Cambion’s Blood
Erin Fulmer
(Cambion, #2)
Publication date: June 7th 2022
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy
Half-succubus attorney Lily Knight has blood on her hands.
Haunted by guilt, behind on her rent, and facing professional disgrace, Lily must figure out how to survive in the wreckage of her former life. To make ends meet, she accepts a contract job she never wanted but can’t seem to avoid—hunting another demon murderer. This time, the victims are human, and a shadowy government agency will reward Lily with a way out of her dire financial straits.
If Lily doesn’t solve the case before the news gets out, fear and hatred will put all demonkind at risk from the proverbial torch-carrying mob. But when a young succubus on the run from the authorities begs for her help, Lily faces a new conflict of interest—especially after the suspect, Eve, reveals her father is Lily’s old frenemy.
Now Lily must juggle the pressures of a high-stakes murder case, her complicated relationship with her “not-boyfriend” Sebastian, and responsibility for a wayward teenager as she races to find the real killer. Worse, the culprit isn’t just a demon, but a self-proclaimed goddess who will stop at nothing to carry out her bloody quest for justice. To stop the killings, Lily must confront that which she most fears: the truth about what went down with Eve’s father in the desert—and its consequences.
That is, if the goddess doesn’t get to her first…
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Interview with Erin Fulmer
How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?
My book is about a half-succubus lawyer, so I guess as a lawyer I’m partially involved in that subject! I wanted to write an urban fantasy featuring an attorney main character, because I hadn’t seen many like that. There are themes of personal agency, trying to integrate identities that don’t necessarily play well together, and living one’s truth, even if that’s a truth that others aren’t comfortable with. A lot of that reflects my personal experience as a bi woman, which often comes along with feeling like you don’t fit comfortably in anyone’s categories or finding people make assumptions about you based on your identity that aren’t true.
What were your goals and intentions in this book, and how well do you feel you achieved them?
I wrote this particular book when #MeToo was really taking off and it shows. The main character, Lily, says at one pivotal point in the book: “It may be just politics to you, but it’s personal to me.” That says a lot about the themes and how I approach my work and my presence in the world. The personal is political and vice versa when a person’s right to exist or bodily autonomy is raised by uninterested parties as a matter of intellectual debate.
But what’s the right thing to do when the justice system fails to dispense justice, if the stakes are that personal? I think that’s the book’s central question. My goal was to explore the ethical gray areas around that as well as to deliver an exciting, sensual, and spooky story. I think I did that and I’m proud of the results, though of course a writer is never satisfied at the end of the day.
What was the hardest part of writing this book?
There’s a particular character introduced in this book whom I absolutely love: fun to write, a great foil for the main character, and sometimes deliciously terrible. But when my editor read it, she didn’t like this character at all! I was shocked but realized this meant that I hadn’t done a good job of showing why that person was redeemable. It meant a lot of rewriting and changing the way some scenes went.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I really love the Big Bad in this book. I can’t say much more without giving anything away, but it gave me the opportunity to write some atmospheric set pieces and dramatic moments that were just incredibly fun (if harrowing for my heroine).
Were there alternate endings you considered?
There are always alternate endings, to be honest! It took me awhile to figure out, and I did move one plot point that I almost used in the ending to the next book in the series. I also surprised myself with a couple of aspects of the way it ended, including the epilogue. I think some people are going to hate me for that epilogue, but hopefully they’ll hate me in the sense that they also feel they NEED the next book. I’m a pantser, so I never know exactly what will happen in the end, but once I do find the right path, I know by the way it feels.
Can you share some stories about people you met while researching this book?
Hm, that’s a tough one! I do a lot of my research over the internet, or just through personal observation, as with the law aspects of this series. I volunteered for a local women’s crisis center around the same time I wrote this, not specifically for research but because it felt like an important thing to do, so some details from those experiences and the incredibly strong folks I met doing that work did influence certain characters and settings in the book.
What genre of books do you enjoy reading?
I read a lot of fantasy and science fiction, along with a fair amount of contemporary romance and the odd horror or suspense novel now and then. SFF is my home genre and the one I always return to. But it is nice to turn to a happy ever after now and again. Some of my favorite recent reads include Delilah Greene Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake (sapphic rom com), I, Bionic by Jess K. Hardy (sci fi romance), and Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher (high fantasy). As you can tell, my tastes are eclectic!
Author Bio:
Erin Fulmer (she/her) is a public benefits attorney by day, author of urban fantasy and science fiction by night. She lives in sunny Northern California with her husband and two spoiled cats. When she’s not writing or working, she enjoys yoga, taking pictures of the sky, playing board games with friends, and napping like it’s an Olympic sport.
CAMBION’S BLOOD, the second book in her Cambion series and sequel to her debut urban fantasy CAMBION’S LAW, is out June 7 from City Owl Books.
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2 comments:
Sounds like a great book.
Really awesome cover, thanks for sharing!
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