Today we’re thrilled to welcome our favorite duo of authors, better known under the name Moira Rogers on Book Lovers Inc. They’re here with us today to celebrate the release of Hunter’s Prey which is coming out tomorrow. (I cannot wait to read it!) Our Geeky Lover’s review will be up in a few hours so stay tuned.  Please let’s give a warm welcome to our guests. And don’t forget you can win a copy of Hunter’s Prey at the end of the post.

BLI: For those who don’t know you yet could you tell us a bit about who’s behind Moira Rogers ?

Bree: Moira Rogers is the penname I share with my best friend, Donna. We’ve been writing together for almost five years now.

Donna: I’m Brad Pitt, and she’s Edward Norton. But we usually don’t punch each other. (Are Fight Club jokes getting dated now? I can’t tell.)

Bree: In case you can’t tell, we’re also a little irreverent.

BLI: The Bloodhounds series is not easily put into a genre drawer. Can you tell us about your world and the setting in general? What makes it different and special in your eyes?

Donna: I like to think of it as Larry McMurtry rewriting the movie Van Helsing. It’s definitely the Wild West flavor of steampunk. It’s off-the-wall, it’s fun, and the heroes are always going to win.

Bree: I often call it Wild Wild West meets Van Helsing, but with more dirty sex and brothels. The world lets us be a little larger than life, with outrageous heroes and even more outrageous villains. The part that’s special for me is how fun they are to write.

BLI: Your Bloodhounds are nothing if not alpha- dangerous and wild men who make all the female toes around them curl. We do appreciate all the time you spent in making those guys perfect. Which are your 4 characteristics to build the perfect hero?

Donna: I only have two. He has to be brave, and he has to believe in the heroine absolutely.

Bree: I’ll add two more. I want him to be powerful in the face of danger and powerless when the heroine smiles.

BLI: We noticed that your Bloodhounds have wild and manly names like Hunter, Archer etc. Do you know what kind of men they will be before or after you name them? If you would be a Bloodhound, what would your name be?

Bree: We actually thought about the names a lot! All of the younger Bloodhounds were given new names after they were turned, mostly to help them leave their old lives behind. I think I’d pick the name Athena. Look out, boys, the Goddess of War is here!

Donna: I’d want a code name, something no one actually called you in conversation but could be whispered with fear and grudging respect by your foes or emblazoned across a tattered Wanted poster. So…yeah, I just have to come up with one of those. I haven’t yet.

BLI: We might have said that a few times in the past but your Bloodhound covers are made of awesomesauce. Are they what you wanted them to be? How much input did you get on the creation? And last on how many devices do you use them as wallpapers? (Susi: admits 2)

Donna: Bree’s the one with all the wallpapers. I will say that my jaw utterly dropped when I got Archer’s cover, and I still haven’t managed to pick it up off the floor. We do have some input, mostly that these are books where the heroes should be front and center on the covers, but other than that we kind of let Kanaxa do her thing. She’s so great it it!

Bree: Archer is on my desktop…and my laptop. And my iPad. And I have a custom designed Wilder skin on my kindle.

BLI: Okay without wanting to stroke your ego too much but your novellas are exceptional. We here at Book Lovers Inc adore how you always succeed in building an emotional connection in such a short format. What do you think is the most important thing to make a novella or short story work for the reader? Do you yourself love to read those?

Bree: I love stories and novellas. And I agree with Donna–my favorite ones to read are the ones where the heat starts sparking in chapter one. I also think it’s good to have a tighter focus on the hero and heroine. Our secondary characters sometimes try to steal the show–in shorter works we have to really fight not to let them.Donna: Thanks! I like novellas a lot, especially longer ones that range just shy of being a novel–sort of like the Bloodhounds books. To me, if you establish that emotional connection, what you have left over is the chance for some blistering, fast-paced action. The Bloodhounds usually find themselves in very immediate, whirlwind situations, so it works.

BLI: Hunter is a special case even for a Bloodhound. Tell us a bit about him and why he is so unlike the rest.

Bree: Poor Hunter! Most Bloodhounds come in two flavors: highly trained soldiers who volunteer out of duty, or gravely wounded men who are offered a second chance at life in return for a pretty tough job. Hunter was a healthy young man with a full life of leisure ahead of him when he was, ahem, recruited against his will. With no preparation and no help after the change, he’s still struggling to adjust to what his life has become.

BLI: Your heroine Ophelia is a strong woman with a harsh past. I adored that she always seemed to know what she wants. Where does her acceptance of the Bloodhounds way of life come from?

Donna: I think, honestly, she’s so used to what bloodhounds are–and what they need–that the sex simply doesn’t shock her. In her relationship with Hunter, the thing that surprised her the most was definitely that it quickly became about much, much more than sex.

BLI: One of the main topics in Hunter’s Prey is acceptance- not only from the outside world but also from yourself. What do you think is harder to get?

Donna: I think…as much as we want acceptance from the world, it’s always going to ring hollow if we can’t accept ourselves.

Bree: I think we want the acceptance of the outside world when we can’t accept ourselves. The sad part is that sometimes we base our acceptance of ourselves on the world’s acceptance, and I’m pretty sure universal acceptance is impossible.

BLI: Nate and his current situation also play a big role. This made me wonder if you plan for him to get a story of his own too?

Donna: Teehee! I can’t say too much, except…TOTALLY. And I’m so looking forward to it.

Bree: This is the place where I laugh evilly, I believe. Muahahahahahahaha.

Donna: LOVE IT.

BLI: The next book will be about Archer. He is a tough guy to say it nice. What kind of gal will he get? Any hints you could give us?

Donna: Archer’s a bit of a reformed bad man, and I think only a certain kind of woman could understand him, much less appeal to him in the long term. Grace is definitely that woman.

Bree: Muahahahahahahaha. (I’m still feeling evil.)

BLI: How many books are planned in your Bloodhound series?

Donna: Do we have a cap, Bree? I think right now we have about five more ideas after Archer’s book, some of which we’ve already started setting up.

Bree: The wonderful thing about this world is how many fun ideas we can come up with. As long as people are still interested and excited, I bet we can find more stories to tell.

BLI: What’s next on your schedule? Any other release we should keep our eyes open for?

Bree: Right now we’re working hard on the next two books in the Southern Arcana series. Julio & Sera’s book, IMPULSE, is coming out in September! I’m really excited about this one. We’re also writing some new Last Call stories, which is proving to be really fun.

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~*~*Giveaway*~*~

Bree and Moira have generously offered an e-book copy of Wilder’s Mate to one lucky commenter!

All you have to do is leave a meaningful comment about the interview or a question for Bree and/or Moira!
(You can read our full giveaway policy here)

Please leave us a way to contact you.

This Giveaway is open Internationally!

Giveaway ends on Saturday, March 17, 2012; and we will announce the winner on Sunday.

Good luck!

About Caro The HEA Lover

Caroline is a HEA loving, yarn addicted French who's desperately hoping to get a HEA of her own. If she's not reading then she can be found knitting while listening to Audiobooks or watching Tv shows. Her secret addiction is reading websites that make fun at other people's expense (DYAC, Failbook)! Caroline also blogs at the Secret HEA Society with Susi.

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