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Thursday, December 13, 2012

Interviewing Robyn Bachar about her new paranormal romance release, Fire in the Blood

I'm pleased to be able to interview paranormal romance author Robyn Bachar about her latest release, Fire in the Blood. 

Be sure to check out her book as well as her awesome giveaway at the bottom of this post.

 

Patience Roberts is a summoner, the last one standing between magiciankind and demons. As a summoner, is she a faerie or a wizard? How does she perform her work, banishing demons? Did she train for this position or does she possess natural talent? Does her work require a lot of magical and/or physical strength?

In the Bad Witch books, anyone who possesses magic is a magician. As a summoner Patience is a specific kind of magician, but she is also part faerie. Banishing demons takes a little ritual and a lot of chutzpah, and Patience is one of the best in the business. She’s also the only one in the business during Fire in the Blood, which keeps her extra busy. Though she’s not physically strong (she’s actually rather scrawny, and will be the first to admit that she has chicken legs), she is a powerful magician.

Faust, the love interest of Patience, is a Shadowspawn faerie. How is his type different from other faeries? He watched as his outcast clan dwindled to nothing. How did they die? What did he do to stop their deaths? How was Faust spared? What powers or qualities enable him to protect Patience?

Shadowspawn faeries have been kicked out of Faerie for acts of great evil, but Faust himself is innocent of the crimes that resulted in his clan being banished. Most of his clan mates were picked off by stronger magical creatures (like demons), but some fell on their swords out of grief. Faust survived because he’s clever, powerful and wise enough to keep his nose out of magician politics. Until now. He’s prepared to move heaven and earth to keep Patience safe, because she is the one bright spot in his life.

Briefly describe the chemistry between Patience and Faust. What qualities do they admire/desire in each other?

Patience and Faust balance each other in many ways. He’s a voice of reason, while she tends to rush in where angels fear to tread. They both possess an affinity for fire—Patience is descended from a fire faerie from another clan, and Faust is a fire faerie—and that can make their relationship combustible. Faust admires her for her strength, determination and sense of honor, and Patience admires him for his loyalty, passion and charm.

When a particular old demon enemy punches through the barrier between the worlds, Patience must draw on every ounce of her reputation. To get rid of him for good, she’ll have to sacrifice one too many pieces of her soul to leave room for love. What makes this demon more formidable than the others? 


The demon in this case is an ancient demon. He’s extremely powerful, and because of that she can’t do a simple banishing ritual to get rid of him like a normal demon. As the only summoner left in the area, Patience is the only one who can deal with him.

Briefly describe the magical systems of your world. How do those who are empowered (faeries, wizardkind, demons) gain their abilities?

In the Bad Witch books, magicians are born with magic in their blood, and they live apart from their non-magical (or “straight”) neighbors. There are nine types of magician: alchemists, guardians, librarians, necromancers, seers, shapeshifters, sorcerers, summoners, and witches. With the exception of necromancers, who learn their craft, a magician is born as one of these types and has only those abilities. Summoners deal with demons, trading favors for additional power. Witches are healers, alchemists brew potions, and so on. There’s a glossary included in Fire in the Blood for a crash course in the setting for people who haven’t read the previous books, or as a refresher for those who have.
~*~*~
Fire in the Blood

Bad Witch Book 3
Robyn Bachar
 


Genre: Paranormal romance

Publisher: Samhain Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-61921-173-5 

ASIN: B008PGMPYK
Number of pages: 139

Word Count: 33,000
Cover Artist: Kanaxa 

Samhain     Amazon       Barnes and Noble 

Book Description: 
It’s good to be bad…

Patience Roberts is the last summoner standing between magiciankind and certain demon invasion. After banishing two or three demons a day for too long, gods know she’d like nothing better than a little down time with her number one distraction—Faust.

But with vampires, hunters and assassins lined up to take her out, who has the time? Still, she has to admit her resistance to the amorous faerie is wearing thin. Not that she’ll ever let on—after all, faeries are notorious for their short romantic attention spans.

Faust, a Shadowspawn faerie, watched as his outcast clan dwindled to nothing. Determined to hold on to the woman he loves, he’ll do whatever it takes to protect Patience. And one day build a life with her.

When an old demon enemy punches through the barrier between the worlds, Patience must draw on every ounce of her reputation as a cast-iron bitch to temporarily banish him. To get rid of him for good, she’ll have to sacrifice one too many pieces of her soul to leave room for love…


Warning: Contains a hero and heroine so hot they’re literally on fire, naughty faerie sex, post-coital cuteness, angsty magician drama, and yet more gratuitous violence against vampires, demons, and innocent furniture. 

