The first book in my new vampire series Forged Bloodlines is available through Amazon.com in print! To celebrate, here is another little excerpt that takes place after Bishop has brought Anja back to his place to decide what to do with her.

“You live here?” I asked in surprise, stepping deeper into the room, my eyes lighting on the grand piano tucked incongruously into the corner. Bishop seemed content to leave me to explore on my own, heading straight for the kitchen counter, which was littered with tactical gear and electronic gadgets I didn’t recognize.

“Yes.”

“Huh, I would have thought you’d have a place underground, not on the top floor.” I went to the window and looked down to the quiet street below. There were also a bakery and a book store in the same building and a bank across the street.

“There isn’t a basement in the building, and it would have attracted too much attention at the time I bought the place to have one excavated,” he replied, pulling off his jacket and tossing it at a coat hook mounted to the wall. With the jacket off, I could see he had several weapons strapped to his body, and with as close as I’d been to him, I wondered why I hadn’t noticed at the time. While I watched, he unstrapped them all, laying the holsters neatly along the breakfast bar.

“You own the whole building?” For some reason that struck me as odd, vampires owning property, but it made sense. Better to be your own landlord than risk someone snooping through your private affairs.

“I do, as well as the one across the street. And no, I wouldn’t rather sleep in the vault. This place suits me just fine.”

“What about the sun? Isn’t that a problem?”

Bishop picked up a small electronic device. “Not for the prepared. I have automatic shutters at every window, they block out the light. Come here for a minute, I want to check something.”

I obeyed him without question, curious to see what he had in his hands. “What is that thing?”

“I want to test your blood.” He held his hand out for mine, sticking my finger into a little lead attached to the box. It reminded me a little of the thing they use to check the oxygen in your blood at the doctor’s office.

“Will it hurt? Ow!” I scowled at the prick of the needle; the machine at the doctor’s never did that.

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” he chuckled, releasing my hand. I snatched it back to inspect the damage, but my body had already healed the pinprick.

“What are you testing for?” I leaned closer to study the readout, but it was all Greek to me. “Bishop?” I prompted when he didn’t reply.

“That can’t be right. Give me your other hand.”

“I’m pretty sure the same blood is running through that hand as this one,” I frowned, handing over the other one, bracing myself for the sting. Once again, there wasn’t a trace of the wound as soon as I pulled my hand free. “What does it say?” I asked, when he frowned over the display.

I can’t possibly release a book without sharing who I would cast if this sucker got made into a movie or a TV show. So without further ado, here is who I see the characters as:

Anja Evans: Teresa Palmer – So I haven’t cast a female lead as a blonde before, but since it went with the Viking ancestry link for this series, I decided to try something new. I like Teresa Palmer because she can play innocence well, but you get the feeling like she could seriously kick a little ass once she comes into her own.



Bishop: Chris Evans – Before I even nailed down this character I had Chris Evans in mind, as he looks in the movie Push, which is a little rough around the edges, but definitely formidable. He’s got that ability to play tough, but with a vulnerability that makes him relatable. Plus, he’s so damn pretty to look at.



Bridget Russo: Kat Dennings – Such a sassy actress, I could totally picture her delivering the lines with just the right balance of bitter bite mixed with playfulness.





Mason: Ryan Reynolds: a la Hannibal King in Blade Trinity. No one else could play his goofball humor while still conveying that he could break your spine with one hand if he wanted to. Overall a great contrast to Bishop’s strong, silent type.




Hanna Evans: Kristin Bell – Because a) I put her into every book I can, and b) her coloring went well as Anja’s sister and c) I love the thought of her verbally sparring against Mason later.





Detective Andrew Lucas: Matt Passmore – Have you seen The Glades? God he cracks me up in that show! I wanted that kind of light hearted banter from him, like he takes everything as a big joke, but he’s also crazy smart and he’ll figure out all your secrets in the end…




Aleksandr Kursik: Daniel Craig – I could just picture him as the suave, powerful vampire, alternately charming and brutal depending on the situation at hand.





