Z is for Zander from Elemental and Zoey Redbird from House of Night

I have two Z's today - Zander and Zoey.
First up is an interview with Zander, a character in Brandon Ax's novel ELEMENTAL.

Do you have any nicknames? 
I can't believe Aiden talked me into another one of these. I guess Zander is a nickname my full name is Alexander.


What's an Elemental? 
That's hard to explain. I guess you could say we're here to make sure the things that live in the night don't make playthings out of you.


What are the draw backs and/or perks of it? 
Draw backs? Aiden would say it can get lonely, he tends to go on like that. I would have to say the draw back for me is the constant vigilance, seems like there is always something coming for your head. Perks, all that power is at times intoxicating.


Who is your character crush and/or celebrity crush? 
I'm not much for crushes, people are liabilities. I guess if we are living in a fantasy moment— and lets face it, we are— I'd say Mila Kunis is a very attractive woman.


Do you have a board game/video game that you love to play? 
I haven't played one in years, I remember loving Tekken.


There's a zombie apocalypse, and you can only have 1 person, 1 weapon, 1 food item, and 1 whatever-you-feel-like item. What are they? 
One person? Me, I can count on that guy. One weapon? Me again, I mean human flame thrower, I like my chances. One food? Apples, love them. And one item, hmm...An ipod with an endless battery, full of music.

Here's a blurb for ELEMENTAL by Brandon Ax:
Sophia's mother disappeared when she was six, leaving behind a broken father and sleep disturbed by silent terrors. Now twelve years later, the nightmares that plagued her youth have suddenly returned.

With dark creatures occupying her nights and a sense of restlessness consuming her days, all she wants is to finish school and get out of her small town as fast as possible. Everything changes when she is confronted with the realization that the shadowy beings from her dreams are real. The truth of this reality hits hard when someone she loves is killed. It would seem that anyone in their way is disposable.

A mysterious boy named Aiden enters her life bringing with him all sorts of complications. They're drawn to each other, but their connection brings Aiden right into the path of her half-demon nightmares. With her father and several new friends put in the cross-hairs, Sophia must decide whether to let the shadows take her or stand her ground and fight. As the school year steadily moves closer to an end her decision may come with the cost of her life or worse—the lives of those she cares about.

LINKS

Amazon

Goodreads

Brandon Ax's Blog

Zoey Redbird from House of Night series

• Zoey Redbird is a character in the House of Night series, written by mother and daughter duo P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast. She gets marked with a tattoo by a vampyre-tracker and starts to go through the change into a vampyre. Because of this, she moves to the House of Night, a boarding school for other fledglings like her. Here, she meets wonderful friends who become her family. She also finds love-- a few times. HON takes us on a journey of Zoey's life and the angst she goes through as she learns how to live her life as a vampyre as well as trying to control her new-found powers. And it's fun to see her trying to make a decision. That is sooo me. I'm the worst decision maker in the world. 

Go HERE to check out other bloggers participating in the A - Z Blogging Challenge. It's going on the whole month of April.

Y is for Youngblood, Tally

I don't have a favorite character to use for the letter Y, so I searched for Y characters in books that I've yet to read. Tally Youngblood seems like an interesting choice so I put this book on my TBR list. 

Here's the blurb for Uglies by Scott Westerfeld.

Tally Youngblood is about to turn sixteen, and she can't wait for the operation that turns everyone from a repellent ugly into a stunningly attractive pretty and catapults you into a high-tech paradise where your only job is to party. But new friend Shay would rather hoverboard to "the Smoke" and be free. Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world and it isn't very pretty. The "Special Circumstances" authority Dr Cable offers Tally the worst choice she can imagine: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. The choice Tally makes changes her world forever

For details and participants, check out the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.

X is for Xanthus Ehrensvard

Xanthus Ehrensvard (Xan) is a character in Christine Rains' novella The Dragonslayer - #3 in her 13th Floor Series. 

Hi, Xan! Describe yourself in five words.

Efficient, rational, ethical, ordered, focused.

Now, describe Lois in five words.

Audacious, spirited, crafty, candid, beautiful.

