Tell us a little about your latest or upcoming release.
Infinite Azure is the 9th installment of The Blushing Death Series, following Dahlia Sabin through her trials to becoming the paranormal power she’s destined to become.
The supernatural world has come out to humanity with a bang!
All the precious planning Patrick and Dean have worked toward and all the connections they have developed are worthless. When the Master Vampire of North America decides to remind humanity of their place on the food chain, the city and its people will pay the price. The battle for the North American vampire colonies has begun in earnest and only a single vampire can be at the top.
Dahlia is waging a battle on a different front. Baba Yaga is making moves in Faerie to regain her power in both the human world and Faerie, creating chaos and leaving carnage in her wake. Faced with new crises and old enemies, Dahlia will need to balance her responsibilities to her people and her city with the creatures in the Outer Realm. But Baba Yaga has used the darkest magic to tie The Blushing Death to her and the ramifications could be deadly. Can Dahlia build an army to defeat Baba Yaga? Can she overcome her own fears to become the power she needs to be?
Is there a theme or message in your work that you would like readers to connect to?
I do have a few themes coursing throughout my books. The first, is self-awareness and acceptance. I think it’s incredibly important to know who you are and not only accept yourself, but love yourself. Struggling with self-acceptance is universal and we all struggle with that.
Another theme I like to carry-forward and revisit, is that the world isn’t black and white with a lot of gray. There are no villains or heroes, that we all have the capacity to be both. I like to make people consider if in the same situation could they do the same?
What would your readers be surprised to learn about you?
I LOVE Disney World, in an unnatural way for a 43-year-old woman. The rides are crap but the immersion into a fantasy world is something that I adore. I love the planning that goes into each trip because I’m very much a type A person. Also, I could spend all day in the gift shops. Although, to be fair, I love a gift shop no matter what it’s for. And finally, I collect a pair of ears each time I go, and I may have included my daughter in my crazy. And now we each have Mickey ears for each day we were in a park.
When you’re not writing what do you do? Do you have any hobbies or guilty pleasures?
Unfortunately, I have a full-time job which keeps me occupied throughout the week. When I’m not spending my evenings and weekends with my family or writing, I love to fall into a book and disappear for a few hours into a really good story. Left to my own devices though, I could sit and read all day.
Is there a genre(s) that you’d like to write that you haven’t tackled yet?
There are a couple of things I’d like to tackle. First, I’d love to write a noir. I love those classic movies and books from the 30’s and 40’s that play with morality, light and shadow, and have the hard-edged central character. I’ve incorporated some of those same themes in my own books through the lens of Urban Fantasy, but I’d like to go full-on through the noir murder mystery and see where it leads me.
Second, my seven-year-old daughter, asked me to write her a story with dragons in it. I thought to myself, “sure-a middle grade shouldn’t be that hard. I can churn out 30K-50K words in no time.” What I discovered after writing the first chapter was that everything I write turns inexplicably dark, AND that I do not have the correct voice to write middle grade. I did promise her the story, so we’ll see how that goes. I might have to have my husband edit it prior to letting her see it. I don’t want to traumatize her or my husband.
Of all the characters you’ve ever written, who is your favorite and why?
My favorites are always my villains. I love the freedom they give me to push boundaries and cross lines of expectations. I put way more effort and time into my villains than I do my heroes/heroines. Not only do villains have to have the same motivation, goal, and conflict build-out that the hero/heroine does but each move they make has to have some significance/impact to the plot and hero. They are both more complicated but also more fun.
If this book is part of a series…what is the next book? Any details you can share?
This book is the 9th in The Blushing Death series. The next, 10th and final book will bring Dahlia Sabin’s arc, as well as the arc for all the other characters and plot to a close.
The only thing I can share is that I hope to bring this series to a satisfying ending for everyone, even Dahlia’s nemesis and over arching villain of the piece. I cannot guarantee that everyone will make it to the end either.
What book are you reading now?
I am obsessed with C.S. Harris’s Sebastian St. Cyr mystery series. I started reading these books last summer, and the only reason I’m not already through all 16, soon to be 17, already is because I’ve been sliding other books in-between to make sure that I didn’t burn through them. They are so good and I can’t recommend them enough to anyone who love murder mysteries.
The Blushing Death Series
Book Nine
Suzanne M. Sabol
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Publisher: Soul Mate Publishing
Date of Publication: May 4, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-64716-282-5
ASIN: B09V85WYYR
Number of pages: 379
Word Count: 114K
Cover Artist: Rae Monet
Tagline: Fighting enemies on all fronts, The Blushing Death must convince humanity that vampires and werewolves aren’t the monsters they’ve always feared. But destroying her enemies and protecting her people may be harder than she realizes with all of humanity watching and their secret out in the open.
