Today I have the pleasure of sitting down with the multi-talented, Sapphire Phelan. She has written and published erotic and sweet paranormal/fantasy/science fiction romance along with a couple of erotic horror stories. Her erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar With a Witch is a Prism 2010 Awards winner and a Epic Awards 2010 finalist.
Some of you may even know her as the talented, Pamela K. Kinney. Under this alter-ego, Pamela has published horror, science fiction, fantasy, poetry, and nonfiction paranormal books published by Schiffer Publishing. Her stories Haunted Richmond, Virginia and Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths and True Tales have received amazing reviews and are a perfect addition to any paranormal collection. She also has a new ghost book, Haunted Historic Triangle and Nearby Haunted Places coming Spring 2011, and she just had a collection of short horror stories, Spectre Nightmares and Visitations, come out.
Under either pen name she admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house, husband, and even the cats sometimes suffer for it!
Today she is sharing her latest release, Dark Leopard Magic. Review Words That Sparkle says, "If you like your stories hot and frequent with an emotional sucker-punch at the end, I couldn’t recommend a better shifter story than Dark Leopard Magic by Sapphire Phelan." http://reviews.words-that-sparkle.com/?p=1
Congratulations on your novel! Why don’t you tell us a little bit about your book.
Dark Leopard Magic (published by Phaze Books) is my second erotic male/male paranormal romance that I wrote. The first one was a short story, “The Dark Man” in the anthology by Under the Moon, Forbidden Love: Sacred Bands.
Dark Leopard Magic is the second novella in the Beast Magic trilogy. It is also interracial and concerns wereleopards, with a touch of mystery. One of the two heroes was first introduced as a secondary character in Beast Magic. Montsho never thought that his mate from the Dreaming would be a wereleopard (how my shifters find their soul mates) but never another male.
Blurb:
Dev Tollen is a man with a dark past and an even darker soul. More than that, he's a gay wereleopard. He has never had the Dreaming and never met his true mate. But one night the Dreaming does come and reveals his lover, an African man named Montsho, also an alpha black wereleopard. Montsho will fight their love and their destiny. Dev will do all he can to win his beloved's heart and keep him by his side always.
Then the ghost of a human begs Dev to solve his wereleopard lover's murder. Both men will find that their new-found love tested and their lives in danger. Their idyllic time in paradise is about to be torn asunder when they discover who the murderer is.
Where do you find your inspiration?
From my head. I have so many things surrounding me at my desk, plus a movie might inspire me, or a place as I am driving along. “His Girl” in Just Another paranormal Halloween was inspired when the song, My Girl, came on the radio as I was driving that day. The whole story clicked before me.
Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what music?
No, I actually don’t.
So, what are you writing now?
I finished the sequel to the erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar With a Witch (which is a Prism Awards 2010 winner), A Familiar Tangle With Hell. I am in edits for it and hope to submit it to Phaze Books by end of 2010. I did start the third novella in beast Magic trilogy, Wolf Magic (has werewolves as main characters in this one—hero introduced in Dark Leopard Magic—this is male/female).
Do you have an excerpt from your book that you’d like to share?
Excerpt (reading this means you are 18 and older):
He left me alone. I sat there for a while, constraining the memories back into a corner of my soul, then with a sigh stood up. As if by instinct, I stumbled into the living room. A lone lamp shone, sending its gentle glow over the couch. Stripping and dropping the clothes on the rug, I fluffed the pillow and crawled beneath the blanket. After clicking off the light, I lay awake, unable to fall asleep. I did what I always did to help me drop off when I couldn't, masturbate. I tried thinking of my host—even though I knew he would not be pleased if he knew—when it happened. The Dreaming forced its way upon me. The face of my heart and soul flashed into my mind, seductive like a lover's promise. Dark-skinned, his eyes of amber-yellow gleamed. The name Montsho flittered across my mind.
