Darlene's Book Nook: Werewolves Be Damned Blog Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway with Stacey Kennedy

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Werewolves Be Damned Blog Tour: Guest Post and Giveaway with Stacey Kennedy

Hi, everyone!

I am pleased to participate in the Blog Tour hosted by Entangled Publishing for Stacey Kennedy's Werewolves Be Damned.

About Stacey:

Stacey Kennedy is an urban fantasy lover at heart, but she also enjoys losing herself in dark and sensual worlds. She lives in southwestern Ontario with her husband, who gave her a happily-ever-after. Together, they have two small children who can always make her smile, and who will never be allowed to read Mommy’s books. If she’s not plugging away at a new story, you’ll find her camping, curling up with the latest flick, or obsessing over Sons of Anarchy and Game of Thrones.

CONNECT ONLINE WITH STACEY:
Website | Facebook | Facebook Fan Page | Goodreads | Twitter

Welcome to Darlene's Book Nook, Stacey!

Stacey has written a guest post, so I will now turn the floor over to her!

Thank you to Darlene's Book Nook for letting me drop by today. Darlene’s asked me about how to make believable characters. Here’s what I think:

World-building is tough, especially if the idea for your story is so far out there! So, how do you take an idea that no one would believe and make it believable? Prove it!!

Prove Your World

It doesn’t matter if you have vampires, trolls, or even gremlins…you need to make the world real. The characters have to interact with their world to give the reader the sense that this new world you’ve created actually exists. Give lush descriptions. Create laws. Get creative!

If the story is set on another planet, describe little details that show what it’d be like to live there. What’s the air like? What does the ground look like? What do things smell like there? It’s important to create the setting in a way that allows the reader to feel like they’re a part of it.

If your vampires can go out into the sun, you can’t just throw that out there and not comment on why. If what you have created is different than the norm, you have to prove that point so there is no question as to how and why it works. If not, the reader will be instantly left with the feeling that it’s not believable.

Make Your Characters Real

This is probably the most important. Emotions are a huge part of writing that allows a reader to connect with a character. For an example, if a character can converse with the dead, it’s important to show right out of the gate how she deals with this. Since it’s unusual, the character would have a strong reaction to the gift they have. Do they like it? Hate it? How do others look upon it? Or do they not know? Is it a secret and needs to be hidden? If so, how is this secret kept, and how does the character feel about the burden of such a secret? This is the foundation for creating a character that’s relatable.

Then, allow your characters to be emotionally involved in their world. If your character can see ghosts, and she dislikes the ability, allow her to show her frustration. Don’t make a character just go with the flow and accept everything that happens with a smile. If it’s an unusual situation, any normal person would have a huge emotional response—anger, sadness, or even irritation. The thing is, when characters are too strong or too easy going, it will take the realness away from them because everyone has emotions. The stronger the emotion, the better!

If your hero is a shifter in a world where shifters shouldn’t be, it’s important to keep him as real as you can. The trick is writing him in a way that makes the reader forget what he is, and instead focuses on who he is. And that only comes from writing a real hero that any woman couldn’t refuse, no matter if he is a ghost, vampire, or scaly beast! If he exists in a world that doesn’t accept him, he needs to feel something from that. Either anger at the world, or self-assurance that he doesn’t care. But having him interact with the world in an emotional way allows a reader to truly understand him.

Stick To Your World-Building

If you’ve created a world that has laws—i.e., kill a mortal and you shall die! It’s important not to just tell these laws and how the world works, but show them. Have one of your characters break a rule and show what happens. Or introduce a new character that hates the rules and fights against them. It’ll add awesome tension, all the while showing how your world works.

If a mortal gets killed, and someone must die, what are all the steps that have to happen? This is when you can create some terrific world-building aspects. Who hunts the killer? What happens once he is caught? Does he have to go through a trial? Is he killed on the spot? It’s all these little details that make a world strong. And this can play into the emotional element—how does your character react to these rules? Does he/she struggle with taking a life? Believe in it? These details are what make a world work just like our own, so the more small details, the more believable and richer the story will be.

Prove Your Steamy Scenes

I admit that this one can get very tricky! How do you have a love scene between a woman and a vampire, if a vampire is an abomination? It’s not easy! But the most important thing to remember is all the above. If you make your characters real, experience emotions that help them come to the conclusion that this is normal, then your readers will feel it too.

If you have woman go from not thinking sexy things about a vampire to then jumping into bed with him, your readers won’t believe it. But if you build tension, show her fighting the attraction, and coming around to the idea, then it’ll work. Allow your readers the chance to accept that the character has put thought behind her decisions and show why she’s agreed.

The key to making the unbelievable—believable is you have to show the reader why they should accept it. You can’t leave anything up in the air. Present it all right out in front with descriptions, interactions with the characters and their world, and always big emotional responses—all of this only strengthens your world-building.

Thanks so much for joining us today, Stacey!

One lucky winner will win a $100 Gift Card to Amazon or Barnes & Noble!

