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Boy, do I feel sheepish! I had this blog set to go for Tuesday, but I was thinking my guest Diana Rubino was going to be with us on Wednesday to visit about her BLOODY GOOD CRUISE. (My excuse is that my DH and I are getting ready to go on a cruise ourselves starting Friday, so my brain is a little frazzled trying to get ready!)
But let me introduce you to Diana. Here's her bio:
Diana Rubino has written several historical novels set in England and the U.S., a time travel romance, and a futuristic/fantasy romance which received a Romantic Times Top Pick award . Diana is a member of Romance Writers of America and the Richard III Society. Her hobbies include golf, racquetball, bicycling, playing piano, and she has been pursuing a Master's degree in archaeology. She loves to visit historical sites all over the world for book research. Diana and her husband own CostPro, Inc., an engineering business based in Cambridge. She is Director of Marketing.
Whew! I'm impressed! So, Diana, please tell us about your new release.
A Bloody Good Cruise is set on an Italian cruise ship. Romance author Mona is a human, and Fausto is a vampire, and although they love each other, their different backgrounds create a lot of problems. He can never be one of her kind and she’s deathly afraid to become one of his. As they sail the Mediterranean on a writer’s cruise that Mona’s organized, Fausto’s job as the ship’s doctor is hard to perform when he realizes hunters (or the Vampire Ball Busters, as vamps call them) are after him and his fellow vamps. Fausto’s ex-wife shows up after four hundred years, hot to snatch him back. She’s Lucrezia Borgia, history’s most notorious gold digger and husband-killer. When Mona and Fausto team up with the hunters to capture Lucrezia and get her to confess to her crimes, Mona thinks all is lost because Lucrezia refuses to talk. But Mona gets her creative writer’s juices flowing, and tricks Lucrezia into a confession. The tabloid show The Cutting Edge, on shipboard to tape the writers’ cruise, beams the story all over the world. Mona and Fausto become instant celebrities, but hunters are still after Fausto. One of them shoots Mona while aiming for him, and she realizes she must let Fausto turn her or she’ll die–so she makes her decision, which she never regrets. Instead of looking for the next big market trend, she helps Fausto and Quintus write their memoirs, so the world can see what vampires really are about. Note to self: Watch out for vampires on the cruise ship next week! What will readers love most about your hero?
Even though he's a vampire, he's very human. He 'comes out' before an audience of millions, imploring the human race to accept vampires. Because they're different doesn't mean they're harmful. He teaches the world a valuable lesson about tolerance.
Commendable. Where did the idea for this story come from?
I love vampire romances and cruises, and thought blending the two would make a unique love story.
Authors always have more than one pot boiling. What are you working on now?
A biographical novel about Alexander Hamilton. It has no fictional characters, and I'm keeping as close to the historical record as it will allow.
Ok, so I'm guessing you're pretty serious about that Masters in Archaeology. Wow! I'm totally in awe of non-fiction writers. One of the joys of what I do is making things up (not the historical details, I promise!) Where can readers buy your books, Diana?
There are links to the booksellers and my publishers on my website, and they're all available on Amazon.com in Ebook and print.
WWW.DIANARUBINO.COM
Thank you for visiting with me today, Diana (even if I seriously messed up the day!) Those of you who visited earlier were treated to some naked email posts, so it just goes to prove to the rest of you that if you snooze, you lose! LOL! Sorry for the mix-up. But Diana Rubino signs off her emails with a quote from Michaelangelo, "I am still learning." Ain't it the truth?
I'm going to try to talk Diana into hanging around for another day so more people can read about her BLOODY GOOD CRUISE! If you leave a comment you're entered in the drawing for a copy of Diana Rubino's BLOODY GOOD CRUISE!
27 comments:
Diana,
This sounds like a great book. I love that they're on a cruise and the hero, a vampire, has an ex-wife who is history’s most notorious gold digger and husband-killer. It seems very interesting. Thanks for telling us about it.
What a great concept for a romance. And, of course, I love anyone or anything Italian, lol.
I find it interesting that you use a historical figure. Did you find it inhibiting to use Lucrezia Borgia, and were you as true to her history as possible?
Good luck with your book.
Great interview. I'll have to add this book to my "should read" pile!
This sounds like it has the elements of a good story. Good luck on your book about Alexander Hamilton. I love reading about the founders of the American Revolution, I really enjoyed the one by David McCollough on John Adams
Hi Diana! Your book sounds fabulous. Since you are getting a degree in archaeology, I was just wondering if you have ever read the Amelia Peabody series by Elizabeth Peters? That is one of my favorite series - it combines Egyptology and romance. Best of luck with your book- Penelope
Hi Emily!
No problem, I'll be happy to come back tomorrow!
