Black Swan Series – Page 6 – Victoria Danann®

Vampires vs. Werewolves Blog Hop

NO. NO. NO. Everybody knows that the plural of vampire is vampire.

At least Black Swan fans know that.

Vampires and Werewolves. They are two of the most well known and popular paranormal creatures today. Bones from Night Huntress (Chapter 32 anyone? *wink*) or Alcide Herveaux from the Sookie Stackhouse series, etc. This hop is all about the vampires and werewolves! Are you a vampire lover or werewolf lover?

If you had to choose would you cuddle up with your sexy dangerous vampire throughout the long nights or would you rather a sexy testosterone filled dominate werewolf that let out the most interesting of growls at *ahem* fun moments? (Actually, for readers of the Black Swan books, you know that there are other kinds of vampire and werewolves besides these two stereotypical renditions.)

But if you had to choose: vampires or werewolves?

Leave your comment to be entered into a Raffle for a chance to win a signed paperback copy of the collected tales, Books 1-3, 828 pages, $29.99. This prize will ship February 15.

Leave your email to be notified if you win or check back on the 21st for announcement.

Vampire and werewolves from an alternate point of view.

For more chances to win great prizes, visit my associates participating in this super fun blog.

By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:49-05:00January 13th, 2013|Black Swan Series, Blog Hop, Knights of Black Swan, vampire, vampire romance|114 Comments

REVIEWERS SAY THE DARNDEST THINGS

As part of my morning routine, I look at reviews and check my rankings in various categories on Amazon. After being out there in authorland for seven months, I had begun to think perhaps there were no more ANTICS for reviewers to get up to. I was wrong.

This morning My Familiar Stranger got a four star review from someone who downloaded A FREE COPY. I could editorialize, but have decided to simply cut and paste.

4.0 out of 5 stars Looks like a good book, January 5, 2013

By Glendora Pierce (Liberty, MO USA) – See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)

This review is from: My Familiar Stranger – A Paranormal Romance (The Order of the Black Swan, BOOK ONE) (Kindle Edition)

I download a lot of books to my Kindle Fire, but since I work full time I don’t get to read as much as I would like to. Therefore I have not read this book as of yet, but am looking forward to doing so. I would not have purchased this book without reading the description of the book, so feel this will be a good one when I get around to reading it.

A 4 star review goes down a lot easier when the reviewer actually read the book and cites reasons why they are giving the rating they’re giving. When I looked at this person’s other reviews on Amazon, I found no books (other than M.F.S. – which wasn’t read) and a total of three DVD’s (2 Sons of Anarchy and 1 Vampire diaries).

Like I said, reviewers say the darndest things.

– Victoria Danann

By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:50-05:00January 6th, 2013|Black Swan Series, My Familiar Stranger: the vampire hunters|6 Comments

A Summoner’s Tale: Excerpt #1

Dear Elizabeth Naylor –

Excerpt #1 is the first chapter which was published at the end of The Witch’s Dream. Just in case you and others got a copy that didn’t include it, here it is. And thank you very much for sending me a scratching-your-head moment. Very helpful.

CHAPTER_1

BLACK SWAN FIELD TRAINING MANUAL Section I: Chapter 1, #1

The plural of vampire is vampire.

When the initial rush of activity subsided, he had found himself all too often alone with his own thoughts; a condition that was tediously familiar since he had spent hundreds of years that way. Without the distraction of his friends’ banter, since his proposed staff had left Edinburgh, he had begun to see his task not just as a job, but as a mission, one immersed in the duality of joy and gravity. Though, lately it seemed gravity was winning.

He had never considered himself to be impatient. Quite the contrary. Everything he had ever pursued in earnest, from painting to music to writing, had depended upon patience. But, his awareness of the enormity of the burden he had accepted had grown over the past months and he had turned to brooding about the time that was passing.

Every day that nothing was accomplished was a day when more people had their humanity taken from them, another day when vampire remained imprisoned in bodies infected with the foulest disease imaginable, and, also, another day when people died.

The project was moving painfully slowly. Everyone who had originally been assigned to work with Baka was gone: married, retired, whatever. Everyone except Heaven – who had turned out to be anything but. If he was to be brutally honest with himself, he would have to admit that one of the main reasons for the slow progress was his distraction with his appointed assistant.