TITLE: Werewolves Be Damned
SERIES: Magic & Mayhem, Book #1
AUTHOR: Stacey Kennedy

PUBLISHER: Entranced Publishing
PUBLICATION DATE: April 15, 2013

FORMAT: E-book, 204 pages

GENRE: Paranormal Romance

Nexi Jones—part witch, part guardian, and wannabe kick-ass warrior—can’t throw a punch or conjure the simplest magic. But that doesn’t stop her from hunting the werewolves who slaughtered her human family. She’ll have her revenge, but only if Kyden, the elite guardian, would get the hell out of her way.

Kyden can’t decide if Nexi wants to get herself killed or if she just has no clue what she’s doing. But her father made it clear: keep Nexi safe…or else. Of course, the more Nexi runs toward revenge, the more she needs Kyden’s aid, and as she grows into her power and confidence, so does his desire to protect her. The only problem? She’d rather he dropped dead.

But when a vampire paints a bull's-eye on Nexi’s back, she’s hard-pressed to deny Kyden and the help he’s offering. Even if it means getting her revenge will be a little bit harder. At least it will still be as sweet.

Buy Links:

Kobo / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iTunes

Book Excerpt:

I’ve found you, fur ball.

Nexi peered from behind the large oak tree and spotted the small log cabin nestled in the thick forest. The porch light cast a warm glow into the night. Fog settled over the lush grass, and the night was dark, eerie.

Stepping away from her hiding place behind the tree, she strode forward and gripped the dagger tightly in her hand. Keeping the silver blade pointed outward, she climbed the cabin’s porch steps, taking each one slowly to avoid detection.

Once she arrived at the front door, she wrapped her hand around the door handle. Rich hunger for revenge burned in her veins and made her intent on one thing: to slaughter the werewolf who escaped the night of her parents’ murder. Not caring what awaited her, she stormed inside, dagger pointed, ready to kill.

The simple cabin had two large brown couches near a wood-burning stove, a kitchenette behind the living room, and a quilt-covered bed resting in the back. And that was it; there were no other rooms to investigate. No secret hiding places she could see.

No damned werewolf.

She cursed, shut the front door behind her, then trotted down the steps to return to her hiding spot. On her way across the yard, she glanced at the space to the right of the tree, which looked much like a heat wave, indicating that the portal to the Otherworld remained.

In some places around the world—or the Earthworld, as supernaturals had called it—there were permanent portals to the supernatural realm. This portal had only appeared because Nexi had travelled to this cabin from the Otherworld. Once she passed through the portal again, the gateway would vanish.

Magic had its perks. Quick travel was one of them.

Nexi shook her head at how normal all this magical stuff seemed now. Just over a month ago she’d never believed in anything that went bump in the night. Now she knew all those things existed, and in fact, she was one of them.

To her horror, she had learned that her birth mother, Tillie, had been murdered by a power-hungry vampire, Lazarus. All those years ago, her birth father, Drake, had protectively decided to block Nexi’s supernatural abilities. He had planned for her to live and die as a mortal. Now with her return to the Otherworld and the removal of the block on her true identity, there was no going back.

She was no longer plain, human, Nexi Jones.

She was Nexi Jones, part guardian, part witch.

Looking away from the portal and to her hiding spot until the werewolf returned, she hurried her steps. She wasn’t ready to return to the Otherworld yet. Not until she had the werewolf’s head as her wall ornament would she dare go home.

Just as she neared the tree, a woodsy scent that had nothing to do with the forest mixed with the citrusy aroma of aftershave. A blink of an eye later, the dagger she held was now at her throat, a hard body closed in on her back.

“You smelled lovely when you arrived.” The low voice by her ear held a faint English accent. “But I never imagined you’d be so pretty.”

The blade pressed into her skin, not drawing blood, but implying that if the werewolf chose, she’d be destined for the grave. “I’m…”

“Going to explain yourself.” He lowered the dagger, took hold of her arm, and jerked her forward.

In a few short strides, the werewolf tossed her through the threshold of the cabin, and slammed the door behind them. He sauntered to the couch, sat down, and regarded her. “Now then, darlin’.” His olive skin was stunningly flawless, and his chocolate-colored hair was spiked tall. “Why would a pretty lass like yourself plan to attack me?”

“Don’t move.” That charm wouldn’t fool her. “Stay right where you are.”

“My mouth is the only thing moving.” His slanted amber eyes raked over her. “Would you like me to stop talking?”

“No.” She hesitated then added, “Only your mouth can move. Nothing else. Tell me what you know.”

He gave her a long look. “I’d be glad to tell you anything you’d like, love.”

His kind face and soft voice wouldn’t trick her. He was a werewolf. She was certain, which was another oddity.

After the block on her supernatural abilities had been lifted, she could identify a supernatural creature as if knowing the difference between a brunette and a redhead. “Tell me why you killed my family.”

“That’s an interesting accusation.” He cocked his head, studying her with a frown. “But I think the more important question is who are you?”

She lifted her chin. “The lass who’s going to cut off your furry wolf balls.”

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