A Holiday Character Interview & More

Happy Friday!  I had some great writing days this week and am really enjoying Aidan's book.  I can't wait to start sharing some favorite quotes with you.  ;-)  

I also received some wonderful news!  Rendezvous with Yesterday won the 2016 Readers Choice Award for Best Historical Romance at GraveTells!  Thank you!!  I admit I love to make people laugh.  And I've heard from so many of you who laughed along with Robert and Bethany while reading this one.  Thanks so much!  :-)

Since Facebook's algorithms keep limiting my page reach, I've begun to mention some posts here and provide links to them in case you missed them and want to join the fun.  Here are a few from this week:

Who's the Hero of Immortal Guardians Book 7?

This is what David looks like in my imagination

May Your Days be Long Upon the Earth

And the Winners are . . .

Since the holidays are upon us, I thought—instead of my usual weekly favorite quote or sneak peek—I would share a character interview I wrote around the time Night Reigns released in which Sarah mentions an incident that took place while she and Roland were Christmas shopping.  Todd (one of the guards from network headquarters in my Immortal Guardians series) is interviewing Sarah and Roland (heroine and hero of Darkness Dawns). :-)  

___________________________________

Todd: Thanks for joining me for a second interview.

Sarah: *smiles* We're happy to be here.

Todd: I have to admit I was surprised to get your call.

Sarah: *elbows Roland*

Roland: *grunts* We're happy to be here.

Todd: Really?

Roland: *looks askance at Sarah* Sure.

Sarah: *big grin*

Todd: Okay, what's going on?

Sarah: What do you mean?

Todd: The only one Roland is ever happy to see and spend time with is you. And your smile, while lovely, is way too bright.

Sarah: *wilts* Okay, here's the thing. We're kind of . . . hiding out.

Todd: Why, what did Roland do?

Roland: How do you know I did something?

Todd: Because you're . . . you. They don't call you antisocial for nothing. So, what'd you do?

Sarah: I took him Christmas shopping.

Todd: You what?

Sarah: Well, I just thought . . .  The immortals have all been so sweet and wonderful, welcoming me into the fold . . . and I've been trying hard to bring Roland into the fold along with me, since he usually lingers on the outskirts . . .

Todd: Roland doesn't linger on the outskirts. He lingers about a hundred miles beyond the outskirts. So far beyond them, the outskirts can't even catch a glimpse of him, which frankly, neither the fold nor the outskirts mind.

Roland: *scowls*

Sarah: Anyway . . . while we were shopping—

Todd: Did he hold your purse for you?

Roland: *growls*

Sarah: Don't poke the bear, Todd. While we were shopping, there was an . . . incident.

Todd: Ah, man. He didn't kill anyone, did he?

Roland: You like to live dangerously, don't you?

Sarah: You see, I know Darnell likes to play video games and wanted to get him some of the newest ones. There was quite a crush, what with Christmas right around the corner, and . . .

Roland: That little snot pushed you.

Sarah: Yes, he did. A boy pushed me.

Roland: He wasn't a boy. He was twenty if he was a day.

Sarah: It doesn't really matter. What does is that I would have handled it myself if you hadn't decided to step in and protect me. You know I can take care of myself.

Roland: *smiles* She can. She kicks ass.

Sarah: Yes, I do.

Roland: I love that about you.

Sarah: I know. And I wish you would have remembered that when that moron shoved me.

Roland: *eyes flash bright amber* He put his hand on you. He's lucky I let him keep it.

Todd: What exactly did you do?

Sarah: *jerks a thumb in her husband's direction* That. You know immortals can't keep their eyes from glowing when they're in the grips of strong emotion. Well, Roland was furious.

Todd: Oh, boy.

Sarah: And he flashed his fangs.

Todd: Ah, man.

Sarah: And tossed the man across the store as if he were a tennis ball.

Todd: Way to keep a low profile there, chief.

Sarah: Utter chaos ensued. Which led to more shoving and pushing.

Todd: *groans* Come on, man. There must have been children present!

Roland: The children thought it was cool. It was the parents who freaked out.

Sarah: I ended up having to call Richart and have him teleport us out of there. Chris had to send in Cleaners. Seth had to wipe a lot of memories. It was a mess.

Todd: *shakes his head at Roland* You just spread that . . . cheer wherever you go, don't you?

Sarah: I thought it would be best if we lay low for a while and do pretty much anything we can to get back on Seth's good side.

Roland: I don't think I've ever been on Seth's good side.

