I HAVE THE WONDERFUL ROBIN BADILLO IN MY HOUSE TODAY!!!

I'm so excited to have Miss Robin Badillo today. I've been on her blog many times and thoroughly enjoyed the times spent. Today, she does me the honor of appearing on mine. She writes marvelous vampire stories and has contemporary ones out as well. Today, I've put Robin on the hot seat with a few pointed questions and she'll share about her newest release.

So, let's get this party started!

  CYNTHIA:  First, let's get to know a little about you.  As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

ROBIN:  I wanted to be a teacher when I grew up. Then after having kids of my own, I realized I had no patience for other people’s children and was thankful I hadn’t tortured myself… or the poor kids.

CYNTHIA:  Funny answer. I know what you mean. I came from a large family and chose to have one child. Couldn't imagine taking care of more. Now, for a more philosophical question. If the world was to end tomorrow, what three things would be on your bucket list?

ROBIN:  For my final twenty-four hours, my bucket list would include a perfect afternoon at the beach on some tropical island with my kids, family and closest friends.

Then, after the kiddies and others retired for the evening, I would be joined by my six favorite vampires, from television and the silver screen, Edward, Jasper, Emmett, Damon, Stefan and the king of them all, Mick St. John.

If they survived that, then my last wish would be to watch the final sunset with my four kids and hold them close until the end. 

 

  CYNTHIA:  Ah, that's a nice way to go out. Here's a fun personal question, if you came with a warning label, what would it say?

       ROBIN:  My warning label rarely changes. “Warning! Contents Under Pressure!” Though I wish it would say, “Sleeping! Do NOT Disturb!”

       CYNTHIA:  Amen, never enough sleep for the writer, right? For this question, can be professional or personal, your choice. If you had to choose one person to have dinner with, who would it be? And why?

    

       ROBIN:  I would have dinner with Ian Somerhalder. I wouldn’t eat, but I would gladly snuggle up next to him and feed him strawberries and whipped cream. I’d beg him to wag his eyebrows and entertain me with his sexiness. Food is greatly overrated, gorgeous men are NOT!

CYNTHIA:  Nothing like a bit of eye candy to fill us up, I say. Now, for some writing questions. Are there any authors who have influenced your work?

ROBIN:  Lots of authors have influenced me, but not ones people may expect. I get my inspiration from members of my local North West Houston RWA chapter and from a handful of awesome authors I’ve met on this wonderful literary journey.

Although I read from authors such as Anne Rice, saying her work has “influenced” me just because it’s a similar genre wouldn’t be my style. I prefer giving credit to those writers who I interact with personally on a daily basis. Now if someone famous like Ms. Rice were to give me a call and vent about her day and allow me the same courtesy, I’d gladly answer the phone.

       CYNTHIA:  The famous authors are great, but nothing like one-on-one with local authors to give you support, encouragement and inspiration. That's great! If one of your books became a movie, which celebrity would you like to star as your main characters?

  ROBIN:  Ahh, this is one question I love.

Henry Cavill

Deborah Ann Woll

  For Midnight Beckoning, I have always imagined Henry Cavill as Ford Lennox. I can easily see the transition from a dashing 17^th century gentleman to a 21^st century heartthrob given the roles he’s played on “The Tudors” and as a young man in “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

As for Lauren Neil, True Blood’s Jessica, played by Deborah Ann Woll would be great. She has that ability to be scared to death one second yet ready to kick some butt in the next. 

*I have to agree. Here are the pictures of these "fantasy" actors for your movie.*

       CYNTHIA:  What comes first for you: Setting? Storyline? Characters?

  ROBIN:  The storyline usually comes first. The faces of the characters are obscured as my mind watches a particular event unfold. Sometimes I see a story in fast-forward as though skimming ahead on a DVD movie from beginning to end, then as I begin to write it, the characters come into focus and form the scenes.

  I have written entire books based on one simple conversation in my head between two characters, usually the hero and heroine. Those are the most rewarding because I have to build an entire world around a few words.

       CYNTHIA:  And what worlds you have built! What main genre do you write in?

  ROBIN:  Paranormal Romance with an erotic flare.

       CYNTHIA:  My kind of lady. Gotta love them vamps and demons mixing with humanity! If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?

       ROBIN:  No. If I had wanted to do that, I would have done it before it was published. If it’s already being read, it’s out there the way I intended it. No time for regrets.

      CYNTHIA:  That's true. So what inspired your latest release?

