Guest Author: Ellie Heller

EHeller-Ginny CaptureI am excited to welcome author Ellie Heller, who is celebrating the release of her first novel, Ginny’s Capture.

Two years ago Deidra Montague royally screwed up with Guinevere. Now Dee secretly works for the fae council, breaking up potential zombie swarms, while Ginny–a mortal–attends grad school, preparing for a career helping survivors of zombie attacks.  Even apart, Dee still watches over Ginny. How could she not, after learning that the woman she betrayed has been blessed as her mate?

Now students from Ginny’s school are dropping out in alarming numbers and turning up infected with the zombie virus. When Dee finds out, she decides it’s time to extract her mate from the mounting peril. Only she arrives to find Ginny in the thick of things, trying to solve the problem herself. Just like old times. With drugged-up zombies everywhere, casket sales on the rise, and saccharine bubblegum pop constantly playing in the background, Dee decides it’s time to lay her heart on the line. Because she’s the only one who’s going to capture Ginny.

When you’re fae and your ordained mate is a former mortal lover, rescuing her from zombies is the easy part . . . .

Make sure you stick around to the end. We’ll be giving away a five-dollar Amazon gift card.
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The Puck or Fun with Reoccurring Characters

I love strong reoccurring secondary characters. The more oddball, extreme or simply ‘out there’ the better. Think of Grandma Mazur from Janet Evanovich’s early Stephanie Plum novels, Marguerite Argeneau from Lynsay Sand’s Argeneau Vampire stories, Egbert ‘Eggie’ Smith from Shelly Laurenston’s Pride series and you’ve got to grin, right? There’s just something about the unique auxiliary character that catches my imagination.

So of course I wrote one in my Legacy series (which I’m pitching and submitting right now).

Mine is the Puck.

Not because he’s cool.

Although he is.

And not because he’s powerful.

Which he definitely is.

And not because he’s perverse (and trust me, perverse doesn’t begin to cover it).

But because the Puck, my Puck, has an inordinate love of period and regional costumes. He always dresses for the occasion.

Take, for instance, this scene from Maven, a preview to the Legacy series, which is the very first time I wrote about him appearing (this is still in draft stage):

As usual the Puck made an entrance. He peeled himself off the wall he’d been camouflaged against, did a back flip over the heads of the people in front of him and landed nimbly on his feet on the table next to me. Even standing elevated, his short stature placed his head below mine.

Randall adopted a garden gnome look today, green lederhosen and a red cap over his bald head. I’d seen him several times in different guises, from a miniature Edwardian dandy to a pint sized Pimp to a full court jester.

Oh, right, have I mentioned the Puck’s ‘given’ name is Randall? I envision him having the body of Danny Devito instilled with a large part of the personality of Tony Randall as Felix Unger. Except, of course, Puck is far more perverse than either. Okay, maybe not one of them. ?

Writing him is so much fun, as aggravating as my characters can sometimes find him to be. For instance in this scene, from another book in the series, working title Averill, the title character is soaking in the tub, trying to speed the healing of her overworked body:

A soft shushing of fabric interrupted her musings. She opened her eyes. The Puck, dressed in toga, perched at the edge of the tub eating the last couple of grapes off a decimated bunch. He leered down at just visible tops of her breasts in the bubble filled tub.

Although, in terms of outfits, this one is an all time favorite, (also from Averill):

The Puck stood in his two and a half foot glory on her vanity counter dressed in – what the hell was he dressed in? Navy velvet cut away jacket, knickers and an exceedingly lacey shirt? The affect on his short, solid body was rather startling. The wig with the fake blonde curls didn’t help.

“Who the hell are you today?” Shit, too late to take back the rude question.

“Little Lord Fauntleroy. So, can I take her?”

Seriously. I. Love. This. Job.

The Legacy series is making the rounds and isn’t published (yet! Fingers crossed!). For those of you whose interest is now piqued, my novella Ginny’s Capture is currently available. This story is not part of the Legacy series, instead it’s a paranormal story where I’ve pushed by boundaries by writing two things I’ve never written before: zombies and lesbians (at least not as lead characters).

For this story the side character is a Were named Huey. Hopefully he’ll make you grin as much as he made me grin.

Thanks for stopping by. I have a five-dollar Amazon gift card to give away to one lucky person (which is more than enough to buy Ginny’s Capture, if you want!).
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Meet Ellie Heller!

As Ellie Heller I write paranormal romance and contemporary fantasy, all with a suspenseful edge. Lots of ideas, too little time. My first published short, “Ginny’s Capture” is due out from Noble Romance in late February, 2012.

Contact Info
Website: website
Social Media: Facebook | Twitter

Want to purchase Ellie’s novels?
Ginny’s Capture at Amazon
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Contest Time!

Thank you Ellie for taking the time to stop by Literary Escapism!

Ellie is giving away a five-dollar Amazon gift card. To enter, all you have to do is answer this one question: Who is your favorite reoccurring secondary character in a series? Remember, you must answer the question in order to be entered.

Even though I’m not giving the additional entries any more, you can still help support the author by sharing their article, and this contest, on your blog, Twitter, Facebook, or anywhere you can. After all, the more people who are aware of this fabulous author ensures we get more fabulous stories.

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 April 24th at which time I’ll determine the winner with help from the snazzy new plug-in I have.

I have not been contacting winners, so you will need to check back to see if you’ve won.

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.

20 Comments

  1. Lady you have me in stitches over here. “Little Lord Fauntleroy.” WTH? Too funny. You have a flair and style all your own Ms. Heller. Look forward to seeing more of this world you’ve created.

  2. Oh, I can only pick one? I’m breaking that rule.

    I love Ian from the Night Huntress series. He’s funny, sexy, and arrogant. He’s also deadly.

    I also love Condor from the Green Rider series. He’s the FMC Karigan’s horse. And never a smarter horse was there. :)

  3. Crahm, oh! I like those too. I keep thinking Jessee will get her own book one day, but then I remember it’s urban fantasy so they’re all (basically) one characters as the main point of view for the series. Love Warren.

  4. Ooo, Ian from Night Huntress is a good one! He floats my boat. :D

    Ryodan from KMM’s Fever series is pretty awesome, too. I love Puck from Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fae series… Sarah and Ransom from Guild Hunters series.. Duncan, Sarah’s husband? Totally awesome.

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