Who Needs Spring When You Have The Vampire Family?

I'm sure some of naughty little fiends (!) are familiar with Eternal Press and my novel with them, The Vampire Family. We came out last year in ebook formats and last month, we became available in paperback! Hip, Hip! So, I'll just get right to the good stuff. I know that's what you want. Horror, dark fantasy, historical, urban, paranormal, romance, these greedy little vampires do it all!

Here's Our blurb from our Eternal Press Page:

Sadistic? Check. Domination? Check. Happiness? Not for all.

Antonio Welshire accepts the mysterious Mestiphles' offer for vampiric power, but fails to consider that not all in his family desires evil. Daughter Victoria revels in the debauchery, but eldest daughter Samantha loathes the darkness. Enemies are in no short supply when the family turns to darkness. Charismatic rebel Gaston turns up to rival for Antonio's power; the vampire lover Jean can destroy them once and for all, and henchwoman Lilith seeks to supplant Antonio as Mestiphles' favorite. Who will be declared the victor? And in the end, though they've survived coven wars and persecutions since the 12th century, can The Vampire Family survive each other? Killing his abusive parents isn't enough for Antonio Welshire. Rape and death follow him through his youth in the 12th Century-until a stranger named Mestiphles give Antonio unimaginable vampire powers. Fearful yet captivated by his allure, Antonio's adopted sisters Ann and Elizabeth share this gift with him and their children-Victoria, James, Samantha, and Stephen. Antonio is a cruel ruler , and after his defeat of the young rebel Gaston, Antonio struggles with Lilith-another magical pet also created by Mestiphles. Antonio's vampire family grows over the centuries, each vampire loving and losing vampire fledglings over time. Wars, persecutions come adn go, but the family's troubles always stem from within. Elizabeth may be his wife, but Ann supplants her as Antonio's mistress. By the 20th century, Elizabeth has found love again-unfortunately her fledgling Jean share's Samantha's disdain for the vampire life. Will The Vampire Family self destruct before the 21st Century?

We're also available at Fictionwise/Barnes and Noble-at a discount if you're a member!


The Vampire Family is meant to be a parallel examination into the high and lows, loves and losses, darkness and light of one twisted group of immortals through the centuries. Here's a more detailed breakdown of our storylines and characters. For more infor, you can check out my official website For Flying Servants Only.......

Book 1: Conflict

Antonio Welshire’s downfall begins as a young man in the British Isles almost 1,000 years ago. Caught between abuse and poverty, Antonio's ambition leads him to power, and a unique stranger named Mestiphles. Antonio's tyranny, however, is contested by Gaston-Antonio’s shrewd and charismatic young rival. Will Antonio be victorious against the unruly Gaston and gain Mestiphles’ favor? Or will the battle destroy Antonio and his family?

Book 2: Pinnacle

Elizabeth’s new fledgling Jean romances the weary Samantha, and the lovers plan to upset the already shaky 1,000 years of Antonio’s reign. Mestiphles wants The Masquerade-an annual party held by Antonio to attract unsuspecting guests-to go off smoothly, but Ann and Elizabeth’s escalating tensions also threatened to destroy the family's decadent lifestyle. Will Samantha finally be free of her father's rule? Can Antonio keep his vampire coven on top or will Mestiphles take it all away?


Book 3: Hunted

Victoria returns to upset Samantha’s not so perfect life. The remaining Welshire vampires must form an uneasy alliance to defeat Lilith, an avenger sent by Mestiphles to finish the dysfunctioning Welshire coven once and for all. Lilith failed Mestiphles in the past and is determined to hunt down the fallen coven one by one to impress him. Will the Welshires prevail? Can Lilith complete Mestiphles’ plans and destroy the Welshires? Which coven will gain Mestiphles’ favor?


Now, now, you probably want an excerpt for those juicy little appetites! I've got a short one ready here-I can't hog up all of Ginger's Space, now, can I? ;0) For a lengthy dash of free samples, Check our our Vampfam Blog.

http://vampfam.blogspot.com

You can also read more about The Vampire Family and keep up to date with our appearances by subscribing to our blog or friending and following us. If you prefer groups, you can come on over and hang out at the Kristin Battestella Yahoo Group. We're due for a Summer contest in a few months!

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/kristinbattestella/

And of course, you can get all the latest information about our paperback edition by visiting our page on Amazon. The look inside feature is now available!


Alright so here's the naughty little excerpt!