Excerpt from Fire in the Blood:

“You still haven’t eaten,” Harvey reminded after I hung up the phone.
“Drive through. Don’t let me forget.”
“You said that this morning.”
“I did?” I asked in surprise.
“Yes, you did.”
Damn it all to hell and back, my brain must really be fried, because I had zero memory of that. At least I’d been chugging black coffee all day, so there was something in my system, even if it was only caffeine. I couldn’t keep up this pace for much longer, but I didn’t have a choice. I was the only one left to handle the demon problem. I’d tried to call in extra help from the coasts, and everyone turned me down. They were too afraid of the hunters, and though I couldn’t blame them for that, it still pissed me off. I outsourced what work I could to the local guardians, but it wasn’t enough. They weren’t specialists like me.
I was trying to bail out the Titanic with a teaspoon. It was only a matter of time before we all drowned.
“Well, this time I mean it,” I said lamely.
“Of course, Mistress.”
I grabbed my black cashmere coat from the rack and donned it along with my scarf, then slung my messenger bag over my shoulder. This time I made it halfway across the room before I was stopped, but it wasn’t the phone that interrupted me. It was a faerie invasion, and I had only a moment to recognize Faust by the smoky lenses of his round, dark glasses before he pounced on me. He kissed me fiercely and nudged me back until I stumbled into the front of my desk.
“I dislike this overcoat. It’s much too bulky.” He reached for the buttons and I batted his hand away.
“I’ll be in the car, Mistress,” Harvey called out loudly before vanishing. He’s not a voyeur, and he disapproved of my relationship with Faust. I didn’t approve of my relationship with Faust either. Every summoner knows you shouldn’t get involved with a faerie, because it always ends badly.
“Cut it out. I’m on a call,” I warned.
Faust grinned, and my chest tightened with an emotion I fought not to show. Yes, this was headed toward disaster, but I couldn’t help myself. Faust was the most addictive temptation I’d ever met. He was just so damn pretty—tall for a faerie, which made him about my height, and dark haired with a pale complexion that spoke more of a vampire than a faerie. Faust had an angular face with high, sharp cheekbones that reminded me a bit of a runway model, a finely-drawn brow and a smile that could make a girl weak in the knees in 0.5 seconds.
“It can’t wait,” he insisted. “I’ve missed you.”
He tugged my scarf aside and kissed my neck, and it was suddenly much too warm to be wearing my coat. I didn’t fight him as he unbuttoned the garment and slid it off. I kissed him and indulged in the lovely diversion of letting his nimble hands roam for a few moments, because the past few days had been all business and no pleasure. But I had an appointment to keep, and I pushed him away with a disappointed sigh.
“I missed you too, babe, but I don’t have time for a break. I’m on call 24/7 now.”
“I know you are.” Faust’s expression sobered, and he caressed my cheek. “You’re a brave woman, Patience, and I admire that about you. But that’s also why I’m here.”
“You’re here because you admire me? Funny, seemed more like desire a second ago,” I teased. The corners of his mouth twitched, and I bit back the urge to kiss him. Experience had taught me that if I encouraged him I’d end up naked and bent over the desk.
“There’s a problem—” he began, and I cut him off.
“I don’t have time for more problems. We’re all full up here.”
“This is serious. Zachary has hired someone to kill you.” 

About the Author:

Robyn Bachar was born and raised in Berwyn, Illinois, and loves all things related to Chicago, from the Cubs to the pizza. It seemed only natural to combine it with her love of fantasy, and tell stories of witches and vampires in the Chicagoland area. As a gamer, Robyn has spent many hours rolling dice, playing rock-paper-scissors, and slaying creatures in MMPORGs. 
http://robynbachar.com





Giveaway: a $50 Amazon Gift Card

~ ~ ~
Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. Read her ENCHANTED BOOKSTORE LEGENDS for adventurous epic fantasy romance: Book One, SEEKING A SCRIBE, Book Two, HERITAGE AVENGED, and Book Three, LOST VOLUMES. She has also authored the Ciel's Legacy series, with fast action mermaid/pirate storylines: TEARS ON A TRANQUIL LAKE and TORTUGA TREASURE.  For a FREE ebook download, read her historic fantasy, LE CIRQUE DE MAGIE, available at Amazon and Smashwords.

2 comments:

Robyn Bachar said...

Thanks for having me today! :)

Marsha A. Moore said...

Robyn, it's great to have you spend a day!