We are excited to present to you a guest blog written by author, Piper Maitland, about her main character from ‘Acquainted With the Night.’ – an epic story about immortality and the fate of mankin. There are very frightening vampires and very sexy characters. Read more below to find out what her book is about.

Contest! We are also giving away ONE copy of her book. TO ENTER:  Leave a comment with your e-mail/twitter/facebook or any way we can contact you if you are picked as the winner! Contest ends Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011.

Without further ado, please enjoy Piper Maitland’s blog.

Caro Clifford: the Flawed Heroine

“Well behaved women rarely make history.”
–Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, historian and author

Grey isn’t a color you will ever see in Greek Orthodox art—medieval artists lived and worked in a black-and-white world. But shades of grey are vital when it comes to building a modern fictional heroine. When I began writing Acquainted With the Night, I wanted Caro Grimaldi Clifford to be a fundamentally flawed heroine. She doesn’t always say the right thing, nor does she always act heroically. I knew it would be risky, but I was tired of playing it safe with my characters. As Caro came to life, her personality traits became layered, with room for her character to grow in the second book.

On December 1, 2011, Marie Lu celebrated the release of LEGEND (which hit bookstores on November 29, 2011) at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in Redondo Beach, California. Gizzy B, Sailor Mizz and I all got to the store a little early to help Marie set up the food – which included cupcakes, brownies and cookies (NUTELLA COOKIES!) from our friend, Just Jenn Designs. It was a successful and fun night. I think it’s safe to say that the core of her growing fan base were all in attendance that night.

See my photos on LAWeekly.com: Marie Lu’s Legend @ Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore.

Marie started the night by reading an excerpt from her book before answering questions from the audience. She even gave away two rare ARC copies of LEGEND to people who asked her questions. She spent the majority of the night signing books and talking to friends and fans alike. We were all very excited and happy for her success. Twilight producer, Isaac Klausner, even stopped by to show his support and to get his own copy of the book signed!

See our video and photos from the event below.

“It struck me as quintessentially human but also a bit absurd that we regularly torture ourselves with thoughts that seem to be at odds with our very own well-being. After all, if evolution is supposed to improve the species and make it more adaptable, then why aren’t we all perpetually happy and well-adjusted?”
–Romeo Alaeff, Artist’s Note

From a moose declaring that he drinks too much to a cockroach spewing sad, romantic lines like “Without you I am nothing”, Alaeff puts together a nicely illustrated, coffee table book filled with simple black and white drawings of animals and a collection of lines that you’ve heard yourself or other people say out loud.

Bloodstone is the third novel in Nancy Holzner’s Deadtown series. I haven’t read the first two (Deadtown and Hellforged) but I picked up on the premise right away. In Boston, there is a little town called Deadtown and this is where all the monsters–excuse me, the paranormal beings live. Kind of like a semi-concentration camp for all things related to werewolves, vampires, demon-slayers, zombies, etc..

The story revolves around Victory ‘Vicky’ Vaughn, a shapeshiting demon slayer or a ‘Cerddorion’– the author’s own creation. Cerddorion women have the ability to shape shift and have been known to battle demons throughout time. They can also control and communicate with each other via their dreams. Basically, Vicky works a freelance demon-slayer unless she’s battling the big guns and saving the world.

Yes, this novel is a downright urban fantasy (duh) but Holzner made the world she created kind of fun.

First of all, her take on how zombies act is pretty hilarious. They’re not brainless, rotting corpse who only want to devour the living flesh. In fact, they’re aware of who they are, re-animated from a plague and they satisfy their appetite with a lot of junk food. My favorite minor character in this book is Vicky’s doorman at her apartment building, a zombie named Clyde who acts pretty much like a stereotypical English butler: proper, well-mannered and easily frazzled.

I don’t normally read books with women on the front who look like that. The women on my books generally have a lot more layers. Bodice, crinoline, underdress, overdress, Spencer jacket, bonnet…you get the idea. So, I was a bit dubious about this scantily clad woman. But, as it turns out, the old saying is right: Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.

The Consummata is actually a sequel. The first book was written in the 1960s and for various reasons the manuscript for the sequel never got published, until now. But, you don’t need to have read the first one to enjoy the second.