The large work space, intended for several people, held two people most of the time. He worked from early in the morning till late at night, challenging both the hours in the day and the fact that he was one excruciatingly short-handed task, force leader.

When Heaven was present, her moods ran the range of a shallow bell curve from disagreeable to surly to sullen. He admitted that he had provoked her on their first meeting, for reasons that were a mystery to him. Something about her had instantly put him on edge, made him feel anxious, and inclined to strike out.

Even though that feeling persisted, he had attempted to make amends so that they could work together amicably, but his attempts at accord had failed. Miserably so. She was prickly all the way to her luscious core, spurning every effort on his part to develop a rudimentary standard of civility. No matter how many times he tried.

He not only had to work with a person who detested his very presence, but, adding insult to injury, it seemed he couldn’t shake an inexplicably strong attraction to her. He found himself staring at the curve of her cheek when her head bowed over work. Or the shine of her chestnut hair when she walked in front of a window, right through a bank of sunrays. Or the way her lips pursed in silent protest and disdain whenever he gave her something to do.

It was damned aggravating to be held captive, figuratively, by a woman who detested him. To make matters worse, he seemed to have lost interest in pursuing other women, which really wasn’t like him at all. After being freed of the vampire virus, he found himself in a world where sex was king. Women dressed provocatively. Women were provocative. And they were free to share sex if it suited them to do so without needing permission outside their own conscience.

He had made the most of that window of sexual opportunity between the cure and the day Heaven walked into his war room.

For over five months, she had behaved as if simple courtesy was more than she could manage. That meant that “nice” was a goal way too distant. Baka knew it wasn’t an expression of her nature in general because he’d often watched her from across the dining hall laughing and interacting with other associates and employees. No. With others her manner was open and unguarded.

A thousand times a day his eyes sought her out while he surreptitiously pretended to be doing something else. He found himself imagining having her lift her head and turn the sunshine of that smile his way or, even better, to angle her face up at him with invitation on her features while she pressed her beautifully packed curves against his body. The thought of that made him hard. Painfully so. Again.

He was staring at the clock on the wall as he did that time every day, waiting for the separation ritual to begin. At exactly fifteen after five, Heaven checked her wristwatch, closed an open folder, pushed her chair back, stood up, shoved her arms into her sweater jacket, put her purse on her shoulder and, like every other day, started to walk out of the office without so much as a passing glance angled his way. Much less a wish for goodnight. But, that night was going to be different. That night his voice stopped her when she put her hand on the door pull.

“Heaven.”

“Yes?” she asked over her shoulder without looking at him directly.

“Why do you hate me so much?”

She didn’t hesitate for an instant before answering, “I don’t hate you. Whatever gave you such an idea?”

Before he could frame an answer to that question, she was gone. He heaved a big sigh. Fuck me.

Life had become a conflict without prospect of resolution. He perpetually struggled to concentrate when she was there because the space seemed to vibrate with a low level, but annoying irritation. When she wasn’t there, he hated it even more.

Baka had been a person with a well-developed sense of morality and a well-functioning conscience before he became a vampire. During the last hundred years of life as a vampire, having survived long enough to blessedly recover his understanding of right and wrong, he had voluntarily allowed himself to be taken into custody by The Order hoping that they would put an end to him. But they devised a far worse punishment. They decided to keep him alive on artificial sustenance so that, on occasion, he could serve as “consultant”. Of course that also entailed imprisonment and many decades of a solitary life.

He could have committed suicide, but submitted to the ongoing torment because he knew he deserved whatever crucible they might devise.

No. He had never been short on conscience. And that conscience was rubbing a hole in his brain telling him that it would be wrong to simply sit at a desk and plan a strategy on paper while, at the same time, doing nothing. So, keeping his own counsel, for better or worse, he determined that he would continue to work as a bureaucrat during the day, but would spend his nights – at least part of them – looking for others he might coax back to the light with the help of a very special serum.

He had worked with Monq at Jefferson Unit labs to develop a delivery solution. Taking a page from the methodology of the late Gautier Nibelung, they had decided that the safest and most effective approach would be dart gun. Each dart was outfitted with a tiny canister that would puncture on impact releasing a formula that was part stun and part cure. The proper dose of stun solution had been determined by tests on Baka himself. So he knew it worked. First hand.