Sarah: Yes, but I have, sweetie.

Todd: Okay, well, let's see if another interview will help. *jumps when Seth appears*

Seth: Really? You can't even go Christmas shopping without scaring humans?

Todd: I'm out.

Sarah: What about the interview?

Todd: *on his way out the door* Call me tomorrow . . . if you can. 

___________________________________

Happy Holidays!!  :-)

Dianne

Favorite Quote Friday #160

Happy Friday!  This week really flew past!  I'm still working on Shadows Strike edits.  I know that makes it sound as if I'm completely rewriting the manuscript, but I'm not.  :-)  Thus far the edits on Shadows Strike have only entailed adding a sentence or a paragraph here or there to clarify or expand upon something.    

 

So what's taking so long?  One of the wisest things you can do as a writer is set your manuscript aside for a couple of months after you finish it, then pick it up again and read back through it once it's out of your head.  Unfortunately, deadlines don't leave me time to do that.  So I always view edits as my chance to go over the manuscript again with fresh eyes.  Instead of just skimming through it and addressing the occasional comment in the margins, I start at page one and don't stop until I reach the end.
  So far I'm loving it. ;-)  Ethan and Heather are great together.  And you get to see a lot of Zach and Lisette (hero and heroine of Night Unbound) in this one.  If you'd like to read the blurb or Pre-Order it, here are some links:

#Amazon • #iTunes • Barnes and Noble • #Kobo • #BAM!

RT Book Reviews Top Pick

Amazon • Audible • Barnes and Noble • iTunes • Kobo • Walmart

It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday!  Something else you may not know about me is that I periodically like to listen to my books on audio, starting with Book 1 and continuing to the latest release.  It helps me remember things like what this or that character's weapon of choice is, affectionate names couples have for each other, and the like.  Well, this week, I've been listening to Night Reigns, Immortal Guardians Book 2, and—for today's selection—thought I would share with you a quote that made me laugh.  

This scene takes place at a meeting in which all of the local Immortal Guardians and their Seconds are strategizing.  If you aren't familiar with the series—Marcus and Ami are a couple, and Roland and Sarah are a couple:  

Marcus settled a hand on Ami’s thigh.  “He thinks Sarah is still human, that she’s Roland’s Second.”

“That will work to our advantage,” Sarah pointed out.  “They won’t be anticipating my strength and speed.”  

Étienne inspected her from the corner of his eye, a sly smile stealing across his face.  “Are you sure I can’t talk you into leaving this old sod and running away with me?  I do so love strong women.”

Roland’s jaw twitched.  “She’s strong enough to kick your ass if you don’t stop hitting on her.”

The sly smile became a grin full of amusement.  “As long as she spanks me first.”

Ah, Étienne.  Such a shameless flirt.  I'm glad he finally found a strong woman of his own in Darkness Rises.  :-)

Have a great weekend!

Dianne

Favorite Quote Friday #107

Happy Friday!  How was your week?  I've been getting prize packages together and mailing them off to winners now that my Darkness Rises Blog Tour has wrapped.

Packages from this latest batch are en route to several states here in the U.S., as well as Australia, the UK, Portugal, Indonesia, and Sweden and contain prizes ranging from a book and swag to an Immortal Guardians tote bag.  :-)

Look what arrived!  Woohoo!

My author copies of both the paperback and the audiobook.

I need to spend less time online for a bit so I can get more writing done on Night Unbound (Book 5).  But, once I'm happy with the progress I'm making, I'll have to give away some copies in contests.  :-)

Speaking of contests . . .  Thank you, everyone who joined me for the Hot Halloween Heroes Giveaway Hop!  The winner of a signed copy of Darkness Rises + Immortal Guardians swag is:

Cherry!

Congratulations!

I've already emailed her.  ;-)

It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday!  Today I thought I would give you another peek into the pages of Darkness Rises.  This time, however, I thought I'd let you see a little bit of what Sarah and Roland are up to in it.  For those who are new to my Immortal Guardians series, Roland (a notoriously antisocial immortal) and Sarah were the hero and heroine of Darkness Dawns, Book 1.  The two of them play a rather interesting role in Darkness Rises, Book 4.  ;-)  

Sarah stood sentinel beside her husband and frowned at their audience.  “You see?  I told you he has a big heart.  He’s been watching over them all this time.”

“Keeping track isn’t the same as watching over them,” Roland murmured.

Sarah elbowed him.  “Give me my moment, honey.  I’m defending you.”

