Jess Haines Interview & Giveaway

Today we are honored to have Jess Haines here with us. Jess is giving away a copy of Nocturnal to one lucky commenter, details below. Thank you for stopping by Jess.

To start with, would you mind telling the readers a little about yourself?

Sure! I’m a quiet one. You’ve got to watch out for me. Behind this innocent façade lurks a dirty, devious mind.

Really—I’m just this gal, you know? In person, I’m usually quiet and fairly shy with strangers.With friends, I change gears – you’ll get a lot of obscure Hitchhiker’s Guide and Holy Grail jokes instead of awkward silence. The Sunday Night Movie Madness crowd gets together every weekend to watch movies. If they’re really special movies, we MST them.

What can you tell us about the H&W Investigations series for those who haven't read it?

Here’s a little info on each book:

Book 1: HUNTED BY THE OTHERS – Released May, 2010 --It’s about a private investigator, Shiarra Waynest, who has run into financial trouble with her business. She breaks down and accepts a job she normally wouldn’t touch – a mage coven hires her to find an artifact in the hands of New York’s hottest – err, most powerful vampire.

Seeing as she’s human, Shiarra knows she can’t compete with the Others (supernaturals). All she wants to do is find the artifact, collect her fee, and call it a day. However, when the magi who come in contact with it start showing up dead and the vampire Alec Royce finds out she’s been attempting to manipulate him, things go downhill pretty fast. Before she knows it, her friends and family are suddenly endangered by her choices, and she’s running out of time to figure out where this thing is hidden. Meanwhile, a bunch of crazy supernatural hunters called White Hats are inviting her to join them or die. Oh, and her werewolf ex-boyfriend may or may not be trying to get back in her pants and/or use her to get his own hands on the artifact.

Yeah, she’s not having a good day.

Novella: NOCTURNAL (Spark of Temptation) – Released September, 2010 – This story is told from Shiarra’s best friend’s point of view—Sara gets a little “screen time” of her own! Anyone wondering about how Sara and Arnold became a couple (as mentioned at the end of HUNTED) will have that question answered in this novella.

Book 2: TAKEN BY THE OTHERS – Coming January 4, 2011 – This is the back cover copy: Once, New York P.I. Shiarra Waynest’s most pressing problem was keeping her agency afloat. Now she’s dealing with two dangerous, seductive vampires who have been enemies for centuries. The only thing Max Carlyle and Alec Royce agree on is that they both want Shia—for very different reasons.

Max is determined to destroy Shia for killing his progeny, while Royce’s interest is a lot more personal. That’s not sitting well with Shia’s werewolf boyfriend, Chaz. As the feud between Max and Royce gets ever more deadly, a powerful vampire-hunting faction is urging Shia to join their side. Shia has always believed vamps were the bad guys, but she’s discovering unexpected shades of grey that are about to redefine her friends, her loyalties—and even her desires…

Book 3: DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS – Coming sometime in 2011 – Well, since the second book hasn’t come out yet, I don’t want to give away too much—but I will say that this one has a lot more to do with Chaz and the rest of his pack than the other two books…

What can we expect from Taken by the Others coming out in January 2011?

A lot more Royce, a lot more Chaz, and a lot more White Hats. Shia’s going to be facing some of her worst nightmares, and learning that the things she was afraid of aren’t so bad compared to the things she has to deal with in this installment.

Are there more H&W Investigation books planned?

There are! I’m not currently contracted for them, but I’ve been working on the sequel to DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS and a paranormal romance that is not part of the series but is based in the same world.

One story I am contracted for that is based in the H&W-‘verse is going to be included in the REAL WEREWIVES OF VAMPIRE COUNTY anthology coming out in 2011. There may be others, but that’s what’s on my plate at the moment.

Shiarra Waynest is a strong main characters, who never lets her fear paralyze her, tell us about her and what makes her tick?

Shiarra Waynest is a private investigator in a world that’s changed since 9/11. Supernatural critters—aka, “Others”—have proclaimed their existence to the world and integrated themselves into society—but that doesn’t mean everyone likes it. Shiarra doesn’t give a hoot about the vampire clubs, mage covens, or werewolf cab drivers. She’s a normal human swimming in debt and willing to do almost anything to keep her business afloat. Thanks to what appear to be dire circumstances to her eyes, she goes against her instincts and accepts a job from a mage coven to locate an ancient artifact in the hands of New York’s most high-profile vampire.

