Carol Van Atta

Guest Post by Carol Van Atta

 Guest Post

Heroines Times Two = Action Times Ten

When I was in the plotting and planning stages for She Kissed a Vampire, I was having a difficult time determining from whose point of view (POV) to tell the story. I knew, without doubt, I had to continue with Chloe and Zane’s relationship. After all, they’d yet to get their Happily Ever After. I’d also ended I Kissed a Dog with a major cliffhanger and a tasty teaser for book two. For these reasons, Chloe Carpenter just had to return, but in what role? Not to mention she was a ‘love her/hate her’ kinda gal. If you think I’m exaggerating, take a peek at some of the old book reviews to see exactly how divided readers were (still are) over my feisty, frequently frustrating, leading lady! Because of her sassy, brassy, sometimes bitchy behavior, I wanted her to grow up in the second book and become more levelheaded. She also needed more sexy-time with her alpha werewolf.

What to do next? Who else to feature? Those were the questions begging for an answer.

So many urban fantasy/paranormal romance books are told from the first person point of view. Others jump between the hero and heroine, a format I do enjoy, and then there are some with the need to cover a lot of ground with multiple viewpoints in third person. On occasion, you will find a mix and match of third and first persons. So many choices for today’s writer! Where certain stories demand a first person telling, others desperately need several third person points of view to carry a complex storyline with numerous locations and subplots.

With all the various options spread out before me, I was uncertain, frozen by indecision. I wanted to do something different, something fun, and make my paranormal fantasy adventure unique in a market overflowing with new and delicious books just waiting to be devoured by hungry readers. I didn’t want to do the back and forth between-lovers-dance, and I’d already started off book one using Chloe to tell the tale in first person. But now I found myself with two primary female characters with equally important roles and romances to share.

Why not let them share the spotlight?

That was my thought, and I stuck with it. Doing something I hadn’t really seen a lot of. I decided to reveal my world from the first person viewpoints of two female characters (best friends who’d drifted apart) and had come together again in a time of crisis. The result: two intertwining stories, two romantic journeys, two plotlines that crisscrossed and built on the other in order to reach a shared and climatic conclusion. Did it work? You’ll have to tell me!

Ultimately, I believe having two heroines increased the romantic elements, added more depth, created deeper conflicts, and triggered more action and adventure. In my mind, that’s good stuff! Two Heroines equal Ten Times the action … that’s an equation for supernatural satisfaction.

I hope you will join Chloe and Melanie as they struggle to fix their friendship, redeem their relationships, and, of course, save the world. You can read their stories in She Kissed a Vampire. Oh, and I’ll let you in on a little secret. They’ve both kissed vampires, but only one of them takes a bite.

She Kissed a Vampire

Werewolves of the West 

Book 2

Carol Van Atta

Print Length: 278 pages

Publisher: Cambridge Press US 

December 16, 2013

ASIN: B00HG7GHY8

Description:

Best selling author Melanie Larson’s relationship with her friend, Chloe Carpenter, is bleak. Falsely accused of murder, Chloe’s future rests in the hands of her mate, Zane Marshall, and the Pacific Pack’s purebred werewolves. In an effort to help, Melanie joins forces with the pack and soon discovers the monsters she writes about in her paranormal novels really do go bump in the night.

As Chloe struggles with legal troubles, an unwanted blood bond with a master vampire, and a reunion with her mate, Melanie untangles the attention of multiple supernatural suitors determined to claim her as their own. Strangely attracted to a brazen vampire, she must decide if the blurred line between passion and pain is worth crossing.

Werewolves, vampires, and fae royalty race to unearth an ancient artifact with the power to extend their existence. Can Chloe and Melanie restore their friendship in time to stop magical mayhem from ruining everything they’ve worked so hard to redeem?

Amazon Kobo Nook

I Kissed a Dog
The Werewolves of the West Series Book One
Carol Van Atta

Genre: Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Charles

River Press

ISBN: 1936185725
ISBN13: 9781936185726
ASIN: B009SV179U

Number of pages: 446

Cover Artist: Ann Falcone



Book Description:

Chloe Carpenter isn't like other women. She can communicate with animals. A gift she unwrapped following one of her frequent dances with death.

In her otherwise wacky life, she's finally found a semblance of sanity working at the Plum Beach Wildlife Park, where her unique talents can make life or death differences for the animals in her care. That semblance is shattered when a new veterinarian roars into the park in his spiffed up sports car and sets his golden gaze on her. If she had her way, he'd roar right back out.

Problem: He's her new coworker and he's saved her life twice - in the past twenty-four hours.

Zane Marshall, Enforcer for the Pacific Pack of purebred werewolves, has a job to do - figure out who or what is mutilating the young men of Plum Beach.

With orders to find the woman who talks to animals, he accepts a position working alongside the fiery Chloe Carpenter, a female who ignites his interest far more than he ever expected. Remarkably, she's the one elusive female with potential to bring meaning and passion to his empty existence.

Problem: She despises him.

Together, they're forced to unravel a mystery of supernatural proportions, a murderous mystery with eternal implications for everyone. In the process, they discover opposites really do attract.

Major Problem: Zane is pledged to another woman, and she'll do anything to keep him from Chloe.

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Book Trailer: http://youtu.be/jeuDqevNSXM

About the Author:

Like most authors, Carol Van Atta is no stranger to the written word. She penned a short novel at age 12 (somewhat frightening illustrations included, and lots of bunnies were involved), and had a creative writing piece published in her high school newspaper (about David Bowie's Diamond Dogs LP). Yes, she's an ex-80's chick.

Devouring books from numerous genres, Carol developed a deep thirst/hunger for more reading material, and could almost always be found with her nose in a book.

She has contributed to several popular inspirational anthologies and devotional books, and lives in the rainy wetland of Oregon with a terrifying teen (another in college) and a small zoo of animals. She is taking an undetermined hiatus away from inspirational writing to delve into her darker side. (Though you can check out her latest spiritual suspense novel, Soul Defenders). It is rumored that this genre-jumping occurred after Carol discovered too suspicious red marks on her neck, and experienced an unquenchable urge to howl at the moon.

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http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1237874.Carol_Van_Atta

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