Amazon Heat is the product of a great friendship, a long car ride, and the general goofiness that accompanies us wherever we go. On a car pool to the monthly Liberty States Fiction Writers meeting, we decided that the paranormal market needed an injection of fun. We all love vampires, but they’re all so dark and broody. What about fun stories? Stories more campy than melodramatic?
Ideas were tossed around, silliness ensued, and we finally settled on a kick-butt, Wonder Woman and Greek mythology inspired world in which to drop our heroine. We totally cherry picked the good stuff from the myths, like super strength and a military-like civilization. We tossed out the things that are too weird even for us, like the fact that the mythological Amazons sliced off their left breasts so their aim with a bow would be truer. Ouch, and ewww.
The entire story was outlined at a New Jersey diner, and Amazon Heat was born just a few, thoroughly enjoyable weeks later from a love of Wonder Woman and the Amazons of Greek mythology. Cause who doesn’t love a girl who can kick butt, in cool boots no less?
Who is your favorite kick-butt heroine? Why? And does she wear cool boots?
AMAZON HEAT released January 9th from Carina Press.
Two years ago, ethnobotanist Dr. Elizabeth DeMarco, driven by grief to find a cure for cancer, left her lover mid-proposal to accept a position on a research expedition to the Amazon Rainforest. Kidnapped by guerrillas, she was saved by warriors from the secret all-female civilization of the ancient Amazons. She has been kept prisoner since in the Amazon’s supernaturally hidden valley.
Despite Elizabeth’s rejection, anthropologist Logan Spencer never stopped searching for her. While consulting on a mass grave uncovered in the remote Brazilian interior near the place Elizabeth was kidnapped, Logan falls from a cliff. On the brink of death, he is collected by the Amazons and magically healed. When Logan wakes, the first person he sees is his beloved Elizabeth. Unfortunately, their reunion is less than joyful. The mystical medicine is changing Logan. But there’s no time to study the side-effects. The Amazons plan to steal Logan’s DNA, then kill him. Logan and Elizabeth must escape before dawn or Logan is doomed. Getting him out of the hidden valley won’t be easy. The Amazon’s supernatural powers make the task all but impossible.
Amazon Heat is now available at Carina Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble. Read an excerpt here.
Melinda Leigh is a mom, a dog lover, and a second degree black belt in kenpo karate. In addition to writing paranormal romance for Carina Press, she is also the author of She Can Run, a kindle bestselling romantic suspense released in November 2011 from Montlake Romance. Find out more Melinda: website / facebook / twitter
Rayna Vause is fascinated by the paranormal and she loves a good romance as well, which probably explains why these two elements perpetually crop up in her writing. When she takes off her writer hat she is a martial artist, video game lover, Disney enthusiast, and a Pop Tart aficionado. Find out more about Rayna: website / facebook / twitter
Melinda and Rayna blog together at http://AttackingThePage.com
