If you’ve been following our series this month on romance author of  the month Caris Roane (who also writes Regency Romances under the name Valerie King), then you’ll know that Caris is the author of the Guardians of Ascension series. BestRomanceStories.com is delighted to have Caris answer some of our questions in this exclusive interview. Read on to find out more about Caris’ books, which authors inspired her to write about vampires, and what superpower she’d like to have. And come back next Friday to read a post written by Caris herself, where you’ll also have an opportunity to win a signed copy of one of the Guardians of Ascension books, and other great prizes!

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Welcome to BestRomanceStories.com, and thanks for taking the time to answer our questions! Obsidian Flame, the fifth and latest book in the Guardians of Ascension series came out in April 2012, and the sixth book, Gates of Rapture, is scheduled for release in December. What would you like to tell our readers about the Guardians of Ascension series? Would you be able to give readers a sneak peek into what we can expect with Gates of Rapture?

First, I need to let your wonderful readers know that my books are all about vampires, not an angel in sight, even though there are wings on the covers. One of the first magical things that happened for me as a writer when I first started putting the Ascension series together, was the emergence of wings. Yes, my vampires have wings!  It was a real departure from the norm, but one day, while writing, a scene emerged in which a vampire was floating in midair with enormous black wings. I was hooked from that moment on.

Each story features a powerful vampire, a Warrior of the Blood, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. For centuries these warriors have been battling against an ever-increasing number of death vampires under the power and control of Commander Greaves. Lonely, battle-weary, the warriors serve Second Earth.  Then the women come, preternaturally powerful and each bearing a unique scent that calls to one of the warriors. Caught in the grip of what becomes a bonding ritual, each warrior takes on the role of Guardian of Ascension to his woman and the struggle to protect her against Greaves and his army of death vamps begins.

Gates of Rapture is the sixth installment of the series.  My publisher has decided that for their needs Gates of Rapture will be the last of the series that they will publish and several plot threads do get tied up. But my heart is with my warriors and I’m hoping to self-publish many more stories in the coming years.

Warrior Leto, former spy under Commander Greaves, has returned to the Warriors of the Blood.  But his woman, Grace, was taken by a Fourth Ascender and now Leto must try to resume his previous life.  He struggles with a beast-issue, a strange condition that transforms him physically into something bigger and more powerful but which he can’t control. When Grace returns to Second Earth, determined to bring Greaves down and end the war, Leto must work to protect her not just from death vampires and Greaves, but from his own beast as well…and that’s just a taste!

You’re an award-winning author in the field of Regency Romance (as Valerie King), and you’ve been writing Regency Romances for over twenty years. What inspired you to start a paranormal romance series about warrior vampires?

I’ve always enjoyed the vampire myth and even included a family of vampires in one of my Regency romances many years ago, so the transition felt really natural to me. But what inspired me the most were other paranormal authors. I relished Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Dark Hunter series and devoured J.R. Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I went on to feast on the works of Christine Feehan, Kresley Cole, Gena Showalter and a few others. I couldn’t get enough. Pretty soon, I knew I had to create my own world and the Guardians of Ascension were born.

Vampires have become a huge part of popular culture in recent times. Why do you think vampires are such a big draw, and why do you find vampires interesting?

Recently, I did a post for Heroes and Heartbreakers addressing that very question.  I called the post: Vampires Are Just Like Us! Basically, I think what makes vampires, and other paranormal creatures, really work for us today is that authors have taken very human qualities and simply exaggerated them. A vampire has an undead heart, for instance, and haven’t many of us been in a relationship in which we swear that the guy doesn’t have a heart, or if he does, it doesn’t beat? So a vampire ends up as a larger-than-life metaphor addressing issues we can all relate to. Add to that, the hunkiness that most of us now give our vampires, and who can resist that:  the ultimate gorgeous bad boy, but with fangs. 

As a paranormal romance author, you probably spend a lot of time building new worlds and creating stories where many unusual things happen. Have you ever had a paranormal or unexplained encounter in real life? Tell us about what you saw or experienced!

I tend to keep myself closed off to all things paranormal in the real world  because the idea of it scares me to death! BUT, I spent a weekend at a haunted hotel a couple of years ago. Again, I kept myself closed off to paranormal experience and had a nice stay. But the next year, when I fully intended to return, I called the hotel and booked a room that I had seen before, with a beautiful balcony that overlooked the valley below. I couldn’t wait to go back. Shortly after I made my reservation, however, I had a dream in which a psychic I know said to me very clearly, “You can’t stay in that room.”

Can you guess how fast I cancelled my reservation!!!  And I haven’t been back to that hotel either! 

Do you have any quirky habits, or are there any rituals or routines that you have to go through before you start writing?

Yes, my quirky ritual is forcing myself to get out of bed, lol! Actually, I don’t really have a ritual but I will tell you that I play solitaire a lot while I write and edit because it helps clear my mind when I get stuck. 

Who are some authors who have made an impression on you, and who influence your work? What are some of your favorite books?

If I go back a long ways, I would start with Gone with the Wind, Jane Eyre, and Shogun. Fast forward and the author Georgette Heyer snagged me with her work and I spent years collecting as many of her novels as I could find.  I even have one hardcover edition.  And as I mentioned before, a whole slew of paranormal authors inspired me to write my Guardians of Ascension series.

Please tell us three things about yourself that you think will surprise readers.

I didn’t start writing until my mid-twenties.

 I was a tour guide at Disneyland many years ago.

Though I totally enjoy writing my steamy paranormal novels and my characters often swear up a storm, I’m a pretty straight-laced person. My DH is my one and only, I rarely drink, I’ve never done drugs, and I try to tell the truth.

If you could have one super power, what would it be?

That is the easiest question in the world for me. If I had one super power it would be the power to heal physical or mental suffering. With such a gift, I would do nothing else with my time.

Caris Roane/Valerie King can be found at the following places:
carisroane.com
valerieking-romance.com
wickedwritingskills.com