Hi Jannine,
I read a few biographies of Lucrezia before I wrote about her, and learned that her father was a Pope! (I guess they didn't have to be celibate in the old days.) But I did stay as close to her history as possible; she was allegedly a serial murderer and buried a few lovers. But of course in real life she wasn't a vampire, which she is in the book. :) No, I wasn't inhibited by her; I even tried to make her a sympathetic character, and I hope the reader will feel some pity for the poor old crone who wants her hot husband back, and one more simple thing--to remain immortal.
Hi Mari,
I loved McCullough's Adams book, and the TV series.
If you love the founding fathers, one of my favorites of late is Washington's Lady by Nancy Moser--it's told in 1st person by Martha--great blend of history & her relationship and private life with George.
Hi Penelope,
I read Peters's Curse of the Pharaos and Deeds of the Disturber, Die for Love, and The Murder of Richard III. I'm a huge Richard buff; a few of my historicals feature him.
MY blog is finally up and running--please stop by www.DianaRubinoAuthor.blogspot.com, leave a post about you, books, romance, anything at all!
Thanks again, Emily! See you tomorrow! --Diana
It was a good blog and the book sounds like a winner. All's well that ends well, Em.
This book sounds really neat. I have an adversion to water and cruise ships, so maybe I can experience them with your vamp.
Cheryl
Vampire teeth - $4.00
Cruise Ride - $2000 (or so...)
Margarita on Cruise - $3.00
Vampire Cruise story- Priceless!! :)
The book looks fun and is definetly a new take!
rachie2004 AT yahoo.com
I love cruises...and maybe I wouldn't mind meeting a good vampire on board. I like that you have some interesting elements! Sounds like a big change from historical novels!
I still feel as if I invited you all to my place and left my dirty laundry in the middle of the living room. Thank you all for taking my mess in stride.
RachieG--Cute. YOu made me smile.
Hi Diana (R.),
what a fun and interesting concept! Full of twists and turns (and if you left anything out of that synopsis, all the more!).
And Emily, this sounds like a book you must read, as a cruise lover (but maybe not while on your cruise, ;) ). Have fun on your trip!
Nynke
I'll be watching for any suspicious looking gentlemen with Italian accents in dark capes when we head to Bermuda!
Great interview!!
Very interesting plot.
CC
Hi All,
I thought it'd be a different twist, since cruises are so popular these days. It gets our mind off pirates for a while!
Diana
I love cruises and vampires and Italy, this is a must book for me! Will add it to my long wishlist, thanks!
Love the title and the concept! Bravo!
I can't hear the word "bloody" without thinking British and I can't think of a British vampire without seeing Spike from Buffy in my mind.
Who are your fave vampires from books and/or television (or movies)?
Other than your own, of course!
Ok, Diana, I'll admit the Somali pirates are not romantic, but what about my big, bare-chested fella on PLEASURING THE PIRATE? ;)
Italians, vampires, cruises. With that combination you can' go wrong. Sounds like a great read.
Hi Kerri,
I must say, Dracula is my all time favorite. Probably cos he's the 'original' vamp--he's not at all campy, he's just plain scary. I never equated vamps with sexiness or erotica. They just always scared the hell out of me! Bela Lugosi did such a great job with the role, no one following him ever came close. I guess you know he was buried in his vampire costume.
Hi Emily,
Oh, yes, he's a hottie, all right!
I don't think you'll run into any vamps on the way to Bermuda. They prefer the Mediterranean & Black Sea. :)
Have a fabulous cruise.
Since this was my first blog guest spot, I'd like you to be my blog's first guest. We'll talk when you get back. Bon voyage! Diana
Great interview.
The story sounds terrific. I love cruises. Smile. But that's not the only reason the book sound good.
Great interview, and your story sounds very interesting. Then again, whenever the word "Italian" is used, it tends to pique my interest-LOL. Be it food, men, or a vacay (lol)
I've watched vampires and were creatures turn from a tale to frighten children and provide the church with credible enemies (other than ourselves, of course) to creatures of desire and I suppose it's logical that the next step was for them to "come out" and plead for understanding.
I look forward to "The Society for the Protection of the Undead" and for them to be declared an endangered species.
That aside, I like the premise of your book and the one about Alexander Hamilton sounds good.
I'm a hundred thousand words into one set in the short peace following the Treaty of Amiens in 1802. It follows a fictional American blockade runner on a voyage to Jamaica, running the gauntlet pf privateers turned pirates by the peace. I'm amazed at how many of my guesses are supported by research-which means the forty-five years of seagoing were not entirely wasted.
I'm really fascinated by the Borgia connection in your story, Diana. Can you share a little about your research of that infamous family?
Sounds good. I've always been fascinated by the Borgias. I love the Middle Ages. So much fascinating history. There's a lot that started during that time that we still use today.
Diana,
An Italian cruise ship & a vampire named Fausto - YUMMY!
Emily, bon voyage, have an awesome time on your cruise!
Thanks, Teddy. Someday, I hope to come down to your part of the world and cruise around Australia and New Zealand!
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