(Or did I invite myself? Hmmm…)
Anyway, Toni is a super nice person, and I love having her visit my state, and my blog.
Toni has just re-released her novel Frankie’s Vamp (Hot Encounters #1).
The second Frankie Reynold's boyfriend took a hand to him, he was out of there. Frankie wasn't hanging around to see if the man would do it again. If only his ex-boyfriend would take the hint and disappear from his life. Needing a night out to forget his troubles Frankie heads to Hot Encounters nightclub. Only to come face to face with a master vampire who wants Frankie for his very own.
Merrick Winters is a 500 year old vampire, who is bored with life and the monotony of the same men throwing themselves at him day after day. He needs a challenge and the sexy little man dancing in his clubs turns out to be just what he was looking for. The mate bond makes the strong attraction between the pair inevitable, but outside forces threaten to tear them apart before they can really get started.
Renae: Thanks for joining me today, Toni.
Toni: Thank you for having me and after an introduction like that how could I have said no? LOL. It was an absolute pleasure meeting you last year, and I had a ball catching up with you again a couple of weeks ago.
Renae: This is a rerelease of this novel. Can you tell us why?
Toni: My previous publisher skipped town and left a great number of its authors high and dry. All the rights to my books were thankfully returned to me. It's taken a little while but my boys at the Hot Encounters nightclub finally have a new home and I couldn't be happier.
Toni: Oh god yes. Every time I look back at something I wrote years ago I start re writing the sentences in my head. Even as I write now I catch myself typing something and then yelling at myself for telling and not showing, so I go back and re write.
Renae: This is a vampire novel. Tell me, in this world, do humans know about vampires? What about mate bonds? Does Frankie need to learn all this stuff?
Toni: In my world, yes, humans are aware of all the creatures that go bump in the night, so to speak. Paranormals came 'out' roughly five years ago. Different species have different bonds. With my Vampires, there is a mate bond that connects them. Some humans may know about this bond, while others only know that absolute basics about paranormals. Frankie, although he's heard the term before doesn’t understand the full ramifications.
Renae: What do you think your reaction would be if someone approached you in a public setting and declared themselves a vampire and your mate?
Toni: I think I would probably do what Frankie did. Escape by any means necessary. LOL.
Renae: As a society, we’ve gone from being terrified of vampires, to loving the idea of them, and writing books with them as our romantic lead. What’s changed? Why do you think the idea of vampirism is so attractive today?
Toni: For me personally, there's just something about the biting, the intimacy of two people being entwined so close together that they feel like one being. (As I imagine the bond between mates to be).
A great deal of the vampires these days are portrayed as strong, attractive, kind beings. Not the type that will suck you dry (in a bad way) for the fun of it. Vampires have definitely gone from the stuff of nightmares to the stuff of fantasies in recent times.
Renae: There is another book in this series, Bryce’s Cop which is due for release in two weeks. Will you be writing more to this series?
Toni: I definitely will be adding to this series now that it's found a new home. I'd always intended to add more. I have at least the next two books in the rough outline stages for Hot Encounters, so I have no plans to stop anytime soon.
Toni: It all depends on the series. LOL. Most of them have no plan at all. It's just a case of fly by the seat of my pants and hold on for the ride. Some things happen in a book that will set up the basis for the next one in the series and others come completely out of the blue.
Renae: You’ve had amazing success with your shifter novels. Do you think it is easier for you to write paranormal? Do the storylines you imagine just automatically go along paranormal lines?
Toni: Of the twenty books I've written only one of them is contemporary. That should give you some idea. LOL. I love writing paranormal, when you create your own world, the sky really is the limit in regards to things that you can and can't do. When you write contemp, then you're bound by the laws/rules/physics/reality that govern that place. I'm not so good with sticking to those. **grin**
I am, however, writing another contemp, I seriously considered making it a paranormal, but I really just don't see that working. Unfortunately, Steps to You, has been sitting on my WIP list for nearly sixteen months now. I started and have written roughly 14k. The poor MS keeps getting shunted to the side as others are taking precedence. I am determined to finish this story this year, so help me, it will get done!
Renae: You are also releasing Corey (Atherton Pack #3) in a couple of weeks. There’s been a long time between releases for Atherton Pack. Has the build-up been amazing?
Toni: I don't know if I would say it's been amazing. I think there are some readers out there that want to strangle me for taking so long. *hides behind Renae* Corey needed a lot of work, where as I was fairly happy with both Ben and Liam's stories. I really wasn't happy with the way Ethan came off in the first version and needed to change that. It took me some time to get my head back into the mode of AP but once I did the story started flowing again and I ended up adding over 13k to the book.
Renae: Where can people contact you?
Toni: I can be found on my website www.tonigriffin.net
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/toni.griffin.author
Or email: [email protected]
Renae: Thanks for visiting Toni. I’ve loved having you here.
Toni: Thank you so much for hosting me today, I've had a blast.