Awakening 2 Release Party

Hi Everyone, 

I've invited my friend and Author Jeanie Grey to guest post today, Release Day for Awakening 2 - Book 2 in the Lilly Frank Series. 

Without further adieu I present to you Lilly and Torren ........

My good friend Zoey Derrick has asked me to write character bios for her Awakening 2 Release Party post. I’ve never done something like this before, and it presents an interesting challenge because I’m so close to the characters that I don’t know what other people would want to know about them. It’s like trying to figure out what to tell people about myself.

Both Lilly and Torren are part of me; they are of me and in me, but also distinct from me. (Obviously I’m not a 500+ year-old male Italian vampire. Or at least I hope that’s obvious. The ‘male’ part, anyway.) I don’t yet know everything about their histories; they reveal things to me as I write. Nor do I understand everything they feel and do—just as I don’t understand everything I feel and do.

But I think I get them both, at the very least, on a basic level. I know why they’re attracted to each other and what causes their conflicts. I know what they’re learning from life and from each other in this story. (Or at least I think I know. They may end up surprising me in Book 3.) What can I tell you that will be of interest to you without giving too much away?

Do you want to know about their motivations? That his loneliness has driven Torren to do some things he’s not proud of? That her need for safety has driven Lilly to become a vampire, despite her aversion to the idea of drinking blood?

Because Lilly spent so many years avoiding being a pawn in her father’s political games, she’s highly sensitive to any behavior that might be considered manipulative or that might indicate that someone is “using” her to get what they need. Torren’s greatest fear is losing someone he loves again. Because Lilly is so independent and self-sufficient, and because she’s so wary of men in general, Torren feels anxious and jealous. He’s worried that she’ll leave him, even after everything he’s done for her.

Perhaps you want to know (to change the topic) how Lilly, despite her privileged upbringing, came to be so passionate about social justice. She had always valued fairness and compassion, but it was a teacher at her private high school—Mr. Thompson—who gave those values direction by introducing her to social justice issues and in particular to what he called “the evils of globalization.” Although Mr. Thompson later turned out to be something of a sleaze (as so many men in Lilly’s life seem to be), she nonetheless retained her interest in social justice. In college she studied anthropology and international affairs. After she graduated, she traveled for a year in Latin America and Asia with a couple of classmates, and then she enrolled in law school to study human rights. She’d almost finished her studies when her mother, Charlotte, was murdered.
Or maybe you want to know about Torren’s human life, about his love affair with Vittoria, about who made him a vampire and why. Perhaps you’d like to know how it’s possible for him to have forgotten so much of his past, when his memory of the past hundred or so years is crystal clear? Ahh, but these are things I can’t tell you yet; I wouldn’t want to give too much away. You’ll just have to wait until Awakening 3 comes out next summer. ;)


Jeanie Grey


http://jeaniegrey.blogspot.com/

****Jeanie's Bio****

Jeanie Grey is a feminist reader and writer of romance and erotica who lives in Portland, Oregon. Her short stories have been published on deadlyeverafter.com and thedarkerhalf.com. For more about her work and her views on writing romance and erotica, please visit her website at http://jeaniegrey.blogspot.com You can also connect with her on Twitter (@jeaniegrey) or email her at writejeaniegrey@gmail.com

**** Awakening 2 Synopsis ****

A newly made vampire requires a certain amount of time to get used to her new body and heightened senses. But Torren's worried that if Lilly doesn't hurry up, she'll be dead before she ever gets the chance to adjust to life as a vampire.

Word among vampires is that someone's hunting their kind, and it's not a quick death if you're caught. This killer likes to torture the victims first, and all signs indicate that he or she is circling ever-closer to Torren and Lilly.

Torren needs Lilly to stop fighting him and start trusting him. Maybe he shouldn't have deceived her...

**********

Thank you so much Jeanie for stopping by my blog, it was a real pleasure having you on and to learn more about Lilly and Torren and their story. 

For all my friends and fans, I hope that you too will enjoy Awakening 2. If you haven't had a chance to read Awakening (Lilly Frank Series) you can pick it up right now on Amazon for only $0.99. 

Jeanie, it was a pleasure and I hope you stop by again soon! 

XxoO, 

Zoey