Bayou Book Junkie: Virtual Tour: M/M ~ Tainted Heart by Melissa Graves ~ (Interview, Excerpt + Giveaway)

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Virtual Tour: M/M ~ Tainted Heart by Melissa Graves ~ (Interview, Excerpt + Giveaway)

Virtual Tour: M/M ~ Tainted Heart by Melissa Graves ~ (Interview, Excerpt + Giveaway)

Author Name: Melissa Graves

Book Name: Tainted Heart

Series: Mi Corazón Sangrante Series

Book: Two

Series should be read in order

Release Date: November 5, 2015

Goodreads

Buy The Book:

IP Web store ~ Book Depository ~ IndieBound ~ Amazon

Blurb:

A year after meeting and falling for the young, mysterious vampire, Dr. Brian Preston is now living and working side-by-side with Kyle Hayes for the agency guiding vampire-human relations at a secret underground facility. As the couple adapts to the demands of Brian’s career tending to vampires, Kyle’s return to school and the needs of their evolving relationship, a dangerous conspiracy puts everyone they know and everything they have been working for in danger. The sequel to 2014’s Bleeding Heart, Tainted Heart is Book Two in the Mi Corazón Sangrante series.

Pages or Words: 294 pages

Categories: Erotica, Fiction, Gay Fiction, M/M Romance, Paranormal, Romance, Thriller, Urban Fantasy

Excerpt:

When it gets dark, he texts Brian that he's going to be out late, and avails himself of not one but three vampire-human nightclubs set along a dense strip of Chicago nightlife. Going alone to places like this always attracts immediate attention, and he isn't surprised when he has to pry both humans and vampires off of himself. But he doesn't mind—the blood from the center is humming in his veins, and that buzz takes on a new dimension every time that he swallows a thimbleful of blood from a donor, which he does at least a dozen times over the course of the evening. When he’s more relaxed, he allows bodies against his own, dancing with strangers until strobe lights become normal and everything outside is too dim and still.

The blood changes the world around him. Every color, every sound and every source of light takes on a life of its own.

He loses track of how many donors he pays. All he knows is he's spent all of the pocket money that Brian gave him for the weekend.

He feels like a bloated tick. He’s been away too long. Brian. He has to get back to Brian.

Author Interview:

Today I’m very lucky to be interviewing Melissa Graves author of Tainted Heart

Hi Melissa, thank you for agreeing to this interview.

Tell us something no one else knows about your characters.

I’m not sure if I get to claim this, because I’m a Pisces, not a Gemini, but Brian and Kyle are basically what I would be if I was split into two along the lines of personality/nature. Brian is my idealistic, sort of hero side—optimistic, giver of second chances, truly believing that he can change the world, solve problems, master multiple disciplines, and be an amazing partner/brother/friend to everyone if he could just figure out how to juggle it all. Kyle is my slightly darker side. He has less than positive childhood memories, doesn’t trust easily, is socially awkward, and woefully little life experience. He’s a pessimist who desperately wants to be an optimist but never quite gets there. He’s all too aware of his predatory nature. He loves fiercely but is never truly sure of where he stands or his own worth. Together, these two achieve a balance I wish I could find!

Have you ever written something that made you cry?

Yes, several times. There are a few scenes in Tainted Heart that tore me apart to write. I won’t give anything away, but there’s a confrontational scene between Brian and his father that hit close to home for me. There’s also a scene between Brian and Kyle where Brian makes a promise to an unconscious Kyle that definitely had the waterworks flowing.

Have you ever co-written with someone before?

In the past, I’ve co-written fanfiction. Never in my original works. I very rarely co-write—I’m one of those writers who just can’t share creative space. I get very tunnel-visioned and specific when it comes to my characters, particularly their voices and the choices they make, and I can’t imagine sharing that control. Writing for me is also a solitary, introspective, lose-myself-in-it activity. I just can’t do that with someone else. But I have some friends who offer constant support and inspiration—one in particular whose surname I’ve given to a new character in Tainted Heart as a gesture of thanks. She knows who she is!

What is the most difficult part of writing for you?

When I was younger, I could write anywhere, anytime. But as I’ve gotten older I’ve lost that skill, so finding the right time and space to write in is challenging. I need the right atmosphere. For some this means being out in nature or locked in an office—for me it’s a mental thing. I need to be alone, typically, and I need quiet. I’ll only occasionally write to music if it’s very specific to the material, otherwise I need solitude and silence, and then I’m good to go. I can’t write when I’m sad or upset or angry. I have to be calm and content to get words to come.

Name your four most important food groups.

Chocolate is a food group, right?

What food group are olives in?! (I could have Googled that, I guess…)

No, seriously—chocolate is my jam. I’ll even eat it with jam.

Being Italian, pasta is definitely up there. I could live off of olives and cheese for probably ever. Bread when it’s quality—the same for beef. Mushrooms and snow peas make me swoon.

Meet the author:

A veteran writer of fan fiction with thousands of followers, Melissa Graves wrote her first story at age thirteen, and by age sixteen had met her future husband in an online vampire fiction chat room. A fan of science fiction and fantasy, she has a degree in anthropology and a passion for good chocolate, amateur erotica and fan worlds that celebrate diversity. She is mother to two cats.

Bleeding Heart, book one of the Mi Corazón Sangrante series, was her debut novel for Interlude Press.

Connect with Melissa at msmelissagraves.com, on Twitter at twitter.com/msmelissagraves, on Goodreads at goodreads.com/melissagraves and on Facebook at facebook.com/msmelissagraves.
Publisher: Interlude Press
Cover Artist: RJ Shepherd, Buckeyegrrl Designs