Thursday, June 28, 2012

Angels and Demons Blog Hop!

Angels vs. Demons Blog Hop  

Longing for a Story of Love with What?
Michael Mandrake


Good morning to all. I’m excited to be here to talk about a story I’m very fond of called Vertigo. The book is the long version of a short I did called Longing for a Normal State of Vertigo for the Riding the Rocket anthology through Sizzler Editions.

When I looked at the submission call by Sascha Illyvich, the editor of the collection, my first thought was to write a story of my main character receiving blinding love and passion from an immortal, something other than a vampire. *shudder*

At that time, I was very new to the genre and wanted to get a shot at being in this anthology by creating something totally new and different from any of the others he might have seen.

When I started writing, my first thought was to make it a historical since my main character Hayden Curry was a scientist from the 1900’s in Britain. Then I thought of the secondary character, David. He had to be someone strong and unique. Could he be a shifter, a chimera as Sascha offered that he might be? Who knows! Honestly, in the beginning, I had absolutely no idea what kind of being he actually was. Just as Hayden was clueless, so was I.

Then, I contacted Sascha later on after the anthology was released to ask him about doing a longer version. When I pulled the story back out of the WIP file, I looked it over and got more of a sense from David almost immediately. What I came up with without giving all the details is an immortal, some kind of angel or demon with powers to read minds, change forms, as well as an endless amount of sexual energy that Hayden takes a lot of pleasure in. *snicker*

So my story really has no mythological basis. It’s a complete fantasy story with the only factual things being the setting of that time period, the clothing of the characters, and the speech. The other thing I truly enjoy about my tale is the love and chemistry between my two men. How they communicate, get through trials and shortcomings during the early parts of their relationship, all the way to the ultimate test at the end which to this day I am astounded by what they asked me to write.

And to think, the basis was really, nothing! What did Hayden fall in love with? An angel or a demon? You’ll have to read Vertigo to find out. 






After losing his lover to mental disorder, Dr. Hayden Curry throws himself into work, silently wishing he could experience something extraordinary in love. He finds his match in David, a creature Hayden revives after discovering him and hauling him back to his lab. Upon awakening, David asks Dr. Hayden’s help in discovering more about himself. Hayden agrees but senses secrets in David. Will he get to the bottom of things and be able to continue the special relationship he and David have, or will the secrets that come forward tear them apart?

Before I went to my haven, I glanced outside my window. Outside, the rainfall reduced to a drizzle, coupled by slow moving clouds over the moonlight. The trees blew after only a few gusts of winds, ripped the leaves off and made quite a mess on the grass underneath.
These would be the nights I would cherish with him most. After relishing in the afterglows of new inventions and glasses of wine, there were mind blowing affections to follow.
Such a good lover…
Once I got to my place of work, I immediately began searching for the vials I had for the latest concoction. When I did not see them, I lost my head rather quickly.
“Where on God’s green earth,” I screamed and walked from one end of my laboratory to the other. "Where are those samples I just had? Libertina!"
Immediately, the pale and slim maiden with dark hair ran to my aid.
"Yes sir, have you lost something again, sir?"
"I have Libertina. The tubes I examined the night before. They seemed to…oh."
Within moments, my dearest uncovered the missing necessities I searched for, right underneath my novel, The Bounded Scientist.
I shrunk back and smiled wryly. "Thank you Libertina, ahem, that will be all my sweet."
"Yes sir, if there is anything you need, I'll be tending to your clothes, sir." Quickly, she curtsied and scurried off, closing the door behind her.
Ah, what a fine young maiden I have. If I were more attracted to the ladies, then I might give her go, but only gentlemen tickled my fancy these days.
I could not be that upset even in this pitiful state. Not that many people understood me when they came to know me. Throughout the years, many thought they should have thrown me in the local mental ward because of the ideas I'd had.
Nevertheless, my determination and visions had made me one of the most recognizable names in London, apart from the fact I inherited my father's large fortune.
Still, even with all the money and notoriety, I had always felt something was missing from my life. I longed for something new to happen. Whether it was a new discovery or invention it had to be different from what I had already seen.
I looked at the experiment I had been working on for seemingly weeks in disgust. Things hadn’t been the same anyway since Lawrence departed but I was determined to move on with my life’s work despite what happened to him. I had to hold on to the hope he would return.
After around the fifteenth trial of not receiving my desired result, I retreated to my bedroom to sleep. Unlike times before, I decided not to read before bed but instead lay there until my eyes got too heavy.
I hoped the nightmares would not start again since after they occurred I stayed awake staring at the ceilings of my room, often needing a drink of the alcoholic variety to put me to rest. I felt myself becoming rather dependent on the beverages. Certainly, doing this sort of thing would cloud my senses and not allow me to function properly. Many men of science I knew had become like this and I refused to become one of them.
I’ll never.
I always reassured myself that I wouldn’t continue to down this dangerous path, however, everyday, being alone with only yourself to talk with could be a detriment to one’s mental state.
Although fully capable of doing everyday things, I’d come to accept that I was different. After all, for one, I wasn’t attracted to women. Two, I enjoyed reading more than being outside playing in games.
In fact my mom would frequently say that she wished I’d be like “normal” boys and go play ball instead of reading. This from the same woman who didn’t know how to read until after she birthed me. With the help of my caregiver, I taught myself how to read the written word thus showed my mum in the process. Still, even afterwards, she didn’t consider it as an important skill. “I’ve always had people to do things like read for me,” she said, giving illiteracy credence. Totally absurd but true.
If I wasn’t able to read and learn I might die.
Such is true of me, Doctor Hayden Curry. I preferred to have my mind stimulated before anything else. This isn’t saying that I didn’t enjoy the sins of the flesh because I did, but, books were like gold to me, more important than any penny I owned. I’d inherited most of it which allowed me to live the lavish lifestyle and work on experiments instead of seeing patients to cure their ailments. I wasn’t interested in short term solutions anyway. I wanted results that could change the world and mankind forever.