Book Description:
The supernatural world has come out to humanity with a bang!
All the precious planning Patrick and Dean have worked toward and all the connections they have developed are worthless. When the Master Vampire of North America decides to remind humanity of their place on the food chain, the city and its people will pay the price. The battle for the North American vampire colonies has begun in earnest and only a single vampire can be at the top.
Dahlia is waging a battle on a different front. Baba Yaga is making moves in Faerie to regain her power in both the human world and Faerie, creating chaos and leaving carnage in her wake. Faced with new crises and old enemies, Dahlia will need to balance her responsibilities to her people and her city with the creatures in the Outer Realm.
But Baba Yaga has used the darkest magic to tie The Blushing Death to her and the ramifications could be deadly. Can Dahlia build an army to defeat Baba Yaga? Can she overcome her own fears to become the power she needs to be?
Excerpt:
“It’s
fucking cold out here,” I hissed through chattering teeth. No matter how much I
willed my jaw to remain motionless, it didn’t listen and the rattling inside my
head was driving me insane.
The fire
flickered in the pitch-darkness of the Outer Realm, casting an eerie glow
across the snow. Beyond the miniscule light of the fire, as large as we dared
make it here so we didn’t attract other and more dangerous beings, inky
blackness stretched on forever. The oppressive nature of the dark night and the
fact that I knew it could literally stretch out for eternity, was some cruel
realization that I was infinitesimal in an expansive place with creatures that
would eat me for the hell of it.
Shaking
off my descent into bat-shit-crazy, I considered the first time I’d been here
and each subsequent journey back. Each time I crossed the veil into the Outer
Realm, it got just a bit colder, the air bitter and chilled. This time there
was a light dusting of snow on the ground with flurries brushing against my
exposed skin. I’d dressed for cold, knowing full well how the wind had burned
through my clothes the last time. But this was worse. The wind was piercing and
sharp as it howled through the trees and my layers.
Beyond the
minimal warmth and light of the fire lurked beasties and creatures of every
shape and size, and the focus of their eyes on me was a weight I felt in my
gut, a tight clench of fear that made me queasy, alert, and on edge. I fought
the urge to run, knowing that I couldn’t outrun any of them. I could fight but
I would lose. The Outer Ream was a place where strength was valued, and
weakness was devoured. Maybe they were just curious. Maybe they were hungry. I
had no choice but to wait and hope they remained in the dark beyond the light
of our fire.
“Make the
fire warmer,” Adrik snorted, landing on my shoulder and rubbing his hands
together, holding them out before the inadequate flames. The four-inch-high
pixie stood close to my neck, soaking up my body heat. He knew I could use my
magic to increase the heat of the fire, and I’d considered it, but I didn’t
want to give too much away too soon. Bargaining with the fae was a delicate
balance of knowledge and cunning. Negotiating from a position of strength was
better but I wouldn’t lay all my cards on the table just yet.
“I don’t
want to burn my eyebrows off,” I said, smirking at the pixie. He rolled his
small silver eyes at my obvious lie. “When are they going to get here?” I
asked, wanting desperately to be home and warm in my bed. The longer I stayed
in the Outer Realm, the bigger the likelihood that someone would notice either
on this side or my side of the veil that I was not where I was supposed to be.
Adrik and
I had been making small trips to the Outer Realm for weeks without letting
anyone know. I was pushing my luck before either Patrick or Dean noticed and
gave me hell, at the very least a lecture. After the mountain where I’d killed
Rokap but lost Milagra and Konstantin, Dean and Patrick had been different.
More protective. More confining. More everything. Dean especially. If they knew
what I was doing, Dean would lose his shit. Right now, this was better. He didn’t
worry and I didn’t have to deal with his anger. I was being a coward but right
now, I was willing to be a coward to keep them safe just a bit longer.
“The
representative should be here momentarily,” Adrik responded.
“You’d
think I’d figure out how to dress properly to be here, but it always seems
colder than the last time,” I said, unable to keep my teeth from chattering. The
fleece lining wasn’t enough.
“It is not your imagination,” Adrik answered,
his voice rough through the already guttural accent. His English was much
better, but I could still hear the centuries of Russian in the shape of his
words.
Suzanne M Sabol is the author of Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University and has two Bachelor of Arts degrees with majors in Criminology, International Studies, Russian, and Political Science. She has a Master’s degree from The Ohio State University’s John Glenn School of Public Affairs. She is married with one child and lives in Columbus Ohio.
The Blushing Death Series and the Blood and Bone Legacy are published through Soul Mate Publishing. Editor, Debby Gilbert, can be contacted through their website at www.soulmatepublishing.com.
1 comment:
Great interview, loved the excerpt and Infinite Azure sounds like a must read for me! Thanks for sharing it with me and have a wonderful weekend!
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