Guest Post & Giveaway: A Sit-down Apocalypse for Seven Billion by Angelia Sparrow

Hi. Thanks for having me today. For readers who don't know me, I'm Angelia Sparrow, an author with Storm Moon Press. And I have apparently been left in charge of the Apocalypse.

Fortunately for the majority of the world, I appear to be incompetent at causing them. But pretty good at preventing them.

I came on with Storm Moon early, with their furry anthology, Wild Passions. My Depression era dieselpunk carnival has spawned the beginnings of a World War II furry novel. I enjoyed my experience enough that I kept writing for the press.

My next offering was Power in the Blood. Here is the first apocalypse I tried with SMP: vampires. A friend asked me "Why vampires?" My response, "Because you can't have a vampire apocalypse without them," was not the right answer.

So, I had to choose a good starting point for the Born Again Vampires to begin converting the whole world. Memphis, aside from being where I live, is a major transportation hub. Trucks and planes go out from it in all directions. A major virus here, unlike the Yellow Fever Epidemic of the 1870s, would have infection vectors throughout the world. Memphis is small enough to be taken in less than a week by determined vampires, and from there, they could spread quickly--and mostly unnoticed by the media--to Atlanta, New Orleans and its ports, Dallas, St. Louis, the Chicago metroplex, Denver, Cincinnati, and on to New York and Los Angeles. This also made it easy to bring in my vampire hunters.

Thanks to terrific editors and an amazing cover artist, Power in The Blood, which was my first non-erotic focus novel, turned out to be my best solo work.

In late February, I'm unleashing another Apocalypse through Storm Moon. But this time, there are no immortals to save the world. This time, we start after the Apocalypse has happened. Since I am not Stephen King, I decided not to go with a world-wide perspective on how everyone died. The focus is on rebuilding. What is left of the world when ninety-five percent of the population simply didn't wake up one morning (or simply dropped where they stood)? And Toto, we are most definitely in Kansas anymore.

I chose to set my novel in Kansas because I had a passing familiarity with it. I've been to most of the towns discussed. It had what I required in the way of existing setting: a military base, an agricultural university, and more than a few religious fanatics of several stripes. The Manhattan, Salina, Topeka triangle made a good territory for my roving band of gay bikers.

Yes, gay bikers. The book is called Barbarossa's Bitch, and it follows our hero as he is brought into a wildpack as a sex toy and rides with them, eventually seeing more than just predators. The folks at Storm Moon have been willing to take a very big chance with this one. The title is in-your-face. The structure is non-linear. The characters are difficult at best, active criminals at worst.

But that's typical of the press, I'm finding. These are folks who are unafraid of the edge. They aren't satisfied to publish endless male/male light BDSM contemporaries, although those sell. They want some risk, something new. They want the whole QUILTBAG. Post-apocalyptic lesbians from my con-spouse. Gun kink from a multitude of talented writers. Religiously risky books, like The Keeper or Power in the Blood. Furries. And of course, they let me bring down the Apocalypse every now and then, as long as I keep it new and exciting.

Angelia Sparrow is a freelance writer and crafter who lives in the MidSouth with her husband, three resident children, and two cats. She can be found at http://www.brooksandsparrow.com, as Author Angelia Sparrow on facebook, Angelia Sparrow on Google+ or as valarltd on Livejournal, FetLife and Etsy.

 Giveaway Opportunity!
 This guest post is part of Storm Moon Press' 3rd Anniversary Blog Tour! Comment on this post or any other post on the blog tour with your e-mail address, and you'll be entered for a chance to win the Grand Prize of receiving 1 FREE e-book each month of 2013 from that month's new releases for a total of 12 free e-books! Runners up will receive a $25 gift certificate to their choice of Amazon or All Romance eBooks. For more details and to find out about our 3rd Anniversary, head over to Storm Moon Press' Official Blog. Thanks for joining us!