Bound in
Black
The Vessel
Trilogy
Book Three
by Juliette
Cross
Publisher: Samhain Publishing
Date of Publication: July 21, 2015
Genevieve Drake is on a dangerous mission
to find the soul collector, Lethe, and enter the deepest, darkest level of the
underworld. No one has ever returned alive from the belly of a soul collector,
but she will let nothing stop her from going after the precious treasure Lethe
stole from her.
As she is tested against demon spawn and
foul creatures of the underworld, each triumph strengthens her Vessel power—and
drags her closer to a breaking point that could forever doom her to the abyss.
Meanwhile, with the full prophecy
hurtling toward completion, the Dominus Daemonum strategize for the day Gen
will battle Prince Bamal’s Vessel to the death, when the Great War between
heaven and hell will begin.
But Bamal has a secret weapon. When he
reveals it—and Thomas reveals his own hidden agenda—Gen may not have the
strength to resist the temptation to fall into darkness, forsaking the fate of
the world for her broken heart.
Warning: Contains malicious demons,
sinister spawn, and a vengeful heroine with plans to send them all back to
burning hell.
INTERVIEW!
Pat: Hi Juliette, welcome and congratulations on the release of
BOUND IN BLACK, the third book in the Vessel Trilogy. First could you tell us a
bit about this book and the trilogy?
Juliette: Thank you, Pat! Glad to be here.
Well, while The Vessel Trilogy has the overall plot of good vs. evil, angels
vs. demons, heaven vs. hell, this is ultimately a love story between a scarred
demon hunter harboring dark secrets and a college co-ed crossing the threshold
into womanhood. The trilogy begins with Genevieve Drake’s 20th
birthday at a Goth club in New Orleans where she is nearly killed in a back
alley by a demon. In steps Jude Delacroix, and the story really begins. J
Pat:I absolutely love that your books come with warning labels. How
about you? What does your warning label say?
Juliette: Warning—Contains a neurotic
writer in constant need of caffeine who may at any moment be plotting her
villain’s demise with a sword or dragon fire so don’t cut her off in the car
line or at Starbucks.
Pat: Are all of your books new adult? What do you think makes
NA distinct from other categories—such as young adult and adult fiction?
Juliette: The Vessel Trilogy is more NA,
but I believe some of my books set in the Morgon world could be crossover
NA/Adult. To me, NA is about the heroine who is beyond the teen angst and first
love phase, but hasn’t quite established herself as a woman of the world. She’s
in that transition phase where she might still be discovering who she truly is
and/or dealing with hang-ups from her childhood and trying to overcome those
conflicts.
I specifically wrote Genevieve as a
carefree college girl in book one, FORGED IN FIRE. She has a sad history
regarding her mother, but is really just more girl than woman in her outlook on
life. By book three, she has experienced serious loss and heartbreak, and
finally transforms into the strong, independent woman she is meant to be in
order to protect those she loves. I find that it is when we, boy or girl, are
faced with adversity and are forced to make difficult choices that we finally
cross the threshold into adulthood.
Pat: BOUND IN BLACK is the third book in a
series that has extensive world-building and backstory. How do you keep track
of all those details and work them into later books without overloading the
reader and slowing the stories’ pace?
Juliette: Wow. Good question. Am I doing this
okay? To keep track, I have a “Notes” file for every book. And I know the full
arc of my overall plot in a world, no matter if I haven’t written that part of
the story yet. For example, I already know who is going to kill the big villain
in WAKING THE DRAGON and how he’ll die, but I’ve got at least five books
planned before we get there.
I also write backstories for
characters, even if those backstories may not appear in the books. It’s
important for me to know everything about a character for them to come to life
on the page. As far as pacing, I do my best to work the world-building into the
story itself so there isn’t a major info dump on the reader. This is difficult,
but very important. In my current WIP, I find the world-building is coming out
through dialogue and action, which I wasn’t planning. Just happened that way.
Pat: Demons, angels and dragon-hybrids all appear in your books—what
is your favorite brand of bad boy and why?
Juliette: Okay, so I’m a total cliché. I’m
drawn to the dark, brooding, scarred bad boy who would do anything to protect
his woman. I’m also fond of the hero who finds a woman’s mind as sexy as her
body.
Pat: If you could describe yourself using only one book (not one of
yours) as a reference, what would it be?
Juliette: Jane Eyre.
Hands down. Perfect Gothic love story, in my humble opinion. I model my heroes
after Mr. Rochester quite often. And Jane is the best kind of heroine, who
never fails to stay true to herself.
Pat: Thank you so much for being a good sport and letting me barrage
you with a mishmash of questions. Would you mind stopping back throughout
the day and answering any questions which readers might have?
Juliette: Absolutely! I love talking to
readers about any and all books. And bad boys. Really sexy ones. ;)
If you liked to find out more about BOUND IN BLACK and
Juliette’s other books and series, check out her WEBSITE:
About the Author:
Juliette calls lush, moss-laden Louisiana
home where the landscape curls into her imagination, creating mystical settings
for her stories. She has a B.A. in creative writing from Louisiana State
University, a M.Ed. in gifted education, and was privileged to study under the
award-winning author Ernest J. Gaines in grad school. Her love of mythology,
legends, and art serve as constant inspiration for her works. From the moment
she read JANE EYRE as a teenager, she fell in love with the Gothic
romance--brooding characters, mysterious settings, persevering heroines, and
dark, sexy heroes. Even then, she not only longed to read more novels set in
Gothic worlds, she wanted to create her own.
Juliette is a multi-published author,
including her Nightwing series with Kensington Publishing and The Vessel
Trilogy with Samhain Publishing.
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