Guest Author: Joss Ware

I'm delighted to have Joss Ware on the blog today. I came across Joss's books last year, when I was asked if I would read Embrace the Night Eternal for a possible cover quote. I picked it up not knowing anything about it, and ended up devouring it.

I've now read both Beyond the Night and the as yet unreleased, Abandon the Night and thought they were fantastic. This series has very quickly become one of my new favorites - I can't wait for the next entry!

Please welcome Joss to the blog everyone!

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Joss Ware on the Envy Chronicles

About three years ago, I was talking to someone about trends in paranormal romance novels. Vampires were hot, of course, and demons and shapeshifters were starting to get really popular as well—and we all know that angels soon followed ;-)—but this person said, “I think there’s going to be a trend toward post-apocalyptic romances.”

Huh, I thought. Wow. Then I immediately discarded the thought. I was writing the Gardella Vampire Chronicles at that time, and post-apocalyptic settings were about as far from historical vampire slayers as you can get.

Besides. I couldn’t even begin to imagine something like that. How could anyone write a post-apocalyptic romance? How can anyone believe in true love or a happy ever after when the world is being destroyed around them? People are dying, in pain, kids, dogs, cats being destroyed, buildings in shambles…no thank you!

But then, one day, I was chatting with one of my friends, and she said, “I think you should write a post-apocalyptic romance.”

And I started to think about it. The more I thought, the more fascinated I became with the idea…or, more accurately, the challenge, of writing a romance set in such a dark time. I loved the idea of having a world that had all of our knowledge in technology and science, our pop culture and fashion…but without the infrastructure and civilization that we are used to today.

It would be like writing a historical novel (no cell phones, no computers or cars), but with the ability to know everything we do now. Fascinating.

But, yet, the problem of dealing with the devastation of the earth and civilization and all these people dying still bothered me. So I decided to start my series fifty years after the horrible events that ruined the world and destroyed the human race.

Once I figured out what happened to destroy the earth, then the rest of it fell into place rather quickly. Was it a group of bad guys whose plans, for once, weren’t foiled? Was it nature? Was it aliens? An asteroid? Global warming? Nuclear war?

Then, I started thinking about how to make a strong connection between our world (in 2010) and the new world (of 2060). I ultimately decided to build the series around a group of guys who somehow “miss” the catastrophe and suddenly find themselves in this strange new world.

They’re called The Awakening Heroes: Elliott, Quent, Simon, Fence, and Wyatt. Each one of them awakens with a changed life, to find that everything they once knew is kaput. Nada.

Not only that, but some of them have even acquired paranormal abilities. And of course, they meet sexy, smart, brave women as they try to build a new life in this strange, horrible world.

The series is called the Envy Chronicles, and the first one, Beyond the Night, was released in January. The second book, Embrace the Night Eternal was just released last week, and Abandon the Night will be out in March!

I’d like to thank Nalini for having me here. What a thrill to be invited to her blog, and especially for her support for this new series! I’m flattered and very grateful when anyone enjoys my books and lets me know, but when it comes from a colleague, that makes it all the more thrilling!

Link to Joss's Website