Guest Post & Giveaway with Author Sandy James

Today, I have author Sandy James here with us talking about writing fantasy romance. Welcome to The Book Vixen Sandy!

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Damn, how I love writing fantasy!

I suppose I should have seen my tendency toward the genre early in my writing. My first book was a time-travel. To be able to have my hero and heroine find themselves in a time and place was a load of fun to write. After I finished that story, I set it aside, figuring it was my “practice” story and would probably never see the light of day. Last year, I rescued it from hard drive Limbo, read it, and then deleted it. Then I rewrote it from scratch. That reminded me just how much fun it is to play with the “rules.” I was thrilled when it sold last year!

Although I settled into writing contemporary romances, the paranormal elements began to seep into my stories. The first book of my Damaged Heroes series is straight contemporary, a chance for me to share my love of horseracing. But Free Falling—book 2—has a heroine who is an empath, having the ability to “read” other people’s emotions. Quite a handy trait since I made her a psychologist. In All the Right Reasons—book 3—the heroine is a Romungro gypsy who shares nearly telepathic skills with her brother. By the time I wrote Faith of the Heart—book 4—I’d totally embraced the paranormal by making the heroine a genuine faith healer.

When I finally decided to intentionally write a fantasy series, I knew it would be women who had the powers. I wanted my heroines to be kick-butt, no holds barred Amazons. Since my son is one of the most creative people I know, I enlisted his help. We sat down, as we often did when he was still living at home, at a movie theatre and talked before the previews began. (I can’t tell you how many books I started that way with his help.) In that time and for several hours after the movie, we set up some general “rules” for the story I was creating for my girls.

It was rather empowering to be an architect of a new “world.” If I want an Amazon to be able to shapeshift, voila! She changes form. It’s a little heady, sort of like playing God for that universe. I also enjoy that I can bring into my world colorful characters. Demons. Demigods. Deities. Because my underlying premise is that all cultures share the power of the world, I can borrow from flamboyant societies and use the best—and most amusing or diabolical—they have to offer.

While I’ll still enjoy writing a nice contemporary romance—in fact I have a fun new series coming up from Grand Central Forever Yours in 2013—I can see my career evolving into writing more and more paranormal and urban fantasy books. Now that I’ve had a taste, I’ll always come back.

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My income tax return says that I am a teacher. I had originally intended it to say “lawyer,” but romance, marriage, and motherhood set my life on a different course.

I’ve been married to Jeff James since 1983. Even after all these years, he is still the love of my life. Jeff and I have two grown children who make us proud every day.

My husband and I share another strong and wonderful interest that is not only a great part of our day-to-day lives but has also become a running theme throughout some of my books. We own a small racing stable of Standard bred Harness horses, pacers to be exact. We have always loved the sport and as our children grew up enough to have their own interests, Jeff looked into what it would be like to own a racehorse. We jumped into the sport with both feet and are loving every minute of it. I’ve added a link to Jeff’s website if you’d like to follow the progress of our horses.

Find the author online: website | twitter | facebook

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Book Two in Alliance of the Amazons

Megan Feurer is strong and impetuous, like the Fire element she represents. She is an Amazon, sworn to protect humanity from demons, demigods and all manner of supernatural beings who wish ill upon the world. But her fire burns hot and fast, and her unpredictable control of the element brings into question her fitness as an Amazon.

Johann Herrmann chose the life of a Sentinel—a trainer of the four Amazons—to save his sister’s life. Now bound to the patron goddess Rhiannon, he knows his duty demands a solitary existence. But when he’s assigned to evaluate the Fire Amazon, his sacrifice becomes much more difficult.

Megan’s passions ignite a flame that neither she nor Johann can control, and the goddess Freya has reason to fan those flames. A mysterious force is gaining power, and Megan and Johann must join together to fight. And once a passionate fire has started, it’s nearly impossible to stop…

    

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Thanks to Sandy James, one lucky winner will receive an ebook copy of The Impetuous Amazon. Good luck to all who enter!

• No purchase necessary.
• Must be 18 years old or older to enter.
• Giveaway open Internationally. Void where prohibited.
• Comments are appreciated, however, you must fill out the Rafflecopter form in order to enter this giveaway.
• Please read TBV's Giveaway Policy before entering.
• Giveaway ends 9:01 pm (Pacific Time) on 1/24/2013.

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