Obviously vampire must be incapacitated while the viral antidote works. As medicinal remedies go, it is fast working, but not instant. There is a delay of two to four hours between introduction to the system and complete reversal of the disease, depending upon the age and constitution of the individual.

His plan wasn’t perfect. It depended on encountering one – no more than two – vampire at a time and extracting them, while paralyzed, without engaging other vampire. Further, all that had to be accomplished by him. Alone.

Tricky, but the alternative was waiting for a task force to be vetted, assembled, and trained. And waiting was the one thing he couldn’t manage. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing he’d ever done, but, hell, he’d had a long life.

To his advantage, he still had certain attributes that were extra human. Not like comic book heroes. More like human plus. No one knew if these benefits would fade away over time, but, for now, he was a little stronger, a little faster, and could see in the dark a little better than most people. All traits very useful for vampire hunting.

It just so happened that he found his assigned base of operations in prime territory that qualified as a vampire magnet on all counts. In Edinburgh’s Old Town there was a large pedestrian population that came out at night and it was built on top of an underground system that was not utilized to any extent that would interfere with the needs of vampire. All this was literally in sight of his office – five minutes’ walk away.

In a darkly poetic way, it was fitting that vampire would thrive in Edinburgh’s underground city which consisted of a system of tunneled streets with walls so close you could almost stand in the middle and touch both sides. The caverns and cells that faced the streets cut into the much softer sandstone under the rock that the above-ground Old Town is built upon. It’s a place with grisly history where thousands of hapless poor lived in darkness, packed together without sanitation and with the vilest of criminals. The legend is that plague victims were not removed and buried or burned, but sealed in their cells.

Some of the underground “vaults” under the bridge were reportedly used during World War II air raids, but, even if that was true, no one had been back since.

Modern day Ghost Tours offer a shallow excursion into Mary King’s Close – shallow because individuals don’t want to stay in the underground very long. Words like “creepy” are frequently used even by hard-core insensitives. That left a lot of maze for a vampire haven.

Baka had been a vampire long enough to know all about how they think which was why he had been supremely valuable to The Order as “consultant”. He knew that the days of the Samhuinn festival would be a gorge fest for vampire. The Royal Mile, just over the heads of vampire living in the Underground, would be crowded with visitors to the city, visitors intent on celebration and revelry, danger being the last thing on their minds. It would be a blessing to vampire in the original sense of the word’s older cousin – bloodletting.

He finished his day, went to dinner alone, and slowly savored every bite of actual food. Afterward, driven by a heartfelt desire to do some good in the world, he pulled on a pair of cargo pants and equipped the dozen pockets with as many canisters as they would hold. He opened his backpack and stuffed it with two not-for-sale-on-any-market, rapid-fire dart pistols designed by The Order’s own, genius inventor, Thelonius M. Monq. To that he added five revolving canisters for reloads, a thinsulate, a lighted helmet guaranteed to give fourteen hours of use in exchange for three AAA batteries, and six pairs of handcuffs.

When he put the handcuffs in side zipper pockets he wondered if he was being ambitious, prideful, or just plain stupid. It gave him pause, but, when weighed against the burden on his heart, his second thoughts didn’t carry enough weight to stop him. Like many natural intuits, he ignored the foreboding of his own instinct and proceeded with the plan, foolish though it might be.

He descended the stairs to the main foyer wondering if, even partial redemption for a long life of misdeeds, is possible. The fact that he was not accountable for his infamous history should have given him some peace of absolution. But didn’t. He said good evening to the doorman, threaded his arms into the backpack straps, and headed out into the night.

By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:50-05:00December 29th, 2012|Black Swan Series|15 Comments

A Summoner's Tale: Excerpt #2

After brunch, Kay and Katrina did hugs all around, loaded the car, and drove away from the Black Swan Vineyard villa where they had been guests for four days. They were supposed to rendezvous with an Order jet at Voltaire Unit, Presidio, San Francisco and catch a ride to Edinburgh. Kay had been persuaded to consult on a Berserker issue and, since it wasn’t an active duty assignment, Katrina came along.

The young married couple had both been changed by the experience of her demon abduction. The feeling of not knowing whether or not they would ever see each other again was still raw and near the surface of shadow consciousness so they didn’t like to spend time apart if it could be helped.

