Today we are very excited to welcome author M.L.  Brennan here at Book Lovers Inc to celebrate the release of Generation V,  the first book in what seems to be a most exciting new Urban Fantasy series!  The American Vampire series may seem like your typical vampire story but think again! After all how many vampire stories out there promise you that their vampire hero is sort of a vampire? So, let’s welcome M.L. and don’t forget to check at the end of the post for the details of our giveaway 🙂

Anna: Hello M.L. and welcome to Book Lovers Inc! Could you please tell us a bit about yourself?
M.L.: Thank you so much for having me! I have three cats, a spouse, an elderly and poor-insulated house, and I spend my days teaching basic composition to college students and my nights furiously writing about other worlds. My debut urban fantasy novel Generation V was released by Roc at the beginning of May, and I’ve been doing my best to tell everyone about it!

Anna: What do you think is the difference between a reader and a real Book Lover?
M.L.: I think a reader can go into a book store and resist buying anything new by reminding themselves of how big their to-read pile already is. A Book Lover just keeps stacking that pile higher and higher, because they can’t resist adding great new books to it.

Anna: Your first novel in the American Vampire series, Generation V, has recently been released by Roc, congratulations! Could you please tell our readers a bit about the story and what they can expect from it?
M.L.: Thanks very much! The elevator pitch of my book is that Fortitude Scott has a useless degree, a minimum-wage job, a cheating girlfriend, and a roommate who stiffs him on the rent. And he’s a vampire… mostly. But when a little girl is kidnapped, suddenly he’s the only one who is willing to try and do something about it, so he teams up with a wise-cracking shapeshifter and heads off for a rescue mission that will very likely kill him.

Readers of this book can expect to find a very different presentation of the vampire mythos, and also a different kind of hero. Fort doesn’t start out this book as the biggest and strongest guy around – in fact, just about everyone he encounters in this book is fully capable of beating him up, and not many people take him very seriously. A major part of the book is about how Fort is able to overcome those issues, outthink his opponents, gain allies, and gain a level of comfort in his own skin.

Anna: I read in the summary of Generation V that your hero Fort, though vampire he’s still mostly human. Could you tell us in what ways Fort remains still human and in what ways he’s most definitely a vampire?
M.L.: Sure. In my books, vampires are a separate species, not undead humans. They have a life span, an aging process, and a reproductive cycle. When I was designing their reproductive systems, I was thinking about how many natural parasites will incorporate their host species into their reproduction – think about ticks, or certain parasitic worms. So it made sense for me to have vampires (the ultimate predatory parasite) do something similar with their host species (humans). Fort is in his twenties, which makes him very young by vampire standards. Until he gets older and transitions fully into a vampire – with added strength, speed, resilience, as well as the need to feed off of humans – he is currently at the physical status of a regular human. For him, because he dislikes his family and how they act and what they stand for, when the book begins he has essentially been trying to pretend that he is a human. One of the things that he has to come to terms with over the course of the book is his heritage and genetic destiny.

Anna: Could you give us a short physical description of Fort and Suzume?
M.L.: The cover artist did an amazing job finding a model for Fort – if you look at the cover of Generation V, that basically *is* Fort to me right now. Suzume is Japanese-American, and is one of those women whose attractiveness is almost entirely a product of incredibly self-confidence and strut.

Anna: If Generation V would become a movie what would be your ideal cast for Fort and Suzume?
M.L.: I never really imagine my characters in terms of movie stars, so this one is pretty hard for me. I do know, though, who I would choose to play Fort’s mother – matriarch vampire and deceptively sweet (and wholly dangerous) Madeline Scott: Betty White.

Anna: Can you tell us 3 reasons why people should read Generation V?
M.L.: Well, firstly because Julie at Yummy Men and Kick Ass Chicks gave it a 5+ star rating and said that it was one of her favorite reads of the year so far. Secondly because Kate at All Things Urban Fantasy called it a breath of creepy fresh air. And, thirdly, because I think that readers will really love my mixture of humor, horror, and action.

Anna: What are your future plans? What should we expect from you after Generation V?
M.L.: Right now I’m working on the edits for Generation V’s sequel, Iron Night. It will be published by Roc in January 2014, so there’s lots to look forward to!

Anna: Could you please summarize Generation V for us Twitter-style (in 140 characters or less)?
M.L.: Fortitude Scott has a useless degree, a minimum-wage job, a cheating girlfriend, and a horrible roommate. And he’s a vampire… mostly.

Anna: Could you share with us something, a trivia that not many people know about you?
M.L.: I’m a big fan of Nalini Singh, and I’m anxiously awaiting the release of her next Guild Hunter novel! October just can’t get here fast enough!

About the Author

My first novel, Generation V, is coming out in May 2013 from ROC Books, and is a work of urban fantasy.

I cut my baby bibliophile teeth on my older brother’s collection of Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert, but it was a chance encounter with Emma Bull’s War For The Oaks as a teenager that led to genre true love. Today, I’ll read everything from Mary Roach’s non-fiction to Brandon Sanderson’s epic fantasies, but I’ll still drop everything for vampires and werewolves in the big city.

I hold an advanced degree in the humanities, and I am work as an adjunct professor, teaching composition to first-year college students. I am currently hard at work on the second Fortitude Scott book, Iron Night, which will be published by Roc in January 2014.

Visit M.L. Brennan
Goodreads | Website | Twitter | Facebook

About Generation V

Reality Bites

Fortitude Scott’s life is a mess. A degree in film theory has left him with zero marketable skills, his job revolves around pouring coffee, his roommate hasn’t paid rent in four months, and he’s also a vampire. Well, sort of. He’s still mostly human.

But when a new vampire comes into his family’s territory and young girls start going missing, Fort can’t ignore his heritage anymore. His mother and his older, stronger siblings think he’s crazy for wanting to get involved. So it’s up to Fort to take action, with the assistance of Suzume Hollis, a dangerous and sexy shape-shifter. Fort is determined to find a way to outsmart the deadly vamp, even if he isn’t quite sure how.

But without having matured into full vampirehood and with Suzume ready to split if things get too risky, Fort’s rescue mission might just kill him.…

Buy Generation V: Book Depository (US) | Book Depository (UK) | Amazon | B&N | Kobo

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~*~*Giveaway*~*~
M.L. Brennan has generously offered one signed copy of Generation V to one lucky US/Can commenter and we are giving away another paperback copy open to all!

All you have to do is leave a meaningful comment about the post.
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please be sure to include a valid email address in the comment form (need not be in the actual body of the comment).

Giveaway ends on Saturday, June 15th, 2013; we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!!!!

About Anna

Anna is a psychologist from Greece.You can almost always find her with a book stuck under her nose,so it's no wonder that all her friends make a joke of her.Apart from reading she dreams of the day she'll be able to travel around the world!Anna also blogs at Books to Brighten your Mood.

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