Do you have a celebrity crush?

A celebrity crush? No, I don't keep up on the Hollywood scene. Any celebrity that I've taken particular notice of has turned out to be a dragon.

What’s your job title?

Like my father and my grandfather and all my honored ancestors, I am a dragonslayer.

What’s your weapon of choice?

While I have a number of Barretts in my collection that I use most often, I do prefer the XM2010 Remington Enhanced Sniper Rifle. 

Do you have a perfect vacation spot, you know, to recuperate from all that dragon hunting.

Vacation? I've never been, but Lois wants to take a cruise. I don't understand the draw of lazing around on a boat with a thousand other people. There's a chance of too many things going wrong. And the mess. No, thank you.

It’s the end of the world, and you’re only allowed three items from your home—two necessities and one sentimental. What are you grabbing?

The end of the world? What do you mean? You need to be more specific here. Are we expected to fight? Then I'd take weapons. If the world is going to explode, then material things are useless. There are too many-- All right. Lois is telling me to answer the question like a normal person. I would take her and my ancestors' lance as necessities, and-- No, I'm not taking the ferret. What use-- Okay. Huff the ferret as the sentimental thing.

*Word association time! What’s the first thought that comes to mind when I say the following:

Ice cream - vanilla
Excalibur - a sword of legend
Camera - annoying device

Thanks for stopping by Xan, and thank you, Christine, for writing such an awesome character!

1303 - THE DRAGONSLAYER

On the rooftop of neighboring building, dragonslayer Xanthus Ehrensvard fires at his target, Governor Whittaker. How he missed the shot, he doesn't know, but fleeing the scene, he picks up an unwanted passenger. Gorgeous reporter Lois King saw Xan's face, and she believes it's the story to make her career. Except he can't let her walk away knowing what he looks like. Xan has to show her the Governor is a bigger threat to the world than he is.

Xan knows dragons never went extinct. They evolved with human society, taking on mortal forms, and slithered their way into positions of great influence and power, just like the Governor. But it's no easy chore proving to someone that dragons still exist, and even more so, they're disguised as famous people. Xan must convince Lois or find another way to silence her. An option, as he gets to know her, he likes less and less.

After all, dragonslayers are no longer celebrated heroes but outlaws. Just as the dragons wish it. But this outlaw must make a plan to slay the dragon or risk its retribution.

Purchase links:
Amazon
Smashwords
B&N
Kobo 

You can also find Christine on Twitter, Facebook, and Goodreads.

For details and participants, check out the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.

W is for the Weasley Twins

The Weasley's were straight up awesome in the Harry Potter series, but my favorite of the bunch were the twins, Fred and George Weasley. Their humor and pranks were the best!

They were born on April 1, loved practical jokes, were Beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team (which I WISH existed in real life), and used their humor and inventing minds to open a joke shop. My two middle sons are redheads and love practical jokes. They're not twins, but wear the same size and two years apart in age. For Halloween, in 2010, they went dressed as Fred and George Weasley. Here's a pic of them (2010) in their Gryffindor robes along with there other two brothers who decided to not go with a HP theme. :)

For details and participants, check out the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.

V is for the Vincent Boys

The Vincent Boys and The Vincent Brothers are YA books written by Abbi Glines.

Beau and Sawyer are the Vincent's. 

Book 1- The Vincent Boys - is from Beau's POV, as well as his love interest, Ashton. 

Book 2 - The Vincent Brothers - is from Sawyer's POV, as well as his love interest Lana.

Beau is the sexy bad boy that makes my heart break and sigh at the same time. He knows how to love a girl, and he's a fighter. So, if you're a dude, you don't want to piss him off.

Sawyer is the opposite. He's the good ol' boy that you can bring home to meet your parents. He's considerate and kind, and usually tries to do the right thing. 
I adore both Beau and Sawyer, but Beau stole my heart in this series.

Here's the blurb to the 1st book, The Vincent Boys...

Ashton is getting tired of being good, of impressing her parents and playing ideal girlfriend to Sawyer Vincent. Sawyer is perfect, a regular Prince Charming, but when he leaves town for the summer, it’s his cousin Beau who catches Ashton’s eye. Beau is the sexiest guy she’s ever seen, and even though he’s dangerous, Ashton is drawn to him.

