Vampire Dating Tips by Adrian Phoenix & giveaway!

Thanks so much, Jo-Anne, for letting me hang out with you and your readers. To celebrate the release of the fourth Maker’s Song book, Etched in Bone, I thought a few dating guidelines for vampires might be fun. Actually, it’s two sets of guidelines—one set for the vampire (nightkind) and one set for the mortal who dates them.

Dating can be awkward at best, but going out with nightkind offers whole new kinds of awkward moments—from the first date to the ones that (hopefully) follow when you really start getting to know each other. Here’s a quick guide to avoid blunders and faux pas while dating that sexy bit of nightkind.

Dating Tips for Mortals:

1. Don’t make any daytime plans. Unless your date happens to sparkle in sunshine or has a special ring/potion/enchanted sunglasses or whatever, figure that all activity will be taking place after sunset. Any dates before sunset might require a fire extinguisher. They are called nightkind for a reason.

2. Be very sparing with perfume, cologne, and scented soaps. A vampire’s nose is sensitive and you could easily block your own natural scent, the sexy fragrance that is all you. You know the date is on the wrong foot when he/she is fanning a hand in front of their face, eyes tearing, and you’re still three feet away.

3. When other people stare at your date or cast lustful and lingering looks at him or her, don’t engage in possessive or jealous behavior. Nightkind tend to be beautiful and alluring (all the better to entice a quick meal into striking range), so you should expect this kind of attention and overlook it with grace. After all, you are the one going out with this beautiful creature. Those staring are not. (Though they might eventually become meals.)

4. And speaking of meals, if dining out, be aware that you will need to choose the restaurant since your nightkind date’s appetite doesn’t include regular food and they tend to be poor judges of which restaurants offer excellent fare and those that don’t—just as you wouldn’t know whose veins held a rare and delicious vintage as opposed to the vascular version of ghetto wine.

5. When being intimate with your nightkind date, you can expect intense passion, biting, growling, some drinking of your blood (feel free to bite back), and your date will be able to perform with breath-stealing intensity all night. One caveat: make sure you have finished before dawn. If not, you run the risk of Sleep claiming your nightkind partner in the middle of even the most intimate of actions.

Please feel free to post a comment about your own vampire/nightkind dating advice.

To celebrate the release of Etched in Bone, we’ve decided to add a little to the prize—the winner not only gets a signed copy of EIB, but a signed copy of any other book from The Maker’s Song series: A Rush of Wings (Book One), In the Blood (Book Two), or Beneath the Skin (Book Three).

You can read a chapter from the book that started it all. Here’s a link to a sample chapter of A Rush of Wings.

With Book Four, Etched in Bone, Dante faces his destiny and searches for a way to accept it on his own terms. To make his life, his own, at long last, and with Heather at his side. The former FBI agent is more than his partner and lover, she is also his anchor, his beacon, guiding him back from the edge of madness when his shattered past rises up and swallows him. But in Heather’s human family awaits an unexpected enemy. One who could force Dante to choose his darkest destiny—as the Great Destroyer.

Here’s a link to the first two chapters of Etched in Bone.

Etched in Bone is also a featured read for March on BN.com’s Paranormal and Urban Fantasy Book Club – which I’m very excited about.

Thanks so much for having me! It’s been a blast. You can also find me at:

Website: www.adrianphoenix.com

Blog: www.adrianphoenix.com/blog

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=615227655

Facebook Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Adrian-Phoenix/55403659403?ref=mf

Twitter: http://twitter.com/AdrianPhoenix

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/adriannikolasphoenix

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/944594.Adrian_Phoenix

Dante’s Club Hell Forum: http://clubhell.yuku.com/directory

Dante’s Club Hell Yahoo Group: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dantes_club_hell/

Pocket After Dark: http://pocketafterdark.com/service/displayKickPlace.kickAction?u=23754464&as=159176

Do you have any tips for dating vampires? You could win a singed copy of Etched in Bone, PLUS a signed copy of any of the other Maker's Song books! Don't forget to leave your email in case you win. Giveaway ends Friday 18th of March.