ROBIN:  I started researching damphyr and incubi out of curiosity. The information I found was contradictory depending on where you looked.  Everybody had an opinion and since there wasn’t any reality to build from, I saw an opportunity to add to the chaos and just went with it.

I liked the idea of keeping the folklore of an incubus being a demon and labeled them the enemy. Having a Damphyr as the spawn of an incubi and human was a new twist that excited me. Then creating a new sub-species out of that was tons of fun, especially when I tossed in full blood Vampires for good measure.

I took different bits and pieces of ancient folklore and created a legend all my own. After all, that’s what fiction is all about, right?

     CYNTHIA:  Keep them coming Robin! What do you have coming next? Anything you want to tell us?

ROBIN:  I have a Christmas Novella coming December 15^th to eXtasy Books titled, “The Long Way Home.”  This one will be my third mainstream erotic romance (second novella)…no paranormal entities anywhere in sight. 

      CYNTHIA:  Do you have any suggestions for beginning writers? If so, what are they?

 ROBIN:  Hone your craft, listen to experienced authors and never let anyone critique your work unless you’re sure they can and will rip it to shreds if it needs it. Having thick skin and a flexible ego are the only way you will learn how to improve your and you must accept that improvement is a constant necessity.  Never stop learning. 

      CYNTHIA:  What else would you like readers to know about you or your work?

 ROBIN:  The only thing I can think of that I’d like readers to know is that I enjoyed writing every word of every book.  A little piece of my soul is in each story and I hope they like it, too.

Well, that was very enlightening Robin. Now to what I'm sure everyone wants to read about, Midnight Beckoning.

BLURB:   

Ford Lenox, a natural born damphyr, waited three hundred years for the phenomenon of his birth to be repeated. Many had been conceived. Many had even been born. But only a few made it to their twenty-first birthday. And none shared the same requirements as he, to assume their rightful place at his side and become his queen.

Until now.
 
Lauren Neil was born three hundred years to the day after Ford’s birth, and it was no coincidence that he found her only days before her twenty-first birthday. Little did she know that the damphyr lurking beneath her human surface was about to be unleashed, prominently placing her on the throne to rule over damphyr and vampire alike. 

   Lauren’s demonic sire slash father, Drago, an incubus, straight from the pits of hell, has other plans. 

   Can Ford fulfill the prophecy and save Lauren and their kind? Or will a new species be created to rule the world?

Even a match made in heaven, may have to go through hell to survive!

EXCERPT ~ ADULT:

     Ford’s hand twisted in the curls of her long crimson hair and he pulled her to him harder. Heat sifted down his body and the burn to his groin returned as hot as a roaring fire in the dead of winter.
She brought out the lust in him so easily. The angrier she became the more he craved the taste of her passionate flame. 

     Without hesitation, Ford ripped her blouse away, instantly sinking his fangs deep into her flesh. With the one exception of the chambermaid when he first awoke a damphyr, he’d never bitten anyone, not even for food. A slice of his razor sharp thumbnail always did the trick. 

     What he wanted now went beyond passion. This was a savage thirst for her, every last decadent drop of her.

     Thick hot blood flooded his mouth and her sweet essence flowed down the back of his throat. He scooped her up and tossed her onto the bed tearing at his clothes and hers as he kissed her feverishly. Deep searing stings cut into his flesh as Lauren’s nails dug into his back. Heavy panting and a hunger he’d never felt before overwhelmed him from the inside out. Before he could stop himself, he bit into her again.

     Lauren growled and gasped in a way that only accelerated his heartbeat. Powerful surges of energy electrified his body and he sucked hard at the soft curve of her throat, swallowing gulp after gulp of hot syrupy blood. 

     Lauren hissed and heat shot into his shoulder as she met his bite with a vicious plunge of her own fangs into him. 

     “Fuck!” he bellowed as pain burned through his back. “Do it again!” he demanded, overcome by a violent compulsion to consume and be consumed. 

     Lauren withdrew her fangs from his shoulder and attacked again, allowing her mouth to remain over the punctures as she drank his crimson offering. 

     Ford reached down, spread Lauren’s thighs and jammed himself inside of her, grinding in as deep as he could burrow. 

     Lauren growled and thrust her hips upward, meeting his vigorous plunge with an assault of her own. Ford pumped harder, matching her rhythmic pace, beat for erotic beat, while gorging himself on her precious essence.

Whew! That was some kind of hot! Fan me! Well, that's the wonderful Robin and I want to say again how pleased and honored to have you on my blog today. I look forward to stopping by yours soon and reading some of your great stories. Thanks Robin.