A Long Strange Trip - Maria Lima - Guest Post + Giveaway

I'm thrilled to welcome the lovely Maria Lima to the blog today. Maria writes the fang-tabulous Blood Lines series with Keira Kelly and the gorgeous, sexy vampire Adam Walker. Blood Sacrifice - book 5 and sadly the last :-( - in the series is out on August 30th, and Maria's here to tell us how the series came about. She's also kindly offering a giveaway for one lucky commentator! (Int).

Congratulations on the upcoming release, Maria, and thanks so much for being here! The blog's all yours!

ETA: Winner has now been drawn and is:


Donnas who said...


Congrats on the upcoming release!! Looking forward to what you start on next!


An email's on it way to you, Donnas!


A Long Strange Trip

What a long, strange trip it’s been--to utterly steal the lines from the Grateful Dead. I mean, who knew just a mere seven years ago that I’d be (a) published and (b) wrapping up my first series? Not I--though my mother continues to insist she knew when I was a kid that I’d be a professional writer. Back then, I wanted to be a comic book artist. Go figure.

I love reading, so much so, that I toyed with the idea of becoming a librarian at one point. Then I found out that it required grad school--not necessarily a bad thing, but at that point, I was really, really sick of school and having to go a couple of extra years was just not on the menu. So I majored in journalism, broadcast and film, with an emphasis on TV and film--why? Because it was interesting. Employable, well, not so much. At least not in San Antonio, Texas. I could’ve done some internships at local TV stations or in radio, but honestly, I was pretty rootless and clueless when I finished college. I fell into the grind of corporate work, primarily in human resources. That said, I always found a way to write--whether employee focused newsletters or marketing copy, I needed to soothe that muse that kept hitting me over the head.

It wasn’t until I re-invented myself in late 1999 that I knew I wanted a huge change. I moved from Texas to the DC area to work in tech in mid 2000. I’d been a member of Sisters in Crime for years and already knew a ton of people in the area, mostly writers. They all encouraged me. So I wrote, and wrote, and wrote.

My first short story, “The Butler Didn’t Do It”, was published in 2004, via a Sisters in Crime anthology. It garnered an Agatha Award nomination. My first novel, MATTERS OF THE BLOOD, followed the next year (via a small press, which eventually folded). I came very close to giving up after that--but at the very same convention, I met the person who kickstarted my writing career: John Betancourt, owner of Wildside Press. Wildside republished Matters, then went on to publish the 2nd book, BLOOD BARGAIN. Then, thanks to John, who entered into a co-publishing agreement with Pocket Books, both those books were republished by Pocket, immediately followed by the third book, then the final two.

A total whirlwind? Yeah. Absolutely. Kind of like my protagonist’s life, actually. Keira’s just sitting around and hanging out when things begin to happen to change her life--for the better. I’ve loved every minute of it. Now that the final Blood Lines book is coming out, what’s next?

I’m working on the audiobooks for the series (I’m doing the reading). The audiobooks will be issued via Audible.com thanks to Wildside Press. I’m also working on some other writing projects. The show goes on as do I.

What do you readers want to see?

###

Yay! Thanks for the great post, Maria. I ♥♥♥ the Blood Lines series, and I'm lucky enough to be reading Blood Sacrifice now as my 'treat book' for reaching The End on my own! Blood Sacrifice is a wonderful book, the best in the series I think, so all the Blood Lines fans have got a fab treat in store too!

Giveaway

For a chance to win a copy of one of Maria's books (winner's choice) please leave a comment for Maria: Either what book you'd like to see Maria do next, or your favourite character in the Blood Lines series, or leave Maria your congratulations!

Please leave a way to contact you (email in comment: Please remember to replace @ with [at] to forestall spam - or your twitter name - no way to contact you - no entry).

Giveaway is international and closes end of day (GMT time) August 30th 2011.

Full General Terms and Rules at the bottom of this post here.

x/posted to LJ. Comment here or there. One entry per person.

Blood Sacrifice
The Blood Lines series - Book 5 - 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 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 everywhere, 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, maybe even her life, on the line, she has only one chance to get the answer right.

Buy from:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Depository 
Or any good bookstore :-).
Find Maria
Maria's website
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Maria on Twitter

15 comments:

kara-karina@Nocturnal Book Reviews said...

Congratulations on the last book in the series, Maria! Life is weird, you can never predict what you will be doing in 10 years :) Thanks for sharing your story and for the giveaway!
impy80 at hotmail dot com

dina said...

Love the series and I hope you find a way to continue it. But something new would also be great.

Just keep writing and telling those stories!

Spav said...

I love this series. I didn't know Blood Sacrifice was the last one! :'(

Anonymous said...

Wow, thank you so much for the giveaway! I really liked the books I've read from you!
mikki-mano AT hotmail DOT com

Jennzah said...

congrats on the series! it's been on my TBR list for so long now. so this is a great giveaway! :)

jennzahling@gmail.com

donnas said...

Congrats on the upcoming release!! Looking forward to what you start on next!

bacchus76 at myself dot com

CrystalGB said...

Congratulations Maria on your upcoming release. Your series sounds great.
Crystal816[at]hotmail[dot]com

Blodeuedd said...

Congrats on your new release :) I have not read any of your books yet so I can't really say anything

blodeuedd1 at
gmail dot com

I was wondering if there is any other genre you would like to try to write in? :=D

Barbara E. said...

Congrats on the release of Blood Sacrifice. This sounds like a great series, but I haven't had a chance to start it yet. I like to start series at the beginning, so it would be awesome to win a copy of the first book.

Barbed1951 at aol dot com

Sofija Kapranova said...

Congratulations on the last book in series. I am sure you are full of new ideas for the future books!

kapranova.sofija@gmail.com

Melliane said...

Thanks for the giveaway ! I really like this serie and i can't wait to read blood sacrifice !

ellana_(at)hotmail(dot)fr

Maria Lima said...

Thanks for all the lovely comments!

@Spav - I wasn't sure if BLOOD SACRIFICE was going to be the last or not. I'd heard some unofficial rumblings while I was writing it late last year so I did make sure that all the storylines were wrapped up. I knew I wanted this book to be the end of the first major story arc for Keira, so that came in handy.

I'm definitely ruminating on some short story ideas. Some set in Keira's future, some in her past. We'll see what happens!

Glad you current readers are enjoying the series & welcome to new fans!

Rebe said...

Congratulations on the upcoming release! I enjoyed reading about how you re-invented yourself, and this sounds like such a great series!

rwschwarz11ATgmailDOTcom

Janet said...

I am so happy for you ((((Maria)))

I know you as a friend and soon I will get know you as an author. Can't wait to get my teeth into your books.

And Larry and Kelly's books, too :)

Congratulations, doll!

L.L. Wynn said...

Thanks for introducing this series to me, Suzanne -- I actually didn't know it and I'm delighted to find a new vampire series (even though it's not new and it's nearly over :( - but hey at least I can read all the books at once instead of waiting anxiously each year for the next installation). I'm excited to go try out Maria Lima! - Lisa

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