Guest Post & Giveaway with Author Virna DePaul

Welcome to stop #10 in my blog tour For Chosen By Sin (Para-Ops #3).

Thank you to Lush for having me here today!  This tour focuses on my writing and my paranormal series, but also my Twelve Resolutions for 2012, as well as the resolutions of my hero in Chosen By Sin, werebeast Dex Hunt. Those of you who know Dex know he's a bit...difficult, so I'm curious to see what he comes up with. (Psst: Dex doesn't actually know it, but his “resolutions” are more like a Twelve-Step Program designed by me to get him to his HEA).

I'll be giving away a prize to one commenter from this blog stop, but I'm also giving away one grand prize to one blog tour follower.  See the giveaway details below! :)

The Para-Ops Series: Five years after the Second Civil War ends, humans and Otherborn—humanlike creatures with superhuman DNA—still struggle for peace. To ensure the continued rights of both, the FBI forms a Para-Ops team with a unique set of skills.  (Chosen By Blood (Book 1), Chosen By Fate (Book 2))

So what's Resolution #10 for me?  See More Plays And Musicals

I'm a musical junkie.  At least, I used to be.  But in the past few years, while I've managed to sneak in a few big ones (Wicked, Phantom, Jersey Boys), I no longer see them regularly and I haven't seen many local productions.  Just like books, musicals enable me to experience other people and places in an emotional, usually uplifting way.  They're especially great for those who love romance, even if it doesn't necessarily come with a perfect HEA.  For example, take Aida, a musical written by Elton John about star-crossed lovers.  I'm listening to a song from the musical right now, a duet between the romantic leads called Written In The Stars.  Here's just a few lines:

Never wonder what I feel as living shuffles by

You don't have to ask me and I need not reply

Every moment of my life from now until I die

I will think or dream of you and fail to understand

How a perfect love can be confounded out of hand

Is it written in the stars?

Are we paying for some crime?

Is that all that we are good for?

Just a stretch of mortal time?

Or some God's experiment

In which we have no say?

In which we're given paradise

But only for a day...

How's that for gut-wrenchingly powerful?

  

And what's Resolution #10 for Dex Hunt?

Here's a hint from Chosen By Sin.

“Remember, Dex,” Mahone said during their final briefing on Dex’s assignment. “Flying to Paris is about gathering intel only. The shape-shifters aren’t exactly a group the Bureau is prepared to trust. Still, reliable sources overseas tell us there’s more infighting than ever.”

“You’ve reminded me of this every hour on the hour. I’ve made several good connections over the past few days. I’m not stupid, Mahone.”

“But you do have a problem blending in, even when you’re in the States. You’ll stand out even more in France, where Otherborn aren’t even publicly acknowledged.”

It didn’t matter where they were—none of the Para-Ops team blended in. But Dex just shrugged.

He got what Mahone was saying loud and clear.

Forget that the team’s leader, Knox Devereaux, had a vampire’s silver hair and pupils, that Wraith had once had blue skin and hazed-over eyes, or that O’Flare was an “11” on a scale of one to ten for sexual appeal. Dex was the team’s problem child. That’s what Mahone meant, and that suited Dex just fine. 

Dex's resolution #10 is to stop buying into what other people think of him.  In fact, it's to stop encouraging those thoughts.  At various times, people have called Dex a problem child, a whipped dog, a pet, a worthless bastard.  He's taken in all those slights, whether he wants to admit it or not, and he needs to let them go. 

Want to see a trailer I made depicting the Para-Ops characters as I see them?  Dex is particularly yummy!  Here's the link: http://on.fb.me/z6Z8nI

Bio: Virna DePaul is a former prosecutor and now national bestselling author of the Para-Ops Novels. She also writes contemporary romantic suspense for Harlequin Romantic Suspense (It Started That Night, May 2012) and HQN (Shades Of Desire, June 2012).

Blurb for Chosen By Sin:

The longest life isn’t always the happiest one…

For now, werebeast Dex Hunt serves on the Para-Ops team, but his true purpose is to kill the werewolf leader he blames for his mother’s death. Biding his time, Dex keeps his emotional distance from his team members and anyone else he might care for, including a mysterious vampire he met in L.A.

As a doctor, vampire Jesmina Martin has dedicated her immortal life to healing others. As a scientific researcher, she’s trying to prolong life spans, in particular those of her adoptive dragon-shifter family and the werewolf who saved her as a child. Her greatest hope lies with Dex, a werebeast she believes can gift immortality to others.

Only Dex knows nothing about his gift or the fact Jesmina wants to harness it. After a passionate night together neither expects to see the other again. Weeks later, they are reunited in France and forced to acknowledge a fragile miracle—a new life struggling to survive. At the same time, they must stop a group of rebel shape-shifters hoping to unleash every demon in hell. But before Dex and Jesmina can save their child or the world, they must relinquish their secrets, face their fears, and open themselves to love.

Purchase:

E-version ($4.99)

Amazon: http://t.co/SE2EAgR

Barnes and Noble: http://t.co/UW5P73o

Paperback ($7.99)

Amazon: http://fb.me/19XPRKYX3

Giveaway Details:

Daily Blog Tour Giveaway: Today, Virna is gifting one book from her backlist (prize winner's choice, see backlist here) to one randomly selected commenter who either leaves a comment on the blog, or a question for Virna to answer. Please also include your email addy. This will end on 1/21/12 at midnight

GRAND PRIZE TOUR GIVEAWAY: What was Dex's "resolution" that Virna talked about today? Do you know the answer? Fantastic!!  Because...

Virna is also gifting a $100 Amazon gift card to one randomly selected reader who leaves the answer to this question during the blog tour.  Go to: http://chosenbysin.com/virtual-tour-grand-prize  You can be entered to win the grand prize once each day by simply following the tour from January 9 - 20, and leaving your answer with each day's different resolution!!

Virna is also offering autographed copies of CHOSEN BY SIN for purchase during this blog tour.  To purchase an autographed copy, please visit http://chosenbysin.com.

Thanks Virna for stopping by!