The Illustrated Romance

TES HILAIRE!!! *Does a happy dance* OMGoodness, this cover. This is the second #StudioSmexy cover released in mass market, and it’s just THE. COOLEST. THING. EVER. I love walking into a bookstore and seeing my guys on books. Real life touchable BOOOOOKS. And Tes is SUCH a sweetheart! The designer on this cover is the AMAZING Tricia “PickyMe” whom I adore to my TOESIES. She was one of my first official clients (that was the Mary Wine highlander cover, the first #StudioSmexy mass market) and ever since we have worked on some stunning covers. I am just blown away by what she does with my images, and quite honestly I do a major shimmy whenever I see her downloading images to use. Most of the time I’m not allowed to know about the projects, some are VERY top secret, but I know whatever the cover, it’s going to be drop dead smexy.

—Jenn 

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Jenn: Tell us 5 fun facts about your book
Tes:

1. The Paladin legend I used to base my mythos after came from an old French piece of literature called The Song of Roland
2. Before I’d fleshed out my mythos for the series, back when I was writing the first chapters of Deliver Me from Darkness, Logan (hero of book two, Deliver Me from Temptation) was simply a vampire hunter of some sort. The other baddies and the Paladin order came after many agonizing hours of research and crazed hours of brainstorming.
3. Jessica, our homicide detective heroine, originally carried a Glock 19. I had to switch it to another NYC police issued weapon, the SIG P226 DAO because the Glock does not have an external safety and I needed one (a “decocker” in the case of the SIG) for one of the scenes.
4. With a crazy home life schedule, it took me nine months to write the first version of Deliver Me from Temptation. After realizing that crazy home life had been too much of a distraction and the novel had suffered for it, I scratched it and wrote the rough draft of the version you see here in one month. Talk about a deadline!
5. Researching the city details for Deliver Me from Temptation became a nightmare! Having lived most my life in NYC and been to the city at various points through it, I thought my original use of the city that never sleeps was a great idea for my novel. All I’d have to do is take a quick 2 hour road trip to check things out if needed, right? Well then we moved to North Carolina. Needless to say it became real difficult to take a little research jaunt down into the city both because of time and distance. Thank goodness for good friends and google maps!

Jenn: Did you know of Studio Smexy before it ended up on your cover?
Tes: To my lack of luck, no! But now that I do I can spend many blissful hours drooling over the pretty pictures here 🙂

Jenn: How well does the cover illustrate your vision of the hero/heroine? Of the story?
Tes: I love how the cover model captured the strength of Logan. As a Paladin warrior and next in line to lead their council, he’s chalked full of characteristics like honor, duty, competency and yes… a really hot warrior body. The muscular back-shot combined with the gritty city and dark colors correctly portray the intensity of the fight he leads against the enemy that is gaining ground on our world.

Jenn: If you could pick one element for your cover, what would it be? (chest, landscape, dress…)
Tes: Oh man… That’s a toss up between the model and the landscape. My stories are all based in NYC, though an alternate one where evil is lurking around the corner and slowly infusing itself into our lives without our knowledge, but the story is all about the hero and heroine. So I guess if I could pick one thing it would be the model that portrayed the sort of intensity I’m looking for in my characters.

Jenn: Describe your cover in one word (smexy or sexy doesn’t count)
Tes: Intense

Jenn: Describe yourself in one word
Tes: Hmmm.. how about a Tes-of-All-Trades

Jenn: What can readers expect from you next?
Tes: The next book in the Paladin Warriors series comes out in November! I am so excited 😉

Jenn: Is there more #StudioSmexy in your future?
Tes: I hope so! I will certainly be here drooling over all the pretty pictures at least!

Daphne Award-winning author Tes Hilaire started creating whole new worlds to escape upstate New York’s harsh winters before finally fleeing to sultry North Carolina. Her stories are edgy, exciting, and bring a hint of dark fantasy to paranormal romance. And no one ever has to shovel snow. For more, visit www.teshilaire.com, like her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter. Look for the other books in the Paladin Warriors Series: Deliver Me from Darkness (in stores now) and Prince of Shadows (November 2013).

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