Fallen angels… They rule Moscow’s seedy underworld, promising untold pleasure to the females who dare to mate them. That promise – and Brends Duranov’s own raw sexual power – has hopefuls mobbing the velvet rope outside his elite club G2’s.MY REVIEW
But Mischka Baran has no intention of hooking up with one of the Fallen. Not even after Brends gives her an unforgettable taste of the sin and seduction he can deliver with those wicked lips. She’s after information, not a stint as some Goblin’s toy of the month. What she doesn’t know is that with a sadistic killer carving up his brethren, Brends is playing for keeps, hunting the one woman whose bloodline can end the mayhem, whose bond can restore his lost wings.
My Interview:
First, lets talk genre. I must admit that I get confused at times with Urban Fantasy vs. Paranormal and Urban Fantasy vs. Fantasy. Recently I learned the distinct differences between Urban Fantasy and Paranormal and from what I know, BOND WITH ME is definitely Paranormal, but there's a distinct impression of a subgenre lurking within its Paranormal category. Would you consider BOND WITH ME as possibly post-Apocalyptic and/or perhaps futuristic? What's the difference, if any, between the two? How important are genres and subgenres to you as a writer? How do you feel about them as a reader?
BOND WITH ME has a very few futuristic elements in it, but it’s more along the lines of Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changelings series. My series is set in the near-future (2090), which I decided meant I got to take a few liberties with history and introduce a few interesting doodads—but there’s no futuristic technology, space ships, or super-cool weaponry. The setting is dark (my publisher called it dystopian when we were writing contracts for the second book in the series), but it’s not post-apocalyptic… just dark. And sexy. Very, very sexy.
As a reader, I’m personally all over the map. I’ve read and enjoyed both futuristics and post-Apocalyptic settings (and, yes, sometimes both in one book—see the fabulous Eve Kenin), but I’m definitely less interested in super-technical worlds. I love Angela Knight’s level of sci-fi—that’s perfect for me. Dorchester also had the short-lived Shomi line for a while.
What used to be Moscow is now known as M City, one of the rare populated cities in BOND WITH ME. Out of all the cities in the world, why did you choose Moscow as the host city for your characters? How has the city changed from 2011 to 2090.
I love Moscow—it’s a city that combines a rich sense of history with a dark, frenetic pace. It’s also a place that, for me, has always been associated with the exotic. There’s the Byzantine element, but there’s also a darker, more brutal side. It’s the perfect setting for a fallen angel who was once one of the Heavens’ defenders. I spent a summer wandering around Moscow when I was an undergraduate and it’s one of those places where you just never know what you’ll discover when you turn a corner… everything is so very old that even the stones have secrets.
Brends Duranov, our scrumptious alpha hero, is a fallen angel. What do you think of this new ravenous hunger by readers for fallen angel romances? Is it the lure of a good boy gone bad? Distinctly larger than life, what's it like to write an alpha male of this caliber?
For me, the lure of the fallen angel is the bad boy who has the potential for redemption. He could be a good boy—if he chose to be or if he had a woman who could convince him to make that choice. I’ve never been one for beta heroes. I like my heroes dark and alpha.
Michael. One of the four accepted archangels - Gabriel, Raphael, and of course the notorious fallen archangel Lucifer - Michael is one that authors seem to gravitate towards. What appealed to you about Michael specifically that had you incorporating him as the leader of your heavens in BOND WITH ME? Why not Gabriel or Raphael? Will either of these archangels make an appearance in future books or do they simply not exist in the BOND WITH ME world?
BOND WITH ME came about because I was reading a medieval Slavic description of the Fall. Those medieval writers don’t pull any punches—they’re graphic, blunt and pretty damn bloody. So, I was reading about a battle in Heaven between the archangel Mikhail (Michael) and a cohort of angels. The rebel angels lost (of course) and were literally thrown out of Heaven—after Mikhail ripped their wings from their backs. There then follows a fabulous description of what happened to the Fallen—who became the bogeymen of Slavic mythology. Some of the Fallen became the Goblins, cursed to live with dark faces and forms as an eternal reminder of their sin. Since I’ve always been a fan of the underdog—I always root for the Grendals and Calibans—I started wondering. What if the rebel angels had a good reason for that rebellion? (Hint: in BOND WITH ME, they do). My starting point therefore focuses on Michael and not the other archangels—but I could certainly imagine them making an appearance later on!
