Sunday, November 21, 2010

Guest Author ~ Sapphire Phelan


Shapeshifter lovers, welcome our guest author, Sapphire Phelan on this Full Moon in Taurus Sunday. Sapphire wrote the short story, HIS GIRL, in the Just Another ParaNormal Halloween anthology, which also features my short story, THE TIGER'S MASQUERADE. Sapphire is an amazing woman, who not only pens the paranormal, but also investigates and writes non-fiction books on a range of paranormal topics.

Writing from the Gay Male’s Perspective of a Paranormal Romance

I’ve written from mostly a woman’s POV and even a man’s in a Male/Female romance, but when I did an erotic Male/Male paranormal for the first time, it was a whole different ball of wax for me. That one was “The Dark Man,” included in the anthology,
Forbidden Love: Sacred Bands, published by Under the Moon. I had started writing it out as male/female until Under the Moon sent out they were doing a male/male anthology and wanted submissions. I had two stories in their first two, so I found this story I started on and decided to use it.

That was easy. I just switched the female for a male. Okay, it wasn’t. I had to actually read sex scenes in male/male fiction to understand the differences in mechanics of sex between two men. So very out of the box for this heterosexual author. I had gay friends, but I couldn’t ask them how it all went, could I? LOL

But when I did the novella, Beast Magic, a world where shifters of all kinds lived among us. They had the Dreaming in order to find their destined mates. Like my werelion, Ramses, found his mate in a human woman named Shana Tory. Most found them this way, others did not. And sometimes the Dreaming brought up a mate one did not expect. Such as in Dark Leopard Magic, the second novella set in the Beast Magic world. This time I also changed it from third person to first person, with both guys telling from their povs in their own chapters.

Dev Tollen starts out the novella. He is half Indian (from India) and Caucasian—he is also half shifter and half human. His father was a Caucasian human from the United States, but was not Dev’s wereleopard mother’s destined mate sent by the Dreaming. Because of this and that she kills his father, Dev begins a dark past. Even more so, he finds he has a darker soul.

Dev can’t seem to make love with human females. But when a man (clown with a circus) takes him one night, Dev discovers he enjoys a man’s touch. So not only is he a wereleopard, but now gay. He has a double whammy in ‘coming out of the closet’ here. He’s never had the Dreaming either, and resigned to thinking he never would, that maybe being gay was the cause. Until one day it comes upon him and he sees Montsho, a black African wereleopard. Montsho first appeared as a secondary character in Beast Magic. So now I add interracial to the equation too.

With these two males, I got deep into their psyche. One does not deny his gay self, while the other never even dreamed that a male would be his destined mate. Montsho fights this attraction, as he is confused and upset that the Dreaming put this on him. But we all know how the romance will go—one can not deny their own true love, no matter the color, race, or even sexual preference.

I am proud of this novella. I become fond of the two guys and happy there is a HEA for them. Most of all, I am glad for the experience of writing from a different viewpoint and really getting to know and most of all understand what Dev and Montsho tick. Even though they’re characters from my mind, I can say that they’re become a lot more and are alive to me. Finally Dev gets to come out of the closet: not as a gay man, but as something even more meaningful to him: a wereleopard. But most of all, to have someone to love and who will love him, no matter his dark and troubled past.
~~~~~~

DARK LEOPARD MAGIC

Blurb:

Dev Tollen is a man with a dark past and an even darker soul. More than that, he's a gay wereleopard. He has never had the Dreaming and never met his true mate. But one night the Dreaming does come and reveals his lover, an African man named Montsho, also an alpha black wereleopard. Montsho will fight their love and their destiny. Dev will do all he can to win his beloved's heart and keep him by his side always.

Then the ghost of a human begs Dev to solve his wereleopard lover's murder. Both men will find that their new-found love tested and their lives in danger. Their idyllic time in paradise is about to be torn asunder when they discover who the murderer is.
~~~

