I’m writing this late at night in my dark office, with only the glow of the computer to illuminate the room. It’s pretty cool, actually, and I don’t usually write that way (the dark makes me sleepy, and sleep tends to be counterproductive to the creation of words on paper). But tonight, the atmosphere is inspiring as I try to think of what to write about—because I want to try to get across some of what I share with the book’s heroine, Sara, about the way we look at vampires.
I should probably point out that Sara didn’t come into the story knowing everything that I know (and 
when you get right down to it, I didn’t come into the story knowing everything that ultimately happened; that’s the fun of writing books. The characters drag you along!) You see, Sara is a prosecutor, and a damn good one. And when she’s recruited into a special division, she’s astounded—and ultimately excited—to learn that her new job involves prosecuting paranormal creatures who break the Covenant. What really blows her away, though, is the scope and breadth of this world she’s stepped into. Because it’s ancient. Really, really ancient. Even though Division 6 (where she works) now exists as a secret part of Homeland Security, its roots go back before even the founding of Rome, when the dark creatures realized that they had to self-police if they were going to keep chaos at bay. And that history fascinates her.It fascinates me, too. That was, in fact, the kernel of inspiration for this entire series—a self-policing paranormal world that’s essentially been around since the beginning of time. And that fascination became more concrete when I started writing Lucius Dragos, the hero. A man who is on trial for murder—who’s confessed to it, no less—and also happens to be the man with whom Sara had a passionate fling only a few nights before.
How wild must that be, to have watched the world change over more than a thousand years. It’s the kind of thing that us mere mortals can’t even really get our head around, but someone like Lucius, for him, a year is like a day. An hour, even. And what does that mean for dreams, regrets, loves, feuds? Do they fade into the past? Or is the past so much the present that even something that happened five hundred years ago is fresh and raw? That idea fascinates me, and it’s one of the themes I play with in When Blood Calls, because Luke is definitely a man with some serious baggage—and Sara is a woman fascinated by the allure of history.
Building their world was a bit like an archeological dig, only backwards. Or maybe 
forward and backward at the same time, crafting a piece of the past and seeing how that forms part of the puzzle in the present. It was great fun writing it—and I hope you’ll have just as much fun reading it.I hope you check out When Blood Calls
, it’s definitely a dark, edgy, sexy romance, and you can read excerpts at my website, www.jkbeck.com (you can also see what contests I’ve got running, check out my blog, and sign up for swag and my newsletter!)Obviously, I’m doing this blog tour to get the word out about the book and the series, but there are other ways to get the word out, too. Check out my book trailer and you’ll see what I mean!
And, of course, there’s a contest! I’m giving away bound galleys of books two and three (When Pleasure Rules
& When Wicked Craves
), along with a $15 Amazon gift card! So leave a comment and be in the running to win! {Contest Post Click Here}Don’t know what to say? Say anything! But if you want a jumping off point, how do you feel about the whole immortality thing? Thumbs up? Down? Do you think five hundred years ago would feel like yesterday? Would you miss the way your room looked in candlelight and think harsh fluorescents are just plain evil? Come on, you can tell!
And thanks for reading…and thanks to the folks at Blog With Bite for having me!
Contest Deets:
Comment and answers Ms. Beck's questions for extra entries into the contest. Don't forget to stop on by the contest post and let us know that you commented here! {Contest Post Click Here}
