Friday, April 8, 2011

The Trouble With Spells Blog Tour: Build Your Own Alpha


As a lover of romance, I have spent my fair share of time swooning over hot and delicious book heroes.  Sometimes during these love fests I would find myself in the mood for a certain kind of hero though, and I would read through books trying to find that perfect specimen who fit my current needs.
After hours and hours of “researching” through said books, I’ve decided what we need is something like a café, where we can just grab a table, pull up a chair and let the waitress fill out our order.

Waitress: “Thanks for coming to Hunky’s today.  What can I get for you?”
Me: “I’ll have the Alpha, dark and brooding, tough, though slightly tender in the
center, and a heaping side of Knee Buckling Kisses please.”
Waitress: “Can I get you anything to drink with that?”
Me: “Sure.  I’ll take a bottle of Rippling Abs.”
Waitress: “Would you like me to super size your order?”
Me: “MOST DEFINITELY!”
Waitress: “Would you also be interested in upgrading to a private dining room?”
Me: “That would be lovely, thank you!”
Waitress: “No problem.  I will get this order put right in and have it out to you
soon!”

Wouldn’t you love a place like that?  I know I would definitely be a frequent customer!  It would be the meal you would want to go straight to your hips!
But, alas, this place only exists in my imagination.  That’s when I put the brakes on!  Wait! I have an imagination!  What if I built an Alpha to my own specifications?  The idea took over quickly in my head and I began to ponder different scenarios. The possibilities were endless, with so many choices that I was soon overwhelmed with where to start.
I began writing little snippets here and there, but nothing too grandiose, before moving onto a little fantasy novel with a hero that had potential, but has never been fully explored yet.  I had just finished the rough draft for that book when the idea for Of Witches and Warlocks came to me.  Even though I knew this was going to be a young adult series, I decided to throw my Alpha crafting into full force and create a character I could fall in love with.
Thus Vance Mangum was born.
He’s not perfect, but that’s one of the things that makes him perfect I think.  He’s a little older than Portia, he being eighteen to her sweet sixteen, but I felt that gave him a little more maturity.  I wanted him to be a gorgeous, good-hearted guy who was surrounded by this terrible darkness that was constantly threatening him.  But even in the midst of all that adversity he still tries to do the things he thinks are right.
I love that Vance is super confident and sure of himself.  He’s not afraid to pull off some cockiness occasionally, but never to his girl.  When it comes to her, she is everything to him and his attitude toward her reflects that from the start.  He’s crazy about her and not afraid to show it, no matter who’s watching!

He reached down then to grab my hand, interlocking our fingers together, and I felt that ever-present tingling at his touch. We began walking down the hallway. This action caused quite a stir among our classmates, and many of them stopped to stare, some even pointing. I could hear the whispers behind our backs as we passed.
“Silly, isn’t it?” I said, when we stepped out of the door into the bright sunshine.
“Not at all,” he replied. “Now the whole school knows you’re my girl.”
My heart started pounding in my chest, and I stopped dead on the sidewalk, squinting up into his face through the sunlight.
“Is that what I am?”
He turned to look at me, moving right in front of me, standing face to face. “That’s what you are,” he replied, his voice husky with some sort of emotion, his eyes holding mine with a meaningful look. He lifted my face to his with both of his hands and proceeded to kiss me full on the lips, claiming me as his own right there for the whole world to see.

Vance’s character will continue to evolve in many different ways throughout the series, and I find I love him a little more with every word I write about him.  After all, he’s my Alpha, my choice, my guy, built to suit my tastes.  But I truly hope you will enjoy him too!
How do you prefer your Alpha?

_________________________
About the author:
Lacey Weatherford has always had a love of books. She wanted to become a writer after reading her first Nancy Drew novel at the age of eight.  She resides in the White Mountains of Arizona , where she lives with her wonderful husband, six beautiful children, one son-in-law, and their energetic schnauzer, Sophie. When she's not out supporting one of her kids at their sporting/music events, she spends her time writing, reading, blogging, and reviewing books.


We want to reward all the wonderful followers of this blog tour, so what better way to do that than to give away a free Kindle and Of Witches and Warlocks Swag!  Being entered to win is easy! All you have to do is follow the tour each day and search for the highlighted words in the post.  There may be only one word on some days or two or more on others, so be sure to read the whole post.  They could be anywhere…even in this description! Keep collecting the words each day to build a certain phrase.  At the end of the tour on April 22nd, bring your completed phrase to The Delusional Diaries and submit it into the form to be entered into the Kindle drawing!  Did you miss a day? No worries!  Just follow the linky list on The Delusional Diaries to the post for that day and search for it. After you have submitted the special phrase, add up all the times you commented on the different posts during the tour and add that number for extra entries! Lots of chances! So come join in the FUN!

