Monday, January 19, 2015

BLOG TOUR [Excerpt & Guest Post + Giveaway] The Devil’s Liege



The Devil’s Liege
The Mathias Saga
Book 2
Danielle DeVor

Genre: YA Fantasy

Publisher: Eirelander Publishing

Date of Publication: September 25, 2014

ASIN: B00NYB4CZG

Number of pages: 162
Word Count: 52, 534

Cover Artist: Buffi BeCraft

Book Description:

Being a vampire isn't all it's cracked up to be- in fact, it kind of sucks.

After surviving his duel with Lilith, Mathias thought that he could relax. That is until he discovers that, Nossy, the new king, has been kidnapped.

When the investigating vampires seem to have no clue how to rescue Nosferatu, Mathias must step in. Everything is peachy until Mathias is named the next new king in order to stop the man behind Nossy’s kidnapping from taking over the throne.

Suddenly, his life is not his own again, and Mathias must make a choice: risk his life to find his friend, or sit back and watch disaster unfold.

Available at Amazon and BN




Excerpt:

“Thias.”
The voice was near to his ear and seemed breathy. Sleep was his friend. He hunkered down further into his pillow. The darkness was a comfort to him. Safe.
“Thias.” It was closer this time—right next to his ear. He didn’t want for this to be real, prayed that it wouldn’t be.
Snick. Snick.
Mathias jerked awake. His heart hammered in his chest. He looked around the room. Everything was where it was supposed to be. It was still too fancy for Mathias with the polished wood, the gold brocade curtains and the velvet chair next to the window with his stack of books beside it. Nothing was wrong. There was no insane woman about to cut him with a pair of rusty shears. With his eyes the way they were now, with his vampire’s ability to see in the dark, he didn’t need to reach over and turn on the light. He could see everything perfectly. It must have been a dream. At least, Mathias hoped that’s what it was.
There was no one was in his room but himself. “Fuck.”
He closed his eyes for a minute and sighed. Ever since he’d killed Nic, the sorcerer who had caused him to become a vampire, Mathias had been dreaming about her and the past. It honestly was something he wished he could forget.
Lilith, the former Queen, had tried to kill him just so he couldn’t tell the vampire world about the horrible things she’d done to him in a past life. She’d cultivated this kind and generous persona that wasn’t really like her at all. It wasn’t Mathias’ fault that Vlad had chosen to cross him over into a vampire. Being a vampire hadn’t been his choice. Hell, he would have rather had his parents back, but he guessed fate was just one of those things.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand. Along with the dreams, he’d been breaking out in cold clammy sweats. Why the dreams were happening now, he didn’t know. It would have made more sense for them to happen after Nossy had killed Lilith, his mother, but maybe his brain was still being stupid. It wouldn’t surprise him.
He got up, walked across the room to the window, and pushed the plush red brocade curtain out of the way. Staying with Vlad again was weird. The room was just too fancy. He preferred Nossy’s clutter. It felt more homey somehow. But, with Nossy being king, it was easier for Mathias to stay with Vlad. He understood that. He just wished things were less complicated.
Outside, the frost on the ground was so thick that it made the grass look almost white. That was Siberia.  Winter came early here. Snow had been hitting the ground in intervals since October, with it now being November, well, the frost was a little bit of an improvement. That meant it wasn’t as cold today.
He wrapped his wings around himself and sat down in the chair next to the window. It was still weird to have wings. They were longer than he was in order to support him in the air. They weren’t unlike the wings of a fruit bat, sort of. The glass reflected what Mathias still viewed as his new face. His brown hair was still long, his blue eyes were still jaded, but he was big now.
Part of him still expected to see that fifteen-year-old kid in the mirror. Needless to say, the last year had been one hell of an experience. He looked at the bookcase opposite his chair, but nothing sparked his interest enough. Still, no sense in trying to go back to sleep now. The dreams would just start again. Mathias just wanted to rest, but his mind had other ideas.
He leaned over the side of the chair and picked up the book he’d left on the floor. It wasn’t a fun read, but necessary. It was an old tome about ancient fighting techniques. Mathias thought that if he could learn about how the old techniques were taught, then maybe, he could rectify everything he remembered from the past with that things were like now. He sighed. His plan wasn’t working very well if his dreams were any indication. He didn’t want to remember more of her. It was getting to the point that when he saw a woman with long black hair, he’d have to suppress a shudder. Not normal at all.
He let the book fall into his lap and stared out the window again. The frigid scenery was something better to focus on.
I’m tired of being alive.


Are vampires a type of demon?  by Danielle DeVor

Certain churches would sure have you think so. Of course, these are the same religious figures that declare that Disney is a corporation full of the devil’s minions, but that’s beside the point. Early churches tended to think that anything that they could not understand was demonic in nature. So, for them, it made sense to declare vampires demons.
They, of course, didn’t count on savvy writer’s coming up with grotesqueries such as Frankenstein’s Monster.
Be that as it may, there is the fact that demons and vampires are pretty damn different. One: vampires are not sent by the devil to create havoc on Earth. I guess you could make the argument that some vampires could be made by way of a satanic rite, if you believed the movies anyway, so in that instance, they would be spawn of Satan. But, folklorically? No. Two: Vampires cannot be exorcised. You might be able to harm them with a cross. (Well, I tend to believe it depends on the religion kind of. If a vampire didn’t know what a Christian cross was, would it even work? I omitted that issue with my vampires, but that’s another story.) But, saying the exorcism ritual over a vampire will not dispatch it. And, Three: Demons don’t need blood to survive.
But, would it be possible for vampires and demons to work together? Sure. Vampires are mostly once human. (Barring vampire pregnancy.) So, there are both good and evil vampires. Granted, evil is sometimes in the eye of the beholder, but for this post’s sake, good and evil are what they are. So, could you have a power hungry vampire who joins forces with a demon to get what it wants out of the world? In my mind, definitely.
Could there also be a demon who, for some reason, chooses to work with vampires to accomplish certain things. Why not?

These ideas lead me toward the creation of Azazel and Xiao in The Devil’s Liege. Demons and vampires working together. It makes for interesting bedfellows.


About the Author:

Named one of the Examiner's 2014 Women in Horror: 93 Horror Authors You Need to Read Right Now, Danielle DeVor has been spinning the spider webs, or rather, the keyboard for more frights and oddities. She spent her early years fantasizing about vampires and watching "Salem's Lot" way too many times. When not writing and reading about weird things, you will find her hanging out at the nearest coffee shop, enjoying a mocha frappuccino.

Visit her at danielledevor.wordpress.com



Twitter: @sammyig




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2 comments:

Danielle DeVor said...

Thank you so much for hosting!

Judy Schechter said...

I love vampire stories! And thanks for the chance!