Blogiversary Celebration and Giveaway: Welcome to Author Elizabeth Noble!

We’re so pleased to welcome author Elizabeth Noble today to help us with the celebrating of our 5th Blogiversary. She’s brought along a great giveaway, so be sure to check out the details for that below.

Welcome, Elizabeth!

Happy Five Year Blogiversary to Lisa and The Novel Approach!

Thank you so much for including me in your celebration! This one is special to me because this year marked my fifth year as a professionally published author.

Five years! Awesome. Congratulations, Lisa and The Novel Approach Blog staff.

Five years is celebrated with wood and silver. I looked it up. Somehow for what I write that seems very appropriate. Silver is a weapon against vampires and werewolves and I think the wood is fairly self-explanatory.

Writing is my happy place, I simply don’t know what to do with myself if I don’t spend at least a little time every day writing. Recently I was asked by Dreamspinner Press’s social media goddess, Naomi, if I’d take a week or two break after submitting my latest project. My answer was I’d maybe take an evening! People have different ways of de-stressing and unwinding after a day at work being nice and social. My way is to dive into my stories and characters.

It’s wonderful having a blog such as The Novel Approach that is so supportive and welcoming to authors. Five years is amazing and I hope you continue for many, many more. This has been a favorite blog of mine for a while now and I look forward to seeing what Lisa and the reviewers plan for the future.

All of my books are published by either Dreamspinner Press or DSP Publications and can be seen on my website, Emotion in Motion . My next release will happen in a few short weeks! Quarry, book #2 of The Vampire Guard is due out January 17, 2017 from DSP Publications.

The Blurby Bit

The members of the Vampire Guard—Jonas Forge, spy and soldier turned cop; computer hacker extraordinaire Blair Turner; Declan, thief, con man, and ex-pirate; and medical examiner and werewolf Dr. Lucas Coate—face a dangerous and elusive enemy.

And this time, it’s personal.

Over the course of three hundred years, a man has touched each of their lives in ways they are only just realizing. When a hunt for a psychotic killer in the present resurrects memories and clues from the past, they discover how they have been affected and are bound by the existence of a ruthless vampire criminal. Now, while preventing a heist at a high-tech art show and thwarting several large-scale explosions, the team must employ their unique blend of science and supernatural abilities to put an end to the machinations of the man toying with their lives.

This time, he won’t slip through their fingers.

This time, it’s more than a case. It’s a hunt, and Forge, Blair, Declan, and Lucas won’t stop until they’ve captured their quarry.

The Sneak Peek

“Shouldn’t he be resting with his leg elevated?” Jonas grumbled at Lucas.

Shifting his gaze to the ground, Lucas scratched at the back of his neck. “Um, yeah, that would be….” His voice trailed off when Blair turned to scowl at him. “But as long as he uses the crutches….” Lucas handed the box off to Blair and retreated to the chair beside Declan. “This is a no-win conversation, and I think I’ll stay neutral.”

Declan shook his head and rubbed Lucas’s shoulder, then took his hand and squeezed once before letting go. He was constantly amazed by Lucas’s innate ability to read their moods. Lucas preferred to navigate any confrontation by talking his way out. He was an expert at what Declan had come to refer to as the art of the schmooze.

Blair had given up the crutches and was perched on his desk, one of the four in the Pit, tearing open the box. “These got here fast. I just ordered them from the tech department. Those guys have super-sweet equipment, and all I have to do is put in a requisition. They e-mailed me a catalog, and they love showing off all the new equipment they offer.”

Lucas apparently couldn’t stand it anymore and went to Blair, leaning in to see. Declan gave in to his own curiosity and wheeled his chair across the floor to join them. Jonas’s interest must have been piqued as well since in an eye blink he was standing on Blair’s other side, looking over his shoulder.

Blair ripped open the box and started stacking smartphones up on the desk. “I got you all gifts. You’re welcome. These—” He picked up the phones in one hand for them to see. “—are our new phones, and they are amazing.” Sitting them on the desk again, he said, “I need each of yours so I can transfer everything.”

Lucas promptly held his phone out to Blair. Hooking them together with a small cord, Blair fiddled with both devices for a minute before setting the old one on the desk behind him. He proceeded to do the same with Forge’s and Declan’s.

“These are the latest and greatest in smartphone security and technology,” he said when he finished. “I had them customized for each of us. They’re completely secure, so, you know, don’t lose them. The phone itself and every website you go to will be given a unique thirty-two-digit password that will rotate randomly, then it’ll be encrypted.” He pointed at Lucas. “Even the porn sites, and you need to quit with those. They all have viruses, and they’re a bitch to get rid of.”

