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Saturday, October 31, 2009

Halloween Special with Terri Garey!

Happy Halloween!

My second guest this Halloween weekend is author Terri Garey!

She knows alot about the paranormal and loves Halloween! Her newest book in the Nicki Styx series 'Silent Night, Haunted Night' is out now!

Here is a new interview with Terri and she is giving away some prizes! So make sure you enter the contest at the end!



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Amber - It is Halloween and it is great to have you back on Amberkatze's Book Blog again! You have a new Nicki Styx book out! Can you tell us a little about what Nicki gets up to this time?

Terri - Hi, Amber! How could I not return to your blog on Halloween? You’re the only person I know (besides me) who keeps her blog decorated for Halloween all year long! We ghouls need to stick together!

In Silent Night, Haunted Night, the Three Fates are out to teach Nicki Styx a lesson by sending a succubus to enthrall Joe Bascombe, the man she loves, and draw him down into darkness. It’s a new twist on the Charles Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol, and shows how the choices you make can really come back to haunt you — Nicki Styx style.

Amber - Silent Night, Haunted Night is the fourth book in the series. Is it getting easier or harder to write about Nicki?

Terri - Easier. I know her so well now.

Amber - What kind of research have you had to do for the books so far? Anything interesting or is research boring?

Terri – I LOVE research, and mine is never boring! Over the course of four books, I’ve had to do research into voodoo, hauntings, paranormal activity, near-death experiences, Wicca, Tarot cards, the Ouija board, demonic possession, myths, legends and Biblical stories from the Old Testament. I have a healthy respect for the paranormal and I try to approach everything with an open mind. Some of these things truly scare me, particularly the Ouija, and anything to do with voodoo or possession. I’m fascinated by these topics, but I do not advocate dabbling in them! Basically, I’m a big chicken when it comes to the paranormal. 

Amber - How many more books will there be in the series? Are you working on any other projects you would like to tell us about?

Terri – Silent Night, Haunted Night will be the last story told from Nicki Styx’s viewpoint, at least for now. The series is not dead, however, as it will continue from the viewpoint of one of my most asked-about characters, Sammy (Satan) Divine. I love the character of Sammy, and so does my publisher, so I’m really excited to announce a new series based on the world’s most diabolically misunderstood bad boy—The Devil’s Bargain and The Devil’s Disciple will be released by Avon in 2011! Sammy finally gets a chance to tell his side of the story, and a dark, sexy story it is, too, because he is one dark, sexy guy!

The Devil’s Bargain will pick up where Silent Night, Haunted Night leaves off, as Samael the Fallen takes on the job for which he was originally created — that of a guardian angel. Finally offered a chance to step into the Light, will he take it, or remain forever trapped by the Darkness he himself created?

I can’t wait for you guys to read it.

Amber - Something I have always wondered about is how authors come up with the names for their characters. How do you pick the names you use in your books? After all Nicki Styx is a really interesting name!

Terri – Names are so important. I had an image of Nicki in my head, and knew I wanted her name to portray someone free-spirited and bit wild, yet related somehow to mythology related to the dead. The river Styx is the dark river in Greek mythology that separates the living from the dead (don’t pay the ferryman until he gets you to the other side!), and I thought it’d make a great last name. As soon as I thought of that, her first name became obvious – as a child of the 80’s and former Motley Crue fan, Nikki Sixx popped into my head, and Nicki Styx was born. I knew immediately that with a name like that, she’d turn out to be a great character.

Amber - You have some really nice covers for your books but the style changed with 'You're the One That I Haunt'. Did you have any say in the change? Do you like the new look?

Terri – No, I had no say in the change, but my publisher stayed true to the original concept, which was slightly spooky covers with a graveyard in the background. I’ve been lucky enough to love all my covers, despite the change from hand drawn art to hunkalicious guys like the one on the cover of Silent Night, Haunted Night. 

Amber - What is the easiest and hardest part about being an author?

Terri – The easiest part is that my time is my own – I don’t have to get up and drive to work for someone else every day, as I did for many years. The hardest part is that my time is my own, and I’m accountable to no one except myself and the keyboard, which means it’s too easy to get distracted! Nobody to crack that whip except yourself, and those deadlines…

Amber – A lot of authors have 'soundtracks' for their books. Is there any music influenced your books?

