Guest Post & Giveaway: UNHOLY PURSUITS by Suzanne Rock

Hello Everyone! I would like to welcome author Suzanne Rock to the blog. She is here today to spotlight her new book, Unholy Pursuits and tell us about her inspiration for creating her paranormal creatures called Iatros.Take it away, Suzanne!

Hi everyone! *waves*

Thank you so much for inviting me to talk a little bit about my newest Ellora’s Cave release, Unholy Pursuits. It’s great to be here!

In the Unholy Pursuits world, there are many demons. Those types of paranormal creatures don’t really need an explanation, do they? ;) They are creatures of the underworld and in my story they’re locked away in hell. Demons are constantly looking for a way to break through the barrier between hell and earth so that they can cross and take over our world.

Now, most of this barrier is secure, but there are pockets where the fabric is weak, and a portal between hell and earth forms. Where you find portals, you also find an entirely new type of paranormal creature – an Iatros.

I’ve been asked by many people how these creatures came to be. It all started with the Lord of the Rings movies. :-) When I watched them, I thought of the elves and how they were tied to the land and how they were great healers. I looked up the word “healer” in many different languages. In Greek, the word is Iatros (pronounced ee-at-ros). The word literally means “physician” and is written like this: ἰατρός . I envisioned a race of people who were tied to the land and who used their magic to heal the earth and creatures that lived there. This Greek word seemed like the perfect fit.

These creatures wouldn’t have been very good protectors if all they could do was heal, right? They need to be strong and skillful warriors to guard the portal and not let any demons pass. Since demons could only be killed by decapitation, the Iatros needed to be proficient with magically-enhanced swords, knives, daggers, etc. Instead of being bound to the land, I made them bound to the fabric between earth and hell, so they could sense where the wall was weakening and go strengthen it.

The fun didn’t end there, however. I didn’t want these creatures to be carbon copies of the elves in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I needed to make them different. After some thought, I decided to give them wings, so that they became more or less a cross between fairies and elves. This way, if the fighting got too intense, they could fly away to go get help. This could also be an alternative way to carry their wounded away from the battlefield.

Since demons are much bigger and stronger than Iatros, I had to give my healers an advantage. Their power is made of good and light, the exact opposite of demon power. As a result, these powers clash, first creating a vortex of energy, and then neutralizing each other. Put a demon and an Iatros into a room together, and they would have to resort to physical force to hurt each other. Their magic would be useless.

If you placed an Iatros in the middle of a ring of demons, the demons power would overwhelm my gentle healer. The opposite is also true however, so neither Iatros nor demon ever want to find themselves outnumbered, or risk losing all of their energy.

Intrigued yet? ;)

Now, since the Iatros have this cool, unique name, I wanted to do the same for my demons. In Unholy Pursuits, the creatures of the underworld aren’t called demons, they are called Deamhans. This is nothing more than the Gaelic word for demon. Since both the demons and Iatros sometimes use Gaelic words to enhance their magic, this new name seemed fitting for the evil creatures of the story.

So there you have it. Add some FBI agents who are investigating these portals, shake them up and voila! You have Unholy Pursuits. :-)

I love creating unique and different worlds in my paranormals. If you’re a writer, have you ever created an entirely new type of paranormal creature? If you’re a reader, what was the most interesting paranormal creature you’ve read about? Tell me about it in the comments section. I’d love to hear from you!

Unholy Pursuits
by Suzanne Rock

Release Date: October 12, 2011

Darien let his guard down once, and Arianne stole the demon stone from under his nose. Now he has to get it back, no matter what the cost. It doesn’t matter that the feisty redhead calms the voices in his head, or that her body tempts him beyond reason. Only the stone will ensure his survival. He decides to appeal to her feminine side and use gentle seduction to get it back. As he begins, something inside him changes, and the voices in his head compel him to use pain to heighten desire.

As Darien’s touch turns dark, Arianne’s lust escalates, and a connection forms between them. Yet despite her need, she can’t let the sexy FBI agent have what he wants. If placed in the wrong hands, the stone would release an unholy force intent on destroying everything she loves—including him.

Book Excerpt -

He peered around the rock, searching for any signs of life. The forest was completely still. Even the insects and small animals knew it was safer indoors.

Still, Bathin and his deamhans didn’t see them sprint from the tree to the rock. That had to be worth something.

After a moment he turned back and sat on the ground next to her. “I don’t think they saw us.”

Ari pressed her lips together, forming a thin line. “Good.” She started to stand but his firm grip pulled her back to the ground.

“Will you stop already? I’m not a sack of potatoes to be thrown around —”

The kiss was meant to quiet her, nothing more. He didn’t want her to draw attention to them and ruin any chance they had of escape.

But when his lips touched hers, when he drank her gasp and tasted her sweetness, something rippled through him, something dark and possessive. Darien pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her like a vice. He wanted to consume her, drown in her floral scent. The inner darkness panted like a wild animal in his mind. Mine.

A chorus of voices howled in his head in response. Desire surged through his veins, leaving him hot and needy. His cock swelled, and his abdomen tightened. He had the sudden urge to rip off her robe and throw this tall, slender woman to the ground. He wanted to free his aching cock and sink into her softness, to drive himself into her body again and again until he lost himself in a world of pleasure…

What was happening to him? He had to get control of his emotions. This wasn’t the time or the place to take her, he knew that, and yet, he couldn’t seem to convince his inner darkness to let her go.

He could feel the rise in her libido, just as surely as he felt the rise in his own. His darkness was fueling them both, and if he wasn’t careful, they were going to become lost in another vortex of pleasure and power.

Ari placed her hands on his chest, heedless of the danger they were in. He fought his urges, but her fresh, floral aroma coaxed him into a haze of lust and pleasure. She tilted her head, allowing him to deepen the kiss. He ran his tongue along hers, reveling in the soft, sweet taste of her mouth. Need soared through his body, making him hard all over. His cock swelled even more, pressing painfully against his zipper in response.

Enough. He scolded his inner deamhan and forced himself to pull away. He felt a hollow ache, but knew that this was for the best. There would be plenty of time later to explore her beautiful body, and the strange connection they shared.

“That’s better,” he said in an effort to cover his surging libido. “Now stay quiet.”

Author Bio:

After over a decade in the scientific world, Suzanne needed a creative outlet. She tried scrap booking, cooking, crocheting, painting, and piano, none of which held her interest for very long. Then one of her friends suggested writing. Thrilled with the idea of creating her own worlds, she opened up her lap top and never looked back.

When Suzanne’s not writing, she can be found playing with her two daughters, testing her husband’s latest kitchen creations, or curled up with her favorite romance novel in her central Massachusetts home.

Links:

Website: www.suzannerock.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/suzanne.rock

Twitter: www.twitter.com/suzanne_rock

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/suzanne_rock

Buy link:  http://www.jasminejade.com/p-9638-unholy-pursuits.aspx

Giveaway:

Suzanne will be giving away winner's choice of an eBook from her backlist to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour. The more comments you leave the better your chances of winning.

 

To Enter:

Leave a comment answering Suzanne's question about paranormal creatures and your email address.

Be sure to visit the other blogs on this wonderful tour. Click on the tour button below for a list of participating blogs.