Greetings and a giveaway from Cera duBois

Word Wranglers is happy to welcome author Cera duBois, also known as Sara Walter Ellwood, today. Thanks for coming, Cera.

Thanks for having me here today! I’m a big fan of Word Wranglers.

I love life-changing moments, especially other people’s. Can you give us one of yours?

Although, not earth-shattering within the least, the thing that has changed my life the most—besides marriage, kids, career changes—is the day I nervously posted my very first Star Wars fan fiction story on The Force. net.  I’ll never forget how shaky my hand was when I hit the post button. I’ve never felt that feeling again, not even when I sent out my very first query letters. I had never put a story out into the world before and had no idea how it would be received. This single event jumpstarted me on a path that lead me to where I am today. If it wasn’t for the wonderful response I’d received from my fellow fan fiction writers, I wouldn’t have found the courage to ever send out that first query letter.

You’re not only Cera duBois, you're Sara Walter Ellwood, too. Does it get tricky using two names professionally?

I chose to take on a pen name to keep my genres separate. And yes, it is tricky sometimes to keep things straight. Mostly, because I want everyone to know I write under two names and what I write under each. I think things would be easier if I was trying to keep the names independent from each other as if I wrote children’s books and erotica…LOL

You like to travel, right? Where’s your favorite place you’ve been?

Actually, I’m pretty much a homebody. I’d love to travel, but the hubby doesn’t like to.

In that vein, what’s your favorite mode of travel? (We always either fly or drive, and I’d love to do one of those scenic train things!)

I’ve only ever traveled by car. But I’d love to go across the country on a train.

How do you feel about election year? Enthralled or annoyed?

I’m kind of excited. The polls are close, and I’m anxious to see who wins.

Kristi asks this sometimes, and I always think the answers are interesting—do you have a writing process or routine? Can you write anywhere or do you need a specific place? Silence or noise? (Okay, Kristi doesn’t ask ALL of that—I just get carried away.)

I don’t really have a process. I’m a pantser (and proud of it!). I sometimes have to brainstorm a story, like my two current WIPs, but I still never really outline anything outside my head. I can write anywhere, though my favorite place in the summer is on my deck. I do have a “sunroom” (it’s actually a formal living room that isn’t very formal) where I have my desk and all my writerly stuff, but it’s still in the hub of the family. It’s about fifty/fifty for me with music. I usually prefer it, especially if there’s a lot of other noise around. I’ll put my ear buds in and type away.

An old question that continues to be my favorite. What woman, past or present, would you like to have lunch with? Tell us about it—where would you go, what would you eat, what would you ask her?

Oh wow, that is a tough question. Emm…let me think… Queen Elizabeth I. She’s always been a fascinating character to me. I think it’s because she had to prove herself to so many. And because she had to have been as tough as nails. I’d love to know what she was really like. As far as where we’d go or eat, I have no idea.

What are your latest releases and what would you like to tell us about them?

 I actually have two books out right now.  Both of my paranormal suspenses, A Hunter’s Angel and A Hunter’s Blade which are published under my pen name, Cera duBois. Let me share the blurbs and an excerpt from both…

A Hunter’s Angel, Book 1 The Hunter’s Dagger Series

The serial killer stalking Clayton, Pennsylvania, isn’t all that has Chief of Police Grace Wallace worried. For a year, she’s tried to forget Special Agent Ian McHenry and now he’s the expert the FBI sent to catch the killer. She can’t stay away from him, but something primal is telling her to run to save much more than just her heart. Despite the strict code of ethics Ian vowed to follow as a vampire hunter, he craves Grace’s blood above all others. If he chooses to stay, Ian risks losing his chance at divine forgiveness. But if he leaves Grace unprotected from the evil he’s hunted for over a century, he loses more than just his soul…

***Excerpt***

Part of Grace desperately wanted to look up, and a bigger part of her dreaded this moment. She couldn’t hide for long. After all, she was in charge of this shindig.

Standing, Grace sucked in a fortifying breath and rubbed her sweaty palms together. Everyone stood respectfully when she moved from around the table to the front of the room. “Please. Be seated.”

Determined not to look at the woman and three men standing off to the left, she stared straight ahead. Her heart raced, and her scalp itched where perspiration gathered. “In order to better protect the citizens of our communities, I called this meeting to ensure we’re all on the same page regarding the investigation of the murders. Although I’ve been in contact with all of you since the first murder, four weeks ago, and have led the investigation, the FBI has sent a crack team of experts to assist us in hunting down the murderer.” Her voice betrayed nothing, but her mouth was dryer than the dog days of a Pennsylvania August. “Special Agent in Charge Ian McHenry?”

She looked at Ian and her heart stuttered over a beat. How could he be so calm and act as if nothing had happened between them?

How could he lead her on? Hadn’t the chemistry between them been instant and intense enough for them to throw caution and office taboos out the proverbial window?

Did he forget all those times they’d gone out for drinks and dancing? They’d spent weekends antiquing the countryside of Chester County. He’d taken her horseback riding at his magnificent country estate he’d inherited from his uncle. What about the beautiful necklace he’d given to her for Christmas, had it meant nothing?

He’d always been such an old-fashioned gentleman and seemed interested in her as a person and not just for sex. She fell so deeply in love with him it hurt. Had it all been a ploy to get her into bed for a one-night stand?

