Welcome to the blog Monette! Why don’t you tell us a little bit about The Virtuous Vampire!
The Virtuous Vampire is book one in the Gooden and Knight Paranormal Mysteries. It was previously published as The Case of the Virtuous Vampire by the Canadian indie press, LTDBooks, back in 2005. It was a finalist for an EPPIE in the Paranormal Romance category in 2006. Liquid Silver Books republished it.
In this book, Abigail Meriwether Gooden is a witch and an attorney living in Austin, Texas. She comes from a long line of powerful white witches and wizards. Her mother sends her a client, Jurnik Golub, a vampire, who owns an exclusive gentlemen’s club Exotica. One of his dancers was brutally murdered and her body left at the base of the main stage dancer’s pole. Jurnik is afraid someone is trying to get him arrested and wants Abbie to handle keeping the cops at bay while his private investigator finds the real murderer. Lucan Knight, a shape-shifter/wizard, is the private eye. He is very attracted to Abbie but definitely does not want her involved in his investigation. Abbie has other ideas. While the two along with help from family and friends seek out the killer, the attraction grows between them.
It sounds intriguing. Where do you find your inspiration?
Everywhere. The inspiration for Virtuous Vampire was the old Perry Mason mystery series – book form. I like the Cast of Characters list at the beginning with teasing bits of information as to how the character fits into the story. At the time I wrote this book, there were a lot of paranormal romance stories, but few were true mysteries. I called this Perry Mason meets woo-woo and LTDBooks loved it. The second book in this series which is at the publisher right now, The Deadly Séance, was inspired by an Agatha Christie mystery, Cards on the Table. The murder in the inspiration book and my book happens in a room with several people present. The murderer takes the chance of exposure while he or she is killing.
I also get ideas from the news. Lots of my books are a cut and paste of today’s society.
Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what music?
Oh yeah. I have a Writing Playlist on my iPod. Mostly the music is heavy metal such as Metallica and Disturbed, rock like Nickelback, and alternative like Evanescence (old and new). I really adore Nickelback.
I'm a Nickelback fan myself. Where can your readers learn more about you?
My web site has a bio, a pic and some items of interest about me. www.monettemichaels.com
Where can we buy The Virtuous Vampire?
Liquid Silver Books, www.liquidsilverbooks.com
What are you writing now?
I just finished second Abbie and Luc book, The Deadly Séance. I am now starting book two in the Prime Chronicles trilogy, Prime Selection. The first book in that series was Prime Obsession.
This is where Abbie meets Luc and Jurnik for the first time in her office:
Two men entered the room. One was dark-haired with pale skin, flat black eyes, and a designer wardrobe. He was the dead one and had vampire written all over him. A not-so-gentle probe proved her correct. He shot an amused smile her way, but said nothing.
The vampire’s companion was taller, leanly muscled, with inky black hair touching his shoulders and golden eyes the color of honey. He was the source of the psychic energy, which had decreased after he entered the room, but not ceased. She still had no clue what type of preternatural he was. No, that wasn’t true; she did know he was dangerous.
She kept her protective wards in place--all of them.
“Have a seat.” She mentally shoved two chairs through the protective shield. The dark and dangerous one’s eyes narrowed at her action. Good. That should show him she wasn’t a pushover.
“Nice little magick trick,” said the vampire as he sat in the proffered chair.
She tilted her head in acknowledgment. “What’s one of the undead doing in a lawyer’s office?”
The vampire’s companion bristled at her tone, but kept his silence. Ah, the quiet type. He definitely had strong psi powers, but his blocks made him hard to read. Unlike humans with their cluttered, untidy minds, most preternaturals were an open book. This one was locked tighter than a teenage girl’s diary.
While Abbie wasn’t sure what he was, her other five senses definitely agreed the man was drop-dead gorgeous. His tall, sculpted body was reminiscent of a Greek god, if Greek deities had dressed in bad-boy black leather. The smell of wild, open spaces had preceded him into the room. A flash of movement in the tall grasses of an unknown land flitted across her mind’s eye, then vanished as he practically flowed into the chair.
His golden eyes blinked sleepily, almost sensuously at her perusal. A hint of a smile prowled in their fiery depths.
The son of a bitch was amused. He knew his blocks kept her from figuring him out, and he thought it was funny. The arrogant so-and-so.
Thanks for having me, Rhonda!
It's definitely on my To Be Read List! Thanks for sharing The Virtuous Vampire with us today Monette!
My paranormal romance NIGHTWALKER by Rhonda L. Print is also available at www.LiquidSilverBooks.com
Thanks for having me, Rhonda!
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