Blood Bath & Beyond; It's love at first bite!

Before we get to the good stuff (you know, the stuff you actually come here to read!) I'd like to take a quick moment to express how excited we are for next Wednesday!

Wait!  You don't know what next Wednesday is?  Oh no!  You should definitely click here, right now and find out!

Oh!  So you know what's happening next Wednesday - only one of the most exciting, ticketed events in the Canadian Mystery writing community, the Bony Blithe Award Gala, BUT YOU DON'T HAVE YOUR TICKETS YET?  eeeeeeeeeeeek!  We need to fix that.  Like, now!   Click HERE!

You're welcome!

Friday is the deadline for purchasing tickets.  Don't miss out on this sure to be incredible evening!


And now, back to our regular scheduled fun!

This week, we're featuring the talented and lovely, Michelle Rowen.  With many novels and awards under her belt, Blood Bath & Beyond is the first book of the Immortality Bites Mysteries series.

One thing that makes this series unique is that although the series is new, the characters are not!  Michelle was so drawn to the characters from her Immortality Bites series that she brought them back to life in a whole new way!

And now let's get to what you came here for!

It is my pleasure to present to you, Bony Blithe Award shortlisted author, Michelle Rowen.

It might take some by surprise to learn that a quirky mystery novel with a punny title about a vampire who uses sarcasm as her most powerful weapon is a book of the heart—but it is most definitely a book of my heart.

While BLOOD BATH & BEYOND is the first book in the Immortality Bites Mysteries series, my main characters Sarah Dearly and Thierry de Bennicoeur are not new to my backlist. They starred in four out of five of my Immortality Bites paranormal romance series published between 2006-2009. That was the story of Sarah’s journey after being bit by a blind date from hell and turned into a creature of the night…and how she met a very mysterious master vampire who was pretty much her polar opposite in temperament and world outlook.

A romance novel typically ends when the characters find their “happily ever after,” but I was never a typical romance writer. My books always had other stuff in them – suspense, mystery, puzzles to solve. So when Sarah kept talking to me after the last book was published and done, I started to listen.

“I can solve mysteries!” she told me. “And don’t you want to know what happens next with me and Thierry?”

Yeah, I did. I really did. But, quite frankly, I had no time in my already prolific writing schedule to play with an idea that might never see the light of a book shelf…but Sarah didn’t quit yapping in my ear. So I started making notes in my spare time, pecking away at “what if?” And before I knew it, I had an outline, ninety pages, and rather vivid ideas for several books in a new series – for characters who’d already HAD a series. Sheesh!!

Shockingly, my agent thought it was a great idea – and he sold BB&B swiftly to a new publisher, NAL’s Obsidian mystery line.

Sarah lives to bite another day! Huzzah!

And you know what? My fledgling vampire eased into mystery like she was born to be an fanged amateur sleuth. Since I love Las Vegas, I set the first book there as Thierry and Sarah, who now work for the vampire council to solve vampire-related crimes are sent there on their first assignment to investigate a serial killer loose in the City of Sin.

I knew a couple things about this new series up front – it wasn’t going to be a typical cozy, which usually stays in one area. My vampires were going to travel extensively and each book would be set somewhere different. Also, I wanted to keep the romance in the forefront and explore what happens to a polar-opposite couple who’ve chosen, despite many difficulties, to be with each other. This, I must admit, was the carrot on the string that intrigued me the most. Thierry is a 600-year-old vamp with a history I’d only begun to unravel. He is the biggest mystery Sarah will ever attempt to solve. But…I think she’s up for the challenge!

The characters are inspired by their love for each other – and I’m inspired to write these fun books because of my love for the characters. I’ve finished two books in the series so far. The second, BLED & BREAKFAST, is out June 4^th. I’m working on book three, FROM FEAR TO ETERNITY, right now. They are so much fun to write – and I hope they’re a lot of fun to read, too.

I could not be more thrilled that BLOOD BATH & BEYOND is a finalist for such a wonderful award as the Bony Blithe. It is my great honor to be among the nominees! Thank you so much! :)

Happy reading!