Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Guest: Vivi Anna



I met Vivi Anna a year or so ago online, and we clicked. She writes for the Nocturne line, as I do, and has a fun, exciting voice that makes her reads so awesome. It's weird how you can know someone online without ever having met them in person. I'm glad for it. I wanted to work with Vivi on something—anything—and when she said 'yes' I was thrilled!

One lucky commenter will win a copy of WINTER KISSED, which features "Ice Bound" by Vivi and "A Kiss Of Frost" by moi. :-)

So now here's Vivi...

I love mythology—any type from any culture. It fascinates me how people use stories to make sense of what is happening around them.

When Michele asked me if I wanted to do this duet with her about winter inspired stories, I was immediately excited. I knew I could incorporate some interesting mythology into it. I searched different texts for winter based deities or myths and I found one from Japan. The story about Yuki-Onna, the snow woman.

I was intrigued by the story and knew immediately it would work for the story I had in mind. I changed a few details and added my own background for her, but in the end it is still about a ghostly woman in a kimono that comes to those stranded in the snow. And in my instance, about the man that thaws her heart.


Here is a short excerpt from my story in the soon to be released Winter Kissed duet coming from Silhouette Nocturne.

ICE BOUND – copyright Vivi Anna October 2008

Darien is stuck in a snow bank on an icy road in Hokkaido, Japan…

After fifteen minutes of digging, Darien climbed back into the SUV and tried to back out. Still the tires spun in place. He got out again and continued to dig, chipping at the ice underneath the heavy blanket of white.
Once more he tried to move the vehicle. But it was to no avail. He was good and stuck. He wasn’t going anywhere any time soon, not until the blizzard stopped and he could either flag someone down, or find something to jam under the tires to supply him with some traction.
Luckily he was well equipped with thermal blankets, a hot plate, bottled water, dried food, and the gas tank was full. He could wait it out for at least twelve hours if he had to. He just hoped it didn’t come to that.
Darien jumped out into the snow again to go around the back to the hatch. He’d grab some supplies to hunker down for a few hours. As he opened the back, a sound whispered to him on the wind. Shivers, not just from the cold, raced down his spine.
He turned to survey the area. Was there someone there calling to him? Maybe the driver of the other vehicle.
“Darien.” The haunting voice echoed all around him. He stared into the blustering snow desperate to see something, anything concrete.
Something caught his eye, and he turned toward it. A shape materialized in the blinding white.
“Darien, I’ve been waiting for you.”
Darien wiped at his eyes with the back of his gloved hand. Surely he was seeing things. The combination of the blinding snowscape, the fact that his eyes were watering, and the Sapporo beer he had downed had to be playing tricks on his vision. Because there couldn’t possibly a woman dressed in a blue kimono floating to him on a wisp of cold air.
The old man’s warning sounded in his head. It will be the death of you.
“Darien,” she whispered on a breeze. Her voice was seductive. A sudden urge to go to her rushed over him. He clamped his eyes shut and fought against the ridiculous notion.
When he opened his eyes again, she was still there, floating above the snow. He noticed she was bare foot, her toenails painted a sensual crimson. With a demure smile she beckoned him to her.
Oh, Darien wanted to go to her, to lose himself in the exquisite beauty of her. But he fought against the urge, knowing full well it was an illusion, a hallucination, brought on by the stories he’d been filled with combined with his dire situation. It was just that she seemed so real and not a figment of his over active imagination.
“It’s just an illusion,” he chanted to himself, then shook his head trying to dislodge the haunting image of her that refused to be exorcised.
“I am no illusion, Darien. I am your destiny.”


Visit Vivi at her website!

Just realized V forgot to mention her October releases!  VEILED TRUTH from Nocturne and an electronic novella from Nocturne Bites, MAHINA'S STORM.  This girl's been busy!

23 comments:

ArkieRN said...

Kind of spooky. Like a snow siren. I'd be wary, too, if I was Darien.

Anonymous said...

Not my normal read, but your excerpt has me intrigued. It sounds great! I'm putting this on my book list to purchase....

Asylumgirl said...

Wow, I had not heard of this one, but it sounds like one of those creepy Japanese legends. Only, I'm guessing that this is a good "ghost." I love the whole idea.

Deidre
deidre_durance@hotmail.com

Dina said...

Hi Vivi,

Welcome.