I love these two together.  ;-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

Favorite Quote Friday #96

Happy Friday!  I have quite a lot to share with you!

For a limited time, you can purchase Darkness Dawns on Kindle for just $1.99!  If you haven't tried my series yet, now is an excellent time to see how it all began.  I don't know how long the price promotion will last, so order yours today!

Darkness Rises (October 1, 2013) hit #1 on Amazon's Hot New Paranormal Vampire Releases this week!  Woohoo!  I'm so excited!  Thank you, everyone who has pre-ordered it and who has helped me get the word out about its upcoming release!  You're the best!!!

Darkness Rises also won Second Place in Affaire de Coeur's Hot Guyz Patrol Cover Art Contest!  Thank you so much, everyone who voted!

I'll also be launching another contest over on facebook today to give away a signed ARC of Darkness Rises + Immortal Guardians swag.  International entries are welcome.   :-)  You can find my page HERE.

Thank you, everyone who participated in my Ask the Immortal Guardians Contest!  I loved your questions and will pass them along to my Immortal Guardians and Seconds.  ;-)  The winner of a Darkness Rises ARC + swag is:

Wendy!

Congratulations!

Don't forget to email me — dianne [at] dianneduvall [dot] com — your mailing address!

It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday!  Since Darkness Dawns is on sale, I thought I would give you an excerpt from it today.  This is taken from early in the novel.  Sarah, the heroine, has just rescued Roland, the hero.  (If you like strong heroines, my series is for you!)  They now stand in her tiny kitchen, Roland wearing only a towel secured at his waist:

Heart pounding, Sarah held his earnest gaze.  His touch, his nearness, was beginning to stir her in a wholly unexpected way.  He stood before her, his gorgeous body riddled with severe wounds, and suddenly all she could think about was what it would feel like if he kissed her.

What was wrong with her?

Something dark flared in his eyes.  One of his thumbs slid down her cheek to caress the corner of her lips.

His head dipped.  Her breath stopped.  Anticipation rose.

His tempting lips were a hair away from hers when Sarah heard a rustling sound followed by a soft thump.  She glanced down, then swiftly up again when she realized the towel wrapped around his waist had fallen to the floor.

Emitting a sigh, Roland lowered his hands.  “It’s going to be one of those days,” he said with a look of such pained chagrin that Sarah had to smile.

As he bent over to retrieve the towel, he listed to one side and would have fallen had he not reached for her.  The moment his hand made rough contact with her shoulder, he cried out and yanked it back.  His balance faltered.

Gasping, Sarah threw her arms around him and tried to steady him.

He staggered.  She staggered with him.

Jeeze, he weighed a ton!  Six foot one or two, maybe two hundred pounds of muscle.  There was no way she’d be able to get him up off the floor if he fainted!

It was a lot harder to support him when he reeled away from her, so she drew his upper body toward her, took two steps back and leaned all of her weight into him to prop him up.

Success!  They were both still on their feet.

When Roland’s arms closed around her, he was careful this time not to touch her with his hands.  “Sarah,” he rasped.

“Yes?”

He was blinking hard and staring over her shoulder, his gaze unfocused.  “If I pass out and you can’t wake me up—”

Oh crap.

“—wait until an hour before sunset, then call Marcus.”

“Shouldn’t we call him now?”

“No, he won’t . . .”  Roland’s dark eyes started to roll back in his head.

“No, no, no!  Don’t pass out on me!  We have to get you to the futon!”

He blinked sluggishly when she shook him.

Hurriedly maneuvering them so her back was to the futon, she began shuffling toward it, dragging him with her.

He took one step, two, then his knees buckled and his weight sank down on her, pulling her toward the floor.

Swearing, unable to keep him upright, she twisted and shoved him away from her as hard as she could.

The not-very-controlled fall that resulted landed him on his back on the futon with most of his legs hanging over the metal arm closest to her.

Whew!

That had been pure dumb luck.

“Roland?”

Rounding the futon, she leaned over him and patted one stubbled cheek.  “Roland?”

Nothing.

He was definitely out for the count.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

Favorite Quote Friday #91

Hi, all!  Can you believe it's already Friday again?  Wow, this week passed quickly!  I hope you had a good one.  :-)  I'm very excited about the progress I'm making on Book 5.  Lots of intensity in this one.  ;-)  And I'm even more excited that I'm one week closer to the upcoming release of Darkness Rises on October 1st!  I can't wait!

