Death Dealer by Rane Sjodin #authorpost

Copyright © 2013 by Rane Sjodin
eBook ISBN: 978-0-9899610-0-4
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9899610-1-1
Full Length Novel. Release Date 10/29/2013.

Blurb:

My name is Cimmerian. I’m a dragon shifter living in New Orleans. Someone is screwing up my pre-Mardi Gras plans by leaving mutilated human bodies all over town. I have to find out whether or not a demon is behind this. If so, are they building a human to animate with demon magic? If not, we have a human serial killer just in time for the town to flood with tourists.

Things were so much quieter on vacation.

Damn, I’m glad to be back at work.

Read an Excerpt

Why I Write Darker Fantasy

by Graylin Rane Fox

I started reading as a teenager. Going through the Harlequin romances like they were Tic Tacs, I found myself needing a break and wanting more. So, I found The Lord of the Rings. Well, it still had romance (which made my mother happy) but I found I couldn’t put the book down in the middle of a fight scene. I HAD to know what happened next. Who would survive? Would Golum kill Frodo and Sam?

And the magic. I fell in desperate love with the magic. As a child indoctrinated into the Catholic Church [don’t ask questions, don’t think too hard, just believe] it lit something inside I hadn’t known was there. Hooked, I read through all three books in secret. I was as fascinated by the bad guys JRR Tolkein wrote as I was by the ones portrayed in Star Wars. What made them tick? Didn’t they realize they’d lose?

Those questions kept me enthralled with the baddies. Creatures who supposedly were born bad like demons, snakes, dragons, spiders, and others made my imagination sing.

The series I write has a lot of those things included. My main character is a dragon shifter, his best friend’s parents were a dragon and a demon, he kills unapologetically (bad guys, mostly), and magic is inherent in the world. I’ve built a place I’ve dreamed of living for thirty years.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I write at night and on weekends. The rest of the week, I make my living as a psychologist. No, I don’t put my clients in my books even though some have requested I do so. I’m a hippy chick living in South Florida a thirty minute drive to the beach. I don’t get there as often as I like, but it recharges me when I do.

I own Dark Fantasy Press so I get to read the work of authors who also like to walk on the darker side.

What inspired your book?

Dragons. It started with dragons. The massive plot bunny generators of Lori Ella and Kim Knox frequently fill my twitter feed with ideas. It’s like twitter is their garden and they bring bags of seeds.

Then, I put together a couple of ideas I’d loved from television and books. I loved the atmosphere of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden novels. Dark, sarcastic, dangerous, and you never know who will survive. Also, the old, cancelled, but I loved it television show, Forever Knight. He was a vampire working with the coroner (my coroner is also human and ‘in the know’). The biggest influence is Castle. The banter and way their personal lives will inevitably leak into the investigation process was something I added. After all, Cimmerian and Wretched Spawn live their jobs so life will happen as they hunt demons.

What are you working on now?

In the Arcane Court world (as Rane Sjodin), I’m writing book three, Shadowed Vengeance. There will be a novella late this summer called Puberty is a Demon told from her mother’s point of view.

As Graylin Rane Fox, I’ve put together all six of my Candy Man Delivery Series stories into a single anthology; it will be out by the time you read this. I’ll have paperback copies at conventions this year, as well.

Who is your favorite character?

My favorite character I’m writing now is Cimmerian. As a male 750+-year-old dragon, he has a unique view of human society. His best friend, Wretch, is also a delight as he is a proud demon slut, unwavering in his admiration for curvy human women (including the aforementioned coroner).

5.Is anything in your book based on real life experiences or purely all imagination?

I’ve made it all up. However, my job as a psychologist means I don’t get happy people coming to see me. I hear about the darker side of humanity all day long. I guess you could say my dark view of life, for me, is more realistic.

Biography:

Graylin Rane Fox / Rane Sjodin is a fantasy, and suspense author and poet. She began writing poetry in 1993 with her first poem published in 1995. In 2008, her characters demanded a larger format and she began to expand her stories into the short fiction market.

Rane Sjodin: Dark Urban Fantasy is a passion of Rane’s. Her Arcane Court Series began with Death Dealer in 2013 and Red Lady in 2014. Shadowed Vengeance, the third in the main series will be out in October 2015. A standalone novella, Puberty is a Demon, will be published in July of 2015.

Graylin Fox: Decadent Publishing published, Coming Home, an urban fantasy 1/1/11. Smolder is a contemporary romantic suspense and Your Biggest Fan is contemporary suspense about a young woman obsessed with a boy band.

Her short story series, Summer Fae, became a full length novel; Contessa: Princess of the Summer Fae in 2014. There is a gargoyle series in the works, the first as-of-yet-unnamed novel will be released in 2016.

Graylin Rane: Candy Man Delivery Service Stories, some in conjunction with the Red Hot authors begun in January 2014. All six stories are available for 99 cents at eBook retailers. The combined anthology will be out by April 2015, available in ebook form online and from her at conventions in paperback. (Paperbacks will be made available online in time for Christmas 2015).

She lives close to the beach where she practices psychology during the week. Her life is full of friends, family, and four-legged furry creatures. Graylin Rane can be found at RaneSjodin.com and GraylinFox.com.