Book of the Month: Interview with Gena Showalter

Good morning everyone! Kelly and I would like to welcome…hold on; I’m having a fan girl moment…*squee*…now that that’s out – Gena Showalter!!! *fans self, and yes I’m repeating OMG over & over in my head right now*
Gena is the author of our Book of the Month for September, Lord of the Vampires. She is also a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, titles well deserved, and one of my absolute favorite authors. Gena has several amazing paranormal romance series under her belt that rank in my top favorite books of all times; Atlantis, Lords of the Underworld and Alien Huntress, along with several young adult works and stand-alone novels, plus a few new series in the works. We’re currently getting Kelly caught up on the pure awesomeness that is Gena Showalter. LoL I think she is looking forward to having the Lords in bed with her at night!
Gena’s newest release though is a series collaboration with authors Jill Monroe, Jessica Andersen and Nalini Singh called Royal House of Shadows. The series itself centers on four royal heirs that were vanquished from their kingdom and their journey to reclaiming it, with each author giving it their own fairy tale twist. Gena kicks off the series with Lord of the Vampires. So let’s get started! (p.s. I don't know what's up with the spacing, Blogger is being naughty today.)

Crystal: Hi Gena and welcome! We’re all huge fans here and are so excited that you could stop by today! As you know, Lord of the Vampires is our Book of the Month; can you start us off by giving us a brief introduction to it please?

Gena: Thanks so much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be here!

 About the book . . . well, it features Nicolai the Crown Prince of Elden. His people call him “The Dark Seducer,” because he has a temper so fearsome everyone trembles at the mere mention of it. And yet, he has always been gentle with his women—though none have ever been able to tame his wanton ways. In fact, everything has always been easy for him. Winning fights, bedding wenches, and even stealing other people’s magic. He’d never known a single hardship, and so he was a wee bit spoiled. Until the Blood Sorcerer came along and he was stripped of his crown, his abilities, and even his memories. He also loses his freedom, forced to serve a cruel mistress as her sex slave. He goes from emotionally distanced—except for that temper!—to a man capable of feeling soul-deep love for one special female. His female, Jane. (I feel sorry for all the creatures in the book that disagree!) His sense of possession is so great, he would defy time and space just to be with her. And he does!

Crystal: Oooo…a casanova turned sex slave, sounds intriguing!

Kelly: Hi Gena! I have to admit, before reading Lord of the Vampires, I had yet to read any of your books. I’m still relatively green to the genre of paranormal romance, only having picked up my first in February, thanks to Crystal. Can you please give new readers an idea of your writing style and what they can expect out of your work?

Gena: Flawed characters (I hate perfection in fictional characters because I can’t identify), violence, a quirky sense of humor, sizzling sex scenes—well, you can scratch that one for my young adult novels—and hopefully a love to last the ages.

Crystal: The world you have started in Lord of the Vampires is so involved with different creatures and especially magic, did you do any research into the different paranormal aspects or is it purely straight out of your imagination?

Gena: Certain aspects are based on mythological stories I’d read throughout the years, while others are straight from my mind. So I guess the answer is . . . an eclectic mix

Kelly: Both Nicolai and Jane are complex characters with a lot of history. For those who are familiar with your writing, can you tell us how your characters from this book differ from the characters of your wildly popular series, Lords of the Underworld?

Gena: I’ve always loved alpha males in fiction. I think all of my male leads tend to veer in that direction, though some have a perverted sense of humor, some like to torture more than others, some are more carnal, some are more romantic, but all fall totally and completely for their woman, willing to die for her if necessary.

Crystal: I think you have definitely perfected the alpha male, Gena! Nicolai and Jane also have a very up & down relationship with plenty of twists and turns. You definitely did not make their journey to true love easy for them! What do you think will really stick with readers about this particular couple?

Gena: You know, I never know what readers will like and what they’ll dislike and when I guess, I’m usually wrong



Kelly: For the Royal House of Shadows series, each book is written by a different author. Did you all work together or did you each create your own book independent of one another?

Gena: We plotted the main, overarching backstory together, such as the Blood Sorcerer and what he did to the palace, what he did to the king and queen, the siblings and their abilities, but everything else was up to the individual authors. And I have to give major props to my girls. They are amazingly talented, fun, smart, fun, creative, and fun.

Crystal: I bet you four ladies were a riot together, even communicating via email; are there any funny moments or incidences that you can share with us about it?

Gena: A total blast, for sure! When one of us would have an idea, the rest of us would be like Oh, Oh, Oh, yes, and if we do that, then we can do this and this, and then I can . . . fill in the blank. Happened over and over again.

Crystal: LoL, sounds like you all had a lot of fun! Each of you put your own little fairy tale twist on the books, what made you decide with go with Alice in Wonderland for yours, Gena? My favorite btw!

Gena: Alice is a favorite of mine, as well. What’s not to love? A young girl wakes up in a whole new world, with no idea who (or what) to trust, fantastical magic around every corner, her curious nature getting her into all kinds of trouble. I used to put myself in Alice’s place, wondering what I would do, where I would go in the same situation. And of course, anytime I insert myself into a scene, I also insert a very sexy guy.


Crystal: A sexy guy is a must in every story! LoL


Kelly: The end of your book left several loose ends and I finished the book with a lot of questions. Will we see more of Jane and Nicolai and what can readers expect from this series, as a whole?


Gena: You’ll see more of Jane and Nicolai in the final book, Lord of the Abyss, by Nalini Singh, as well as Jill Monroe’s Breena and Osborn (he’s a delicious Berserker), and Jessica Andersen’s Reda and Dayn (he’s a were-shifter). Nalini’s ultra delicious book will show the fate of all the characters and the kingdom.


Crystal: What’s in the works for you right now? Is there anything that you are working on that you can share with us?


Gena: I’m working on the first Lords of the Underworld spin-off novel. I can’t spill any details yet, except to say it’s based on the angels. More details will be forthcoming in November, I promise.


Thank you again Gena for stopping by for an interview, I know you’re a busy lady and we really appreciate it! We’re looking forward to the next House of Shadows release, Lord of Rage from Jill Monroe, as well as your own upcoming releases!

And for your viewing pleasure, the trailer for this fabulous series:

You can find out more about The House of Shadows at: http://paranormalromanceblog.com/royalhouseofshadows/
Or visit Gena Showalter’s website at: http://members.genashowalter.com/


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