Loved the excerpt and I do want to read Winter Kissed.

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for joining us in the convertible, Vivi. What an interesting concept. Can't wait to read it.

Unknown said...

Vivi, welcome to Riding with us in the Top Down Vehicle!! And thanks for the excerpt! This sounds like s shivering-good read.

And how interesting that you went to Japanese legends for snowy, wintry supernatural things. Me, I'd have headed to Norse legends. But maybe that's just the Minnesota in me. :)

It'll be so cool to get a different take on winter heat!

Anonymous said...

I'll admit...I am a HUGE Vivi Anna fan. I am sitting on her Nocturne Bite and Veiled Truth right now. I can't start them because I HAVE to finish reading GMC (anyone here heard of THAT book?) before this weekend. I KNOW if I start either of them, I'd never put them down.

Nice to see you here, Vivi so I can tell you - LOVE your Valorian Chronicles. Can't get enough.

Vivi Anna said...

Thanks ladies for the warm welcome! Y'all rock.

Betina, I'm Canadian, so you'd think I would've went to my own snowy icy history for a myth to use, but nope...LOL, I went across the ocean to Japan. I've always been taken with Asian cultures.

Hey Cyndi! Great to see you here.

Oh and thanks M, for adding in my current releases! I've been a bit brain dead (as you know) lately.

And it was such a joy to work with M, that we're going to do it again.

Anonymous said...

loved the excerpt Vivi! Very different take on a snow theme and I can't wait to get my hands on this book!

www.julianastone.com

Michele Hauf said...

Glad to see you here, V! Find a spot in the convertible, or just grab the bumper and hang on for the ride.

I'm Glad Vivi chose Japanese because that left Norse myths open for me. ;-)

I do believe the people on the cover are Vivi's characters. Though I would have liked to see my Jack Frost on there (all of frost, of course.) PRobably that wouldn't be so sexy as a human man.

What I want to know is do readers think a 'cool' romance could be interesting? Of course our characters need a lot of warming up, and find ways to do that.

Debra Dixon said...

Vivi Anna-- LOL! You've made Cyndi look at GMC like horrible homework because she loves you so much.

::clap:: ::clap::

Now that's more than enough to get my fingers moving over to Amazon. I haven't read you before and I'm can see that I've totally been missing out.

Anonymous said...

LOL Not "horrible" homework, but let's face it...no vamps, no werewolves, no murder to solve in GMC. LOL

AND most importantly...NO SEXY HERO

Anonymous said...

I would have chosen a Celtic, Roman, or Jewish myth myself. But Vivi, you and Michele are wonderful! And two stories of yours in the same book..Mind if I do a girly squee for once!

Oh! And all of you fans of Nocturne and RWTTD who don't get to know about our chat, come join us on October 15, 2008 @ 8 pm at chat.eharlequin.com for the Nocturne Hours, where we have authors like the wonderfully gorgeous Vivi and Michele, fans like yourself, writers to be, and prizes!

(Did I mention the prizes? :P )

Anonymous said...

So looking forward to reading Winter Kissed... love to read anything by the two of you, so having you both in one book is awesome.

Can't wait until November! See you both on the Nocturne boards ;)

Christie Ridgway said...

Hi, Vivi! Thanks for joining us in the convertible. That cover is beautiful, you two. I'm a SoCal girl and I'm already shivering just looking at it!

Helen Brenna said...

Hi Vivi. Welcome to the vert!

I love myths too. Every culture seems to have them in one form or another. Can't say that I've read any Japanese tales, though. Fun stuff!

catslady said...

Sounds facinating to me and it's something I think I would really enjoy - I've just discovered to Nocturne line and I like it!!

Fedora said...

Ooh, very cool excerpt! Thanks, Vivi and Michele, and congrats on the upcoming release!

Estella said...

I'm looking forward to reading Winter Kissed.
The excerpt was great!

Anonymous said...

I'm really excited about this book- the release is marked on my calendar! I love the cover and I love the idea.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful excerpt! Your book sounds very intriguing. Can't wait to read it!

Vivi Anna said...

Wow! So many cool comments.

You are all kinds of awesome.

Anonymous said...

Hi Vivi! Congratulations on the upcoming release! Winter Kissed has a beautiful cover! Very cool excerpt. I'm definitely looking forward to this book.