Monthly Archives: September 2013

Avast! Today be talk like a pirate day!

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Yo ho! I give you good day!Talk like a pirate day, Mimi Sebastian

For today is international talk like a pirate day. To find out more, run out the sweeps and visit the official site for talk like a pirate day!

If you haven’t at all noticed, I do love pirates. The more I read about them, the more fascinated I become so much so I’m planning, sweating, editing furiously to finish my pirate book to self publish by the end of this year, which I discuss on a previous blog post here.

To add to my excitement, next year premieres Black Flag, a tv show about the pirates on New Providence in the Bahamas which was a pirate enclave during the Golden Age of piracy. Sounds like it will be more of a realistic portrayal. Fingers crossed anyhow.

So go about ‘n have a bit ‘o grog, and good luck to ‘ee and a fair wind. To end on the words of our brother, Black Sam Bellamy:

“They villify us, the scoundrels do, when there is only this difference, they rob the poor under the cover of law, forsooth, and we plunder the rich under the protection of our own courage.”

Faith of the Fallen Cover Reveal

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I’m furiously editing to complete my short story Faith of the Fallen, which features one of my characters, the werewolf Brandon, from the Necromancer Series. One of the reasons I’m so excited is because Kim Killion designed such an amazing cover. Here it is!!!

Faith of the Fallen, Necromancer Books, Mimi Sebastian

This story was one of those moments where the words wrote themselves. I loved Brandon’s character and wondered, well, how did he become a werewolf. I mean, he’s a priest for crying out loud. And then it came to me in 3,000 or so words. Part of the inspiration for his story was the setting, and I asked Kim, in designing the cover, if she could find a background that represented the Northeast of Brazil, also called the sertao. A very dry, semi-arid region. My parents were born in Sao Paulo, (I’ve probably watched every World Cup soccer tournament since like the crib) and I lived and worked in both Recife and Salvador, Brazil, Northeastern coastal cities, and my work took me to the sertao quite often. Brazil is very culturally diverse, and it’s regions can differ quite a bit in topography. So while you had places like the sertao:

sertao work pic

I’m pictured above with some Brazilian work colleagues in a typical village in the Northeastern countryside, and below are some wonderful kiddos in one of the communities.

kids in sertao

You also had pristine beach areas like this:

beach with jeep

Why am I living in the desert? Sigh.

Anyway, back to Faith of the Fallen. In the story, I feature the Sao Joao festival, which occurs every year in the countryside, and is a wonderful celebration of Northeastern country culture with lots of food and drink, but that’s typical of any Brazilian celebration 🙂

One of the most amazing things I experienced while working in the Northeast, was that even in the more disadvantaged parts of the country, like the sertao, people always share what little food they have on hand. I worked on projects to help increase access to potable water in the farming communities pictured above, and when we visited the projects, people brought out more food for us then they wold probably eat in a week. Always a very humbling experience.

So with that background, I bring you Brandon’s short story. I’m only going to offer Faith of the Fallen, beginning in October, as a print giveaway during blog tours and as part of a Halloween/October giveaway, and periodically thereafter. I’ll announce the opportunities here and on the Facebook page for the Necromancer Series as they come up.

So, as they would say in Brazil, abraco (hugs) and boa sorte (good luck).

Back cover copy for Faith of the Fallen:

I wheeled around. I hadn’t noticed anyone behind me.

Brandon’s quirked eyebrow reached the bangs of his wavy brown hair. His thin frame, straddling a wood cathedral chair, belied the power visible underneath his worn jeans and . . . surprise fluttered through me at the sight of his priest habit. A werewolf priest?

He stood and walked over, taking my hand in a firm shake. He smiled. “I’m used to that look.”

I’m not even going to try to understand how a wolf can reside within a priest. As if reading my thoughts, he said, “Even the beasts need to confess.”

-Excerpt from The Necromancer’s Seduction

Before the werewolf priest, Brandon Ross, ever met the necromancer, Ruby Montagne, he’d adopted a quiet life in the Northeastern Brazilian countryside. There he dedicated himself to the parish and immersion in the local culture, even if it brought temptation in the beautiful town doctor, Solange Neves.

Now discover the story of how Brandon became a werewolf and the troubled past he seeks to escape. As he struggles to make sense of the new, darker power that has taken control of him—of the monster he has become—will Solange be his salvation or his ruin?

We Love Our Demon Heroes: Discussion with Jocelyn Dex

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Thanks for stopping by today. I’ve been looking forward to this post. You can also find it here, on Jocelyn Dex’s blog: Demons Do It Better, which is an appropriate name given our “panel” discussion today on demons. Jocelyn features demons in her book Araya’s Addiction and they play a big role in my Necromancer Books. To get us in the mood, here is the cover of Araya’s Addiction featuring a hunky demon 🙂Araya's Addiction, Demon Paranormal

So let’s get to the discussion and please join us by leaving a comment!

More and more books feature demons, all taking a slightly different approach, which is fun like where they come from, their powers and types. Can you speak a little to the demons in your stories?

Jocelyn: I created several different types of demons for my Sempire Seductions series, but the Sempires can teleport, are very strong, and without, um, semen, they will weaken and eventually die. (Hey, I write erotic romance. It works.) Most of them also carry over some sort of power from their fathers.

Mimi: I loved the semen factor in your book! I don’t know what that says about me, but it’s a unique approach. My demons come from another realm and have interfered, influenced the human realm going back to ancient Sumeria, if not further. They’re not demons from “Hell”, and have a very defined social structure. That’s about all I can say 🙂

Let’s talk demons vs other supernatural males, like vampires, werewolves, fae, etc.