I am not prejudiced, but I never thought my heart's desire would be a black man. It didn't matter, though. He was handsome, though no smile lit up his lips. In fact, he looked upset and because of it, he transformed. Where he had stood, a leopard with a coat of glossy black fur crouched. It snarled and then leaped. The Dreaming broke, and I lay there, my heart thumping. More so, my cock had hardened to the point that it hurt unbearably.
I couldn't stay here. Not after the Dreaming.
I had to find him.
Hell, needed to find him.
Find him, or die trying.
I flipped back the blanket and grabbed the clothes, slipping them on. I paused and stared at the darkened hallway that led to my host's bedroom. Then I gave a shrug and opened the front door, slipping into the night without a goodbye.
I could have done the transformation at that moment but decided to wait until I found some woods. The temperature had dropped considerably, but I didn't feel it. Crossing several miles, I came to some woods and, hiding behind one tall tree, chunked my clothing and converted into the leopard. I ran as swift as the fastest wind. Instinct told me where to go. Instinct started by the Dreaming.
Most werepeople had their Dreaming when young. I assumed that meant I would never have a true mate. That maybe my lust for other men seemed deviant to the Dreaming.
No, it seemed that I was a late bloomer. Thank the stars and moon my mate was a male like me, and not a female. Love or not, I doubted I could have touched a woman, not after knowing the pleasures of a man's flesh. As the old saying went, you can't change a leopard's spots.
Pausing by a small stream, I lowered my head and lapped at the cold water.
Why did he look angry? I wondered if he had his Dreaming and saw me. Did that mean he wasn't gay?
I lifted my head, despair slamming into me with a hard punch. No. How cruel is the Dreaming, to show me my mate, and he wouldn't be able to stomach my touch?
I shuddered. Hardly breathing, I splashed through the water and padded down a small path between bushes and trees. Branches whipped me, but I didn't care. I had to find him, convince my beloved that we were meant to be together. Lust filled me as I imagined myself in my leopard form and I mounted him, his long black tail swishing against my front, its tip tickling my nose.
I sped up, dust rising behind me in a thick cloud.
I ran like that for several nights, sleeping during the day in my leopard body, hidden in caves and deep holes that I dug out beneath bushes. The Dreaming came upon me as I slept and saw him, as a black leopard and as a man, his naked, nubile body pleasing to me. I especially loved his cock. Not as large as mine in girth, still it was long, with a thick, dark bulbous head. Uncircumcised, too. My mouth watered to suck and taste his salty, warm staff, to swallow his liquid of need. I wanted to pleasure him, show him that love with another male would not be terrible. Desperate to make him want me, I corrupted one of my Dreamings and sent my beast magic out to seduce my lover.
He used his beast magic to fight back, but somehow, some way, mine was stronger. Pleased that my magic was the alpha, I was able to stalk up to him in our dreams. I grasped his rod in my hand and stroked it. He shuddered, unable to fight the luscious feeling of his cock being mastered. Like an instrument I played his lust like a love song until it filled him and he let me drag him into my arms.
"Come, is this so bad?" I whispered into his ear, flicking the tip of my tongue into it. "Let me show you even more sensation."
I dropped to my knees. The head of his penis waved in front of me. Eager, I leaned over and kissed it. It shuddered as he shuddered. Sucking the head, then the rest of it into my mouth, I let my tongue slip and slide over the hot flesh.
It tasted so good, so right. I'd been waiting for this, for him for a long, long time. Grabbing each butt cheek, a finger nudging the rim of the hole between them, I worked on his cock. Unable to help it, he roared and shot his load down my throat. Ecstatic, I consumed his ambrosia.
Then I rose to my feet and reached down to take his hand in mine, letting it feel its way up my leg 'til it rested between my inner thighs, within fingertip length of my erection. "Do what you want to do, lover, not what you think you should." I bent over and whispered into his ear, licking it. "Your name, Montsho, what does it mean?"
He shivered, not answering me.
I laughed. "Come on," I purred against his lips, kissing him with butterfly touches. "What does it mean?"
"Black, it means black."
I nuzzled one of his nipples, hard as a pebble. "Yes, you are, and so eatable like fine, dark chocolate, too. A luscious taste, one can never be satisfied with just one nibble."
