Lunar Love Giveaway Hop

(This giveaway is now closed. I will email the winners as soon as I have the names entered into Virtual Hat. Thank you to the 122 people who entered. Good luck!)

Hosted by the wonderful I'm A Reader, Not A Writer and Bookworm Lisa.

The magic in the Fateful Trilogy is centered around a curse that is triggered by night while the moon hangs in the sky. During the day, Ethan is like any other guy. It's only at night that he's a vampire. His fangs won't even come out during the day. In the Fateful cover designs it was important to me that the moon be visible. In the test cover to the right, you can actually see the sun and the moon at the same time because of the story line.

Here is how it works with Fateful vampires:

The vampire curse only surrounds them when the sun has set and the world is lit with moonlight. At night their hearts stop beating. Like snakes, they have fangs. Their eyes turn magical and hypnotic. Their breath is also dosed with the magic, becoming a potion that will subdue the victim and make them want the death the vampire can bring. With supernatural powers and strength, a cursed being cannot be escaped when moon resides in the sky. During the day, none of this is the case...you would never know you could be facing someone who is a bound by a dark curse by night--and a mortal by day.

I'll let Ethan explain how the curse came about:

Ethan exhaled, his golden brows wrinkled, and then he began. “Once upon a time there was a sorceress who fell in love with a mortal man named Benjamin. He didn’t know she was a sorceress, but when she confessed this to him, wanting him to know the truth, he was disgusted. When he tried to leave her, he told her that she was a curse to humanity. Lilith, that was her name, was so hurt and so angry that she cast a spell on him before he could leave. She said, ‘Now you will forever be the curse to humanity!’ Her spell turned him into a demon, a predator of humanity. She gave him immortality like herself, so he would be forced to wander this earth, forever lonely. And she made him beautiful so women would want to love him, but he wouldn’t be able to love them back without killing them. She also took his heart away from him, by causing it to stop beating, because he had broken hers. She made him into a demonic human to curse humanity … she turned him into a vampire.”

Lilith made them need blood, but it's not just about the blood. It's also about the life-force that is taken when a vampire feeds on someone. As I wrote my version of this myth, I realized I needed the vampire to feed on someone or something living, not bagged blood, because I really think that is how Lilith would have planned it. She wanted Benjamin to become a killer and to be miserable. She wanted him to be a monster that took more than just blood from the victim. She wasn't pleased when she realized that she'd mistakenly left a few loopholes in her curse, and that Benjamin actually liked being a vampire. After I'd made my decisions about the way I wanted my myth to work, I further researched how other writers had done vampires...

Lynsay Sands created vampires from Atlantis with the use of nano technology, which I found highly fascinating. The only drawback for them--while the nanos make them perfect and help to heal them, the nanos also require extra blood, hence the need for fangs. I wish I'd thought of it!

Kerrelyn Sparks created a world where there are good vampires and bad vampires. The bad love to feed off of people, but the good drink a line of special vampire cuisine created by one of the good vampires who happens to be a scientist. They have chocolood, and a wine version. What a fun idea! Wish I'd thought of this too.

Anyway, those are two of my favorites. After writing my own vampires, I actually realized that mine unintentionally resemble the old (original) vampires, like Varney the Vampire. (1845) This is from Wikipedia on Varney:

"Varney was a major influence on later vampire fiction, particularly Dracula by Bram Stoker. Many of today's standard vampire tropes originated in Varney: Varney has fangs, leaves two puncture wounds on the necks of his victims, has hypnotic powers, and has superhuman strength. Unlike later fictional vampires, he is able to go about in daylight and has no particular fear or loathing of crosses or garlic. He can eat and drink in human fashion as a form of disguise, but he points out that human food and drink do not agree with him. His vampirism seems to be a fit that comes on him when his vital energy begins to run low; he is a regular person between feedings. This is also the first example of the "sympathetic vampire," a vampire who loathes his condition but is nonetheless a slave to it."

You may find this comparison of traits in other vampires interesting:

Fateful vampires: Are not pale, have fangs, good feed on animals, hypnotizing eyes, potion-like breath, and are alluring.

Varney the Vampire (1845): white and bloodless, has fangs, hypnotic eyes, looks ordinary until he is a vampire.

Bram Stoker's vampires (1897): Are pale, have fangs, hypnotic eyes, and are very beautiful.

Anne Rice's vampires: Skin is pale, smooth, marble-like, have fangs, good feed on animals, are alluring and beautiful.

Vampire Diaries: Are not pale, have fangs, good feed on animals or bagged blood, hypnotizing eyes, and are alluring.

Twilight: Are pale, hard as marble, sparkle, no fangs, good feed on animals, and are very alluring.

Vampire Academy: Are pale, have fangs, ordinary looks, but have red-ringed irises.

Dresden Files (White court):Are not pale, no fangs, are extremely attractive.

I've listed very few here. But most vampires have special gifts, many can read minds, most have some sort of change in eye color, and many can turn a person with just one bite.

On to the next creature of the moon. Werewolves...I've got those in my stories too...But I won't bore you with that. Let's move on to the prizes!: (I'll give away two prizes again.)

Prize #1~One signed copy of any one of my books. Winner's choice.

 ~or~

Prize #2~An eBook copy of Fateful, Fractured or Forever, gifted to you from Amazon or Barnes & Noble. Winner's choice.

USA only. Good luck! (Note: Prime is expiring on Fateful, and when it does, it will again be available on B&N.)

To Enter:

Simply follow my blog and fill out the form below.