Welcome to my stop on the FMB Blog Tour for If Wishes Were Shadows. I have a “20 Questions” about the main character, Calinda!

Title: If Wishes Were Shadows

Series: The Shadows Series, #1

Author: A. Sangrey Black

Genre: Paranormal, Erotica, Menage (m/m/f), BDSM, Vampire,

Publisher: Cobblestone Press

Ebook

Words: Approx. 14,000

Purchase: Cobblestone Press |

Book Description:

Calinda Byer is all assertiveness in her daytime life, but when it comes to the bedroom, she leaves her will at the door with her clothes. Her vampire Dom, Adam Straton, refuses to turn her until she has witnessed the darker side of immortality and the true depths of his sexuality — including his male vampire lover.  A weekend at his country estate promises dark, twisted delights the likes of which Calinda could never have imagined. All she has to do is use the safe word, and she can return to the “normal” world alone. But will she?

Guest Post:

Twenty Questions with Calinda Byer from IF WISHES WERE SHADOWS, an interview with the author, A. Sangrey Black

Hi, Calinda! Thanks for getting together with me again to tell these readers more about yourself.

No problem, Sangrey. I actually love doing these things… especially when the boys aren’t around. They make everything so complicated!

Ain’t that always the way, kinky vampire or no?

You better believe it! So what would you like to know? Or rather, have me share with the audience? *she waves to readers*

1. If you had a free day with no responsibilities and your only mission was to enjoy yourself, what would you do? It depends on where we are, I guess. Some places I might ski, others see the sights. Of course, I think the universal is shopping. If the city we’re in has night shopping or really short sunlight during the day, I’m in the shops. That hasn’t changed since… well, since ‘before.’

2. What impression do you make on people when they first meet you? How about after they’ve known you for a while? I’m very aware of the image I project — it’s the basis of my business, after all, teaching people to be self-aware and assertive, to make things happen in their life with the power of their own personality. Adam and other people I know agree with my own assessment: I’m very sure of myself when I deal with other people, whether I know them or not. I’m good at reading the situation I’m in and changing my behavior accordingly. I always try to be open and friendly. It’s easier to take a moment to adjust if you need to that way.

After a while, people on the outside of my relationship with the vampires don’t see much change. I am who I am. I like people. Only my men know that there’s a different side of me. Someone who likes to let go of control. Who likes the darker side of sensuality, of sex. I like to explore the limits of my body and what I can take. What Adam and George William can do to me. I like to fly, that special high I get when I let go as a submissive. I think people who know me in the outside world would be pretty shocked at that.

3. What’s your idea of a good marriage? Do you think that’ll happen in your life? The ties I have with Adam and George William go far beyond the human idea of marriage. There is no divorce among our kind. We might separate and go our separate ways at times, but in the end, the blood always calls you back. Honestly, I can’t ever imagine being away from them. But what makes us work is balance. Adam keeps that balance with his control over us, especially in the bedroom. But at the same time, he lets us be ourselves in the world, do what we want to do, as long as we don’t put ourselves or one another in danger.

I consider myself more than lucky to have met Adam, and gained this amazing family as a result. I don’t know that I ever would have settled down in any way otherwise. I was never satisfied with any of the people I had long-term relationships with. I imagine that was because none of them knew how to draw the true sub out of me because of the person they met in the world.

4. What are you most proud of about your life? Exploring the side of myself that scared me the most: the desire to give up the control I thought I needed to survive. My love of pain and pushing my body to the limit, and learning that love and lust and sex don’t have to be sweet hearts and flowers to be true. As long as I am in a situation I want to be in, everything is permissible. It’s become even more fantastic since… *laughs* I can’t really say, or I’ll spoil the story! Suffice to say that I’m proud I let myself be fully with Adam and George William, and experience all the things I want to, without shame.

5. What are you most ashamed of in your life? I’m not. Shame is a waste of time. You do what you do, you live with the consequences, you move on. Regret doesn’t change anything, so why do it?

6. If you could spend the day with someone you admire (living or dead or imaginary), who would you pick? Adele. I just love her, she’s so charming and funny and down to earth! There’s a certain young adult vampire author I might want to smack just to say, “What were you thinking, making little girls want this, especially when you clearly have no idea what it really means?” Seriously, teens? Don’t try vampirehood at home. They don’t sparkle, and they DO have fangs.

7. Do you think you’ve turned out the way your parents expected? *laughs so hard she can’t answer* Um, no. Not in any way. Except maybe the suit I wear when I give my business seminars. They wanted me to be a lawyer. Go into politics or something. Honestly, I didn’t pay much attention. I knew at a young age that I was hatched from an egg that really didn’t belong in that nest.

8. What do you believe about God? I’m sort of an agnostic, I guess. If there’s a creator, I don’t think he/she/it is anything or anyone our teeny human brains could possibly conceive of, let alone understand or know what they want. I doubt they give much thought about the day to day workings of our world, to tell you the truth. I don’t buy that whole ‘vampires are damned’ thing which even a lot of vampires believe — I think we’re just part of nature that not a lot of people know about or understand. Which is probably for the best, since humans don’t like knowing they’re not at the top of the food chain.