I pulled away and looked into his eyes. "I'm coming for you. Don't doubt that. I will find you. You're the balm I have needed for my dark soul for a long time, Montsho. The other half I needed to connect with."
He closed his eyes. "I know. When the Dreaming came upon me and I saw you, I thought that something went wrong. All my life I had waited to see the she-leopard of my dreams, one who had fur as black as mine. But no, it revealed a white man with spotted fur. I fought it fang and claw. But I can't fight it anymore. I need you." He opened his eyes. "I love you."
He yanked me into his arms and kissed me. No, it wasn't a kiss. That sounded too gentle, too refined. This was a taking, a hurricane-force need that was more than a meeting of tongues and lips. Passion erupted in every molecule and atom of our bodies, ready to gush out in explosion. I clawed at his back, digging into the flesh, flaying it in my need to get inside his skin. He, too, I could tell, needed to crawl inside me, becoming one.
He took his lips an inch away. "Halla."
"Wha…what does that mean?"
"Unexpected gift."
I smiled. "I like that. I've never been anyone's gift before."
He stepped back. "Find me."
I threw out a hand. "Wait."
"Goodbye…halla."
Wow! That was smokin! (I bet you fans can't wait to get your hands on that.... <eg>)
Ok, so who would you say is/was your biggest inspiration and why?
Gosh, a lot of writers. Like Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Madeline L’Engle, Anne McCaffrey, Victoria Holt, many more…
What do you find to be the hardest thing about creating your stories?
Writing the sex scenes. But they have been getting easier. Dark leopard Magic and The dark man were hard being gay sex for me—doing it right.
Do you have a favorite character?
Tina Epson and Charun from Being Familiar With a Witch.
And all readers want to know -- What are you reading right now?
A couple of Christmas Harlequins as got them in my Secret Santa gift at the Virginia Romance Writers party. Needed a Christmas read.
Wonderful! Thanks so much, Sapphire to sharing a little bit of yourself with us today and these sneaks into your stories and your life. Do you want learn more about Sapphire and get your hands on her amazing works? Look her up on the web:
Sites to find me:
http://www.SapphirePhelan.com
http://sapphirePhelansPassionCorner.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/SapphirePhelan http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SapphirePhelansParanormalNewsletter
And look for her upcoming release - Virginia's haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown, and Other Haunted Locations from Schiffer Books -
http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=9780764337468
Go beyond the usual, instead take the unusual that stretches the boundaries and find romance with Sapphire Phelan's aliens, werewolves, vampires, fairies, and other supernatural/otherworldly heroes and heroines.
Now available ffrom PHAZE BOOKS: Dark Leopard Magic: Dev Tollen had a dark past and an even darker soul.
http://sapphirephelanspassioncorner.blogspot.com/http://sapphirePhelansPassionCorner.blogspot.com
Dev Tollen is a man with a dark past and an even darker soul. More than that, he's a gay wereleopard. He has never had the Dreaming and never met his true mate. But one night the Dreaming does come and reveals his lover, an African man named Montsho, also an alpha black wereleopard. Montsho will fight their love and their destiny. Dev will do all he can to win his beloved's heart and keep him by his side always.
Then the ghost of a human begs Dev to solve his wereleopard lover's murder. Both men will find that their new-found love tested and their lives in danger. Their idyllic time in paradise is about to be torn asunder when they discover who the murderer is.
Where do you find your inspiration?
From my head. I have so many things surrounding me at my desk, plus a movie might inspire me, or a place as I am driving along. “His Girl” in Just Another paranormal Halloween was inspired when the song, My Girl, came on the radio as I was driving that day. The whole story clicked before me.
Do you listen to music when you write? If so, what music?
No, I actually don’t.
So, what are you writing now?
I finished the sequel to the erotic urban fantasy, Being Familiar With a Witch (which is a Prism Awards 2010 winner), A Familiar Tangle With Hell. I am in edits for it and hope to submit it to Phaze Books by end of 2010. I did start the third novella in beast Magic trilogy, Wolf Magic (has werewolves as main characters in this one—hero introduced in Dark Leopard Magic—this is male/female).
