TQ: What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?
Maria: I write in spurts--like a sprinter, not a long-distance runner. Instead of writing every day, I tend to bunch up and write many thousands of words over a few days. Somehow, this works for me.
TQ: Are you a plotter or a pantser?
Maria: Totally a plantser! A hybrid in that many of the important story beats are known but getting there is not.
TQ: What inspired you to write the Blood Lines series?
Maria: At first, the series was going to be a light, cozy mystery with some paranormal elements. I had this interesting scene in my head of a woman accidentally locked into a morgue and one of the bodies sits up. Somehow, as the writing went on, I realized that this was less chick lit and more urban fantasy. Once I got the first book written, I knew I wanted to know more about these characters.
TQ: Why did you set the series in Texas?
Maria: I grew up in the Hill Country and loved it. That area is full of contradictions and contrasts: old school cowboys/ranchers mixed with urban professionals who escape for the weekend. I also wanted to portray the Texas I knew--not the one pictured on TV or in movies.
TQ: What sort of research did you do to create the world in the Blood Lines series?
Maria: Tons and tons! Everything from reading Funeral Home magazine issues online to taking working vacations to Vancouver, BC. I do a lot online, but to get the real feel of a place requires having been there in person. Photos are also key. My parents still live in San Antonio, so I’ll sometimes ask them to take a drive up US 281 and take pictures for me.
TQ: Describe Blood Sacrifice (Blood Lines 5) in 140 characters or less.
Maria: The end of the beginning. Blood Sacrifice wraps up the story of Keira Kelly’s transformation from nobody to becoming Kelly heir. In the end, it’s always about family.
TQ: Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Blood Sacrifice?
Maria: I love a particular scene where Keira has to save Tucker (her brother). I think I captured her sense of helplessness combined with a sense of “need to succeed”. Tucker’s always been the strong one, and in this particular scene, he’s so not.
TQ: In Blood Sacrifice, who was the most difficult character to write and why? The easiest and why?
Maria: Keira’s mother, Branwen was so very, very tough. I needed to really get inside her head so that I could write her from Keira’s POV. The easiest: always Tucker. He’s my “surprise” character all the way back from the first book. Originally meant as an occasional role, Tucker sneaked in under my radar and he’s been essential to the group from the beginning. I feel I know him so very well.
TQ: Who should play Keira Kelly and Adam Walker if the books become movies?
Maria: This is always such a tough question. Katie McGrath (from the TV series Merlin) is very much how I’ve pictured Keira as is Joanne Kelly (Warehouse 13). Adam is a LOT tougher to cast. Best I can do is an older Matt Bomer (White Collar) crossed with Adam Ant when he was in his 30s.
TQ: How many books are planned for the Blood Lines series?
Maria: Blood Sacrifice is the last book contracted for the series. There’s a possibility of other related books, but nothing concrete.
TQ: What's next?
Maria: I’m currently recording the audiobooks for the series. Yup, that means I’m doing the reading! The audiobooks will be released via Wildside Press & Audible.com. No timeframe yet, as I’m just getting started. I’m also working on a new collaboration project with a good friend. It’s so not ready for prime time, but I think it will be rather cool once we can unveil it. I’ve also got some other new book ideas percolating. I might surprise even myself. :)
TQ: Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery
About Maria's Books
Blood Sacrifice
Blood Lines 5(Pocket, August 30, 2011)
All's fair in blood and war. . . .
Talk about wedding crashers from hell. Keira Kelly and her sexy vampire king, Adam, are about to tie the proverbial knot—sort of—when an uninvited blood relative shows up to cast a long, dark shadow over the happy occasion. Adam's brother Gideon comes bearing the one-size-fits-all gift of bad news: an ancient, convoluted Challenge thrown down upon the entire Kelly clan. It seems the dreaded forces of the Dark Fae have declared war on Keira's family, and at stake is the land that is rightfully theirs. But while the Kellys gather their troops in a historic San Antonio hotel to strategize, there's mayhem back in Rio Seco. The old cemetery is vandalized, fires break out, and—worst of all—the Kelly clan matriarch and leader, Keira's great-great-grandmother Minerva, goes missing. Should Keira risk breaking the Challenge rules by returning to her beloved home, or should she continue the waiting game that seems the only other option? With everything she loves and maybe even her life on the line, she has only one chance to get the answer right.
Blood Heat
Blood Lines 4(Pocket, October 26, 2010)
Texas is heating up. . . .
The summer heat wave that's hit Rio Seco, Texas, has even the vampires complaining, but now that Keira—the Kelly Heir—is home from Vancouver, the weather isn't the only thing too hot to handle. Keira should be setting up her court and planning the big reception at which she and her consort, vampire ruler Adam Walker, will receive the magical leaders from the local area, but pomp and circumstance just aren't Keira's thing, especially not with trouble smoldering in her domain. A werewolf couple has mysteriously gone missing from a local pack, and when Keira is asked by their leader to investigate, she finds that some dissatisfied neighbors may have been taking, well, strong action against the wer community—action that could be repeated and could involve Keira and those she loves. With the reception looming and danger fast blazing out of control, the pressure is on Keira to keep Texas safe for supernaturals. Sometimes, it's just not that great to be Heir.
