Tuesday, November 26, 2013



Happy Tuesday! Today we welcome Susannah Sandlin, author of the Penton Legacy to the blog.  Susannah Sandlin is the author of paranormal romance set in the Deep South, where there are always things that go bump in the night. A journalist by day, Susannah grew up in Alabama reading the gothic novels of Susan Howatch and the horror fantasy of Stephen King. (Um…it is fantasy, right?) The combination of Howatch and King probably explains a lot. Currently a resident of Auburn, Alabama, Susannah has also lived in Illinois, Texas, California, and Louisiana.

Today, Susannah shares a little with us on how the Penton Legacy came about and what projects she will be working on next!  For more about Susannah, or to connect, check her out in the following places:



Author Interview:
 
1. What inspired you to write the Penton Legacy?

It’s kind of a boring writerly answer, I guess. I wanted to try my hand at writing paranormal romance (as opposed to my initial genre, urban fantasy), a vampire novel (because I find them incredibly sexy), and writing from multiple points of view. I’d come up with the idea of the vampire world being turned into chaos when human blood turns poisonous to them following a widespread pandemic vaccine, so that was what spurred me to write the first book, Redemption. Along the way, I fell in love with the characters in Penton and knew I wanted to see where all the conflict led.

2. How did you come up with the title of the series?

When I first began working on the series, the town the vampires lived in was the fictional Stockholm, Alabama, mostly because the first book touches on Stockholm Syndrome, and how we really know if what we’re feeling is real. But having the town with that name seemed over-the-top, so I took an afternoon drive through Chambers County, Alabama, where the fictional Stockholm was located, and ran across the community of Penton and the town of LaFayette—I sort of mashed those two places up, and threw in a few spots from my own hometown, and came up with my reimagined Penton. Which is a REALLY long way of saying the town is the spot around which the action takes place, so it made sense to name the series after the town.

3. I really enjoyed the character of Cage in Omega. Will he eventually get his own story?

Definitely! I love Cage too, so I’m happy to say that book four in the series, Allegiance, is Cage’s story. There’s a lot about his past we don’t find out in Omega, and we don’t really know what his feelings are for a certain woman he gets involved with in Omega. So all that will become clear. Allegiance will be out in late spring or early summer 2014.

4. The ending to the Penton Legacy series has resulted in a spin-off series called Omega Force. Can you tell us a little about what we can expect from the new series?

Originally, the plan was to take Penton and segue it into the Omega Force series, which is about a combined human-paranormal special ops team investigating domestic terrorism cases in the U.S. Storm Force was the first in that series, but really didn’t tie in with the Penton story.

When I finished Omega, however, I realized there were still stories I wanted to tell in the Penton universe—Cage’s story, for example, and how the fight between the Penton vampires and the Tribunal play out. So in Allegiance, I take two of the Storm Force characters, Robin Ashton the eagle shape-shifter and Nik Dimitrou, the human Army Ranger with psychic abilities, and bring them to Penton.

Whether there will be future Omega Force books apart from Penton or the two series will essentially be combined is something that hasn’t yet been decided. There’s definitely more of Penton that needs telling, especially after the events of Allegiance!

5.  If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

Well, I usually think of a “mentor” as someone who gives you hands-on guidance, and going by that definition, I’d say an Alabama writer named Larry Williamson. When I met Larry, I’d just begun writing my first novel, an urban fantasy that was eventually released as Royal Street, the first of my Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series (written as Suzanne Johnson). I didn’t know how to craft a story, how to format a manuscript, or how one went about submitting a manuscript. He taught me those things, and invited me to become a part of a local writing group. Without their encouragement and guidance, I’m not sure I’d ever have had the nerve to submit, and for that Larry will always be special to me.

6.  What book(s) are you reading now?

I’m reading a book about deep-water salvage diving, which is research for my upcomqing Collectors series that kicks off Dec. 24 with Lovely, Dark, and Deep. The series is about a group of ruthless collectors who have an international game to see who can be first to collect priceless lost treasures. In this first book, a marine biologist and a washed-up salvage diver get caught up in the race to recover the fabled ruby cross of the Knights Templar. So I’ve been reading about knights and deep-water marine archaeology and the shipwreck history of Nova Scotia—an interesting combination! Since I’m actively writing right now, I’m avoiding any type of fiction lest something inadvertently rub off.

There you have it from Susannah Sandlin herself.....we're getting another Penton book Whoo Hoo!  I'm so excited about getting Cage's story and looking forward to reading that one next spring!

Check out our reviews of The Penton Legacy series!