“Thirty-two-digit rotating random passwords?” Lucas asked.

“Yep,” Blair said and grinned.

“Um, that’s cool and all, but won’t having to carry a piece of paper with my super-secret, uberimpressive password around defeat the purpose of encrypting the phone. I’ll never remember that,” Lucas said.

Blair rolled his eyes and smirked. He activated Lucas’s phone and turned it so the screen faced him. “Press your thumb anywhere on the screen.” Lucas did as instructed, and Blair turned the phone again, explaining as he worked on it, “Your phones are accessed by your fingerprint. So unless you lose your fingers, you have your password.”

“If I lose my fingers, I’ll have bigger problems than a lost password,” Declan muttered. Jonas snorted a laugh.

“Exactly,” Blair said and held up one finger. “Wolf up for a second and put your paw pad on here.” Lucas did as told, and Blair started talking again. “Since werewolves have unique pad prints just like a fingerprint, your phone is specially calibrated to allow you access no matter what form you’re in.”

Lucas returned to a mostly human form and grinned. “That’s great.” He looked at his hand with its elongated fingers and claws. “Might be a challenge, but great.”

“How you use it with werewolf claws is your problem,” Jonas said and grinned.

“This thing is bulletproof and damn near indestructible. These covers are made from some sort of steel lattice, overlaid with rubber. You can run over them with a tank and barely dent them.” Blair looked around at them. “Seriously, you can. They showed me a video. The tech department also loves their videos. The phone’s designed to be a tool for field use, to give each of us access to information, tools, and communications we might need in an emergency.”

“Awesome.” Lucas’s eyes widened and he rubbed his chin with his now completely human free hand.

“Forget it, Lucas. We’re not going out looking for a tank later,” Declan said. Lucas pulled a face but didn’t argue.

“Anyway, Lucas, if you notice, yours is the same color gray as your fur when you’re turned. The moon etched in the back changes with the phases so you’ll know at a quick glance.”

Lucas turned his phone over and his eyebrows shot up. There was an image of the moon embossed in blue on the back, framed by a thin line of green close to the color of Declan’s eyes when he changed.

Blair turned to Jonas, leaned closer to him, and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. “For my favorite big, tough warrior, a camouflage design in hazel and the same blue as your dress uniform. The Akhkharu Nasaru emblem is etched into yours.” The bear with the full moon and howling wolf overlay was embossed in thin lines of glossy red on the back of the phone. Blair held the phone out and instructed, “Thumb here.”

Jonas pressed his thumb to the screen, encoding the phone. “Huh,” he said and moved a finger across the phone’s surface.

“Our network is the Vampire Guard network, an extension of the VampX OS, so also secure,” Blair continued. “However as an extra added bonus, these covers provide protection against cloning or other unwanted access and intrusions. Tracking one of these is damn hard, but not impossible for someone who has the right equipment and knows what they’re doing. So if you’re worried about being tracked, use these.” He tapped two fingers against a pile of black pouches in some sturdy material. “These will prevent any signal from getting to your phone. However, it means no signal can get out either, so you’d have to take the phone out to use it.”

Blair shifted to face Declan and handed the next phone to him. “And for the true spy among us, tasteful and always in fashion in understated black.” Blair pointed to the screen and Declan pushed his thumb onto it. The VampX logo appeared against the black background. When he swiped his finger over it, his normal background and icons became visible. “You’ll notice the wolf on the back of your case is actually Lucas when he’s fully changed.”

Declan turned the phone over and couldn’t help smiling. “Very nice touch. Thank you. That was very thoughtful of you.”

About the Author

Elizabeth Noble lives by the adage “I can’t not write”. She can’t remember a time when she didn’t make up stories and eventually she learned how to write them down. A part of every day is spent living in worlds she created that are filled with intrigue and espionage.  Using a real love of scifi and urban fantasy highlighted by twisty plots she crafts stories taking place in a slightly altered version of our world.

When she’s not chronicling the adventures of her many characters Elizabeth is a veterinary nurse living in her native Cleveland, Ohio. She shares her little brick house with an adorable canine princess and her tabby cat side-kick. Elizabeth is a fan of baseball, basketball (go Cavs and Indians!) and gardening. She can often be found working in her ‘outside office’ listening to classic rock and plotting her next novel waiting for it to be dark enough to gaze at the stars.

Elizabeth received several amateur writing awards. Since being published a number of her novels have received honorable mentions in the Rainbow Awards. Her novel Jewel Cave was a runner up in the 2015 Rainbow awards in the Gay Mystery/Thriller category. In the 2016 Rainbow Awards Ringed Love was a winner in the Gay Fantasy Romance Category.

The Giveaway

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