Welcome to Erin Kellison & Laurie London today for the 5th stop in their DarkTour! I was an instant fan of both Laurie’s Sweetblood series and Erin’s Shadow series when I read their debuts last year (read my 4/5 review of SHADOW BOUND by Erin Kellison HERE & my 4/5 review of BONDED BY BLOOD by Laurie London HERE), and can’t wait to dive back into their series with new novellas, both available now, HIDDEN BY BLOOD (read review) and SHADOW TOUCH (review to come). There is also a fabulous DarkTour Prize Pack giveaway too. See details below
The Importance of Setting
by
Erin Kellison & Laurie London
Hi, everyone! Welcome to DarkTour! We’re authors Laurie London (that’s me) and Erin Kellison (that’s her) talking about our Sweetblood and Shadow series. Because we have e-novellas coming out on the same day (Hidden By Blood by Laurie and Shadow Touch by Erin), we thought it’d be fun to hit the blogosphere together. Stay tuned, because we’re giving away a lot of cool stuff at the bottom of this post.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, not only does it rain a lot, but the weather can be depressingly dark. (This is Laurie talking. Erin lives in Arizona and can’t relate to the lack of sun. *Laurie sticks tongue out at Erin*) Many people, myself included, suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder. The way our environment affects us, both physically and emotionally, is strangely fascinating to me, which is probably why setting is an important element in my books.
The majority of the scenes in the Sweetblood world take place here in the Northwest (although there’s a creepy scene from the upcoming Embraced By Blood set in San Diego). And if I can work in an abandoned structure, I’m in writing nirvana!
In my e-novella, Hidden By Blood, the story opens with Finn McKentry, a former Army Ranger, who is being held captive in an abandoned hunting cabin, deep in the woods. He’s a sweetblood, a human whose rare blood, called Sweet, is addictive to vampires and every few days, his captor comes to harvest more. Brenna Stewart is visiting a nearby estate to receive an award that will allow her to continue her medico training. Not one to enjoy crowds and stuffy affairs, she wanders out to the barn to look at all the horses and then this happens:
A movement through a gap in the hedges caught her attention. A horse perhaps? She glanced around but didn’t see any horse fencing in this part of the estate. Could it have been a deer?
It wasn’t as if she was in any hurry to get back, so she decided to investigate. Crickets chirped in the darkness as she passed through the narrow opening in the thick hedge. Just beyond it, moonlight illuminated a small field, but no deer or horse came into view. She was about to turn back to the barn when a faint breeze brought a familiar scent to her nostrils.
She hesitated.
That can’t be right.
She sniffed again, and a knot of panic tightened like a noose around her internal organs.
It was a tantalizing scent. One very familiar to vampires.
Her gums ached as the tips of her fangs emerged. She twisted a strand of her hair and took a few deep yoga breaths. In through her nose and out through her mouth.
It was human blood she smelled. But not just any human blood. Sweet.
And a lot of it.
When I read a good book, I often close my eyes and envision myself as a character in that story world. That’s one of the reasons I became a fan of Erin’s Shadow series. Her lush descriptions of setting pulled me in and made me feel like the character experiencing it.
To read Finn and Brenna’s story, check out Hidden By Blood at Amazon Barnes & Noble or FREE for a limited time at Harlequin eBook Store
HIDDEN BY BLOOD description:
Deep within the forests of the Pacific Northwest, two vampire coalitions battle for supremacy—Guardians who safeguard humanity and Darkbloods, rogues who will stop at nothing to satisfy their craving for the sweetest of human blood.
Now, former Army Ranger Finn McKentry finds himself imprisoned as a blood slave, forced to submit to an enemy more powerful than any he’s encountered before. Only Brenna Stewart, the woman he’d loved and lost, can set him free—but the secret she harbors might lead them down the most dangerous path of all…
About Laurie London:
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A graduate of Western Washington University with a BA in Business Administration and a former tester/programmer for a Fortune 500 company, Laurie London now writes from her home near Seattle where she lives with her husband and two children. When not writing, she can be found running, reading, or riding and showing her horse. Someday she hopes to qualify for the Quarter Horse World Show – that is, if her horse doesn’t get hurt again. Visit Laurie online:
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Hello, readers! It’s me, Erin. When I read Laurie’s scene above, I could sense the mystery and danger of the moment. I thought it was so cool how the reception, during which Brenna receives her scholarship, is such an elegant counterpoint to the brutality she discovers just off the grounds. And the rest of the novella only gets better.
