Guest Blog and Giveaway with Marta Acosta

Marta Acosta is with us today with a guest blog, and to give away one copy of Happy Hour at Casa Dracula. I had asked Marta how it is that she wrote a comedy and ended up with all of us Urban Fantasy fans following her. Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win!

Here’s what Marta had to say:

Okay, so there’s a woman in a posh bar and a handsome man approaches her. After a pleasant talk, he says, “Will you sleep with me for a million dollars?” She blushes and says yes. Then he says, “How about twenty bucks?”

“What kind of girl do you think I am?” she asks angrily.

“We’ve already established that,” he says. “Now we’re just negotiating a price.”

Sometimes I think of that joke when I’m telling people that I’m not a vampire writer. Sure, I’ve got a four-book deal for a series featuring vampires, and, yes, I’ve got a blog that’s called Vampire Wire, and it’s true that my book covers have characters of the fangy variety.

So why the denial?

When I wrote Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, I wrote it as a comedy and incorporated a vampire theme to spoof the conventions. I wanted a funny hip cover and a different title that would signal to readers that my book was primarily humorous. So I lost that battle, and then I found that I was being categorized in unexpected ways. I was suddenly a writer of “women’s fiction,” even though I’d always had lots of male readers. People were introducing me as a “vampire writer” and asking if I’d always been obsessed by vampires and if I wore a cape.

Man, I totally should have ridden that wave, but I’m the sort of person who will cut off my nose to spite my face; and I’ve never crossed a bridge without asking someone for a pack of matches and a bottle of gasoline. I resented being labeled, even thought the labels were perfectly lovely. I should have had “Vampire Writer” and “I Heart Dracula” tattooed on my forehead and embroidered on the back of a black satin cape that I could wear to the grocery store and book events.

Since the publication of my first novel, Simon & Schuster/Pocket has released Midnight Brunch and The Bride of Casa Dracula. Readers and even bookstore staff have no idea where to find my books. (They’re in the general fiction section of the bookstore, under Acosta and conveniently close to the anthologies of erotic short stories.) I accept some responsibility in the confusion since I kept insisting that I wasn’t a paranormal/fantasy writer, or a romance writer.

The other night, I pulled a can out of the cupboard in the dark and took a sip. I thought it was a soda, but it was beer and I practically spit it out. It wasn’t that the beer was bad; it just wasn’t what I expected. Those expecting genre conventions in my books sometimes have that reaction because they just see my books as Not Soda, instead of yum Delicious Beer!

During the last few years, I’ve encountered many wonderful paranormal romance and urban fantasy readers, writers, and bloggers. I have more fun on my Vampire Wire blog than I should for someone who’s supposed to be focusing on her fiction. I really wish I was someone obsessed by the paranormal so I could really fit into the group.

Kimberly tells me that I should be promoting my own books more, so here it is: my books are the hilarious, well crafted, smart, and exciting adventures of a bright, impetuous, sexy heroine and a pack of snobby vampires. Milagro has a weakness for fabulous men, parties, lunatics, con artists and tacky clothes. If you like flawed and sometimes clueless characters like Bridget Jones, you’ll like my books.

My next novel is a romantic comedy without vampires (I’m calling it Nancy’s Theory of Style, but the title isn’t confirmed) and then the fourth book in my Casa Dracula series will be released. I hope that people will buy my books so I won’t have to get a real job.

Thanks, Kimberly, for letting my ramble. One of the best things about being a sort of vampire writer is meeting all the wonderful reviewers like you!

Thank you Marta, and thanks so much for agreeing to share your thoughts with us. It’s always a pleasure. :)

To learn more about Marta Acosta and her books, please visit her: HERE

You can also read my reviews of her books: Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, Midnight Brunch, and The Bride of Casa Dracula.

For the chance to win a copy of Happy Hour at Casa Dracula, please share with us the supernatural being you’d like to see more of in books. (vampires, faeries, ghosts, werewolves, dragons, etc) Don’t forget to share a name if you’re leaving an anonymous post. Deadline is midnight Friday March 20th, 2009, and the winner will be announced Saturday the 21st. Good luck and happy reading!

Kimberly Swan, Darque Reviews