Author Q&A, Giveaway with Laurie London

I'm very happy to welcome Laurie London to Hanging With Bells today!  This is her first time on the blog.  She's the author of the Sweetblood series.  It's a paranormal series for Harlequin.  The 1st 2 books in the series, Bonded By Blood and Embraced By Blood,  have been released already. 

Welcome to Hanging With Bells Laurie! Tell us a little about yourself.

Thanks so much for having me!

You have a series out right now that's called Sweetblood. Book 1, Bonded by Blood is about a sexy vamp by the name of Dominic. I love sexy vamps by the way. What is about your series that makes it different from all the other books about vamps?

When I sat down and started writing Bonded By Blood, I tried to do it from a reader’s perspective, incorporating what fascinated me-the-reader about vampire mythology and ditch what didn’t intrigue or inspire me.

In the opening scene, I saw the heroine being attacked in broad daylight by a vampire and I wanted to know why. After all, most vampire lore has them as creatures of the night who die or burn up when exposed to the sun. I also knew I wanted to set the series in the Pacific Northwest, where I live. Then I had it. What if the reason most vampires don’t go out into the sun is because it drains them of energy? Unlike humans, who need vitamin D, vampires become very weak when exposed to Ultraviolet light. They need to get this energy from our blood, because they’re not able to process it from the source.

I suppose I was inspired by the fact that I often suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (common up here) in the winter. (I’m seriously not looking forward to the next few months.) In fact, what if what I think is the effect of SAD is actually because I was bitten by a vampire? This intrigued me further. I twisted and expanded on the whole energy thing, making it a key element in the world.

The series continues with Embraced By Blood book 2 in the series. This cover is hot! Sounds like the characters in this book used to be lovers in the past. I think these type of books end up having hot, smoldering scenes. Do you feel the same way?

Yes! Not only do you have an external conflict that keeps them apart, but you also have a past history to deal with. Alfonso and Lily were lovers in the past, so there’s a lot of emotional baggage each of them brings to the table when they reunite…and sparks definitely fly! Let’s just say this…reunion sex is hot.

Book 3 in the series Tempted By Blood is out on 2/21/12. What can you tell us about this book?

For those who know the series, it’s Jackson’s story. He’s the playboy and you’ve seen him pop up in the earlier books, but you never really knew what made him tick till now. He’s fun, fiercely loyal, obtuse at times, and he’s very very naughty. There’s something about him that shocked me when I found out. It required a lot of rather twisted research. (The search history on my computer is bad!) But that’s all I can say about it right now…

What can we look forward to reading from Laurie London in the future?

I just had an anthology come out last week called A VAMPIRE FOR CHRISTMAS with a Sweetblood novella Enchanted By Blood. Jackson’s story, TEMPTED BY BLOOD, comes out Feb 2012 and Santiago’s story comes out tentatively Aug 2012.

Thanks for stopping by the blog Laurie. I have got to get to this Sweetblood series soon!

Thanks, Bells, for having me on today!


Laurie is generously offering a giveaway on the blog today!  A copy of the anthology Vampire For Christmas that has her story Enchanted By Blood in it as well as a cute fanged heart ornament!

All they want for Christmas is you…


It's the time of year for twinkling lights on trees and kisses under the mistletoe. Yet the passing of another year means nothing to the stunning immortals who lurk in the shadows of the new-fallen snow.

And they don't care if you've been naughty or nice.

Let four fanged lovers open your eyes to a passion you never dared to imagine. After all, there's no place like home for the holidays—and these dazzling vampires can't wait for an invitation.


Giveaway open to US/Can only.  Please leave an email with your comment if you want to enter.  Giveaway ends 10/31/12 at 12 PM EST.  Winner will be chosen using random.org.  Good luck!

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