Do you have an excerpt from your book that you’d like to share?
Excerpt (reading this means you are 18 and older):
He left me alone. I sat there for a while, constraining the memories back into a corner of my soul, then with a sigh stood up. As if by instinct, I stumbled into the living room. A lone lamp shone, sending its gentle glow over the couch. Stripping and dropping the clothes on the rug, I fluffed the pillow and crawled beneath the blanket. After clicking off the light, I lay awake, unable to fall asleep. I did what I always did to help me drop off when I couldn't, masturbate. I tried thinking of my host—even though I knew he would not be pleased if he knew—when it happened. The Dreaming forced its way upon me. The face of my heart and soul flashed into my mind, seductive like a lover's promise. Dark-skinned, his eyes of amber-yellow gleamed. The name Montsho flittered across my mind.
I am not prejudiced, but I never thought my heart's desire would be a black man. It didn't matter, though. He was handsome, though no smile lit up his lips. In fact, he looked upset and because of it, he transformed. Where he had stood, a leopard with a coat of glossy black fur crouched. It snarled and then leaped. The Dreaming broke, and I lay there, my heart thumping. More so, my cock had hardened to the point that it hurt unbearably.
I couldn't stay here. Not after the Dreaming.
I had to find him.
Hell, needed to find him.
Find him, or die trying.
I flipped back the blanket and grabbed the clothes, slipping them on. I paused and stared at the darkened hallway that led to my host's bedroom. Then I gave a shrug and opened the front door, slipping into the night without a goodbye.
I could have done the transformation at that moment but decided to wait until I found some woods. The temperature had dropped considerably, but I didn't feel it. Crossing several miles, I came to some woods and, hiding behind one tall tree, chunked my clothing and converted into the leopard. I ran as swift as the fastest wind. Instinct told me where to go. Instinct started by the Dreaming.
Most werepeople had their Dreaming when young. I assumed that meant I would never have a true mate. That maybe my lust for other men seemed deviant to the Dreaming.
No, it seemed that I was a late bloomer. Thank the stars and moon my mate was a male like me, and not a female. Love or not, I doubted I could have touched a woman, not after knowing the pleasures of a man's flesh. As the old saying went, you can't change a leopard's spots.
Pausing by a small stream, I lowered my head and lapped at the cold water.
Why did he look angry? I wondered if he had his Dreaming and saw me. Did that mean he wasn't gay?
I lifted my head, despair slamming into me with a hard punch. No. How cruel is the Dreaming, to show me my mate, and he wouldn't be able to stomach my touch?
I shuddered. Hardly breathing, I splashed through the water and padded down a small path between bushes and trees. Branches whipped me, but I didn't care. I had to find him, convince my beloved that we were meant to be together. Lust filled me as I imagined myself in my leopard form and I mounted him, his long black tail swishing against my front, its tip tickling my nose.
I sped up, dust rising behind me in a thick cloud.
I ran like that for several nights, sleeping during the day in my leopard body, hidden in caves and deep holes that I dug out beneath bushes. The Dreaming came upon me as I slept and saw him, as a black leopard and as a man, his naked, nubile body pleasing to me. I especially loved his cock. Not as large as mine in girth, still it was long, with a thick, dark bulbous head. Uncircumcised, too. My mouth watered to suck and taste his salty, warm staff, to swallow his liquid of need. I wanted to pleasure him, show him that love with another male would not be terrible. Desperate to make him want me, I corrupted one of my Dreamings and sent my beast magic out to seduce my lover.
He used his beast magic to fight back, but somehow, some way, mine was stronger. Pleased that my magic was the alpha, I was able to stalk up to him in our dreams. I grasped his rod in my hand and stroked it. He shuddered, unable to fight the luscious feeling of his cock being mastered. Like an instrument I played his lust like a love song until it filled him and he let me drag him into my arms.
"Come, is this so bad?" I whispered into his ear, flicking the tip of my tongue into it. "Let me show you even more sensation."