Terri - Ooo, great question! Music definitely influences my work, although I never listen to it while I’m working! (I need quiet to concentrate on the flow of words.) My musical tastes are very eclectic, and I like a wide variety of artists – my Ipod is full of of songs by Sisters of Mercy, the Cure, Elvis Costello, Audioslave, Godsmack, Santana, and Evanescence, all of which I listen to every morning during a three mile walk. Gets me warmed up for writing!

Concrete Blonde’s “Dance Along the Edge” would be the perfect theme song for Nicki Styx if they ever made a TV series out of it, but the high point of my musical/writing life came this summer when Finnish goth-n-rollers, The 69 Eyes, released their newest CD, which features the song “DEAD GIRLS ARE EASY”. Their lead singer emailed me and told me the song had been inspired by the book. Here’s a picture of us both together, with Jyrki holding the book I had him sign (yes, I had him sign MY book!):  They even made a music video which debuted in July on Playboy.com! Love the song, and the band!

Amber - There are so many online sites eg, Twitter, Facebook, Myspace
etc. to get in touch with fans. Which sites are you signed up with? Is it hard to keep up with them all? Do you think they are good?

Terri – I have a personal blog, a joint blog with some writing pals, a blog at HarperCollins (my publisher) a MySpace page, a Facebook fan page, a personal Facebook page, and I’m on Twitter. I try my best to keep up, but it’s hard – I have no idea which is the best, although my personal Facebook page and MySpace seem to get the most activity.

Amber - What was the last movie you watched? and the last Book you read?
and did you enjoy them?

Terri – The last movie I truly enjoyed was the new Star Trek – loved it! The last book I read was Darkfever, by Karen Moning. I read a lot, and like my taste in music, my taste in books is very eclectic – I love historicals from any era, as well as urban fantasy, but am always just looking to be told a good story, whether it’s by Anne Rice or Georgette Heyer.

Amber - If you could be any paranormal creature, what would you be and why?

Terri - Well, I would say “ghost”, but I actually think that would be a very lonely existence if you could see and hear everyone but they couldn’t see you. Vampires are out because blood is… well, blood … and I don’t care for hairy men so that leaves out werewolves. A fairy, perhaps? They get to fly, and they’re surrounded by nature, so yes, a fairy.

Amber - What are you up to this Halloween?

Terri - Bwahahaha…… working on the graveyard day by day! I go all out on Halloween (it’s almost embarrassing), turning my yard into a graveyard, my garden shed into a witch’s hut, and my front porch into a spider’s lair. We live in a neighborhood with tons of kids, and give out more candy and boo!’s than you can imagine. It’s great fun!

Amber - Thank you for visiting Amberkatze's Book Blog again! I look forward to seeing you here again! ;)

Terri - Thanks for having me, Amber. I’ll be giving away two signed books, each with a beaded bookmark.





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Contest Time!

As you may have read in the interview, Terri is giving away two signed copies of Silent Night, Haunted Night, her new book! That means two winners will get Terri's latest release and she is going to add a beaded bookmark! (see pic)

All you have to do to enter this contest is tell us what you are doing this Halloween!

No Story = No entry!

The usual rules apply!

Earn another entry for each place you link this contest on the net. Make sure you add links here for me to confirm your entries!

You can also earn extra entries by emailing your friends about the contest. Just make sure you send a copy of your email or receipt to me at Amberkatzes_book_blog at gmx dot net.

I can offer more prizes if my Amazon Associates account gets more money!! So please make sure you order at Amazon.com through the links around the site and help keep the contest coming!




The contest will stay open until Sunday 8th of November 2009 4pm CET and the winner will be picked by a randomizer. Entrants should check back to see if they have won. I do not hunt down winners and will pick new winners for any prizes not claimed within 7 days.

If you are claiming a prize, have emailed me and have not heard back before the 7 day limit is up then post a comment here on the blog. Your email may get sucked into my spam filter.



93 comments:

Asylumgirl said...

We may be going to a fall festival tonight, but if not, we will definitely be watching lots of scary movies and the GhostHunters live event on Syfy.

