Debbie Viguié's Blog, page 19

Congratulations to our Day 4 Winner – Tina wins a copy of The Fall of Candy Corn!

To enter today’s contest, simply comment and say Trick-or-Treat! Today’s winner will receive a mystery prize.

As a special treat I’m inviting all of you to join this weekend’s Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! 12 authors are participating and the grand prize winner receives a book from each author! My new book Kiss of Death is one of the ones up for grabs. Click here to go to the start page for the scavenger hunt!

Welcome to the Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! If you at any time need to read the instructions for the hunt, please visit www.christianfictionscavengerhunt.com

Hello! Welcome to my site. I’m Debbie Viguié and I’m thrilled to be part of the first ever Christian Fiction Scavenger Hunt! My new book is titled Kiss of Death and is the second book in my Kiss trilogy!

About Me – I’m a NYT Bestselling Author who loves to write epic dark fantasy, thrillers, and mysteries. I love spinning WORDS to make memorable stories. I’m perhaps best known for my Wicked series and my Psalm 23 Mysteries series. When I’m not busy writing I enjoy spending time with hmy husband, Scott, visiting theme parks. We live in Florida with our cat, Schrödinger.

About My Book – In the wake of a failed attempt to defeat the vampire Richelieu, Susan and her friends are weakened and divided. Raphael must set aside his animosity and join with his enigmatic sire Gabriel to discover a powerful weapon before Richelieu claims it. Meanwhile, Susan and her cousin Wendy translate a 12th century diary belonging to their ancestor, Carissa, to learn the origin of their family’s connection with the vampires. As Carissa’s story of love and betrayal unfolds, they discover the secrets of the present will only be revealed by solving the mysteries of the past.

An Excerpt From the Book –

Prologue

France, 1198 AD

The crumbling stones of the prison reeked of death. The stench of unwashed humanity and decay had long been in the nostrils of the warden of the lowest level of the ancient dungeon. Cut into the earth centuries before by nobles, the prison had once been a castle, proud and strong. It was still strong, but no longer proud. Generations of the vilest criminals that France had known had lived and died inside its walls. Murderers, rapists, thieves, and witches as well as religious and political dissidents had all met their end within the tiny, dank cells that the warden now walked past.

The warden stopped next to Marcelle, his protégé who would be taking his place. The young man nodded gravely as they went over, once more, his duties.

“Every day you feed the prisoners,” the warden said, as they paced slowly past each cell. “Someone doesn’t eat for a couple of days, send men in to remove the body.”

They walked a few moments in silence. Finally the young man asked. “Who is down here?”

The old man shook his head slowly. “I know all my prisoners, though I don’t know who they were outside these walls nor what they did to be sent here. Men, women, gentlefolk and common, a few months in here and you can’t tell them apart by conventional means anymore. But you learn to note differences.”

He stopped before one cell. “This one won’t eat anything that might be from a pig.”

“Jewish?” the young man asked interestedly.

“Near as I can tell. And this one,” he said, pointing to another cell, “sings after dinner.”

“Good voice?”

“The finest I’ve ever heard.”

“What about this one?” Marcelle asked as they stopped before the last cell. The massive door was ancient and battered, the wood bearing stains that might have been water or blood.

The old man paused for such a long time the younger one began to think he had not heard him. When the warden finally spoke it was slowly and in a hushed voice. “I do not know.”

The young man felt as though a chill wind had just brushed against his spine. In the dim light he stared hard at the old man, waiting for him to continue, fearing that he would.

“There is—something—in there. I don’t know what, but it’s been there the whole time I’ve been warden, these last twenty years. The man who was warden before me said it had been here as long as he could remember.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know,” the old man repeated. “I only know that no food is ever slid beneath the door, but every so often a prisoner is put in there. I’ve seen dozens put in there, and not a single one ever taken out alive.”

He said the last in a whisper so quiet and fierce that it imparted a sense of danger and fear to the younger man. “Not ever?”

“Not ever,” he said emphatically. “Never enter this cell, no matter the cause, if you value your life.”

Marcelle stared hard at the door, trying to quiet the sudden sense of unease that had overtaken him. There should be nothing in this dungeon to cause him fear. He was, after all, about to be made the floor warden, in charge of the prisoners and guards for the entire level. It was a position of great responsibility and he had trained long for it.

Yet, suddenly he found himself wishing that he had never stepped foot inside the prison, even if he was a keeper and not a prisoner. Something about the giant door made him feel like running. He took a deep breath, though, and stood his ground. With a trembling hand he crossed himself, for he knew in his heart that he would be the one to discover what was on the other side.

You can see buying options for the book by clicking here.

My Own Contest – I’m giving away a free copy of Kiss of Night (the first book in the Kiss trilogy) on my site here. To enter, comment below (1 entry) and tell me if you have followed me on Twitter (1 entry), liked my page on Facebook (2 entries) and followed my reviews on Goodreads (1 entry). Additional entries will be given for tweeting about the contest and for signing up for my newsletter.

And now it’s time to move on to the next stop on the Scavenger Hunt! Click here to visit the site for Kathy Harris!