I dropped to my knees. The head of his penis waved in front of me. Eager, I leaned over and kissed it. It shuddered as he shuddered. Sucking the head, then the rest of it into my mouth, I let my tongue slip and slide over the hot flesh.
It tasted so good, so right. I'd been waiting for this, for him for a long, long time. Grabbing each butt cheek, a finger nudging the rim of the hole between them, I worked on his cock. Unable to help it, he roared and shot his load down my throat. Ecstatic, I consumed his ambrosia.
Then I rose to my feet and reached down to take his hand in mine, letting it feel its way up my leg 'til it rested between my inner thighs, within fingertip length of my erection. "Do what you want to do, lover, not what you think you should." I bent over and whispered into his ear, licking it. "Your name, Montsho, what does it mean?"
He shivered, not answering me.
I laughed. "Come on," I purred against his lips, kissing him with butterfly touches. "What does it mean?"
"Black, it means black."
I nuzzled one of his nipples, hard as a pebble. "Yes, you are, and so eatable like fine, dark chocolate, too. A luscious taste, one can never be satisfied with just one nibble."
I pulled away and looked into his eyes. "I'm coming for you. Don't doubt that. I will find you. You're the balm I have needed for my dark soul for a long time, Montsho. The other half I needed to connect with."
He closed his eyes. "I know. When the Dreaming came upon me and I saw you, I thought that something went wrong. All my life I had waited to see the she-leopard of my dreams, one who had fur as black as mine. But no, it revealed a white man with spotted fur. I fought it fang and claw. But I can't fight it anymore. I need you." He opened his eyes. "I love you."
He yanked me into his arms and kissed me. No, it wasn't a kiss. That sounded too gentle, too refined. This was a taking, a hurricane-force need that was more than a meeting of tongues and lips. Passion erupted in every molecule and atom of our bodies, ready to gush out in explosion. I clawed at his back, digging into the flesh, flaying it in my need to get inside his skin. He, too, I could tell, needed to crawl inside me, becoming one.
He took his lips an inch away. "Halla."
"Wha…what does that mean?"
"Unexpected gift."
I smiled. "I like that. I've never been anyone's gift before."
He stepped back. "Find me."
I threw out a hand. "Wait."
"Goodbye…halla."
Wow! That was smokin! (I bet you fans can't wait to get your hands on that.... <eg>)
Ok, so who would you say is/was your biggest inspiration and why?
Gosh, a lot of writers. Like Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Madeline L’Engle, Anne McCaffrey, Victoria Holt, many more…
What do you find to be the hardest thing about creating your stories?
Writing the sex scenes. But they have been getting easier. Dark leopard Magic and The dark man were hard being gay sex for me—doing it right.
Do you have a favorite character?
Tina Epson and Charun from Being Familiar With a Witch.
And all readers want to know -- What are you reading right now?
A couple of Christmas Harlequins as got them in my Secret Santa gift at the Virginia Romance Writers party. Needed a Christmas read.
Wonderful! Thanks so much, Sapphire to sharing a little bit of yourself with us today and these sneaks into your stories and your life. Do you want learn more about Sapphire and get your hands on her amazing works? Look her up on the web:
Sites to find me:
http://www.SapphirePhelan.com
http://sapphirePhelansPassionCorner.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/SapphirePhelan http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SapphirePhelansParanormalNewsletter
And look for her upcoming release - Virginia's haunted Historic Triangle: Williamsburg, Yorktown and Jamestown, and Other Haunted Locations from Schiffer Books -
Spring, 2011
http://www.schifferbooks.com/newschiffer/book_template.php?isbn=9780764337468
Go beyond the usual, instead take the unusual that stretches the boundaries and find romance with Sapphire Phelan's aliens, werewolves, vampires, fairies, and other supernatural/otherworldly heroes and heroines.
Now available ffrom PHAZE BOOKS: Dark Leopard Magic: Dev Tollen had a dark past and an even darker soul.
http://sapphirephelanspassioncorner.blogspot.com/http://sapphirePhelansPassionCorner.blogspot.com
Thanks for the interview, K. A.
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