***Thanks to everyone for the comments and to Eve for visiting with me. The randomly chosen winner of the signed copy of SINS OF THE HEART is twimom227 and she’s been contacted by email to claim her prize. Thanks again!***
National bestselling and award-winning author Eve Silver‘s new Otherkin series launches with a back to back to back trilogy from HQN on August 1st. I was lucky enough to read the first book, SINS OF THE HEART, early and I have to say — it is amazing. Eve has seriously outdone herself with her tales of sexy soul reapers and the kick-ass women who fall for them. The ebook prequel, SIN’S DAUGHTER, is available now. Find out more about Eve and her fabulous books on her website: www.evesilver.net!
Eve took time out of her very busy writing schedule to join me for a RowenChat about the books…and she’s generously giving away a signed copy of SINS OF THE HEART to a lucky commenter. Please read through to the end of our chat to see more details about this giveaway!
SINS OF THE HEART
by Eve Silver
August 2010 — HQN
Half-human, half-god, Dagan Krayl is the Underworld’s most powerful soul reaper. When one of his brothers is murdered, Dagan must use every ounce of his power to hunt down those responsible for his brutal death. But he must move swiftly—and carefully—if he’s to have any chance of resurrecting his brother.
Yet that resurrection could wreak havoc on the mortal world. As an Otherkin, Roxy Tam has sworn to protect the human race and it’s her mission to stop Dagan. But when she sees him face to face, she realizes that she has seen him once before—a meeting that changed her life forever.
Neither Dagan nor Roxy expect to join forces for the sake of mankind. Or have their loyalties tested as they struggle against the potent desire that threatens to consume them both….
Michelle: ALL RIGHTY. Let’s chat.
Eve: Yay. Chat!
Michelle: So…. SINS OF THE HEART. This is the first book in your back to back to back trilogy with HQN. ARE YOU EXCITED OR WHAT?
Eve: Yes! I’m really hyped about it.
Michelle: I have my copy sitting right next to me right now in all its red-covered glory. I honestly think this is your best book to date, Eve. And I’m not just saying that.
Eve: Thank you! You are too kind. Gotta love the red. And the font. I love the font. And I love the colors for SINS OF THE SOUL and SINS OF THE FLESH, too! They look so cool lined up next to each other in their gorgeous jewel tones.
Michelle: It’s gritty, dark, sexy, and it has a whole lot of sass thanks to your heroine Roxy Tam. And I don’t use the word “sass” all the time. 😉 What was the inspiration behind her character?
Eve: All three books are really dark and gritty, but I tried to throw in a little humor to temper the edge. And I love, love, love Roxy. There was no single inspiration for her. An early incarnation of her character floated around in my thoughts—she worked in a gas bar on an isolated stretch of highway. But that just didn’t *feel* like *her*. So I kept thinking about her and finally got a clear picture of who she is.
Michelle: So did Roxy prompt the existence of the “Daughters of Aset” aka: the Otherkin referred to in the series title? Can you talk a little bit about what they are and what they do?
Eve: The Daughters of Aset came from research. I started looking into Egyptian mythology and I found reference to an Egyptian goddess who drank blood. There are also references to her as drinking the water of the river Nile when it had turned red. I started to percolate those ideas and more research led me to the symbol known as the “knot of Isis” or “blood of Isis.” Isis is also known as Aset and so the daughters of Aset began to form in my thoughts. The term Otherkin comes from those who believe they are not purely human. That they have some heritage that is otherworldly. Often Otherkin can include blood drinkers, the Fae, shifters, etc. In the world I’ve created, the Otherkin are the Daughters of Aset.
Michelle: Do you do a lot of research for all of your books? Any particular books or sources that were particularly helpful?
Eve: I usually do a lot of research. I like to get things right, if I can. Or at least, make them believable to the reader. I went to an exhibit of The Egyptian Book of the Dead at the Royal Ontario Museum (it became a favorite haunt). I bought a copy of the Egyptian Book of the Dead as well as a book called “Being Japanese American” by Gil Asakawa, which was important for book 2, SINS OF THE SOUL (which incorporates Japanese mythology as well as Egyptian). I did a lot of online research. I used several texts on Egyptian mythology. Reading the Book of the Dead was wild because I really had to try and figure out what exactly was being described and referred to, and the book included hieroglyphs and copies of the papyrus scrolls. It was incredible.
