Look who's with us today! Jessa Slade has dropped by (or not exactly dropped, more like banged on the door because I over-slept) with her hero Ferris Archer from her new debut release, SEDUCED BY SHADOWS. And if you ever thought you'd never be seduced by a dark and dangerous demon-possessed hunk, think again. Because Archer, winner of ISOH's Most Deliciously Tortured Hero Award, has arrived.
And here's your chance to win a free copy of this fabulous new book, to set you onto a brand new form of addiction in Urban Fantasy. Just read and follow instructions at the bottom of our interview.
Jessa Slade: Hi, Delle. Thank you so much for letting me guest post with you today. You’ve given me the chance to hunt down the hero of my debut urban fantasy romance SEDUCED BY SHADOWS. Ferris Archer—an immortal warrior possessed by a repentant demon—has been a busy boy since the book hit the shelves at the beginning of this month and I’ve been curious how he’s handling the sudden exposure.
So please welcome to “In Search of Heroes”—
Archer: Where’s my shirt?
Jessa: I... Uh, sorry, what?
Archer: You wanted to know how I’m handling the exposure. I’m asking where you put my shirt.
Jessa: Oh, well, technically, your shirt isn’t my responsibility. That would be the cover artists and—
Archer: It’s November in Chicago. Rocking a leather jacket without a shirt is no easy task in Chicago in November.
Jessa (slightly peeved): I’m sure you’ve faced tougher challenges, my dear hero.
Archer: I’m not a hero.
Jessa (smug): That’s what all the real heroes say.
Archer (with a flat stare): I’m not a hero.
Jessa (backpedaling slightly): Not at the beginning of the book, perhaps. In fact, you called yourself garbage man to the damned. But the mission you and the other alpha male fighters undertook with the help of the repentant demons inside you was to save the world, destroying evil one gnarly bit at a time. What else would it take to make you a hero?
Archer: Most of the time, it’s not clear the world wants to be saved. Dragging it back from the brink against its will makes me a fool or a bully, not a hero.
Jessa: Are you always so optimistic?
Archer: Only on my good days.
Jessa: But you’re having good days now, now that you’ve found Sera Littlejohn, the first female possessed in the living memory of your band of not-so-merry men.
Archer (gaze softening): Yes.
Jessa (eyes rolling): By ‘yes’ I assume you mean you’re groovy without your shirt when she’s around?
Archer: She stripped everything else from me, why not my shirt along with my isolation, my fatalism, and my suicidal demon-slaying fury? Death and damnation seemed inevitable before her.
Jessa: And she took that away from you? How rude.
Archer: No kidding. Do you know how hard it is to maintain the required demon-slayer level of angst and arrogance when just the sight of her makes me melt inside?
Jessa: Hmm, I know you fought against it for an unholy number of pages.
Archer: Fighting is the only thing I knew for almost two centuries. I’d gotten damned good at it. Giving in... That was much riskier.
Jessa: I guess that’s what all you reluctant heroes lack—the love of a good woman to set you on the right path.
Archer (wryly): That was love? A boot kick in the ass that sends me sprawling in the middle of that path?
Jessa: When you need it, yeah. With the whole world relying on you, the battle of good and evil raging around you, weren’t the stakes high enough?
Archer: Perhaps too high. I may be talyan—a man possessed by a repentant demon—but I’m still just a man. The powers of good and evil that invade our world are just a reflection of the good and evil invading every soul. If after a few millennia the world still haven’t found a balance between dark and light, what chance does one man have?
Jessa: But for Sera, you took that chance. Love conquers all.
Archer: Which explains the scars.
Jessa: Yeah, sorry about that. At least the black leather pants hide the evidence. Thanks for baring your souls and various other manly bits today, Archer. I’m sure we’ll see you around in the other novels of The Marked Souls.
Archer: If I had a shirt you’d see less of me.
Jessa: Don’t hold your breath, man.
Read Chapter 1 of SEDUCED BY SHADOWS at http://jessaslade.com
For a short story prequel to the world of the Marked Souls, visit http://tinyurl.com/MarkedSoulsPrequel
Want a chance to win a signed copy of SEDUCED BY SHADOWS? Leave a comment about the riskiest thing you’ve done to avoid love or embrace it.
He has a point about Chicago in November, but he's not the first or last UF hero/ine who's braved the cold for the sake of cover art. It's probably one of the requirements to be an UF hero/ine. lol
ReplyDeleteThe riskiest thing I've done to avoid love... not much comes to mind, I'm more of a fleeing than risk-taking type when it comes to that. But to embrace (possible) love... Meeting a stranger for a blind date.
Paula, I've never gone on a blind date. I imagine it's a lot like book signings :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a tough question, Jessa. I can't think of much I did to flee love, since just walking away probably did the trick.
ReplyDeleteNo, wait, I forget the guy on whom I had a tremendous crush in my freshman year in college. We were at odds all year, but at the end of that year we found ourselves the only two people left on campus, waiting for rides home. We sepnt several hours talking, about ethics of all things. So he invited me over to his apartment, and I refused because I already had made a promise to do something with a female friend. I won't forget what he said, that most women would have dumped another woman in a heartbeat to go out with a guy. And I remember telling him I didn't believe in being disloyal, even if my friend was only a woman like me.
The next fall, I was sitting on the charted bus that was to take us on a choir trip and he came and sat beside me. It wasn't very long before I freaked (didn't know it then) and got up to say hi to another friend (male, but definitely just a friend. That was the end of that. But it was definitely for the best, because on that same trip he met the true love of his life, and I knew it was right for him the very moment I saw them together for the first time. Last I heard, they're still together. So, crush or no, I knew we couldn't make it together, and maybe his True Love stepped onto the stage and saved us from each other!
Yeah, Paula. Personally I thought the guy was crazy the first time I saw him in that leather jacket and no shirt! I didn't realize Jessa stole it from him and he was chasing her down to get it back!
ReplyDeleteDelle
The riskiest thing possible is taking that leap of faith and saying "Yes, I'll marry you".
ReplyDeleteIt's more committed and final than living together. It's emotional investment that lasts a lifetime even after an unfortunate divorce.
I can't really think of anything risky I've done in the name of love - although when I was young I had a pretty tumultuous relationship with a guy I'm still in touch with after 38 years. We both did a lot of crazy things back then, but we've calmed down a lot now :o)
ReplyDeleteAnon, 'yes' IS a scary word. It means moving forward when sometimes staying still seems safer.
ReplyDeleteBarbara, how fun to still know the crazy old lover. Means you both survived ;)
Change can be scary but it's pretty inevitable.
ReplyDelete