Congratulations to our Day 3 Winner – Janet Robel wins a goody bag of Halloween trinkets!

To enter today’s contest, simply comment and say Trick-or-Treat! Today’s winner will receive an autographed copy of The Fall of Candy Corn.

I realized that all of you might not have heard the first episode of The Thirteenth Hour so here it is for your listening pleasure!

Congratulations to our Day 1 Winner – Chelsea wins the mystery prize which is… I will mention Chelsea by name in my acknowledgements for an upcoming book AND send her a signed copy of the book!

Congratulations to our Day 2 Winner – Vivan M! Vivian wins a $5 Amazon Gift Card.

To enter today’s contest, simply comment and say Trick-or-Treat! Today’s winner will get a goody bag with fun Halloween trinkets that I love.

And now, a treat for all of you! This is the second episode of my new podcast and it’s all about the things I love about Halloween.

Happy Halloween! Nothing profound today, I’m sorry, but one trick-or-treater who posts Trick-or-Treat as a comment will win a $5 Amazon gift card.

I’ll announce yesterday and today’s trick-or-treat winners tomorrow when I’ll be offering another prize!

Free on Kindle and Nook today! The Lord is My Shepherd. Click here for Kindle. Click here for Nook.

Only 2.99 on Kindle today! Kiss of Night! Click here.

This is a great opportunity to grab these books if you haven’t already. Don’t forget to read as much as you can and enter the Superfan contest!

Happy Halloween! It’s my favorite time of year and I want to celebrate with all of you. I’ve got a mystery prize I’m going to be handing out today. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment saying Trick-or-Treat!

Dearly Beloved,

We are gathered here today, to join two awesome things in a state of increased awesomeness.

Today, we’re bringing together an author/reader mini-con, and the chance to WIN YOUR WAY IN FOR FREE!

That’s right, ladies and gentlemen… starting today, you will all have 7 days to hop around from author to author, blogger to blogger, and enter at every stop to win one of 3 FREE REGISTRATIONS to Olde City, New Blood, the upcoming urban fantasy/paranormal romance mini-con in St. Augustine, FL next February.

You can check out the official website for the complete list of Featured Authors (I’ll give you a hint… one of them is ME!!) and Featured Bloggers. There’s also a main contest post with all the participating authors, bloggers, and dates for the contest. It’s super easy. Visit each of the spotlight blog posts and author websites listed, fill out the Rafflecopter link on each one (one entry PER POST, not per day… and yes, they will be checking), and POOF, multiple entries to WIN!!

The prize is one of 3 FREE REGISTRATIONS to see me and about 49 other authors on the sunny beaches of St. Augustine, Florida, from Feb 8th-10, 2013. We’re going to be doing panels, readings, meet & greets, and just generally having a fun weekend with our incredible fans!! Please keep in mind, if you win, you’ll have to cover your own travel and hotel expenses, but your ticket into the party will be on Olde City, New Blood!!!

The contest runs from September 30th – October 6th, and the 3 winners will be announced on September 7th. Don’t forget to click the Rafflecopter link below before you hop off to check out the rest of the contest posts!! Good Luck, everyone!! I hope to see you ALL in Florida this February!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Kiss of Death is out early! Grab your copy by clicking here.

In the wake of a failed attempt to defeat the vampire Richelieu, Susan and her friends are weakened and divided. Raphael must set aside his animosity and join with his enigmatic sire Gabriel to discover a powerful weapon before Richelieu claims it. Meanwhile, Susan and her cousin Wendy translate a 12th century diary belonging to their ancestor, Carissa, to learn the origin of their family’s connection with the vampires. As Carissa’s story of love and betrayal unfolds, they discover the secrets of the present will only be revealed by solving the mysteries of the past.

Welcome to the commentary for Vanquished, the final book in the Crusade trilogy! If you haven’t snagged your copy yet click here to see your buying options and get yours so you can read along!

Make sure to comment on each chapter commentary. At the end of the book one winner will be randomly selected to receive signed copies of two of my books. Good luck everyone!

Now, chapter four!

Here we get to see more of Skye’s struggle which I think is crucial not only to her character but also to the entire story. I love the line “But there were things worth fighting for, things worth dying for, and things worth killing for.” I truly believe in that.

In our original concept for the series, Skye was actually going to be a distant cousin to the Cahors witches from Wicked. This was one of the things we ended up changing.

One of the quotes from World War II that has haunted me ever since I heard it provided the foundation for this scene where Skye is confronting the Circuit about whether or not they need to intervene to save the humans if vampires haven’t declared war on witches. The quote is:

“First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.”

- Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

The scene between Aurora and Lucifer is crucial here because it reveals more about both characters. One of the fastest ways to show that a character is evil and terrifying is to take someone that the reader already knows well as evil and terrifying and make that character afraid of the one you’re trying to really introduce. I did the same thing in my Kiss books. Raphael was well established as a very formidable and frightening vampire so when he is practically frozen with terror at the appearance of his sire Gabriel it’s a clue to the reader about just how impressive Gabriel is without me having to show him doing anything at the first meeting.