Welcome to the Compelling Beasts Blog, Paige. Thank you for being a guest.
Thanks for having me! I’m thrilled that you asked me to write about my zombie hero Drake Parrish and his book!
When I started planning zombie week, you were the first author I thought of to approach for an interview since you had written the first romance that I knew about with a zombie hero. What inspired you to write Dead Sexy?
It’s probably going to sound silly, but it started out as a dare. We were at the Lori Foster Reader Author Get Together (RAGT—awesome event by the way!) talking with some other writers about unusual paranormal creatures. Mostly which ones are sexy, and which ones aren’t. I think someone brought up a weasel shifter, and a yeti shifter, then hubby mentioned the lack of romance books about zombies and how it was very disappointing this particular segment of the paranormal realm got no love. As you can imagine, all the women at the table totally icked out. Then one of our best writer friends said it was impossible to make a zombie sexy. Poor hubby gave me his best hound dog impression, and soon after that, Dead Sexy came out. So, technically, I wrote it for hubby.
You’re known for your hot romance novels and you’ve written about several supernatural heroes. Are you a fan of the horror genre as well?
I would have to say no. I watch The Walking Dead, but that’s about it. I don’t really read anything in that genre, and I’ve never tried to write anything in it, either. I write romance, and it just seems like it would be difficult to blend romance in an environment where people are scared to death, about to get eaten, running for their lives, spattered in blood…etc.
Would you tell us a bit about Drake, the hero of Dead Sexy?
Drake Parrish was a player when he was younger. He worked on Wall Street and had all the unpleasant personality traits that went with the job description. He was rich, arrogant, and didn’t treat women particular well. That behavior caught up to him in the form of karma. He broke a naïve, impressionable girl’s heart and her grandmother showed up at his New York investment office and threw a pile of vile, nasty dirt in his face.
The next thing Drake knew, parts of him started turning black and dying. Doctors told him he should probably call his family and friends together because things weren’t looking too good for him. That’s when he had an epiphany. He didn’t have any family. He didn’t have any friends. He didn’t have a soul who cared if he lived or died. He was going to die completely alone.
But he didn’t die. His body recovered, and for a while he thought he was going to be okay. His relief was short-lived. The creeping zombie curse kept coming back, and before long Drake was a recluse in his New York apartment, scared to go out for fear of turning into a zombie without notice.
Drake becomes a changed man, but will anyone ever know?
In the past there have been lots of supernatural or “monster” heroes in romance novels–vampires, werewolves and ghosts to name a few–but a zombie is different because usually when you think of a zombie, sexy isn’t the first thing that comes to mind. Did you find it difficult to overcome the traditional horror zombie image to create a romance hero who happens to be a zombie?
Definitely! The moment I say zombie romance, people lose their ever-loving minds. It’s just the image that pops into their heads—I get it. But I’ve never met a single person who has read the book who didn’t love it. It’s one of my highest rated books, an EPIC Award Finalist, and Winner of the Gold Star Award at JERR.
If your heroine, Simone, had to describe Drake in three words, what would they be?
Tall, Dark, and Dead.
What’s one characteristic of a traditional zombie that you didn’t want Drake to have?
He couldn’t eat brains!!! This book is a romance, and who wants to kiss a guy with brain breath?
How about one characteristic that you needed him to have to be a convincing zombie?
Well, there’s the whole dead thing. When Drake is in his full-on zombie mode, he’s dead. He doesn’t breathe, he doesn’t have a heartbeat, he has a bad skin condition, etc. But on the bright side, when he’s like that he gets a lot of jogging done on the treadmill. What else is a zombie going to do while he passes the time waiting for his temporary zombie condition to go away?
Is there anything you would like readers to know about Dead Sexy?
No zombies were harmed in the writing of Dead Sexy. Oh, and there are no “romantic scenes” when he’s in full-on zombie mode. That would be gross!
Would you share an excerpt from Dead Sexy?
Can her love save him from a curse worse than death?
Romance author Simone Kent thinks she might just have found the most perfect guy in all of New York City—in bed and out.
But Drake Parrish is about as far from perfect as any man can get. Eight years ago, he was cursed by an evil Voodoo priestess to live part of his life as a zombie. Since then, he has lived like a recluse on New York’s Upper East Side, afraid to go out for fear he’ll suddenly turn into one of the walking dead.
The sex is the hottest either of them has ever experienced and Simone discovers just how naughty she can be with Drake, while he finds himself feeling things for Simone he hasn’t felt in a very long time. When the Voodoo priestess learns of their relationship, however, she comes after him again. She’s determined he won’t have a future with Simone, even if that means killing both him and the woman he loves.
Excerpt:
As she led him up the steps to the second floor, Drake found himself wondering if she would ask him in. And wondering what he’d say if she did. When they came to a stop outside the door to her apartment, Simone turned to give him a smile.
“I had a great time tonight.”
“Me, too.”
She caught her bottom lip between her perfect white teeth and chewed on it thoughtfully as if unsure what she wanted to say next. It was probably an unconscious gesture, something she did whenever she was thinking, but to him, it was sexy as hell and all he could think about was kissing her.
Surely, one kiss couldn’t hurt. He desperately wanted to. He hadn’t kissed a woman in so long. It would be nice to see if he still remembered how.
Before he could stop himself, Drake tilted Simone’s face up to his and pressed his mouth to hers.
She tasted just as sweet and delicious as he thought she would. Her lips were soft and pliant under his as she kissed him back, her tongue eagerly seeking his out.
