Guest Author Day with Robin Badillo/Contest

CONTEST: Open till October 2nd, 2010. Comment to win a promo goodie bag. Please leave your email address along with your comment.

To get us started can you tell us a little about what you are working on or have coming out?

At the moment, I am doing my best to get back into the habit of writing new stuff. It’s very hard to do when I am so excited about the release of my debut novel, Journey of the Damned: Retribution. It’s the first in a trilogy, chronicling the life of a new vampire on her journey to adjust to becoming another species, falling in love and surviving the evils that lurk in the shadows of the vampire world.

What makes a book great in your eyes?

In my eyes, a good book is one that will bring you to tears on one page, burst out laughing on the next and makes you wish the people in the doctor’s office waiting room, staring at you like you’ve lost your mind, could only read it, too.

Do you have any guilty pleasures?

I do have a guilty pleasure… ice cream. And, if you promise not to tell anyone, another newly acquired guilty pleasure would be stealing a few moments every once in a while to “research” some of the erotica romances available over at eXtasybooks. I don’t write in that genre but I’d be lying if I said I wasn't… ahem… curious.

Name one thing readers would be surprised to know about you.

Readers would be surprised to know a couple of things about me. Number one, I don’t know how to type very well and the other is that I’m not a very strong reader. My kids can read in one day what would take me two or three days to finish. I was never diagnosed with any learning disabilities, but I certainly relate to people who struggle with reading. Sometimes, I have to read something twice before it sinks in.

If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

That’s a tough question. I love the weather in Colorado. I’ve been there in summer and winter and loved both seasons. So, if there were a perfect place for me to live, it would be in a cabin somewhere on a remote mountain.

What authors are on your virtual or literal keeper shelf?

I have a collection of authors on my book shelf as well as my laptop e-books. They range from Jane Austin and Sara Gruen to Stephanie Meyers and P.C. Cast. The subjects include everything from sparkling vampires to circus elephants. It’s not about the authors in most cases, but about the stories they tell.

If someone hasn't read any of your work, what book would you recommend that they start with and why?

Well since readers only have one choice until the second installment is released in December, Retribution is what they get and hopefully, they enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it and return in time for Christmas to get book two.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?

I haven’t gotten there quiet yet. I suppose when I see my book on the website available for download, then again, maybe after that first payday even if it’s only ten bucks. (smile)

What inspired you to write your first book?

My very first book was hand written and sort of therapy for a tough time in my life; it’s in a drawer in my nightstand where it will probably stay. As for what has inspired me ever since, well I guess I’m just still looking for that perfect romance, that untainted love, that happily ever after and when I write it myself, I decide how it ends. I know, hopeless romantic. Sigh!

Do you have a specific writing style?

Writing style? I don’t think I have a style yet, if I do, I don’t have a clue what it would be. I’ve taken some of those writing sample tests you find on those novelty websites and it said I write either like Jane Austin or like Edgar Alan Poe. Maybe I will just give it a few years and wait to hear what the readers think.

How did you come up with the title?

The Retribution title was based on the gist of the story… payback. Journey of the Damned was the best way I could picture describing a trilogy about vampires. It didn’t come to me in a dream or fortune cookie or anything like that, just me trying to be practical.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

If there is any message I want to convey in anything I write, it’s that woman are resilient. I write with my daughters in mind, and if they were going to relate to any character in a book, I’d prefer it be a positive, strong, independent woman who knows how women should be treated and don’t settle for anything less than their very own knight in shining armor, or their own Demetri Bastian in the case of Retribution.

How much of the book is realistic?

Absolutely every word. NOT! It’s a paranormal romance, and as much as I would love to have my very own sexy, twenty-something, vampire lover, if he exists, he only visits me in my imagination. However, if he is out there… call me!!

Where can readers find you on the web?

I can be found everywhere, like a bad penny although I’m not sure that’s a good analogy.

www.devinedestinies.com

www.robinbadillo.com

www.robinbadillo.blogspot.com

www.facebook.com/robin.badillo

Excerpt of Retribution:

Buy at Devine Destinies

Waking up in a strange place with no memory is hard enough; but when you unknowingly wake as a vampire with an insatiable desire to drain a stray cat of it’s life’s blood -- then you can bet that you’re about to take a journey down a very bumpy road.

Sydney Chance finds herself a stranger to her new life as well as the one she left behind. On a reluctant mission to uncover her past, Sydney’s struggle with bloodlust is magnified when all of her senses draw her to a brooding and intriguing vampire named Demetri Bastian, who seems more intent on fighting her at every turn as he keeps her at arms length while trying to protect and control.

To make matters worse, a sadistic ancient vampire, who makes it his hobby to collect beautiful young women and keep them pets, has his fangs set on Sydney.

Not knowing her own name takes a back seat to the drama that unfolds all around her as she seeks revenge on the vampire who created her, sending her on a suspenseful trail of love, lies, betrayals, twists and turns that could quite possibly destroy her, immortal or not.

Who says what you don’t know can’t hurt you?