“Catherine?” Antonio’s shadowy figure stood at her door. The tiny flame shortened in a clump of wax as the maid looked up.
“Yes, sir?” She set down her quill. “You sound different, sir. Are you ill?”
“Yes.” He stepped toward her. “I need your help.”
The dim light shined in his face. He couldn’t see. His eyes felt bloodshot, and his hands seemed pale as the candle flickered. He put his hands on Catherine’s arms. She felt warm to his cold touch. Sharp teeth cut the inside of his lips.
Antonio’s voice trembled. His hands shook. “I need your help.”
“Of course, sir.” She put her arms on his, but Antonio shook and felt the muscles of his forearm clench. “What can I do? Here, sit down.”
His arms came around her waist. Antonio heard her blood rush and saw her face flush. He put his head down on her chest. She trembled, but held Antonio’s head.
“Such overwhelming!” He spoke more to himself than Catherine. His words and hot breath were muffled against her. “Now I know what Mestiphles meant. I know what to do. I need to do it. I have to have it!”
“I’ll get some water.” Catherine was about to get up, but Antonio clenched his hands tighter around her.
“No,” he said hoarsely. His nails dug into her sides, and she winced. Antonio relaxed his grip, and she allowed his hands to roam. He unlaced her dressing gown. His hands stopped shaking, and bewitched, Catherine gave him total control. He pulled the loosened gown off her shoulders and swept Catherine to her feet in one swift motion. Yes, he knew she was captivated and paralyzed. He could be so frightening, yet masculine and desirable. Antonio put his head to her neck and bit the pumping jugular.
She flinched, but her blood flowed into Antonio’s mouth. The short life drain was ecstatic, but soon grew empty. Her life was now in him.
Antonio let Catherine’s limp body fall to the bed. He had her, and now he wanted more.


Bless Ginger's little heart for having us today! You can catch me, Ginger, and the rest of the Eternal Press Gang next when we hang out with the Talking Two Lips Group Saturday April 18. I'll also be chatting live 9 p.m. Tuesday April 21 at Coffee Time Romance. If you've got a few moments that night, stop on by!

Previously, I've taken The Vampire Family out for some live fun with Fallen Angels Reviews and Night Owl Romance. We've had several reviews and interviews as well, most recently with Raine Delight's Spotlight:

http://authorrainedelight.com/2009/03/author-blog-spotlight-is-on-kristin-battestella/

http://www.fallenangelreviews.com/Interviews/2007/Nov07-LindaL-KristinBattestella.htm

http://www.nightowlromance.com/nightowlromance/interviews/kristinbattestella.asp

http://redrosesforauthors.blogspot.com/2008/10/interview-with-kristin-battestella.html

http://eternalpressauthors.blogspot.com/2008/05/interview-with-kristin-battestella.html

Whew! There's plently more Vampy press at my home page, jsnouff.com/kristin. You can read up on severl of my horror short stories as well or taste a bit of my non fiction and reviews at I Think, Therefore I Review.

Up next writing wise is a horror short story I've been going back and forth on called The Haberdasher. Samples of this and other short stories are available at Yahoo Group. I've also done some editing work on my pal Leigh Wood's sf erotica On The Way To New Isosceles, which I am happy to say was recently contracted with Eternal Press! For seriously naughty samples of that one, check out Leigh's blog:

http://leighwood.blogspot.com

On a final note, I have to mention that one of the first questions I'm always asked is, "Is there a sequel to The Vampire Family?" My answer? Maybe...

Native Americans and romantic fiction

Native Americans, anyone?

Ginger recently confessed she loved researching Native Americans. So, I thought I'd drop a few incredible resources I used for my latest release (print so far, e-book on April 3rd), FORBIDDEN ETERNITY. I've written a shamanic shape-shifting hero who has more than one chip on his shoulder. You would too if the guys you were trapped with in the Army called you Cochise, but you weren't Apache. No. Cochise (named by his peers with what he considers a name representing a phase of his life in which he made very bad choices) is Lakota.

Let's just say he can DISH IT OUT! And he can take it. ;)

Here's my model for Cochise, Mr. Drop-Dead Gorgeous Jay Tavare...

Sorry. I, uh, forgot what I was talking about...

(Stop looking at pictures, Skhye!)

Oh, wait. I remember!