Deidre

Blodeuedd said...

We don't celebrate Halloween here. But it's All saints Day here so we lit candles on graves.
But bf and I am gonna watch a scary movie too

Ina said...

We are watching horror films today :)
Happy Halloween!!!

Alicia0385 said...

I'm just going to watch Halloween movies and pass out candy.

aliciahall0605(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

Van Pham said...

My friends are going to come over and watch movies for Halloween.


Happy Halloween everyone! :)

Unknown said...

going wiht granchild,and her mommy. other 2 is off with their friend to block party

dont enter me, i have book and bookmark

Unknown said...

happy halloween! 'gonna take a part in the bloodiest ever the 69 eyes' back in blood promotion in zagreb, croatia! we own the night! *fangs*

jeanette8042 said...

I'm going out to party later with some friends dressed as a fairy!!

Terri Garey said...

Happy Halloween, ghoulfriends! Looks like scary movies are the choice of the day so far!

Lighting candles on graves sounds pretty spooky to me Blodeuedd!

Ah, Ivy, how I wish I could "own the night" with the 69 Eyes! *sigh* Have fun!

Barbara E. said...

I'm going to be handing out treats to all the trick or treaters tonight. My neighborhood is very popular, kids come from other neighborhoods as well as the kids that live here, and they keep coming until well into the night, so I won't get much movie or TV watching done tonight. I'll probably just sit at the computer and play online in between answering the door.

Amy1225 said...

I have to work this Halloween so I dont get to have any fun :(

amyturci(AT)yahoo(DOT)com

donnas said...

I am going to sit around a bonfire with friends and hand out candy.

cheesygiraffe said...

I might take my youngest out trick or treating if he wants to go. He stills doesn't know!
Otherwise nothing. Our neighborhood doesn't get trick or treaters.

Linda Henderson said...

I will be staying at home waiting to see my grandkids in their costumes. I will probably watch scary movies on tv and read a paranormal book. I love Halloween.

seriousreader at live dot com

booklover0226 said...

Each year, a bunch of female neighbors come over with food and drinks! We sit around and talk and laugh... and each year, their husbands call and ask if they can come over....and each year, they are told no!

Thanks,
Tracey D

Sue Brandes said...

I have to work this weekend but; tonight I am watching Ghost Hunters Live. I've been watching scary movies all week. LOL. And of course watching all the little trick or treaters who come over. Happy Halloween everyone.

Cathy M said...

My sister is here for the weekend, are we are watching a Buffy marathon from my dvd collection.


caity_mack(at)yahoo(dot)com

Stacey Smith said...

I'm Going To Six Halloween Blogs and doing some iend of the month Contest.
Your Book marker looks so cool.
sasluvbooks@yahoo.com

Calliope said...

Plan: Watch horror movies in dark.
Actuality: Gave out candy after brother got bored after the second kid and walked off.

Question? That thing that's proposed at the end of Silent Night? Will that be seen in a future book or short story or something? Because that would be awesome.

Anonymous said...

Going to the Haunted Woods, giving out candy to trick or treaters and watching scary movies and eating pizza.
HAppy Halloween!!!

Anonymous said...

Since this is the first Halloween I have spent alone since I was seven years old I am going to scare myself crazy. I'm sitting in the dark and having a Stephen King marathon.

SiNn said...

well aa s akid id trickertreat them come come andhave a horror fest this year like pervious yearsits apizza and horror fest films and books till my better half comes home then its cuddle time

mortalsinn@yahoo.com

Kathy said...

My grandson always has a Halloween Party, so we went to his house, ate tacos, took pictures of he and all of his friends in costume and then stayed to pass out candy while they all went trick or treating.

Unknown said...

Hi :)
Thank you for the great interview with Terri Garey.
Thanks to Terri for sharing.
I am just handing out candy for Halloween. My children have decided to forgo Trick r Treating & go to a Halloween dance instead.
:)
All the best,
RKCharron
xoxo
PS - Terri is on Twitter - Follow her! She's @TerriGarey
PPS - I blogged about this.
:)

Daelith said...

