Welcome to my stop in the Vampires section of the V-Day Bites Blog Hop. I am particularly delighted by this hop because I’m pretty sure that Valentine’s Day brings out the monster in everyone, at some point. Also, my next novel, Legally Undead, is due out in May from World Weaver Press, and it’s all about vampires! So check out the short excerpt below, enter to win a slew of prizes, then HOP to the rest of the blogs!
(This is also part of a slightly longer excerpt appearing in the next issue of The Journal of Monsters and the Monstrous)
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Excerpt
It would be easy to be charmed by this setting, by all the elegance that surrounded me.
Of course, all the vampires that surrounded me weren’t quite so charming. They were terrifying.
And in a room full of people, I discovered that it was easy to tell which ones were vampires and which ones weren’t. Some of the humans were easy to spot–the ones who were eating food were easy to pick out as humans, of course, and many of them had bandages or fresh wounds on various parts of their bodies. The parts where the veins ran close to the surface: the neck, the crook of the elbow, the wrist.
There were other humans there, too, though, humans who weren’t eating and who didn’t have any visible blood-donation marks. But they were clearly human, just as some of the other people moving around the room were clearly vampires. The vampires tended toward pallor, of course. And occasionally one flashed a fang here or there, particularly when they laughed–an effect that I found chilling. They were mostly extraordinarily beautiful, but then, so were the humans. Deirdre seemed to like surrounding herself with beauty.
It had something to do with the energy the vampires projected, I guess. They seemed strangely brittle, yet almost vibrating with a nervous vitality. I’ve seen a similar thing with people who were on the verge of an emotional breakdown but attempting to hide it. I’ve also seen it in people with bipolar disorder. It’s a sort of forced, manic gaiety verging on hysteria.
But that energy was combined with an indolence of movement. They swayed through the room slowly, languorously, all the while virtually quivering with some suppressed power.
All in all, it was just about the creepiest thing I’d ever seen–toward the top of the list, anyway, right after “Seeing My Beloved Eaten.”
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Rafflecopter Link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ba4d4b34/
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About the Author
Margo Bond Collins lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, several spoiled cats, and a ridiculous turtle. She teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters. Waking Up Dead is her first published novel. Her second novel, Legally Undead, is an urban fantasy forthcoming in 2014 from World Weaver Press.
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Other Books by Margo Bond Collins
When Dallas resident Callie Taylor died young, she expected to go to Heaven, or maybe Hell. Instead, when she met her fate early thanks to a creep with a knife and a mommy complex, she went to Alabama. Now she’s witnessed another murder, and she’s not about to let this one go. She’s determined to help solve it before an innocent man goes to prison. And to answer the biggest question of all: why the hell did she wake up dead in Alabama?
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Fairy, Texas. A small town like any other.
Laney Harris didn’t want to live there. When her mother remarried and moved them to a town where a date meant hanging out at the Sonic, Laney figured that “boring” would have a whole new meaning. A new stepsister who despised her and a high school where she was the only topic of gossip were bad enough. But when she met the school counselor (and his terminal bad breath), she grew suspicious. Especially since he had wings that only she could see. And then there were Josh and Mason, two gorgeous glimmering-eyed classmates whose interest in her might not be for the reasons she hoped. Not to mention that dead guy she nearly tripped over in gym class.
She was right. Boring took on an entirely new dimension in Fairy, Texas.
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Buy Fairy, Texas
Amazon (Kindle): http://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Texas-Margo-Bond-Collins-ebook/dp/B00I7BTMJ4/
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Buy Waking Up Dead
Kindle from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Waking-Dead-Margo-Bond-Collins-ebook/dp/B00HKQQRJA/
Paperback from these booksellers:
Amazon:
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/waking-up-dead-margo-bond-collins/1117526839?ean=9781493750467
Books A Million: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Waking-Up-Dead/Margo-Bond-Collins/9781493750467?id=5868658257083
Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Waking-Up-Dead-Margo-Bond-Collins/9781493750467
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Connect with Margo
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/margobondcollins
Email: MargoBondCollins@gmail.com
Website: http://www.MargoBondCollins.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MargoBondCollin @MargoBondCollin
Google+: https://plus.google.com/116484555448104519902
Goodreads Author Page: http://www.goodreads.com/vampirarchy
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/MargoBondCollins
Facebook Novel Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Waking-Up-Dead/502076076537575
Newsletter: https://margobondcollins.com/newsletter/
Tumblr: http://vampirarchybooks.tumblr.com/
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/mbondcollins/
Manic Readers: http://www.manicreaders.com/MargoBondCollins/
Add Waking Up Dead to your Goodreads bookshelves: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18428064-waking-up-dead
Add Fairy, Texas to your Goodreads bookshelves: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19502285-fairy-texas
Add Legally Undead to your Goodreads bookshelves: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18366353-legally-undead
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The Tour
February 10 – Undying Love (Vampires)
http://ginger-read.blogspot.com
http://www.bookishthingsandmore.com
http://asouthernladysbookblog.blogspot.com
http://www.libraryattheendofuniverse.com/
http://smexyfabfour.blogspot.com
http://girlwithapenandadream.blogspot.com/
http://www.cgiovanniauthor.com
http://www.twistedbookjunkie.blogspot.com
February 11 – Changing Love (Shifters)
http://2bibliophiles.blogspot.com
http://www.bookishthingsandmore.com
http://twimom101bookblog.blogspot.com/
http://asouthernladysbookblog.blogspot.com
http://smexyfabfour.blogspot.com
http://girlwithapenandadream.blogspot.com/
February 12 – Rotten Love (Zombies)
http://ginger-read.blogspot.com
http://2bibliophiles.blogspot.com
http://www.bookishthingsandmore.com
http://twimom101bookblog.blogspot.com/
http://elfwitchlovesbooks.blogspot.com
http://www.cgiovanniauthor.com
http://melaniekarsak.blogspot.com
http://asouthernladysbookblog.blogspot.com
http://smexyfabfour.blogspot.com
http://psmartinez.blogspot.com/
February 13 – Haunting Love (Ghosts)
http://2bibliophiles.blogspot.com
http://twimom101bookblog.blogspot.com/
http://asouthernladysbookblog.blogspot.com
http://smexyfabfour.blogspot.com
http://www.helenboswell.com/the-blog.html
February 14 – Love Gone Wrong/Dark Love/Erotica
http://ginger-read.blogspot.com
http://asouthernladysbookblog.blogspot.com
Words, Words, Words 
Looking forward to reading your story! Sounds great! 😀
What a wonderful idea for a hop – I saw your email and my eyes lit right up and I had to see what was going on. Thank you so much for making me smile today 🙂