Blood Kin
Blood Lines 3
(Pocket, October 27, 2009)
The perils of power...
Keira Kelly has come into her full powers, and they are frighteningly strong, creating a distance between her and her human friends in her beloved Rio Seco. It is time to obey her great-great-grandmother Gigi's orders and rejoin her family in northwest Canada, where Keira can learn to handle her dangerous new skills. She'll have friends with her every step of the way -- her shapeshifter brother Tucker, his beloved Niko, and, to Keira's dismay, her cousin on her mother's side, Daffyd ap Geraint, the Sidhe prince who suddenly appeared in her life and now refuses to leave -- but her vampire lover Adam has insisted on staying in Texas. And while there are certainly perks to being Family, such as a private Learjet for the flight to Canada and a fabulous penthouse condo overlooking Vancouver, there are threats looming that nobody, not even Gigi, anticipated. Keira's Sidhe inheritance from her mother is far more important than anyone ever realized, and the fate of the Family may depend upon what she does next....
Blood Bargain
Blood Lines 2(Pocket, September 29, 2009
Something is not right at Wild Moon Ranch...
Keira Kelly has settled in with handsome Adam Walker, but happy-ever-after is not so easy when your vampire lover seems determined to deny his true nature. With Adam starving himself of blood and growing weak, Keira needs to work out how to persuade him to take care of himself, something she's fi nding diffi cult to do -- even with the advice of her brother Tucker, a millennium-old ex-Viking shapeshifter. And people have started disappearing in the Rio Seco area, making Keira worry about what this could mean, both for her friends in Rio Seco and to the community she and Adam have been creating at the ranch. But her investigation only seems to bring more trouble, especially when a clue leads her to an abandoned cemetery that Keira knew well when she was younger...one that has always been extremely important to her magical family. Evil is defi nitely walking once again in the Texas Hill Country. Can Keira discover where the danger lies...before danger discovers her?
Matters of the Blood
Blood Lines 1(Pocket, August 25, 2009)
If you thought your family was strange...
Try being Keira Kelly. A member of a powerful paranormal family, Keira elected to stay among humans in the Texas Hill Country when the rest of the clan moved (lock, stock, and grimoire) to Canada. But family duty means still having to keep an eye on cousin Marty -- a genetic aberration who turned out 100% human, poor guy. And recently Keira's been having violent dreams -- or are they visions? -- featuring Marty as the victim of a vicious murder. Something sinister seems to be brewing in little Rio Seco. Can Keira get to the bottom of it all while avoiding entanglement with her former lover, Sheriff Carlton Larson? And what does she plan to do about the irresistible and enigmatic Adam Walker? When this old friend shows up as the new owner of a local ranc and wants to get better acquainted, Keira is more than happy to be welcoming...until she suspects that Adam could be intimately connected to the dangerous doings in Rio Seco.
About Maria
Web site: http://www.marialima.com
Blog: http://www.marialima.com/blog
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/themarialima
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MariaLima
The Giveaway
THE RULES
What: One commenter will win a his or her choice of one Blood Lines series book from Maria Lima.
How: Leave a comment answering the following question:
Who is your favorite Alpha vampire?
Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.
You may receive additional entries by:
1) Being a Follower of The Qwillery.
2) Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.
3) Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.
There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.
Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.
Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Tuesday, September 6, 2011. Void where prohibited by law.
*Giveaway rules are subject to change.*
eric from true blood~
ReplyDeleteits going to be eric <3
ReplyDeletepunkme15 at gmail dot com
shared on twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/jelaiii_x/status/108340522929754113
ReplyDeletepunkme15 at gmail dot com
im a GFC follower, name is Jel
ReplyDeletepunkme15 at gmail dot com
I'm gonna go with Damon from The Vampire Diaries.
ReplyDelete+1 comment
+1 I'm a GFC follower-Janhvi Jagtap
justjanhvi at gmail dot com
This is a tough one! I would say Dmitri from Guild Hunter series by Nalini Singh. He is very Alpha.
ReplyDelete+1 comment
+1 follower
+1 shared:
http://nocturnalbookreviews.blogspot.com/p/giveaways.html
impy80 at hotmail dot com
My all-time favourite is V from the Black Dagger Brotherhood. He's hot and a real alfa-kind man :)
ReplyDelete+1 comment
+1 I'm a follower as mikki-mano
+1 tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/vojalyn/status/108571962091122689
Thank you so much for the giveaway,
mikki-mano@hotmail.com
One alpha vampire out of the many, many out there?!?
ReplyDeleteI'm an Eric fan too, but I'll go with Wraith from the first BBD book since it was my favorite and he is the king alpha.
GFC Anne38
acm05atjuno.com
I love Edward from Twilight. Please enter me in contest. I would love to read this series. It sounds very good. Tore923@aol.com
ReplyDelete(+1) My favourites tends to change from time to time... my current favourite alpha vampire is master vampire Mircea of the Cassandra Palmer series... maybe because I just finished reading Hunt The Moon (Book 5 of the Cassandra Palmer series) by Karen Chance :)
ReplyDelete(+1) Follower. My GFC name is Cherry.
