I am so looking forward to the Creepin’ chat tonight at 9pm EST… it will be a wild and funny time, I’m so sure.  If you look at the line up of authors, and all of our wild and crazy stories, what else can it be but "off da chain?"  Looking forward to seeing everyone there!  Big Philly Hug, L.A. Banks! 

One of the biggest mysteries on earth, to me, is the Bible.  Like many of you, I grew up in the church.  I was one of those little girls who never sat still, and was always asking questions about everything the preacher said.  I asked so many questions that I was politely asked to be quiet! 

I believe my curiosity about the Bible, God and the angels was so huge that the preacher, an elderly man, was simply worn out by them.  That’s when I started doing research on my own.  I read everything I could find about God and the angels and the angel rankings. 

There are several kinds of angels depending on what they’re assigned to do on earth and in heaven.  The arch angel, Michael…he’s the head guy.  Then there are lower angels like guardian angels who watch over us, and seraphs and cherubs…well, you get the idea: There are a LOT of angels up there. 

My main interest was in how angels interacted with humans.  Imagine my excitement when I learned in Genesis Chapter 6:1-6 that angels once rebelled against God’s laws and came down to earth, took earth women as wives, and proceeded to have children with them.  They were called Nephilim. 

Now, since, as a child, I was taught that the Bible was THE TRUTH, that just blew me away!  Angels and humans produced beings called Nephilim??? As a writer, my imagination ran rampant.  Even though the Bible says the Nephilim were destroyed in the Flood–yeah, that flood, the one that Noah built an ark for—I thought to myself, hey, why couldn’t some of them have survived.  A few humans survived.  Why not Nephilim? 

That was the beginning of Avenging Angel.  I had to create a world for the Nephilim.  They would be extraordinarily long-lived, living to age 400.  They would be exceedingly strong and fine specimens, having the strength of ten men, sharp minds, and physically superior to mankind.  And there would be two factions: an evil group called the Sons of the Morning Star (that’s another name for Lucifer-Satan); and a good group called the Grigori. 

They are forever at odds, of course.  And they do not mix.  So, the premise of my story, that a Grigori and a Son of the Morning Star fell in love some time ago, broke up, and now the Son of The Morning Star dude wants the Grigori babe back, well, there’s your conflict right there!  Sarai Wingate is the Grigori and she’s having no part of Nightwing, the Son of the Morning Star.  Nightwing, however, is not taking no for an answer!  I hope you enjoy Avening Angel.

I was seeing all these paranormal erotic anthologies on the shelves. I read some of them, but while a few were satisfying, they weren’t what exactly what I wanted to read.

First I wanted to see some sistas writing paranormal. I knew a few, a very few, were doing it, or wanted to, but I wanted to see us in the anthologies too.

Secondly, while I love romance and erotica, I wanted to see a little more edge, a little more grit and a little more variety than I was seeing on the shelves. And I knew the sistas who could do the job.

I asked L.A. Banks, a phenomenal writer, and somebody who I knew loved the paranormal side of writing in all its varieties. Ditto with Donna Hill. J.M. Jeffries, a writing team, had written some great, lusty, inventive vampire novels with Genesis Press with nice turns of phrase, and I’d loved Janice Sims work and knew she had that paranormal romance bent in her blood.

Romance is built on relationship. With relationships comes inherent conflict. What better juicy conflict goes with sex and horror than infidelity, betrayal and revenge?

I love happy endings, so I really wanted a just outcome for the infidelity/betrayal and a happy ending if at all possible. But I also believe authors have their own stories to tell, so I gave them the theme and told them the flava and let them make their own stew. And what dishes they came up with! The stories all have great variety with different amounts of romance, paranormal, suspense/horror, and erotica blended in each.