We live too far out in the country to get any trick or treaters so we just settled in to watch the Ghost Hunters marathon on the SyFy channel.

Earlier we donned, our leathers and participated in a chilly ride to honor our veterans in the 9th annual Veterans' Thunder Ride.

BrigidsBlest said...

This Halloween, my husband and I took his son trick-or-treating (along with his sister's kids), and then he and I went to a costume party with some friends from our LARP group.

Tweeted the contest here: http://twitter.com/BrigidsBlest/status/5337631207

BrigidsBlest at yahoo dot com

LoriPed said...

I handed out candy to the little spooks who came to trick or treat at my house. Later after lights out, my husband and I went to our favorite night spot where he was a judge in the costume contest. I got to see some adorable little spooks and some very elaborately dressed older ones.

cait045 said...

Unfortunetly on Halloween I have to work but its waitressing a Halloween themed Wedding which will be cool.

Patricia Altner said...

Great interview and great prize!

This Halloween I bought lots of candy for the trick or treaters. Unfortunately the weather was dismal and very few showed up. Now I have to gather my resolve and put the extra candy in the trash.

I will do it now. I will do it now. I will do it now....

Brenda Hyde said...

For the first time we let our kids go to grandma's, but they are 9, 15 and 16 now so we thought it would be okay. Then my husband and I had a kid free night! We watched episodes from Buffy, Season 6, made dinner together and just had some alone time. We don't get that often!

I have to mention to Terri that I love how she named her character. That is so much better than just picking a name out of a hat or baby book. BAHAHAHAHAHA

Unknown said...

I watched my nephew trick or treat.

bjhopper(at)me(dot)com

tetewa said...

Every year my girlfriend and her husband and kids come over. We take turns walking around with the kids and handing out candy. We order pizza afterwards and usually watch a scary movie! This is my favorite time of the year!

Curling up by the Fire said...

I helped my husband set up the Halloween decorations for the house then took my younglings out trick or treating, praying the rain would hold off long enough for them to complete the circuit of houses they wanted to do. Finished the evening off snaking on treats and hot chocolate and watched the Nightmare Before Christmas.

clynsg said...

I had a pretty quiet Halloween--took my grandson around for some early trick or treating and to show him off in his costume, then home to get him to bed. We live in the country, so don't get any trick or treaters ourselves.

clynsg at yahoo.com

wanda f said...

I had to work 3 pm untill 11 pm so afterward I just came home and watched movies

cissikat said...

My sister and I took her two kids and my youngest trick or treating. Our town has an hour long window for the kids to be out so, that was what we did. Halloween is my sistr's youngests birthday as well so after trick or treating we went back to their house and met up with the rest of our famillies for dinner, cake and ice cream. It was a howling good time for all!

Pissenlit said...

I had a low-key Halloween this year. Party plans fell through because one or two friends were feeling unwell so I stayed in, pretended no one was home(didn't have any candy) and watched tv.

Jenny J. said...

This Halloween I got a real treat -- I was reunited with a friend I haven't seen in 2 years... We and some other friends watched fun spooky movies, featuring as many kinds of "monsters" as we could: Twilight, Ghostbusters, Army of the Dead, and Young Frankenstein. And then went out to a Japanese sushi bar. Yum!

Chris J. said...

Hi Amber and Terri! Hope you both had a ghoulishly Happy Halloween!

We had quesadea's and then started the prep for my daughter, she went as a vampiress, she is a huge fan of Twilight and scary movies. Hmm yeah I think mommie might have had something to do with all that. lol
So make up, hair, outfit and her styling silver bag went out the door an hour later as we prepared to go trick or treating. Saw lots of the traditional costumes and then a bunch of the transformers ones too. She got her loot and we came home to where hubby was passing out candy by the light of a lava light and then we watched scary movies, the original Day of the Dead and such. Fun and low key.
Hope everyone had a safe and fun Halloween no matter what ya did.

Erica G said...

My husband took his oldest daughter and a friend to a haunted house on the 30th. Since we live in a community, kids from all over come to trick-or-treat. On the 31st, we took our 16 month old to a few houses, then came back and handed out candy. We did a lot of decorating this year. We used old costumes to set up scary figures, put up our homemade cemetary and our carved pumpkins. We used our orange and red lights as accents. It was a hit!

egreca (at) hotmail {dot} com

Terri Garey said...

