Vampires, Immortals, and Ghosts, Oh My!
I couldn’t help but notice that, in recent years, ghosts have become even more popular than vampires, at least in visual media. Reality shows that revolve around ghosts have popped up on almost every basic cable channel. Some follow investigative teams who attempt to validate reported sightings and experiences using electronic equipment. Some highlight haunted houses, hotels, landmarks, and the like. There are shows that allow people to share their ghost stories and personal experiences and shows that invite celebrities to do the same. I even happened upon a show once that revolved around ghost pets.
And the movies . . . There have always been good ghost stories out there in films, but quite a few new ones have emerged recently. I even worked on the set of one not long ago. Ironically, the building in which much of the filming took place was rumored to be haunted, something I didn’t know until after production began. Did things go bump in the night while we worked? They did. And I can tell you that it unnerved some. I think that’s why ghost stories will always be popular. A lot of people believe in ghosts, even those who haven’t seen or experienced hauntings themselves. That belief increases the realism of ghost tales.
So what does this have to do with vampires and immortals? In my Immortal Guardians series, both vampires and immortals are infected with a very rare symbiotic virus that lends them dramatically enhanced speed, strength, senses, and more, along with an unfortunate photosensitivity and a need for blood. Vampires are humans who have been infected with the virus, which drives them insane as it damages their brains. Immortals are gifted ones who have been infected. Gifted ones are men and women born with extremely advanced DNA that protects them from the madness vampires suffer and bestows upon them gifts ordinary humans don’t possess. In the case of Marcus, the immortal hero of Night Reigns (Book 2 in the series) the gift is the ability to see ghosts. While I was writing his story, I began to wonder if one would ever become accustomed to such. Marcus has been doing so for over eight hundred years. Does it still startle him to suddenly see someone where there should be no one? Find out in Night Reigns.
Thank you for joining me! I hope you’ll like my Immortal Guardians . . . and the ghosts that haunt Marcus. :-)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dianne Duvall earned a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of St. Thomas, where she studied fiction writing, playwriting and poetry writing. Darkness Dawns, the first book in her Immortal Guardians paranormal romance series, was released on February 1, 2011, courtesy of Kensington (Zebra Imprint). It has since been nominated for the RT Reviewers' Choice Award for Best Vampire Romance by RT Book Reviews and for Best Paranormal Romance - Vampire by The Romance Reviews. It has also received many 5-star reviews, was deemed a Top Pick by The Romance Reviews, and was chosen as the Best of the Best in the RWA Indiana Golden Opportunity contest. Night Reigns, the second book in the series, was released on December 6, 2011 and was deemed a Top Pick by RT Book Reviews.
Dianne has also completed two not-yet-published paranormal romance novels that are prequels to Darkness Dawns. A Sorceress of His Own is a medieval romance with paranormal elements that won awards in the Lone Star, Where the Magic Begins, Southern Heat, Picture This, Book of Your Heart and Suzannah national writing competitions.Rendezvous With Yesterday is a time travel romance and won second place in the Picture This writing contest.
In addition to writing romance, Dianne has completed a one-act play (comedy) and teamed up with an award-wining screenwriter to write a spec script for a new situation comedy. Several of her poems have also been published in anthologies.
When she isn’t writing, Dianne is very active in the independent film industry. She edits films, constructs movie trailers and designs movie posters. Some of the film projects she has worked on have been Official Selections of the Cannes Independent Film Festival, the London Independent Film Festival the Jamerican International Film and Music Festival, and others. She also participates in preproduction and production and has done so in varying capacities for several years. Some of the functions she has performed in the past are script editor, special effects make-up artist, shooting scheduler, special effects creator, casting coordinator, production assistant, movie extra and web site designer.
A trailer of one of the films she has edited can be viewed here.
