With the new year we want to thank all of our friends and followers that have helped share our love for books here on this blog. Sharing some of the wonderful reads out there by new and seasoned authors alike, are a joy we enjoy bringing your way. We appreciate your support and comments to help us achieve a blog we hope you will want to revisit time and time again.

Without a doubt this blog is starting out the year with an explosion of excitement! We are so delighted to have Dianne Duvall visiting here with us today. This is one busy little lady and we feel so fortunate that she has stopped by today to talk with us about her awesome books. Author of the yummy paranormal romance series, IMMORTAL GUARDIANS, Dianne has received numerous 5-star reviews since the first release, last February. Now with the second installment hot off the press, we have lots to talk about so let’s get started.

 

Before we get into your new release,“NIGHT REIGNS” let back-up a bit and hear a little about the first in the IMMORTAL GUARDIANS,... “DARKNESS DAWNS”. Would you give a summary to our followers about it?     

Thanks so much for having me here today! I would be happy to.

In DARKNESS DAWNS, the spring semester has just ended and Music Theory Professor Sarah Bingham seeks only peace and quiet . . . until she rescues a wounded man who has been staked to the ground practically in her backyard. The world as she knows it ends when she is suddenly thrust into a war that erupts between vampires and immortals and falls deeply in love with the dark, enigmatic warrior who offers her his protection.

Immortal Guardian Roland Warbrook has lived nearly a thousand years and has been betrayed too many times to feel he could ever trust again . . . until Sarah risks her life to save him. Roland has never been so fascinated or intrigued. Sarah brings laughter and teasing back into his life, making him long for an impossible future despite the constant battle they must wage against the dangerous enemy that has arisen . . . an enemy who is determined to bring about the downfall of the Immortal Guardians, beginning with Roland.

Where did the inspiration develop for the plot and characters?

Making vampirism the result of a rare, symbiotic virus was inspired by a documentary I saw in which historians suggested that most vampire mythology arose as a result of people misunderstanding illnesses like porphyria. I wanted my vampires and immortals to be alive, not dead or undead. I also wanted there to be a catch 22 that would prevent them from becoming mortal again if a cure could be found. Thus, I created a virus that first defeats, then replaces the immune system, lending those infected with it enhanced speed, strength, senses, and regenerative capabilities, coupled with a need for blood and photosensitivity. What’s the catch? Kill the virus, and the immortal or vampire turned mortal will be left with no immune system.

The idea for differentiating immortals from vampires genetically actually arose from two manuscripts I wrote before DARKNESS DAWNS. Both featured gifted ones, men and women born with advanced DNA that lent them abilities ordinary humans lack, such as telepathy, telekinesis, healing with hands, and more. In DARKNESS DAWNS, I expanded upon this. Immortals (or Immortal Guardians) are gifted ones who have been infected with the virus. Vampires are humans who have been infected with the virus. In humans, the virus causes brain damage that results in a rapid descent into madness, so even nice guys become villains when infected. The advanced DNA of gifted ones protects them from this. So they spend their nights hunting the insane vampires who prey upon humans.

When you write do you guide the characters into the plot you want or do they control you?

I guide the characters through the plot, but that doesn’t mean they don’t surprise me at times along the way. Writers usually describe themselves as plotters (those who draft meticulous outlines of a book before they begin to write) and pantsers (those who fly by the seat of their pants and just sit down to write). I’m mostly the latter. When I sit down to write a book, I have the beginning firmly in mind and a general idea of where and how I would like it to end. Everything else simply falls into place as I write, so sometimes characters do things I don’t plan. Ami, the heroine of NIGHT REIGNS, is an excellent example. When her character first came to me -- so sweet and innocent and damaged -- I didn’t know she would become such a fierce warrior and be the one who yanks Marcus right out of his grief. :-) Oh, and there’s a scene with Marcus in NIGHT REIGNS that I admit made my jaw drop. I don’t want to spoil it for those who haven’t read it, so for those who have: It’s the scene in which Marcus confronts Seth in David’s training room. :-)

If you became an immortal, what would you want your special ability to be?

I would love to be able to heal with my hands the way Roland, David, and Seth can. If I could choose a second ability, I would want to be able to teleport like Seth and Richart.

In creating the IMMORTAL GUARDIAN world and characters, did it just display itself in your mind’s eye or were there certain factors that you built around with research ?

