ETERNAL HEARTS
A Darkness Within Novel
Paperback: 306 pages
Publisher: Dark Dreams Press (June 1, 2011)
Kindle Edition 594 KB
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Dark Dreams Press (April 29, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
Language: English
Lending: Enabled
Do you believe in Vampires and Were-creatures, Shifters and Magic? What if you learned that what you think you "know" you don't know at all. In Jennifer Turner's Eternal Hearts and Eternal Seduction these "others" are your neighbors, your lawyer, the guy down the hall at work and they live in our society and in their own. You aren't aware of them because they don't want you to be. They are just like us and at the same time they are not, and every day, they are a bit less human. In Jennifer's world of the Darkness within novels, only one thing makes the darkness they endure easier and that is love. (paraphrased from Jennifer's website http://darknesswithinnovels.com/)
That is what Jennifer writes about—how love lightens the darkness. And, really is love different because they are vampires or whatever and we are human? How do you feel when there is love in your life? Chances are we feel the same way. Our beasts may not be as beastly and our dark parts, maybe not as dark as those of these paranormal creatures, but we all have them. And, we all seek love.
Today, Saturday, June 4, I am fortunate to once again have the wise and talented Jennifer Turner for part two of her interview. In her remarkably honest and frank responses she illuminates the world she has built between the pages. If she can show us there is hope for these creatures, there must be hope for humans too!
Below the interview, please make certain that you enter the giveaway she has kindly offered us. Entries end tonight at midnight and the winner announced tomorrow!
INTERVIEW. Jenn TUrner. Eternal Hearts. PART TWO
In the series, for which you have slated Odin as the fifth book, will you be returning to previous couples like Kerestyan and Logan, or Toni and Drake or will each couple retreat to a collateral spot?
The couple’s who’ve already had a book will pop up here and there throughout the course of the series, but the frequency depends on each couple’s connection to the story I’m currently telling. For example, you get to see Toni & Drake again in Eternal Embrace (book 3), but you probably won’t get to see Logan & Kerestyan again until Odin’s book…or possibly Vouclade’s first novella. But that’s only because Logan & Kerestyan don’t really have a strong connection to any characters that don’t live in New York or Nelek Castle. :)
In the DW vampire world:
Do vampire couples break up or is vampire mating more permanent, statistically, than that of humans? Do they marry?
Oh, vampire couples definitely break up with the same frequency as human couples. After all, they still have the same range of emotions that humans have, and in most instances their emotions are even more intense because of their beasts (the predatory side that rules a vampire). It’s difficult for most human couples to stay together for a lifetime, so if you’re immortal – I’d imagine the same troubles apply.
Some vampires do get married. I actually have a married couple that will show up later in the series. But for the most part, if and when it happens, it’s not widely advertised, mainly because the significant other becomes a major weakness that other supernaturals will hone in on. I guess, in some ways, it’s kind of like getting married and gaining in-laws – only when you marry another vampires, you’re also inheriting all of their friends and their enemies too.
Other than a book planned for Odin and I think one for Vouclade who else is a subject in the series?
Eternal Embrace (book 3) belongs to Oktober and Lydia. Eternal Desires (book 4) belongs to Torren and Michelle. And then, Eternal Embers (book 5), belongs to Odin and Dahalia. After that, I’m not exactly sure right now. I have 15 books planned for the series, I’m just not 100% sure of where each book will fall in the line-up. Plus, I’ve tried to leave small holes in each book for every secondary character to eventually get their own story, just in case my readers fall for a character I wasn’t expecting to write a book for.
Vouclade & Kasey’s story will be told via the Ascension novella trilogy, because while it runs parallel to the series books, their story doesn’t draw from the overall plot arc for the series. The first novella, Ascension: The Revelation, will hopefully release later this summer. If all goes well, I’m shooting for mid to late August 2011.
Are you disappointed to have self-published EH after waiting a year?
To be honest, not really. Eternal Hearts was only seen over the course of 7 months by a total of 5 editors, all of whom had some pretty awesome things to say about the series and my writing, before Robert told me to go ahead and release EH myself. So even though the book could have come out a year earlier had I not decided to sign with Robert, I’m releasing it now with a somewhat bolstered sense of confidence in writing abilities. Because no matter what anyone says, there’s something very reassuring in knowing that a well-respected literary agent believes in your work, even if you still technically wear the self-published badge. And let me tell you, I will always wear my self-published badge with great pride.
Granted, there are those who have and continue to argue that I shouldn’t be able to claim I’m “self-published” anymore, simply because I have an agent behind me, who’s editing my work and using his contacts to get my series noticed. However, I disagree with those critics wholeheartedly. I still own my own ISBNs under the Dark Dreams Press imprint. I still had to pay the printer’s title set-up and proof fees out of my own pocket. I’m still the one that did the bulk of the copy editing for Eternal Hearts. I designed the cover, formatted the interior block for the print edition, and formatted all the different e-book versions for Kindle, Smashwords, B&N, ARE, etc. I’m also the one who sent the book out to the majority of reviewers and book bloggers. Although I will admit I’m working with the wonderful Roxanne Rhoads of Bewitching Book Tours this time around, but mainly because I’m still a pathetic newbie when it comes to marketing and promo…and she’s a Goddess. :) And I still maintain my own website, answer all of my e-mail personally, and manage all of the crazy pages an author needs to have to be successful (Facebook, GoodReads, MySpace, etc.) For me, very little has changed between the release of Eternal Seduction in late 2008 and the recent release of Eternal Hearts…except that now I have an agent who’s in my corner, keeping an eye out for ways to grow my career as an author while I’m freaking out over publishing Eternal Hearts.