Storm and Litha stood on the pea gravel drive and waved goodbye like an old married couple. They held hands and watched the teal blue Caddy until it went over the hill before going back inside. At home in Houston, Kay had an expensive sports car that had been custom tricked out to accommodate his size, but only a few loaner cars came big enough for him to ride comfortably.

They closed the door and got as far as the two cordovan, leather sofas that faced each other in the great room before they flopped down. The excursion into the new world of hosting house guests at the newly renovated and furnished villa had been a success.

“I want to clean up the kitchen, but I’m too tired to move.” Litha opened one eye a slit so that she could gauge his reaction. She hoped the thinly disguised suggestion would prompt Storm to volunteer, even though they both knew it was her turn.

He grinned, black eyes sparking with just a touch of taunt. “Nice try though.”

Screwing up her face and groaning, she dragged herself up off the couch and made drama of trudging toward the kitchen.

The spectacle made Storm grin even bigger and his abs rippled with unvoiced laughter. He put his feet up on the heavy, square coffee table, and slouched down into the couch smiling to himself, feeling self-satisfied, and more than a little proud of the vineyard, the villa, and his wife. So this is dreams coming true.

He had hunkered down, nested, and loved every damn thing about it. When the thought, “It’s too good,” wandered across his mind, he could have slapped himself. In his experience “too good” is a state of being that never lasts long. It’s even shorter when the gods think good fortune has been questioned. Don’t they just love to fuck with that?

He snapped out of the fatalistic philosophizing when he heard a knock on the door. Assuming Kay forgot something he opened the door saying, “What did you…?”

It only took a second for Storm to string together everything Litha had told him about Deliverance, add that to the conspicuous family resemblance, – She got her looks from a sex demon. – and come the conclusion that the caller was his new father-in-law, in the flesh, and standing on their porch. He steadily held the visitor’s gaze and, without taking his eyes away, yelled loud enough to be heard in the kitchen.

“Litha! There’s a demon here to see you!”

There was no question that she heard him because of the volume of response. Shiny, new copper bottom pots make a lot of noise when they land on something as hard as a custom poured concrete kitchen counter or a slate floor.

Deliverance had been staring at Storm without blinking. He had to give the kid credit. Not so much as a muscle twitch or tiny tremor. He supposed she could have done worse. He let the corners of his mouth soften with the humor in his eyes. Storm didn’t show any sign of fear, but he didn’t invite the demon inside as they continued to silently take each other’s measure.

Litha rushed past Storm right into the laughing embrace of the male. Speaking of ‘too good to be true’, that pretty much summed up the demon’s looks. Anybody, even a heterosexual man had to admit that he was stunning.

Deliverance was visibly relieved that she was glad to see him. Still on the wide front porch, he swung her around like she was a little girl and she rewarded him for it with delighted giggles.

When he set her on her feet and drew back to take in her face, she said, “Guess what?”

Looking down at her with pride, he answered dutifully, indulgently. “What?”

She swept her hand around in the air. “This is where I live!”

Deliverance laughed. “I thought so.”

“Come in. Oh. Wait.” She turned to Storm. “Guess what?”

“This is your dad.”

“This is my dad!”

Her excitement was contagious and starting to make him smile a little. How bad could the demon be if her made her that happy?

Storm offered his hand to Deliverance. “Engel Storm.”

Deliverance gripped the waiting hand. “You taking care of my little girl?”

Storm withdrew his hand, raised his chin a little and, as he was putting his hands in his jeans pockets, in a show of nonchalance, said, “When she’s not locked in the cellar.”

Deliverance snorted. “I’d like to see you try it. Did she ever tell you what she did to my cousins?”

Litha
shrugged as if to say, “Aw, shucks, it was nothing.”

Storm was interested. “No she didn’t. Was it fire related?”

Deliverance looked at Storm like he must be mentally deficient. “No,” he said slowly like he was trying to exercise great patience. “Fire wouldn’t hurt my cousins.”

There was a very loud ‘duh’ that hung unspoken in the air.

Storm was thinking that it was shaping up to be a long afternoon.

Litha shook her head a little and repeated, “Come in,” to her father, the demon.

They gave him a tour of the house and he pretended to be interested in every tidbit about the renovation while rarely taking his eyes away from his daughter. When they circled back to the kitchen, Litha glanced toward the pantry with a dismissive wave in that direction, “I’d offer you something to eat, but…”

Deliverance nodded in the direction indicated. “You have women in there?”

