Tina Folsom's Interview and Giveaway open Internationally

United By Books would like to welcome Tina Folsom to the page today. Most of you will know Tina from her Scanguards Vampire Series, Venice Vampyr Novella Series, and her latest series Out Of Olympus series.

Q1)~ For those who don’t know you. Please tell us a little about yourself?

I’ve been writing romance since the fall of 2008. In 2010 I gave up my day job and started writing full time, and I haven’t looked back. It was the best decision I ever made. My husband and I live in San Francisco, but I’m originally from Germany. I immigrated to the US in 1999. Before that I had lived in London, England. I do miss Europe sometimes, but we go back as much as we can to visit family.

Q2)~ When did you first realize you wanted to become a writer?

Very early on in life, actually. I was about 13 and a big fan of Agatha Christie. I wanted to be just like her and write great mystery novels with quirky characters like Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really come up with any plots that hadn’t already been done.  In the 90s I tried my hand at screenwriting. I learned a lot from that, particularly how to plot a book and make it fast-paced. But getting a movie made is even more difficult than getting a book published, so in 2008 I re-discovered romance and have never looked back.

Q3)~ Do you have any interesting writing quirks or something you must have with you to start your writing process?

I need absolute quiet to write, no music, no chatter in the background. Finally, I have that: we just moved to a new apartment where I have my own office with a door I can shut. It’s heaven. I also stand a lot at a standing desk, but I do alternate between that and a really comfy recliner where I keep my wireless keyboard on my lap (and my feet up on an ottoman!). Can’t get better than that!

Q4)~ Please share some juicy details about the book or series you are featuring today.

How about a juicy excerpt of A Scent of Greek:

“Do you want to check on whether I put the cases in the right place?” Dio asked, a plan already forming in his mind.“Yes, let me make sure I can find them later.”He followed her into the storeroom and quietly closed the door behind them. He didn’t need an audience. As she walked between the aisles toward the far wall of the room,Dio admired the seductive sway of her hips and the elegant curve of her legs. He knew exactly what he wanted her to do with those long legs. They looked strong and well-toned, and he could fairly feel them wrapping around his hips as he thrust into her.

Despite the coolness in the room, a thin layer of perspiration built on Dio’s forehead and neck. His heart raced and pumped blood to his cock in anticipation of what his brain was planning.

Ariadne stopped in front of the cases and perused them.Dio approached from behind and placed one hand to the side of her shoulder, touching the box behind her. “Did I do all right?” He purposefully lowered his voice, allowing it to sound more seductive than he’d ever spoken to her.

“Y-yes. It’s fine.” Her voice stuttered slightly, attesting to the fact that she was aware of his nearness and maybe even his intention.

“Tell me, baby, have we ever kissed in here?” He placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him.

“N-no.” Her eyes were downcast as if she couldn’t meet his gaze, too afraid of what she’d see: the lust that was boiling over.

He shelved her chin on his palm and tilted her face up.“Why not?”

“We … we … I don’t know.” Her eyes skidded past him as if searching for an escape. There would be none.

“We’ll have to remedy that.” Without haste, he dropped his head to hers. “We do kiss, don’t we?”

“Y-yes.”

He felt a surge of power at her answer. “Good. Because I have the feeling that I like kissing you. And I’m a little starved for a kiss right now.” Then he crossed the remaining distance between them and brushed his lips to hers in a feather-light touch.

Her breath hitched at the contact, confirming that she was physically attracted to him. He would use this knowledge to free her from the stupid notion of practicing abstinence. In a few minutes, he’d have her panting for release.

Dio slid his hand to the back of her neck and slanted his head, sliding his lips over hers once more. His thigh brushed against her hip, the contact sending a flame of white heat through his groin. Of its own volition, his other thigh nudged between her legs to press against her center.

A sigh escaped her mouth and bounced against his lips. He parted his lips to drink in her scent before pulling her upper lip into his mouth. Slowly, he slid his tongue over the soft flesh and felt her tremble in response.

“Easy, baby,” he cooed and repeated his action.

When Ariadne parted her lips a moment later to take in a breath, Dio pressed his lips against her and allowed his tongue to glide into her. First slowly and with measured strokes, he explored her sweet cavern, tasting, touching, and caressing. An involuntary groan burst from his chest. By the gods, he enjoyed kissing her even more than he thought was humanly possible. As he pressed her against the cases at her back, he intensified his kiss and let all ideas of a slow seduction fly into the wind.

Instead, he captured her, allowing her no reprieve, and issued his demand. With determined strokes, he slid against her tongue, initiating a passionate dance, one she answered without hesitation. This wasn’t the kiss of a woman who didn’t know carnal pleasures. The kiss she shared with him was passionate and all-consuming, and the sounds coming from her body, the soft moans and sighs issued from her chest, were not those of a shy virgin.

Dio ground his hips into her, letting one hand travel down her torso. As he caressed the outside of her breast with his thumb, Ariadne’s arms went around his neck, one hand burying itself in his hair. He relished the feeling of her fingers digging into his scalp to hold him closer to her.

Encouraged by her reaction, he moved his hand over her breast, feeling the outline of her bra. The heat under his palm burned into his skin, but he needed more. Before she had a chance to stop him, had she intended to, he pulled her blouse out of the waistband of her skirt and tunneled underneath it. His fingertips met naked skin, soft and warm.

He moved his hand upwards, connecting with the underwire of her bra before he slid over the gauzy fabric and found the hard peak that had formed there. When his fingers brushed over it, a strangled moan issued from her lips together with a protest. “Stop.”

But the word was so soft and accompanied by a thrust of her hips against his that he couldn’t take the demand seriously. He could already smell her arousal, the sweet scent drifting into his nostrils, turning his entire body into a single-minded machine wanting only one thing: release.  

