Grand Opening--"In Vino Veritas (Truth in Wine)" Contest

Click HERE for the contest announcement and rules.

Sabina Kane was born a vampire.

Sabina Kane was also born a mage, a magical being.

Vampires and mages tend not to get along. Whoops.

Folks, RED-HEADED STEPCHILD is urban fantasy at its best. You have a sweeping plot, kick-butt characters, humor, and an endless supply of apple wood stakes (the vamps hate those). I'm not going to tell you more about our fabulous co-host's debut novel, because you're going to enjoy it for yourselves. It's simple. Throw down the best contest entry ever, and you'll win it. (Or you can play it safe and just order it.)

Welcome Jaye!! This contest is in your honor. Awesome blog friend, great writer, and now debut author! We all join in offering you warm congratulations.

THE "IN VINO VERITAS (TRUTH IN WINE)" SHORT FICTION CONTEST IS NOW OPEN!!

(Entries accepted until July 15, 2009 at 11:00 p.m., eastern U.S. time)

I sat down with Jaye to talk about some burning questions I had regarding RED-HEADED STEPHCHILD. While you all are plugging away at your entries, I thought you might like to listen in.

Jason: Welcome to the coveted position as co-host, Jaye! I'd give you a key to The Clarity of Night or something, but unfortunately, I misplaced them all.

Jaye: I'm excited! Did I say I'm excited? I'm excited!! And don't sweat the key. I'm keyed up enough already.

:: I have a question about one of your beloved characters. Say, for the sake of argument, you had a demon cat which was shredding your leather furniture. What are the pros and cons of declawing?

Jaye: At the moment, I can only think of cons. First, good luck. Because, you know, it is demon cat and all. Second, those claws come in handy when you need your demon cat to help out in a fight. So I say deal with the shredded couch. Or get yourself a spray bottle. Just be sure to run like hell after you spritz them.

::I suspect that we're going to learn a lot more about the capabilities of mages and their magical spells in future books. But do they have spells in their repertoire for romance? Are there spells for, um, intimate occasions?

Jaye: Oh yes. There's a whole class of mages whose specialty is sex magic. It's mostly used ritualistically, but I like to think part of the fun of dating a mage would be discovering the tricks they've got hidden in their ...(clears throat)... wands.

::Is that wine in the In Vino Veritas glass spiked?

Jaye: Isn't wine, by it's very nature, spiked? ;) I think I'll leave it up to the contest entrants to decide if there's anything other than fermented grapes in there.

::In one of your subsequent contest entries, you talked about a poor nymph who got caught up in a faery porn ring. I smiled when I read about Vinca in your novel. She's that nymph. I have gotten literally hundreds of hits to my blog on searches for "faery porn." What words of advice do you have for the people doing those searches?

Jaye: The trick with faery porn is you've got to keep it classy. No one wants to see a cracked out Tinkerbell getting it on with an oily bohunk of a Peter Pan. And for gods sakes, people, make sure there's a plot.

::Sabina, your half-vampire/half-mage protagonist, has an air of tragedy swirling around her. She so desperately wants to be accepted and loved by her vampire family, but in the end they only have disdain for her and don't even value her life. What was Sabina's life like when she was younger, say 16?

Jaye: Imagine a human sixteen year old. Now add bloodlust. Scary, huh?

Thanks for the thoughts, Jaye!! Are you all ready for some great writing??

I've received several entries already, so look for the first stories to be posted tomorrow. Stretch yourselves, keep it sharp, support each other, and above all, HAVE FUN!!