Exsanguinate
Where Vampire Urban Fantasy Meets Paranormal Romance!
“They can’t touch you!” What could possibly go wrong at Orlando’s beloved Global Studios Halloween Scream Nights theme park?
Cheyenne O’Cuinn’s task is to study fear even though she is the biggest chicken on the planet. In order to carve out a slice of the billion dollar scare industry for her online role-play company, she researches what causes people to run screaming out of haunted attractions.
Determined to face her own fear of Oldhouseophobia, Cheyenne confronts her bloodcurdling obsession – the dreaded haunted house. Her worst nightmare manifested, Cheyenne is brutally attacked and left for dead by a rogue vampire. Splattered across the front page of the Orlando Sentinel, Cheyenne discovers her sisters are missing while she recovers in the hospital.
The ransom call from the kidnapper sets into motion the rabbit hole of a parallel supernatural reality she must play inside her game to rescue her family. In a race against the hourglass, Cheyenne confronts a double-agent vampire, a cyberchondriac werewolf, and a mafioso dragon. Can they be trusted to help her, or are they a part of the twisted scheme?
With her sister’s lives on the line, Cheyenne has no choice but to beat the kidnappers at their own game and ensnare them with her own brand of deception while fighting for her life and her heart.
Killion Slade is a married writing team who met in the virtual realms of Second Life and virtually enjoy everything. Mrs. Slade writes and crafts the stories, while Mr. Slade formats and publishes. Members of the Horror Writers Association and the Paranormal Romance Guild, they storyboard their characters inside Second Life as their avatars reveal their stories. Tucked away in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Northern Montana, they stay busy chasing kids, corralling horses and cats, and enjoying the harvest from their garden. Married on Halloween – they love to live life to the fullest and embrace one another each and every day.
Killion Slade can be reached at the following:
Email: Killion@killionslade.com Facebook Website Amazon Author Page Google+ Twitter
We all need a hero! Tell us about your protagonist(s)? Was there a real-life inspiration behind him or her?
I love it when equally there is a hero and heroine in a story. Jewel of the Nile or Mr. & Mrs. Smith come to mind. That is what I wanted for the World of Blood series. Since I knew this wasn’t going to be a stand-alone one book, it gave us the opportunity to delve deeper into the two heros. I can’t say that they are built on any one person other than our own avatar imaginations inside of Second Life.
Tell us a little bit about your cover art. Who designed it? Why did you go with that particular image/artwork?
We fell in love with Ravven when I came across her artwork on Facebook. She is an expat who lives in the UK and she’s a gamer to boot. Her artwork is clean, sexy, and inventive. http://www.ravven.com/ We love her mostly because she is truly genuine person and such an amazing artist. She has a way of embedding such detail when you look at the cover up close, but ti doesn’t look too garbled. Her lighting and textures are simply magnificent. We can’t say enough good things about her.
What are two of your favorite characters in your books/series?
That is a tough question! It’s like asking which child is your favorite. On certain days you can answer that question, but usually you love them all for their weird quirks and snark. I would have to say I truly enjoy Dakota’s character because she can truly say what is on her mind and get away with it. Whereas, Cheyenne and Sheridan have to be provoked a bit more before they lose their grasp of hold the tongue before thou speaketh.
What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?
In Exsanguinate I enjoyed writing the scene ambiance as Cheyenne walked into the Halloween Horror Park. So much of writing these days is show, not tell – but be sure and don’t stop your action or the reader will get bored. I had so much visual imagery to work from with Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights and Busch Gardens HalloScream that there wasn’t enough room in the book to write down everything I wanted to include. This is why we decided on having the interactive features in the book so readers could enjoy extended scenes if they wanted.
It’s kinda funny – there have been a couple people who didn’t understand the QR codes or the ebooks links into the website. They thought the code links were ads or dvds to a game. But then there are others who totally grooved on finding the hidden easter egg gems we have stashed away for fun on the website.
Silly stuff
Are you the driver or a passenger in your book? (Are you in control of where the story goes or does it sort of just happen?)
This is a fantastic question, Becca! I would have to say both. Often times I have paved the road they are walking down, given them props and people to play with and then often times, they’ll surprise me with the words that come out of their mouths. Sometimes it’s shocking what they do!
You’re having a party. What character from your book do you hope attends? Why?
Oh, I totally want Dakota, Harris and Beano to show up! Those two are forever getting their snark on and who can resist a loveable Beano puppy?
What character do you hope doesn’t attend? Why?
I don’t think I would want Edric. He is truly a bad dude and just the thought of him totally creeps me out!
Characters often find themselves in situations they aren’t sure they can get themselves out of. When was the last time you found yourself in a situation that was hard to get out of and what did you do?
That is a truly relevant question and quite timely. My editor, Mary Ann Peden-Coviello, tore me a new one recently. It would seem as if my personal life was taken out on a few characters and I did some irreparable damage to the cast. If I had published the story with some of the unkindness which spewed from Cheyenne, she would have lost respect from the readers and you can’t do that with your protagonists. I’m thinking we will publish the “off the wtf were you thinking” scene onto the website. That way readers can see how I almost destroyed the entire cast!
My editor knows my characters so well that she called me out on it immediately and said, “WTF were you thinking?” LOL – Literally! SO after we discussed what I was trying to accomplish [can’t tell cause it’s a spoiler for 2nd book], who was in the scene, and they needed to react realistically – I rewrote the scene in two parts. One portion from Cheyenne’s point of view [POV], and the other from Khaldon’s POV. So the scene carries out two simultaneous conversations from each here’d point of view. It was an extremely difficult chapter, but one that is critical to the growth of both my protags.
Who is your favorite “Book Boyfriend”? What series is it from and who wrote it?
Awww, man! I think you’ve got me there. I think it would have to Bones from the Jeaniene Frost’s Night Huntress Series
What books are on your nightstand or by your chair?
I’m not so sure what this says about me, but do grammar and self-editing books count? The emotion thesaurus is an absolute must as well. I have a kindle fire on my nightstand, so I literally have hundreds available to me at any given moment. My TBR list is longer than my to edit list…
What’s next for you?
We are deep into Book 2 for the World of Blood series – not sure yet of the launch date, but we are striving for a winter 2014 release.
Don’t have time to read a paperback or don’t have a kindle? Never fret! We are deep into production for Exsanguinate the audiobook version which is due to release in November 2014! We are very excited about this project because it truly brings the characters ALIVE when you can experience them in the venue. CLICK HERE for a FREE sample containing the prologue and chapter one of Exsanguinate.
Is there anything else you would like to say?
We get asked this question quite a bit. Is there a real Beano? And the answer is Yes!!! In the book however, Beano is portrayed as a male puppy dog, but our beloved Beano is female.
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