Litha and Deliverance both laughed at his joke. Storm didn’t question the fact that he didn’t think that was funny. He knew, all the way to his core, that it wasn’t funny and thought it may have bordered on disturbing. The fact that Litha found it hysterical was disturbing.

“I’m not staying long. Just wanted to pop in and bring you a wedding present, or housewarming gift, or whatever you want to call it.”

Litha perked up. “Present?” She looked around thinking he had set the bar pretty high with a red, convertible Aston Martin that held a vintage Gucci suitcase full of cash in the trunk. “Where is it?”

“In the abstract.”

“An abstract present?” She blinked. “I don’t get it.”

“Do you want to guess? Yes! Let’s do that. It’ll be so fun. Three guesses and I’ll give you a big hint. Ready?” Storm was trying to remember if Litha had ever said her father had a personality like a game show host. “It’s travel related and better than owning your own private jet.”

“Wow. Really. Okay. I’m in.” She glanced toward Storm. “Storm can play, too, right?”

Deliverance leveled a look on Storm that left no doubt he considered that his new son-in-law was intruding on his visit with Litha. “Sure. Go for it.”

Litha noticed the change of tone and the reduction in the level of enthusiasm, but pretended she didn’t.

“I surrender.” Storm would rather observe than horn in on their fun. The dynamic between his bride and her father was interesting and surprising. He knew Litha had tolerated learning about her heritage and was mentally flexible enough to adapt, but he had no idea she held the demon in such regard and with so much affection. “Litha’s better at guessing games.”

Litha jerked her head at Storm and narrowed her eyes. “Liar. There’s not a game on Earth I can win when you’re playing.”

“There’s one.” Deliverance sang those two words as he crossed his arms over his chest and stoked the mystery with his smile. As an incubus demon he had an acute appreciation of the value of anticipation.

Stumped by the esoteric clues – travel related and better than a private jet – she lunged at her father and grabbed two fistfuls of shirt. “Tell me!”

He laughed, clearly delighted by her display of delirium. “No, but I’ll give you another clue. And, watch the threads! My sustenance depends on good grooming, you know.” She snorted as he gently wrested her hands away from his shirt.

“Somehow I think you’d survive, fresh pressed ‘threads’ or not.”

Deliverance bowed his head a little in appreciation of her admiration. “The lord of the manor here…” He jerked his chin toward Storm. “…is not what you think.”

Litha dropped both hands to her sides and took a step back. She sobered instantly, all levity gone from her expression and tone of voice. “You’re not here to make trouble, are you?”

Deliverance was taken aback, a scowl looking out of place on his flawless features. “Certainly not. I would never do anything to hurt you. It’s not anything bad. He’s just not fully human.”

She stared at her father for a couple of beats then looked at Storm to judge his reaction to the outlandish and completely unexpected announcement. Except for a muscle that twitched involuntarily under Storm’s right eye he had not reacted in any visible way.

“This isn’t fun anymore, Dad. Start explaining now.” Litha watched the demon pull a heavy, wrought iron bar chair away from the kitchen island and gracefully take a seat like he knew his way around a barstool.

“You remember saying you thought his eyes looked like mine?” Litha’s gaze flew to Storm. Though her face remained passive, it was easy to see her mind was doing some lightning speed gymnastics. She nodded silently. Storm looked at Deliverance to see if he would agree to a resemblance. “Well, you were right. They do. That’s because his father was Abraxas. Probably a distant relative, but definitely same tribe.”

When Deliverance finished that sentence, there was no response. The silence drug on as both the newlyweds processed individually, internally testing the likelihood that the news was the truth.

Finally, Litha said, “And you thought this would make us happy?”

He beamed. “Yes. It’s my gift.”

Litha lifted fingers to her temple and stared at the ground for a minute. “I can’t believe I’m asking this, but how does this relate to trav…” She stopped in mid sentence and looked a little stunned. She jerked a wide eyed gaze back up to his face. “You’re saying he can ride the passes.”

“No.” Deliverance was shaking his head emphatically. “He doesn’t have enough demon blood for that. But he can piggyback. Well, not literally.” His eyes drifted down Storm’s body and up again unapologetically as if he was calculating how much Storm might weigh. “He could go along with you and survive it.” He turned to Storm. “Just don’t get separated from her because she’s your ticket in, out, and everything in between.”

