I am honored to have Valerie Ullmer visiting today. Welcome Valerie! I am excited to hear more about Kai and your writing process.
What is your favorite place to write?
I have a desk next to the window in my living room. I love fall days because I can open the window and smell the grass (it’s been extremely warm this fall in Colorado). For some reason, the quiet of the neighborhood allows my mind to settle and I can get to writing.
What inspires you as an author?
Everything. Reading, TV, seeing couples outside interact, a casual conversation between friends, a dream. And most of all, other authors. Those who aren’t afraid to bounce an idea off other writers, those who are bold and write a book that they want to read.
Why do you write romance?
To be honest, it’s the happily ever after. There is no subtlety about that. The author can torture her characters as much as he or she wants, but if there’s no happily ever after, I’m
devastated. I love the intricate story of how one person falls in love with another person.
What are you working on next and when do we expect to see it?
Well, I have completed a short M/M romance Christmas story call You for Christmas, and it will be available for free in the middle of December, along with a novella from my Unexpected series, called Unwrapped. Unwrapped will be more toward a Christmas release. Also, I’m working on Jade, the fourth Dark Assassins Novel, set for a February 2018 release.
Kai (A Dark Assassins Novel Book One)
Kai Blurb:
There are two words that described Kai.
Remote and Deadly.
And until six months ago, he was fine with that description. But when the
vampire assassin spots a curvaceous woman, a human no less, who would come
to fill his thoughts, he would gladly shake his persona for a moment in
time with her. Instead, he kept his distance, watching out for her and
learning more about her every time their paths crossed. But he had yet to
speak to her. When a turn of events thrusts her into his solitary life, he
must decide whether to complete his assignment, or protect her.
Olivia Sabin had dedicated her life to her work; finding a cure for
cancer. She had hidden behind the mask of a scientist who cares little
about anything beyond her laboratory, and for a long while she believed it
herself. But when a mysterious man came to frequent the diner she visited
nightly, her awareness of him devastated her concentration, and she came
to look forward to the glimpses of him, however brief.
When she stumbles upon a horrific experiment at work, she knows he’s the
only one she can turn to. She’s willing to sacrifice everything in order
to protect him and others of his kind from the same fate. But first, she
needs to find a way to get him to hear her explanation.
Excerpt from Kai:
That was the moment he spotted her from the corner of his eye.
Her mass of cascading dark, curly hair bounced against the burgundy
mid-length trench coat wrapped tightly around her to ward off the chill of
the late September night. But with her head tilted down, he was unable to
see her face. Even from the distance of over two hundred yards, he could
hear her mumbling to herself. As hard as he listened, he couldn’t quite
make out the words. The coat did nothing to cover her curves hidden
underneath, and he found himself enthralled by the sway of her hips. His
gaze traveled down her curvy body, and his groin tightened with every step
she took.
Before he could contemplate his actions, he leapt from the deck and flew
down the mountain, stopping when he stood, hidden in the darkness, a few
feet from her. He forced himself to widen the distance between them, and
started trailing her.
Experience and his enhanced senses kept him out of sight from her and the
others who ventured out on the cold night. He soon found that she was so
absorbed in whatever happened to be on her mind that he could have stood
right in front of her, and she would’ve ignored him and kept walking.
He trailed her as she closed in on the diner on the corner, learning that
the small eatery was her destination on most nights. She chose that
moment to brush her long hair out of her face. With that tiny movement,
her fragrance of lemongrass and green apple drifted back toward him. A
low snarl erupted from his throat as his body stiffened in shock; the
unexpected reaction to her scent was so fierce, he was torn between his
instant desire for her and self-preservation. The sound he hadn’t managed
to smother must’ve reached her, because her head turned toward him and her
brows drew down in confusion. A split second before her eyes landed on
where he stood, he stepped back, pissed at his infinitesimal loss of
control. A silent sigh of relief passed his lips as she shook her head,
not able to spot in him the dark, and continued on her way.
In his over two hundred year existence, he’d never been attracted to a
human. Blood was the one reason that he interacted with humans, and even
that could be taken from a donor without him having him drink from the
source. But as he tried to pass off a reason he reacted to her in such an
elemental way, he continued to follow her, finding himself outside the
door that read Blue Plate Diner. Obscured by the door, his eyes tracked
movement as the waitress greeted her as if they were old friends. For a
reason he couldn’t fathom, he felt a surge of jealousy. He was still a
stranger to this captivating human, and she intrigued him.
Without quite knowing why he had followed her, he opened the door and
walked into the chrome and tiled cafe, taking the time to pull up the hood
of his sweatshirt. He scanned the place and settled for a booth at the
back of the restaurant, where he could watch her without being detected.
By the time he’d sat down and scanned for any possible dangers, she had
pulled out a laptop along with a sheaf of papers filled with formulas he
couldn’t decipher. Between typing and writing in the margins of the
already filled pages, the concentration on her work was total.
He found himself mesmerized by the play of emotions on her face as she
worked. A smile for when she figured out a problem, or a frown when
something didn’t quite fit, and everything in between. He couldn’t take
his eyes off of her. When she bit her lip in concentration, it took all
of his control to keep his distance from her. He found that he had to
grip the table to keep himself still, when all he wanted to do was devour
her.
Thank you so much for having me on your blog!!
Valerie Ullmer
Paranormal, Contemporary, and Erotic Romance Author
Thank you so much for having me, Madison!