In my Shadow series, settings range from NYC to Arizona, but the locus of all the fun is the Segue Institute, located in the West Virginia Appalachian Mountains. Segue was once the turn-of-the-century Fulton Holiday Hotel. In 1918, the flu pandemic swept through the hotel, though Fulton staff tried to keep the sick confined to the west wing. The dead haunt it now. The hotel soon went derelict, and then, decades later, it was picked up by Thorne Industries. When Adam Thorne’s brother turned into a wraith, Adam renovated the remote hotel and turned it into a high-tech paranormal research center, Segue, with the aim of finding a cure.
Segue includes an auxiliary site, which is an underground holding facility for wraiths. The main building is dedicated to research levels and housing the scientists and staff who work tirelessly to understand the science and magic at work in paranormal phenomena. Extensive grounds surround the area—the vestiges of an old garden, as well as wide fields that stretch to the surrounding tree line, and beyond that, the gated, guarded wall.
It’s to Segue that Shadow Touch’s main character, Ellie Russo, goes with her own unusual problem. Her shadow, wild, passionate, elemental, is separate from her flesh and blood body. Ellie has lived in seclusion trying to control her dark half, but her shadow only grows stronger. With little choice left, Ellie seeks help from Dr. Cameron Kalamos at Segue. And she’s not leaving until she gets it. Here’s a snippet from her arrival:
Ellie Russo halted her Camry at the massive gate to the Segue Institute. Two guards in some kind of body armor, their hands resting on automatic rifles strapped to their chests, took position in front of the car. Her tingle of anxiety grew to a full burn of near panic. She was officially here. The thick metal and concrete gate was twenty feet high, cutting into the heavy white fog of the morning. It extended off to both sides of the road, running along the perimeter of the grounds within. Segue was a fortress, a high-security prison. It was also her only hope for a normal life.
“Not even this place can hold me,” said her shadow from the passenger seat next to her.
“We’ll see about that,” Ellie replied.
The Segue Institute is a lot of fun to write about—its history is rich and its research dangerous. The release of Shadow Touch is also the soft launch of a Segue website. (My husband, so sweet and nerdy, is a programmer. He’s channeled his enthusiasm for my series into creating this website. Thank you, honey!) Content will expand over the summer as the release for my next book, Shadowman, approaches. Check it out at www.segueinstitute.com. There are three “easter eggs” hidden on the site. Find one, and I’ll send you an arc of Shadowman.
To check out Cam and Ellie’s story, find Shadow Touch here: Amazon Barnes & Noble
SHADOW TOUCH description:
Magic
It is bleeding into our world, bringing with it banshees, wraiths, fae from the twisting forests of Twilight. But Ellie’s problem is a very different kind of phenomenon…
Shadow
It ought to be attached to her; instead it has a life of its own. And her dark mirror image is a wild thing, willfully seducing the very man Ellie hoped could help.
Science
Cam has devoted his career to exploring the boundaries between this world and the Hereafter. But nothing could prepare him for the mischief and mayhem of a soul split in two.
Surrender
Who will give in first: the man struggling to unite two halves of one fascinating female; the shadow fighting for freedom to experience the thrill of every emotion; or the woman who is about to discover her own deepest desires?
About Erin Kellison:
 Stories have always been a central part of Erin Kellison's life. She attempted her first book in sixth grade, a dark fantasy adventure, and still has those early hand-written chapters. She graduated summa cum laude with a degree in English Language and Literature, and went on for a masters in Cultural Anthropology, focusing on oral storytelling. When she had children, nothing scared her anymore, so her focus shifted to writing fiction. She lives in Arizona with her two beautiful daughters and husband, and she will have a dog (breed undetermined) when her youngest turns five. Visit Erin online:
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One winner will receive: BONDED BY BLOOD (book 1 in Laurie’s Sweetblood series), SHADOW BOUND(book 1 in Erin’s Shadow series) & DARKNESS UNKNOWN by Alexis Morgan *Plus* bookmarks and romance trading cards from both series.
GIVEAWAY GUIDLINES
- Open Internationally
- Leave a comment answering “What are some of your favorite settings...fictional or real?”
- Winner will be randomly chosen on June 16th
Interested in guest blogging on All Things Urban Fantasy? CONTACT ME