Wow, sounds like most people had a pretty good Halloween, whether you just stayed in with the lights off or went trick-or-treating!

I'd love to attend a Halloween themed wedding - how fun!

Calliope, thanks for not giving away any spoilers about the ending of Silent Night, Haunted Night! :-) The answer to your question is that while I haven't actually written the scene you're asking about, it's referred to in future books, and a short story about it is NOT out of the question!

Here at the Garey household, we handed out candy to approximately 200 kids (at least!), and I freaked out several of them with my floating talking head (a/k/a Madame Zelda), who says whatever I want her to say! The kids can't believe that she can carry on a two-way conversation with them (because they don't know I'm hiding out of sight and talking into the microphone!) My favorite costume of the evening was a kid dressed like Betelgeuse! His parents had him lay down in my graveyard and took tons of pictures peeking out behind tombstones.

Then I came inside and watched GhostHunters on SyFy. :-)

camjan said...

I handed out candies to all the Trick or Treaters. Then I curled up in my favorite chair up with good book. I have started a new vampire series and am excited to see how the book will unfold and if it will live up to the reviews.

Sue A. said...

I watched as much of SAW as I could stomach!

abfantom said...

My husband took my daughter trick or treating while I handed out candy. Then after my daughter went to sleep we watched Friday the 13th.

abfantom at yahoo dot com

Lori T said...

I had to work during the day and when I got off, we...my brother and his family and my sister and her family, and my daughters and their babies...all meet over at my Mom's house. We have a quick dinner and then we head out and go trick or treating. It is fun and we have been doing it for years.

I hope that everyone had a great Halloween!

Llehn said...

I'm taking my kid trick or treating.

katzkids by Kathy D. said...

We watch scary movies all day.I stay home and give out candy and hubby takes the kids trick-0r-treating later in the evening.I love Halloween.
Thanks for the giveaway:)

Dot S.(ladeetdareads.wordpress.com) said...

First I attended a charity luncheon and auction on Halloween then in the evening I dressed as a nurse and went to a private party.

Deborah Wellenstein said...

We went on a hayride with our grandchildren, then came home to hot cider and candy. And popcorn. We love popcorn. Thanks!

D Q said...

We raked leaves in the afternoon and watched scary movies in the evening.

hippo said...

We adults didn't do anything special for Halloween as it's not that big (yet) in Finland. But our son is all crazy about it and decorated the living room with pumpkins and skeletons all over.
At least he had fun ;-)

Jeanette J said...

Since Halloween fell on a Saturday this year we had our friends over for our regular poker game...I dressed up like a vampire

Kris said...

We had a pig roast (known as a boucherie where I'm from) And we brought the kids trick or treating!

ksg_amg(at)yahoo.com

Unknown said...

We went to a wedding - it was awesome, all ages in costumes

snytar said...

We took our daughter trick or treating and then passed out candy.
snytar@hotmail.com

Carol EL said...

We stayed home to hand out treats,but with rainy weather we only had a few trick-or-treaters. jelly15301@gmail.com

Sweet Vernal Zephyr said...

We have a Halloween Party this weekend - very awesome cause I can buy costume stuff on sale. I just picked up a Robin costume for myself and I am going to try and convince my husband to be batman :)

Miranda
mdwartistry at yahoo dot com

Rosie said...

This Halloween, I took the kids to a friend's house and we all went trick or treating together. It was great and a great neighborhood. Someone even made a haunted house out of their own home.

littlelatina said...

sounds great I'd love to read it

Jen D. @ Not Now...I'm Reading! said...

Thanks for the interview and contest Amberkatze.

Thanks for stopping by Terri.

It was definitely a trick for me because I was stuck moving on Halloween. =/

*Jen*
iiiioneloveiiii(AT)gmail(DOT)com

StyleVamp said...

This is going to sound so boring...but I'm actually doing/did nothing for Haloween..

With the exception of making sure the house was stocked with enough Treats for the Trick a Treaters lol

All This Silence... said...