Yeah, I never said she was smart.

What is unique about your series, compared to other urban fantasy series currently on the market?

I wasn’t looking to reinvent the genre when I wrote HUNTED. All I did was throw in a few little things to give my own spin to the “supernatural co-existing with us poor ol’ normal humans” theme.

My supernaturals came out of the closet in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 9/11. To combat the inevitable litigation that would follow in the wake of a vampire or werewolf attack, a law was passed in the United States requiring Others categorized as “potential dangers” to have their significant others or their lunches sign away their lives on contracts preventing the human from seeking reparations for damages. No nookie or hanky-panky is to take place, nor chowing down, until one of those contracts is signed, notarized, and filed with their friendly neighborhood clerk of the court.

Can you tell I’ve been working in the field of law too long?

Why the urban fantasy genre? Did you choose it or did it choose you?

Fantasy has owned me from the day I picked up a pen. I’m putty in its hands.

When did you know that you wanted to be a writer? Was your family and friends supportive?

I first decided I wanted to be a writer when I was in high school.

So I wrote… and wrote… and wrote. Why haven’t you heard of me before now, you ask?

Err. I had a bit of a bad experience in college, and as a result, didn’t want to show anyone my work for a number of years. Never thought I’d make it, to be honest.

A couple years ago, my friend Binah happened to read some of my stuff and pushed me to write more. In fact, she bugged the crap out of me every day to bring her a new chapter of HUNTED, all the way until it was finished. Then she bugged me to get it published. She’s really the one to thank for pushing me into dipping my toe into the publishing pool! If not for her, I wouldn’t have persevered and done what it took to land an agent and get a book deal.

What is the writing process like for you? Do you have a particular writing process or any writing rituals?

Consume coffee. Contemplate computer screen for a while. Spatter out roughly 200 words. Add coffee. Get interrupted. Handle interruption. Consume more coffee. Rinse, repeat.

In your free time what can you be found doing?

I don’t have much free time these days. I work two jobs, plus I write—so usually the time I’m not working is spent on my writing.

When I’m too fried to concentrate, I watch movies, hang out with my friends, read, sketch, etc. I like to dance and go hiking and walk on the beach, but I haven’t had much time for that lately.

What are you currently working on? Anything you can share regarding your current Work in Progress?

Well, I don’t want to spoil what’s coming in book four, but I can talk a bit about the WEREWIVES novella and the paranormal romance I’ve got on my plate!

The novella is centered around a few affluent werewolves and how a newcomer to town is trying to insinuate herself into their clique. Problem? The woman’s an ex-White Hat.

As for the PNR, it’s a co-written novel featuring characters from my work and from a friend’s. It’s an unlikely pairing—a werewolf named Christoph from a pack that has a tendency to hunt down and eat vampires, and a mute vamp named Mouse (who makes her first appearance as one of Royce’s house guards in TAKEN BY THE OTHERS). Christoph and his packmate Ashi make some spectacularly stupid mistakes that land them in Royce’s hands. Wackiness ensues. Said wackiness includes a fashion makeover from the gayest vampire in all the land, an angry French chef, werewolves in fetish collars, an epic battle over ice cream, a naked Highlander, and a bit of male strip-dancing.

As you might have gathered, this isn’t your typical romance.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Sure! I have a few ways of keeping in touch with fans:


 My website (http://www.jesshaines.com/) lists most of my work in progress.


I occasionally send more detailed updates and snippets of my unpublished work via an email newsletter – you can sign up for that on my webpage.


I do keep a blog (http://www.jesshaines.com/blog),  though that’s primarily where you’ll find my ramblings about other stuff (free hugs, recipes, odes to rejection, author and artist interviews, etc).


I can be found on Goodreads (http://www.goodreads.com/jesshaines) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jess-Haines-HW-Investigations/199575306328?ref=ts),  too!

Jess Haines is giving away a copy of Nocturnal. To be entered please leave a question for Jess, and also fill out the FORM. You have until 11:59pm (EST) on October 9 to enter and the winner will be announce October 10th.

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