BLI is thrilled to welcome Nadia Lee back to BLI today! Nadia is her to celebrate and talk about her new publication The Last Slayer an urban fantasy with romantic elements, that will be available from Carina Press on December 26, 2011! The Last Slayer is an Urban Fantasy novel with romantic elements and is Nadia’s first Carina Press publication! Nadia’s February 2011 contemporary romance Carnal Secrets is a BLI favorite!
Lea: Nadia! Welcome back to BLI it’s such a pleasure to be able to chat with you today! Since we discussed about your writing process when you visited earlier this year I’m going to cut right to the chase and ask you some questions about The Last Slayer. 🙂
What can we expect of The Last Slayer?
Nadia: Thanks for having me, BLI! :) The Last Slayer is about a young demon hunter who thought she had it made in the world, only to have everything she’s worked hard for ripped from her. She has to fight to not only stay alive but to claim her shocking new legacy with the help of a sexy demon.
Here is the Blurb:
Ashera del Cid is a talented demon hunter, but when she kills a demigod’s pet dragon, the hunter becomes the hunted. Her only potential ally is Ramiel, a sexy-as-hell demon. Now the two must work together to battle dragons and demigods…and the chemistry crackling between them.
Ramiel has his own reasons for offering Ashera his protection. He knows her true identity and the real reason the demigods want her dead. What he can’t predict is how she’ll react when she discovers he knew who she was all along…
Ashera is shocked to discover that she is the only daughter of the last slayer. To claim her destiny, she and Ramiel must join forces to face down danger and outwit their enemies. Only then will she be able to truly accept her legacy…
Excerpt
Buy Links: Carina Press, Kindle, Nook, Diesel.
Lea: Have you always been interested in writing in the Urban Fantasy genre?
Nadia: No, alas. I’d never read urban fantasy until a friend (you might know her as @ipinkgirl on Twitter) recommended that I read Jim Butcher a while back. I enjoyed his work, and started reading more urban fantasy until one day I decided that I wanted to try writing one.
Lea: What was the impetus behind The Last Slayer? Did you conceive heroine Ashera del Cid first or did your muse bring her world to you initially?
Nadia: Neither, I’m afraid. I used to read tons of comic books that I bought in Korea, and one of them contained a snippet that went something like, “I never wanted you to know what blood smells like.” And the story initially came to me from the point of view of the chief antagonist, Nathanael, except his story is rather bleak and fatalistic. And as I mentioned in my previous interview, I really don’t care to write depressing stuff, so I decided he wouldn’t make the most ideal protagonist. Hence Ashera was born. 🙂
Lea: Please tell us more about demon hunter Ashera, she learns she has a surprising legacy doesn’t she?
Nadia: Oh yes. :) She’s very good at her job, she’s pretty happy financially, and her BFF is her foster sister Valerie. She’s not too thrilled about the state of her romantic life, but even then she’s pretty happy about her life in general. So she thought she had it made… …until the day she turns twenty-seven, and everything implodes — and explodes — around her.
Lea: Here is a quote from an excerpt you’ve provided on your website:
“Here, have some Sex.”
I looked up from my desk at the sound of Valerie Johnson’s voice. Thirty years old, she was my sister — well, foster sister. Anyone looking at us would know we didn’t share a drop of common blood. Valerie was the only child of my benefactor and a partner at the firm founded by her great- great- great — repeat that many, many times — grandfather. I’d just made junior partner the year before, the youngest such in the firm’s illustrious five-plus centuries of history. We took care of all types of supernatural matters: hunting trespassing demons, casting made-to-order wardings, detoxing demon poisons, brewing specialty potions, performing exorcisms and divinations.
Valerie tossed a vial at me and leaned against the doorframe. With her hip cocked, she looked like a model who’d just stepped off a glossy page in a fashion mag. There were artful red streaks in her auburn hair, and a ruby halo formed around her head under the fluorescent lights.
I caught the small bottle and wrinkled my nose. “Fresh?”