So, what's the difference between Apaches and the Lakota? You're thinking they both lived on the Great Plains, rode war ponies, counted coup, and looked down-right gorgeous and tough in loincloths... Okay, you haven't read Thomas E. Mails' DOG SOLDIER SOCIETIES OF THE PLAINS. If you want to get the arrows right by culture or understand a culture's rituals, get this book! Each Plains people's warrior societies are described in great detail. And if you're searching for a way to allow your female characters (captives or not) to wield weapons and participate in battle, this reference book will tell you who can get away with what. DOG SOLDIER SOCIETIES OF THE PLAINS is a college-level text. But it won't put you to sleep. Okay, maybe I should say it didn't lull me to sleep. ;) I've always been enthralled by Native Americans. And I've got over 80 hours of anthropology under my belt. So, the geek in me knows I'm an outlying exception to the rule on the vast continuum of delightful to boring.

Another wonderful resource for all those writing contemporaries with Native-American characters is Hyemeyohsts Storm's SEVEN ARROWS. The easiest way to explain this book is to compare it to a self-help version of something akin to the Bible. First of all, you get the low-down on the four directions, medicine arrows, medicine wheels, etc. Then Storm begins the journey of the self. Each aspect of his belief system is taught by a story he tells. Chapter by chapter, you experience the sharing of his knowledge. And it's quite moving. The Bible put me to sleep. ;)

And yet another thought-provoking read is Frederick Drimmer's CAPTURED BY INDIANS: 15 FIRSTHAND ACCOUNTS, 1750-1870. I'm a big cheerleader for underdogs. I confess! This leaves me with strange interests... But CAPTURED BY INDIANS is by no means a handful of weird tales. Rather, it a collection of 15 true stories about white captives. So, you want to know what captives thought of Native Americans? Well, they often preferred living with them. ;) Curious?

Jack Weatherford's NATIVE ROOTS: HOW THE INDIANS ENRICHED AMERICA is an essential eye-opening read for those working on historicals with Native-American characters. It's amazing how much fear and hatred was recorded in history--another expression of the bias one cannot shake in recording history.

Erdoes & Ortiz's AMERICAN INDIAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS has been around for a while. But I always flip through it when wanting to round out a character with a bit of ideology. What can this book do for you? The myths and legends are broken down by culture. Yes. You just skim the table of contents and find the tales you'll need to read. Extra information about the cultures is located at the end of the book. I've used this book so many times that I recommend anyone writing a Native-American character own a copy. Ideology really rounds out a perspective.

So what does Skhye do with this type of reference material? In FORBIDDEN ETERNITY, Cochise is a modern who man raised on a reservation, exposed to many Native-American cultures, and gained an appreciation for different peoples. By the time FORBIDDEN ETERNITY takes place, he is quite worldly. But what makes him real to me are all of the myths and legends I've studied and the touching manner Storm shares his beliefs in SEVEN ARROWS. I've acquired a wealth of knowledge through the years and hope Cochise shares a bit of that information with readers. But his story is a dark paranormal...

FORBIDDEN ETERNITY

Sometimes the forbidden proves the only cure.

In present-day Scotland, a shape-shifting shaman and a Druid embrace the forbidden to safeguard history from renegade gods bent on sabotaging history by kidnapping the Goddess of Time.

A woman Cochise despises is his only hope for a future. He has no choice except to swallow his pride and protect Druidess Mairi from a man who is blackmailing her into breaking time-travel Code by kidnapping her sister. But his presence tempts Mairi into risking her sister’s life in falling in love. A fairy hairball and a pack of Hell Hounds force the duo to hide on an astral plane where there is no resolution beyond facing their FORBIDDEN ETERNITY.

You're invited to read the 1st chapter at...

http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com/categories/1st%20Chapters.aspx

Read another story for FREE...

VOW OF SUPERSTITION: DRAGON'S BLOOD

When legends speak of passion, Lady Lainy chalks all up to superstition until forced to take Dragon’s Blood at her arranged marriage. Will the beast’s poison herald a life full of love, or will she find myth loaded with lies when facing her father’s VOW OF SUPERSTITION?
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/vow-of-superstition-dragons-blood-p-840.html

CONTEST ALERT!

And to make certain everyone has fun beyond checking out Jay's pictures today, I'm giving away a small medicine pouch to one lucky winner. I believe this one has a dream catcher on it. But something decorative nonetheless. I say "I believe" because the box it's inside is buried in my garage with the rest of my office. And I don't have time to dig out said box at the moment but will this weekend. Just leave me a comment about what draws you to Native-American tales by midnight, CST today. I'll randomly draw a winner and post the name here tomorrow.

