An Angels vs. Demons Blog Hop!

Angels vs. Demons Blog Hop: June 28-July 1

If you've come here via the Angels vs. Demons Blog Hop, welcome! If you just stumbled in here by accident, read on.

Authors Leia Shaw and Carrie Ann Ryan are hosting the blog hop in celebration of their new paranormal romance releases, Destiny Bewitched and Dust of My Wings, and they want to know which you'd rather have to...uh...cuddle up with at night—angels or demons? And what are your favorite angel or demon books?

At the end of this post is a table full of blog links. Every single one of those authors and bloggers is offering their own giveaway, in addition to the blog hop grand prizes: one lucky entrant will win a Kindle Touch and one will win a $60 Barnes & Noble Gift Card! All you have to do to enter is comment on any post in the hop...which means you can enter 103 times. Comments on this post will also enter you in a drawing for a signed copy of my novel, The Fallen Queen, and an autographed cover flat.

This is a long post, so I don't blame you if you want to skip to the contest entry—just scroll to the end (but you're going to miss some man candy!). ;) Just be sure to leave your email address or we won't have any way of contacting you.

The heroes of my House of Arkhangel'sk series, Belphagor and Vasily, aren't your typical demons. But rather than make this post even longer, I'll let you learn all about them on my virtual book tour: Belphagor | Vasily. Separately from this blog hop, I'm also giving away ebook copies of The Fallen Queen at both of those links. (Note that entering the giveaways on those two blogs will NOT enter you in any of the blog hop drawings.)

But if you want the quick down-and-dirty on my wily demons, here are their stats:

BELPHAGOR An airspirit demon of Raqia in the Third Heaven

Build: Wiry but muscular

Height: 5’8”

Weight: 160lbs

Eye color: Ebony

Hair: Dark, short, spiked on top

Body art: Numerous Russian prison tats, including on hands and fingers; pierced eyebrow; pierced nipples

Strengths: Fiercely loyal; able to manipulate the element of air, including influencing the mind; as a BDSM top, he makes people feel cherished and protected with an almost paternal sensibility

Weaknesses: Has difficulty trusting others and keeps things to himself to his own detriment, resulting in getting himself into trouble he might otherwise have avoided

Favorites: The game of wingcasting (a kind of celestial poker); cigars; spanking naughty “boys”; a good Russian tea

Occupation: Gambler and thief

Nickname: Prince of Tricks

Quote: “I can't imagine why you think I'd have sex with a girl.”

:::::::::::::::::::::::

VASILY A firespirit demon of Raqia in the Third Heaven

Build: Built like a Cossack warrior

Height: 6’4”

Weight: 220lbs

Eyes: Hazel, with a tendency towards flaming red with Seraphic fire

Hair: Dreadlocks, lava red, tied back at the crown to expose his neck, with long, scruffy “mutton chop” sideburns

Body art: A row of spiked barbell piercings down both sides of his neck

Strengths: Can light a cigar with his tongue, illuminate the darkness and stoke a fire with his breath, generate healing Seraphic fire, and keep you very warm throughout an Arkhangel’sk winter

Weaknesses: Volatile temper, insecurity/jealousy

Favorites: Vodka, spankings

Occupation: Thief

Quote: “You touch Bel’s marks and I will kill you with my teeth.”

Want to meet my sexy demon duo? Check out my debut novel, The Fallen Queen, Book One in The House of Arkhangel'sk, published in December 2011 by Entangled Publishing and just re-released in mass-market trade paperback with a new, gorgeous cover:

The Fallen Queen by Jane Kindred

Heaven can go to hell.

Until her cousin slaughtered the supernal family, Anazakia’s father ruled the Heavens, governing noble Host and Fallen peasants alike. Now Anazakia is the last grand duchess of the House of Arkhangel’sk, and all she wants is to stay alive.

Hunted by Seraph assassins, Anazakia flees Heaven with two Fallen thieves—fire demon Vasily and air demon Belphagor, each with their own nefarious agenda—who hide her in the world of Man. The line between vice and virtue soon blurs, and when Belphagor is imprisoned, the unexpected passion of Vasily warms her through the Russian winter.

Heaven seems a distant dream, but when Anazakia learns the truth behind the celestial coup, she will have to return to fight for the throne—even if it means saving the man who murdered everyone she loved.

Read an excerpt from The Fallen Queen

The Fallen Queen is available now at Amazon | on Kindle | Barnes & Noble Nook | Books On Board. Pre-order your copy of Book Two in The House of Arkhangel’sk trilogy, The Midnight Court(Amazon | Barnes & Noble), coming in August 2012.

Fun with firespirits - and a Fallen Queen giveaway

Today I'm blogging at Layers of Thought about creating angels. Stop by for a chance to win an ebook of The Fallen Queen.

Note: I found this interpretation of a seraph online. Mine are a bit less...benevolent. ;)

Ever wonder what Heaven looks like?

Well, according to me, it looks like this:

Click map to enlarge

A black and white version appears in the book, but I thought readers might enjoy seeing the original on a single page.

If you've read The Fallen Queen, you'll notice there are many places on the map not visited in the book. You'll see much more of the Heavens in Book Two, The Midnight Court.

Copyright © 2011 by Jane Kindred

Saturday evening post: Rusalki

Last summer while working on rewrites for The House of Arkhangel'sk, I briefly veered off onto a storyline where Anazakia meets a rusalka before I realized it had nothing to do with the story. I was sad about it, because I really liked my rusalka Lyudmila, but she had to go. Today Lyudmila surprised me by reappearing in the middle of The Palace of Wisdom. She has none of the sassy dialogue of her first appearance, but wow, does she do a number on Vasily's head.

If you aren't familiar with rusalki, here's what Wikipedia has to say about them:

According to most traditions, the rusalki were fish-women, who lived at the bottom of rivers. In the middle of the night, they would walk out to the bank and dance in meadows. If they saw handsome men, they would fascinate them with songs and dancing, mesmerize them, then lead the man away to the river floor to his death.

...associated with the "unclean force" [nechysta syla]... The ghostly version is the soul of a young woman who had died in or near a river or a lake and came to haunt that waterway. This undead rusalka is not invariably malevolent, and will be allowed to die in peace if her death is avenged.

Rusalki are known in other traditions as sirens, mermaids, and nymphs. Here are some of my favorite images of rusalki I found while surfing about:

Update: I should learn to do my research before hitting "post." And it should have been obvious to me that Viktor Nizovtsev's paintings were not in the public domain. D'oh. He's my age. :) So as lovely as those were, I had to remove them. (You can see my favorite, "Mermaid With Lanterns" on the Fox Hall Gallery website.) But I found another rusalka I adore:

In Slavic mythology, a rusalka (plural: rusalki or rusalky) was a female ghost, water nymph, succubus or mermaid-like demon that dwelled in a waterway.

According to most traditions, the rusalki were fish-women, who lived at the bottom of rivers. In the middle of the night, they would walk out to the bank and dance in meadows. If they saw handsome men, they would fascinate them with songs and dancing, mesmerize them, then lead the man away to the river floor to his death.