“The very best.”
Damn. The higher the quality, the worse it tasted.
“Don’t be a baby, Ashera. You know you need it after a hunt.” She quirked an eyebrow. “Unless you’re planning on getting it from the source?”
That was a joke. Everyone knows that the ultimate source of Sex is the Federation of Mageship, and Valerie was well aware that I was on their shit list. I sighed, opened the vial and sniffed. Strong musk and lemon, a combination I didn’t care for. But there was something else. “What the — is this flavored?”
“Cinnamon. I thought you might like it better.”
I could feel my face scrunching. I swallowed the murky goo and clenched my teeth to keep it down. There was way too much spice, and it burned my throat.
“Quality stuff, huh?” Valerie said, a smile in her voice.
“Ugh! Next time stick to the regular unflavored kind.”
The Last Slayer © Nadia Lee
LOL! So Ashera is getting substitute Sex from a bottle? How cool is that?
Nadia: Thanks! LOL.
Lea: Ashera joins forces with a demon, Ramiel who helps her in her battle. You’ve created an interesting juxtaposition here in matching a demon slayer with a demon! The romance is noted to be light with regard to genre in the story, what can readers expect regarding the relationship between these two?
Nadia: In this book, Ramiel holds more power and knowledge than Ashera, and he’s not always nice or sensitive. Though they’re both attracted to each other and have sex and so on, the power balance between Ashera and Ramiel remains uneven at the end of the book with a happy-for-now ending. I don’t think it’s realistic to have them have equal power in their relationship yet, not with Ashera being so young compared to Ramiel, who’s centuries old and stays closed-mouthed about many things.
Lea: Please tell us more about Ramiel, the hero of The Last Slayer.
Nadia: Ramiel is centuries old, super powerful and extremely rigid about the rules and vows of his world. He’s sworn to help Ashera, so he’s sort of stuck with a mortal woman who doesn’t fall to her knees and look up to him as the greatest thing ever. Poor Ramiel, he had no idea what he was getting into when he made that promise when he was young.
Lea: Does Ashera get an HEA? 😉
Nadia: Eventually maybe. But not in this book. 🙂
Lea: Well fans will look forward to learning more about Ashera and Ramiel in the future books of the series Nadia! 😉
Lea: Is The Last Slayer set on earth in the future or are readers taken to a different planet and time?
Nadia: It’s set in the present. Readers don’t get to go to a different planet, but instead to different dimensions where supernatural beings reside.
Lea: Will there be more books in this series Nadia?
Nadia: Yes! 🙂 I’m planning to write two more books and wrap up the series.
Lea: What can we expect next from the desk of Nadia Lee?
Nadia: The next work to be completed is the sequel to The Last Slayer. I have another project that I want to wrap up and send to my agent as well.
Lea: Are you planning to write any more contemporary romances in the future or do you plan to focus mainly on the UF / PNR genres?
Nadia: I wish I could write more contemporary, but right now I just don’t have the time. I write very slowly, and with a six month-old baby, my progress is even sloooower. I hadn’t realized how much sleep deprivation can sap your energy and clearheadedness.
Lea: Young ones do tend to take a vast amount of energy and time! 😉
Please summarize The Last Slayer for us twitterstyle (in 140 characters or less).
A demon hunter in trouble for killing a pet dragon finds an unexpected ally in a sexy demon and discovers a shocking legacy about herself
Lea: Now can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read The Last Slayer?
Lea: Nadia, thank you so much for taking time to join us today, it’s been such a pleasure chatting with you! Congratulations on the release of The Last Slayer!
Nadia: Thank you so much for having me!
Where to find Nadia:
~*~*Giveaway*~*~
Nadia has generously offered a digital copy of The Last Slayer to one lucky commenter!
All you have to do is leave a meaningful comment about the interview or a question for Nadia.
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)
Please leave a valid email when placing your comment so we can inform you if you win.
This giveaway is open worldwide!
Giveaway ends on Saturday, December 24, 2011; and we will announce the winner on Sunday.
