I hope you’ll give a warm welcome to friend and author Juliana Stone today. I know Juliana is excited to have her Samhain book Black Legacy coming out next week, to be followed by her Avon paranormal, His Darkest Hunger.

Beth: Welcome Juliana! Tell us about your soon to be released book, Black Legacy. (I’m very excited about this one, from one time travel chica to another).

Thanks for having me Beth! And there is something special about time travel, no? I love the idea! I was very happy to find a home at Samhain Publishing for this series of shorts. This book releases February 2, 2010.

Here is the blurb for Black Legacy:
Black Opals, Book 1
Frankie Black is a woman in need of a mission. For a Black Opal—a warrior woman who shifts backward or forward through time in order to, well, save the world—the last six months of downtime have left her bored. Restless. And with a feeling that something is about to hit the fan.
Finally, an assignment: save the life of Dekkar James, an infamous rock god living three hundred years in the past. Tattooed, ruggedly handsome and perfectly imperfect, one look at him and it’s as if her sleeping body springs to life.
One minute Dekkar is having the most mind-blowing sex of his life. The next, goons are breaking down his door, and he’s on the run with a woman who turns from lover to warrior in the blink of an eye.
Dealing with the New Order, operatives who manipulate time without regard for the consequences, is nothing new for Frankie. But this time their tactics have a more personal edge—they’ve found a way to seek out the Opals’ predestined mates.
Unless she can save Dekkar’s life, her future will be the first casualty in a battle for the fate of humankind.
Warning: Contains one hot dude with tattoos, a woman who won’t take no for an answer, steamy sex, an ancient Harley and a little bit of time travel.

Beth: Sounds so good. You must be very excited. How do you want people to remember you as a writer?

Wow, that’s something I’ve not thought of yet. I’m hoping that people will enjoy my books, connect with the characters and smile when they think about the stories. I hope I’m able to take them away into dangerous, exciting worlds both here on earth and beyond!

Beth: What are you most afraid of?

Professionally, it’s the loss of control that freaks me out. Once your book is in the hands of your editor and you’ve finished your revisions, edits, copy edits etc…that baby is gone! There is nothing you can do but wait and see. Will the masses love it like you did? Will it sell well? Will your reviews suck? Those kinds of thoughts terrify me. I don’t know how you seasoned writers do this book after book. Does it ever get easier? LOL

Beth: I’m hardly seasoned yet, but yeah. That wait and the uncertainty are very hard.
You are not allowed to bow out of this—I can’t believe how modest authors usually are, refusing to do this part!—please give us a paragraph or two from your writing of which you are particularly proud. Why do you like this portion?

All right Beth, I will give you a snippet from Black Legacy. I love this part of the scene because it’s when Frankie meets Dekkar for the first time. I love that there are no words between them, but the connection is instant. I love that. An instant connection where you know your life is going to change!

“Don’t say I didn’t bring you anything for your birthday. You owe me one, Dekkar.”
Frankie’s eyes shot up until they were caught, held in place with an invisible rope by the greenest, sexiest eyes she’d ever seen on a man.
Dekkar James stood a few inches from her, hands loose at his side, shirtless and ripped. His incredible torso was covered in an elaborate array of colorful tattoos that snaked up, caressing the hard abs.
Seconds turned into a long, slow silence, broken by the most devastating smile imaginable.
He didn’t speak, just held out his hand.
Frankie’s breath caught in her throat, and she felt as if she were coming apart, so intense was her body’s reaction.
She hesitated for one moment, and then her hand reached for his, a feeling of fire racing over her flesh as she made contact.
Everything faded away, and she let him lead her out the door, down yet another hallway, until the only sound was their heavy breathing. The air felt thick and it clung to her skin, like a soft caress. She glanced down to her timepiece. She had a little over an hour before the operatives from the New Order were scheduled to arrive.
She wanted to look up, but couldn’t meet his eyes. Her own pale blue orbs had stopped at the sight of the huge bulge that strained against the black of his leather.
When she did manage to raise her eyes higher, his mouth was descending, and she felt her own lips tremble in anticipation.
What the hell was wrong with her? She was on assignment for Christ sakes, and was about to break one of the most vehemently enforced rules of a Black Opal.
No fucking with a target.
His lips were firm, with just a hint of softness that gripped the edges as he opened his mouth wide, and plundered her warm wetness with his tongue. Fire erupted, hot and raging; it was immediate and all consuming.
Frankie had never in her life experienced such a kiss. It was both passionate and brutal in its intensity. She knew she was lost. There would never again be such a first kiss.
Not ever.

Beth: Awwww, first kisses. Nice.
Give us a quick look at your April release from His Darkest Hunger. What was it like for you as a new author to get a cover quote from Christine Feehan?

His Darkest Hunger is my book one in The Jaguar Warrior series I have coming out with Avon. My hero, Jaxon Castille, is bent on revenge against his ex lover Libby Jamieson. She betrayed him three years earlier and disappeared and he’s been hunting her ever since. But of course once he finds her things are a little more complicated. It’s kinda hard to enact your revenge when your target has no clue who you are. Added to this are the obvious signs that Libby has been badly abused and Jaxon’s emotions are all over the place. Things really kick in when an attempt is made on both of their lives and they need to work together in order to survive. Can they overcome the darkness between them? LOL, it’s romance so of course the HEA is inevitable, but I had so much fun with the baggage and obstacles this couple had to overcome!

And well, Miss Christine Feehan is a goddess and my idol. I still can’t believe she read the book and loved it enough to give me a quote. Very surreal and something I’ll never forget. I was lucky enough to have met her at RWA in San Francisco and it was very cool to know that even though she’s achieved the kind of success that we all dream about, she was down to earth, full of wisdom and just a lovely woman.

Beth: Thank you for joining me at the Release Contest, Juliana! Congrats on the upcoming books. Enjoy the wave!

Thanks for having me Beth, this was fun!

Beth: My pleasure, Juliana!

*****

You may find out more about Juliana and her books here.

Juliana has kindly offered a download of her upcoming book from Samhain, Black Legacy! Leave Juliana a comment or ask her a question, and you will qualify to win tomorrow morning!

Juliana and I both host a yahoo group, along with Fiona Jayde and Lacey Savage called Total Exposure. Since Fiona, Juliana and I all share a release date on Feb 2, we are throwing a big party at Total Exposure, complete with chat, contests and prizes, on Feb 1 from 5:30 to 7:30 EST. Here is the link to join Total Exposure if you don’t already belong! It’s going to be rockin’.