Keta Diablo Interview & Giveaway

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For Day 9 of my Giveaway-A-Day Countdown to My 25th Birthday Bash, I’m lucky enough to be joined by Keta Diablo. Thanks for being with us today!

So tell us a little bit about yourself?

Thank you so much for having me at Not Really Southern Vampire Chick. You have a lovely blog here. I live in the Midwest portion of the country where it’s very cold right now. I don’t particularly like the arctic blasts, but our springs and summers are breathtaking and make up for the suffering (lol). When I’m not writing, I’m either reading, gardening or hanging out at my local animal shelter. I’m a huge advocate for abused and neglected animals and would like to take them all home if possible.

How long have you been writing? Where do you find your inspiration?

I’ve always written in one form or another, even when it was only for my own pleasure. I’ve been writing professionally for about five years and am published through Ravenous Romance, Noble Romance, Phaze Publishing and Amber Quill Press.

I find my inspiration from many places, even dreams at times. Mostly, I find them from an article or a story I’ve read while surfing the net. For instance, Land of Falling Stars, my Civil War novel, was inspired by a story I read about cousins who fought on opposite sides during the war. Decadent Deceptions, another erotic historical, was inspired by a book I read about brothels in the 1800’s.

Tell us a little bit about how you decided to write M/M novels?

That came about from reading in the genre. Male bodies have always fascinated me. I don’t necessarily mean in a carnal way, but I love their form, the muscles and the hard, lean curves. I am, however, intrigued about the emotional side of their relationships, particularly when men often think entirely the opposite of women when it comes to romance, expressing love and acting upon it. To me, this is all very fascinating. One thing I find a little difficult about writing in the genre is identifying one character from the other when they’re in a love scene. When you write male/female, you have a he and a she, so they are easily identified, but here you have two males, so you’re often repeating their names in order to keep things clear.

Can you tell us about "The Sin Eater's Prince"?

I’d love to, thank you for asking. The Sin Eater’s Prince was borne out a short story I wrote for an anthology called Boys of the Bite. Cecilia Tan edited the antho and it was released by Ravenous Romance last spring. Not long after its release, an editor at Ravenous asked me to develop it into a full-length story.

Of all the books I’ve written (15 so far) I really got into the research on this one. For those of you who don’t know what a Sin Eater is/was, I’ll be happy to tell you. During earlier centuries in England, Wales and Ireland almost every village had a sin eater who lived on the outskirts. Shunned by most of the villages, he was only called upon when Death called. Either shortly before the person passed or immediately after, the family would call upon him to take up the sins of the deceased. He did this by standing over the corpse, eating a small loaf of bread (called dead cakes) and say a specific prayer. The custom was so widespread and popular that many people left instructions in their Will and truly believed if the Sin Eater didn’t absolve them of sin, they’d wander the halls of oblivion forever.

In The Sin Eater’s Prince, Owen the Sin Eater, has loved the local physician, Andras Maddock, from afar. In return Maddock has loved Owen from afar, but has not acted upon his feelings because he was turned by a vampire five years ago. When Owen is attacked in the woods one night by the deadliest vampire of all, Traherne, the same vampire who turned Maddock, Andras saves Owen’s life. Traherne’s son, Dagan not only seeks revenge for his father’s death, but longs to possess the Prince’s sword that Maddock owns. So we have love (plenty of that) suspense, mystery, magick and lots and lots of Welsh superstition thrown into the mix.

You can purchase The Sin Eater’s Prince here: http://www.ravenousromance.com/fantastica/the-sin-eater-s-prince.php

Who would you say is your favorite character from the story?

The characters are all very interesting to me, even the villains. If I must choose, I’ll choose Owen. He’s a lonely soul by virtue of his occupation and a very kind, gentle man. When his father died, he had two choices – either take up his father’s profession or starve to death. Owen understands that the villagers don’t shun him out of hatred but out of fear and superstition, and there’s a surprise in the book about what Owen really is.

What is your best birthday memory?

This isn't a huge one but kind of cute. On my thirtieth birthday, I was really looking forward to some nice candles, scented bath salts or books for my birthday. From my two young sons, ages 5 and 4, their dad took them shopping to buy me something and guess what I received in a nice little wrapped box? Cowboy handkerchiefs. My husband looked at me and shrugged, "They insisted," he said. I still have the handkerchiefs and they're a cherished memory. The candles and scented bath salts would have been long gone by now.

Do you have any upcoming work we should keep an eye out for?

Oh, boy, now you’re going to think I have no life; that all I do is write. And that’s partially true. I’ll be writing the sequel to The Sin Eater’s Prince soon, and right now I’m co-authoring two books. One is about demons and angels (Black Phoenix Rising) and the other is about ghosts who (attempt) to keep humans safe from evil (Pale Halls of the Realm). I recently contracted for three more novellas in my Crossroads series. The first three have done very well through Phaze Publishing and they’ve asked me to continue the series. These are also male/male but set in a contemporary setting of mystery/suspense.

Where can we find more of you? (fan pages, websites, twitter?)

Again, thank you so much for asking. You can find me at the url’s listed below. And please sign up for my monthly newsletter. I give away three books every month. That’s here: http://www.ketadiablo.com

Author Home: http://ketadiablo.blogspot.com

Keta’s Haunt: http://www.ketadiablo.com

Keta’s Keep: http://ketaskeep.blogspot.com

Gay Fiction Blog: http://thestuffofmythandmen.blogspot.com

Keta on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/ketadiablo

KETA WILL BE GIVING AWAY TWO EBOOKS, ONE THE SIN EATER’S PRINCE AND THE OTHER HER NEW EROTIC ROMANCE RELEASE HOLDING ON TO HEAVEN.

Before I get to that though, I wanted to mention the fact that Keta’s got a new release out today!

Hot and Sticky, Gay Fiction, Amber Quill Press, http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/HotSticky.html

It’s been extremely difficult for Hugh Landon, an up-and-coming lawyer in Washington, D.C., to control his sexual fantasies about his paralegal, Milan Vassar.

When his career hangs in the balance over a missing file, Hugh must call Milan at the midnight hour and plead for assistance. Hugh’s determination not to mix business with pleasure disintegrates when Milan arrives at the office not only to help him, but to confess he’s held the same secret desires for his boss

And guess what? It’s been nominated for BEST BOOK OF THE MONTH at Dark Diva Reviews. Vote here through May 15th: http://darkdivasreviews.webs.com/bookofthemonthpoll.htm

 

Are you wondering when I’m going to get to the giveaway? LOL That would be now. :)

~1 winner will receive an ebook of The Sin Eater’s Prince.

~1 winner will receive an ebook of Holding on to Heaven.

Both are open internationally. You must be 18 years or older to enter, and a follower of this blog. This contest ends May 31st, as do all daily contests in my bday bash. For any other questions refer to the rules.

To enter leave a comment about whether or not you’ve read any M/M stories, and what your opinion is on them AND fill out the FORM.

*Contest is closed*