Today is a big stop everyone! Please be sure to read all the way thru b/c you are getting tons of great info! Plus a pretty awesome giveaway at the end!! :) I am pleased to welcome author Cassiel Knight to the blog today ! I was able to interview her and you know how much I love digging into other's minds!
First here's the book we are talking about today :
First here's the book we are talking about today :
Title: Blood on the
Moon
Author: Cassiel Knight
Published: October 1, 2012
Publisher: Champagne Book Group
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Word Count: 85,000
Content: Minor Adult Content
Synopsis:
Mia Langdon—tomb raider and adventure-seeker—has everything she
wants. Freedom. Independence. No chains (a.k.a. a man). Her troubles begin when
she’s attacked on a dig in Peru. Soon, she’s forced to use her tomb raiding
talents to find the flaming arrows of an Egyptian goddess. In the wrong hands,
this weapon could destroy the human race—and nearly had.
Used to doing things her own way, it isn’t long before she figures out that she needs the help of Harrison Braden Stanton, her stuffy, but so yummy, Egyptologist and ex-lover. There’s one problem. He despises what she does. As Mia and Harrison find themselves in the middle of a battle between the Egyptian gods and goddess, there’s no choice for the woman with a Grand Canyon-sized independence streak and the man working for the Egyptian god, Osiris, but to work together to prevent the destruction of all they love.
Used to doing things her own way, it isn’t long before she figures out that she needs the help of Harrison Braden Stanton, her stuffy, but so yummy, Egyptologist and ex-lover. There’s one problem. He despises what she does. As Mia and Harrison find themselves in the middle of a battle between the Egyptian gods and goddess, there’s no choice for the woman with a Grand Canyon-sized independence streak and the man working for the Egyptian god, Osiris, but to work together to prevent the destruction of all they love.
Sounds good, yes? And now onto the interview !!
My heroine, tomb raider and adventure-seeker extraordinaire, has everything she wants. Freedom. Independence. No chains (a.k.a. a man) holding her back. That all changes when she’s attacked on a dig in Peru. Soon, she’s forced to use her tomb raiding talents to find the flaming arrows of an Egyptian goddess. In the wrong hands, this weapon could destroy the human race – and nearly did once. It doesn’t take long for her to learn that to succeed, and save the life of her assistant, she needs the help of Harrison Braden Stanton, her stuffy, but oh so yummy, Egyptologist and ex-lover. There’s one problem. He despises what she does.
As a curator for the Stratford Museum, Harrison protects the world’s treasures from falling into greedy hands and being lost forever. He just never thought he’d have to protect them, and his secret, from the woman he loved.
Blood on the Moon is the first in the Children of Egypt series about the half-immortal descendants of ancient Egypt’s gods and goddesses born to protect mankind against ancient relics with a thirst for human blood.
2. What inspired you to write this story?
Lara Croft, Tomb Raider. I love, love Lara Croft and wanted so much to write a heroine like her. One who is tough as nails but caring of those close to her, sexy and not afraid to be sexy, in control and knows what she wants. Plus, Tomb Raider has those mystical elements and I love that too. Then, for Mia’s hero, I wanted someone like Noah Wylie in The Librarian series but more alpha so Harrison was born. An Egyptologist so a nerd but as the son of Osiris, he’s more than a match for Mia. I love this pair so much I’m working on book 2 which is more of them with my host of fun secondary characters.
3. What is the main lesson that your book is trying to teach?
I’m supposed to have one of those? ☺ Really, I write for entertainment but I have a lesson in this one, it’s that giving up control doesn’t make someone weak – it can add more strength then one things possible. Also, faith in friends and a higher authority (this is NOT an inspirational book but all mine tend to have a faith element).
Ha! You don't have to have a lesson ☺. It's a test question.. I love ooks that are for entertainment only.. But see, even being mainly for entertainment you managed to sneck not one but TWO lessons in. geesh! lol
4. Moving on to your writing career, how long have you been writing? Did you
always dream to become an author?
I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember but that’s not really all that far back. I remember reading my first romance and loving it so much, I wanted to write a book based on it. I did but that was the first and last time for a long time that I wrote fiction. I didn’t really embrace the dream of becoming an author until about 2003. I’ve been writing fiction since 1997 but many things got in the way until 2003 when I started Hit Me With Your Best Shot and Key of Solomon and got serious about writing. Since then, it’s been my passion and I love it.
5. I’m always curious whether or not authors read the same types of books that they write. So tell us, what book genres do you love to read? to write?
I must say that I absolutely adore your tagline !! ☺ I'm much the same way in my reading- I drift from genre to genre depending on the mood I'm in.. But it'd better catch me quick or I will pass it up !I’m an eclectic reader and what I read really depends on my mood. Right now, I’m in a horror frame of mine and have just finished several really wonderful spooky books by Michaelbrent Collins who I just discovered. I’m also a picky reader and while I love urban fantasy, I’m tired of the same old trope. Because I have limited time to read, I need to be hooked or I’ll put the book down. And when I put it down and don’t think about going back to it, I’m done. I love action-oriented books, which I write. I love characters but for me, it’s more about stuff happening. The books I read tend to cross genres but they all have lots of stuff happening. ☺ Same thing for me as a writer. Right now, I’m focusing on paranormal but I have a Regency, Science Fiction romance and even a Contemporary in the works and they are all action-oriented. Hence my tagline of Romance with Kick-Assitude. ☺
6. What are you reading right now?
Cold Days: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Of all the series and authors I love, Jim Butcher and Harry Dresden are my favorite. I can’t get them fast enough and while I wouldn’t pay the hardback prices, I’m willing to get it in Kindle and even pay that high price. This series is crack to me. But, I’m also reading, right now: The Paradise Prophecy by Robert Browne a story based on Paradise Lost by John Milton about fallen angels and demons. A favorite subject of mine as touched on in my first book, Key of Solomon. Plus, I always have a host of research books on promotion and marketing, paranormal, history and more I flip through. Reading is my passion – even more than writing which I love to do.
