Book Tour for The Norse King's Daughter by Sandra Hill (Guest Post & GIVEAWAY)

To start off today I want to thank Goddess Fish Promotions for letting me be a part of this tour and Sandra Hill for a great post.  Don't forget that there's also a giveaway at the end of this post for an Amazon gift card that's easy to enter.  And now to the amazing Sandra Hill.....

WHEN TO END A LONG-RUNNING SERIES

The Internet reading sites are afire these days with cries for various fiction series to end, already.  And yet many of these authors' books are still huge bestsellers, and some fans still can't get enough.

As a longtime reader and as an author, I can understand both points of view.

It's a subjective call, in my opinion.  Some people are drawn into a series by the unique world created, whether it be a vampire hunter society, or a Regency family.  Others are big on plot (How about that new "Terra Nova" series on TV?).  Still others like a particular setting;  Anne Rivers Siddons' lush Outer Banks novels come to mind..  And then there is characterization, which is my big passion.  If you make me care about the characters, especially secondary characters whose stories remain to be told, I will probably continue buying the books, even though I might have problems with the other elements.

To be honest, I stopped reading the last J.R. Ward Brotherhood book, but then I've been pulled in by her new fallen angels series. But that's just me.  I've become bored with some, but not all, of the Lora Leigh books; once the initial shock and tittillation  passes, I need more than F & .F.  But that's just me.  I liked the early Susan Anderson romantic humor books, but not so much the later ones.  But that's just me.  I don't like the historic backstory in some of Suzanne Brockmann's Troubleshooters books, but I continue to read because I love her characters and sexy sense of humor. And that much anticipated but  horrible, in my opinion, love scene between Stephanie Plum and Ranger almost made her series a wallbanger for me.   Again, that's just me.

And I don't think the answer is in the numbers...as in, a series should end with three or five or seven books.  There are some books I could read endlessly, like Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books.  I love almost all Mary Balogh's books; so, her series have yet to disappoint and probably never will.  Susan Elizabeth Phillips' football players and Rachel Gibson's hockey players continue to draw me in.  Lisa Kleypas, Beverly Lewis, Karen Marie Moning, and endless others are automatic series buys for me.

Which brings us to me and my books.  I love series.  Isn't that obvious?  I have a Viking Series I, Viking Series II, Cajun Series, and within those series, I have sub-sets of series, such as Viking Navy SEALs, Jinx treasure hunters, and coming up soon Viking Vampire Angels (I kid you not!).  Readers tell me that they love the worlds I create.  I liken it to sitcoms and drama series on TV where you enter a world or family that you like and want to visit over and over.  Oh, not the same story, of course, but some of the same characters.  I'm thinking, "Seinfeld," "Criminal Minds," "Raymond," "Sopranos," or all the

various soap operas over the years.

Currently, I have a new book out, THE NORSE KING'S DAUGHTER.  It is the last of my Viking princess series, following on MY FAIR VIKING (aka THE VIKING'S CAPTIVE), VIKING IN LOVE, and THE VIKING TAKES A KNIGHT.  However, this was a subset under Viking Series I, and my readers still clamor for stories about Alrek the Clumsy Viking, Jamie the Scots Viking, or Thork the Wild Viking.  And lots of people keep telling me that they want more from Tante Lulu and her wild Cajun family.  We shall see.

So, what series have you stopped reading, and which ones could go on forever for you?

Please visit my website at www.sandrahill.net for more information on my series and other fun news.

Hell Hath No Fury Like a Princess Scorned!

Princess Drifa can certainly see why Sidroc Guntersson is a living legend— on battlefield and in bedchamber both. But the King of Stoneheim’s willful daughter pitches a royal fit when she learns of the true reason for the virile Viking’s passionate attentions. A third-born son with no hope of inheriting the family jarldom, scheming Sidroc must marry and is interested in Drifa only for her father’s land and money. The barbarian is lucky she just cracks him on his fool head with a pottery pitcher!

Five years later, Drifa needs Sidroc’s protection— in Byzantium, no less!—though revenge holds more appeal for this man she left for dead. ’Tis a pity two such perfect enemies match each other so well, passion for passion. So much so that the bold Viking berserker is soon thinking marriage again . . . only this time it will be on his terms!

AUTHOR BIO:

My life and my books are a celebration of new beginnings.

Although I am a livelong writer--I'm the oddball who liked writing essays in school--it wasn't until the early 1990s that my writing interest turned to novels.  It was a new beginning for me...a totally different career path from the journalism I had been practicing.  More than twenty novels later, I am still in love with writing...and with new beginnings.

No wonder all of my books deals with new beginnings in some way or another.  In fact, my first novel, The Reluctant Viking, first published in 1994, was about a woman on the brink of divorce looking for a chance to start all over.  A new beginning for poor Ruby Jordan.  Fast forward more than ten years and you will find there is a theme of new beginnings in all my books.  Doesn't matter if it's divorce, death, despair, time travel, loneliness, boredom or plain old dissatisfaction, readers want to know that there is a chance for...yep, new beginnings.

One of the greatest gifts we have in this world is to find work we love, which is appreciated by others.  I have been especially blessed in that regard.

http://www.sandrahill.net/

GIVEAWAY:

-This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL (for everyone) and is for a $25 Amazon gc to a random commenter from all the tour stops.  So the more blog stops you make a comment on, the greater your chances of winning.  A list of stops can be found here.

-Please answer the question Sandra asked in her post (it's in bold to make it easier to find) and leave your email addy too to make it easier to contact the winner.

-Ends at 11:59 pm on 10/7.