I'd also like to note I blog about reference books at http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com/. I've been known to hold contests there. So, you get two perks for the price of one. ;)

You can also find me at:

http://www.skhyemoncrief.com/

http://www.timeguardians.com/

Thanks for having me over, Ginger. ~Skhye

More from the Unseelie lot...

Yesterday, Alfhild and Cadfael popped in for a blurb.  Today, it's Du, who's Cadfael's right hand, um, Sidhe.  To find Unseelie to download in pdf, mobipocket or other formats, visit this link.

Du: I'm really not as interesting as all that.  Sure, I'm dashing and handsome and quick with a blade and my wit but I'm not so special.

Who'm I kidding?  I'm a catch.  I've known Cadfael for centuries, growing up together amongst the Unseelie Court, living with the dark ones of the realm.  I was there when Maeve and Mabd first clashed.  I was there with my people when the Seelie Sidhe rode them down, killed them while they slept, ate, worked...  Cadfael kept me sane.  In return, I keep him out of most trouble.  Except this Alfhild situation.  You see, she was foretold. The Snow Queens knew it.  They told us, told the entire Court, and we've been waiting for her.  All except Cadfael.  He couldn't wait.  He had to go get her.  Typical prince, eh?  I did my best to slow him down but there's only so much a Cait Sidhe  can do--I'm strong and quick but I'm small.  Smaller than that lumbering Sidhe, anyway.  Even in my cat-form, I'm a force to be reckoned with.

Alfhild: Ego, much?

Du: Eavesdrop, much?

Alfhild: It's not eavesdropping when you're writing.  It's just being nosey.  Or, in my case, cautious.  

Du:  Too late for caution, isn't it?  Now that you're Alfhild and no longer Lorelei...

Alfhild: Don't remind me.

The first two commenters here will receive a free eARC of  Unseelie and a copy of the reader's guide to go with it!  

An Unseelie Sort of Day

For Bring a Character to Blog week, some of the characters from my new book Unseelie have come out to play.  First in line is Alfhild, the heroine and a human woman like many of us.  Next in the queue will be Du, Jenny Greenteeth, and Cadfael will be along later! They really had a life of their own during the writing process and I'm thrilled to let 'em loose here on Ginger Simpson's blog!  Find Unseelie here at this link!

Alfhild:  How to begin this? Okay, it's like this...  A naked man showed up in my backyard one day and everything went kind of pearshaped after that.  He wasn't a man, really.  I mean... he had the bits and stuff but he wasn't human.  He's a Sidhe.  An Unseelie Sidhe, to be exact (what's the difference, you ask? So did I and boy did I find out!)  It seems that I was marked even before I was born to be part of this whole affair.  I thought I had problems in my human world: a crazy step brother who literally  got away with murder and thought I should be his, an assumed identity, and a best friend who saw a mystery in every shadow.  I had no idea what Cadfael (that was the naked guy) would bring into my life.

See, I left Louisiana a few years before this all began.  My step brother Gulliver had done some really bad things and wanted some really bad things, so I ran away.  Not exactly the most grown-up decision I've ever made, but there ya go.  I ran all the way to England, to a house my grandmother left me in her will.  It had been in our family forever it seemed and Granma had always told stories about it.  Granma, even before she kind of lost her mind, was full of stories about magic and mystical symbols and beings.  I didn't think much of it until Cadfael...

Ever since that day in the garden, my life hasn't been the same.  I'm not just Alfhild from Louisiana, or Lorelei (my assumed name, the one I thought could hide me) from America.  I'm Alfhild of the Seven Snows and Cadfael is....well, he's still Cadfael. 

Cadfael: What's that supposed to mean?

Alfhild: This isn't your turn.  Your turn is later.

Cadfael: You need to tell them the entire story, otherwise it'll sound like I'm some deviant faerie who wandered into your ward for the sole purpose of flashing you.

Alfhild: It's not even close to that!  Though I have to admit I did think that...

Cadfael: See?

Alfhild: The thing is, he did show up naked in my garden but there is much more to the story than that.  There are things in the universe you can't even begin to imagine, things that humans have all but forgotten, just waiting for us.  Waiting for me, it seemed.  And a war is going on just out of reach, just past our line of sight, a war that is about to spill over into the human world and a war I'm supposed to help stop.  Cadfael thinks I can do it.  But really... really, I'm not so sure.

Cadfael:  There.  Was that so difficult?

Unseelie by Meredith Holmes is available at Drollerie Press, Mobipocket and Fictionwise.   You can find Meredith on her website, www.meredithholmes.com or Facebook and Myspace.  The blog is a better bet, though!