Eye of the Beholder by M.D. Grimm
Dreamspinner Press
Release date: February 8th, 2019
Cover Artist: Tiferet Design
Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | Amazon
Hello everyone! My name is M.D. Grimm and I shall be your host today. Just want to say a quick thanks to Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words for allowing me to visit with you all today.
To celebrate “Eye of the Beholder,” I wanted to talk a little about the evolution of the story. It is my first and probably only vampire story I will write. I enjoy vampires at times but I’m not obsessed with them like some people are. However, this story has been on the backburner for years and after four or five complete rewrites I decided I wanted to fix it up and finally release it.
It is a story near and dear to my heart. It’s been with me for a very long time, and I have a special affection for Vulcan, the main character. He is a wonderful bundle of contradictions—between being bold and shy, and wanting to connect with others but terrified of loss. His character has certainly seen the most evolution from the first draft to the last and I couldn’t be prouder. He is an amazingly self-assured young man but also painfully insecure when it comes to intimacy. It was imperative that he not be classically/stereotypically handsome. In my opinion, he’s adorable, but he doesn’t see himself that way. What I find most attractive about him is his intelligence and creative flare. He’d be a fun guy to get a beer and hang out with.
As a counterpoint to Vulcan, there is the Roman vampire Cassius and he was a hoot to write. This was certainly one of those times where the story might never have been published if I kept digging into Ancient Rome and putting in details about his previous lives. It was fascinating to think of a man who grew up during the time of the emperors in Rome and then continued to live through a significant amount of human history. What would he have seen? Who would he have met? Vulcan’s fascination with Cassius was partly my own. His questions were those I’d want to ask such a man myself.
Cassius as a character didn’t evolve much. I pretty much knew him and how he would react to Vulcan and the world around him. He is certainly someone who can roll with the punches and isn’t really fazed by most things. Then Vulcan pops into his life and shakes things up. He brings a little sun into Cassius’s perpetual darkness, so of course the old vampire would take an interest.
Of course there are slayers involved because where you have vampires, you have those who want to kill them. However, I also added another little crisis to my world—an insidious threat that proves there is a price for nigh immortality. It was a concept that grew with time and only fully formed during the last big rewrite.
I enjoyed fleshing out the world of the vampires and occasional werewolf in Los Angeles, California. They pass as eccentric humans and what better place for such strangeness to exist? It was imperative that I keep the essentials of vampire lore but, of course, add a new twist or two of my own. I didn’t want it to be the same ol’ same ol’ that inhabit the majority of vampire stories. Whether I succeeded or not will be up to you. I’m not one who easily does standalones so this was good muscle flex in writing a fully realized story in a single book.
I hope you agree! If you do, feel free to visit my website for more at www.mdgrimmwrites.com and make sure to subscribe to my newsletter for all the deets on future projects!
That’s it for me. Enjoy the rest of your day!
May dragons guard your dreams,
M.D. Grimm
Blurb:
Is it better to risk it all… or never know what could have been?
After surviving an abusive childhood, Vulcan remade himself upon arriving in Los Angeles, California. He became a blacksmith for the paranormal community and strives to earn the respect of the vampire covens and werewolf packs that call LA home. He also prevents the pain of loss by keeping everyone at arm’s length.
But he never planned on meeting a former Roman soldier by the name of Marcus Cassius Vespillo. Something sparks between them and turns into a friendship he never considered possible. He can’t deny his intense attraction to the intelligent, courteous, ancient vampire. And it scares him.
Though Vulcan is wary of seeking more with Cassius, an attack leaves him at death’s door and forces him to reexamine his priorities. But Cassius has his own secret, one that promises tragedy and loss. And if that wasn’t enough, a slayer arrives in the States, one with a bloody connection to Cassius… and Vulcan himself.
About the Author
M.D. Grimm decided to become an author in the second grade (kind of young to make life decisions, but whatever) and nothing has changed since then (well, plenty of things, actually, but not that!). Thankfully, she has indulgent parents who let her dream, but also made sure she understood she’d need a steady job to pay the bills (they never let her forget it!). After graduating from the University of Oregon and majoring in English (let’s be honest: useless degree, what else was she going to do with it?), she started on her writing career and couldn’t be happier. Working by day and writing by night (or any spare time she can carve out), she enjoys embarking on romantic quests and daring adventures (living vicariously, you could say) and creating characters that always triumph against the villain (or else what’s the point?), finding their soul mate in the process.
Visit “M.D. Grimm” at Facebook and Goodreads.
Email: mdgrimm29@yahoo.com
Website: www.mdgrimmwrites.com
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Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 