Guest post and give away with Author Eleri Stone

Please welcome Author Eleri Stone!


Thanks for having me here today Laurie! My name is Eleri Stone and I’m a new author whose debut novel Mercy just released from Carina Press. I thought I’d tell you a bit about myself and how I went from being a paranormal romance fan to an author.
First off, I love paranormal romance. It’s a peanut butter and chocolate combination of my favorite genres – romance, fantasy and horror. In my early teens, I was a big fan of authors like Stephen King, Mercedes Lackey, David Eddings, Anne McAffrey and Lois Duncan. (Does anybody remember that book with the astral projecting evil twin? Loved that one.) My first urban fantasy about vampires was Fred Saberhagen’s An Old Friend of the Family from way back in the 80’s.
In my late teens I picked up my first romance - Whitney, my love by Judith McNaught. (I know a lot of people have trouble with the riding crop scene and the forced seduction in that one but I loved it then. I love it still.) Almost overnight, romance became my go to genre. Historical romances were my early favorite but then something miraculous happened… there was this explosion of paranormal romance in the bookstores. It was the coming together of everything I loved to read growing up in fantasy and horror, and everything I loved about romance as an adult. I was in heaven. Vampire lovers - I’m there. Fae – Yup. Shapeshifters of any variety – Yessss.
Right now my two favorite series to follow are Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series and Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series.
So when I sat down to write my own story, I didn’t even stop to question what kind it would be. The only question was whether I would be able to finish it. You see, I’ve always loved to write. The problem is that while I’m really good about starting stories, I’m really bad about finishing them. I like beginnings and it seemed like I was always getting an idea, writing a chapter or two under that wild sweet thrill of inspiration and then one of the kids would get sick or I’d have to put in overtime. I’d put the story on the shelf for awhile and by the time I got back to it, the thrill was gone.
When my youngest started preschool last year, I decided I was going to use those two hours to write – ignore the laundry and the dishes and just try to finish one manuscript. That was Mercy – my own paranormal romance about jaguar shapeshifters living in the Amazon jungle. It has a touch of fantasy in that the Yaguara are a remote tribe of shapeshifters and I was able to build their society from scratch. It has an edge of horror in the brutality of that society - the hero and heroine meet in what should have been a battle to the death. And, of course, it has romance.


Here’s the blurb:
To the Yaguara, an ancient jaguar shape-shifting people living deep in the Amazon jungle, nothing matters more than strength. Iada is their champion; genetically pure, she has been trained since birth to fight. Her destiny is to become the next Queen of the Yaguara by winning the tournament of succession—a battle to the death.
Her opponent is Gabriel, a half-blooded outcast whose mother was human. To everyone's shock, he defeats Iada but does not strike the death blow—instead, he extends mercy, thereby claiming her as his mate.
Despite their enmity, the attraction between them is powerful, and soon they are mates in more than name only. Their mutual distrust serves only to fuel their passion—two champions bested only by their overpowering desire for each other.
But Gabriel has an agenda that threatens the most basic tenets of Yaguara society—and that will force Iada to choose between her people or her King.
You can find an excerpt here: http://www.eleristone.com/index.php?p=1_6


You can find me online at…
My website http://www.eleristone.com/
My blog http://www.eleristone.blogspot.com/
Or on Twitter http://www.twitter.com/EleriStone


Thanks for stopping by! I’m giving away a free copy of Mercy. To enter the drawing, please leave a comment below. Tell me about your favorite author, your favorite book or what you’re most looking forward to reading in the coming months. The giveaway will stay open until midnight on October 8th.