Redemption
Absolution
Omega

*** 
Haven't read the series yet? Need to own it for your own collection? Guess what.....Susannah's giving away a copy! Leave us a comment explaining who your favorite vampire is and why, and Susannah will provide you with a copy of one of the books from the Penton Legacy series!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


 

27 comments :

  1. My favorite vampire is Mirren Kincaid from Absolution.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I liked Mirren too! He was my favorite Penton Vampire. ~ Nettie

      Delete
    2. LOL, Roger. You like Mirren only because I killed off Lucy, right? But you're going to love seeing Mirren interact with your favorite shape-shifter, Robin the eagle.

      Delete
  2. From other author i love bones ( night huntress series) from yours it's hard to decide between Mirren and Will^^ ( they won't like this answer but i'm being honest both have different qualities)

    ^^ Thank you for making us learn something more each time^^ ( yes even approximative a date for Allegiant is a bonus and knowing there should be more ^^ YES!!) and Happy Thanksgiving!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ohhh I really like Bones too. Though it's been a while since I read a Night Huntress book. I was very pleased with Susannah's response about Cage's story. He sort of stole the show for me in Omega.

      Delete
    2. I'm pretty fond of Bones myself! Mirren and Will wouldn't admit it, but they're actually pretty fond of each other. And Nettie, Cage almost stole the show for me, too. I'm really excited to get his book out there! I don't have a release date yet. I've heard May and I've heard July, so I'm not sure yet. Should know soon; I turned in final edits today!

      Delete
  3. My favorite vampire from the Penton books is Aidan because he would do anything to protect the others. My all time favorite vampire would have to be Acheron from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Styxx series because of everything he's been through, He's tough but fair, scary but sweet, and an all around good guy. Thanks for sharing the wonderful interview and the giveaway. Happy Thanksgiving. evamillien at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aidan was cool but he didn't oooze sex appeal to me. I still enjoyed his story and felt it was a good introduction to the series.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Eva! Aidan had a sort of back-seat role in Absolution and Omega, but in the new one coming out next year, he's forced to step outside his comfort zone and be the tough guy. I haven't read the Styxx series, but have heard great things about it!

      Delete
    3. I love Acheron but he is a God not a vampire and Styxx is a book. The actual series is The Dark-Hunters. :-)

      Delete
  4. There are so many that I love for different reasons. One of my favorites will always be Spike from Buffy though. He was just so much fun and snarky. He also had a heart even though he technically didnt have a soul at the time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Spike was crazy cool and I loved his smart mouth! I miss that show.....oh well I think that I might be showing my age. He he

      Delete
    2. I was thinking Spike as well! I loved his snark and Brit humor, but I fell in love with him when he fell in love with Buffy.

      Delete
    3. Yikes. I think I'm the only person on earth who's never seen a single episode of Buffy. How did I let that happen? :-)

      Delete
    4. OMG you have to do something about that! Though Spike doesn't show up immediately.

      Delete
  5. Two of my favorite vampires are Jean Claude from Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake series and Acheron from Sherrilyn Kenyon's Dark Hunter series. I have not yet read the Penton Legacy series, but it is definitely on my TBR list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't read any of the Laurell K. Hamilton series! Is it good?

      Delete
  6. my favorite vampires will be Bones (Night huntress series) and Edward cullen :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love me some Bones too! Oh and Celie will most likely come looking for you because Edward is her dude! ~ Nettie

      Delete
  7. Spike from Buffy is my favorite vampire. I liked his flamboyant and witty character and his dedication to the woman in his life at the time.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My favorite vampire is Cherie Priest's Raylene Pendle because she's sarcastic, irreverent, badass when she needs to be, but has a soft heart she tries to hide without much success.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I haven't heard of this character. I'll have to look it up!

      Delete
  9. Zsadist from the BDB series because he's strong

    ReplyDelete
  10. Mirren is my favorite Penton Vampire, I just loved him so much. Wrath from BDB is another favorite of mine. I have soft spot for the sexy blind king.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wrath is also my favorite from the BDB! ~ Nettie

      Delete

18+ Disclaimer

We love to Chit Chat with all Chickies/Dudes, but we cater to an audience of 18+. Rather than corrupt young minds we ask those under the age of 18 to leave. Otherwise feel free to get down and dirty with the Thick Chicks!

Take the Challenge!

2016 Reading Challenge

2016 Reading Challenge
Diaries of 2 Thick Chicks has read 20 books toward her goal of 230 books.
hide

Stalk Us!

2 Thick Chicks Ratings

2 Thick Chicks Ratings