Litha took in a big breath and let out a curse ending in, “…Jezebel’s Juice.”

“You don’t look happy,” Deliverance was just starting to tune in to the mood in the room.

“Well, I don’t know how I feel about it. I’m, um, surprised to say the least.” She wanted to look at Storm and get a read on how he was taking the dubious news, but, at the same time, hesitated to see his reaction. “When we’ve had time to get used to the idea, I’m sure we’re going to be really excited.”

“Well, yeah! Go anywhere you want to go instantly? Do anything you want to do? How many humans can say that?”

She stared at him. “None.”

“Exactamundo!” He jumped down from his stool in a fluid move and bent to give Litha a big smooch on the cheek. “Getting hungry. Gotta go.” He grinned and straightened the sleeves of his sports coat by pulling on them.

“Thanks for coming, Dad.”

“Welcome, beautiful.”

“Say goodbye to Storm,” she directed.
Deliverance tossed a look over his shoulder that implied he had forgotten Storm was there. “Engel Beowulf Storm. Take good care of my little girl.”

“Stay right where you are.” Storm said it quietly, but in the demanding tone of someone unaccustomed to being ignored. When Deliverance turned and faced him, he added, “With all due respect, Sir.” Storm may have coated the honorific title with a little too much sarcasm, but he wasn’t in the mood to guard against belligerence. “I want to be sure I’m not misunderstanding. You’re claiming my father – biological father – was an Abraxas demon?”

“Occam’s Razor. The simplest explanation is usually the correct one,” the demon said cheerfully right before his expression abruptly changed to serious; as if he had just stumbled upon an unexpected obstacle. “Hold on. I’m not impugning your mother’s name or anything as Dark Ages as that. Right?

“Just look at it this way. If he was an Incubus, she wouldn’t have been able to resist. I mean…” He held his arms out in a pose that was reminiscent of Fonzy from the old TV show, ‘Happy Days’, in evergreen reruns on the grid of screens in the demon’s living room.

Storm was every bit as unimpressed as you would expect a Black Swan knight to be. His manner and tone were even. “Where’s your proof?”

Deliverance didn’t look offended. If anything, Storm’s reaction seemed to soften him around the edges. He shook his head slightly in a way Storm had previously thought was unique to Litha. “The only proof I can give you is the fact that you can survive the passes. Of course…” He smiled just a little too wickedly to suit the lady of the house. “… if I’m wrong, you’ll be dead.”

Storm straightened, pulled his jaw in, and glared. He looked like he would love nothing more than to throttle one exceptionally pretty, super arrogant demon currently standing in his kitchen with blatant effrontery written all over his smug mug.

“Comforting,” Storm said drily.

“Ask your mother then.” He cocked his head in a way that served to remind Storm that Deliverance was not exactly human. “Doesn’t she live nearby?”

Storm almost took a threatening step toward daddy dearest. Litha sucked in a breath as she practically read her husband’s mind.

“Dad,” Litha said quietly while pulling on his sleeve, “time to go.”

“Alright, love. See you soon.”

Urging her father toward the door, she glanced at Storm and didn’t like what she saw. “I’ll let him out and be right back.”

By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:50-05:00December 26th, 2012|Black Swan Series, Knights of Black Swan, paranormal romance, paranormal romance series, vampire, vampire romance, Victoria Danann|6 Comments

Baby Makes Good!

My Familiar Stranger has been nominated for the Best Reviewer Read of 2012 by The Paranormal Romance Guild.

Win or lose – what an honor.

THANK YOU!!

By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:50-05:00December 14th, 2012|Black Swan Series, Knights of Black Swan, My Familiar Stranger: the vampire hunters, paranormal romance, paranormal romance series, Victoria Danann|1 Comment

Christmas Wishes Blog Hop

Leave comment for a chance to win one each signed paperback copies of My Familiar Stranger and The Witch’s Dream along with a Black Swan mousepad.

GRAND PRIZE GIVEAWAY… We will be giving away:

A Kindle Paperwhite,

A Nook Glow,

and a $90 choice giftcard for either amazon or barnes and noble.

Both Tablets will come with a book bundle!!

Click here for Rafflecopter Entry. http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/308aa4235/

Please check out the other blogs on the tour for more chances to win.