****Comment with email address and win a copy of Vertigo and a $10GC

***Grad prize A Kindle Touch and a 60GC

Check out the other hoppers

1 Leia Shaw www.leiashaw.blogspot.com/
2 Carrie Ann Ryan http://www.carrieannryan.blogspot.com/
3 Lia Davis www.authorliadavis.com/blog
4 Guilty Pleasures http://www.guiltypleasuresbookreviews.com/
5 Marie Dees mariedees.com
6 Anie @ House Millar apmassie.com/blog/
7 Tempeste Oriley http://tempesteoriley.wordpress.com/blog/
8 Jenna Jaxon jennajaxon.wordpress.com
9 Eliza Gayle elizagayle.net/blog
10 Cari Silverwood www.carisilverwood.net/keyboard-fandango---blog.html
11 Melynda Price melyndaprice.wordpress.com
12 Margay Leah Justice margayleahjustice.blogspot.com
13 Angelique Armae angeliquearmae.blogspot.com/
14 The Jeep Devia www.thejeepdiva.com/?zx=887ddda2f8b4be71
15 Amber Kallyn amberkallyn.wordpress.com/
16 Close Encounters of the Night Kind http://closeencounterswiththenightkind.blogspot.com/
17 I Smell Sheep ismellsheep.blogspot.com/
18 Deb Sanders DebSanders.wordpress.com
19 Buffys Ramblings buffy-kennedy.blogspot.com/
20 Naughty Nights Press naughtynightspress.blogspot.com
21 Fifer Hylton fiferhylton.blogspot.com/
22 Dark Haven Book Reviews http://www.darkhavenbookreviews.com/
23 Wendy Ely www.wendyely.blogspot.com/?zx=64591f30eb104e33
24 Sandra Bunino sandrabunino.com/blog/
25 Heather Boyd heatherboyd.wordpress.com/
26 Harlies Books harliebooks.blogspot.com
27 Dakota Trace alittlebitofnaughty.blogspot.com/
28 Tracy Sumner Romance Author www.tracysumner.com/blog
29 Erotica Author, Fierce Dolan www.fiercedolan.com
30 Verity Ant BDSM Romance painful-ecstasy.blogspot.com
31 Veronica Scott veronicascott.wordpress.com/
32 Patrica Snodgrass Blog patriciasnodgrass.wordpress.com/
33 Wickedly Erotic - JL Oiler joiler.weebly.com/blog.html
34 Kharisma Rhayne www.kharismarhayne.com
35 Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy http://leeannsontheimermurphywriterauthor.blogspot.com/
36 Tara Lain Erotic Romance taralain.blogspot.com
37 Erotic Notions myeroticnotions.blogspot.com
38 Victorias Pages of Romance victoriaadams.blogspot.com/
39 Adriana Kraft adrianakraft.com/blog
40 Malia Mallory abcsoferotica.wordpress.com
41 Dianne Hartsock http://diannehartsock.wordpress.com/my-blog/
42 Gem Savid www.gemsivad.com/blog/
43 Book Lovers Haven taiyoutenshi.blogspot.com
44 Jessica Subject jessicasubject.com
45 The Ebook Reviewers http://theebookreviewers.blogspot.com/
46 Fayth Devlin faythdevlin.blogspot.com
47 Romance with Suspense, Secrets lyndafrazier.blogspot.com
48 Madeline Sloane www.MadelineSloane.com
49 Suzzana C Ryan http://www.suzzanacryanromanceauthor.blogspot.com/
50 Do You Want Mayo With That blog.dianalayne.com/