Guess what finally arrived:  My Immortal Guardians swag!  Woohoo!  I'm about to get a big box together to send to my Street Team managers.  Here's what the trading cards and new bookmarks look like:

These bookmarks are bigger than the last batch.  :-)  These are 2" x 8".  Here's a comparison:

It's time once more for Favorite Quote Friday!  I'm having so much fun writing Book 5.  Bastien plays a rather interesting role in it and has become one of my favorite characters.  If you aren't familiar with my Immortal Guardians series, Bastien leapt onto the pages as the villain in Darkness Dawns, Book 1, then later became the hero of Phantom Shadows, Book 3.  :-)  Since he has been on my mind so often of late, I thought I would give you an excerpt of Darkness Dawns.  This is taken from a scene in which the heroine, Sarah, encounters Bastien for the first time:

Trees whipped by, dark unfocused giants.  Fireflies blinked and sparkled as she passed.  The only sounds that met her ears were the humming of the engine, those weird North Carolina bugs, and her rasping, gasping breaths.

In the rearview mirror, her tiny house, its porch light, and the macabre battle taking place in front of it shrank, then disappeared from view as the road curved, rose and dipped.

Sarah’s whole body was trembling.  Her thoughts were scattered.  Her actions driven solely by the need to get away.  Fast.  Too fast to navigate the bends and curves of the road safely, but she couldn’t bring herself to slow down.  She turned on the high beams, hoping it would compensate for the lack of streetlights and let her see any deer that may have ambled onto the road in time to avoid hitting them.  

Vampires, she thought hysterically.  

Vampires were real.

And Roland was one of them.

The hood of the car abruptly buckled when a man seemingly dropped out of the sky and landed on it in a crouch.

Sarah screamed as the front of the car nosedived into the pavement.  The air bag exploded into her face, slamming her head back into the head rest.  The rear end of the car kept moving forward, tires squealing as the car spun around and came to a jarring halt facing the trees on the side of the road.  

Not wearing a seat belt, Sarah was hurled like a rag doll into the driver’s side door.  Glass shattered, showered her, cut her as pain shot through her head and the left side of her face and body.

The engine sputtered, then faltered into silence.

Dazed, she grabbed the armrest to lever herself upright.  Shards of glass sliced into her forearm and through the gauze bandages on her palm.  Wincing, she yanked her hand back and sluggishly straightened in her seat.

The air bag wilted as it deflated, allowing her to peer blearily through the front windshield.

The dark figure crouched on the hood slowly rose to his full height.

 Ah, Bastien.  Such an entertaining character to write, both as a villain and as a hero.  :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dianne

Favorite Quote Friday #54

Happy Friday!  I have HUGE news!

Phantom Shadows, Book 3 in my Immortal Guardians series, hit both the New York Times and USA Today Bestseller lists!  I'm so excited!!!!  Thank you so much, everyone who helped put it there!  I've been so thrilled by readers' and reviewers' responses to it.  Finding out I hit the lists was icing on the cake.  :-)

It's time again for Favorite Quote Friday.  I think almost all of the Phantom Shadows quotes and excerpts I've posted here and on my blog tour have revolved around Bastien and Melanie, the hero and heroine, so today I thought I would give you a glimpse of Roland and Sarah (the hero and heroine of Darkness Dawns) as they appear in Phantom Shadows.  In this selection, Sarah is addressing Roland:

"Am I going to have to start strip-searching you to check for wounds after every hunt, or will you tell me the truth from now on?"

"I would prefer the first option."

One of my favorite things about writing a series is being able to continue the stories of previous heroes and heroines.  :-)

Just a reminder:  My Phantom Shadows Blog Tour is well underway and includes a little bit of everything – character interviews, author interviews, guest posts, excerpts, and promo posts – plus many giveaways and chances to win signed books and swag.  You can find the schedule HERE.  I will be updating links as we go.  This week's stops have included:

October 8, 2012 – Bibliophilic Book Blog

October 8, 2012 – Buffy’s Ramblings  

October 9, 2012 – From the TBR Pile

October 9, 2012 – Paranormal Haven

October 10, 2012 – Ramblings From This Chick

October 11, 2012 – Romancing the Book

October 11, 2012 – Fang-tastic Books

October 12, 2012 – Proserpine Craving Books

October 12, 2012 – Bookish Babbles With Michelle

And don't forget to enter to win on of the 3 Kindles (or $75 Gift Cards) I'm giving away to celebrate Phantom Shadows' release.  Details can be found HERE.

Have a wonderful, wonderful weekend!

Dianne