Guest Post/Excerpt: Lori Sjoberg ~ The Truth Behind the Fiction: An Inspiration For Grave Attraction

Posted on by

GraveAttraction-GuestPostTour-angelsgp

The Truth Behind the Fiction: An Inspiration For Grave Attraction

I don’t know of a writer who hasn’t been asked about where they get their ideas. The truth of the matter is that they come from all over the place. Stories on the news, things your friends say, people you run into while standing in line at the grocery store, etc. It might be something small and seemingly insignificant, but you never know when that little nugget of inspiration will evolve into a character, plot point, setting, or critical line of dialogue.

When my husband and I moved into our current home, we noticed a house a few doors down from ours. It looked normal enough. It probably even has the same floor plan as ours. As we walked past with our dog that first night, we noticed that every single window of the house was completely covered with rolling metal hurricane shutters that were locked in place. Kind of like these:

 rolling metal hurricane shutters

In Florida, that’s really not unusual, so we didn’t think anything about it. But then hurricane season came to an end and the shutters remained over the windows. Months went by. Two. Four. At the six month mark, my husband started calling the house Shutter Island.

Shutter Island

One day at the office, I mentioned Shutter Island to my co-workers, who in turn started coming up with theories about what was going on inside the house. One person thought the owner might be agoraphobic while another came up with a Breaking Bad scenario. Still another thought there might be some poor soul chained to the wall or bodies buried in the backyard. As you can tell, I work with a morbid bunch. LOL.

But one of my co-workers (who happens to read my books) suggested that my reapers would know exactly what’s going on inside. She said maybe they’ve been there three or four times already because a serial killer was using the home as his lair.

And with that, the opening scene for Grave Attraction was born. As the story unfolds, reaper Adam Javorski has to figure a way inside the house in order to harvest the soul of a serial killer’s latest victim. Once inside, he collects the soul, but is shocked to find a beautiful—and very much alive—woman being held captive in one of the back bedrooms. He finds himself so drawn to her that he breaks the number one rule for reapers and helps her escape.

So what’s really going on inside Shutter Island? Well, I’ll leave that to your imaginations. Why spoil the fun?

 

 

Grave Attraction Banner 851 x 315

GRAVE ATTRACTION

Grave #4 

Lori Sjoberg

Grave AttractionGenre: Paranormal Romance
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Date of Publication: January 5, 2016
ISBN: 9781601832719
ASIN: B00VZZM4YE
Number of pages: approx. 247
Word Count: approx. 90,000
Cover Artist: Lyrical Press

Book Description:

He’s a reaper who works by the book. But a sexy shifter will have him changing the course of fate just to be with her—if a killer doesn’t get to her first…

After four years as a reaper, helping souls cross into the afterlife is a job Adam Javorski has finally gotten used to. But when he arrives at the site of a serial killer’s latest victim, finding a living—not to mention gorgeous—hostage is the last thing he expects. The young woman captivates him in a way no one ever has—so much so, he breaks rule number one by helping her escape…

Marlena Walther doesn’t remember the man who rescued her. But when she sees Adam again, she recognizes him instantly as her soul mate. While the two work together to track down a killer determined to finish what he started, their undeniable attraction draws them even closer. Now Adam is the only one who can protect Marlena from a vengeful murderer—if he’s willing to sacrifice everything for her.

add-to-goodreads-button314

 Amazon – Barnes & Nobles – iTunes – Kobo – Google Play

 

Excerpt-Banner-angelsgp

“Who the hell are you?” Her husky voice sounded harder than iron, but her eyes were wide and unblinking.

Adam didn’t answer. He was too busy appraising the locks. With enough time and the proper equipment, he could override the electronic keypad. Unfortunately, he lacked the luxury of either. Besides, it wasn’t his business. As a reaper, his obligations lay with the dead. He had no right to interfere with the living. Those lessons had been drilled into his head countless times. Always collect your appointed souls. Do not alert humans to our presence. Do not question Fate. And for the love of God, do not alter destiny. His mentor’s words echoed in his ears, the only thing keeping him from running to his truck for a hacksaw.

Frustrated, Adam balled his hands into fists. If he had a lick of sense, he’d leave the house before he did anything stupid. But something about the young woman called out to his soul, tugging so fiercely he found it impossible to turn away. A deep sense of connection flashed through his blood—swift, strong, and given the situation, completely inappropriate. He’d never experienced anything like it, and it knocked him completely off balance.

His phone vibrated in his back pocket, jarring him from his thoughts.

“Get your ass out of there,” Martin said when Adam answered the call. “Your boy’s on his way back to the nest, and it looks like he brought company.”