Good luck!
Nadia, I have NO idea how you manage to write anything with a 6 month old baby to take care of, but I am so glad you do! Your book sounds so tantalizing, and I can’t wait to read it! What a fabulous interview! Now I have a new author to follow. I love it!
Thank you for the giveaway op!
Happy Holidays!
Gena Robertson
robertsongena@hotmail.com
Thanks, Gena. I don’t know how to do it either sometimes. LOL. 🙂
I enjoy reading urban fantasy and love the idea of a demon hunter and a demon together in a relationship. Such a wonderfully difficult situation.
Thank you. Same here.
I always appreciate stories with a strong and smart heroine who is still vulnerable and in some ways. This sounds like a story I’ll enjoy.
Thanks! 🙂
I enjoy reading urban fantasy/ just love it
rogcaprino at hotmail dot com
Same here. Thanks for stopping by! 🙂
Great interview ladies, I really enjoyed reading it. If this is your first UF series, will you be writing more? Are there already ideas swimming in your head?
auriansbooks at gmail dot com
I will definitely wrap this series in the next two books, but after that, I don’t know. I have some ideas, but it really depends on whether or not they grab me strongly enough. 🙂
You had me at “substitute sex from a bottle!!!” This book sounds awesome and the interview was very enjoyable! Thanks so much for the chance to win a copy:)
You’re welcome and thanks for stopping by! 🙂
The Last Slayer sounds like an interesting story, I enjoy fantasy and any book with demon slayers and dragons sounds great to me. I’m looking forward to reading it.
Barbed1951 at aol dot com
Thanks! I’m exceptionally fond of dragons myself. 🙂
I’m stunned. My daughter is now ten months and refuses to nap for more than an hour. You’ve written such a fantastic story while balancing being a new mom! Bravo!
cole.sarabeth@gmail.com
Sara-Beth,
I’m not that good lol. The story was written before I was pregnant, but contracted after I got pregnant. So the revision happened during my 3rd trimester, labor and the first 2-3 months after the baby’s birth. 🙂 Thankfully my editor was very understanding of the situation. Right now, I’m working on the sequel, and it’s definitely a challenge.
Congrats on your new release. This sounds like an amazing read. A demon slayer teaming up with a demon! I would love to see how this ends! I see that this is a 3 book series. Does it all revolve around Ashera and Ramiel?
tamsyn5@yahoo.com
Tamsyn,
Yes. Ashera and Ramiel are in all three books, and by the third book, their story is wrapped up, along with other plot threads. 🙂
That’s great to know! Thanks!
Thanks for the giveaway. I would love to read this book. Tore923@aol.com
You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by!
It’s so rare to see a world where there are lots of dragons, with a society and everything. Normally they are so rare that they are only seen once in a great while in a story. I’m really intrigued to see how you handle this different way of dealing with them. Looks great!
Yes, they are! Thank you for your interest and stopping by! 🙂
Dragons and demons and demi-gods, oh my!! This book has everything I like in a book, all rolled up into one! I love a good urban fantasy with elements of romance, and when you throw a dragon in, I’m definitely hooked! Thanks so much for the awesome interview and giveaway:)
Thanks! I adore dragons, too. 🙂
Great interview! Nadia is awesome. The Last Slayer is a must-buy!
Heya, Amanda! You make me blush… 🙂 Thank you!
I love Jim Butcher’s books so if Last Slayer is like his, this will be a great read 🙂
smaccall AT comcast.net
Thanks, Sarah! I love Jim Buther’s books too!
Thanks for the great interview! I love dragons and this book is going on top of my wishlist.
Thank you for stopping by! 🙂 And thank you for your interest.
Nadia, you went for my weakness. I have a fondness for dragons. Add a demon slayer and demon in the story, you have me sold. I’m also glad you gave this interview otherwise I wouldn’t know about “The Last Slayer”.
I know I’m going to love this book even before I read it.
Thanks!!!!
Thank you! 🙂