it was a relief to have the strange phenomena he’d grappled with for most of his life rationally explained. For one thing, he didn’t have to worry that he was suffering from some obscure form of mental illness, a fear that had haunted him all those years.

How did you react when you began to suspect Dr. Darvell wasn't human?

I was intrigued. Already I knew him too well to be afraid he would hurt me. I wished he had trusted me enough to tell me the truth on his own, but once I confronted him, he was completely honest. Discovering his nonhuman heritage explained a lot, not only the restricted diet and the allergy to direct sunlight, but how an uptight Bostonian could be so incredibly sexy.

He has a daughter by a female vampire, doesn't he? How do you feel about that?

Isn't that my line? laughs Seriously, the pregnancy was produced by artificial insemination, although with a few complications related to male vampire sexual physiology. I have no reason to be jealous of Gillian’s mother. In fact, I encouraged Roger to contribute his hybrid genes for the good of his species. They’re not reproducing among themselves enough to replace the few who are killed every century. In effect, they’re an endangered species.

If you don't mind a personal question, why haven't you ever gotten married

Can you imagine the income tax bite—so to speak—with two doctors filing jointly? After I retire, we'll probably make it official. That may happen soon, considering how the practice of psychiatry has changed since my early years in the field. Writing prescriptions for psychotropic drugs just doesn’t hold the excitement of Jungian analysis. With the blood bond we share, though, we're effectively more deeply committed than any ordinary husband and wife.

In addition to helping Dr. Darvell counsel vampire-human couples, you’ve psychoanalyzed at least one other type of paranormal creature. How did you feel when an apparently ordinary young female patient turned out to be a werewolf?

After keeping Roger’s secret for so long, I wasn’t completely shocked. Surprised, yes, to discover lycanthropy also existed, but not frightened. I knew my patient was just a confused girl who needed to understand her true nature. She’s lucky she happened to pick me for her therapist. It’s not likely anyone else would have recognized the truth about her condition.

What advice would you give to an ordinary human being who's considering a relationship with a vampire?

They call us "ephemerals," but don't let them get away with assuming they're superior just because they live practically forever and have certain arcane powers. They depend on us for sustenance. While they can feed on animals, they have to get small amounts of blood from human donors on a regular basis to stay not only healthy but sane. The ideal situation for a vampire is an exclusive bond with a single donor. In return, they give us immunity to certain medical conditions such as heart disease and most cancers. And a psychic bond with a vampire involves a deep intimacy you won’t find in any other relationship.

Then it’s true that sex with vampires is uniquely exciting?

Well, that’s a personal matter. smiles enigmatically I can tell you in general terms, though, that the mutual sharing of blood infuses lovemaking with an intensity you could never imagine.

Author’s Comment:

If you ever saw any of the “Beach Party” movies of the 1960s, you may remember the motorcycle gang leader Eric von Zipper. He was always telling female celebrities, “You are my idol, but I am my ideal.” Well, Britt Loren isn’t my ideal in the sense of a woman I would like to emulate, because that wouldn’t be possible in this lifetime.

My “ideal” is Eloise Kern, who appears in CHILD OF TWILIGHT and my novella “Tall, Dark, and Deadly” as the human mate of Roger Darvell’s fullblooded vampire half-brother. Eloise started as a Mary Sue, myself with a better figure, greater confidence, and a more successful career.

Britt is my idol — the image of the strong, brilliant, beautiful, TALL woman I’d choose to be if I could have a magical makeover. And I’d love to have hair that color. Soon after Roger Darvell was shaped into his present form, Britt came to mind as the woman who’d be his match. I wanted someone to discover his secret and become his romantic interest. The idea of assigning that role to his professional partner seemed logical. Their relationship and Britt’s Maryland background gelled about the same time I decided to set their story in Annapolis, because it was fun to write about an area with which I was familiar.

Britt’s werewolf patient, the heroine of SHADOW OF THE BEAST, works at the same job I do, proofreader (a position now called legislative editor) for the Maryland General Assembly. The concept of mutual dependency between vampires and their human donors, with the human partner actually having the upper hand (provided she has fallen in love with a vampire who cares enough that he’d never hurt her), is heavily influenced by Jacqueline Lichtenberg and Jean Lorrah’s Sime-Gen series, which you can read all about at www.simegen.com.

On my website www.margaretlcarter.com you can view a complete chronological list of the stories and novels in my vampire universe under the “Vanishing Breed” link.

You can subscribe to my monthly newsletter, featuring excerpts, book reviews, and interviews with guest authors, at: groups.yahoo.com/group/margaretlcartersnewsfromthecrypt