Monday, September 26, 2011

This Week's Special Guest Marie Treanor

This week at the AuthorIsland Tiki Hut, Marie Treanor's is stopping by to talk about the setting of her upcoming release BLOOD ETERNAL, book three in her Awakened By Blood Series.

Marie was born and bred in Scotland, but for some years moved around the UK working and studying. Now she's back home and happily married with three young children.  Having grown bored with city life, her family lives in a picturesque village by the sea where, instead of working for a living, Marie is lucky enough to be able to enjoy herself writing stories of romance and fantasy.

She draws the inspiration for her books mainly from the people around her and from Scotland's rich history and culture - with, of course, large helpings of fun and imagination!


Blood Eternal – Where it all Happens
By Marie Treanor

When choosing the settings for my books, I always find it easiest to follow the old adage, “write what you know”. And although I haven’t visited every single place I’ve ever written about (some of them are made-up for a start!), I do like to have at least a vague knowledge of the country concerned.

Not that I want to fill my books with long descriptions that could double as accurate travel guides! But whether my characters are in a village I invented or in a well-known city inhabited by millions, I do like to be able to convey some kind of genuine atmosphere, a general feel of the place.

This is true in particular of my Awakened by Blood vampire romance novels, which are set in Romania, Hungary, Scotland, the United States and, most recently, Turkey. Apart from New York – where I confess I’ve never set foot and had to depend for my “feel” on film, television and internet research! – I’ve at least visited all those countries. And co-incidentally, I’m not long back from Turkey, where much of the first half of Blood Eternal takes place.


It wasn’t my first visit. My family and I have spent several holidays there over the last five years, staying in the same mountain village, and we love the country and the people. It really is a kind of gateway between east and west, a mix of both familiar and unfamiliar cultures to a western European like myself. I love to lie in bed there listening to the dawn call to prayer and the cacophony of animal noises that greets the sun in a traditional Turkish village. The slower pace of life and the air of peace; the friendliness and kindness of the people – many of whom have very little but want to share what they have; the colour and variety of the markets and the insistence of the traders; the beauty of the mountain scenery and the Mediterranean coast, all make it a magical place for me. And the perfect setting in which to awaken an insane Ancient vampire and chase him as he rampages through the countryside.

Of course, it’s terribly romantic as well! I was happy to fit in a few trysts for Elizabeth and Saloman among this scenery - between vampire hunting and angst, of course!

The house in which Elizabeth and the hunters stay is based on one we lived in several times. So is the village. And the town of Fethiye, where Elizabeth and her friend Mihaela, have their heart-to-heart, is a real, thriving market town. Much of the older town was destroyed by an earthquake in the last century, but here are the ancient tombs carved into the hillside, as visited by Elizabeth and Mihaela in the story, and this is the view they might have had from the harbour-front café where they had lunch.

It’s good to have real places to envision as your characters move through them. I really hope that in the books, I’ve conveyed the charm and generosity of the people as well as the beauty of their country.

How important to you is a genuine setting for a book? Or does it not matter at all, so long as the story grabs your attention? If you have any favourite settings, I’d love to hear about them!

BLOOD ETERNAL: an Awakened by Blood novel by Marie Treanor

Secrets don't disappear after seduction...

Elizabeth Silk is struggling to reconcile her passion for the vampire overlord Saloman and her allegiance to the vampire hunters. When a shocking vampire revolt calls Saloman away from her, she refuses to follow him.

To make matters worse, Saloman's beloved cousin Luk has been
found and awakened by one of his greatest enemies. Frenzied
with bloodlust, Luk embarks on a killing spree and prepares to
expose Saloman's biggest vulnerability: Elizabeth.

But under Saloman's regime, vampires have become less concerned with secrecy, no longer willing to hide their power. Rumors are swirling about attacks on humans. After Saloman joins forces with the vampire hunters to consolidate his power, Elizabeth begins to understand her role in the inevitable collision of the two worlds. She could bring resolution between vampires and humans - if she can manage to stay alive long enough to play both sides.


WIN - Leave Marie a question this week at the Tiki Hut and your name goes in the hat for an autographed copy of one of her Awakened by Blood books! Please leave your email address so we can contact you if you are this week's winner!

*** Btw - don't forget to check out the Kindle Marie has up for grabs over on the contest page of AuthorIsland.com!!

10 comments:

  1. Welcome to the Tiki Hut Marie and thanks for being our very special guest this week!

    Love your Awakened by Blood Series - can't wait for the next book but sad that it's the last one.

    For those not familiar with your series, can you tell us a bit about it and how the books fit together?

    And I love books set in parts of the world I've never been - it's like traveling without the jetlag!

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  2. Thanks, DeNita! Fab to be here - it always feel so exotic! More travel without jetlag :).

    Glad you like the Awakened by Blood books. I know Im going to miss them :(.

    The trilogy consists of BLOOD ON SILK, BLOOD SIN and BLOOD ETERNAL, and follows the relationship of the Ancient vampire Saloman with the beautiful academic who accidentally awakens him. Having failed to kill each other, because inconvenient love got in the way, they are now "companions" and occasional allies in various adventures. BLOOD ETERNAL sees new temptations and dangers threatening their realtionship as well as the world, and both are forced to make choices between love and duty.

    But there's still plenty of fighting and adventure. And a bit of sex, of course :).

    Marie

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  3. Congrats on the upcoming release of BLOOD ETERNAL.

    I love series & very few authors actually keep returning to the same characters for multiple books, as more than just co-stars. Did you know when you started to write Blood on Silk that you weren't going to be able to fit all of Saloman & Elizabeth's story in just one book?

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  4. Thanks, Kathryn!

    Yes, I always planned it that way. I thought it would be fun to follow the same characters and see how their relationship developed - especially since I'd been writing a lot of much shorter stories.

    Besides, I didn't really see how quite so complicated a relationship could be properly resolved in one book. So the challenge became to keep the excitement of the relationship while letting it grow deeper with more everyday understanding.

    Thanks for asking!

    Marie

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  5. Congrats on the release.
    I have not read the book but now I plan too. It sounds great.

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  6. Wonderful to hear, Mary - thank you!

    Marie

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  7. A genuine setting is not an absolute, but if I can picture it then that is very helpful. I'm so envious - Turkey. LOVE your work by the way.

    marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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  8. Hi Marybelle,
    Yes, I'm really lucky to have been there! There's so much more I want to see of the country too.
    And thank you! I'm delighted you like my books :)
    Marie

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  9. Congrats on your release !!!

    reginamayross@gmail.com

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  10. Thanks, Regina! Looking forward to it - only two days to go!

    Marie

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