Drake groaned and slid his hand into her hair, deepening the kiss. Simone sighed into his mouth, running her hands up the front of his shirt to grasp his shoulders. The feel of her touch was like a tonic to his deprived soul and he let out another groan, deeper this time.
He ran his free hand up her side and around to her breast, cupping it through the soft material of her dress. He couldn’t stop himself and apparently, Simone didn’t want him to. She moaned and arched against him. He could feel the heat of her pussy through their clothes as she pressed up against his hard cock. Damn, she felt good.
Drake drew her bottom lip into his mouth and gently suckled on it before slowly kissing his way along the delicate curve of her jaw. Simone clutched his shoulders and tilted her head back. He eagerly trailed a path of hot kisses down her neck, then back up, his mouth finding hers again. Simone looped her arms around his neck, pulling him in even closer as their tongues met.
Down the hall, a door slammed, reminding him where they were.
Drake dragged his mouth away from hers, his breathing ragged as he tried to regain control. He had to get it together because he was about five seconds away from doing something really stupid. Like taking her to bed. “I should go.”
Her lips curved into a sexy, flirtatious smile. “Or you could stay.”
God, how he wanted to. But as much as he’d love to spend the rest of the night exploring every inch of her body, he couldn’t take the chance he might go zombie on her right in the middle of sex. Talk about coitus interruptus. And it had already been almost four days since he last turned, which meant he was already pushing his luck.
“You don’t know how much I want to,” he groaned. “But I can’t.”
Simone looked up at him with those big, blue eyes. “Why not?”
“Because I…” He hesitated, trying to come up with something that would sound believable. “I have a column due in the morning and I haven’t even started on it yet.” She knew all about deadlines, so she would understand that. Besides, he did have a column to write, it just wasn’t due until next week. “Rain check?”
She looked disappointed, but she smiled anyway. “Absolutely. How does coming over for dinner tomorrow night sound?”
It would be crazy to agree when he could be so close to having an episode, but he couldn’t say no. Not when she asked in that soft, sultry voice. “Sounds great.”
“Good. Be here at seven.”
“Seven it is.”
She pulled him down for another long, slow kiss on the mouth. “Don’t be late.”
His mouth twitched. “I won’t.” He bent his head to kiss her again, then groaned. “If I don’t go now, I’ll be here all night.”
Simone laughed. “Would that be such a bad thing?”
“Not to me, but my editor at Money Issues might not be too understanding when he doesn’t find my column sitting in his inbox tomorrow.”
She sighed. “Deadlines can be a real pain in the butt sometimes. Okay, go home and write your column. I’ll cuddle up with a bowl of ice cream instead.”
He chuckled. “Sounds better than taking a cold shower, which is what I’m going to be doing when I get home.” He closed his mouth over hers once more. “See you tomorrow night, beautiful.”
Resisting the urge to pull her into his arms again, Drake turned and walked down the hallway toward the stairwell. At the top of the steps, he glanced over his shoulder to see Simone standing where he’d left her, a sexy curve to her lips.
It took every ounce of strength he possessed not to go back and pin her against the door for one more long, lingering kiss. God, what he wouldn’t give to spend the night with her. Man, it was going to take more than a cold shower to get her out of his head.
Amazon
Barnes & Noble
ARe
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-deadsexy-1247101-340.html
Would you tell us about what you’re currently working on?
I’m a busy little bunny right now. Book 2 of my Special Wolf Alpha Team (SWAT) series—WOLF TROUBLE—releases August 4th so I’m doing promo on that. Then Book 3 in my SWAT Series—IN THE COMPANY OF WOLVES—releases December 1st. I also just turned in Book 4 of my X-OPS series, which releases January 2016, and I’m currently working on Book 4 in my SWAT Series—TO LOVE A WOLF. Then I need to start on Book 5 in my X-OPS series.
I also have a novella called HER SPECIAL ALPHA, which is part of the X-OPS series, releasing on August 4th as well.
Where can readers find you online?
BIO:
Paige Tyler is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of sexy, romantic suspense and paranormal romance. She and her very own military hero (also known as her husband) live on the beautiful Florida coast with their adorable fur baby (also known as their dog). Paige graduated with a degree in education, but decided to pursue her passion and write books about hunky alpha males and the kick-butt heroines who fall in love with them.
She is represented by Bob Mecoy.
Website: http://paigetylertheauthor.com/
Blog: http://paigetylertheauthor.blogspot.com/
Facebook Profile Page: http://www.facebook.com/paige.tyler.9
Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/PaigeTylerAuthor
X-OPS Series Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/XOPSSeriesbyPaigeTylerAuthor
SWAT Series Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/SWATSeriesbyPaigeTylerAuthor
Paige Tyler’s Groupies Central on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/groups/Paigetylersgroupies/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/PaigeTyler
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/paigetylerauth/
Tumblr: paigetylerauthor
tsu: http://www.tsu.co/paigetylerauthor
Wattpad: http://www.wattpad.com/user/PaigeTylerAuthor
Instagram: paige_tyler_author
Google+: http://plus.google.com/u/0/
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2300692.Paige_Tyler
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/BBrEP
Email: paigetyler@paigetylertheauthor.com
Thank you so much for being a guest, Paige!
You’re very welcome…I’ve really enjoyed it.
Romance featuring a zombie? I’ll have to check out that book.
Thank you for stopping by, Majanka! Zombie romance is an interesting concept, that’s for sure!