Guest post and Giveaway with author J.K. Beck

So who here is a total paranormal junkie? (Picture me raising my hand and waving wildly). Yes, I am. I totally am. And I always have been.

It's not that I won't read books without some paranormal element (I read Deep End of the Ocean and The Help) but I will always gravitate toward the paranormal. Light, dark, that doesn't matter to me so much (though I will choose based on my mood), but I want that added value of paranormal. To me, that's what it is: added value. Something that takes the escapism that is reading one step further, sucking me into a world that is truly otherworldly.

I know I'm not the only one; as I write this post, I'm at an SFF con, and I'm betting pretty much everyone in this hotel could write these same opening paragraphs. But at one of the panels, I started thinking about the origin of my love of paranormal stories. I was weaned on books like Half Magic and The Phantom Tollbooth and A Wrinkle In Time. And on television, my favs were shows like I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Lost in Space, Star Trek, and on and on. (I had such a crush on Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica...I wonder if that's why I'm so addicted to Starbuck's coffee?).

I haven't outgrown it, and I don't want to. I love the escapism that living in another world brings. Except, that my favorite books don't thrust me entirely into a new world, but instead paint a new layer on this one.

Not surprisingly, those are the kinds of books I like to write, too. Books that layer another world, often dark and dangerous, on top of our world. Writing as Julie Kenner, I drew on my life as a mom to write about a soccer mom who fights demons. And now, writing as JK Beck, I've had fun playing with my former life as an attorney in Los Angeles, taking our judicial system, and hiding within its depths a similar system--but one that investigates, prosecutes and adjudicates crimes committed by paranormal creatures--those living in the shadow world. Book one, When Blood Calls, comes out on Tuesday (I can't believe release day is right around the corner!), followed by When Pleasure Rules and When Wicked Craves in October and November.

In this series, the world is dark, the inhabitants tortured by personal demons (not just the daemons in the stories!). And as much as I might want to say that I met a few demons back when I was practicing law, the truth is that that part of the stories is pure fiction.

Really.

The vampires and werewolves, though.... well, maybe I ran across a few of those.

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How about you? Were you weaned on paranormal, or did you discover the added value later? What was the first paranormal book you remember reading? One lucky commenter will win a review copy of When Pleasure Rules!

You can learn more about the Shadow Keepers (and me!) at http://www.jkbeck.com/ or http://www.theshadowkeepers.com/ (where you can also request swag and join the JK Beck mailing list). And if you're looking for a diversion, check out my book trailer here: http://jkbeck.com/the-shadow-keepers/fun-stuff/jkvideo/

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We want to thank J.K. Beck for stopping by with this great guest post. Remember, When Blood Calls (Shadowkeepers, book 1) will be out this Tuesday, August 31st and When Pleasure Rules (Shadowkeepers, book 2) will be out September 28th. Don't want to wait that long to get your hands on When Pleasure Rules? Like J.K. said at the end of her post, she is offering one lucky winner a advance review copy of the book AND a $15 Amazon gift card.

Seven innocents have been brutally murdered on the streets of Los Angeles, yet the Shadow Alliance has no suspects and no leads. And as more bodies are discovered, the age-old feud between the vampires and werewolves threatens to explode and turn the city into a living nightmare.

With her back to the wall, Lissa Monroe—a strong-willed, ravishingly beautiful succubus who entices men to surrender their souls—agrees to go undercover for the Alliance. Her mission: infiltrate the mind of werewolf leader Vincent Rand, a ferociously alluring enemy who has a powerful hold over her. Lissa has never lost control of her deepest desires, but Rand is an impenetrable paradox, a principled soldier who fears nothing—except perhaps the darkness of his own past. As the city of Angels teeters on the brink of apocalypse, these two adversaries must join together to have even the slimmest chance of surviving a more lethal enemy hidden in plain sight.

Here is what you need to do to enter. Giveaway is open internationally.


1. Fill out this form
2. Answer the question at the end of J.K.'s post in a comment below


Winner will be announced and emailed on September 8th. They will have 3 days to respond to our email or another winner will be chosen. Good luck everyone!