Beau loves his cousin like a brother, so the last thing he wants to do is make a move on Sawyer’s girl. Ashton is off-limits, absolutely. That’s why he does his best to keep his distance, even though he’s been in love with her forever. When Ashton wants to rekindle their childhood friendship in Sawyer’s absence, Beau knows he should say no.

Ashton and Beau don’t want to hurt Sawyer. But the more they try to stay away from each other, the more intense their urges become. It’s getting way too hard to resist...

For details and participants, check out the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.

U is for Unveiling and Undersee, Madge

U is for the Unveiling of a blogfest!

Everyone loves a hero, but there are some of us who also love a great villain. Dani @Entertaining Interests and I thought, What a great idea! Let’s find out who else admires Heroes and Villains in the blogosphere!

And voila!

Heroes & Villains Blogfest was born.

1. On June 6^th post your favorite heroes and villains.
2. You may list as many, or as little, as you’d like.
3. Be creative with it: lists, quotes, videos, pictures, etc.
4. It'd be cool if you'd display the Heroes and Villains badge on your blog!
5. And most of all HAVE FUN!
6. Sign up in the linky below! We can't wait to read about your fave heroes and villains.

U is for Madge Undersee. She's a character in Suzanne Collins Hunger Games Trilogy. I wish the first movie would've had her in it and rumor has it that she won't be in Catching Fire either. That's too bad because I think she's a great character. In the books, Madge is one of Katniss Everdeen's best friends and the mayor's daughter. She is the one who gives Katniss the mocking-jay pin, unlike how they showed it in the movie. Their share a friendship that's important in the novel. 

For details and participants, check out the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.

T is for Tristran Thorn (spelled "Tristan" in the movie version)

Tristran Thorn (pronounced "Tristan" in the movie version) is a character in Neil Gaiman's novel, Stardust. Tristran comes from half-faerie parentage. He wants to win the love of Victoria, so he goes on a quest to find her a fallen star, which leads him to Yvaine. He falls in love with her even though she's the fallen star.

One of the quotes I adore from Stardust: "She says nothing at all, but simply stares upward into the dark sky and watches, with sad eyes, the slow dance of the infinite stars."

For details and participants, check out the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.

S is for Severus Snape and the Salvatore Brothers

Severus Snape is in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels. What Rowling did with this character is brilliant. If you've read the books and seen the movies, I trust you agree.

Two quotes I adore by Snape:

• "You might be laboring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you." (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)
• "Well, well, Lupin. Out for a little walk... in the moonlight, are we?" (The Prisoner of Azkaban) 

The Salvatore Brothers – Stefan and Damon – are characters in L.J. Smith's novel series The Vampire Diaries.

While Stefan is brooding, romantic, and loyal, his older brother Damon is the bad boy of all bad boys. I adore both guys, but Damon is my fave. They are both in love with Elena Gilbert, the main protag in the series. I’ve only read books 1 and 2, but I’m a huge fan of the TV series and love how these boys tapped in perfectly with these characters. They are a couple of gorgeous vampires. **sigh**

For details and participants, check out the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.

R is for Radleigh McCoy

Radleigh is a character in Kyra Lennon's novel Game On and he was kind enough to stop by for a little chat!

Hi, Radleigh. *blushes* First question... What's your middle name?

Mitchell, after my dad. 

What's your first soccer/football memory?
I remember when I was a kid, my Dad used to take my Mom and me on the road with him as often as he could. One of my earliest memories is being in the Westberg Warriors locker room, asking my dad if I could play in a match with him. I guess I was around five then. The guys on the team were really cool, and they let me “train” with them. Really, they just kicked the ball to me and let me kick it back but when you’re five years old, it makes you feel pretty special.

What, about Leah, caught your attention first?

Can I say her ass? No? *laughs* But... I first saw her across the Warriors' cafeteria, and all I could see was the back view! She's real small, petite, and she does have a great ass. When I finally got to see her face, I couldn't stop staring at her lips. So... yeah. Her lips and her ass. 