51 Wendi Zwaduk wendizwaduk.blogspot.com/
52 Megan Slayer http://theauthormeganslayer.blogspot.com/
53 Mary Marvella www.MaryMarvella.com
54 I Love Shape-Shifters michelehart.blogspot.com
55 Michael Mandrake tabooindeed.blogspot.com
56 Stacy Juba stacyjuba.com/blog/blog/
57 LL Muir www.llmuir.weebly.com
58 Sexy Romance Stories www.sexyromancestories.com
59 Jennifer Lynne www.jenniferlynne.com.au/blog
60 Cynthia Woolf www.cynthiawoolf.com/blog
61 Diane Alberts dianealberts.com
62 KE Saxon www.kesaxon.blogspot.com
63 Linda Andrews lindaandrews.wordpress.com
64 Riverina Romantics riverinaromantics.blogspot.com/
65 DC Juris dcjuris.blogspot.com
66 Zrinka Jelic bondedbycrimson.blogspot.com
67 Linda Nightingale http://lindanightingale.wordpress.com/
68 Liv Rancourt www.liv-rancourt.blogspot.com
69 Starr Words starrwords.blogspot.com
70 Pippa Jay pippajay.blogspot.co.uk/
71 Tara Mandreino http://tjmanderino.webs.com/apps/blog/
72 Smitten by Bad Boy Heroes http://smittenwithbadboyheroes.blogspot.ca/
73 Casey Crow www.caseycrow.com/blog/
74 All the Fun Starts After Dark http://allthefunstartsafterdark.blogspot.com/
75 Realmantic Moments http://realmanticmoments.blogspot.com/
76 Saleh Janel www.selahjanel.wordpress.com
77 Zilah Anderson http://zillahanderson.wordpress.com/
78 Best Erotic Books www.besteroticabooks.com
79 Romance Book Club Blog blog.romance-book-club.com
80 Relax with a Romance serenitywoods.blogspot.co.nz/
81 Stephanie Haefner http://www.stephaniehaefnerthewriter.com/
82 Avrils Blog avril-ashton.blogspot.com
83 Tami Brothers tamibrothers.blogspot.com/
84 Heartthrob Haven heartthrobhaven.blogspot.com/
85 Carolyn Rosewood carolynrosewood/com
86 Natasha Blackthorne http://natashablackthorneblog.blogspot.com/
87 Romance with a Bite brendamdyer.blogspot.ca/?zx=5e573a77524b39a5
88 Sadie Hart sadiehart.com/blog/
89 Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell www.janekindred.com
90 Gem Sivad www.gemsivad.com/2012/06/28/angels-versus-demons-blog-hop/
91 Ana Hart anahart03.blogspot.com/
92 Naomi Belina www.naomibellina.com/blog.html
93 Reading on the Wild Side http://www.readingonthewildside.blogspot.com/
94 Diane Thorne www.dianethorne.com
95 Mary Abshire www.maryabshire.com
96 Stacey Brutger www.staceybrutger.com/blog/
97 Dani Harper waypastnormal.blogspot.com
98 KH LeMoyne fantasypoweredbylove.com/
99 Other Worlds & Realities blog.skhyemoncrief.com
100 Heart of A Wolf www.heartofawolf.com/
101 Talk Supe www.talkingsupe.com
102 Smart Mouth Texan http://smartmouthtexan.wordpress.com/
103 Literal Addiction www.literaladdiction.com/angels-and-demons-giveaway.php


38 comments:

Leia Shaw said...

what a sexy cover! thanks for participating in the hop and have fun!

