About The Queen
of Swords, a paranormal tale of undying love
March 22 – April 23)
Author: Nina Mason
Publisher: Vamptasy Publishing
Heat level: spicy
Formats: Kindle and paperback
Where
to buy:
Amazon.com (buy link to come)
A paranormal tale
of undying love.
The story of a love
powerful enough to span centuries.
How can she be his
soul mate if he doesn’t have a soul?
Blurb:
When Graham Logan, a Scottish earl
turned vampire by a dark wizard’s curse, draws the Queen of Swords, he knows
he’s about to meet the love of his life. For the third time. But surrendering
his heart will mean risking her life…or making her what he is. Neither of which
his morals will permit him to do. Graham, who believes he lost his soul to the
curse, rages at God: Why give her back only to take her again?
Cat Fingal, the third incarnation
of Graham’s twin flame, won’t let him escape so easily. As soon as they meet,
she feels she knows him and begins having past-life flashbacks. A white witch,
she casts a spell to summon him, wanting answers and to fill the void she’s
felt all her life.
Graham has other problems, too.
Like the seductress who wants him for herself and the dark wizard who cursed
him and killed his beloved the first two times.
Will he find a way to save her this
time around? Or will she save him?
Excerpt:
Biting his lip, Graham turned the card of the here
and now quickly. Seeing what he’d most feared tightened his chest. The central
figure sat in profile upon a throne carved with angels and butterflies. She
wore a white gown and a cloak decorated with clouds. More clouds gathered in
the background, suggesting a storm was coming. The woman’s left hand reached
out toward someone or something unseen in the distance. Her other hand gripped
the up-thrust symbol of her suit.
The Queen of
Swords.
He’d drawn the card only once before: the morning
he’d met Catharine La Croix at a sidewalk cafe overlooking the Seine. To say
her resemblance to Caitriona discomposed him was an understatement. He’d been
floored by the likeness. He’d also been drawn to it like a sailor to a siren’s
song. Unfortunately, he’d had no ship’s mast to rope himself to until the
danger passed. Within a few weeks, they were deeply in love. He never suspected
she might meet the same fate as her previous incarnation. Not until it was too
late, anyway.
He’d done his best to protect her. After seeing
Gerard Fitzgerald, the dark wizard who’d cursed him, on the street outside her
apartment on Rue de Cherche Midi,
he’d kept a watchful eye on her. Being as stubborn as before, she didn’t care
for his vigil. One morning, she slipped out after he’d fallen asleep. He’d
searched for her everywhere, out of his mind with worry. He’d had her blood,
should have felt her, but he didn’t. That evening, he learned why.
Fitzgerald had done it. Of that, he was certain. He
just didn’t know why. Now, it looked as if history was about to repeat. And
what could he do about it except tear out his hair, beat his fists on the walls,
and cry to heaven, “Why? Why give her back to me only to take her again?”
Grief closed around his throat like a strangler’s
hands. Coughing to ease its grip, he overturned the card of his future.
Surprise stung his heart when he saw The
Fool. Squinting, he studied the image of a gaily-dressed youth whose open
arms seemed to embrace the world. His right hand held a knapsack, his left, a
single white rose. Nipping at his heels was a wee white dog. The Fool, fearing nothing, looked
skyward with a dreamy expression as he strode toward the edge of a cliff.
Bewildered, he shook his head. What could it mean? The Fool stood on the threshold. He was
the protagonist of the tarot, the archetypal hero embarking on his quest, the
soul starting its journey toward atonement. The
Fool, in other words, was the polar opposite of the hopeless, faithless
tightrope walker Fitzgerald’s dark curse had turned him into over the past one
hundred years.
About Nina Mason, author
Nina Mason is
a hopeful romantic with strong affinities for history, mythology, and the
metaphysical. She strives to write the same kind of books she loves to read:
those that entertain, edify, educate, and enlighten. Three of her books will be
published in 2014: The Queen of Swords, an urban fantasy/paranormal romance;
The Knight of Wands, book one in the Knights of Avalon Series; and The Tin Man,
a political thriller about the dangers posed by media monopolies. She is currently at work on Book Two of the
Knights of Avalon series and is itching to get back to a book she started a
while back about a merman who falls for an oil company spokeswoman after a
phantom tanker capsizes on the coast of the Hebrides islands. When not writing,
Nina works as a communications consultant, doll maker, and home stager. Born
and raised in Southern California, she now lives in Woodstock, Georgia, with
her husband, teenage daughter, two rescue cats, and a Westie named Robert.