Any celebrity crushes?

Mila Kunis. Ashton Kutcher is one lucky son of a bitch.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, so I don't really have a favorite ice cream flavor. 

That’s all the questions that I have for you. Thanks for stopping by, Radleigh!

*smiles charmingly at Jackie* Thank you so much for having me over. It's been a real pleasure. We should do this again sometime. *winks*

EEP! Er, I mean, that’d be great! 

After swapping her small town life to work for one of the top soccer teams in the U.S, Leah Walker thought she could finally leave the ghosts of her past behind. However, when she meets serial womanizer, Radleigh McCoy, the memories of her old life come swarming back, and she is forced to ask herself whether she has really changed at all. 

Click on Game On links to check it out:

Game On Amazon. com (Kindle version)
Game On Amazon. com (Paperback)
Game On Amazon UK (Kindle version)
Game On Amazon UK (Paperback)
Game On for NOOK

Kyra Lennon's hangouts:

Write Here, Write Now
Kyra Lennon's Word on The Street

@KLennonWrites

For details and participants, check out the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.

Q is for Quinn, John

John Quinn is a character in Charlaine Harris’ Dead as a Doornail (Sookie Stackhouse novel.)  

What I know about him so far:

• Muscular
• Over six feet tall
• Purple eyes
• Bald
• Emcee for supernatural events
• Dates Sookie (main protag) for a time
• And the best part? He’s a weretiger. How cool is that? I’ve heard of werewolves and other “were’s” but I think a weretiger would be pretty awesome.

P is for Patch Cipriano

Patch Cipriano is a character is Becca Fitzpatricks’s Hush Hush series. He’s a fallen angel turned guardian angel who plays poker, shoots pool, and is in love with Nora. 

Here are some quotes and scenes I adore from the series.

”Say provoking again. Your mouth looks provocative when you do." -Patch to Nora.

“I didn’t break his jaw. But if he lays one hand on you, it'll be the first of many things to break."

-Patch to Nora.

“Patch wasn’t the kind of guy mothers smiled on. He was the kind of guy they changed the house  locks for.”  -Nora about Patch.

Convos between Nora & Patch

Nora: "Hang on, did you just call me Angel?" I asked.
Patch: "If I did?"
Nora: "I don't like it."
Patch: He grinned. "It stays, Angel."

Patch: "I'm your guardian angel," he said.

Nora: "I get my very own guardian angel? What, exactly, is your job description?"
Patch: "Guard your body." His smile tipped higher. "I take my job seriously, which means I'm going to need to get acquainted with the subject matter on a personal level.”

 Patch: "You smell good, too."
Nora: "It's called a shower." I was staring straight ahead. When he didn't answer, I turned sideways. "Soap. Shampoo. Hot water."
Patch: "Naked. I know the drill."

Check out other bloggers and the details participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.

O is for Ombra - Guest post by Nicki Elson

For the letter O, Nicki Elson stopped by for a guest post! Nicki is the author of Three Daves, Sway, and Divine Temptation. Click on the links to check them out on amazon!

An now... the floor, er, blog post is yours, Nicki.

I don’t care that Lord Ombra is a character from a Middle Grade series (Peter and the Starcatchers by Ridley Pearson and Dave Barry)—he’s still one of the creepiest fictional villains I’ve come across, and here are the top 5 reasons why:

1. As he said himself, he’s not only on the side of darkness, he is darkness.
2. He speaks in a groan. A haunting, horrible, icy groooooan.
3. He moves like liquid. That is…that is just so unnatural and disturbing.
4. He’s always cloaked, which leaves you to only imagine the hideousness that resides beneath.
5. A chill comes over his victims as he steals their shadows, reading their thoughts and controoooolling their miiiiinds.

Congratulations, Pearson and Barry, for creating a character that makes me convince myself time and time again that I can just hold it until morning rather than cross the darkened room to use the bathroom. I hope you’re proud of yourselves.  

~Nicki Elson

  Author
  www.nickielson.com

Check out other bloggers and the details participating in the A to Z Blogging Challenge HERE.