Soaring High with Guest Blogger: Nicole Graysen

Photo courtesy of AmeliaEarhart.com

Welcome Nicole Graysen, author of 

erotic paranormal to the Book Boost today!

She's here to discuss overcoming your fears and conquering the challenges in life and here's what she had to say...

Thank you Kerri for having me on The Book Boost today.

Do you dream of flying?  Of soaring through the air, weightless, high above the ground? I do and my inspiration came from a third grade biography report on Amelia Earhart. I was first drawn to her because of the mystery surrounding her death.

Where did she land? How had she and her navigator, Fred Noonan, gotten off course? It reminded me of the search for Titanic or the disappearance of Flight 19 off the coast of Florida near the Bermuda Triangle. At the time, anything mysterious or with a hint of the supernatural caught my attention.  Some things haven’t change as I’ve matured.

But her life encompassed much more than the mystery of her death.  She set speed, altitude, and distance records, wrote inspirational books about her journeys and pushed against established boundaries through business organizations and the way she lived her life. Even her marriage was unusual because she claimed it was a “partnership” during a time when women usually deferred to men.

In today’s world, actors and sports athletes are spotlighted with the President. But in 1932, Amelia Earhart met President Herbert Hoover to receive the National Geographic Society’s gold medal and Congress awarded her the Distinguished Flying Cross for becoming the first woman to perform a solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean – on the five year anniversary of Charles Lindberg’s achievement. She was an exceptional woman who knew what she wanted and pursued her passion with unrelenting determination.

And I wanted to be just like her as I grew up. Except I never faced any dangerous quests and I don’t possess that go for broke spirit. I like and pretty much follow “the rules” but I can be darn stubborn when there is something I want.

There’s not much left to achieve in air flight but to go into outer space, now that is a challenge. And I’ve wanted to see the stars since I was 10 and decided I would go into space. Despite my parent’s misgivings, I started my college career in aerospace engineering. Eventually, through a lot of late night hours and very poor grades I came to agree with my parents and switched majors.

Let’s just say that math should contain numbers not squiggles, letters, and shapes – three dimensional calculus is hard, particularly if you cannot “see” the theory. And because I faced reality and needed a job, I gave up on my dreams of space.

For a long time, I avoided anything to do with space and science fiction. I cut that part out of myself and refused to acknowledge it. I let myself down, Amelia Earhart and so many other women pioneers never quit. Then I started writing. And I’m slowly allowing myself to dream those spacey dreams again. Because I may never win the lottery and pay for a ride to outer space, but I can always live it through the worlds I create.

Amelia Earhart said "It is far easier to start something than it is to finish it." That is so true for writing.  Bright and Shiny Syndrome overwhelms me as I get to tough areas of a story. But you have to push through and work at it. And while no one has given me a medal, I get just as much satisfaction when a story is published.

My first erotic paranormal horror story is now available. Betrayed by the Incubus is the first in a trilogy of shorter stories about what happens to people when their trust is betrayed. You will not find a happy ending in these stories but lots of sex and a world populated by people with wings.

A Note from the Book Boost: Thanks for joining us today, Nicole.  I was so inspired by that quote from Amelia.  It literally gave me chill bumps.  Thanks for sharing your story (and hers).  Please tell us more about your latest release.

  

 
Blurb:
 
**You must be 18 to read erotic paranormal horror short story.
Contains voyeurism, an incubus masquerading as a woman's husband, and M/M sex.**

In a move designed to consolidate its power, the Harmonian TriCouncil gave Miranda Nightengale to another and sent them away from Rhira. Enraged by the loss of his soul mate, Phillip Devlin Moreau left Harmonia and sacrificed his wings to absorb the soul of an immortal Incubus.

Intent on revenge against the TriCouncil, Phillip searched for a descendant of Miranda. After 700 years, his quest has come to an end. All he has to do is seduce Fiona Nightengale Richardson to create the instrument of his revenge - a child.


Excerpt (edited for length):  

His prey drove away. Their headlights illuminated the desolate cliff side as night encroached, the sun setting in crimson fire. Assured they wouldn't return, Phillip Devlin Moreau banished the illusion of a silver Miata convertible parked in the driveway.

Gazing at the unfamiliar stars overhead, he remembered a time spent patrolling the skies of Rhira as a winged member of the Harmonian race. When the rapture of flight meant more than the gratification gained from sex. Before his wings were sacrificed in pursuit of revenge. Before he became a vessel for the Incubus's dark soul.

A seagull's cry brought his thoughts back to Earth. He released his grip on the front porch as his strength returned. Crafting the house and surrounding landscape from the threads of illusion siphoned away most of his power. He'd be vulnerable until Fiona Nightengale Richardson and her husband Lance moved in and he could feed.

Phillip descended the porch steps and strolled around the side of the house to the backyard. Memories cascaded in time with the crashing waves, as Fiona resembled Miranda enough for them to have been twin sisters. Seven hundred years he searched for the descendants of Miranda Nightengale. His love, his mate.

The woman who should have been his.

He lost her to the Harmonian TriCouncil's machinations. They'd panicked at the idea of a Nightengale-Moreau union. The council had convinced her to mate with another and leave their homeworld, Rhira. He'd abandoned his place within the golden palace and forfeited the air currents in order to pursue her.

Four hundred years ago he found her descendants. He waited another three hundred before a daughter with an incomplete mating-bond and enough power to mate with him came of age.

His plan for revenge began with the birth of a child from his and Miranda's bloodlines. A son could bring down the corrupt council and free the Harmonians from the council's tyranny. A daughter could be taught to rule from the bedroom.

Phillip peered into the dark forest shadows, seeking a predator among the trees. Waist high, two amber eyes regarded him with a burning hatred.

"There you are, my dear. Come to me, Cassandra." He added a touch of power to enforce the command. All succubae carried the taint of his incubus blood even if he didn't sire them directly.

This one required careful handling. She craved her independence. A lot like him. He knew once she produced the child required of her, she would leave Rhira and his dominion. Sadness engulfed him each time a daughter of his heart departed.

She leapt across the yard. Her wings spread open to encompass their full span. She landed next to him on all four limbs. Her hair billowed out behind her, a cascade of burnt red. Her bare skin glowed in the moonlight, a pale silvery gray.

Want More Nicole?

Visit her website here:  http://NicoleGraysen.com/

Pick up your copy of her book today!  Click here.