Giveaway and Interview with Caridad Piñeiro

Please give a warm welcome to my esteemed guest today, best selling author,  Caridad Piñeiro.


Caridad Pineiro is the NY Times bestselling author of over twenty-six paranormal romance and romantic suspense novels and novellas. Her popular THE CALLING vampire series returns in 2012. Look for THE FIFTH KINGDOM, a romantic suspense from Carina Press in July 2011 and THE LOST, the first book in the new SIN HUNTERS paranormal romance series in August 2011. Caridad has also done the foreword for OBSESSED: EROTIC ROMANCE FOR WOMEN edited by Rachel Kramer Bussel which will be available in August 2011.


What steered you in the direction of the romance genre?
My grandmother and mother were avid readers and instilled in me a love for the written word. My favorite times as a kid were trips to the library to get books and during one of those trips I stumbled across Wuthering Heights. I was young and it was beyond my reading level, but I pushed forward, learned lots of new words and fell in love with the story. From there I started reading things my mom had finished, like a number of Taylor Caldwell books. They weren’t romances, but they had strong romantic elements and after that, I started looking for novels which had more and more romance. During college I discovered Kathleen Woodiwiss and Rosemary Rodgers and I was hooked. I realized then that the stories I was writing were romances and I never looked back.


Kathleen Woodiwiss has started sooo many people on their love of romance. Her name is synonymous with classic romance. She started me out as well.


When I first read The Lost, I was intrigued by the new element of the Light Hunters and the Shadow Hunters. Has this concept been simmering awhile or was it a sudden inspiration?
I think the idea for something different has been simmering for awhile and we decided to do something darker and different, the idea of blending concepts of energy gathering with the history of the Americas just jumped to life. I’ve loved exploring new ways and powers for the Hunters. In The Claimed, the civil war really comes to the Jersey Shore and you will meet Hunters with all kinds of amazing powers.


I have to tell you, Salvatore really pulled at me with his dual motives. How did you strike a balance between government agent and adoptive father?
That was a tough one, but I knew that deep down what started as a duty really did become paternal love. I’m a strong believer in redemption of even the worst characters and Salvatore was definitely someone who was not beyond redemption. In a future story, you will meet someone both Salvatore and Adam know who was in a similar position, but made totally different and more honorable choices. I won’t spill about that though, but look for it in The Shattered if I am lucky enough to continue with this series.


NOT CONTINUE WITH THE SERIES???? UGH! That would be a sin and an abomination…..
What things do you have to  accomplish before you consider a work complete?
When I do a read through the “final” version , I look at the romance line, the love scenes and the action and ask myself, “Did you care about the characters during each of those scenes?”. It’s important for me that readers are involved with the characters at those points in the story. If I didn’t love/hate the characters  at those points, I see what I can do to make the scene emotionally stronger.


What is in your TBR stack?
I have very little time to read and right now am trying to catch up on the JD Robb In Death series. I’ve got the new one that I am dying to read and then plan on starting  the first one and reading them in order. All 30 something of them!


Ahhh!  Ya gotta love Nora Roberts/JD Robb ! She is amazing.


Who has been your favorite character to write so far?
That is really a tough call. I think it’s very close between Diana Reyes from The Calling series and Bobbie from The Lost. Both women embody such powerful traits: honor, family devotion, honesty and inner strength.


Who has been your least favorite?
My least favorite is really tough. As a writer you even like the villains if they are done right. If I had to pick one, it would be Sebastian from Danger Calls. I wanted him to be much more beta, but that wasn’t possible and so I felt like he came out kind of wishy-washy compared to what I wanted.


What’s in the cards for Bobbies’ family, because I  really wanted to see more of them? I feel like there could be a lot going on there.
I so want to have more of the Carreras in future book! Readers have asked about them over and over again. I plan on posting some of the deleted scenes with them from The Lost and Stronger Than Sin. Readers will see them again in The Claimed and I have plans to bring in the youngest Carrera, Tony, in a future book.


I know The Claimed is the next of The Sin Hunter series to be released. Care to give us any hints?
Ooooh, you want spoilers! Okay – so don’t read any more if you haven’t finished The Lost……… Here goes…….. The hero will be Christopher Sombrosa, a Shadow Hunter. *fist pump, YES!* The heroine is Victoria, a Light Hunter. It will be a Romeo and Juliet kind of story as Christopher and Victoria battle their attraction and the actions of their clans. The Claimed be action-packed and at the end, there will be betrayal and sacrifice. That will set up the next book in the series, The Shattered.


I am not good at waiting. This might actually do me physical harm because I really want to read this NOW!! *&^%%$@!#


If you could spend a week with any literary character, who would it be and what would you be doing?
Definitely Eve Dallas from the In Death series. She is a perfect character and I would love to get into her brain and find out what makes her tick.



*****Rapid Fires*****

 1. Favorite Food?   Nice crusty loaf of bread and a  sharp cheese


2.  Favorite Holiday?   Christmas Eve


3.  Camping or Luxury hotel?   Luxury hotel


4.  Negligee or t-shirt and sweat pants?   T-shirt and sweat pants


5.  Barbies or tomboy?   Tomboy


6.   The  3 “must haves” if stranded on a desert island?   Solar powered generator, laptop, internet connection


7. (For your heroes) Au natural or waxed and shiny?  Au natural


8. Alive or dead, 3 people you would love to have as dinner guests?   Eve Dallas, William Shakespeare, and Ronald Regan


9. If you had to change your first name, what other name would you pick?   Charity (which is actually my nickname!)


And finally, the most  Important question I ever ask anyone……….
Duke  or carolina?   LOL! That is such a tough one. I’m a Villanova gal, so they are both wicked competitors. How about I punt on that one?

 




Thank you so much for sharing your time with me today. I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know a little more about you and your wonderful books.

Thank you so much for allowing me to spend some time with you.



     You can find out more about Caridad at the links listed below:
Website
Goodreads
Twitter
Facebook Fan Page


GIVEAWAY!!!
Caridad is generously offering two prizes for giveaway today. The contest will run until 11:59 PM on 10/14/2011.
Prize  #1 is  a T-shirt  from The Lost



Seriously, those eyes are KILLER!












Prize #2 is an e-book copy of Rookie of the Year when it is released.