So, in closing, I’m not at all disappointed to have self-published Eternal Hearts. And I really won’t be disappointed if I get to self-publish Eternal Embrace. :) Because of all the stories in the Darkness Within series, the one I’ve always been terrified an editor won’t let me get away with telling true to form…is Eternal Embrace. Oktober is an extremely dark, sexy, and vicious character, and he needs to be allowed to be himself, in all senses, or his story just won’t work. So cross your fingers that I get to release EE myself too. I just might need all the help I can get! ;)
Did you yield to fan pressure or not want the intra-series tension to let go by letting too much time pass?
I don’t look at it so much as yielding to fan pressure, as much as really wanting to make my readers happy. The way I look at it…I wouldn’t be here without my awesome readers. I may have taken a big chance by putting a self-published dark paranormal romance novel on the market, but they took a chance and spent their hard-earned money – during a time when money wasn’t so plentiful – to help me get to where I am today. So, as crazy as it might sound…keeping all of my readers as happy as I possibly can is extremely important to me. And to be completely honest – I think two and a half years is a damn long time to wait for the 2nd book in a series…and I just didn’t want to wait any longer. I’m kinda stubborn and opinionated like that. ;)
Did the chess game between Stefan and Orion cause the death of Toni’s family as her piece was put into play?
Indirectly, maybe…but definitely not directly! Stefan and Orion stopped messing with humans a long, long time ago. They go for the “big game” now. ;)
How did the idea for the mythology come about? It blends elements of many different creation stories really well. Was this a personal exercise or something that you did for a class or writing group?
The Legend wasn’t for a class or a writing group, since I’ve never taken any creative writing classes or been part of a writing group. :) I do, however, have a borderline obsession with evolutionary science, and have always been curious about various tenants of religious dogma. I didn’t want to offend more mainstream readers by removing God from the creation story of my world, but I also didn’t want to ignore other religions and their creation stories either. So I tried hard to respect everyone the best I could, while brainstorming something unique that I could bend and twist to suit my supernatural characters. And, if I do say so myself, the Legend fits that bill fairly well.
What pulled Odin off the roof with Drake?
You’ll find out as the series progresses, but one of the rules of Stefan and Orion’s chess match is neither can directly interfere with the pieces once they’re in play, and that rule also includes interference by their Children. So the minute Odin heard Toni’s name and had his internal “oh sh*t” moment, Stefan demanded that Odin return to the castle via telepathy. That’s why Drake senses telepathy in use right before Odin disappears. And that’s also why Odin is sneaking around near the end of the book, trying to talk to Drake about Toni. ;)
I felt a bit as if I had missed a volume in the series and wonder if the story of Toni and her family was told in a freebie or an anthology. Did I miss something or is that intentional to unbalance a reader so they are more careful?
You aren’t missing a volume in the series, and I didn’t purposely leave anything out to unbalance the reader – I promise. :) I was just concerned that if I gave anything more than basic details about exactly what Oktober had done to Toni’s family, readers would focus more on the specific atrocities committed than the overall loss. I mean, for Toni, of course how her family died is significant, but the most important piece of that particular story is simply that her family was murdered…and there was nothing she could do about it.
Like I said above, the basics of what happened to Toni’s family are definitely layered in Eternal Hearts. You get a few very specific details from Toni’s thoughts in the beginning of the book, a few more from Clint in the middle, and perhaps some of the most telling from Oktober’s admissions later. But, at least in my eyes, the important details; the ones that really drive Toni’s character and personality, are how she feels about the loss of her family and deals with her own guilt, not so much the circumstances of their death.
Jennifer, Thank you so much for the books and your generosity in the interview and the giveaway!
Furthermore, I am splitting the interview into two posts. I figure if the movies can do it so can I!
Yesterday was the first part and I am so lucky that Jennifer is such a lovely and gracious lady to answer my questions. MWAH!
OUTSTANDING GIVEAWAY
CONTEST IS CLOSED; WINNERS IN THE MORNING
- TWO winners will each receive a print copy in trade paperback of Eternal Hearts AND a $10 Amazon Gift card. Details following Interview Part 1
- Sorry US ONLY.
- You must be 18 or older.
- One entry per person per day and one extra per day for tweeting (total 4 possible entries) and suggested tweet wording: Jenn Turner's ETERNAL HEARTS Interview Part 1 & GREAT giveaway at FANGS, WANDS & FAIRY DUST http://tinyurl.com/36ljshu #fangswandsfairy PRT
- Contest will begin at 12:00 AM midnight Friday, June 3 and end at 11:59PM Saturday, June 4. Winner will be announced on Saturday.
- Prizes will ship from Jennifer. All times east coast USA.
- To enter you must use the form for each separate day.
- Once a winner is notified he/she has up to 24 hours to contact me by reply email.
- The email you give me must be correct. If it comes back the entry is null and void and another winner chosen.