By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:51-05:00December 5th, 2012|Black Swan Series, Blog Hop, Knights of Black Swan|14 Comments

GIVEAWAY: One Set of Signed Paperback Copies of ORDER OF THE BLACK SWAN, BOOKS ONE and TWO plus a gorgeous BLACK SWAN mousepad. (U.S. only!)

WINNER is Larissa Rodgers. Congratulations. You have ALSO been entered in the GRAND PRIZE raffle.

WHAT’S MY FAVORITE PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOVEL WITH A HOLIDAY IN IT? This does not have to be a holiday book – just has to have a holiday in it.

Why, that would be My Familiar Stranger, of course. Christmas expressed as Yule because it is an alternate dimension.

My Familiar Stranger can be downloaded for FREE at any of these links:

AMAZON.COM http://www.amazon.com/My-Familiar-Stranger-Paranormal-ebook/dp/B007V8RAKW/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

BARNES & NOBLE: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/my-familiar-stranger-a-paranormal-romance-victoria-danann/1113594093?ean=2940045052818

iTUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/my-familiar-stranger-paranormal/id576452347?mt=11

SMASHWORDS: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/153078

HAPPY HOPPING and visit all these blogs participating.

1. The Book Maven	2. Malia Mallory	3. Not Now. . . Mommys Reading
4. Dirty Details – Author Alyssa Turner	5. Natalie-Nicole Bates	6. Cassandra Dean (Int)
7. Author Jennifer James – Unbutton Your Inhibitions	8. Constance Phillips, A Writers Musings	9. SnifferWalk (Intl. )
10. 31 Days Early I Rise	11. eReading on the Cheap	12. Lisa Rayns Wanted: Vampire
13. Reginamayrosss Blog	14. Victoria Danann	15. H. D. Thomson – Paranormal Romance Author (Int)

By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:51-05:00November 23rd, 2012|Black Swan Series, fantasy romance, Knights of Black Swan, My Familiar Stranger: the vampire hunters, paranormal romance, paranormal romance series, urban fantasy, Victoria Danann|32 Comments

A computer-generated rendering of a possible six-dimensional geometry similar to those studied by UW-Madison physicist Gary Shiu. (Image: courtesy Andrew J. Hanson, Indiana University)

I guess I’m a bigger fan of science fiction than I realized before I started writing. My introduction to sci-fi was several collections of short stories beginning at about twelve-years-old and, although I will not reveal my age, I will say that I have lived long enough to see many of the outlandish and outrageous proposals of what the future might hold become true. This happens with such regularity that, somewhere along the way, I began to wonder which comes first. Are the sci-fi writers clairvoyant or do they give inventors/implementors ideas? I strongly suspect the latter – the message then being, be careful what you write?

Some of my best reviews mention the concept of parallel universe. While I love getting great reviews as much, if not more, than anybody, I feel compelled to try and correct this misimpression. The concept presented in the Black Swan series is that of ALTERNATE DIMENSIONS which is quite different. I did take a stab at having the character, Deliverance, explain it in The Witch’s Dream without getting too technical and drowning readers in more than they wanted to know on the subject.

Here are a couple of questions that came up on Bitten by Books in a release party for The Witch’s Dream. I’m going to publish them here to shed some light on the subject.

kimberly says: October 16, 2012 at 12:39 pm

Victoria, how did you come up with the parallel universe theory and having a close double for everyone? And why did Elora have to go through such “re-birthing” pains?

Victoria Danann says: October 16, 2012 at 12:59 pm

Okay, first, the idea presented is this series is based on Parallel Dimensions which is really different from Parallel Universe theory. Parallel Dimensions are planetary – different planes functioning without conscious awareness of each other, but all tied to Earth. At one time it may have been a notion of science fiction, but scientists have been discussing the possibilities more seriously for the past fifty years or so.

I was working with the idea metaphysically because I had a thought one day that some of my dreams are reflections of other versions of myself, connected by a spiritual thread that reveals itself through the unconcious in dream state. That plus some instances of turning things around – like one day dealing cards counter clockwise when I have been dealing cards clockwise all my life, or looking for the trash under the right side of the sink when it’s been on the left in every house I have EVER lived in. (This is hard to explain briefly. LOL)

The reason why Elora had to suffer is because, if it turns out to be true that there are multiple dimensions in play, the objects and people within that dimension will be vibrating at speeds that are compatible with that plane, but not compatible with others (else there would be accidental cross-over). Because her cell density was designed for another vibration – and because the device was pre-experimental – it was a disaster. We have to assume that, given time and enough mishaps, Monq would have solved the problem.

