SPOTLIGHT/ CHARACTER INTERVIEW & GIVEAWAY - VAMPIRE KING OF NEW YORK BY SUSAN HANNIFORD CROWLEY

Hello My Lovelies,

Today on Wicked Readings, I'm spotlighting Susan Hanniford Crowley's New Release Vampire King of New York. I really love her Vampires in Manhattan series! Susan's book When Love Survives is one of the first books I reviewed when I first started this blog. I am so happy to have Susan back here, and she brought The Vampire King himself, Max Vander Meer. Stick around and see what Max has to say... First, here is a little bit about The Vampire King Of New York. Oh yea... There is a giveaway too!

Max Vander Meer, is a modern day Viking, CEO of VMeer Industries, and a Vampire. He makes a plea to the Goddess Freya to find the only woman who can heal his heart, the woman haunting his dreams. But, the Goddess strikes a bargain with him. 

To find this special woman, Max must return to the city he helped build–New York, which is threatened by an ancient terror. When he meets Evelyn, he is astounded. Could she be the one who inhabits his dreams? But Evelyn is haunted by loss and betrayal. How can Max win her love when she doesn’t trust him as a man, and she doesn’t want to be a vampire? 

If Max returns to Iceland without her, he will be encased in ice . . . forever!

GUEST POST / INTERVIEW

Talking with Vampire Max about Vampire King of New York By Susan Hanniford Crowley 

It's evening. Max picks me up in his limo. He has a huge bouquet of deep red roses mixed with the most delicate soft pink rosebuds.

"For Tawania?From your private grower in Monaco?”

“Yes. Flown in this morning.And these too.”  He shows me a box of Swiss chocolates.

“From Switzerland?”

“Also flown in this morning.”

I nod.  Nothing about Max is less than first class. When we arrive at Tawania’s home, he gets out first and helps me out of the limo.  I go to the door first. 

“Hi Tawania, May I present Maximillion Vander Meer, Vampire King of New York.”

He kisses Tawania’s hand (no biting).  “I am charmed by your graciousness in having us over.”  Max hands her the roses and the box of chocolates. “Your loveliness makes the Damask roses pale.”

“Thank you.  Please, come in.”  I smile having talked to Tawania previously.

We enter her home and sit in her living room.  Max grins.  His fangs are showing.  I tap his shoulder and he retracts them.

“Your home reflects such warmth.”

Tawania smiles.

“Thank you for coming.  I have a few questions.”

Tall, blond and well built Max (even in his Armani suit) chuckles.  “Certainly.  I’m used to questions.”

“How old are you?”

“One thousand and seventy-eight years.”

“Oh my.  You don’t look a day over 28.”

“Really?”  He looks over at me.  “Am I aging, Lily?”

I can’t stop laughing.  “He calls me Lily to protect my identity for unfriendly vampires.”

“What is it like being a vampire?”

“I try to stay busy, because it gets lonely. I outlive all my human friends, and my vampire friends as well.”

“You outlive your vampire friends.”

“They lose hope and give up.  It’s a bad thing to give up, Tawania.  Never give up.”

“Please, tell me about the book.”

I answer, “It’s about Max risking everything for true love. Of course, when he was a Viking, he lost his true love and family. In this day and age, even he is on the edge of giving up. I think the best way to explain is with a scene from the novel Vampire King of New York.”

Maximillion Vander Meer stood in the jagged mouth of the ice cave with a wolf skin girding his loins and fur boots on his feet. A frigid breeze breathed its welcome over his bare chest, arms and legs.

He smiled and closed his eyes to step back into the Viking past he loved, where he was free. He threw back his head and howled in exuberant abandonment. Then he ripped off the wolf skin and kicked off his boots. Max ran to the shadowed alcove he knew so well. A flicker of the past sparked in his brain and Vikings filled the cave, their voices rich in the chant of a ritual forgotten in the modern age, invoking the protection and wisdom of Odin, Thor, and Freya. Then he blinked and they were gone. Their voices silenced by time.

Every time he entered this sacred place hollowed out by his ancestors, their presence worked magic and distracted his weary heart from the curse inhabiting his body. This power brought him back to the Viking warrior deep within him, as only here could he reconnect with his lost humanity. Every passing moment the curse pulled him further from whom and what he’d once been. That was the danger in being a vampire. It wasn’t the chill of his body, but the distance that crept into his heart. He was on the edge of forgetting how the laughter of his son warmed him to his toes. The memory of Svenna’s delicious heat as her soft skin lay against his flesh igniting the fire between them, slipped through his fingers like water. Inhaling the fragrance of flowers in her hair had made him feel powerful. Even the excitement of the next adventure filled with salt spray and swords clashing faded away. His heart no longer raced.

The dire flaw in immortality was the sameness. Centuries of monotony blurred into others. Few ancient ones survived the deadly soul-numbing tedium of every day being the same. Closing on a thousand years, too many chose to lie in the sun and burn in agony over the course of two days until they crisped away in the wind. When the true burning began, night, the blessed night, offered no reprieve. The recent “chosen” death of his friend Coelhus was etched in his memory, making Max’s need more urgent than it had ever been. Coelhus had given up. After centuries of dreaming of a woman named Celeste, he ceased to believe she could be real. Coelhus could no longer bear the loneliness and the endless searching. Consumed by his dashed dreams, he gave his body to the sun. Max stayed with him in his last moments, and while he couldn’t deter his friend, he resolved not to end in ashes himself.

