Talking with author Melissa Graves and a Giveaway

 **Please remember to enter the rafflecopter at end of the post to be in the running for a really great prize from Melissa Graves and you can follow the tour for more chances to enter HERE**

a top five list of what the author needed to have/do/consume while writing this

1) The right environment – my husband was kind enough to accept my status as “part-time” partner when I began this adventure.  I am very much a mood writer.  I need space and relative quiet to get into the worlds that I build, and when you share close quarters with someone that often goes out the window.  Conversely, my husband is also a huge fan of vampire fiction, so when I wanted to bounce ideas off of him he was there. 

2) The right music – vampire movie soundtracks such as Interview with a Vampire, for that old world feel.

3) The right food – I am big on combining sensory experiences, so writing while I have my favorites at hand helps.  Of course, I'd like to say that this meant healthy choices, but mostly that boiled down to chocolate, gummy bears, string cheese, and as much Diet Coke as I liked. I have a serious Diet Coke problem.

4) The right company – my husband works long hours, so my cats definitely kept me sane as I worked.  I am a huge cat person, and often found myself dependent on their demanding little meows to remind me to get up, use the bathroom, and eat.

5) The right professional support – before Bleeding Heart, I mostly wrote in a vacuum with very little technical support.  In choosing to write the novel, I knew that I needed help to get me there—everyone from my editors to my best friends became my champions and cheerleaders, helping me with everything from grammar to fleshing out character models to simply reminding me that I could do it every time that I felt overwhelmed.

 

Bleeding Heart by Melissa Graves

Interlude Press

Available at Publisher

While the public struggles to live side-by-side with vampires, medical student Brian Preston has dedicated himself to their care and study by working in a government-run clinic that monitors and feeds the resident vampire population. He has learned to expect the unexpected in his job, but his life takes a surprise turn late one night when a young, struggling vampire named Kyle stumbles into his clinic and his heart.

 As they draw closer, can Brian come to grips with loving the elusive vampire, and can Kyle find the strength to share the secret that can separate them forever?

Bleeding Heart is the story of love, blood, political intrigue and the secrets that can spell the difference between life and death.

 Teaser Excerpt:

Kyle’s heart pounds loudly all the way to Brian's apartment, and the click of the door closing behind them causes it to skip a beat. He's nervous, and yet his skin is hot and his clothing feels tight and itchy against his skin and he just wants. He wants to put his hands on his boyfriend so badly.

  

Brian toes off his shoes and turns to look at Kyle over his shoulder. There’s a spray of red visible across Kyle’s cheeks and his eyes are wide and wet. Brian asks, husky and unsure, "Shower?"

  

Oh, my god, you can't just say that.

  

Kyle has no idea how much of a fool he looks standing there so aroused it hurts, his hands curled into fists and his chest heaving. "God, yes, please."

  

In the hallway outside the bathroom, Brian catches Kyle around the waist as Kyle reaches for him at almost at the same time, putting his hands on Brian’s shoulders and then around the back of his neck, pulling him forward into kisses that start out soft but go hard within moments, tongues and teeth dancing around throaty noises that die before they are even born.

  

It takes every bit of focus Kyle has to keep his fangs tucked away.

  

He pins Brian against the wall beside the bathroom door, carding fingers through his hair and turning his head up and back. His lips find the softness of Brian's throat and the hard ridge of his Adam's apple. He tugs Brian's button-up from the waistband of his jeans with falsely brave fingers, enduring a full-body shiver when Brian lets him undo the buttons one by one before shrugging out of the shirt. His undershirt follows and then they slow down, Kyle's lips hovering over his, his fingertips poised above the button on Brian’s jeans.

About the Author

A veteran writer of fan fiction known as MissBeizy to her online readers, Melissa Graves’ stories have thousands of followers. At age 13, she wrote her first work of fan-based fiction, and by age 16, had met her future husband in an online vampire fiction chat room. A fan of science fiction/fantasy, she has a degree in anthropology and a passion for good chocolate, amateur erotica and fan worlds that celebrate diversity. She is mother to two cats.

Follow Melissa Graves and learn more about her work at http://msmelissagraves.com/

Links:

https://twitter.com/msmelissagraves

https://www.goodreads.com/melissagraves

 

Giveaway~ Melissa will be awarding a $25 Barnes & Noble GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour, and a $25 Barnes & Noble GC and a print edition of Bleeding Heart (US ONLY) to a randomly drawn host. A free download of an Interlude Press eBook title or an author/book swag pack will be awarded to one randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter at each stop during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway