Cat Devon: The cupcake maker and…the vampire!

My book SLEEPING WITH THE ENTITY features Daniella Delaney, owner of Heavenly Cupcakes.  She’s opening her new cupcake shop in Chicago. But she’s having a hard time convincing the local business association—namely Nick St. George—that she’s a good addition to the neighborhood. Daniella hopes that her famous red velvet cupcakes will be enough to melt any man’s heart. But Nick is no ordinary man. He’s got fangs.

Why a cupcake maker as my heroine you might ask? Well, I had this vampire hero.  What would be the total opposite of his darkness?  A very cheerful and talented cupcake maker, of course.  Vampires don’t eat cupcakes.

Naturally I had to research cupcake makers like Neda, the owner of Sugar Monkey in Naperville, who was so generous with her time in giving me a tour of her shop and answering my many questions. I hope I didn’t give too many of her baking secrets away.  Her cupcakes are simply awesome!  I listed her in the dedication to this book.

Naturally I had to set the books here in my hometown Chicago, which is a city of neighborhoods like Old Town, Boystown and Greektown among many others.  And now there is Vamptown.  Not that you will find that name on any map or Google search.  You see, only vampires know about Vamptown and they like it that way.  They don’t want humans invading their turf, tempting them to take a bite.  As the head of the Vamptown clan, Nick St. George does not want a cupcake shop opening in his territory.

Daniella Delaney is the daughter of the local funeral parlor owner.  She didn’t want to get into that line of work, so she followed her passion for baking, studying in NYC.  Now she’s back again, ready to open her own shop with her father’s help.

No problem, Nick thinks.  He can compel her to go elsewhere.  Vampires can always compel humans.  Except for Daniella.  He’s stunned to discover that he can’t make her do his bidding.

When word gets out that she’s immune to compelling, the other vampire clans – mostly the Gold Coast clan – want her. Compelling is big in vampire lore.  It has to do with the eyes.  Take a look at Ian Somerhalder’s eyes – he plays a vampire on The Vampire Diaries.  A vampire looks into a human’s eyes and can make them obey their command.

                Here’s the scene from chapter 1 of SLEEPING WITH THE ENTITY.

“You don’t really want to open your store in this area.”  Nick’s words had an almost hypnotic rhythm to them.

“Yes, I do.”

He frowned and stared directly into her eyes.  “No, you don’t.”

“Yes,” she said emphatically.  “I do.”

His frown deepened and those stormy gray eyes of his narrowed.

She laughed.  “You seem surprised,” she said.  “Did you really think you could get rid of me that easily?

“I believe you may turn out to be more challenging than I expected,” Nick said slowly.  

Nick was great to work with.  Later in the book, he is dealing with Gold Coast vamps trying to investigate Daniella.

               

“Your boss broke the truce when he first sent you here,” Nick said.  “And again by having you come to the flash mob.  If I find out that you were behind the wheel of that Hummer that tried to mow Daniella down, then you will wish for a death by decapitation.”

“I wasn’t trying to kill her.  That Hummer is hard to drive.  Besides, I’m not afraid of you,” Andy said, despite his trembling voice.  “You haven’t killed any vamps or humans in over a century.  Your reputation is based on stuff that happened ages ago.”

“I haven’t killed any vamps or humans that you know about,” Nick said.  “Unlike your boss, I don’t brag about my work.’

I’ve been asked if all the books feature the same hero and heroine.  No, they do not. But they do appear in each book.

 The second book THE ENTITY WITHIN features vampire Demon hunter Damon Thornheart and witch Zoe Adams.  Vampires and witches do not get along, especially when she accidentally unleashes dangerous demons into Vamptown.  There are 3 books in the series so far.  SLEEPING WITH THE ENTITY out now, THE ENTITY WITHIN in about two weeks out July 2nd and LOVE YOUR ENTITY out Dec 31. 

 One of my favorite questions my publicist forwarded on to me was from I Love Vampire Novels, who asked for five things not many people know about me. Here they are in no order:

1) I write on a purple laptop

2) One of my fave artists is English watercolorist JMW Turner

3) I own a Ouija board and have used it

4) Imagine Dragons is one of my fave new musical groups and I write to their music

5) I’ve traveled to 21 countries around the world.

Oh, and a sixth thing is my favorite cupcake flavor is red velvet.  What about you?  What are some of your favorite cupcake flavors?   

          

For more info on Cat’s books visit her website at www.catdevon.com or like her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/catdevonauthor or follow her on Twitter @catdevonauthor.  SLEEPING WITH THE ENTITY is out now and THE ENTITY WITHIN comes out this July 2^nd.