Next stop on the tour - Paranormal Opinion

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And don't forget to grab the coupon code to read The Trouble With Spells for FREE. Hurry up because it expires tomorrow! (4/9)

14 comments:

  1. Lacey..I think you did a wonderful job creating Vance and I am pretty sure all the ladies out there totally agree and wouldn't want to change him..well if by changing him you could make him real and replicate him a few thousand times then yes, I think we would all consent to that lol Oh if only we could get some of Matt's DNA and grow our own Vance's *stares off into dreamland*

    *floats back to earth* ahem where was I? Yes..alphas..you pretty much summed up any great alpha by creating Vance!

    Naomi aka Supernatural Bookworm xoxo

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  2. Alpha male . . hmm, strong with a soft side . . no one wants a harda$$ all the time!

    Stephanie Overton
    ladybug07999 at yahoo dot com

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  3. Another thing I love about Vance is that he is "old-fashioned" towards certain things. He knows his limits and is willing to go a little beyond because her loves Portia and can't stand being away from her.

    The one must for my alpha is that they have to accept a person for who they are, not what they look like. Yes, Vance is a very good alpha.

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  4. Vance is perfect, I wouldn't change a thing. x

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  5. Vance is to die for. I love that image you first see of him - so sexy and mysterious *sigh* Every girl loves a bad boy but when he has a heart and loving nature? *another sigh* I LOVE the focus he has on Portia - the sun rises and sets with her and you'll know that he'll do everything he can do to protect her. He's intense and hey, isn't that what an Alpha is? Plus hello?? Tortured much? *another sigh* One thing I love is Vance doesn't just stay the same - as you continue reading the series, you get to see different sides of him. My favorite is you get to watch him struggle with his grip on humanity. Will the love between him and Portia be enough to save him from the legacy of his father? Will love be enough to help him conquer the demon? Oh heck *panting* Vance is amazing to see in all his glory! Definitely Alpha material in my book and could definitely hold his own. Vance is still young.. can you imagine him in his late 20's early 30's like some of the other Alphas we love? (I'm thinking Acheron, Bones, Curran etc)My.Gosh! Now that's a task for you Lacey - write us some HOT future Vance *grins*

    Well, now I'm all hot and bothered, I need to go clean house! LOL Oh so glamorous!

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  6. I would surely be an every-day customer! “I’ll have the Alpha, dark and brooding, tough, though slightly tender in the
    center, and a heaping side of Knee Buckling Kisses please.”
    Oh, Alphas... and our hottie, Vance, sure is a fine specimen! ;)

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  7. @Naomi I'm right there with you on the Vance reproduction, and Matt has been pretty accommodating, so why not? LOL I will get with him and a cloning expert right away! It will give a whole new meaning to the term "Vance Swag!" haha Bet we could get people to line up for that, huh?!

    @Stephanie I have to agree. No woman wants to have to take meat tenderizer to her Alpha! LOL

    @Val Yes, I like that Vance isn't hung up on looks either...not to say that he doesn't think Portia is the most gorgeous thing in the world...but he is definitely a kind of guy who believes the personality makes the person. It's what's inside that counts!

    @Susan YAY! You're back! haha I missed you! I hope you had fun on your trip!

    @Belinda Thanks a lot Bel! Now my mind is like, "Hmmmm...future Vance..." I so do not have the time to be contemplating this thank you very much!! LOL

    @Karla I'm afraid I would definitely be an everyday customer as well! ha ha It would be so much fun to mix and match everything on the menu and then decide if you have favorite blend that becomes your "ususal"! LOL

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  8. I would say he is a close to the perfect Alpha Male!! Of course, I love the bad boys, especially when he looks like Vance, but I do like a soft side (just to show he is human) at times!!

    Judy
    magnolias_1[at]msn[dot]com

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  9. @Judy I agree completely! I love the soft side to a guy who can be completely tough too. We see a little more of the soft side of Vance in book one, but the tougher is coming...I promise! :D

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  10. Hey I think that would be a very popular place to go to, maybe we should think about starting one? What do you think? I love the dark broody type too 'sigh'.

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  11. @Donna. That sounds great! Lol Let's do it!:)

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  12. You can keep putting pictures of that lovely guy up ;)

    Vivien
    deadtossedwaves at gmail dot com

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  13. Vance is just perfect, wouldn't change a thing!
    natatheangel at yahoo dot com

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  14. My preferred Alpha, hmmmm... let's see he has to be sexy as hell ;) smart, funny, incredibly understanding, patient, very pleasing in a lot of ways *wink, wink*. I think there's more but that are the main parts :)

    Morganlafey86(at)aol(dot)com

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