The Consummata follows the adventures of Morgan The Raider. Yes, that really is his name. It seems silly writing it here, but in the context of the book, it works. Morgan has been framed for a heist and now the feds are after him to get back their money. One of the feds is his wife, whom he married for a cover story on his last mission with the government. They actually ended up falling in love, but when he escaped from the goverment they decided to end contact to keep her job safe.

Morgan is now on the run in Miami when he falls in with some Cuban rebels (this is 1960s, remember, Cuba was newly communist and this pissed off a lot of people). They’ve been robbed of their savings to help other Cuban refugees and they need Morgan’s help to get it back.

The entire book feels like a Humphrey Bogart detective film noir with a little bit of Die Hard. Buildings explode, there’s a high end brothel, kinky sex, and double agents. The writing is very smooth, which is why even though some of it sounds cliche or silly, it works when you’re reading the book. My imagination quite happily started filling all the characters in with various actors and high contrast lighting.

The only downside is, having read a lot of mystery novels and all the mystery shows, I saw the end coming quite early on. But, I don’t see that as a big issue as I was enjoying the characters and the writing too much to really care. The pacing kept things moving and I never felt it was dragging its feet over anything.

I’d definitely recommend the book.

Frail is Book 2 of Joan Frances Turner‘s The Resurgam Trilogy. In Frail, we follow Amy’s story in a post-apocalyptic world, devastated by a plague. In the beginning, there were zombies. Then the disease came that made everyone hungry. No matter what they ate– food, objects, their own children, etc.– their hunger were unsatisfied. It was terrifying for those who weren’t affected and were forced into hiding before they became someone’s meal.

Then one day, suddenly, everyone recovered and transformed into something more than human, more than zombies. The ex-zombies became self-aware again but they were not human. The ex-humans became some thing more than human. The strange hunger was still there but they’ve become almost immortal with super human strength.

Amy is one of the few human beings that survived and is referred to as a ‘frail.’ She was on her own after all the adults that took her of her passed away. She was surviving, hoping to not fall victim to one of the ex’es. They were predators and she was an easy prey. All the while a feral dog stalked her but she doesn’t know if he’s real or if she is going crazy.

Then she meets Lisa, one of the ex who is hanging onto her humanity. Reluctantly, Amy was forced to form an uneasy alliance with this female ex.

Sad Monsters: Growling on the Outside, Crying on the Inside is a new and very charming book written by Emmy Award-winning author Frank Lesser and illustrated by Willie Real. The book consists of a series of vignettes about monsters and their human problems.

And when I say “human problems”, I mean the very problems that you and I mortal humans face every single day. Like maintaining one’s figure  (you wouldn’t believe how many calories are in a single serving of orphan), questioning one’s existence after 20-year nap. or capturing the heart of that genie of your dreams. Everyone can relate, right? Of course they can. We’re all human. Mostly.

Ashes, Ashes focuses on survivor, Lucy “Lucky” Holloway, a teenage girl. While an epidemic killed her entire family and most of humanity, Lucy avoided becoming sick and dying from the plague. Then when natural disaster decided to wipe out what was left of human civilization, she still found a way to live.

Despite all the loss she had suffered through Lucy is still very much a teenager, clumsy and insecure. All on her own she found the courage to keep waking up every day with just a single survival guide to tell her how to live. It is lonely and brutal. Lucy thought she would have to keep hiding and scavenging for what little food was left for the rest of her life, however long that may be.

Then one day she met another survivor, a teenage boy named Aidan. Lucy had an aversion to other people and had trouble trusting them. In the end, people need other people and faith pushes Lucy to Aidan’s direction. She joins a community of other survivors where she learns again what it was like to live and work with other people. She also faces her fears, finds deeper courage and new truths begin to unravel. Is there hope for human beings to survive?

Ashes, Ashes is a dark imagining of what could happen to our world and exposes the fragility of human beings. The author, Jo Treggiari  hones in to a world that gave you a feeling of: this could happen. Yes, I do recommend you read the book especially if you like young adult dystopian novels. It is very well written and the touch of suspense will definitely hook you. I love that the female main character is honest. Even though I am way past the age, she felt like a true teenager and someone relatable despite the extreme situation she is in.

I love Jo and I “twitter” with her constantly. I finally asked her to do an interview for the blog and was delighted that she said yes!