Guest Post: Special Ops With Fangs – The Same…But Different by Virna DePaul

Special Ops With Fangs – The Same…But Different 

by Virna DePaul 

Have you heard the phrase, “the same but different?”  It’s what writers are often told to write if they want to be published.  The kind of story that publishing houses already know readers are currently hot for, yet different enough that it’ll stand out in a crowded market.   

It’s Twilight (vampires but teens that are celibate), True Blood (vampires that drink a commercial brand of blood and hang in quaint Southern bars), and Larissa Ione’s Demonica Series (underground hospital for demons).  And, I’ve been told, it’s my debut paranormal romantic suspense series, The Para-Ops Novels, which combines the feel of special ops team thrillers ala Suzanne Brockmann and Cindy Gerard, with vampires, weres, wraiths, mages and “seriously sensual” romance (I’m particularly proud of that heat evaluation by RT Magazine!).    

When my agent shopped the novels, my world overview was quite lengthy because I wanted to show exactly what was “the same but different” about my series.  I broke down the background and characteristics of all the races in my world, as well as their enemies, and specified what was going to make each individual Para-Ops team member compelling to read about.  Here’s just a quick look at who the team members are: 

• Knox Devereaux, the team’s half human/half vampire leader, is haunted by a childhood where his human father was executed for treason against vampires. 
• Human Special Agent Felicia Locke’s parents, Otherborn advocates, were murdered by insurgents bent on the elimination of non-human races.  Now she’s in love with Knox, a vampire duty-bound to marry another vampire. 
• Dex Hunt, a werebeast and former member of the Ferals biker gang seeks revenge for the death of his mother, but also for the horrors he witnessed in a boarding school for abandoned were children.
• Caleb O’Flare, a human psychic shaman, is burdened by guilt for not being able to stop the torture and death of his feline best friend during the war.
• Mage Lucy Talbot seems kind and composed, but no one knows she’s got a dark past and suffers from a painful heat every seven days for another seven days.
• Finally, Wraith, the team’s ghost, has no memory of her human existence and, although she longs for companionship and love, she can’t be touched without experiencing horrible physical pain. 

Virna DePaul is a former criminal prosecutor whose debut mass market paranormal romantic suspense novel, Chosen By Blood (Book 1 in the Para-Ops series), Out now!  In addition, Virna writes contemporary romantic suspense for Silhouette Romantic Suspense and HQN.

Virna also writes erotic romance, including her popular “Red-Hot Cops” series, under the name Ava Meyers. You can find Virna's books in bookstores and on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other ebook retailers. Visit her at http://www.virnadepaul.com

 Barnes and noble: http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Chosen-by-Blood/Virna-DePaul/e/9780425241547?itm=2&USRI=

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Blood-Para-Ops-Novel-DePaul/dp/0425241548/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1306428459&sr=8-1

Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/Chosen-by-Blood-Virna-DePaul/9780425241547

You can Find Virna:

Website: http://www.virnadepaul.com
Blog: http://hipwritergirls.typepad.com/justsoldabook/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/virnadepaul
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1555372930



CHOSEN BY BLOOD

Five years after the Second Civil War ends, humans and otherborn— humanlike creatures with superhuman DNA—still struggle for peace. To ensure the continued rights of both, the FBI forms a Para-Ops team with a unique set of skills. 

Leader of an Otherborn clan, half-breed vampire Knox Devereaux would do anything to find a cure for the anti-vamp vaccine slowly starving his people into extinction. When the FBI contacts him about leading a team of hand-selected Others on a mission to reclaim the stolen antidote, Knox accepts. His new assignment places him in direct contact with Special Agent Felicia Locke, the beautiful human he’s craved since their very first meeting.