Barbara Monajem - Guest Blogger

Please welcome Barbara Monajem, author of Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil.  She is here to tell us about her new vampire book and offer a contest. Sunrise is a terrific vampire love story told with lots of humor.

[This contest is closed]

Being Irresistible Sucks

I’ve always thought that being extremely attractive must be inconvenient, to say the least. Not only do beauty and virility fade, but it’s too easy for people to look on the surface and see no further. What about intelligence and sense of humor? What about strength of character? What about genuine mutual liking? The whole idea of being irresistible is fascinating to me, because instead of encouraging true love, it might just get in the way.

Ophelia Beliveau, heroine of my upcoming novel Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil, is a vampire, but not really your standard vamp. I’m not crazy about the concept of undead. I’m fine with reading it, but I don’t feel comfortable writing it. There’s always this faint whiff of rot at the back of my mind, making it difficult to concentrate on the romantic aspects of the story. I keep worrying that my vampire will have bad breath! Weird, I know, but there you go. Although Ophelia is definitely amongst the living, she does have fangs, and she loves (and for her own sanity needs) sex and blood. Easy enough for an irresistible woman to get plenty of, right?

Nope. Being irresistible has caused her nothing but trouble – such big trouble that she’s sworn off men forever. This is awfully stressful for Ophelia – she has a drawer full of sex toys and eats a lot of raw meat, but she’s chronically unsatisfied, poor girl. When her garden is vandalized and her life is threatened, hunky cop Gideon O’Toole swears to protect her and get to the bottom of the threats. That’s not all he wants to do, of course, but Ophelia has secrets that mustn’t be revealed, and letting a cop into her life can only bring catastrophe. She’s determined to drive him away.



Excerpt

Gideon left the headlights on and the engine running, got out, and held the door open for his dog. “Put the gun away, Ophelia.” He walked calmly toward her. “It’s only me.”
 
“I know who it is.” Ophelia’s voice broke, and a tear spilled treacherously down her cheek. “Go away!”
 
“Sweetheart—”
 
“Don’t call me that! I am not sweet.”
 
She watched Gideon control himself and start again. “I brought Gretchen to stay with you. She’ll warn you if there’s any danger.”
 
How had he come up with such a blessed idea? “I don’t need her. Take your dog and go home.” Ophelia bit down hard, piercing her lip, ignoring the blood, fighting tears, wanting the dog like crazy. She felt so alone.
 
Anguish in his voice, Gideon said, “Ophelia, don’t cry. Honey, you can’t think I’d harass you after what you’ve been through tonight.”
 
“You are harassing me,” she choked out. “I am not honey. I am poison. Get the hell away.” Gretchen trotted up and stuck a cool nose under her hand. Ophelia’s fingers moved by instinct toward the dog’s curls, but she yanked her hand away, clenching and unclenching her fist, needing and wanting the animal so much it hurt. “Gretchen doesn’t want to stay with me. She’s yours. Take her and go away.”
 
“I discussed it with her on the ride over, and she agreed to stay with you.”

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.” Ophelia cocked the shotgun. “Get off my property and don’t come back.”
 
Gideon swore under his breath. “Stupid or not, Gretchen is staying with you.” As if on cue, the dog planted her butt on the drive.
 
“Damn it, Gideon!” Ophelia let out a scream of rage and fired, kicking up gravel far too close to Gideon’s feet. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t move a goddamn hair. “Don’t you get it?” she yelled.  “I’m trying to protect you from yourself. I am not safe!”
 
“‘That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard in my life,’” Gideon echoed in bitter mockery. “You could at least come up with an intelligent lie.”
 
Ophelia opened her mouth and shut it again. Pissing him off was what she wanted. Still, the disgust in his voice tore into her.
 
“I’m out of here,” he said. “I won’t come back unless you need me.” He turned to the dog. “Stay, Gretchen. Stay with Ophelia.” He got in his car and backed into the turnaround, flinging his last words through the window. “What makes you think I give a damn about being safe?”


If you could have one irresistible quality, what would you pick? A beautiful face? A compelling voice? Undeniable wisdom or genius? Do you think it would be more trouble than it was worth?

Author Bio
Barbara Monajem wrote her first story in third grade about apple tree gnomes. After dabbling in neighborhood musicals and teen melodrama, she published a middle-grade fantasy when her children were young. Now her kids are adults, and she writes paranormal and historical romance for grownups. She lives in Georgia with an ever shifting population of relatives, friends, and feline strays.

Now for the contest
[This contest is closed]

One lucky commenter will win a copy of
Sunrise in a Garden of Love and Evil and with it a pair of women's Valentine's Day socks!

The contest is open worldwide.

To be eligible do one or more of the following:
* Answer one of Barbara's questions - 1 chance
* Ask Barbara a question - 1 chance
* Link this interview to your own site or a social network site, and be sure to let me know the URL - 1 chance for each link.
*Be a follower - 1 chance
*Be an email subscriber - 1 chance
 
If your email is not associated with your ID, please put the address in your response.

Contest ends March 9, 2010 at 11:59 PST