Mimi: There’s something to me that’s very primal about demons. I love vampires, but vampires almost seem too polished, and they were also once human. Maybe it’s their age as well, making them somewhat jaded. Demons feel more dirty and sweaty to me, LOL. And when you unleash the demon, you let loose that primal force, like a hurricane, that you can’t control. It’s scary and frickin’ sexy at the same time.

Jocelyn: Ha. Dirty and sweaty. I agree with that. I like the grittiness of demons and I feel like there are no rules with them. I also dig vampires, but there are so many preconceived notions when it comes to them. Demons can be whatever you want without too many preconceived ideas of what they should be.

I’m not a big fan of shifters (werewolves, big cats, etc.), but every once in awhile I come across a story with shifters that catches my interest and turns out okay. I read a gargoyle romance a few months ago and really enjoyed that. It was something different and I’m definitely interested in reading more.

Are your demons good or bad or somewhere in between?

Mimi: I like my demons to play in the moral gray areas. While they are not evil, they may at times take actions that stretch those boundaries. My demons come from another dimension and their take on what’s right or wrong is shaped by an entirely different social structure.

Jocelyn: Some of my demons are good, some are bad, but that’s really a matter of perspective. Like Mimi said, the demons’ take on what’s right or wrong is shaped by the world they’re from so it may not jive with humans’ take on right and wrong.

Do they come from another world? How do they coexist in the human world?

Jocelyn: Most of the demons in my stories come from the demon realm and most want to live in the more pleasant human realm or in the veil between realms. Some want to make trouble but most want to live peacefully, undetected by humans.  

Mimi: I jumped the gun and talked about this in the first question. How do they coexist? That is an interesting question. Like Jocelyn said, some do blend in pretending to be human, and some want to cause trouble J

What about some favorite demon heroes from other books or shows?

Mimi: Greyson from Stacia Kane’s Megan Chase series. I also like Ryan from Diana Rowland’s Demon Summoner series, but I’m ready for her to unleash him already. I’m getting a little fatigued with reading about Kara sleeping with every other demon besides Ryan. Talking television, I really liked Cole from Charmed, but hate what they did to him. I wished they would have kept him around, but the actor went on to greener pastures.

Jocelyn: Oooh! Oooh! Me too! Cole from Charmed. Oh man, I loved his character and I was also pissed about what they did to him. I totally blamed Phoebe for his ultimate demise. Bitch. Haha. Anyway, in books, I love Larissa Ione’s Wraith. He’s a sexy badass demon with a smartass attitude. Love him.

Oh and I can’t forget Crowley from Supernatural.  He’s a bad demon but every once in a while does something surprisingly helpful and he has a certain charm. Maybe it’s the accent. 🙂

What are your plans for future demon characters?

Jocelyn: Oh, so many plans! Even though book 2 and 3 of my Sempire Seductions series are still in edits and not yet released, I’ve already started a new series featuring more demons. Different demons, and I love the characters, but I can’t say more than that just yet.

Mimi: Awesome! Can’t wait.

Any final thoughts on why you like demon heroes/heroines?

Mimi: I like that they’re not your typical heroes and are sometimes driven by primal forces beyond their control which makes exploring their vulnerabilities that much more interesting.

Jocelyn: They are the ultimate bad boys and bad girls. What’s not to like?

Thanks for joining the discussion! Here’s info on Jocelyn:

Jocelyn Dex, Araya's AddictionJocelyn was born in Iowa and currently resides in hot-as-hell Texas. She shares her home with her very own 6’4″ alpha male and varying numbers of spoiled cats and dogs. Teaching one of her dogs to file his own nails is one of her all-time favorite accomplishments.

Jocelyn loves to paint, loves to read, and loves to write sizzling erotic romance about yummy demons that would make your momma blush (or not–depends on the momma).

In Memoriam to Publisher and Writer Linda Kichline

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I opened my e-mail today and read the sad news. Linda Kichline, the heart and soul of ImaJinn Books, my publisher, passed away after having a stroke. While I hadn’t known Linda for that long, the time I did interact with her was incredibly meaningful to my growth as an author. I queried with ImaJinn last year, and Necromancer’s Seduction released this past July. I decided to submit to ImaJinn because of their focus on Urban Fantasy/Paranormal, and they were publishing one of my favorite vampire Urban Fantasy series by D.B. Reynolds.

Ultimately, whatever drove me to hit send, I felt I’d made the right decision. Linda was always supportive and great to work with and her editing of my manuscript definitely elevated my writing. Both Linda and my editor really liked my story and writing style. I’ve heard, often, at a bigger publishers, the person who edits your manuscript is not always vested in your story or may not even like your writing. For a new author, still building my confidence, it was a great boost to have someone like Linda in my corner.

Linda wrote and had published a witch/warlock series under the name Carin Rafferty, and as Allyson Ryan for Silhouette Books. She also wrote for Harlequin. She started ImaJinn to publish the type of paranormal books not being picked up by many of the larger publishers at the time. If you can imagine. I’m not sure exactly when Linda started ImaJinn, but I think it was 1999, before this explosion of small presses, showing her as a pioneer in the industry and in paranormal romance. If you look at her Goodreads profile, an editor from Penguin commented that Linda had a great grasp of paranormal romance long before it really took off.

I write this blog with great sadness, but Linda left behind a wonderful legacy and I feel so fortunate that she saw something in my writing worth nurturing and investing in. In fact, it makes me very proud. I wish I would have had more time to work with Linda, but am grateful for the time I did share with her. Thank you Linda and rest in peace.