Welcome to Kerrelyn Sparks' guest blog!

Kerrelyn Sparks Unveils Secrets

Today, the sixth book of the Love at Stake series will release. My first secret to unveil: I never knew the series would last this long! It all started with a two-book contract, and the series could have died there if not for the support of wonderful readers. At that point, when we didn’t know if the series would last, it didn’t even have a name. It wasn’t until the fourth book that we decided to name the series. I brainstormed with my critique partners, and we came up with Love at Stake.
The book coming out today is titled Secret Life of a Vampire. Here’s another secret: I was so frantically busy writing this book and the next one since they’re releasing back-to-back, that I never stopped to think up titles for them. I was simply calling the first one “Jack’s book” and the second one “Phil and Vanda.” My editor, Erika Tsang, at HarperCollins came up with the titles during cover conference where the editors meet with people from the sales, marketing, publicity, and art departments. That’s when they decide on a final title, how to market and publicize the book, and what kind of cover to do for it. And so, “Jack’s book” became Secret Life of a Vampire, and “Phil and Vanda” became Forbidden Nights with a Vampire. Here’s another secret: Forbidden Nights with a Vampire was already on sale and getting preorders at Amazon before I was finished writing it! You can imagine how frantic I was to get it done! Why was I running late, you wonder? Hurricane Ike came through the Houston area, and we were without power!
Secret Life of a Vampire stars Jack, aka Giacomo di Venezia. Remember the recent news article about a vampire found in a mass grave in Venice? What great timing! Jack is from Venice, too! And Jack has a few secrets. Not only is he a vampire, but he’s the illegitimate son of the legendary lover, Giacomo Casanova. And his deepest secret? He doesn’t quite have the confidence that his father did! The book opens with Jack throwing a bachelor party for Ian MacPhie (the hero of All I Want for Christmas is a Vampire) at the Plaza hotel in New York City. After a few rounds of Blissky (synthetic blood mixed with whiskey), the male vamps become too loud and rowdy, and the cops are called. The vamps teleport away, leaving Jack behind to handle the mess. Enter beautiful young police officer, Lara Boucher, who sees spilled blood on the carpet and walls and thinks a terrible crime has been committed! She’s on to Jack and determined to figure out his secrets. Can she do it without losing her heart?
Last week, I was at a writers’ conference in New York City, and when I told my editor about it, she invited me over to the HarperCollins building for lunch. This time, the secret was on me. Once they had me in their clutches, they dragged me into their video studio, sat me down in front of a green screen, and told me to talk! You can see the video here
. They actually divulged their secret the day before I left home, so I was somewhat prepared. And they did feed me lunch! If you’d like to see the book video for Secret Life of a Vampire. And there’s another book video for Forbidden Nights with a Vampire . As you can see, it’s no secret that I love book trailers! I hope you enjoy them. And the books!! I’ll leave you now with one last secret. I’m currently working on the eighth book in the series, and it stars another one of those hunky Scottish vamps, Robby MacKay!
Happy reading!
Kerrelyn Sparks


Contest: One lucky commenter will win a copy of All I want for christmas is a Vampire. The winner will be drawn tomorrow, so please check back here if you are the lucky winner. You will have 7 days to contact me. Good luck, Danny

Reviews of Kerrelyn Sparks' books:

All I want for christmas is a Vampire

The undead next door