I sat down (virtually) with Sam Cheever for a short interview. Sam Cheever writes hot erotic romances and her latest release is Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic, a sexy Post-Apocalyptic Paranormal romance.
Cynthia Sax: How does Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic start?
Sam Cheever: Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic, as the title implies, is a post-apocalyptic romance. This story is actually based in the world of a previous story, which I hope to re-release under my own imprint in 2014. The twist of the first story was two mage hunters trying to find and stop a dark witch who was dabbling in powerful death magic to create a new kind of zombie…a near perfect human specimen. These zombies, called reborns in the book, are beautiful, smart, and dangerous because they allow the dark witch access to places a traditional zombie can’t go.
I carried that premise to a new level with TD&A. What if one of the zombies and one of the hunters fell in love? The idea has a set of built-in conflicts (see below) and the forbidden love aspect is a powerful aphrodisiac.
In the opening scene of the book, Yeira is badly injured and trying to escape as Audie hunts her. Here’s a little taste:
Yeira clawed her way across the floor, her limbs locking and clamping as horrific pain wracked her slim frame. A fresh blade of agony speared through her as she struggled to crawl just another sliver of space. The pain jolted her to a stop as she sucked in a breath, sending her into a coughing spasm. Blood sprayed the floor as she crawled. Her dazed, blue gaze stared down at the bright droplets arrayed before her over the oily rock and she knew a stark moment of pure fear.
What if she didn’t make it in time?
Beyond the thick, concrete walls of her hideaway, the sound of explosions and chaos were a constant drone, an unrelenting impetus pushing her ever forward.
With a monumental effort of will, Yeira gritted her teeth and dug her fingers into the gritty surface beneath them, dragging herself another inch.
She barely noticed the spark of pain as her soft, exposed belly was ripped open by shards of debris on the battle-ravaged floor. Her goal was a mere five inches away.
She thought she could make it.
She had to.
Yeira closed her eyes as agony washed through her again and lunged another inch. Her fingertips stretched…strained…mere inches from the leather strap.
The world beyond the door exploded and Yeira’s head snapped around. The blast had sounded close. Too close. Panic made her heart pound. “No!” Tears filled her eyes as something heavy hit the door. He’d found her.
With a cry of desperation, Yeira dug her toes into the concrete and shoved. The pain erupted in a burst that made her vision gray. She screamed as agony gripped her gut with icy needles, tearing and dislodging the ordered cells of her flesh.
Yeira fell onto her back, her fingers clenching against the torment. Warm, thick blood drenched her lips, dripping down her chin.
The door blasted inward, sending smoke and shrapnel through the room and driving the razor-sharp projectiles into her flesh.
On some level, Yeira felt the pain of the tiny missiles piercing her skin. But she was in the grip of a misery so complete that her mind could barely form a thought. All she could do was scream, her fingers closing convulsively around the thin strap of leather she’d been fighting to reach.
Yeira’s gaze slid to the large shape framed in the door. He was nothing more than a gray haze behind the smoke. A vision of massive male, whose form all but filled the ragged hole that had once been the door.
A fine vision.
Yeira shook her head, offended by the thought even in her tortured state. No! The man was there to kill her. She couldn’t lose sight…
The enormous figure shimmered and she realized he was moving closer. On some level Yeira knew she needed to move. But the pain had finally receded as her body gave out. It felt good not to be wracked with it. For just a moment she longed to lie there, enjoying the numbness, and let her life slip away.
Death. Her fingers moved along the leather strip in her hand. Oblivion would be bliss.
The sound of his footsteps across the littered floor was like a series of canon blasts, and she blinked under every one. His massive arms arched from his sides as he walked, the huge hands open, fingers gently curved. He held a long knife in one hand. Thick, muscular legs stuck out from underneath a bloody and tattered kilt, the burgundy and black pattern barely visible under the filth of an extended battle.
Yeira noted the blade in his hand, knowing it was meant for her.
He stopped a foot away, his intense, dark-blue gaze sweeping over her. “My god, woman. You look like hell.”
Yeira’s lips opened and something gurgled in her throat. She thought it might be a death rattle, but it emerged as a laugh. She licked her lips as he cocked his head. “Bite me, Sorceri.”
Amazingly his wide mouth turned upward in a smile. “I don’t swing that way, zombie.”
