1. Okay, so Gena. I have to tell you your new novel “Seduce the Darkness” fooled me into believing that it was an installment in your Dark Lord series. Shame on you for fooling me with that cover art. Though, in all earnest it is a wonderful, smoldering addition to the Alien Huntress Hall of Cover Art. This is kind of an off-key question, but did you have anything to do with the change in style for the Alien Huntress series? I ask this because I am pretty sure that judging by your Beefcake Monday post, you are quite partial to half naked men.
I do love half naked men, there’s no denying that, but I actually have very little say in my covers. The publisher designs and creates them. But I have to say, I adore the cover for Seduce the Darkness. It’s one of my favorites. Maybe because Devyn, the hero, is one of the sexiest men I’ve ever written about and just thinking about him makes me shiver. He is a modern day king who can control people with his mind. He’s a blatant womanizer and yeah, a little narcissistic. He even enjoys killing his enemies. Bride, the heroine, is a vampire who has never met another of her kind and oh, watching her bring Devyn to his kines . . . shivering again.
2. To all those uneducated in the many series you write, which by the way I think you accomplish by cloning yourself, can you deliver the gist of the Alien Huntress series?
Set in the near future, an elite group of agents patrol the streets of New Chicago to protect citizens from predatory monsters. However, with my last alien hunter book, we took the series in a brand new direction. The books are now written in third person and are paranormal romances, meaning the romance is the primary focus of the book.
3. “Seduce me Slowly” made my week after I read it and I think scored the adoration of your fans, but it also had some recurring characters such as Mia Snow from Book One. How loose and untied to previous installments is “Seduce the Darkness” going to be?
Seduce the Darkness is completely standalone. You don’t have to read any of the other books to understand it. However, there are guest appearances by characters from the other books.
4. Okay, so from the blurb I get two things. Number 1, we have an alien royalty. Good. This passes since it is a series about aliens. Number 2, we have a vampire and here comes the ‘what the…’ moment. In this Twilight Zone for genres, how did you think of the idea to mix vampires with aliens? Sounds eve
n crazier than scientology. I played the “what if” game. What if vampires are really aliens? What if aliens are just like us, only with different abilities? And with Seduce the Darkness specifically, it was: What if there was only one vampire left on the planet? What if a man used to getting everything he wants can’t have the woman he is falling in love with?
5. The next most natural question that actually has something to do with the writing is: Was it hard to write vampires, most typically known for the paranormal scenarios, in a world ruled by aliens and technology?
It was actually a perfect fit for me. The vampires became an extension of the alien community – because, after all, I think of the aliens as a term to describe people with abilities that set them apart -- and the technology was something to play with.
6. And also did you fear it might be too much out of everything? Apparently not, since the book is to be released and all, but I am speaking about early doubts during the drafts and such. Plus we all know you can write yourself out of every entangled idea.
I LOVED writing this book and could hardly wait to get to it every morning. Devyn and Bride absolutely delighted me, their banter leaving me sighing dreamily.
7. From your promotion and blurbs and everything, I get the sense that “Seduce the Darkness” will be smoldering. Can you give us a juicy, yet vague, teaser that will cement our hopes for something carnal?
Absolutely. Here’s a snippet from their first meeting:
“Well, well. Aren’t you a pretty thing?” the man said, offering her a hand. That voice. . . deep and raspy and just roused from bed, as perfect as his face and body.
As people buzzed beside them -- the females staring at him in open-mouthed wonder, the males giving him a wide berth -- Bride tentatively accepted his aid. His warm fingers curled around her wrist, and he easily hefted her up.
When she gained her bearings, she realized he’d tugged her forward so that they were only a few inches apart. He did not release her hand. Her smaller height placed her gaze right at the steady pulse in his neck, and her mouth once again watered.
Concentrate. Bride raised her chin and forced herself to look him in the eye. “You smell like my friend Aleaha Love. Do you know her?” Wait. What if she’d changed her name? He could have been with her and not even known it.
“I smell like a woman, hmm?”
At least he didn’t sound insulted. Merely amused. “Yes.”
“Well, you smell like sex.” He leaned down as if he intended to share a secret with her, moonlight caressing him as though it couldn’t help itself. Maybe it couldn’t. “The dirtiest kind of sex, at that. Which just happens to be my favorite.” His thumb traced her palm.
A shiver slid the length of her spine. He was flirting with her, and wickedly so. Though she had no desire to flirt back – really -- she forced herself to say, “Wow. Already we have something in common.” One thing she knew about men. They were more likely to help a woman if they thought they’d get something in return. “That’s my favorite kind, too.”
That put a surprised sparkle in his amber eyes. “Isn’t this just my lucky day, then?”
“You never answered my question. Do you know Aleaha Love?”
“I know many women, but their names escape me right now. I so want to solve this mystery and become your hero. Perhaps your friend and I use the same perfume.”
“She doesn’t wear perfume and I doubt you do, either.” Even though so much time had passed since Bride had seen Aleaha, she knew her friend would never douse herself in any kind of body spray. Aleaha had to be as desperate to find Bride as Bride was to find Aleaha. She couldn’t believe otherwise. Aleaha was the one person who would never have walked away from her willingly. They’d become family, relied on each other.
“Perhaps, then, it’s a coincidence that we smell the same.”
“Perhaps.” Her shoulders slumped. He could very well be a shape-shifter like Aleaha, and all shape-shifters could very well produce the same fragrance.
“I didn’t expect you to agree. Darling, coincidences don’t just happen. We need to put our heads together and think up some kind of explanation for this extraordinary occurrence. I do my best thinking in bed. You?”
She laughed; she just couldn’t help herself. The man was incorrigible. “Another thing we have in common. Thinking in bed. Alone.” Letting him assume a little some-some was possible was one thing. Outright agreeing to it was another.
“Alone.” He tsked under his tongue. “Now that’s just silly.”
8. This isn’t like an obligatory question, but just for the kick: How awesome was this interviewer? [Casual Hint: Awesome, Awesome-r and As Awesome as Gena]
Here’s the scale I usually use: Liked it, loved it, wanted to marry it. I’m leaning toward that last one.
So there you have it people, Gena is as sizzling as ever and we are planing a late August wedding. Awesome right. Now stay tuned for my follow-up review of "Seduce the Darkness".
