Friday, June 6, 2014

Guest Post: Legally Undead by Margo Bond Collin

Today I have a very special guest post from author Margo Bond Collins for her new book, Legally Undead. She wrote up a special character profile for one of her characters as well as sharing an excerpt with us about her new book.

Thanks Margo for being here today!




Legally Undead, available May 27 from World Weaver Press

Book Description:

A reluctant vampire hunter, stalking New York City as only a scorned bride can.

Elle Dupree has her life all figured out: first a wedding, then her Ph.D., then swank faculty parties where she’ll serve wine and cheese and introduce people to her husband the lawyer.

But those plans disintegrate when she walks in on a vampire draining the blood from her fiancé Greg. Horrified, she screams and runs--not away from the vampire, but toward it, brandishing a wooden letter opener.

As she slams the improvised stake into the vampire’s heart, a team of black-clad men bursts into the apartment. Turning around to face them, Elle discovers that Greg’s body is gone—and her perfect life falls apart.



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Character Profile

Malcolm Owens

Age: 26

Physical description from the book: “He was, I suddenly realized, beautiful. Classically beautiful. Model beautiful. Stop-your-breath-in-your-throat beautiful.”

Quote that fits his personality: “I have to figure everything out. It’s why I’m a mathematician. I need to know how things work.”

Best quality: His willingness to step in to help someone in trouble—even if she comes barreling out of the night and knocks him over in her attempt to escape the psycho chasing her.

Worst quality: His unwillingness to believe that he might actually be in danger.

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About the Author

Margo Bond Collins is the author of a number of novels, including Waking Up Dead, Fairy, Texas, and Legally Undead (forthcoming May 27, 2014). She lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, and several spoiled pets. She teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters.

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Connect with Margo Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/margobondcollins 
Email: MargoBondCollins@gmail.com 
Website: http://www.MargoBondCollins.net 
Blog: http://www.MargoBondCollins.com 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MargoBondCollin @MargoBondCollin 
Google+: https://plus.google.com/116484555448104519902 
Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/vampirarchy 
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MargoBondCollins
 Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mbondcollins/





Excerpt:


The worst thing about vampires is that they're dead. That whole wanting to suck your blood business runs a close second, but for sheer creepiness, it's the dead bit that gets me every time. They're up and walking around and talking and sucking blood, but they're dead. And then there's the whole terminology problem--how can you kill something that's already dead? It's just wrong.

I was twenty-four the first time I . . . destroyed? dispatched? . . . a vampire. That's when I found out that all the books and movies are wrong. When you stick a wooden stake into their hearts, vampires don't disintegrate into dust. They don't explode. They don't spew blood everywhere. They just look surprised, groan, and collapse into a pile of corpse. But at least they lie still then, like corpses are supposed to.

Since that first kill (I might as well use the word--there really isn’t a better one), I've discovered that only if you're lucky do vampires look surprised before they groan and fall down. If you're unlucky and miss the heart, they look angry. And then they fight.

There are the other usual ways to kill vampires, of course, but these other ways can get a bit complicated. Vampires are notoriously difficult to trick into sunlight. They have an uncanny ability to sense when there's any sunlight within miles of them, and they're awfully good at hiding from it. Holy water doesn't kill them; it just distracts them for a while, and then they get that angry look again. And it takes a pretty big blade to cut off someone's head--even an already dead someone--and carrying a great big knife around New York City, even the Bronx, is a sure way to get arrested. Nope, pointy sticks are the best way to go, all the way around.

My own pointy stick is actually more of a little knife with wood inlay on the blade--the metal makes it slide in easier. I had the knife specially made by an old Italian guy in just about the only ratty part of Westchester, north of the city. I tried to order one off the internet, but it turns out that while it’s easy to find wood-inlay handles, the blades themselves tend to be metal. Fat lot those people know.

But I wasn’t thinking any of this when I pulled the knife out of the body on the ground. I was thinking something more along the lines of “Oh, bloody hell. Not again.”


Buy Links

Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Legally-Undead-Vampirarchy-Margo-Collins-ebook/dp/B00KKV44BK/ B & N Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/legally-undead-margo-bond-collins/1119607989?ean=2940149615803

Amazon Paperback: http://www.amazon.com/Legally-Undead-Vampirarchy-Volume-1/dp/0692211497/

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/legally-undead

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Legally Undead Trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XRDeparqVE

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39 comments:

  1. The except has me curious! The main character sounds so FUN!! She definitely seems like someone I won't have a hard time connecting to and even though I am not a huge fan of 'vampire books', I definitely want to give this one a shot someday.

    Thanks for sharing!!! :)

    Rashika @ The Social Potato

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    1. Thanks so much! The emphasis in this book is definitely on Elle, rather than the vampires. :)

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  2. Oooo a vampire story with a classically beautiful love interest (at least I'm assuming he's a love interest or will be at some point down the line)? SIGN ME UP! I never get tired of vampire stories Ali:)

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    1. You would think I would but I don't!

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    2. Elle does keep trying to stop letting Malcolm be a love interest . . . ;)

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  3. The description of the book made me go: Yay! Vampire hunters! But, wait, oh so sad.

    Sounds like a great book!

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    1. Thanks so much! I <3 vampire hunters. :)

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  4. Ooooh, thanks for sharing. Have seen this a lot recently but didn't know too much about it. That excerpt has peaked my interest, who doesn't love a good vampire story every now and again! :)

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  5. This is my first encounter with this one, and the excerpt and synopsis sound very promising. I am going to go read some reviews :) Enjoy your weekend, Ali.

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    1. Thanks for checking it out, Heidi! The reviews are just starting to trickle in. :) Here's one that hasn't made it to Amazon or Goodreads yet, if you're interested: http://www.tyngasreviews.com/2014/06/legally-undead-by-margo-bond-collins-character-profile.html

      Cheers!
      ~Margo

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  6. This one sounds like a lot of fun!

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  7. The description, characters and excerpt all sound interesting. I'm always game for a good vampire read! Thanks for putting this one under my radar. :)

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  8. Just added it to my TBR list :)

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  9. I like his personality description. But usually when characters looks are described like this one, I ignore it and make my own up in my head. lol.

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  10. Thanks so much for hosting Malcolm and me today! :)

    ~Margo

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  11. Gads now I want to read this Ali, it sounds wonderful with elements I love in paranormal romances!

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    1. If you do decide to read it, I hope you love it!!

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  12. Great excerpt, Malcom sounds great to.

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  13. Thanks for the excerpt, and Malcolm . . . yeah, this is definitely getting added to the wishlist. Great post!

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  14. Why thank you for sharing :).

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  15. This sounds really good! Thanks for the heads up!

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  16. Oooh. This one looks good. The character profile is cool. It's always fun to write those up. Thanks for the excerpt. I will certainly have to look this one up!

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