A dense cold crept up her legs, slipped along her spine. In another minute she would be completely numb. She wouldn’t even feel the knife he held down at his side as it sliced her head from her body. But though she was a breath away from dying, Yeira couldn’t help tweaking him one last time. “You haven’t got what it takes anyway, Kord.”
His smile slipped. The sexy gaze darkened. Yeira realized the smoke was clearing and she could see him in all his glory…a dark avenging angel sent to rip her from the living world. He inclined his dark head, the silky strands of black hair framing a square chin, dark with shadow even when cleanly shorn. “You could be right, woman. But…” He seemed to swallow. “There was a time I would have wished for a different outcome.”
Her eyes widened. A different kind of pain ripped her chest apart. She swore, her fingers closing over the slick, oblong object she sought.
So it was to be a death of a thousand cuts—the first cut deeply severing her heart?
She licked her dry lips. “I never wish, Sorceri. Wishing is for children and fools.” Holding his gaze with her own, she clutched the ancient bluestone in her fist and envisioned her lair. The air above her thinned, turning glossy, and her nemesis started to blur.
As his sexy gaze widened in realization, Yeira was brutally ripped from the battered castle. Her lips opened in a silent scream as the ascension tore her apart at a cellular level and sent her plummeting through the void between time.
But all was good Because the last thing she heard as her earthly form disintegrated, was the rage-filled roar of the deadly sexy Sorceri warrior as he realized she’d escaped him again.
Cynthia Sax: What creates trouble for Audie and Yeira?
Sam Cheever: As stated above, my characters are natural enemies. The hero, Audie, believes all reborn are evil and must be destroyed. In fact, as a Sorceri Bounty Hunter, destroying the heroine is his mission. But he doesn’t really understand the reborns in general, and he certainly particularly doesn’t understand the heroine, Yeira. She’s different from the other reborns, and she knows that the hunters have the wrong idea about her species, based on a jaundiced view of their creation. In TD&A, Yeira and Audie have to get beyond their instinctive distrust of each other and work together to take down the source of the death magic. They have the same goal, but totally different viewpoints about the outcome. And to make things even more complicated, Yeira and Audie struggle against an almost overwhelming passion for each other that they see as taboo. But as they work together to take down the dark witch, their feelings will become harder and harder to ignore.
Cynthia Sax: Does someone in Tall, Dark & Apocalyptic have a secret?
Sam Cheever: Reborn Yeira has a secret. She’s different from the other reborns but she doesn’t think the difference makes her better. She sees herself as a monster despite the fact that she’s risking everything to try to clear the world of the death magic and its tragic effects. The Sorceri hunters have shown a singular and remorseless hatred for all of the dark witch’s creations, and Yeira fears that Audie views her just like all the other reborns. Despite that fear, she doesn’t want him to know her secret because she thinks he’d hate her even more if he knew. This perception, fed by the fact that Audie himself is confused about his feelings toward her, creates a nearly impenetrable wedge between the two lovers.
Cynthia Sax: What do you love about writing Post-apocalyptic paranormals?
Sam Cheever: Paranormal is fun because there are no rules. It’s pure escapism. Anything goes in a fantasy/paranormal story as long as you can sell it to your reader. If it’s well written and presented realistically, your story can have green worm people with white goatees and cities built on the clouds with cars that run on strawberry Kool-Aid. It’s also a fairly passive genre. It’s fun and easy to just sit back and let the story unfold around you, infusing you with its unique flavor. For readers who like to get lost in a world that has no resemblance to their own, paranormal is definitely the ticket.
Post-apocalyptic paranormal is especially fun because everything is larger than life. Every moment, each task is a struggle, making human interactions particularly deep and powerful. In addition, the darker aspect of this type of paranormal lends a certain live for today because tomorrow you might be dead feeling that, if done well, draws readers in and holds them in thrall.
Thank you, Sam Cheever, for joining us today!
Sam Cheever’s Website: http://www.samcheever.com/
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A grand passion in an apocalyptic world. A love beyond reason and without boundaries.
He’s a warrior, a bounty hunter in a world turned upside down. She’s a target, a creature of dark magic. His job is simple. Kill the target. Her goal is more complex. She must stay alive until she finds and destroys the source of death magic staining the twenty worlds. But the passion burning within them may be their undoing. It’s going to take an apocalyptic will to overcome the distraction their bodies are creating…and not lose themselves in the process.
Buy Now: http://www.samcheever.com/talldark&alphaboxset.html
