Bonus....Guest Blogger!

Beth here.

Normally here at SIS, on Tuesdays, we feature music reccomendations. But normal can be boring. So today we're featuring a guest blog by a fantastic, sensual author-- Amanda McIntyre.

Amanda writes for Harlequin Spice. She's a star on the rise and I'm not saying that because I know her and really, really like her. She's a fantastic storyteller and We're thrilled to be sharing in the excitement of her latest release: TORTURED. Take it away, Amanda!

August 25, 2009
Day twenty-two of the blog tour

TORTURED, erotic medieval, Harlequin Spice, Aug.'09-Amanda McIntyre)
See the book trailer at: tp://www.amandamcintyre.net/tortured.html#trailer

In a time of chaos, darkness, and violence, it is better to live only in the moment, lest your memories eat you alive.

A young woman blessed with sight seeks vengeance against a tyrannical lord responsible for her mother's murder. Forced to become an executioner's apprentice, she encounters a Roman prisoner who offers her a way to escape her prison and find a future. Torn between desire, duty, and the chance for revenge, her choice to live or die leaves her TORTURED. (Available now, Harlequin Spice-Books Aug. '09)

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Here I am on the last leg of my Internet road trip that started on August 4th. I have seen so many new places, met some new friends, and given away many books!

I want to thank Beth for having me here at her cyber-diggs! They are very Beth and will you look at those kudos from Booklist and publishers weekly!! Hoity toity, girlfriend!! But, all kidding aside- I could not wish more for you, nor think you more deserving of all your successes! You see Beth here is a gem, a rare find of a genuinely fabulous human being. Continued success, my friend!

So after twenty-five blogs, you sort of wonder if folks really want to hear your story of how you came up with the idea for this book... or how did you do the research for the love scenes? If you want to read those answers, you have to go back to the beginning of the tour! NOT! Really, here is a quick recap…

Whilst surfing the Internet, trifling through medieval history( a pastime I’m sure is enjoyed by many) I ran across an obscure bit of information about a medieval female executioner…da doo.(If you’ve seen Little Shop of Horrors, you’ll understand the back-up singers in my story!)
Let’s see…where was I? Oh, yeah, so I thought to myself, what a strange bit of information. I wonder what type of woman it takes to be a medieval executioner?(Doot Da Doo) So I asked myself, but what if the woman didn’t have a choice? What if for some reason, she was forced to this life…maybe a total eclipse of the sun? No, it wasn’t that. It was really much worse.
First rule of writing fiction: Make it worse.

It was the “Adventus Saxonum”- “the coming of the Saxons”…and thus my heroine, Sierra, the daughter of a Celtic Seer, used as guide by the kings before her—came to be.

Reviewers have described TORTURED as “a disturbingly touching tale of hope, love and survival.”(Romance BookWyrm) and most recently likened in tone to Braveheart (which is both humbling and scary.)

But it is definitely outside of the box, of that there is no question. Why the Dark Ages? I think it was the challenge of seeing whether an erotic romance could be written in such darkness, could it survive? Though the journey is not an easy one, love finds a way. You can read a never before excerpt at my blog McIntyre’s House of Muse www.mcintyreshouseofmuse.blogspot.com

I hope you’ll check out TORTURED if you like the adventure, danger and romance of dark, uncertain medieval times!

I’d like to give away a copy of TORTURED today to those who leave a comment to the following question: If you had to choose another era you could live in, what era would that be and why?

Leave your comments here and I’ll be checking in periodically throughout the day!
Next on tour stop: Emily Bryan’s blog www.emilybryan.blogspot.com
May the wind be at your back~
Amanda
www.amandamcintyre.net