Michelle: That’s a lot of research. Your books just have that really nice layered feel in the world building that you just know that you did your homework.
The heart of the Otherkin books is that they’re about three brothers who are searching for the murderer of their brother (who is actually still in existence in a parallel world). Dagan, the hero of the first book, is mouthwateringly hot—and he’s also a serious badass. When we meet him, he’s about to kill somebody and take their soul… and then he sees the heroine whom he feels compelled to help which really goes against his nature. Tell me about creating Dagan, any inspiration there you’d like to share?
Eve: Dagan and his brothers, Alastor and Mal, the heroes of the first three books, all stemmed from a question that was buzzing around in the back of my brain—what if the villains were the heroes? What if I took three guys who aren’t good or noble or heroic. Could I make them likeable? Could I make them heroic somehow? Could I make the villains heroes? Honestly, it made me wonder if I could dig deep enough and write well enough to do it right.
Michelle: I thought it worked perfectly! Dagan is hot and dangerous, but he does have a moral code. He hurts the bad guys (kinda like Dexter) but when it comes to an innocent girl, part of him is compelled to help her. Plus, he likes lollipops.
Eve: I love Dexter! Yes, kinda like Dexter. A total non-hero, who somehow is heroic. Bad…yet somehow good. And hot. I wanted Dagan to be hot. And he does like lollipops. Red ones are his fave. Pina colada…meh. Not so much.
Michelle: So who are some of your favorite heroes (other than your own) in romance fiction today? Or just general fiction?
Eve: There’s this awesome hero, Declan, in a 2011 release that I got to read early (NIGHTSHADE).
Michelle: Why, thank you, Eve. *hands Eve money*
Eve: And at the moment, I’m team Terrible (reference to Stacia Kane’s Downside Ghosts books.) I am totally crazy for Jericho Barons in Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series. I will always adore Clay in Kelley Armstrong’s Otherworld stories. Marjorie Liu writes incredible heroes, as does Lara Adrian. Will Laurence in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire books is a fascinating, layered, flawed character. And Lisa Kleypas’s heroes work for me in her historicals and her contemporaries.
Michelle: Out of all of the heroes you’ve ever written, who is your personal favorite?
Eve: Oh. You are mean to ask me that. I love each one of my heroes. As I am writing him, the hero of the current project is the bestest hero evah!!!!! Then I move to the next book and he’s the bestest hero evah. Right now, I’m really loving the Krayl brothers. Each one is different and unique, yet there are certain things that clearly make them brothers and they really are fascinating and hot and wonderful and layered and edgy and bad to the bone.
Michelle: I think that’s a very diplomatic answer. You wouldn’t want to piss off a soul reaper. But there has to be ONE hero that resonated with you just a smidge more than the others. For example, mine would have to be Darrak because he’s funny and seems to come alive on the page without much prompting from me. I like characters who make my job easier.
Eve: Yes…I loved Darrak. But for me…it’s your Declan because he’s so dark. And tortured. I love ’em dark and tortured.
Michelle: Dark and tortured? YOU Eve? But your books are so light and cheerful! 😉
Eve: I know! It isn’t like there’s ever any angst or death or murders or action or turmoil or anything in any of my stories.
Michelle: Not at all. Just rainbows and happy little bunnies dancing about. So what’s with the dark books, Eve? Why so dark? Is it just your reading preference? WHERE DOES THE DARKNESS COME FROM??
Eve: I have no clue. I started out thinking I wrote comedy. First romance I completed was for Harlequin’s “Love and Laughter” line. It’s now buried in the backyard where it belongs.
Michelle: I sooo want to read that one day.
Eve: *cringes at thought of anyone reading that book* Then I tried to write a light, funny historical. Problem was that the rotting corpses, maggots, body parts in jars, and such were definitely not funny.
Michelle: Depends on the rotting corpses, maggots, and body parts in jars.
Eve: This is very true.
Michelle: Thank you for chatting with me today, Eve. And huge congrats on the new releases!
Eve: Thank you!
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Okay…are you dying to get your hands on a signed copy of Eve’s SINS OF THE HEART, the first book in her kick-butt Otherkin series from HQN? I just know you are!! Comment here about your favorite dark hero from a book, TV show, or movie and tell us why you love him so much. We will pick a winner (International entries welcome) at random on Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 9:00 p.m. Good luck!
Magic & Muses 