Guest Blog: Wolf's Bane by Ash Krafton

Wolf’s Bane
Demimonde
Book 3
Ash Krafton

Genre: urban fantasy

Book Description:
Since becoming oracle to the demivampire two years ago, advice columnist Sophie has battled werewolves and survived a vampire attack (or two). However, not only was she powerless to save her lover Marek when he slipped to the brink of evolution, she also witnessed his transformation into a falcon, the symbol of Horus United.

Sophie’s quest to save Marek is further complicated when rock star Dierk Adeluf – who also happens to be the king of the Werekind – invites her backstage after a concert. Just when it seems she will find respite from heartache, Sophie is bitten by a werewolf and Dierk decides she is destined to be his queen.

Sophie is caught between the demivamps she loves and the Were who commands her to love him. Throw in his jealous wanna-be girlfriend—a true bitch if ever there was one—and an ambush by witches, and there you have the big mess that Sophie calls her life. And, hello? Her soul mate is still a bird.

She’s supposed to be the girl with all the answers, but Sophie needs more than a little advice–she needs divine intervention.

Amazon

PRFL would like to extend a very warm welcome to Ash Krafton, author of Wolf's Bane. We hope you enjoy her guest blog~

Accidental Swinger: How a Vamp Chick Fell For the Wolfman

I’ve always had a thing for vampires.

Long ago, I knew the allure of these creatures of the night. When I was a kid, it was Dracula. Vampires were for horror stories, but there was still that lure of power and endless possibilities. When Anne Rice gave us Louis and Lestat, I was done for. She did what no one had done for me before: gave me an emotional connection to the characters.

Vampires were becoming more than alluring. They were seductive. Some were downright sexy.

I’ve always been intrigued by new twists in vampire lore—even that weird stuff HBO’s True Blood put out last season. (Truthfully, I would have put up with A LOT of weird stuff for the sake of Eric Northman. Can I get an amen?)

I suppose my hunger for new vamps is what led me to write the Demimonde series. I can get all the vamp action I want, as twisty as I want it—which I happily did when I created my demivampires with mythologic Egyptian origins.

When I wrote Bleeding Hearts, my focus was on the race of demivamps. Actual vampires were soulless and bad. There was no confusion as to whose side I was on.

There were werewolves, too. Werewolves were lawless and yucky. Again, I’m Team DV. I never really got into werewolves—most of the films I’d seen had hairy, grotesque, misshapen drooling mutts. Not sexy. Not seductive. Just—I don’t know, squishy. Even Buffy’s pal Oz was a kid hunched over in bad makeup. Tiny bit lame.

The only werewolf that did anything to keep me interested was Michael Sheen’s character in Underworld. All credit goes to his awesome self for giving lycans a fighting chance in my whole vamp vs. were grudge war.

As I continued the series, Sheen’s lycan character reminded me that werewolves were creatures, too—they had their quirks, their powers, and just as many possibilities as vampires. If I could twist vampires to give me the exact character I wanted, why couldn’t I mess with the laws of were-nature and make the kind of wolves I wanted?

Thus, Toby came along, the Big Bad Wolfboy that becomes Sophie’s next stray. Blood Rush give a little insight to Were nature from a decidedly Toby perspective. While my characters slowly warmed up to the fuzzy guy, I personally wasn’t having any of it. I was straight for the vamp side. Vampire hetero. Were phobic. Whatever you want to call it. I was a die-hard vamp chick. And, as a Were, Toby did squeamish Were things. Hey, that’s the way the ball bounces.

And then…

The third book began to brew. If you haven’t guessed by now, there’s a lot of Were action in this one.

Even as I wrote and edited the first two books, I planned on having a central Were conflict. Every book needs conflict, a struggle, a choice—so a Were character seemed like perfect fodder. It wasn’t until I really got submerged in writing that I realized that the conflict wasn’t coming out black-and-white, good versus evil, the way I’d pictured it.

And it wasn’t until I was near completion that I realized the conflict was so much more complex than that. If we knew definitely what was right and what was wrong, we’d have no trouble making our choices. The conflict became complex because the author was experiencing conflicts of her own.

My feelings towards Weres had changed. How it pains me to write this.

Wolf’s Bane lacked matted fur and werewolf glue. The Were were beautiful creatures who followed their nature, and they were led by a man who wanted them to strive toward civility, not beastial baseness. Sophie was forced to re-evaluate Werekind and to face her prejudice and her fears.

In writing it, I was forced to face my own, as well.

It certainly helps that Dierk is the man he is—the rockstar, the leader, the gentleman suitor. Whatever Sophie came to feel for him during the course of the story, it’s a pretty fair thing to say it’s because I felt the same thing.

Never figured I’d turn out to be a swinger. I’m definitely a one-guy, one-species kind of gal. But if I were a character in the Books of the Demimonde, maybe…just maybe. <3

Thank you so much for joining us today, Ash. We really enjoyed the visit. Good luck and great sales with Wolf's Bane. 


About the Author:

Ash Krafton writes from the heart…of the Pennsylvania coal region, that is. She is the author of the Books of the Demimonde (Pink Narcissus Press).
BLEEDING HEARTS (Demimonde #1) is a six-time RWA finalist and was voted "Reviewer Top Pick" by Gravetells.com. Ash continues the story of Sophie and her Demivampires in her latest release BLOOD RUSH (Demimonde #2). She's hard at work (when she isn't watching Doctor Who) writing the third book, WOLF'S BANE.
Ash Krafton's poetry and short fiction has appeared in several journals, including Niteblade, Bete Noire, Abandoned Towers, and Silver Blade. She's a member of Pennwriters, RWA, and Maryland Writers Association. She lurks near her blog and contributes to the QueryTracker blog.
Ash lives with her family and their German Shepherd dog deep in the Pennsylvania wilds, awaiting the day the TARDIS appears in the driveway (the dog most likely keeps the Doctor away. What a beast.)
Until then, she writes.

Author Contacts:
The Demimonde blog | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads

Tour Giveaway:

1 Demimonde gift pack contains a print book, tote bag, note pad, pens, swag, and a gift card.  

Winner can choose between any one of the three print books in the series.

Open to International Shipping

a Rafflecopter giveaway