“Shh, baby,” he whispered against her lips, briefly interrupting the kiss. But a moment later, he was back, taking her lips more fiercely so she wouldn’t be able to think of resistance.

His hand slid under the fabric of her bra and captured the ripe peak. Her flesh was firm and warm and more responsive than he’d dreamed. As he kneaded the globe that fit his hand perfectly, his cock turned into a rod so hard it could have been used as a crowbar. The charges of heat and energy racing through his body made his skin perspire and his heart beat in a frantic rhythm. His breathing was as labored as if he’d been running a Marathon, but he couldn’t let that deter him from his goal. He had to have Ariadne, now, here. No matter what. Standing up, pressed against cases of wine, he’d fuck her until she admitted freely that abstinence had been a silly idea. And then he’d take her home and make love to her properly like a fiancé should.

Dio ripped his mouth from hers at the same time as he gripped the bottom of her blouse and pushed it upwards, exposing one breast. Then he pushed the bra aside, freeing one beautiful tit and dropping his lips to it. Capturing the hard nipple in his mouth, he sucked it.

Ariadne’s head dropped against the cases as she let out a surprised gasp. But he wasn’t about to give her a chance to pull back. As he sucked greedily and teased the nipple with his tongue, his hand went to her thigh. He found the seam of her swinging summer skirt and slid underneath it, moving his hand upwards toward the ultimate prize.

She wore no pantyhose, leaving her thighs bare to his touch. He caressed the soft skin and moved inwards, sliding his hand between her legs, which she so obligingly parted wider. When his fingers connected with her panties, he realized that they were already soaked.

Her nipple popped out of his mouth. “Oh, baby!” Did she want him as much as he wanted her? Dio sucked her breast back into his mouth and slid one finger along the outside of her panties. The heat that greeted him was almost unbearable in its intensity. Once he buried his cock in her, he’d flare up like a single sheet of paper carelessly thrown into the fire, burning out just as quickly.

But not even that knowledge could make him slow down. He was past the moment of no-return, unable to control his urges any longer. Nothing could stop him from makingAriadne his now. Her response to him was unmistakable: she was aroused by his touch and wanted more. He wasn’t going to deny her, and he for sure wasn’t going to deny himself.

Dio pushed her panties lower and slid into them, passing the nest of curls until he felt the warmth and wetness that oozed from her core. His finger rubbed against her moist entrance, then pulled further up to find her clit. He pressed against it with his dew-covered digit and heard her moan. In a few minutes, he’d breach her delicious portal and slide home.

Q5)~ What made you choose the Greek route for this series?

I love Greek mythology. If people really look, they’ll see it’s all around us. Many books and movies are based on Greek mythology. But when I tried to find some Greek God romances, I only found a handful of books, and most weren’t particularly good. So, I decided to write my own. I have a couple of Greek mythology books and looked through them to find a Greek god who wasn’t that well known to the modern world, so that I wouldn’t get all those purists telling me, well, Triton didn’t do that, and he didn’t do this, etc. I wanted some freedom in what kind of story I could spin around him. Sophia was a natural choice, strong yet vulnerable because of her blindness.

For the second book I chose Dionysus, the god of wine and ecstasy, and this time he’s the vulnerable one, because he loses his memory (thanks to his meddling stepmother Hera!), and doesn’t know he’s a god. It teaches him humility.

Q6)~ Was there a character you enjoyed writing the most?

In my Out of Olympus series, it’s definitely Dionysus. He’s the epitome of a bad boy, and those are just the most fun guys to write. Also, he’s a total hunk, and a bit full of himself. I really enjoyed taking him down a notch. You’ll see.

Q7)~ What can readers expect next from you?

My latest book, Zane’s Redemption, which is book #5 in theScanguards Vampires series, will be out around November 5th – 10th. It’s about a hard-ass vampire bodyguard who has a troubled past. I’ve brought you the blurb for it:

The last thing vampire bodyguard Zane wants to do is to guard a hybrid, a half-vampire, half-human, whose fatherwants to keep her a virgin. Known for his violent temper and callous lack of compassion, Zane’s out-of-control rage, born of the cruelty he suffered during the Holocaust, drives him tofocus only on revenge. Trying to find the last of his torturers is his only goal in life.

Portia is a young hybrid with a serious dilemma: in a few weeks, her body will be set in its final vampire form. If she is to avoid having to live out her immortal life as a virgin, she must find a lover in that short time—something her father hires Zane to prevent.

The moment Portia and Zane meet, rules begin to bend, and a forbidden attraction bursts into flames hotter than the hell of Zane’s past. But that past threatens to pull them apart unless they can overcome their prejudice, forsake hate for love, and revenge for forgiveness.

There’ll be also more books in the Out of Olympus series, with Hermes’ book most likely being the next. I also need to get back to the Venice Vampyr series and write another book for it. 2012 is going to be a busy year again.

Tina, it was a pleasure having you take time out of your busy day to answer some questions. Is there anything else you would like to tell your readers?

Leave a comment on this post and are and old or new follower on my facebook page and twitter you will be entered in a autographed paperback of Scent of Greek. This giveaway will be open Internationally so all can enter. 

Thanks to United By Books for having me on their page for the day. 

 On behalf of United By Books thank you once again for stopping by and having fun with us....I would love to have you back again sometime.

So to enter Tina's giveaway for a Signed copy of Scent of Greek you must:

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Giveaway is open from 11/7- 11/12 winner picked sunday 11/13

Also if you would like a intro to the Out of Olympus Series Tina's first book A Touch of Greek is now free for kindle:

Touch of Greek Kindle Edition