Much of the Immortal Guardians world came to me as I simply contemplated what it would be like to be immortal, to live such a long life and have heightened senses and abilities, how difficult it would be to avoid drawing unwanted attention when one couldn’t go out in daylight. (That would be how Seconds and the extensive network of humans who aid the immortals came into being.) Each book, however, has required research on a wide variety of subjects: the immune system, weapons, locations, military hand signals, satellites, vehicles, names that were common in the era and country of each immortal’s birth, and more.

OK I can’t take it anymore (I’m so excited) Let’s talk about “NIGHT REIGNS”. Give us an introduction to this story about Marcus.

Immortal Guardian Marcus Grayden recently lost the woman he has loved for eight centuries. Though he brought humor to DARKNESS DAWNS, in NIGHT REIGNS we see what he hopes to hide from the others: that he now only feels alive when he is risking all in battle against the hordes of maddened vampires who prey upon humans. When his actions spawn concern in Seth, the leader of the Immortal Guardians, Marcus is assigned a new Second (mortal assistant) -- Ami. Though the last thing Marcus wants is a Second, he simply can’t deny Ami’s appeal, swiftly succumbing to her wit and intelligence and beauty when they are thrown together.

Ami has suffered greatly in recent years. So much so that, at times, she questions her sanity. When Seth assigns her to serve as Marcus’s Second, taking care of business for him during the day when he must shun the sun and backing him in battle when he needs it at night, she is shocked. But she rises to the occasion. Conquering the fear instilled in her by the monsters who tortured her, she fights valiantly by Marcus’s side . . . and swiftly loses her heart to him as the bonds of friendship they find deepen into love.


Tell us something about Marcus that isn’t in the book, something only you know. We promise not to tell *wink*.

Hmmmm. When Marcus was a teenaged squire in the Middle Ages, he was very popular with the ladies, who adored him not only for his newfound skills as a lover, but for his teasing, jovial manner, his chivalry, and his valor. :-)

Tell us something you enjoyed writing in your book about Marcus?

I love that Marcus is drawn to strong women. I imagine many men born in the Middle Ages would want the opposite. But Marcus’s unique history made the strength Ami repeatedly displays utterly irresistible to him. I enjoyed the sense of humor he displays in both NIGHT REIGNS and DARKNESS DAWNS, too, and that he doesn’t just lust after Ami, he genuinely likes and admires her, then loves her deeply.

What is you favorite scene in “NIGHT REIGNS” ?

That’s a tough one to answer without spoilers. I have several favorite scenes in this one, but think the number one favorite would be the scene in which Ami tells Marcus why she’s different.

Do you trend towards an organic diet like some of your characters?

I would like to say I have an all organic vegetarian diet no doctor could find fault with, but I can’t. One of the reasons I made the immortals in my series eat organic is because it helps reduce their need for blood. The second was because I figured a heightened sense of taste would allow them to taste the difference between real flavors and synthetic flavors. And the third . . . well . . .

I don’t know anyone, myself included, who isn’t stubborn when it comes to diet. There are certain foods I just won’t give up that doctors say people should. And there are certain foods I will never try. I figured if I’m this stubborn regarding diet after the short time I’ve spent on the planet, how much more so would someone who has been around for hundreds, if not, thousands of years be? I imagine Marcus -- who ate nothing but organic foods for eight hundred years (that’s all that was available) -- when told at some point in the past century to “Try this. It has fake coloring and fake flavoring, but tastes great,” would’ve looked at the speaker as if he or she were insane. :-)

 Could you tell us about, or give us and excerpt from your next
IMMORTAL GUARDIAN installment?

I can’t give you an excerpt yet, but I can tell you that PHANTOM SHADOWS, Book 3, will feature Bastien as hero and Dr. Lipton as heroine. (I was thrilled when readers of NIGHT REIGNS mentioned wanting to see those two get together!) The enemy immortals face will continue to change and evolve, growing ever more dangerous. Surprising new allies will arise. New friendships will form. And the Immortal Guardians’ world will be irrevocably altered.

Thanks so much for being with us and answering our questions. We truly enjoy your work and look forward to many more IMMORTAL GUARDIANS to come our way in the future.

Dianne is sponsoring a special giveaway today to one lucky winner,..a signed copy of NIGHT REIGNS. To enter just be a Networked Blog Follower to this blog and leave a comment or question for Dianne today. The winner will be posted tomorrow by way of a random drawing. To find out more about Dianne Duvall, check her web site at

http://www.dianneduvall.com/