Why did you leave me?

***

The muscles in Ian’s back tensed as Grace’s silent question ricocheted around his head as if she’d screamed it at him. He forced a smile and looked around the room. “Thank you, Chief Wallace. I’d like to thank all of you for coming today to meet with us. Now to introduce my colleagues.”

With a gesture of his hand, Ian indicated an attractive, thirty-something, dark-haired woman and the dark-skinned, younger man. “This is Dr. Beth Otto and her assistant, Mark Hazelton. They will be working closely with Coroner Swartz. They both specialize in forensic pathology.” He then pointed toward a tall man dressed as Ian in dark pants, shirt and blazer. “And this is Special Agent Brad Morris. He and I will be working closely with the rest of you.”

Ian let Beth take the first round of discussion. An excellent medical examiner, she had worked with him and Brad for the past four years. Now was one of those times, he wished she wasn’t part of his team. She was extremely hard to fool. She’d never discovered anything that pointed to a vampire, and even if she had, her scientific mind would discredit it. But Ian always had a harder time coming up with reasons for the inconsistencies when things didn’t add up.

Available Everywhere E-books are sold:

The Wild Rose Press | Amazon | Barnes and Noble

A Hunter’s Blade, Book 2 of The Hunter’s Dagger Series

Brigit Wolfe, a born werewolf, hasn’t killed a human in over a hundred years, although now, she wonders if the animal attacking people in Silver Creek, Colorado, isn’t her. But she might have bigger problems when her cowboy neighbor, Austin Calhoun, ambles into her bar. Austin hasn’t been a vampire for long, but he is determined to prove to himself that he’s worthy of his hunter’s dagger. Brigit’s rare beauty and blade-sharp tongue enchants him. She ignites a passion he thought was dead, but is she the killer his master sent him to destroy? During Austin’s investigation regarding Brigit’s involvement in the deaths, an old crime surfaces connected to her human best friend. These two immortal enemies have to join forces to solve the mystery before someone else dies. But can they survive the heat of their own desire?

***Excerpt***

“Why don’t you enlighten me?”

She glowered at him for several moments. Then she closed her eyes and spoke in a language he didn’t understand. Before he knew it, a fire sparked to life in the old stone hearth across the room. A second later, he flew out of his chair and shoved hard against the edge of the bar behind him.

He struggled against the invisible restrains, but she’d taken him completely off guard. He was powerless to break free.

Standing, she kicked the chair to the side and stalked toward him. She could kill him right here and now, but...holy hell, she was damned sexy.

She stopped in front of him and growled, “Let’s get something established about werewolves. There are two kinds. The lesser wolves who are made. And the Lykan who are born. I’m not one of the degenerates. I was born a Lykan in 1647. The first child of Valeriu and Elena. I’m an alpha and you are nothing more than a fledgling just hatched.”

He broke free of her power by drawing on his own. When he moved toward her, Austin held his hands to his side, ready to grab the special knife he had sheathed inside his jacket. His fangs had long ago descended ready for a fight. “I don’t really give a flying fuck whether you were made, born, or hatched.”

When the energy of her power touched him again, he pulled the knife, and the silver blade caught the dim light of the fire in the hearth when he opened the long switchblade. “I want to know if you’re the one preying on these people.”

Her eyes widened and she backed up a step as he approached. “I told you I didn’t attack those humans. I haven’t killed a mortal in over a hundred years. How many innocents have you snacked on tonight? How many of them did you want to kill?”

“I don’t hurt my prey,” he said through clenched teeth and held her icy gaze. He’d never let her know battling the beast within every feeding was the hardest thing he’d ever done.

After forcing himself to take a deep breath, he lowered the knife and released some of the tension zinging through his body. “If you didn’t kill those people then you have nothing to worry about. Best way to figure out who did is by working together.” He put the silver blade away, and his fangs retracted.

“What do you have planned?”

He didn’t miss the slight quiver in her voice. He should finish all this right here and now so he could get back to Ireland and whatever life he’d scraped together, but something needled him into doing a thorough investigation.

“We begin with you telling me everything you remember from those nights you became the big, bad wolf.”

Available now at Amazon and everywhere January 2, 2013.

Bio:

Cera duBois has a strong belief in never giving up on your dreams…

Although Cera was unable to read due to dyslexia and a learning disability until she was in the fourth grade, she always had a story to tell. She wrote her first novel in eleventh grade when she had to keep a journal for her academic English class. Since her life was far from exciting growing up as a farm girl in West Central Pennsylvania, she decided to rely on her imagination to give her something to write about. Over the course of the school year, she wrote a tangled romance set in the Deep South during the Civil War.  Becoming an author was her ultimate dream. Despite holding a BS in secondary social studies education from Penn State University, she currently works full-time as a medical secretary. A mother of a teenage son and pre-teen daughter, she lives near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with her husband of nearly 20 years. If she isn’t sitting in a quiet corner with her laptop, warm days will find her in the English garden surrounding her house. Cera loves to read and is interested in history, romance, science fiction and the paranormal. She also writes contemporary Westerns under her real name of Sara Walter Ellwood.

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I’m also having a giveaway!

One lucky poster will picked to win a custom piece of jewelry designed by me. Check my website for a picture. So make sure you LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS in your post!