Cast from the Heavens with thousands of other angels by the Archangel Michael, Brends was stripped of his wings and bound to Earth until he finds his soul mate. On Earth, these Fallen are known as Goblins for not only were they stripped of their wings but they're paired with a beast that hungers for souls. Explain this need for souls? Also, what's the difference between a bond mate and a soul mate?
When the angels Fell, they were transformed into Goblins, stripped of both their wings and their softer emotions, cursed to live as beasts who thirsts for those lost emotions. A Goblin feeds that need by bonding with humans—the Goblin can taste the human’s emotions, drink that human’s soul. Sort of an emotional vampirism. If a Goblin doesn’t feed that thirst or fails to control it, he runs the risk of going rogue, becoming nothing but the beast. So, to feed the thirst, the Goblin bonds with willing humans—who get one favor (any favor at all) in exchange for the bond. The larger the favor, the longer the bond. So be very, very careful what you ask for…
A soul mate is something special. A soul mate is the magic out clause. When Michael exiled the Fallen and condemned them to live as Goblins, he promised that, if a Goblin found his soul mate, that Goblin would be redeemed. There is supposed to be one soul mate for each Goblin—one pre-destined woman who will complete him and make him whole. Three thousand years after the Fall, however, no Goblin has found a soul mate and none have been redeemed. Brends Duranov is convinced that Michael’s promise is just a myth—a red herring.
Eilor, a rogue Fallen, is a blood thirsty and scary villain who has an even more terrifying master. I'm always curious about authors and their villains. First, what makes Eilor a rogue? Then, is it difficult to write such evil especially since your scenes are quite graphic and in the moment? Does this creative ability ever make you wonder about the darkness of your imagination?
It’s funny, because I pretty much don’t watch any movies that aren’t intended for children (huge fan of Pixar!) because I simply can’t handle any graphic violence at all. I’ve never been a horror reader, either. I actually hadn’t realized that my villain was quite so creepy until my editor pointed it out and wondered if we should tone it down. Oh, and my sister actually changed her locks after beta-reading the next Bond book. Heh. So, apparently it’s not at all difficult… not sure what that says about me. Since I’d just finished Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels trilogy, I thought my villain was actually pretty tame. In all truth, I find the sexy bits difficult to write—go figure! Maybe I should consider a career switch to social deviant?
Swift change in topic here. Dorchester? How are you handling the change from mass market print to ebook?
It’s been quite an unexpected change! Like most of the Dorchester authors I know, I’d planned a marketing campaign around outreach to bookstores. Whoops. I found out about Dorchester’s switch to ebook only for 2010 about three weeks before Bond with Me released—I’d actually just been hounding the marketing coordinator for the print copies that were supposed to be going to various bloggers. Plus, now something that had seemed as straightforward as a book giveaway, becomes more complex. How do you give away an ebook (at least, without setting yourself up for super-easy piracy!)? So, it’s been a learning curve—but readers have been fabulous and I really appreciate the support. I’ve never read an ebook before, so it’s a whole new world for me! Fortunately, I should be able to have my cake and eat it, too—Bond with Me is currently available as an ebook only, but it will also be available in trade paperback in May 2011. So, for those of us who love our print books, there’s just a little delayed gratification…
And finally, what's next for Anne Marsh?
I’m absolutely delighted that the next books in both my Bond series and my Hunter’s Mate series will be published by Kensington Brava in early 2012. I’m actually putting the finishing touches on the next Bond book right now. Tentatively titled His Dark Bond, this is Zer’s story and he merits a very sexy, very stubborn soul mate of his own.
Giveaway Details:
The lovely Anne Marsh is giving the choice to one lucky winner of either a print copy of THE HUNT or an ebook copy of BOND WITH ME. Here's how to enter:
**Contest Open to ALL**
***Must be 18 or Older to Enter***
****Contest Closes Thursday, September 2nd at Midnight U.S. Pacific Standard Time and the Winner will be Chosen Randomly and Announced Friday, September 3rd****