Well, I was supposed to go to the Corn Maze with some friends from school, but that didn't happen, so I hung out with my cousins. My cousin and my cousin's girlfriend and I made a Halloween dinner for our birthdays and put up all these cool decorations. Unfortunately, my boyfriend and I were the only couple that didn't fight... Then we watched the Rocky Horror Picture Show. We all fell asleep with our significant others. It was nice-for me and my boyfriend, anyway.

smilekisses said...

I had to work-YUCK!
dolniaks[at]consolidated[dot]net

Damla said...

We don't celebrate Halloween in my country, but I like watching horror films and I'm going to the book fair nowadays.

annabell_lee_dk (at) yahoo.com

Sage Ravenwood said...

Halloween I spent a delightfully awesome time with my daughter at her home in PA. She gets so many trick or treaters it's unreal. We went through a washtub full of candy. And we weren't being overtly generous either.

I get absolutely no trick or treaters in my neighborhood so it was fun to be reminded of Halloween with a much younger daughter.

Thanks for the opportunity! Indigo

ravensquietscreams@gmail.com

orchidfae said...

trick or treating

Dawn M. said...

We celebrated my mom's birthday. Then watched Night of the Living Dead. :0)

Thanks!
librarygrinch at gmail dot com

Andrea I said...

We didn't give out candy at my house this year. I wound up being the designated driver for my daughters who attended a large Halloween party downtown.

Ellie Wright said...

I stayed home with my 2 year old grandson who was sick. I handed out candy to the trick or treaters while holding my scared little baby. He did not appreciated the scary costumes.

Anonymous said...

Since all my chicks have flown the coop[ I was stuck at home in the dark watching "Creature Features" as they were called when I was a teen!

tcpalermo said...

We all went our own way. The 13 year old took off with friends, the 11 year old and her friends went trick-or-treating elsewhere and the 2 year old and I stayed home watching Dora & Diego! :-)

Boo!

Tony

Darlene said...

We celebrated at a church festival with fun and games. It was fun for the kids.
Darlene
wrig9945@charter.net

Misty said...

Wasn't up to going out this year so I stayed home passed out candy. I did enjoy all my teenagers friends stopping by to see me on their way out. They're all 16 to 19 was interesting to see all them in their costumes let me tell ya...

azrosebud said...

Well, unfortunately this year we couldn't afford to give out candy - so instead we watched Nightmare on Elm Street and the original Halloween.

saturdaynightfever said...

The party has a theme of "Arachnaphobia"; I am dressing as Little Miss Muffet!

edgenemmers@gmail.com

cowboyswife said...

I dressed like a hippie

Karrie said...

For Halloween we gave out candy and watched Halloween

Anonymous said...

we live in the country and have no trick or treaters..so we went into town to my brothers house and gave out candy by the handfuls..



cpsnsamples@aol.com

Becky said...

For Halloween, I went to my friends Halloween party. I help them set up everything and then had a fun time. It was interesting to see who did come in a costume and what they dressed up as.

Unknown said...

I helped my three year old granddaughter hand out candy and treats to all the children in the neighborhood.

Jinxy and Me said...

We went to friends for dinner, then home for the trick-or-treaters, then out again to see a haunted house.

Mishia said...

This halloween I worked. All night long.

lilyk said...

I went to a horror movie festival on Halloween.

souldolphindream said...

I went to the big halloween party at the park with my kids.

souldolphindream@aol.com

skicat said...

Looks like a scary read!

Donna said...

A Halloweem party at church.
donna444444@yahoo.com

susan1215 said...

Taking my daughter trick or treating

demmi said...

we will be passing out candy
con5459(at)gmail(dot)com

Unknown said...

CONTEST CLOSED!!!!

Please check the main page for the winners announcement!

dvice12 said...

This Halloween we dressed up and went trick or treating and to a neighborhood party

Tiffany819 said...

We ended up going trick or treating with our son and then we took him to the horse arena to ride some horses. It was a lot of fun!! Thanks.

Tiffanys819 at gmail dot com

cman said...

We went out to stores with the kids dressed up and then made halloween cookies.

Dawn Reid said...

We stayed home and passed out candy, then went to a friends party.