Social-media links:
Website:
http://ninamasonauthor.com
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/ninamasonromance
Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/ninamasonauthor
(@ninamasonauthor)
Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/ninamasonauthor
Boilerplate
interview with the author:
Q. Tell us about your book.
A. The Queen of Swords tells the story of
a bookish white witch who returns every century to reunite with her earthbound
soul mate. He’s a Scottish earl turned vampire by a dark wizard’s curse back in
the Regency era on the eve of their wedding. She came back once before in the
Edwardian era only to be killed by his maker in the same manner as before. He
believes he has no soul, so can’t understand why she keeps coming back. She
believes he does have a soul and that she comes back to free him from the
curse. The story follows their journey as they try to work out who’s right and
how they can stop history from repeating.
Q. After this, what's your next
project?
A.
My current work-in-progress is book two in The Knights of Avalon series. After
that, I haven’t decided. Probably another paranormal romance/urban fantasy.
I’ve got a stalled manuscript about an oil company spokeswoman who gets
involved with a merman during an oil spill in the Hebrides. Might get back to
that one, or write one featuring Benedict and Avery, the secondary couple in The Queen of Swords. I’d also like to
maybe write a sequel to The Tin Man,
my political thriller releasing in August. It tells of two journalists thrown
together to solve a series of murders tied to a global conspiracy to take over
the media.
Q. What inspires you to write what
you do?
A.
All of my paranormal stories are inspired by my love of the history and mythology of Scotland, my
interest in the unknowable, and my belief in the redemptive power of love.
Q. When did you start writing?
A. About
as soon as I could write the alphabet. When I was a kid, I won an essay contest
sponsored by the local library (I was an avid reader and always did the summer
reading challenge). Back in the days of typewriters, I wrote a romance novel
about a couple of ballet dancers, but never did anything with it. Didn’t try my
hand at fiction again until five or six years ago, when I started what is now The Queen of Swords.
Q. What inspired you to write the
book?
A. I
started the first draft after reading Twilight.
While I liked the saga, I also found myself frustrated by the lack of sex and
Edward’s lack of history. In literature, vampires originally personified
uncaged sexuality, so a chaste vampire seemed counter-intuitive to me. Plus, I
felt writing an immortal creature provided fantastic opportunities to build an
interesting backstory. What had he/she seen and experienced over the centuries?
How was he/she affected by it? My immortal characters all have a history tied
to the world and what they’ve seen and experienced has colored them in some
way.
Q. Are you a careful planner or do
you let the story guide you?
A.
I do a bit of both. I work out the characters and their motivations, setting,
and where I want the story to go. I also tend to do index cards for each scene
or major plot point from start to finish. Once I begin to write, it can go
completely off the rails, depending on where the characters want to take it. As
long as they’re reaching the touchstones, I let them do what they want. If they
go too far off track, I either re-plot the novel or rein them in, depending on
which direction seems better at the time.
Q. Who is your favorite among your characters?
A.
I love them all, of course. Graham, the hero in The Queen of Swords, is both
noble and funny. Callum, the hero in The Knight of Wands, is a good-hearted
romantic. Leith, the hero of my WIP, is a bit on the dark side, but still
well-intentioned. If pressed to pick just one, I’d have to go with Alex
Buchanan, the journalist hero in The Tin
Man. He’s very complex and has lots of demons to overcome, but also is a
really good guy.
Thanks for featuring me and my book on your blog today. It looks great. I'm looking forward to my author takeover of your Facebook page on April 19! I'll be on Blog Radio with Dellani Oakes this afternoon at 4 p.m. if anyone cares to tune in!
ReplyDeleteRosemary H looking for more from this author Queen of Swords is a great book ,
ReplyDeleteCant wait to read it :)
ReplyDeleteWonderful book! Loved it and couldn't put it down!!!!
ReplyDelete