Author Q&A, Giveaway with Shona Husk

Happy Halloween! We're talking about Goblins today on Hanging With Bells!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Debut author Shona Husk is a civil designer by day and an author by night. She lives in Western Australia and through history, myth and imagination she creates heroes that are armed and dangerous but have a heart of gold-sometimes literally.  For more information on Shona and The Goblin King, and where to download the FREE prequel, The Summons, please visit: http://www.shonahusk.com/.

Welcome to Hanging With Bells Shona!

The Goblin King is the 1st book in your Shadowlands series.  How did you come up with the idea of having your main character be a goblin?

SH: It was 2am and I trying to get a restless baby to sleep. Well, that was when the idea came together before that I was reading books on mythology and history looking for a different paranormal creature to write about. I’ve always loved Roman Britain from the Celtic perspective. While at first glance goblins are ugly greedy and very unheroic…throw in a cursed king and a touch of beauty and the beast, and the idea started to look interesting.

Roan your main character is cursed along with others to live their days in the Shadowlands as goblins by a druid.  Did you have to do research on this subject for your book?

SH: I did a little research on curses, from both a fairy tale perspective and also a witchcraft perspective. I found out that in cursing someone you tie yourself to them (something the fairy tales forget about), but it added an element to the story that I really liked. When the druid cursed Roan and his men, he damned himself as well. And unlike fairy tales, breaking this curse will take more than a kiss.

The next book in the series will be about Roan’s brother Dai.  When will his book be released (Yes, I want to read it!) and how many books do you have planned for the series?  

SH: I have three books planned in the series. Kiss of the Goblin Prince will be out in May 2012 and the third book, For the love of a Goblin Warrior which is Meryn’s story will be out late 2012.

I have to say that I became fascinated with The Goblin King when I heard about it after doing a blog post on Unsexy paranormals.  Goblins were on that list.  I loved how you were able to incorporate goblins into your storyline and make it appealing.  Tell us some paranormals that you think are unsexy.

SH: Yeah, goblins aren’t sexy I think it’s the grey skin, hooked nose and yellow eyes. While Roan does appear in his goblin form a few times Eliza sees him as a man first and doesn’t quite realize what she’s getting into. Of course as a human he’s hot so that kind of balances. For me the most unsexy paranormal is zombies. Anything to do with zombies I find icky. I can get past the reanimated corpse idea. I know some vampires are the undead variety (mine are very much alive—just a genetic variation of human), but they still don’t seem as gross as zombies. However I’m sure there is someone who writes hot zombies and there are people who love them. I think just about any paranormal creature can be made into a hero. It’s all in the way it’s handled and the mythology that’s created behind the creature.

Thanks for stopping by the blog Shona and I have to say, you have made me think differently about goblins. ;)

THE GOBLIN KING BY SHONA HUSK – IN STORES OCTOBER 2011

Once Upon a Time…

A man was cursed to the Shadowlands, his heart replaced with a cold lump of gold. In legends, he became known as… The Goblin King.

For a favored few he will grant a wish. Yet, desperately clinging to his waning human soul, his one own desire remains unfulfilled… A Willing Queen.

But who would consent to move from the modern-day world into the realm of nightmares? No matter how intoxicating his touch, no matter how deep his valor, loving him is dangerous. And the one woman who might dare to try could also destroy forever his chance at a … Happily Ever After.

You can read my review of The Goblin King here:  Link

Thanks to the generosity of the publisher Sourcebooks, I am able to giveaway 2 copies of The Goblin King to 2 winners! 

• US and Canada only

Please leave a comment below with your email address if you would like to enter.  Giveaway ends 11/7/11 at 12pm EST and winners will be chosen using random.org

Good luck!