Guest Author: Marta Acosta

Marta AcostaToday, I am excited to welcome Marta Acosta, author of the Casa Dracula series, as we celebrate the release of the final novel, Haunted Honeymoon.

Milagro de Los Santos, the only human to survive vampire infection, still has normal girl problems. She can’t pay her condo fees, can’t sell her novels, and still longs for her ex-fiance, Dr. Oswald Grant, the fabulous vamp who accidentally infected her. She also feels guilty about her torrid affair with decadent aristovamp Ian Ducharme.

When Ian’s attentions to a sexy neighbor infuriate Milagro, she jets off to London and begins her own flirtations.

Suddenly, the bodies begin piling up and Milagro’s being framed for murder. Is Ian retaliating or is someone else out to get her? She escapes to Oswald’s ranch, but a blow to the head causes her to lose her memory of all her time with the vampires. How will she clear her name now, and can she really have a do-over with Oswald…or will she make the same mistakes all over again?

Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away a copy of Haunted Honeymoon and a Casa Dracula novel – winner’s choice – to two lucky readers
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A lot of people ask about the writing process, mostly what my day is like (sitting at my desk and wishing I could play outside), and it’s taken me a while to figure out that they really want to know how I came up with a story or characters. So I’ll tell you about Milagro de Los Santos, the heroine of my Casa Dracula series.

Reviewers and fans call Milagro intrepid, plucky, sassy, cheerful, good-hearted, sexy, hilarious, and wacky. Do you remember how those losers on Buffy the Vampire Slayer made a Buffybot to fulfill their perverse wishes? (Okay, it was fun seeing Spike with the robot.) Well, I constructed Milagro to be my best fictional friend.

She had to be funny because I think humor is what makes life bearable. She had to be good because I don’t want to spend a lot of time with someone I don’t admire. She had to make mistakes because perfection bores me. She had to be willing to fall in love because I wanted her to be emotionally accessible. She had to be optimistic because I hate whining (and heaven knows I do enough of it).

Writers absorb all we’ve read and learned and heard and use these things to help us construct our stories. My first book, Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, was inspired by books like Jane Austen’s where a bright and pleasant young woman falls for someone unattainable; and where families and other suitors cause problems. There are misunderstandings, word play, and yearning.

When my editor asked for additional Casa Dracula books, I knew I had to have my character and her world develop and progress. My second book, Midnight Brunch, takes place at a posh resort in the desert where Milagro is hiding out and working on a screenplay. I drew a bit from ‘40s romantic comedies: there are dangerous cults, eccentric heiresses, has-been actors, and tabloid reporters.

Milagro’s world gets even more complicated in The Bride of Casa Dracula. Everything is going wrong as she’s planning her wedding, and she’s making seriously bad decisions. I had to trust my readers to both understand my character when she makes terrible mistakes and to forgive her.

In Haunted Honeymoon, I upped the ante. Milagro’s naturally impulsive nature gets out of control and so does her situation. Her courage, cheerfulness, and good heart carry her through, though. She’s grown from being an impetuous girl to a confident young
woman. She’s still fun, funny, sexy, good and brave. She had more than earned a happy ending so I gave her a fabulous one. I gave her everything she’d dreamed of…I gave her everything I dreamed of for her, because I’d grown to love this fabulous figment of my imagination.

I hope you’ll check out my Casa Dracula books.

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Want to purchase Marta’s novels?

Casa Dracula

  1. Happy Hour at Casa Dracula at Amazon or the Book Depository
  2. Midnight Brunch at Amazon or the Book Depository
  3. The Bride of Casa Dracula at Amazon or the Book Depository
  4. Haunted Honeymoon at Amazon or the Book Depository

Nancy’s Theory of Style (writing as Grace Coopersmith) at Amazon or the Book Depository
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Thank you Marta for visiting Literary Escapism.

Contest Time! Marta has graciously offered to give away a copy of Haunted Honeymoon and a Casa Dracula novel – winner’s choice – to two lucky readers.  All you have to do is answer this one question: Who would be your fictional best friend and why?

As always, there’s more ways of getting your name in the hat (remember, these aren’t mandatory to enter, just extra entries):

  • +1 for each place you post about today’s contest on your blog, social network, or anywhere you can. Digg it, stumble it, twit it, share it with the world. Wherever you share it, make sure you add a link to it along with your answer.
  • +1 to any review you comment on, however, comments must be meaningful. Just give me the title of the review and I’ll be able to figure it out from there.
  • +1 If you are a follower of Literary Escapism on Facebook and/or Twitter
  • +10 Purchase any of Marta’s novels (listed above) or any novel through LE’s Amazon store or the Book Depository sometime during this contest and send a copy of the receipt VIA email for your purchase to: jackie AT literaryescapism DOT com. Each purchase is worth ten entries.

There is one thing I am adding to my contests now…the winner must post a review of the novel someplace. Whether it is on their own blog, Amazon, GoodReads, LibraryThing or wherever, it doesn’t matter. Just help get the word out.

The contest will stay open until October 22nd, at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the Research Randomizer and the List Randomizer.

About Jackie 3282 Articles
I am a 30-something SAHM with two adorable boys and a supportive husband who is very tolerant of my reading addiction. I love to read and easily go through about a dozen books a month – well I did before I had kids. Now, not so much. After my first son was born, I began to take my hobby of reviewing a little more serious and started Literary Escapism to help with my sanity. I love to discuss the fabulous novels I’ve read and meeting all the wonderful people in the book blogging community has been amazing.

13 Comments

  1. I’d love to be Stephanie Plum’s best friend. I think it would be fun to be Lula for a day and ride along on all Stephanie’s crazy adventures.

  2. Hi, Sandy, oh, if Mrs. Weasley was your best pal, wouldn’t you end up wearing hideous sweaters? I’m very fond of Ralph.

    Lesley, I read Stephanie Plum books until I OD’d on them. In a similar vein, it would be really fun to hang out with Bubbles Yablonsky of Stephanie Stohmeyer’s books. Not only is she funny, but she could give me secret salon tips, like using packets of Kool-Aid to color your hair.

  3. Hi, Adrienne, I can guess the reasons you’d like to be friends with Jacob! I don’t know who Luna is, though.

    Stephanie, I’m very fond of Sookie in the novels. I tried to watch True Blood, but I liked Sookie the way I imagined her in my head better. I may give True Blood another try…sometimes it’s hard for me to appreciate a show when I’ve enjoyed the book first.

  4. I would want Merit to be my friend…she seems like someone i would get along with.

    +1 LE facebook fanpage/ twitter follower

  5. -Hi, Mariska, there are so many books I want to read and new ones keep coming along! I’d enter contests, but I don’t want to take a prize from someone else.
    -Van, I really want to Chloe Neill’s books. Merit does sound like a great character.

  6. I would love it if my fictional best friend would be Bubba from Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse books. I think this one is self explanatory even if he has an unusual fondness for cat blood.

    Twitter: http://twitter.com/jmspettoli/status/27692201722

    Follower of Literary Escapism on Facebook (Jessica Spettoli) and Twitter (@jmspettoli)

  7. Oh, I love Bubba from Charlaine’s books. He’s a fab character…although I feel bad about the cats. I didn’t mind when Spike used to gamble with demons for kittens, though.

  8. I’d love to be friends with Lafayette from the True Blood HBO show. Aside from the drugs, i think he’s hilarious! He’s rude and crass, but i love it!

    Thanks for the chance to win!!!

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