Booth: Ron Perlman – Isn’t he in every sci-fi movie?







Rob: Jason Statham - Rob is a character I borrowed from my True Blood fanfic, and I pictured him as Handsome Rob from The Italian Job at the time and the name just stuck.





Jakob: Alexander Skaarsgard - Okay so I'm typecasting a little here, but who else can you picture as a Viking with flowing blonde hair? Okay, maybe the guy from Thor, but he was the wrong type for this role, knowing what's coming ahead. I couldn't find a good picture of him with long hair that didn't look kinda derpy though.



Now I've got just about every other bit player assigned to a celebrity as well, but this is getting long enough, so I'll save some for the next book, Meet Me When the Sun Goes Down.

It’s that time again to give me your thoughts and feedback on the cover art for my new book coming out this month, Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down. Anyone who comments on the covers on the website will be automatically entered for a chance to win a copy of one of my books (your choice of books). This time I was able to narrow it to a picture I liked, but I’m still trying to decide on the font. I’d also love to hear constructive criticism and ideas for how to improve them if you have any suggestions. Please keep in mind that they have to be not only eye-catching, but easy to identify when much smaller in ads and for sale on websites.

Here is a little blurb of what the book is about:

“It was ironic that this happened to me; I was never a night person at heart. So you can see right off the bat why a vampire was the very last thing I would have chosen to be.”

Anja Evans wakes up in the morgue with a helluva hangover. She chalks it up to a strange brush with death and gets back to her life as a music student in San Francisco. It takes almost eating her best friend before she figures out… she’s a vampire. When a dark and dangerous vampire shows up at her door asking to see her license and registration, Anja assumes Bishop is a regular cop. But breeding among vampires is strictly controlled, and her unlicensed status makes her an enemy of The Order. Struggling to find a balance between her former life and her undead one, Anja tries to blend school and living up to her new identity, all while searching to find the elusive Viking whose blood gave Anja the strength of a vampire hundreds of years old.

I’m done with the first pass of edits for my new vampire series Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down! So now it’s off to the next part of my editing team and I thought I’d share a little taste.

This scene takes place after Anja finds out that Bishop is there to take her into custody since she doesn’t have the proper license to be a new vampire. It’s from his POV and has a little bit of insight into why he’s there and his role in The Order.

*********
Bishop had no idea what he was doing.

It was not a normal thing for him, not by a long shot. In fact, he couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone so far off book. It was supposed to be a routine call. Check the girl’s papers, fine her Sire for letting her turn up in the morgue pronounced as dead, and do what he did best; scare the hell out of him to keep him from ever getting sloppy like that again. So why was he standing in her living room holding her purse while she made herself pretty?

He wasn’t used to letting a slip of a girl wind him around her little finger. But there was something about her… when she’d first opened the door the night before, she’d knocked him speechless. For a moment he’d almost thought he was seeing Carys again after so many years…

She wasn’t, of course. They had the same long, golden hair, the same heart shaped face and her innocent, blue eyes were close. But her mouth was wrong; the lips too full, her smile too hesitant. Not that there was anything wrong with the girl’s lips… why was he thinking about her lips again?

The Order always came first. He’d pledged his life too many years ago to count. For endless nights he’d upheld the laws, meting out justice as he saw fit. Bishop was more successful at it than most because while he didn’t have a love of violence, he recognized when it needed to be used without anger, and understood just how much pressure to apply. So while his first instinct had been to try and protect Anja, his sense of duty led him to do the right thing. She had to be taken into custody. Let one go and you set a dangerous precedent; wasn’t that how he’d been trained? And if it became necessary to close those pretty, blue eyes forever? He would deal with it when the time came.

Speaking of time, he’d been more than generous in allowing her time to change into dry clothing. It wasn’t as if she could catch a chill now, and where she was going there wasn’t any need for fancy preparations. Bishop set down her bag, approaching the bedroom door with a brief knock. “Miss Evans? I don’t mean to be rude, but do you think you could hurry it up?” Nothing but silence greeted his ears, and he frowned as he rapped again. “Miss Evans?”