Pom-poms for Vampires Vampires are not meant to be taken seriously.
Okay, now my inbox is filling up with missives from outraged alpha bloodsuckers ready to cancel my subscription to Fangs Weekly and bar me from the I Heart Bram Stoker clubhouse. But really, my dearly undead, the leather jacket and furrowed brow can only take a plot arc so far. Paranormal tales need well-rounded characters, and in my story world that means real emotion, a bit of humor, and a sense of perspective.
Which is why I immediately wrote a quartet of books about vampire superspies and a royal wedding between two fantasy nations, complete with fairyland, magic jewelry, and an army of crazed slayers. And a werewolf jewel thief chef. Because I could. So there.
I don’t make things easy for myself. The trick of all this was to spin this glorious fairytale but ground it in love stories so delicious—and funny and heartfelt—that the reader would be willing to go along for the ride. This, I decided would be pure paranormal romance, light yet rich and tasty as a perfect devil’s food cake. I sincerely hope I succeeded!
These books happened because of an entirely random accident. I was walking along the water’s edge one summer afternoon after a chapter meeting of my local romance authors’ group when a wedding party drove by. It was a pretty picture—blue sky, sparkling water, convertible, flying veil, cars decked out with little yellow pom-poms. And I thought, “That is exactly the kind of joy I’d like to capture in one of my stories.” And then one of the pom-poms flew off the car and landed at my feet. The romance goddess was sending me a sign: Go forth, brave author, and write about a wedding. Vampires? I thought. With pom-poms and champagne? And the fluffy yellow ball staring up at me from the sidewalk said, Why not? Bloodsuckers just want to have fun like everyone else. So I wrote that proposal, and Harlequin Nocturne bought all four books.
So enough preamble—what’s on the menu? Think James Bond with fangs—three vampires and a werewolf who collectively make up a crack unit of operatives called the Four Horsemen and go by the code names Death, War, Plague and Famine. The universe promptly bursts their macho bubble by sending along their romantic counterparts: a wedding planner, a fashion designer, a high-end photographer, and another spy as twisty as they come. Their job is to unravel a plot designed to keep a prince and princess from getting married because the royal union will end a feud that dates back to the Crusades. Naturally, evil forces don’t want that to happen.
Each book stands alone, but those who follow the series through will see the final resolution of the royal marriage, which doesn’t come to pass anything like the characters expect. I had such a delightful experience writing these, and I hope readers will enjoy them just as much. So, I guess I shouldn’t say that I don’t take vampires seriously. I just like to have fun with them once in a while.
I like to think my books deliver a solid action-adventure romance, but they have a light-hearted side as well.
Read excerpts of Possessed by a Warrior and Possessed by an Immortal by clicking here.
Books in the Horseman series in the order they should be read: Possessed by a Warrior
Possessed by an Immortal
Buy a Kindle copy of Possessed by a Warrior from Amazon by clicking here. – ONLY $3.82!
Buy a Kindle copy of Possessed by an Immortal from Amazon by clicking here. - ONLY $3.82!
About Sharon Ashwood
Author Bio:
Sharon Ashwood is a novelist, desk jockey and enthusiast for the weird and spooky. She has an English literature degree but works as a finance geek. Interests include growing her to-be-read pile and playing with the toy graveyard on her desk. As a vegetarian, she freely admits the whole vampire/werewolf lifestyle would never work out, so she writes her adventures instead.
Sharon is the winner of the RITA® Award for Paranormal Romance. She lives in the Pacific Northwest and is owned by the Demon Lord of Kitty Badness.Connect with Sharon| Website | Blog | Newsletter | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | Books by Sharon Ashwood| Reviews of Sharon’s Books |
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