Anne said...

Leia wrote exactly what I was thinking, the cover is great.

acm05atjuno.com

Tara Lain said...

Hi luv-- Waving hello! Have a great HOP! *hugs* Tara

booklover0226 said...

Great excerpt and cover, indeed.

Thanks,
Tracey D
booklover0226 at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

In your excerpt, I think you nailed the style of speech for the early 1900s.

For the hop:
I love Angels.
strive4bst at yahoo dot com

Natasha said...

Thanks for the chance to win!
Demons are my favorite.
natasha_donohoo_8 at hotmail dot com

donnas said...

Thanks for sharing!

bacchus76 at myself dot com

andieleah said...

Those boys on that cover are beautiful!!!
andieleah78@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

The book sounds very inventive and sexy! (And angels for me...)

vitajex(at)aol(dot)com

Kassandra said...

I already have Vertigo but would love to be signed up for the rest.

Demons are more my style ;)

sionedkla@gmail.com

Geoffrey said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Sexy! And sounds intriguing! Thanks for the opportunity.

Amanda
manna_greene(at)yahoo(dot)com

Geoffrey said...

Sounds interesting. The cover definitely catches the eye as well.

decepticonverse@gmail.com

laceyblossom said...

Great excerpt! Looking forward to reading more of it :)
laceyblossom1(at)gmail(dot)com

Deb PelletierC said...

Thanks for the contest. Deb P
r.d1@myfairpoint.net

Lana A said...

I did a course on evil in culture and literature and of course demons were part of that. It's fascinating how the perception of evil and demonst has changed somewhat through the centuries. Demons become more subtle and refined, which was not always the case!

Thank you for the giveaway!

anzuazura(at)yahoo(dot)de

Yvette said...

Would love to win Vertigo and I love the cover!
Yvette
yratpatrol@aol.com

Lyra L7 said...

Sounds good, count me in please!

lyra.lucky7ATgmailDOTcom

molly.frenzel said...

Great post! I loved the excerpt.
molly(dot)frenzel(at)gmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

WOW ! GREAT COVER!!! Thanks for the awesome excerpt.
Mel
bournmelissa at hotmail dot com

Carin said...

As far as angels vs demons, who doesn't love a bad boy? Demons baby! mawmom@gmail.com

wulf said...

Nice excerpt :)

penumbrareads@gmail.com

Christine said...

I love bad boy/warrior angels.
isabelli3619 (at) aol (dot) com

Ayame said...

wow, Dr. Hayden seems an interesting character. I love the concept of "mad scientist" :D
Please count me in. ayamekaoru@yahoo.com
Btw, I actually prefer demons. There's something about the forbidden fruit :P

Susan W. said...

Love the excerpt! And the cover's great too! Thanks for the giveaway!
suz2(at)cox(dot)not

Michelle Bledsoe said...

So much hotness on the hop that I don't know what to do...LOL

koonie2888 at yahoo dot com

Emily said...

i prefer angels. thanks for participating in the hoP! emily joy drake at gmail dot com

Unknown said...

Thanks for the amazing excerpt and giveaway. Vertigo sounds like a fantastic read!

elizabeth @ bookattict . com

Sherry said...

I loved the excerpt and the cover. I'm looking forward to reading this.
sstrode at scrtc dot com

June M. said...

Great cover and excerpt. Thank you for the giveaway chance :)
manning_j2004 at yahoo dot com

Jibriel said...

Great excerpt! Thank you for the giveaway!

Hope
Jibriel.O at web dot de

Merry said...

Very hot! Can't wait to read more!!
Lisa
yankssssrule08(at)yahoo(dot)com

Unknown said...

Great excerpt! Thanks!

Team Demon all the way!

snhoveln@gmail.com

StacieD said...

Vertigo sounds lovely. I am generally a demon girl but I have read angel stories too.

geishasmom73 AT yahoo DOT com

JoAnna said...

Thanks for sharing the excerpt. Sounds great!

beckerjo at verizon dot net

Denise Z said...

Thank you for participating in this fun hop. Today I am choosing angels!
dz59001[at]gmail[dot]com

bn100 said...

Nice excerpt. I like demons.

bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

Shadow said...

Fallen Angels! Okay, maybe demons. I love bad boys! :D Nice teaser! Thank you for the awesome giveaway!
shadowluvs2read(at)gmail(dot)com