Caridad Pineiro brings you more luscious vamps in her series The Calling with two recent releases – the short story Honor Calls from Silhouette Nocturne Bites, and Fury Calls, in stores now from Silhouette Nocturne! Caridad is here to tell you more about both books and how she couldn’t resist making some sexy secondary characters into heroes on their own…
by Caridad Pineiro, author of Honor Calls and Fury Calls
Sometimes it’s like love at first sight. The character pops into your head, spends a few moments on the page and you know it’s a character you don’t want to lose.
“So what’s the problem with that?” you might ask.
The problem is that it’s a secondary character and you’re writing a series and have already mapped out the next two or three stories and this character that you love so much was supposed to be a throw-away character. One who made a quick exit and an even quicker departure only…
You’ve fallen in love with them.
That’s what basically happened with me and Blake Richards, the hero in FURY CALLS. From the moment Blake popped into TEMPTATION CALLS back in 2005, I was in love with him. Blake was passionate, complex and best of all, a reluctant hero who enjoyed being a vampire. The latter was especially important since there were so many wanna be humans populating modern vampire mythology as well as spending time in the world of THE CALLING.
Blake enjoyed his eternal life, namely hanging around the Blood Bank, sharing trysts in the back rooms with the attractive women and sampling some fine O negative either at the bar or from a willing patron. That’s what vamps are supposed to do, right?
Only the fun thing about writing stories about vampires is the opportunity to get behind that façade of eternal life and explore whether or not that life is as grand as it seems as well as providing the reader with a glimpse of who the person was before they became a vampire. Who they were in their human life has always been especially important to me because the power granted by becoming a vampire pushes all those human traits to the extreme.
In Blake’s case, it only ramped up the loneliness and misery he had suffered in his human life. But it also gave him an opportunity to be an even bigger hero than he had already been as a poor coal miner in Wales. A hero who had already sacrificed a great deal to protect his family. In FURY CALLS, Blake is challenged to release the hero who has always been within him.
In the case of the Big Bad in FURY CALLS, becoming a vampire made an already vicious and uncaring man even more evil – “chillingly loathsome” as one reviewer called Sun Tze Lee, the Asian vampire — Kiang shi — who has come to Manhattan to create problems for Blake and his friends. For the Kiang shi villain, vampire power means taking whatever and whomever you want. Destroying all that displeases you just because you have the power to do so.
Creating all those past histories and exploring them, pushing them to the extreme in the stories of THE CALLING, is why I love writing about vampires. It’s fascinating for me to see what makes people tick and where they go when a vampire comes into their lives. Do they let that absolute power corrupt them? Do they hang on to the things of the past which they loved or do they let go? Can they let mortal love touch their hearts, if only for that short space of time in their eternal existence? Or can they give up mortal life for the prospect of an eternal happily-ever-after?
In HONOR CALLS, my February Nocturne Bite, I’ve brought back a character who may be familiar to some readers – FBI Assistant Director in Charge Jesus Hernandez. Since DARKNESS CALLS, he’s been in the periphery of the stories, advising Diana and her partner during their assignments. Always calm and reserved and functioning by the letter of the law. Honorably discharging his duties until the day he runs into Michaela, a vampire slayer who’s now challenging what Jesus knows to be the right thing to do. What will win out — honor or Michaela’s need for vengeance against the vampires who killed her mother and forever changed Michaela’s existence?
That exploration of power and emotions is what drives the stories in THE CALLING. It’s what creates characters I fall in love with and I hope you will fall in love with him also.
Caridad has also offered a great prize for Paranormal Romance blog readers: leave a comment for a chance to win an autographed copy of Desire Calls and Temptation Calls, plus a Calling T-shirt! Contest closes Midnight EST on March 13th, so leave your comments before then.
Oh this sounds like a fantastic read. I love reading the Noctune line. You have a great prize going on here so please enter me. Thanks for sharing your books with us. I really enjoyed your post!
always loved the calling series. and your writing is great. you really enjoy your work and it shows
o your newsletter with the vampire biting the olive is so cute!
