I'm thrilled to welcome the lovely
Maria Lima to the blog today. Maria writes the fang-tabulous Blood Lines series with Keira Kelly and the gorgeous, sexy vampire Adam Walker. Blood Sacrifice - book 5 and sadly the last :-( - in the series is out on August 30th, and Maria's here to tell us how the series came about. She's also kindly offering a giveaway for one lucky commentator! (Int).
Congratulations on the upcoming release, Maria, and thanks so much for being here! The blog's all yours!
ETA: Winner has now been drawn and is:
Donnas who said...
Congrats on the upcoming release!! Looking forward to what you start on next!
An email's on it way to you, Donnas!
A Long Strange Trip
What a long, strange trip it’s been--to utterly steal the lines from the Grateful Dead. I mean, who knew just a mere seven years ago that I’d be (a) published and (b) wrapping up my first series? Not I--though my mother continues to insist she knew when I was a kid that I’d be a professional writer. Back then, I wanted to be a comic book artist. Go figure.
I love reading, so much so, that I toyed with the idea of becoming a librarian at one point. Then I found out that it required grad school--not necessarily a bad thing, but at that point, I was really, really sick of school and having to go a couple of extra years was just not on the menu. So I majored in journalism, broadcast and film, with an emphasis on TV and film--why? Because it was interesting. Employable, well, not
so much. At least not in San Antonio, Texas. I could’ve done some internships at local TV stations or in radio, but honestly, I was pretty rootless and
clueless when I finished college. I fell into the grind of corporate work, primarily in human resources. That said, I always found a way to write--whether employee focused newsletters or marketing copy, I needed to soothe that muse that kept hitting me over the head.
It wasn’t until I re-invented myself in late 1999 that I knew I wanted a huge change. I moved from Texas to the DC area to work in tech in mid 2000. I’d been a member of Sisters in Crime for years and already knew a ton of people in the area, mostly writers. They all encouraged me. So I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.
My first short story, “The Butler Didn’t Do It”, was published in 2004, via a Sisters in Crime anthology. It garnered an Agatha Award nomination. My first novel, MATTERS OF THE BLOOD, followed the next year (via a small press, which eventually folded). I came very close to giving up after that--but at the very same convention, I met the person who kickstarted my writing career: John Betancourt, owner of Wildside Press. Wildside republished Matters, then went on to publish the 2nd book, BLOOD BARGAIN. Then, thanks to John, who entered into a co-publishing agreement with Pocket Books, both those books were republished by Pocket, immediately followed by the third book, then the final two.
A total whirlwind? Yeah. Absolutely. Kind of like my protagonist’s life, actually. Keira’s just sitting around and hanging out when things begin to happen to change her life--for the better. I’ve loved every minute of it. Now that the final Blood Lines book is coming out, what’s next?
I’m working on the audiobooks for the series (I’m doing the reading). The audiobooks will be issued via Audible.com thanks to Wildside Press. I’m also working on some other writing projects. The show goes on as do I.
What do you readers want to see?
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Yay! Thanks for the great post, Maria. I
♥♥♥ the Blood Lines series, and I'm lucky enough to be reading Blood Sacrifice now as my 'treat book' for reaching The End on my own! Blood Sacrifice is a wonderful book, the best in the series I think, so all the Blood Lines fans have got a fab treat in store too!
Giveaway
For a chance to win a copy of one of Maria's books (winner's choice) please leave a comment for Maria: Either what book you'd like to see Maria do next, or your favourite character in the Blood Lines series, or leave Maria your congratulations!
Please leave a way to contact you (email in comment: Please remember to replace @ with [at] to forestall spam - or your twitter name - no way to contact you - no entry).
Giveaway is international and closes end of day (GMT time) August 30th 2011.
Full General Terms and Rules at the bottom of this post
here.
x/posted to LJ. Comment here or
there. One entry per person.
Blood Sacrifice
The Blood Lines series - Book 5 - August 30, 2011
All’s fair in blood and war. . . .
Talk about wedding crashers from hell. Keira Kelly and her sexy vampire king Adam are about to tie the proverbial knot—sort of—when an uninvited blood relative shows up to cast a long dark shadow over the happy occasion. Adam’s brother Gideon comes bearing the one-size-fits-all gift of bad news: an ancient, convoluted Challenge thrown down upon the entire Kelly clan. It seems the dreaded forces of the fae have declared war on Keira’s family, and at stake is the land that is rightfully theirs.
But while the Kellys gather their troops in a historic San Antonio hotel to strategize, there’s mayhem back in Rio Seco. The old cemetery is vandalized, fires break out everywhere, and—worst of all—the Kelly clan matriarch and leader, Keira’s great-great-grandmother Minerva, goes missing. Should Keira risk breaking the Challenge rules by returning to her beloved home, or should she continue the waiting game that seems the only other option? With everything she loves, maybe even her life, on the line, she has only one chance to get the answer right.
Buy from:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Depository
Or any good bookstore :-).
Find Maria
Maria's website
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Maria on Twitter
Happy Book Birthday to Maria Lima for Blood Sacrifice, # 5 in her fabulous Blood Lines series - and don't forget you can
