Interview & Giveaway with Alexa Egan

Hi Alexa, Welcome to Anna's Book Blog! I'm glad to have you here. To start off can you tell the readers a little about yourself?
I’m a slightly frazzled forty-something with a wonderful supportive husband, three children who still require way too much of my time, and a cat named Olive. We live in a rambling old house that exists in a perpetual state of renovation. And when I’m not writing, I can be found curled up with the family watching movies or curled up in a chair reading a book.

Demon's Curse is your debut novel, can you tell us a little about it and the series?
In a nutshell, the series is about the Imnada, a race of shape-changers and telepaths who have lived secretly as human for thousands of years and would do anything to guard their secret from a dangerous outside world.

Captain Mac Flannery is one of them. He and four other Imnada serve as scouts during the Napoleonic Wars, but as a result of a savage massacre on the eve of Waterloo, they are cursed to live the hours of darkness trapped as their animal aspect.

Demon’s Curse opens with the violent death of one of the shape-changers and Mac certain the secret of the Imnada has been discovered. His only link to unearthing the truth is Bianca Parrino, a star on the Covent Garden stage and a suspect in the vicious killing. Soon, the unlikely pair are forced to place their trust in each other as they flee a murderer and seek an end to the dark curse.

I’m really excited for the debut of this new series and can’t wait to hear what readers think of my regency-era shape-changers.

What is your writing day like?
I sit down at the computer in the morning as soon as the kids are whisked out the door to school, break for lunch with my husband, and then back to it until I have to leave to retrieve kids again around four. Weekends are for family unless I’m crunched by deadlines.

When you’re not writing what kind of books do you like to read?
Anything and everything. I love straight historical fiction, SF/F, mysteries, YA, romance (usually contemp/historical/paranormal). My current bedside reading is CS Harris’ regency mystery Where Shadows Dance, and two YA’s; The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau and A Great And Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray.

What are 3 things that are "must haves" for you when you sit down to write a book?
Coffee
E-mail/Internet turned off
At least a hint of an idea about the scene I’m getting ready to tackle.

What inspired you the most when writing Demon's Curse?
Don’t laugh, but my very first thought when coming up with the series was ‘why not have aliens in the regency?’. Needless to say, my agent was skeptical about little green men hanging with the beau monde. So I tweaked the idea a bit, added an Arthurian twist, two warring magical races, threw in a battle-toughened group of shape-shifting ex-soldiers, and…oh yeah…a really nasty curse.

If you could cast your hero and heroine, which actors would you pick?
I always have a really hard time with this question because I don’t tend to think in terms of actors and actresses as stand-ins for my hero and heroine. I can find an image anywhere that might spark an idea. Bianca was that way. I found an ad in a magazine for coats. The model had this beautiful silver blond hair and an expression I loved. I immediately ripped the picture out and stuck it on my bulletin board. My inspiration for Mac Flannery came from a photo of Chris Evans I saw on-line. Between his pose and the solemn way he was staring at the camera, I knew he was Mac.

What do you love most about writing Paranormal Romance?
I love being able to borrow from myths and legends of varied world traditions, stir them together, add my own imagination, and create something brand new. The rules are my own which is both freeing and frightening as I have only my own notes to ensure consistency among books. Of course, I could do this same thing and write straight fantasy, but I learned long ago that no matter my intentions when I began a story, it always ended up being a romance. I finally surrendered to the inevitable and used the paranormal world as the setting in which to place my love story. The Muse has been happy ever since.      

If you could give your lead characters one piece of advice, what would it be?
Trust is letting go of what you think you know to embrace what’s right in front of your face.

If you can, please tell us what is next for you?
The second book, SHADOW’S CURSE is complete and due out in the fall of 2013. Captain David St. Leger is trapped into helping a beautiful necromancer flee north to her family, but his good deed sets an Imnada assassin, a Fey-blood gang lord, and a carnival knife thrower on his tail. If he survives, he might discover a way to break the curse. If he dies, he might find true love.

I’m also working on a novella which will come out about a month prior to Shadows where we find out how Sebastian Commin, the Earl of Deane wooed and won the heart of London actress Sarah Hayes.

And AWAKEN THE CURSE, the novella that began the series is still available for a mere 99 cents anywhere e-books are sold.

 http://alexaegan.com/

Demon's Curse
Imnada Brotherhood #1

By Alexa Egan

Out Now!

A rising star on the Covent Garden stage, Bianca Parrino believes she has everything she wants. Independence. Wealth. And a life finally free of her violent, abusive husband. But when her close friend, Adam, is murdered, and Bianca is suspected in his death, she is unwittingly drawn into the search for his killer, and soon must question everything she believes—about her friend, about herself, and about a world she never knew existed.

A member of the mysterious race of shape-shifting Imnada and part of an elite military unit, Captain Mac Flannery gathered intelligence during the Napoleonic wars. As a result of a savage massacre, Mac and the men he served with are cursed. Now one of them has been found murdered, and Mac suspects the existence of the Imnada has been discovered at last. His only link to unearthing the truth is the beautiful actress who turns up unexpectedly at Adam’s funeral.

Before long, Mac has more to contend with than Bianca’s overt mistrust, his ill-fated attraction to the haughty and beautiful actress, and his ongoing search for an end to the curse. Because Adam’s killer is back, and Mac is next on his list.

Demon's Curse can be purchase at these stores:
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository | IndieBound

GIVEAWAY Thanks to Simon& Schuster I have a copy of Demon's Curse to giveaway. To enter leave a comment along with your email address. Open to U.S. residents. The winner will be announced on December 31st. Good Luck!