Away
by Meg
Benjamin
GENRE: Paranormal
Romance
BLURB:
Grim
Morrigan, Guardian of the Ward and part-time private detective, polices the
Folk, the clans of fairies who live in the foothills outside Denver. But his
main job is concealing their true nature from the mortals around them.
Enter mortal Annie
Duran, who hires him to look for her brother Richard, missing and presumed dead
for ten years. Annie has seen Richard in the parking lot of the nightclub where
she works. Now she wants answers, and Grim’s supposed to find them.
The quest for Richard
ensnares both Grim and Annie in a sinister conspiracy involving kidnapped women
and outlaw magic. But they also discover their own overwhelming attraction to
each other.
When Annie herself
disappears, Grim’s need for answers becomes even more urgent. With the help of
a dissolute prince and a motley crew of unlikely fairies, Grim confronts a
rebellion among the Folk.
And it may take more
than just magic and luck to save both Annie and Grim this time.
Excerpt:
A wall of darkness had appeared in
the road, snuffing out the light. The illumination from their chemlights seemed
to bounce back, unable to penetrate the gloom.
Behind her, Grim brought the car to
a stop. “What is it?”
“Darkness,” Bertie said tersely.
“All dark.”
A sound seemed to grow in front of
them, a roaring grumble, like a distant waterfall. A distant waterfall that was
somehow getting louder. Annie bit her lip, piercing the dark with her suddenly
puny flare.
“It’s coming closer,” Bertie said
softly.
Annie stared. The wall of darkness
was moving, blanking out everything it touched. Annihilating the night around
them.
The SUV door opened behind her.
“Annie,” Grim urged. “Get inside.”
“What about the light?”
“Screw the light! Get in the damn
car.”
Bertie stepped in front of her,
taking the flare from her hand. “Do what he says.” He moved into the middle of
the road, extending his arms with a Cyalume in each hand.
Annie ducked into the car beside
Grim, slamming the door behind her. The rumble seemed to be coming from the
inky wall, like the sound of darkness advancing.
In front of them, Bertie extended
his arms from his body in a V. The Cyalumes trembled. Grim opened the door
again. “The flares don’t help. Get in, Bertie. Now.”
After another moment, Bertie opened the
back door, bringing the lights with him. Their orange tinge glowed, ghostly
inside the SUV.
“What is it?” Grim’s voice sounded
tight.
“No idea. I’ve never seen anything
like it before. What are you going to do?”
Grim pushed the SUV in gear. “Play
chicken. With the armies of the night.”
Interview with Meg Benjamin
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in Away?
My hero, Grim Morrigan, is a
Guardian of the Ward, which is a fancy way of saying he’s a cop who works for
the Folk, groups of fairies who live in the foothill suburbs of Denver. Part of
Grim’s job is policing the clubs where the Folk hang out, and Annie Duran, my
heroine, is a barmaid at one of those clubs, the Threshold. One night Annie
sees her brother Richard in the parking lot at the club—only Richard
disappeared and was presumed dead ten years ago. She hires Grim, who she thinks
is a private detective, to find out what’s going on. Grim takes the job because
he suspects the Folk may have played a part in Richard’s disappearance. But as
the two investigate—and become romantically involved—they find a much larger
conspiracy, which threatens the Folk themselves.
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have
planned for the future?
I have two more Folk books to be
published in the current series, Unseen, which
will come out in August, and Found. Both
books feature characters who are introduced in Away, but Unseen takes
place in a mountain town, Animas, that’s based on one of my favorite places,
Crested Butte, Colorado. I got to use aspects of Crested Butte’s Vinotuk Fall
Festival (which has to be seen to be believed), as well as details about the
setting that were a lot of fun to create. Found
takes place in the same part of the foothills as Away, and the hero is a secondary character from the first book,
Prince Bertie.
How
long would you say it takes you to write a book?
It really varies, but it usually takes me a
couple of months to write the first draft and then another month or two for
revisions. But I also like to submit my books to my critique partner, and that
can also take a while.
What
is your favorite childhood book?
Charlotte’s
Web was always a favorite, along with The
Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. With my kids, it was Where the Wild Things Are.
If
you could spend the day with one of the characters from Away who would it be? Please tell us why you chose this particular
character, where you would go and what you would do.
Probably Prince Bertie, the secondary
character who goes on to become a hero in his own right. Bertie’s the most
knowledgeable character about the history of the Folk, as well as the details
of magic. He’s also a sophisticated, debonair gentleman. I’d love to go to
dinner with Bertie and have a long discussion over good food and wine.
What
was the hardest scene from Away to
write?
Sex scenes are always tough, just from the
nature of things. But I really hate making my characters suffer. I had a hard
time with the scenes toward the end of the books where the characters are
physically threatened and hurt. But even though I may hate to hurt people, I’ll
definitely do it if it moves the story along.
What
made you want to become a writer?
Probably the fact that I love reading.
That’s how I’ve spent my spare time ever since I was a child. At some point, I
wanted to write books of my own.
Just
for fun
(a
Favorite song: Rosanne Cash’s “A Feather’s Not a Bird”
(b
Favorite book: Loretta Chase’s Lord
of Scoundrels
(c
Favorite movie: Coco
(d
Favorite tv show: Justified
(e
Favorite Food: Taco salads
(f
Favorite drink: New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc
(g
Favorite website: Vox.com
Thanks
so much for visiting with us today!
AUTHOR Bio
and Links:
Meg
Benjamin is an award-winning author of contemporary romance. Her newest series,
the Folk, is a paranormal trilogy set in Colorado. Meg’s Konigsburg series is
set in the Texas Hill Country and her Salt Box and Brewing Love trilogies are
set in the Colorado Rockies (both are available from Entangled Publishing).
Along with contemporary romance, Meg is also the author of the paranormal Ramos
Family trilogy from Berkley InterMix. Meg’s books have won numerous awards,
including an EPIC Award, a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award, the Holt
Medallion from Virginia Romance Writers, the Beanpot Award from the New England
Romance Writers, and the Award of Excellence from Colorado Romance Writers.
Meg’s Web site is http://www.MegBenjamin.com. You can follow her on Facebook
(http://www.facebook.com/meg.benjamin1), Pinterest
(http://pinterest.com/megbenjamin/), and Twitter (http://twitter.com/megbenj1).
Meg loves to hear from readers—contact her at meg@megbenjamin.com.
Giveaway:
$20 Amazon/BN GC
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3 comments:
These tours are great so thank you for all the hard work you all put into bringing them to us. We have picked up some terrific books thanks to all of you bloggers and the authors as well.
I enjoyed getting to know your book and thanks for the chance to win :)
What was your favorite book growing up? Good Luck with the release. Bernie Wallace BWallace1980(at)hotmail(d0t)com
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