CSI meets True Blood in a new urban fantasy romance series with a supernatural crimes unit...
Winner of a 2009 Daphne du Maurier Award for Mystery and Suspense, and a 2009 Romance Writers of America Golden Heart® finalist, Taste Me is the first book in a gritty, fast-paced, sexy urban fantasy romance series set in a world where incubi, sirens, Valkyries, vampires, werewolves and faeries live undetected alongside humankind. In Taste Me, incubus security guru Lukas Sebastiani is suckered into playing bodyguard for his former lover, siren rock star Scarlett Fontaine – and neither of them are happy about it.
Read an excerpt! (mature readers only)
CAT: What’s your favorite cartoon character?
TAMMY: South Park’s Eric Cartman. His creators, Peabody Award winners Trey Parker and Matt Stone, deliver some of the most thought-provoking and insightful cultural commentary out there, while making my inner twelve-year-old snicker.
CAT: What turns you off like nothing else?
TAMMY: Prejudice. And the sound of someone snapping their gum.
CAT: Where do you read and how often?
TAMMY: I read in the bathtub for an hour every day (I take baths rather than showers). I also read nearly every night before bed.
CAT: What sound or noise do you love?
TAMMY: The sound of a snuffling puppy or kitten.
CAT: Die Hard or Die Harder?
TAMMY: Die Hard, of course. Why? The delicious Alan Rickman.
CAT: Who’s your favorite villain?
TAMMY: Hannibal Lechter from Silence of the Lambs. For some reason I find the concept of a psychiatrist serial killer absolutely fascinating. What goes on in his head? He has to know he’s a psychopath.
CAT: Do you write while listening to music? If so what kind?
TAMMY: Music is a critical tool for me; I HAVE to listen to music when I write. I usually write at my hometown coffee shop, and find it really difficult to filter out the conversations, the hiss of the espresso machine, the squeal of toddlers, the slamming of the door. Listening to music gives me a single loud thing to listen to, rather than a hundred softer ones which are infinitely more distracting, if that makes sense. I also use iPod playlists to more quickly dial into a POV character’s headspace. My playlists are emotion-based. I have playlists for happiness, serenity, anger, and for love scenes, of course. I find I’m also influenced by the pace of music as well. I have a playlist called “Need for Speed” that I queue up when I’m doing fast-drafting or writing sprints. I can’t help but type faster when I listen to Bowie’s “Suffragette City” or The Prodigy’s “Breathe.” I’ll listen to anything from Gregorian chants to death metal, and have a marked preference for the music of my youth - the 1980’s.
CAT: If you could interview one person (and it doesn’t have to be a writer) who would it be?
TAMMY: Does the person have to be alive? If not, Carl Sagan. If so, Tina Fey.
CAT: What do you do to unwind and relax?
TAMMY: Watch TV, and read in the bathtub, of course! I have a chronic pain condition, and spending time in the bathtub is an important aspect of my pain management routine. Everyone in my family knows to give me Bath and Body Works gift cards for Christmas, and after the holidays, I buy a dozen bottles of bubble bath at a time. I also love to shop at vintage shops and consignment stores. I honestly don’t remember the last time I paid retail prices for a pair of jeans or a party dress.
CAT: Tea or Coffee? And how do you take it?
TAMMY: Coffee with cream, please. I love coffee. High-end restaurant coffee, fast-food coffee, burned gas station coffee. I love coffee’s heat, its scent, its taste. I honestly don’t care whether the coffee is caffeinated or not; my body doesn’t seem to recognize the difference.
CAT: What would you say is your most interesting quirk?
TAMMY: Hmm, tough question. I have so many tics and quirks to choose from! I’ll have to go with my annoyance with certain sounds. The sound of someone snapping gum, or chewing with their mouth open, the clack of fingers against a keyboard, forks scraping against plates, or the soft, repetitive click of the plunger on top of a pen, drives me OFF THE RAILS. I find these sounds absolutely excruciating to listen to. Chapter mates, or fellow conference attendees, if you start taking notes with an AlphaSmart and I suddenly get up and change seats, this is the reason why. It’s not you, it’s me. (Thank you thank you thank you to the person who suggested I research a condition called Soft Sound Sensitivity Syndrome.) Being trapped on an airplane within hearing distance of a gum snapper—<shudder> multiple gum snappers! —is my personal seventh circle of hell.
CAT’S GOTTA ASK
If you were a t-shirt, what color would you be and why?
TAMMY’S GOTTA ANSWER
Black, of course – why change now? Most of my shoe collection is black, so a black T-shirt always matches.
GOT A QUESTION YOU’D LIKE TO ASK YOUR FANS?
Music is an essential tool for me when I write. How about you? Is there a genre of music you particularly love or loathe? Which band comes after U2 in your music collection? (Me? Urban Guerillas.)
WILL YOU HAVE A DRAWING FROM THOSE LEAVING COMMENTS?
Yes! Two randomly-selected commenters will receive a copy of Taste Me! (USA and Canada only) Thank you, Sourcebooks!***
Tammy would love to hear from you. Here’s where she can be found:
Tammy’s website is: http://www.tamarahogan.com/
Tammy blogs at: http://www.rubyslipperedsisterhood.com/
Tammy’s Twitter: @tamarahogan1
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