9. Is there anything you’ve always wanted to do but haven’t done? What would happen if you did it? Swimming in the Great Barrier Reef. I never got a chance to do it before, and I’m not sure how it would work now. It’s something Adam and I are talking about. We do have perfect night vision, we won’t freeze, so… I think the only question would be one of logistics. And since we don’t really worry much about getting around those: between vampire powers and money, there aren’t a lot of doors closed to us. I think it would be one of the greatest experiences of my life. I love adventure, and that’s got to be one of the most miraculous, seeing that great universe beneath the sea?

10. What’s the worst thing that’s happened in your life? What did you learn from it? There was a time when I was trying to get my business off the ground, I got dumped by another guy who decided I was ‘too wacked out’ in bed, I had no money, my car got repossessed, my parents died in an accident… seriously, it was one of those stories where absolutely everything that could go wrong did. I had no idea how I was even going to get out of bed in the morning, let alone put my life back together.

What I learned is if you just put your head down and push forward, keep reaching for what you want, you will get somewhere. Hopefully where you were meant to be, if not exactly where you planned.

11. Tell me about your best friend. (If you think it might be interesting, ask “How did you meet? What do you like about this person? What do they like about you?”) Adam and George William are my closest friends. Between them, there’s nothing I can’t discuss, face, or deal with. I do still have a few ‘outside’ friends, but there is so much about my life now that they just can’t/wouldn’t understand, that it’s made our relationships less rich and honest.

12. What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done to someone? Why? Oh, that’s, um… that’s a bit personal, I’m afraid. As a new vampire, your control can be a little loose… I’d rather not talk about it. I’m sure Adam would prefer I didn’t talk about it either.

13. What would you like it to say on your tombstone? ‘She experienced everything and more.’ I’m an adrenaline rush junkie — I don’t want to miss anything. Of course, it’s entirely possible I’ll never actually have a tombstone, so who knows? I’ll keep experiencing the world forever.

14. Describe your ideal mate. Adam. With a dash of George William — he’s like the cherry on top of my Sunday. I would have been so blissfully happy just with Adam, but… I can’t describe that little extra in words. How wonderful we all are together, even when we’re in conflict.

15. What are you most afraid of? Something happening to the boys.

16. What’s the most important thing in your life? What do you value most? These get sort of repetitive. My boys, then my business. Also never write off my dogs and cats! I adore my pets.

17. What do you like best about yourself? Least? I’m stubborn — Adam calls me tenacious. I never give up once I decide on something. I knew what Adam was, I knew there was probably good reasons not to pursue him, but I did anyway. I did whatever had to be done to be with him… thankfully, I love it all.

18. What do you like best about Adam? Least? Oh, wow, there is so much to love. He’s brilliant, wise, funny, sexy, dominant (of course), worldly, badass… did I say sexy already? Add a little hot, too. He’s loving, although you would never know it by his outer demeanor. What I like least? He can be really rigid. I mean, I may be ‘tenacious,’ but he’ll just say ‘NO’ on something, and there is literally no moving him. His ideas about things also change at a glacial pace, if they change at all. That’s why George William and I have to work around him sometimes.

19. How do you feel about your life right now? What, if anything, would you like to change? I adore my life right now. There isn’t a thing I would change about it. Exploring the world at night, getting to know my body, my sexuality in ways I never imagined, still having success in my business, and best of all, working on my family, being with my family through it all.

20. Are you lying to yourself about something? What is it? That this can last forever. Nothing does, even I know that. I just try not to think about how the other shoe might drop.

Well, thanks, Calinda. It’s always great sitting down with you. I look forward to hearing the next adventure from your universe.

Yes, me too. Adam and I are hoping you’ll tell the story of how we met. That’s a great one!

(Questions originally created by Laurie Campbell – http://www.booklaurie.com/tips_interview.php)

GIVEAWAY:

This giveaway is for an eBook copy of If Wishes Were Shadows by A. Sangrey Black + any eBook copy by H.A. Fowler, 1 $10 Gift Certificate from All Romance Ebooks + 1 eBook copy of If Wishes Were Shadows by A. Sangrey Black and Grand Prize: 1 “Naughty” Toys kit + 1 eBook copy of If Wishes Were Shadows by A. Sangrey Black – US Only. Ends Jan. 30th. Please use the Rafflecopter HTML below or the tour schedule link as the giveaway is there also.

If Wishes Were Shadows Giveaway

Tour Schedule Link

About the Author:

Alexia enjoys the darker side of entertainment, including literature from the classic gothic style to the modern horror novel, erotica and romance that walks in the shadows off the beaten path. She loves horror movies both psychological and gory, and nurses a fascination for and dedication to the rights and practices of alternative lifestyles. What two or more adults do in the privacy of their dungeon is her… rather THEIR business. Vampires are her great fictional (or are they?) love, but all things that hunt the night, human or otherwise, forever capture her imagination and demand that she tell their stories. A denizen of the Adirondack Mountains of New York, there are plenty of legends, ghost stories, and creepy happenings in the deep forests and abandoned caves to keep her writing for the rest of her life.

A. Sangrey Black also writes more mainstream paranormal romance and urban fantasy as H.A. Fowler. She loves to hear from readers of both styles, so feel free to drop her a line or visit her blog or Facebook.

Blog: Shadowed Hearts | Author Facebook | Facebook Page for IF WISHES WERE SHADOWS | Twitter: @ASangreyBlack |