Happy Release Day: Interview w/Lydia Dare {It Happened One Bite} & SIGNED Giveaway

Please welcome Lydia Dare, the writing team of Tammy Falkner and Jodie Pearson, here to talk about their new release that's the first book of a brand new sexy trilogy! Today is the release of IT HAPPENED ONE BITE, and the ladies have been nice enough to take time out of their busy schedule to stop by and talk about it with us!

~ Welcome ~

Welcome to Lydia Dare’s official release date for It Happened One Bite, and we’d like to thank Among the Muses for having us today. This release is a big deal for us, not only because every release date is a big deal, but also because this is the first book in our new trilogy, and the book that expands our paranormal Regency world to include vampyres.

Although to be technically honest - we actually introduced vampyres into the mix in last year’s The Taming of the Wolf. But if you blinked, you missed the brief introduction of the mysterious Lord Blodswell. However shortly after that release, we were inundated by emails from readers asking if Blodswell was a vampyre. So a number of readers didn’t blink and they’ve been anticipating our take on these sensual creatures ever since.

It Happened One Bite pairs up gentleman vampyre James Maitland, Lord Kettering with the battle-born witch Blaire Lindsay who has been part of our paranormal backdrop since her introduction in Tall, Dark and Wolfish last year. At the very beginning of our latest book, we learn that James has been placed in a dormant sleep by Blaire’s mother and the previous generation of Còig witches and locked in an isolated castle. That generation of witches had no idea that Blaire would inadvertently free the vampyre from his Highland prison.

What comes next is the catalyst for the subsequent books in the trilogy – In The Heat of the Bite (July) and Never Been Bit (September) – each featuring a vampyre from James’ family, for lack of a better word. We had such a great time creating our vampyres who are true gentlemen in every sense of the word and the rules which pertain to them. And we hope you’ll all enjoy them as much as we do.

So now we’d like to know - what is your favorite bit of vampyre lore? Holy water and crosses? The inability to walk in the sun? Sleeping in coffins? Feuds with werewolves? Tell what you like best about vampyres and why. One lucky commenter (US and CANADA only, please) will receive an autographed copy of It Happened One Bite.

~ Interview ~

It Happened One Bite is the first book of your new series. Can you tell us a little more about it?
 

IT HAPPENED ONE BITE is the first book of our new trilogy, and it tells the story of Blaire Lindsay and James Maitland, Lord Kettering. Blaire goes to visit a property her brother has inherited and finds a crumbling old castle with a dungeon where James has been locked up for more than two decades. He just happens to be a vampyre imprisoned by the previous generation of Còig witches. Blaire is a battle-born witch, herself, and is no stranger to protecting those she loves. She can throw fireballs from her fingertips, but things heat up considerably when she meets James.

Was there anything that inspired the new series and new supernatural creatures?
 

We met the witches of the Còig in Tall, Dark and Wolfish, the second book in our Westfield Wolves series.  The witches were so much fun that we had to tell their stories. And who better to pair them with than some handsome gentleman vampyres. The vampyres were a natural addition to our world, and their strength of both body and spirit made them good matches for our witches.


You have the three books in this series set to release fairly simultaneously: March, July, and September. Can you tell us readers what to expect from the series? Will characters overlap? Story-Arcs?
 

Absolutely!  You’ll also see some characters from previous books AND you’ll get an introduction to characters in our upcoming series! 

IT HAPPENED ONE BITE – We met Blaire, the battle-borne witch, in Tall, Dark and Wolfish.  James is brand new to the series, but Cait and Alec actually met his maker in The Taming of the Wolf,- the Earl of Blodswell.

IN THE HEAT OF THE BITE – Matthew Halkett, the Earl of Blodswell was a knight in shining armor, in his life-before-death. Now he’s met his match when he encounters Rhiannon Sinclair, a weather-born witch, throwing a temper tantrum in Hyde Park. The lady doesn’t need to be saved from the storm – she is the storm.

NEVER BEEN BIT– We don’t want to share any secrets about this book, because we want what happens in It Happened One Bite to happen before any readers find out who this book is about!  So, yes, we know it’s sneaky, but we’ll have to keep you in the dark.  Suffice it to say – this book is another witch and a character that has been in many of our books.

And, of course, some old favorite characters will show up again. Benjamin Westfield, his healing-witch wife Elspeth, Dashiel Thorpe, his clairvoyant witch wife Caitrin, and Alec MacQuarrie among more minor players.


Being that you've now wrote about Were's, vampires, and witches, did you find that you had to approach the writing or preparation differently?
 

We really didn’t approach the writing differently, but we do write need different things when each of us write:
Jodie – can write anywhere at any time.
Tammy – has to have quiet and Diet Dr. Pepper.

Aside from that, our process was pretty much the same from book to book – trading pages about every 1200 words or so. Jodie writes 5 pages, then Tammy writes 5 pages. We edit one another’s work, and then move on to new material. We don’t plot, so it’s always fresh and new. We start out with a general idea of our character’s backgrounds, and we know where we want to end up, but the rest we come up with on a page by page basis.


Were there any challenges in the world-building for the new series?
 

We had to build a whole new world with new rules for our vampyres, and fit it into the Regency historical world we’d already built for our werewolves.  Could our vampyres walk in the sun? Did they kill for survival? Did they have families and form relationships? Those were all the things we had to decide.

Will this be a trilogy, or are more books expected?
 

We have the vampyre trilogy (It Happened One Bite, In the Heat of the Bite, and Never Been Bit) that will be out in 2011. And then we have another trilogy in 2012.  We had some fun characters walk into our last few books and we couldn’t resist telling their stories, too.

Who's sexier, the Were's or the vampires? :)
 

They’re equally sexy, but for entirely different reasons.


Can you share a fun or sexy moment that takes place in It Happened One Bite? Or even a little teaser of what's to come? :)
One of our favorite scenes in the entire book is when Blaire stumbles upon James in the bath, right after she’s freed him from his prison of twenty years. Our battle-born witch is strong and self-assured, but she walks right into a door when she sees him naked, gets her dress caught in the door, and ends up cursing in frustration as he laughs at her. And poor James has just woke, so he’s incredibly thirsty, and has a tasty treat right there in front of him, but she’s born to battle after all, and has to take evasive maneuvers to avoid his persuasive tactics.


Thank you so much, Ms. Falkner and Ms. Pearson, for stopping by the blog to give us sneak peak in to your newest creation!! It sounds absolutely fascinating!

Thank you so much for having us. We will be giving away a copy of It Happened One Bite to one lucky commenter. So for a chance to win the first in our new vampyre series – tell us your favorite thing about vampyres or vampyre lore.  Holy water and crosses? The inability to walk in the sun? Sleeping in coffins? Feuds with werewolves? Tell what you like best about vampyres and why. One lucky commenter (US and CANADA only, please) will receive an autographed copy of It Happened One Bite.

Lydia Dare's Website

It Happened One Bite @ Amazon
  @ Book Depository (different sexy cover!!!)

Giveaway:

• Open US/Canada only.

• You MUST answer the question and leave your email addy.

• Winner will be selected via random.org and notified by email.

• Contest runs from 3/1 - 3/6 12:01 am EST.

Thanks for stopping by and supporting the new release of 

It Happened One Bite!

Good Luck!!