Buffy's Ramblings

Thanks to Bewitching Book Tours for hosting this blog tour. I have Suzanne Johnson, author of Christmas in Dogtown here today talking about animal totems. Welcome! ***************************** Animal Totems—What’s Yours? My story “Christmas in Dogtown” takes place in a small Louisiana community built around an ancient crossroads, at the center of which is a large totem pole of a black bear. (Why is there a bear totem in a place called “Dogtown”? Well, you have to read the story!) I use a lot of animals in my books and stories, which is something I only recently realized. I love animals, so it’s probably instinctive. Sometimes, since I do write paranormals, the animals are shapeshifters. Sometimes, though, they’re just animals. You never know. The whole history of totem animals is fascinating. They are common in shamanic and indigenous cultures, and an individual (or often, a family or tribe) has a particular animal that is a spirit guide. Those who believe in animal sp...

Thanks to Bewitching Book Tours for hosting this blog tour. I have Susannah Sandlin, author of Allegiance here today. Welcome! ***************************** Does Real Life Bleed Into Fiction? “This is really dark. I was surprised at how dark it was.” That was one of my editors recently, talking about the manuscript we’re about to start revisions on. It’s in my urban fantasy series (as Suzanne Johnson), coming out early next year. I had an explanation: “Things are going down a slippery slope in this world. It has to be darker.” Then ALLEGIANCE came out this week, and I knew it was a dark book—to me, all of the books in the Penton Legacy series have been a blend of darkness, action and humor. Like my editor, a couple of readers and reviewers have expressed surprise at how dark the Penton world had gotten. (Don’t worry, there’s still a lot of humor—a lot!—and smexy times with hot hero Cage and the uncontrollable eagle-shifter Robin!) So I started thinking about why, uncon...

Thanks to Bewitching Book Tours for hosting this blog tour. I have Suzanne Johnson, author of Elysian Fields , here today. Welcome! ***************************** The Sentinels Guide to Summer TV What, you thought the wizards and shifters and undead pirates of the Sentinels world sat around sucking on crawfish heads and engaging in preternatural power struggles? Even a merman needs a no-pressure evening in front of the TV. So I asked each of the major characters of Elysian Fields to tell me his or her favorite show. See if there are any surprises… Rene Delachaise, merman, head of the Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, merclan: “Chopped,” a long-running show on the Food Network where four chefs compete using a basket of bizarre ingredients to make a three-course meal in less than an hour. Babe, you are gonna ruin my reputation if I don’t say somethin’ all manly, so don’t spread this around. I won’t miss a single episode of “Chopped.” Man, I can cook some stuff, you know...

Thanks to Bewitching Book Tours for hosting this blog tour. I have Susannah Sandlin here talking about doing research for Omega . Welcome! ***************************** How Stuff Works—Research in the Vampire World Research is a part of any writing process, but you’d think that in an imaginary small Southern town that’s eventually to become the axis of a vampire civil war, research would be minimal. But not so fast. The great thing about urban fantasy and paranormal romance—and my Penton Legacy series straddles the line between the two—is that it lies at the crossroads of reality and fantasy. So the sexy vampires and the women who tame them have to deal with some real issues. Here are some things I learned along the way in writing the Penton Legacy series, the most recent of which is Omega : --Army Underwear. Randa, the heroine of Omega is a former US soldier turned vampire while on active duty. She doesn’t like being a vampire and hasn’t done much to update her w...