Shit. According to his notes, the killer worked alone. Since when had he recruited a partner? “All right, I’ll be there in a minute.” Adrenaline surged through his veins as he disconnected. There wasn’t enough time to break the blond free. But what kind of man would he be if he left a defenseless woman in the hands of psychos? Fuck destiny. The least he could do was give her a fighting chance at survival. To the best of his knowledge, she wasn’t fated to expire any time soon, and in his book that made her fair game.

“Hey!” the blond shouted when he stormed out of the room, fear rising in her voice. “Come back! Let me out of here!”

The sound of the garage door opening shot Adam’s pulse into overdrive. With time running out, he rushed to the kitchen and grabbed the cordless phone from the charging station. He dialed as he walked, and by the time he reached the back room, a 911 operator had picked up the call.

“Please state the nature of your emergency,” a woman said on the other end of the line.

Adam shoved the phone through the narrow steel bars. His gaze locked with the woman’s long enough to insert a mental suggestion.

You’re at 816 Heron Cove. I was never here.

She stared at him, a puzzled expression on her face as he turned and raced for the exit. He heard her speaking to the emergency operator, and relief flooded his heart. With luck, the police would arrive within minutes and free the poor woman from captivity.

The sound of a car engine shut off in the garage. Adam’s pulse pounded in his ears as he flicked off the lights and yanked the front door open. As he stepped over the threshold, he heard the creak of the door that connected the garage to the kitchen. Quietly, carefully, he closed the front door, praying they wouldn’t notice the unlocked dead bolt.

Not looking back, Adam ran to the truck and slid behind the wheel.

“What took you so long?” Martin’s nose crinkled. “Dude, you smell like roadkill.”

Adam shot him a withering glare as he turned the key in the ignition. “What did you expect? It doesn’t smell like fucking lilacs in there.” He twisted his neck and sniffed the sleeve of his shirt. Yep, he reeked of death, which meant a shower and a fresh change of clothes before heading out to the bar. After he clicked on his seat belt, he reached over and switched on the police scanner.

Martin glanced down as Adam adjusted the dial to pick up the right frequency. “What are you listening for?”

“Nothing.” The code for a drunk and disorderly came over the speaker, followed by an officer acknowledging the call and stating that he was en route. What the hell? Where was the dispatch to save the woman? Maybe they’d already made the call and he’d missed it. He drummed his fingers against the gearshift, hesitant to leave the scene until he knew an officer was on the way.

Martin’s thick eyebrows furrowed. Even in the darkened space of the cab, it was obvious he wasn’t buying Adam’s bullshit. “What did you do?”

Before Adam had the chance to think up a lie, another call came over the scanner. Possible kidnapping and murder, suspects armed and dangerous. Dispatch advised officers to approach the scene with no lights and no sirens. Good. At least they were taking the call seriously. From the sound of it, one of the units was close enough to arrive in under a minute. Thank God. Adam slipped the truck into gear and pulled away from the curb. The last thing he needed was to get dragged into a multiple murder investigation.

Martin’s mouth dropped open as they sped past the killer’s house. “You didn’t.”

“What was I supposed to do?”

“Your job.” Martin let out a grunt of disgust. “Fucking Boy Scout. You know better than that. Samuel’s gonna tear you a new one.”

“Only if he finds out.” The memory of what happened to his mentor sprang to mind and an icy ball of dread settled in his stomach. Samuel always found out.


 

MeetTheAuthor-Banner-angelsgp

Lori SjobergLori Sjoberg is the award winning author of the GRAVE SERIES. She lives in Florida with her husband and four-legged fur baby.

Growing up the youngest of three girls, Lori never had control of the remote. (Not that she’s bitter about that. Really. Okay, maybe a little, but it’s not like she’s scarred for life or anything.) That meant a steady diet of science fiction and fantasy. Star Trek, Star Wars, Twilight Zone, Outer Limits – you name it, she watched it. It fed her imagination, and that came in handy when the hormones kicked in and she needed a creative excuse for being out past curfew.

After completing her first novel, she joined the Romance Writers of America and Central Florida Romance Writers. Now she exercises the analytical half of her brain at her day job, and the creative half writing sensual paranormal romance. Grim reapers are her specialty, but she loves to write about all creatures of the night.

You can read more about Lori at her website!

Facebook – @Lori_Sjoberg – GoodreadsAmazon Author Page

 

 

Grave Attraction Button 300 x 225

I'm an outdoor sun loving reader living near San Fransisco. I’m a mother, wife, animal & book lover. I'm the owner, reviewer & mind behind Angel’s Guilty Pleasures. My favorite animals are horses & dogs. As for reading I love all things paranormal & urban fantasy & my favorite shifters are dragons.

Comments are disabled