***CONTEST ALERT *** Sapphire will be giving away a download of the novella. So leave a COMMENT, with name and email, so she can check all the blogs on 29th and draw a winner for the eBook.
~~~~~~

Sapphire Phelan

Website: SapphirePhelan.com
Blog: sapphirePhelansPassionCorner.blogspot.com
Newsletter: groups.yahoo.com/group/SapphirePhelansParanormalNewsletter
Twitter: twitter.com/SapphirePhelan
Facebook: facebook.com/pages/Sapphire-Phelan/324399690647

Go beyond the usual, instead take the unusual that stretches the boundaries and find romance with Sapphire Phelan's aliens, werewolves, vampires, fairies, and other supernatural/otherworldly heroes and heroines.

Bio:
Sapphire Phelan is an author of erotic and sweet paranormal, fantasy, and science fiction romance, along with a couple of erotic horror stories. She also writes as Pamela K. Kinney, for horror, fantasy, science fiction, and nonfiction ghost books.
She lives in Virginia with her husband and two cats, Ripley and Bast.
She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house and husband sometimes suffers for it!

For more information, check out her website: SapphirePhelan.com

BUY LINK:
http://www.king-cart.com/Phaze/product=Dark+Leopard+Magic/exact_match=exact

20 comments:

Savanna Kougar said...

Sapphire, welcome. DARK LEOPARD MAGIC looks like an amazing read.

Rebecca Gillan said...

Twisty, tangly plots and tortured souls finding love to heal them. I love that kind of story no mater what kind of couple is involved!

Sapphire, I noticed you write non-fiction paranormal as well as romance. How did you get started investigation something like that?

Serena Shay said...

Hi Sapphire, welcome and thanks for stopping by Shapeshifter Seductions!

~Whew~ Dark Leopard Magic sounds like a fabulously emotional and yummy ride. I love the heroes names as well, Dev and Montsho they roll right off the tongue. ;)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for hosting a stop on my blog tour for Dark Leopard Magic. In already saw that Dark Leopard Magic is pretty up there on a best selling list on a third party seller. :-)

Rebbeca, I write nonfiction ghost book under another name and they sell really well. My editor went to work for Schiffer Publishing and approached us horror authors at Mid-Atlantic Horror Professionals and asked if anyone wanted to write real ghost stories, not fiction. I submitted a book proposal for Haunted Richmond, Virginia, it got accepted, I wrote the book and the rest is history. Writing fourth ghost book now--it will be the last one as been writing a lot more fiction novels now as both Sapphire and the other name, Pamela K. Kinney. I actually have an urban fantasy novel written and just critiqued by my critique partner--hope to get it perfect and start submitting to agents. This will be by Pamela K. Kinney (and one of the characters is a werewolf!).

Anonymous said...

Serena, glad you love the heroes' names. Montsho first appeared in Beast Magic (werelions). I knew then he had to be in the second novella.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, Savanna. :-)

Solara said...

Hey Sapphire! Having met you in person, glad to see you are going strong in continuing to write unique and wonderful stories. Glad to have you with us!

booklover0226 said...

I enjoyed the post; very interesting.

The excerpt is great; I look forward in reading DARK LEOPARD MAGIC.

Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com

Abigail-Madison Chase said...

I love the excerpt and the cover is hawt

Jason said...

This looks awesome!

Jase
vslavetopassionv(at)aol(dot)com

Pat C. said...

Sapphire, welcome to the pack! Your book sounds fascinating. I'm currently polishing up my second M/M and you're right, it's an interesting exercise in perspective because, gay or straight, they're guys and guys don't think like normal people (i.e., women). Also, there's the pronoun problem and keeping the characters straight (no pun intended). But it looks like you've got enough conflict in there for a trilogy, and that's what makes a good story terrific.

Love the names of your cats. I assume Ripley keeps the aliens out of the house?

Anonymous said...

Pat, our son named Ripley that as he was a big Aliens fan (still is). She a small, old cat that I think if saw an alien she would do as Newt did in the second film and hide in a small place. LOL

As for Bast, I think she's three cats in one. LOL

Anonymous said...

Abagail, thanks to the cover artist--shen followed what I asked of her when I have the descriptions of my characters and where it takes place. The spotted leopard is Dev's true beast.

jellybelly82158 said...

I love shapeshifter books! And cat shapeshifters are the best.

jellybelly82158 at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

Looking forward to these interracial M/M shapeshifters.
Another addition to the Christmas list.
Kelly
marwhitpinky12@yahoo.com

Rachel Firasek said...

This sounds hot! M/M rocks. Here's my info:
Rachel
rfirasek@hotmail.com

felinewyvern said...

I like the sound of Dark Leopard Magic. The fact that the characters became so much more to you means it will more than likely be an intense read, which is the kind I like best.

Anonymous said...

M/M and interracial. Dark Leopard Magic sounds great!

Wishing you lasting success~
Nikki
nikkihoward26@sbcglobal.net

Nancy Lee Badger said...

An awesome cover, hot guys, coming of age and out of the closet, and shapeshifters. I want to read this! Congrats!

Anonymous said...

Ilona is the winner of the blog tour. Congratulations!