Find the author online: website | blog | twitter | facebook
ABOUT THE BOOK
Ami isn't much for trusting strangers. She has a hard time trusting anyone. But she's no coward, and she's no pushover in the protection department either. So when she comes across a mysterious warrior taking on eight deranged vampires on his own, she doesn't hesitate to save his bacon. Of course, that was before she realized what one little rescue would get her into . . .Marcus Grayden has been an immortal protector of humanity for eight hundred years, and at the moment he's not interested in backup. From the moment Ami arrives in his life, he can't deny that she's strong, smart, and extremely skilled at watching his back. But she's also destroying his protective solitude and stirring desires he can't bear to awaken. After all, whatever her secrets — how can she defeat death itself?
EXCERPT
Smiling, feeling the tension begin to melt away, Marcus swung onto a narrow two-laned highway, then shot forward. Pure pleasure engulfed him as he went from zero to seventy in three seconds. Wind yanked back the long raven hair that fell several inches below his helmet. His long coat fluttered behind him like wings as he steadily accelerated.
Traveling this road at these speeds would be insane for a human. But, damn, what a rush for an immortal with preternaturally sharp reflexes. Up and down, swinging one way then the next, leaning into the curves until his knees nearly scraped the pavement. Streetlights were few and far between here, but his enhanced night vision eliminated any need for them. Marcus could see the deer grazing by the road long before the headlight struck them and had no problem evading those that ventured too close or darted across in front of him.
The bike left the pavement and went airborne momentarily at the top of a short, steep hill. Adrenaline pumped through his veins as he tore through another curve. He felt so alive and free at times like these. What he wouldn’t give to get his hands on David’s Tomahawk, a true work of art with two closely spaced front wheels, the same in back, and a top speed of roughly four hundred miles per hour.
That precious baby wasn’t even street legal. Not that that had stopped David.
As he entered a rare straight stretch, Marcus glimpsed movement from the corner of his eye and glanced to his right, expecting to see a deer bounding along or perhaps one of those huge raven-winged vultures swooping past.
His blood turned to ice as his gaze instead fell upon a man. He was perhaps in his late thirties with skin the color of milk chocolate and a haggard face. His shirt was untucked, ragged, the neckline frayed and bloodstained.
He couldn’t have been more than five feet away. And, though Marcus by far exceeded the fifty-five mile per hour speed limit, the man’s weary stroll somehow managed to keep pace.
As if sensing Marcus’s stare, the man turned his head and met his gaze with dark, unfathomable eyes.
Marcus swallowed hard, unable to repress a shiver.
One would think he might be accustomed to this by now: seeing ghosts or spirits or whatever one chose to call them. He had been seeing them ever since he was too young to understand that no one else around him could. Yet it never failed to catch him off guard.
As Étienne often said, the sh** was creepy.
Tearing his gaze away, Marcus looked back at the road, then swore when another figure materialized directly in his path. The front of the heavy Hayabusa squirmed as he broke hard and swerved to avoid the second man, who threw out his arm as Marcus drew even with him, plucked him from the back of the bike, spun around, and slammed him back first to the pavement.
Pain crashed through Marcus, beginning in his chest, then radiating outward, so severe it temporarily deafened him . . . which some might view as a good thing because right about now his Busa was probably smashing into a tree.
Marcus struggled to breathe, each short, choppy gasp like a knife jamming into his flesh. The momentum with which he had slammed into his attacker’s outstretched arm had broken most of his ribs.
His opponent, on the other hand, showed no sign of pain as he ripped the helmet from Marcus’s head and, eyes glowing gold, snarled, “Give me one good reason I shouldn’t kill you here and now.”
**GIVEAWAY**
Thanks to Dianne Duvall, one lucky winner will receive a *signed* copy of Night Reigns with some Immortal Guardians swag!!
- Giveaway open Internationally.
- Comments are appreciated, however, you must fill out the Rafflecopter form in order to enter the giveaway.
- Please read the Contest/Giveaway Policy before entering.
- You have until midnight (EST) on Tuesday, February 21st, 2012 to enter.
Good luck to all who enter!
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