Guest Blogger: Author Kiki Howell (Contest!)

Please welcome my first guest blogger. Among other things she is the author of the erotic novel Bloodlust & Redemption, and she has a contest to announce...

My name is Kiki Howell, and I have an addiction to things vampire whether TV show, movie, documentary, fiction or even non-fiction. While I am a mom and haven’t gotten to it all, I am trying – just not trying to find a cure for my fixation! Before you can wonder, some of my favorites are True Blood where I am much more of an Eric than an Bill fan. In books, I have read Teresa Medeiros Cabot series (After Midnight and The Vampire Who Loved Me) more times than I care to mention. Looking for a little non-fiction, may I recommend, Konstantinos’ Vampires: The Occult Truth. It presents an interesting account of vampires in real life if you dare to go there. I am one that is pretty open when it comes to reading books. I saw this one, and there was that whole curiosity thing.

As a writer of paranormal, erotic romances, when I got to the point of wanting to write my own vampire tale, I was driven to go to some of the earliest works to depict a vampire. So, I studied The Giaour, a poem by Lord Byron first published in 1813 and The Vampyre, published in 1819 by John Polidori, which was inspired by an unfinished story by Byron. What draws me to the Byronic Hero? Well, to me he is the quintessential bad boy—the arrogant, intelligent, dark, cunning, seductive male who is a tortured soul living outside the social norms. Sorry, I will force myself to stop with the adjectives! While enjoyed the Twilight books, and I watch The Vampire Diaries, I long more for the darker type of cursed hero. My vampire will never see the sun, will suffer always with blood lust no matter how he sustains his life. His existence will be truly tragic in that touching a life with his own will have dire circumstances. When I began the story, I did want to set before my hero a situation where his decisions would both redeem and damn him at the same time. To top this all off, I set my story in Regency England among a world of titles and glamour, and then allowed myself the freedom to write a more gothic, angst-filled tale, ending and all. What I ended up with is my novella, Bloodlust & Redemption.

Blurb:
Conflicted by his ideas of fate and morality, David Ardington IV, who had been a rake in life, sees his eternal life as a vampire as a penance for shirking his noblesse oblige to his family. When he meets Margaret, a sturdy maiden who after losing her parents in a tragic accident stifled her own needs to care for her sick brother, their attraction is immediate and undeniable. And yet, David fights his feelings for Margaret seeing her as the worst reminder of what he is and what he can never be again. In the midst of the cruel realities of his vampire existence, David fears for her safety unsure if he can keep separate his physical longings from his bloodlust. Furthermore, when Margaret asks him to turn her brother to give him a second chance at life, he does not feel he can condemn anyone to the horrors of his dark existence either. For David, could redemption lie in doing the unthinkable Margaret asks of him, or will it forever be elusive?

All readers who would like a free PDF eBook copy of Bloodlust & Redemption emailed to them, please comment below with your favorite vampire book or show, etc. Remember to include your email address. Book will come as an attachment from howell.kiki@gmail.com. One lucky commenter will be chosen to receive a free, autographed print copy of the story with a hand-knitted dripping blood book thong made by me. When I email you I will ask for an address to send it to.

Good Luck,

Kiki