Black Cats and Witches by Guest Blogger Tara Lain

Please welcome Tara Lain to NN! We are so excited to have you!

Happy Halloween! I’m delighted to be a guest here at Nocturnal Nights and thank Tabitha so much for inviting me. Since it’s the spookiest day of the year, let’s talk about witches and black cats. I just completed an LGBT paranormal novel called Brush with Catastrophe. It’s the sequel to the very popular paranormal novel, Spell Cat. Both books are about witches--very contemporary witches who live in New York City and go to college there. One of the key characters in both books is a black cat named Aloysius. In fact, the series is called The Aloysius Tales.

Black cats have been connected with witches from the time of the middle ages and before. Black cats have so many myths and legends associated with them it could fill books. It’s lucky to dream of one but unlucky to have one cross your path. If a black cat lies on the bed of a sick person they will die, but a strange black cat found on the porch brings prosperity. It was largely in the Middle Ages that the black cat became associated with evil. Because cats are nocturnal and roam at night, they were believed to be supernatural servants of witches, or even witches themselves.

In Brush with Catastrophe, my black cat is indeed a witches’ familiar. His name is Aloysius and he is very powerful but can only use that power to magnify the power of the witch to whom he is bound. Aloysius is the familiar of Killian Barth, the most powerful male witch in ten generations and the Witch Master, but early in our story he attaches himself to Sammy Raphael, a young witch with np perceptible power except prophetic painting. Occasionally, he paints something in the middle of the night and what he paints comes true. But his paintings always seem to be insignificant -- until he paints a picture of a beautiful man and it turns out to be his best freidn Ryder whom Sammy has secretly loved for years. Ryder, however, has changed so much over the summer vacation that he’s almost unrecognizable. And yet, he’s human, not a witch. And then Sammy paints an angel--who turns out to be a witch and a student at Sammy’s college. But that angel may just be a devil! And Sammy could end up having to save a lot of the people he loves from that devil! Aloysius always backs a winner. Why is he backing Sammy?

I loved writing this book. Because it’s contemporary I got to maintain the laws of the natural world and then allow my witches to violate them a bit. It was fun to ask what the world would be like if there were witches that appeared to be mere humans but with more power. And inBrush with Catastrophe, we learn that they are very much among us. Muwhahahahahha.

Would you like to win a $10 Gift Card or a signed copy of Golden Dancer in print, or a bag of swag, or a choice of ebook from my backlist? Just leave a comment WITH YOUR EMAIL. Winners will be announced on November 5th! Just come to my book blog Beautiful Boys Books to see the winner. Hint-- every comment is entered for the Gift Card, but the other prizes will be awarded to people who comment on the “mystery” blogs during the tour. Only I know which ones they are. So hop over to Beautiful Boys Books and look at the tour schedule. You may want to add a comment to some of the other blogs just to up your chances of winning the prizes. And thank you so much for visiting!

http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com/

Brush with Catastrophe:

College art student Sammy Raphael is a crappy witch. And he can't get a

boyfriend. Sammy's had a passion for his BFF, Ryder McMasters, for years, but Ryder is straight and human. Talk about hopeless causes! And where other supernaturals can bring down lightning and manifest wealth, all Sammy can do is paint. True, the "prophetic" paintings he does at night always come true, but they never predict anything important -- until he paints a picture of a gorgeous man who turns out to be Ryder but so changed he's barely recognizable. Then Sammy paints an angel --who turns out to be a devil that threatens Sammy's community and the man he loves. With the black cat familiar, Aloysius, at his side, Sammy steps up to save the world--with a paint brush.

Spell Cat:

When Killian Barth, history professor, meets Blaine Genneau, quantum

physicist, they ignite their own big bang. But sadly, Killian walks away

because he doesn't do physics professors. In fact, he doesn't do humans,

because Killian is the most powerful male witch in 10 generations and,

though gay, he's expected to save his declining race by reproducing. Sex

with humans depletes his power he's been taught. Then why can young human, Jimmy Janx, dissolve spoons with a thought? Somebody's a lying witch. With his powerful cat familiar, Aloysius, on his shoulder, Killian brings the lightning against deceit and greed to save Blaine from danger and prove love is the greatest power of them all.

The Buy Links:

Loose Id:  http://www.loose-id.com/authors/q-t/tara-lain.html

Amazon:          http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Lain/e/B004U1W5QC/

Here are contacts:

E-mail:                   tara@taralain.com

Website:              http://www.taralain.com

Author blog:       http://taralain.blogspot.com

Book blog:           http://beautifulboysbooks.blogspot.com

Goodreads:        http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4541791.Tara_Lain

Twitter:          http://twitter.com/taralain

FB Page:        http://www.facebook.com/taralain

Amazon Page:    http://www.amazon.com/Tara-Lain/e/B004U1W5QC/

B&N

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/Tara-Lain?keyword=Tara+Lain&store=book

ARe

http://www.allromanceebooks.com/storeSearch.html?searchBy=author&qString=Tar

a+Lain

Tara Lain’s first erotic romance novel was published in January of 2011. She’s now on book 16. Her novels have garnered awards for Best Series of 2011, Best Contemporary Romance, and Tara has been named Best Writer of the Year in the LRC Awards. In her other job, Tara owns an advertising and public relations firm, and she carries her promotional instincts into her writing career as well. She lives  with her soul-mate husband in Laguna Beach, California, a pretty seaside town where she sets a lot of her books.  Passionate about diversity,  justice, and new experiences , Tara says on her tombstone it will say “Yes”!