Blog Tour: Interview with Sable Grace {Before the Fall: A Dark Breed Novella}, Teaser and Giveaway Entry Stop!

AtM is happy to have Sable Grace here today to talk about her new release from Avon, Before the Fall: A Dark Breed Novella!

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Please tell readers a little bit about yourself.

Sable Grace is the writing duo of Heather Waters and Laura Barone. We're opposites everywhere except where it matters most -- in our love of reading and writing and most importantly, our readers. We call Florida home, so close to the setting of the Dark Breed Novels, St. Augustine, that it was a natural choice to place our world there.

Do you have any interesting writing quirks?

Other than the fact that we're a writing pair? Not really. If one has a quirk, the other one makes sure it doesn't show up on the page. Oh, wait, that's a fib. We use proper names A LOT, a fact that our editor pointed out and we're really cautious of now!

Please tell us about your latest release.

BEFORE THE FALL: A Dark Breed Novella is a short story based on the day Hell opened up and spilled demons onto Earth. It takes place before the first book in the Dark Breed series, Ascension, and follows Zach, an ex-Order of Ancients member, and Shanna, a Key West police officer, as they reunite and fight their way toward safety and St. Augustine Florida. When they get there, they have to decide if they're not only willing to fight for the world, but to fight for their love, as well.

Blurb:

Zach was once the Order of Ancients' most feared warrior, beating back the hounds of hell to protect the unsuspecting human race. But since he left the Order ten years ago, he'd been living as a mortal...until now. The gates of the underworld are breaking open, and Zach is needed once again in the fight. But before he can answer his summons, there's one person he refuses to leave behind. Shanna may think Zach has screw loose, spouting all this "hounds of hell" nonsense, but he has to get her to safety. The journey to the Order's headquarters is a dangerous one, and even a warrior like Zach might not be strong enough to keep the darkness at bay.

Can you tell readers who are not familiar with the series what the premise of the stories are about?

The Dark Breed series is about Hell being unlocked and the repercussions of that event on the world. Book one centers around locking it back up again, and the books that follow center more on the world as it adjusts to the demons and evils that remain free after the closing. An interesting (we think) subplot that flows through the series and makes it a bit different is the addition of the Greek gods into the modern world and their fall from power.

Were any of the characters a challenge to write?

In BEFORE THE FALL, Shanna was probably the most tricky because she was purely human. Getting her to accept everything crazy that's happening around her was a challenge! Also writing her so she'd be strong enough to go up against the monsters in her path without giving her super powers was tricky. But we love how she turned out.

Was there a character you enjoyed writing the most?

Oh we can't answer that! We love them all. There was one particular side character that walked onto the page that we weren't prepared for. . . a character we didn't create from scratch but who already exists in fiction elsewhere. HE was fun to write! We only wish he could have stayed on the page longer.

Without giving away spoilers, can you share your favorite scene from the book?

It's an action-packed story so it's really hard to choose. Probably, it's the scene where Zach goes to get Shanna to get her to safety. It's the first time they've seen each other since their break up, and it was a really fun scene to write.

What was one of the most interesting things you learned in researching your book?

That there was no really private place outside the Castillo de San Marcos to have sex! We had to create one for our poor characters so they could get a little fun in before the big fight. We hope readers will forgive the little inaccuracy, but it was the right thing to do for two people who've been through so much.

Paranormal and Urban Fantasy genre worlds use different rules and aspects. Can you share how you approached either the characters or the world building in your story?

If Hell was opening up, that meant there had to be an opposing force to Hell in the first place. That allowed us to bring in some of our favorite gods from mythology, which in turn created the Order of Ancients -- the order oversees the safety of humans vs the Dark Breeds that haven't yet been sent to Tartarus (Hell). The Order of Ancients is enormous and spans the world, which gave us the opportunity to create different jobs within it and therefore the characters to fulfill those duties. Everything else just stemmed from there.

Can you leave readers with a little teaser from BEFORE THE FALL?

He spun in a slow circle, surveying the room, the uniform on the bed, and the tiny crack of light coming from beneath the bathroom door. The sound of footsteps on tile inside made him pause, and his gaze caught sight of her gun and handcuffs on her nightstand. He grabbed them and slid the gun into his waistband. Then, he stuffed the cuffs into his back pocket and slipped to the corner of the room. He didn’t want to scare the shit out of her, but now that he had her gun, at least he didn’t have to worry about how to get her out of here without getting shot.

He waited, inches behind the door, trying not to breathe too loudly. The minute the bathroom door opened, he grabbed her, startling a scream from her as she brought her elbow back to pummel him in the gut.

He grunted but held her tight. “It’s me, Shanna. Zach. I knocked but you didn’t answer.”

He gave her just enough leeway to turn in his arms, and as she did so, the towel she was rubbing her wet hair with snaked to the floor, leaving him holding one damp, sexy-as-hell woman in his arms.

What can readers expect next from you?

After BEFORE THE FALL hits internet shelves in November, book two in the Dark Breed series, BEDEVILED will hit stores everywhere December 27th. Book three, untitled, is scheduled for release in October of 2012.

Where can readers find you in the virtual world?

http://www.sablegrace.com

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sable-Grace/185114411524210

http://twitter.com/#!/sablegrace

Sable Grace is the writing team of Heather Waters & Laura Barone, long time critique partners and friends who came together by fluke to discover their voices fit together quite nicely during an experiment of "I'll write the first sentence, you write the next." It was meant to be nothing more than a warm up exercise for each of them to get started on their own projects, but soon, the story became far more interesting than what they were supposed to be working on and Sable Grace was born.

Both Heather and Laura reside in Florida, are happily married, and are, well, complete opposites. (Think the Odd Couple on crack here.) Still, there's enough common ground for them to weave their words together in the voice of Sable Grace.

Heather also writes medieval romances under her real name, which you can find at  www.heatherwaters.net, and Laura is a Golden Heart finalist for her highly sensual manuscript, Mr. Right Now.

You can reach them both at sablegrace(AT)ymail.com
http://www.sablegrace.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sable-Grace/185114411524210
http://twitter.com/#!/sablegrace

Giveaway Details:

• Sable Grace and Harper Collins will be giving away a $25 Amazon.com gift certificate to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. 

• Please leave a comment on this interview along with your email addy.

• Contest will run the duration of the tour.

• Winner will be randomly selected.

• Remember: The more tour stops you comment on, the greater your chances of winning!! :)

Tour Stops:

November 7: Reader Girls
November 8: My Bookish Ways
November 9: Urban Fantasy Investigations
November 10: Among the Muses
November 11: Ramblings From This Chick