7. Have any particular authors inspired you to write? If so, can you name one and what you like about their style?
I love me some Stephen King but oh my gosh that man can write scary! I have read many many books in my life and no one has ever scared me as badly as Stephen King. ! lol !Not really. I’ve been inspired to be a writer by Stephen King but my inspiration really came from inside me when I accepted this is what I truly want to do with my life. Why did Stephen King inspire me? Well, he’s pure wicked genius. His books scare the bejesus out of me. I love that he’s so wicked scary and when I read his writing/memoir, I got to know him more and realized what he went through to be as wonderful as he is. People mock his writing but he’s always given me what I want from a book – pure entertainment.
8. Do you have any upcoming projects?
Well, I’m working on book 2 of the Children of Egypt series, following Blood on the Moon and I’m also finalizing book 2 of my Relic Defender series (Key of Solomon is the first) to release this summer and then I’m going to focus on my science fiction romance. I have a lot of ideas – just not enough time to write them all. ☺
Congrats !! I can't wait to read some of your work! It has been great chatting with you !!
And now, an excerpt from Blood on the Moon for you guys! And don't forget to stay tuned for the giveaway below !
Excerpt:
What was with all the handsome blokes lately? It seemed she couldn’t go more than an hour without seeing men who were the poster children for every woman’s fantasy. Or were they just her fantasies?
He removed the gun from Gus’s temple but didn’t drop his arm. The man’s grip was steady, not quivering from the weight of the weapon. Strong, she figured. Used to holding guns to people’s heads. Lovely.
“My employer is getting impatient. She requires an answer.” His head cocked. “And for your sake, I hope it’s the right one.”
She? “An answer to what?”
Icy blue eyes looked deep into hers. “Don’t be coy, Ms. Langdon. It doesn’t suit you.”
“Well, you see, I’ve already given my answer so I really don’t understand your purpose in being here.” Mia placed both hands on her desk’s front edge. “I suggest you leave right now before I get madder than I already am.”
“Oh?”
“You and your men broke into my house, assaulted my employees and now threaten one of them with a gun. I’m plenty pissed right now, but still willing to let you walk away with your manhood intact.”
“And if I don’t comply with your eloquent demand?”
She shrugged. “You’ll leave me with no choice.” Her fingers tiptoed under the desk’s lip. “I’ll have to make you leave. On a stretcher.”
His laughter rippled forward, a rich, rolling guffaw that actually sent freaking shivers along her spine. Christ, Mia, just how long has it been since you had sex?
“And how do you intend to do that?”
She let a slow smile dance across her lips. “Like this.”
As she finished speaking, she tugged the stiletto from the hidden compartment under the desk and threw it at the man. At the same time, Gus collapsed to the floor and did a backward flip. The long slender blade with its needle-like point punched into the man’s shoulder. He let out a cry of pain and rage. Off balance, his fingers tightened involuntarily on the trigger. The Colt roared a single shot, splitting the wood of the paneled wall on the opposite side of the room.
She lunged across the desk, her ass sliding on the smooth surface and kicked the gun from his hand. Her feet hit the floor, and she immediately flipped a snap-kick at the man himself. He blocked her strike with both hands and before she could pull back, used her forward motion to spin her around. His right arm came from behind, snaked around her neck in a one-arm chokehold dragging her against his chest. The metallic scent of blood mixed with an outdoorsy odor teased her nose.
“Aside from the little poke, I expected more from you, Ms. Langdon.” His words blew a warm gust across her neck. Tiny hairs lifted. “I’m disappointed.”
She took a deep breath, suppressing the flush of rage clawing for release. Sparring while angry was a dumb way to get pulverized. “Don’t be,” she countered. “I don’t want to mess up my new carpet with more of your blood.”
About the Author:
In the job that pays the mortgage and allows her to indulge
in her real passion, writing, Cassiel Knight works for Clackamas County in the
beautiful state of Oregon. Crazy- passionate about the romance writing
industry, Cassiel has a paranormal romance series featuring fallen angels and
demons, an urban fantasy novella and a new paranormal romance series that
started this fall with Champagne Book Group. She writes paranormal romances
with kick-assitude that blend archeology and mythology – just a few of her
favorite things. She can be found online at
Giveaway Details:
There is a tour wide giveaway (ie. Reviewing in Chaos is not responsible for choosing the winner). Prizes include:
- Ten PDF copies of Blood on the Moon (INT)
- Blood on the Moon Bracelet (US Only)
- Key of Solomon Print Book (US Only)
- $10 Electronic Amazon Gift Card (INT)
Hi! Your interview was so much fun and I love that we seem to like some of the same things. And Stephen King, yes, oh my, he does know how to scare a body doesn't he? Thank you so much for hosting me. It's been a pleasure.
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