Leslie Miner says: October 16, 2012 at 1:36 pm

Can you tell me more about your thoughts on parallel universes? I know, a complex subject. In Book One, my thought was Elora came from what I would consider our present life plane. I thought maybe she went to a past life plane when she ends up at Black Swan headquarters. I know there’s a past-present-future going on at all times (or I should say that is what I think), but in Book Two when Deliverance describes the parallel universes, it sounded like there were a ton just in one level of existence. I confused myself. : )

Victoria Danann says:October 16, 2012 at 1:52 pm

Okay. Let me make some distinctions here that are probably going to be hard to follow in a couple of paragraphs. I don’t write about Parallel Universes. That’s a COMPLETELY different thing. I write about the possibility of ALTERNATE (not parallel) DIMENSIONS and it IS complicated!! It probably requires more imagination than PNR.

The theory is that there are lots of different levels of existence going on around us at the same time. We are not aware of each other because we’re operating at different levels of vibration, but WE ARE OCCUPYING THE SAME SPACE AT THE SAME TIME! I know it’s hard to get your mind around. When Elora traveled from one dimension to another, she had to speed up her level of vibration – the one she had been built for – which is why it tore her body to shreds.

Leslie Miner says: October 16, 2012 at 1:46 pm

Just read your response about parallel dimensions rather than parallel universes. So is this similar to my thinking of a past/present/future going on simultaneously?

Victoria Danann says: October 16, 2012 at 1:54 pm

No. I’m really not addressing time at all. You’re talking about Einstein’s theory and, as much as I would love to think I’m smart, I can’t get my mind around non-linear time. Been trying for decades. Can’t do it.

NOTE: Please keep in mind that I am just a writer of fiction and FAR from an expert on this subject. I just know enough to suggest the idea. However, there is plenty of in-depth material if you’re interested in pursuing the idea further. It may not be long before it is proved to the satisfaction of the scientific community and may someday soon appear in high school science textbooks. Here’s an article entitled “Physicists Find A Way To ‘See’ Extra Dimensions.”

By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:51-05:00November 11th, 2012|Black Swan Series, Knights of Black Swan, scifi romance, Victoria Danann|2 Comments

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By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:51-05:00November 7th, 2012|Black Swan Series, Knights of Black Swan, My Familiar Stranger: the vampire hunters, The Witch's Dream: Demon in the Details, Victoria Danann|3 Comments

Following is a “review” I wrote for Goodreads on October 12th. It probably should be called “Author’s Notes” instead, but I take media outlets where I find them.

I wrote it so I might be biased. Since I rarely get an opportunity to give my opinion, I’m going to grab the chance.

Every book in this series – at least through the first seven – will pick up where the last ended. In that sense it’s a true serial. I’m in the process of creating a saga, a single story told through a series of books.

The way I see it, Book One, My familiar Stranger, drew the parameters of the world, introduced the main characters, and set up the story.

This second book is pure romance. I have informally subtitled it “a love letter to Paranormal ROMANCE”. It might be seen as the second act in a three act play.

Book Three, The Summoner’s Tale (to be released Valentines’ 2013), is a fasten-your-seat-belt sort of climactic ride wherein I have the opportunity to resolve some things in ways that will be surprising to readers and, I believe, satisfying as well. http://www.VictoriaDanann.com/BlackSw….

When I started writing the series, I promised to begin introducing some real life anecdotes from my years as a practicing “metaphysician”. The firefly picnic is based on a real life event.

When The Summoner’s Tale is released, I plan to also release the first three books as one volume and am very excited about that. Readers who discover the series thereafter will be able to read the story as conceived without intermission. For those of you who joined me on the adventure early, thank you very much. Without YOUR support we never would have completed the first “volume” of three.

By vdanann|2019-03-25T18:04:51-05:00November 5th, 2012|Black Swan Series, fantasy romance, Knights of Black Swan, paranormal romance, The Witch's Dream: Demon in the Details, Victoria Danann|2 Comments