I heard it was caridad pineiro’s birthday so I am wishing her a very happy birthday and hope its a joyous occassion and hope all the others are joyous as well
The Calling is a great series. I’ve wanted to know more about Blake since I was first introduced to him in the short story that was posted on the eHarlequin’s free reads. I look forward to reading his story.
I’m working my way to the calling series in the to be read stack.
I can’t wait to read this one!
I love the series and I can hardly wait to read the next book
Happy Birthday, Caridad
Your covers look so luscious–nearly edible, if you get my drift.
Happy Birthday!
Sounds greats!!! I can’t wait to read it now!
Honor Calls sounds like a great story. I am waiting!
Happy Birthday, Caridad! I love the Nocturne line! The Calling is a wonderful series. Keep them coming!
Holiday With a Vampire whetted my appetite for more of your stories. Will have to back up and start at the beginning. Happy birthday.
Happy Birthday, Caridad
Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday To You, Happy Birthday Dear Caridad, Happy Birthday To Youuuuu. YaY! Now make a wish. May all your wishes come true. I look forward to reading more books by you
Hugssss
LindaH
You brought up something I have thought about…falling in love with characters. I once wrote an author and asked her if she would be writing more about her heroine. I was fascinated by her and was left wanting more. She was already on another book about her and I was happy to hear it.
I hope your birthday is the best ever.
Happy Birthday Caridad. Love your books.
Happy Birthday!
Thank you all for dropping by! FATE CALLS is one of my favorites! I so love Blake and Meghan and I hope you will as well. Be sure to make a note of what’s happening with Connie and Hadrian in this one! It’s a big development for future books in THE CALLING.
As for HONOR CALLS, I so can’t wait to write more about Michaela and Jesus. I know they are going to have quite an adventure together.
Happy B-day Bash week, Caridad
Yep, I’ve got that O- that vamps like. And I’m always so cold. My DH always wonders how someone so cold could still be alive. Hmm, I wonder if there’s a connection.
Anyways, Caridad, part of the angst of your dark heroes that make your stories so good is the way you explore the eternal life question. After all, as Quenn said it in their Highlander love theme, “Who Wants to Live Forever?”
Of course, I don’t want to go anytime soon, either.
I truly love The Calling series, Caridad! The cover for Fury Calls is awesome. I think it’s my favorite.
I absolutely love The Calling series. I’ve been a fan from the very begining. I also want to wish you a very Happy B-Day
I’ve never read the Nocturne books. Why I have no clue. Partially because I look at certain size books and pay little attention to the other. I need to remedy that
Happy Birthday Caridad!
Those secondary characters can really make themselves
known, can’t they? And they won’t stop until they
have all your attention! They know when there’s a
story lurking about in the darkness!!
Pat Cochran
Happy Birthday, Caridad! Really love The Calling series! Thanks for the wonderful post!
I’d never heard of the Kiang shi before reading your description of “Fury Calls.” I’m by no means an expert on vampires, but I have read kind of a lot about the mythology (and watched all those Halloween-time documentaries on TV when I had cable), so it’s kind of bizarre I never heard of them. I’m looking forward to learning more about the Asian vampires!
Hi Caridad, please enter me in your contest and have a LOVELY Birthday!
Happy Birthday!!! I won’t even ask which one. I am slowly aquiring all your books. All have been great. Thanks for all you do. Have a great day and hugs to all.
What a great celebration! How will your family ever
top this commemoration when the day comes around again
next year?
Pat Cochran
happy birthday and I love your books
Honor Calls and Fury Calls sound great!
Another day, another dol (oops)
Another day, a continuing celebration!
Happy Birthday Week, Caridad!
Pat Cochran
I doubt I’d win…but..i dont need the t-shirt, already have one. It doesn’t fit but that’s okay.
Oh and don’t forget Nocturne fans, Wednesday March 18, 2009 at 8pm is our monthly chat
Amazing series! I drool over the descriptions alone!!
Thanks for the chat reminder Lou! I’ll be sure to post a reminder the day of
~Amy
I just recently got into paranormal romances. The books sound really good!
Happy Birthday Caridad!
Love these CALLS books! Everyone are on the keepers shelf. I remember when I first got into paranormal romances and so love how each are unique in themselves. The variety of themes there can be and the ‘worlds’ each that are written for series and so on!