I am excited to welcome author Allison Pang, who is getting ready to celebrate the release of her newest novel, A Brush of Darkness, on Tuesday.
The man of her dreams might be the cause of her nightmares.
Six months ago, Abby Sinclair was struggling to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. Now, she has an enchanted iPod, a miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer, and a magical marketplace to manage. But despite her growing knowledge of the OtherWorld, Abby isn’t at all prepared for Brystion, the dark, mysterious, and sexy-as- sin incubus searching for his sister, convinced Abby has the key to the succubus’s whereabouts. Abby has enough problems without having this seductive shape-shifter literally invade her dreams to get information. But when her Faery boss and some of her friends vanish, as well, Abby and Brystion must form an uneasy alliance. As she is sucked deeper and deeper into this perilous world of faeries, angels, and daemons, Abby realizes her life is in as much danger as her heart—and there’s no one she can trust to save her.
Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away a signed copy of Allison’s novel, A Brush of Darkness.
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On Writing Fantasy
Fantasy is subjective – every reader has their own concept of what appeals to them. Whether you enjoy the high fantasy sword and sorcery type of adventure, or the close- to-home magic in an everyday setting, the key is for the author to build a world where the reader can suspend disbelief.
Pretty much everything I read growing up was on the side of epic or high fantasy. Urban Fantasy as a genre didn’t really exist. There were authors like Tanya Huff who mixed vampires and werewolves with modern day mysteries, but that was more of the exception than the rule. So it was a bit of a surprise to me to realize that I was writing a UF myself. I always had figured if I were to ever write a book, it would have been one of those epic tomes full of dragons and angels, political maps and trade routes. (And I do have one started, in fact – it just needs some focus). I’d always told myself I would *never* write an Urban Fantasy…writing about the real world just wasn’t fantastical enough for me.
And yet here I am. In some ways writing a UF is harder for me. In a straight fantasy, I get to lay down the rules and as long as I’m consistent, that’s enough. In UF, the fantasy part is the same way…but I still have to do real world research. I can’t refer to mundane things offhandedly, because somewhere, someone will call me on it. If a reader can’t trust me to get the basic facts right (in a world I LIVE in), how can they trust what I say on the fantasy side?
Now, on the other hand, there are things that I can’t write about at all. Or that I don’t want to, really. For example, I’m married to a law enforcement officer. When I first started writing, I had many people telling me how I should write a cop romance – since I would be able to take all that real-world experience and use it.
And I sort of laughed.
I write and read fantasy because I want to escape – the last thing I want to do is write about my everyday. (And I hate to break it to you, but being married to a cop is many things. Romantic isn’t really one of them. It’s a lot of overtime. Missed dinners. Crazy shifts. Odd phone calls that often mention dead bodies. Crime scene pictures I’d rather not have seen. You get the idea.) So, no, I don’t really want to write it…or at least not in a romantic fantasy light. On the other hand, I’ve got some excellent resources for police procedure if I should need them somewhere down the road.
Still, give me a nice swashbuckling pirate hero any day of the week. Or a dragon.
Or even an incubus.
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A marine biologist in a former life, Allison Pang turned to a life of crime to finance her wild spending habits and need to collect Faberge eggs. A cat thief of notable repute, she spends her days sleeping and nights scaling walls and wooing dancing boys….Well, at least the marine biology part is true. But she was taloned by a hawk once. She also loves Hello Kitty, sparkly shoes, and gorgeous violinists. She spends her days in Northern Virginia working as a cube grunt and her nights waiting on her kids and cats, punctuated by the occasional husbandly serenade. Sometimes she even manages to write. Mostly she just makes it up as she goes.
Contact Info
Website: www.heartofthedreaming.com/
Blog: mynfel.blogspot.com/
Social Media: Facebook / Twitter
Want to purchase Allison’s novels?
Abby Sinclair
- A Brush of Darkness at Amazon or the Book Depository
- A Sliver of Shadows at Amazon or the Book Depository
- A Trace of MoonlightAmazon or the Book Depository
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Thank you Allison for taking the time to stop by Literary Escapism!
Contest Time! Allison is giving away a signed copy of A Brush of Darkness. To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: What are some of your reasons for escaping into fantasy?
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 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.
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 January 27th, at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the Research Randomizer and the List Randomizer.
I have not been contacting winners, so you will need to check back to see if you’ve won.
I like reading fantasy because it gives me a break from the real world for a while.
+1 facebook follower
“miniature unicorn living in her underwear drawer” that pretty much sealed the deal for me . and from what I have been reading he is a pervy little dude too.
1 have commented on lots of your posts
1 follower
1 posted on FB: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/sharon.stogner
I’m so excited about Allison’s release. I’m not able to post anywhere else at this minute due to a secret, but maybe I can tomorrow. :) That’s all I can say.
I escape into fantasy because I think it’s too boring to read about something that could actually happen. Why would I want to read about someone’s day if it’s just like mine? I’d rather throw in some paranormal creatures and a crazy epic journey to spice things up.
+1 Follower on twitter and facebook
The news in the real world is just too depressing for me. That’s why I like to read fantasy – I know those elements aren’t real so they don’t make me more depressed. Plus, who doesn’t want to imagine that magic really exists. I’d probably run screaming if I actually met any of these creatures, but it’s still fun to think about them. This book definitely sounds like one I’d want to read.
+1 commented on Hunted by the Others
+1 commented on Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
+1 commented on Lightborn
I escape into fantasy because the story/world/characters are full of surprises and has endless possibilities. It’s fun being transported into a world full of magic and supernatural beings.
+1 twitted: http://twitter.com/#!/vanpham88/status/28321037628215296
+1 LE facebook fan and twitter follower
+1 commented on Lightborn review
+1 commented on Sins of the Heart review
Forgot to answer the question! Escaping into fantasy just makes me happy. Simple as that
I escape into fantasy because it isn’t as mundane as real life and occasionally it makes for more fun than ironing or dishes.
Besides I love reading and Fantasy gives the best reads :D
To escape reality would probably be the most obvious answer. I also have dreams of traveling more someday, and through books we can travel places we’ll never go, in fiction, a lot of times those places just don’t exist!
meredithfl at gmail dot com
+1 Facebook follower
This book looks so great I love the cover and I heard some great thing about it so now I cannot wait to read it.
One of my reasons for escaping into fantasy is plain and simple escaping from life, sometimes I just really need to take a break from my life and jump into another world.
Thank you for the giveaway.
+1 for answering the question.
+1 I’m a follower of LE on facebook and Twitter (Mette Jensen) (mette_s_jensen)
+1 Twitter: http://twitter.com/mette_s_jensen/status/29541761562976256
+1 Facebook: http://on.fb.me/gBZiq2
I enjoy diving into a good fantasy story because I can focus on whatever world the author has created. They get to make up the rules and I am just along for the ride!
Stacie
GeishasMom73 on twitter
I follow Literary Escapism on twitter
I retweeted on twitter: http://twitter.com/LiteraryEscapis/status/28077387837087744
like JenM I like to escape reality and enjoy a new world, where everything can happens and still you know there will be a HEA (in most cases *g*) – and that’s the fantastic part: there are so many different worlds you can choose from it will never get boring…for me reading is part of my life and I can’t imagine one without the other…
greetings, Melanie