Time had robbed him of love, but today, in this moment, Max meant to get it back. Right now! Only this sanctuary of ice and stone seemed real to him; the human world faded into insignificance. Even the responsibility he owed his own kind lost its meaning. He had come to make a last sacrifice. If it didn’t work, he didn’t know what he would do next. His belief, however antiquated when viewed by others, never failed him.

He had nothing to lose, and everything to gain. Since the death of his wife many centuries before, nothing more could happen to his empty heart. The feeling of being human haunted him from time to time like an elusive fragrance or taste. Memories were a different matter. The curse, as he called it, made every memory eternal, the pain as raw and consuming as the day he'd lost her.

Squeezing the ancient dagger in his fist, Max stepped up to the frozen altar. The three carved stone figures stared blankly at him. Time, and a growing sophistication, taught him that they were nothing but stone, still the part of him that was Viking would always believe. Holding fast to that reverence of a bygone age, he stood before them.

“I do not call on you, Odin, Father to all, but I respect your wisdom.” He bowed. “I do not call on you, Thor, the strength of every warrior, but I respect your power.” He bowed again. “I call on Freya’s mercy to regain my house, to find the only woman who can heal my heart.” Kneeling with his gaze fixed to the ground, he then rose to stand over the frozen altar. Before the feminine carved figure, he sliced his forearm and let the blood drip onto the icy surface. “In the name of Freya, let me be worthy. Lead me to love. Help me find it or lock me in the ice forever. I can no longer bear the torment of life without true love.”

“Wow, Max, it looks to me like you got yourself in trouble with that last statement.”

I nod. “Yes, he sure does.”

“Max, what is your favorite scene in the book?”

“The champagne bath scene.  It’s very romantic.  What’s your favorite scene, Lily?”

“The scene on the head of the Statue of Liberty.”

“What do you think is important about this book, Max?”

He grins, and there’s the fangs again. “It’s an insider look not only at my life but at New York’s most secret society, the Arnhem Society, and the Arnhem Knights.  The Arnhem Knights take an oath to protect humans in New York from death by vampire and to give assistance to other supernaturals in need.”

“Is David in the book?”

“Yes, my son and his wife Laura are in the book.”

I add, “This book about Max and his search for love is the first in a series about the Arnhem Knights.  We’re very excited about it.”

“Lily, don’t forget that When Love Survives has just been re-released.  It’s the first book from the original series Vampires in Manhattan and is available in all formats at Smashwords and also in Kindle ebook at Amazon.”

GIVEAWAY!

“Let’s do the contest.  Max will giveaway to two lucky commenters who say “I love Max” in the comment box their choice of a Kindle ebook or PDF ebook of Vampire King of New York.  Currently Vampire King of New York is only available from Amazon Kindle so the other format is a plus for people who don’t have a Kindle and would prefer the PDF. This contest is void where prohibited by law, and the deadline is 8/12/2013.

Max kisses Tawania’s hand.  “Thank you so much, dear Tawania for having us over.  Good luck to all your readers.” 

Thank you Max! I look forward to sharing my review of VAMPIRE KING OF NEW YORK with my readers.

Vampire King of New York is available on Kindle at
^{http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D70NC6O}

When Love Survives is available at Smashwordshttps://www.smashwords.com/books/view/339289 and at Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/When-Love-Survives-ebook/dp /B006MV7N60

* My Review of When Love Survives: http://wickedreadingsbytawania.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-when-love-survives-by-susan.html

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 

I’ve been writing since I was eight and was first published when I was 16.  Though I’ve been having a great time in science fiction and fantasy for the past several years, (You can see more about the scfi part of me by visiting www.susanhannifordcrowley.com .)  a friend of mine recognized my romantic nature and recommended that I begin writing romance.  I’m having the time of the my life.   I’ve meet several romances authors and have to say that they are truly gracious and inspiring ladies.

If you’re also into writing, you can visit the site above for the free weekly creative writing exercises.  I also have a blog where I generally talk about what inspires me and writing adventures in general.  It’s called The Writing House and it’s at http://thewritinghouse.blogspot.com/

I’m a member of SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America) and the RWA (Romance Writers of America), and I’m also a part-time webmaster.  Frankly, I’m on the web a lot.  Sometimes you’ll find me at Twitter.  Look for onlyladyknight there and join the discussion.  I can’t promise I’m always there, but I do catch up.  That’s all I’m going to say for now.  We’ll talk again.

To find out more about Susan Hanniford Crowley and her vampires and rare supernaturals, visit:

Susan’s website: http://www.susanhannifordcrowley.com
Susan’s blog:  http://nightsofpassion.wordpress.com
Facebook: Susan Hanniford Crowley, Author
Twitter: SHCrowley
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing