Interview with Author GINA DANNA!

Once upon a time, this vampire ran into this pirate….

Ah, the love of pirates! Okay, of Captain Jack Sparrow…The Pirates of the Caribbean holds the attraction of many fans across the world. And vampires…the following of The Vampire Diaries and True Blood still continues to this day. But what if these worlds collided?

Three years ago, I began my historical romance novel about a pirate in the West Indies (Caribbean) and set it during one of the eras I love to read about – Regency (c. 1800). But the story needed a twist, a different approach. I liked the above vampire stories and many more so why not make my hero Alexander, not only a pirate captain but also a vampire pirate?

The make that one elementary change plunged the tale into a new sphere. Sailors of that era and before and even later, believed the seas were home to many monsters and evil spots that lay waiting to devour them and their ships. The kraken was one of the well-known creatures, known to seep up and take everything down into the inky depths of the sea. Mermaids were sirens, also leading men to the deaths. In the Caribbean, voodoo was born during the European occupation as a way to strike fear into the white oppressors. Plus the tales of vampiric creatures prevailed in Europe for centuries since the Black Death. Therefore, why not make the superstitious sailors of the sea, who feared these evils along with the scourge of the seas, pirates, come to face their own evil – a vampire pirate?

Her Eternal Rogue is a historical fiction steeped in romance of Alexander and Lavinia, based on historic research of pirates and vampires in the structure of Regency England. Step into the depths of the period in the West Indies where Alexander ruled the seas as the infamous pirate, Captain Sword, his rescue of Lady Lavinia and their return to her home in London in a tale of the unexpected!

Her Eternal Rogue –

Excerpt:

Alexander sat at the table and finished another glass of rum, mentally assessing the damage to his ship. And his unwanted guest. Though attempting to drown himself in three-fourths of a bottle of rum, he wasn’t nearly inebriated enough to dampen his growing desire for her.

Ian sat across the table from him, staring. Alexander knew the Scotsman too well to believe he’d stay silent much longer.

“So,” the Scotsman began. “When will ye tell the lassie she’s gonnae home?”

Alexander looked at him hard and poured himself another glass. “I’ll not be goin’ close to any British port with a damaged ship...”

“Ach, I see,” the Scotsman speculated. “So, you thinkin’ about keepin’ her fer yerself, then?”

“No,” Alexander answered too quickly, downing a gulp. An absurd thought, he knew, but so tempting.

“Well,” Ian continued. “Wi’ her stayin’ here, that’ll leave many tae believe we’re cursed wi’ a woman onboard and no charges lifted.”

Alexander laughed. Cursed by having a woman onboard? He’d tell them about curses…

“Fine, put her in the aft cabin till we’re through with…”

“Capt’n, ye cannae be placin’ her there,” Ian scolded, sounding like a father reprimanding his son. “Be pirates on this ship, sair, and puttin’ her there is more or less tellin’ the boys she’s fer sharin’.”

            “What would you have me do?” Alexander barked. When Ian didn’t respond, Alexander downed another gulp. “Keep her where she is?”

“Aye.”

“Fine, then I’ll sleep in the aft cabin.”

“Capt’n,” Ian said quietly. “Ye cannae be doin’ that either.”

            Alexander glared at the glass in front of him. Damn, the man was right. Pirate ships had no assigned quarters. Sleeping areas were open to all. But on The Lily, Alexander’s curse and the pirates’ fear of it, enabled him to claim the larger cabin exclusively. But he was furious at having to house the English aristocrat there. Too far below her station when he’d lived in England, he would have been denied access to her but here… He shook his head. He and his crew had a reward for her safe return, and he had to remember that. Ah yes, the reward. A clean slate—for the moment. A few months with no law in pursuit, leaving them open to rob whomever they wanted. A laugh but one both sides held for the British navy remained heavily occupied across the ocean with the French, too busy to chase every pirate on the seas.

Sharing quarters with her, being so close to her, was too dangerous for them both. Her body was designed to entice any man to wanton desires. A temptation he couldn’t ignore since he’d kissed her the first time he saw her. Truly decadent on his part, but piracy did allow deviations to any plan. He’d wanted to kiss those ruby lips, to invade her mouth and, as he’d plunged his tongue into her, she’d tasted sweet, like strawberries and cream. Everything about her made him want to bury himself deep inside her. He downed another mouthful of rum. He feared if he was alone with her for too long, he’d lose all his control. He’d never love her. The idea of him ever loving a woman had been squashed that night years ago. But lust remained…

No, he thought, she had to go and soon.

Furious at the situation and how the rum had failed to diminish his desires, Alexander slammed his glass down and left the galley.

When he opened his cabin door, he readied himself for her demand that he release her. Prepared for her verbal assault, he sighed with relief when he saw Lavinia curled up tight in the wingback chair, asleep. She did not even move at the sound of the door. The moonlight gave her an angelic glow. So young and full of life. Asleep, her blond hair tumbling over her shoulders and her bare ankles and dainty feet bent partway beneath her. His cock twitched with longing. A fairy asleep in the devil’s den. There’d be no arguments, no demands nor screams of protest coming from her tonight. But he could make her scream in ecstasy. He closed his eyes, burying his thoughts.

The boat swayed slightly, and he stumbled. Leaning against the doorframe, he felt his tension drain. His eyes shut, and he allowed the rum to overtake him, sliding to the floor and into the arms of oblivion.

Amazon:  http://amzn.to/19NmEQ7

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iBook:  http://bit.ly/14HnLyL

Author Gina Danna