(+1) Twitted: https://twitter.com/#!/cherrymischivus/status/108605469496578049
FB: https://www.facebook.com/cherrymischievous/posts/143813405710406
Buzzed: https://profiles.google.com/cherrymischievous/posts/UcPoFC5Tgvg
(+1) Sidebar: http://www.cherrymischievous.com/
Thank you for the chance to win!!
Cherry Mischievous
cherrymischif-darkward [at] yahoo [dot] com
My favorite is Bones!!! Love me some Bones ;)
ReplyDeleteI am a follower
sariahwalters at gmail dot com
facebooked: http://www.facebook.com/booksandthingscatalog#!/profile.php?id=100000547840483
ReplyDeleteGFC Krystal Larson edysicecreamlover18@gmailDOTcom I would go with Dracula or possibly, Damon. I would love to read and review these books, thank you so much for the chance to win!
This looks like an incredible series and I just love a good series. Thank you for the introduction and interview and wonderful giveaway opportunity. If I had to pick today, my favorite alpha vampier would be Jean Claude from the Anita Blake series :) See a theme here LOL of course with Ms. Lima's book, who knows that just might change. I am a follower Denise Zaky.
ReplyDeletedz59001[at]gmail[dot]com
My current favourite alpha vampire is Zsadist from the Black Dagger Brotherhood. He's a warrior vampire who's very appealing, just like the rest of his brothers.
ReplyDeleteI am a GFC follower.
Cambonified (at) yahoo (dot) com
My favorite alpha vampire is Bones from Jeaniene Frost's Night Huntress series.
ReplyDeleteBarbed1951 at aol dot com
GFC follower
ERIC does it for me too.
ReplyDeleteI follow.
marypres(AT)gmail(DOT)com
okay even though the book isnt out yet.. im going with dmitri from nalini singhs angel series!! so hot... whoohoo!
ReplyDeleteim a follower +1
alainala@hotmail . ca
Oh that would totally be Bones! This has been a great series to read. I love the characters!
ReplyDeleteterilhack at gmail dot com
thanks for the giveaway and the intervew ! I think my favorite Alpha vampire is Jean Claude of Anita Blake.
ReplyDeleteellana_(at)hotmail(dot)fr
My favorite alpha vampire is Eric Northman from True blood series.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the giveaway!
GFC follower as Diana
I shared it on FB: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1522821560
artgiote at gmail dot com
Vampire? I actually don't know who my fav would be! I'll go with Eric.
ReplyDeleteI love Bones, although Jean Claude is a close second.
ReplyDelete+1 Follower
+1 Tweet: http://twitter.com/Sparima/status/109071051828363264
spav05(at)gmail(dot)com
I'd have trouble with narrowing it down. I'd have to say my favorite alpha currently is Eric, but Bones is really close.
ReplyDeletemljfoland AT hotmail DOT com
GFC: ML
My favourite alpha vampire would definitely be Bones from the Night Huntress series!
ReplyDelete+1 comment
+1 GFC follower
chibipooh(at)gmail(dot)com
I must be living under a rock to have missed this series, too. DAG
ReplyDeleteMy answer is Wrath and Z for J.R. Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood series.
+1 comment
+1 GFC follower (booklover0226)
Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com
Ummm... favorite alpha vamp? Just one? I guess my 'default' is Jean Claude, though Bones is pretty high up on the list, too! :)
ReplyDeleterissatoo
(commenter, follower - everywhere!, retweeter)
Eric from Charlaine's Southern Vamp series. Love me some bad boys :)
ReplyDelete+1 comment
+1 GFC follower
+1 tweeted- http://twitter.com/#!/joleneallcock/status/109424663964286976
june111(at)att(dot)net
I love Damon from The Vampire Diaries <3. He has washboard abs :>
ReplyDeleteGFC follower
thebookish96(at)gmail.com
My favorite Alpha vampire is Acheron.
ReplyDeleteGFC follower
marlenebreakfield(at)yahoo(dot)com
This was a tough one. I'm going to go with Zsadist from the Black Dagger Brotherhood.
ReplyDeleteGFC follower (beckerjo)
beckerjo at verizon dot net
My favorite alpha vamp is Eric Northam from the Sookie Stackhouse series!!
ReplyDelete+1 comment
+1 GFC follower
+1 tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/jwitt33/status/110391304999014400
jwitt33 at live dot com
It was really hard to chose..but commenter Ann answered for me..Wrath from BBD - he is King Alpha. If I sat down to write a list, I think it would be VERY long!
ReplyDeleteI'm folling on GFC as MJB and by email.
MJB
msmjb65 AT gmal DOT com
Bones from Jeaniene Frost! Too sexy!
ReplyDelete+1 comment
+1 follower
aliasgirl at libero dot it
Bones followed by Eric.
ReplyDeletefollower
tweet - http://twitter.com/#!/DonnaS1/status/111301757187002368
bacchus76 at myself dot com