J.N. Duncan Guestpost & Giveaway

 

Please welcome J.N. Duncan, Urban Fantasy author, to parajunkee.com. J.N. Duncan is the creative genius behind  Deadworld the first book in the Deadworld Series.  Mr. Duncan has also graciously offered up a signed copy of his book, DEADWORLD,  a signed cover flat and a copy of his 2nd book in the Deadworld series, The Vengeful Dead to one lucky commenter, (crazy generous!) so check at the end of this post for more details.

The lovely Ms. Para d'Junkee has handed over the blog reigns to me today to talk about the paranormal. When I asked what readers might like to discuss, she told me that "versus" posts tend to go over well, "like vampires vs. werewolves." Well, we have seen this kind of thing before, discussing the pros and cons of each, who is most badass, who makes the hottest hero, and so forth. So, I thought, hmm, how can I tie this to my debut novel, Deadworld? It does indeed have a vampire or two in it, but the only other paranormal form in this story at least, is ghosts. We don't typically see ghost heroes or heroines, but then, doing the same thing that's been done is not much fun, so I figured, why not? We'll do ghosts vs. vampires and see what happens.

As for myself, I'm a debut author with Kensington Publishing. My Urban Fantasy, Deadworld, is out in stores now. It's possible you've seen it reviewed on some of the other uf review sites or perhaps on goodreads. It's a noir'ish, paranormal thriller, with vamps, ghosts, and a troubled FBI agent who gets caught up in stuff way over her head. I'm a father of four, an aspiring teacher, live in the midwest, and for lack of a better word, am pretty much a geek. I also write fantasy, which I hope to have ready to self-publish in the near future. Anyway, back to ghosts and vamps.

When I came up with the notion for Deadworld, it started with a vampire, specifically, an old-west sheriff turned vampire. I chose this particular background for him because I wanted someone who would have a less-than-typical background, and be in a situation that being turned into someone who required blood to live, would create something of a conflict. He's the haunted, brooding sort, prone to a low sense of self-worth, not your more classic, arrogant, power-savoring sort of vamp. Regardless of the type however, they have proven time and again to make for very attractive heroes. Whether it's a full-of-himself, arrogant bastard who needs to get knocked down a few pegs, or the angst-ridden, awash in guilt vamp who needs to come to terms, they make for drool-worthiness. Let's face it, they have the power to charm your socks off and they like to bite, and if they love you, it's pretty much til the end of days (or 2012, whichever comes first). They can also kick ass on almost anything out there, so we have a lot of pros going here. Regardless of how much one might consider them overdone in the UF genre these days, just for comparison purposes, they are kind of hard to beat as romantic heroes.

On the other side, we have ghosts. They can be almost any type of person. You can build up a pretty endless variety of traits and characteristics for a ghost character, because really, they're like any other living character one might write, except they're kind of dead. This might be considered something of a fatal flaw. Kind of hard to get romantic with someone you can't touch, though it certainly lends itself to some heartache and angst in a relationship. For those who have seen it, Patrick Swayze in Ghost is a good example here. However, how fatal a flaw is being incorporeal, when ghosts have the rather unique ability (or at least they do in my world of the non-living) to possess? They can take control of another body. This opens up all sorts of possibilities. If your love dies, what happens if they come back in someone else? What if they look like (insert hot celebrity name here)? Of course, as a writer, one can go in all sorts of interesting directions with this, but I am particularly fond of the longing generated by having someone you love and can see but can't touch. Writers tend to have fun torturing their characters, so what can I say?

So, given this unlikely comparison, who is going to win out? The more human hero/heroine whom you can't touch, but could literally put themselves into another body, or the undead person, hounded by the passion for blood and a rather unnerving ability to subsume your will? When I first thought about this, my initial inclination was that vamps would win out, hands down, but I'm not so sure at this point. The ghost does have its own particular charm. What do you think?

Anyone who comments will get put into random drawing to get a signed copy of Deadworld and cover flat for the sequel, The Vengeful Dead, out in October, or if Para prefers, she can arrange her own question/contest here for the drawing. Either way, I'm good, and it was a pleasure being here today.

Contest Deets ONE WINNER:

One copy of JN Duncan's book, DEAD WORLD, a signed cover flat and a copy of the 2nd book, The Vengeful Dead (due out Oct 2011) to one lucky commenter

View Contest Policy for complete list of rules. 
Giveaway ends June 15th
Domestic, US, CAN shipping only.
ARC of TVD will be shipped out at a later date.


Requirements:
Following is not required but is appreciated!


 
Comment to win: Answer Mr. Duncan's Question:


So, given this unlikely comparison, who is going to win out? The more human hero/heroine whom you can't touch, but could literally put themselves into another body, or the undead person, hounded by the passion for blood and a rather unnerving ability to subsume your will? When I first thought about this, my initial inclination was that vamps would win out, hands down, but I'm not so sure at this point. The ghost does have its own particular charm. What do you think?


Extra Comment for an Extra Entry:Tweet: Win a signed copy of DEAD WORLD by @jimnduncan + The Vengeful Dead!! via @parajunkee #contest #ghosts http://bit.ly/lzmoqz PLZ RT

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