Hard Day’s Knight Blog Tour: Guest Post with John Hartness & Giveaway

Posted 26 May, 2011 by Lori @ Romancing the Dark Side in Blog Tour, Giveaways, Guest Posts / 2 Comments

It’s my turn in hosting a stop on the Hard Day’s Knight Blog Tour! 
Join me in welcoming author John Hartness to Romancing the Darkside for a guest post and a chance to win your own copy of Hard Day’s Knight!
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Geek Love – Romance in Hard Day’s Knight
by John G. Hartness

This could probably be a pretty short post. I could just say “there isn’t any” and leave it at that, but that wouldn’t be true. I wanted to write a book that was different from a lot of the sexy brooding vampire novels out there, and I’m pretty sure I managed that. If nothing else, there are no mentions of rippling abs or throbbing anything!

But to say there’s no romance would be wrong. There’s a definite love interest, Sabrina Law. She’s a badass no-nonsense cop that is somehow immune to the telepathic “mojo” that my vampires use on other humans. We’ll explore exactly why in a later book. Maybe. I’m making no promises.

But she’s definitely more than a sidekick, and more than a cameo. She’s the third wheel of the tricycle, and as the series progresses she becomes as much a part of Black Knight Investigations as the boys. But how does that lead to romance?

I have no idea. I have as little understanding of the fictional female psyche as I do of the actual female psyche, and my wife of fifteen years can attest to the fact that I don’t understand women. I’ve been with my wife for sixteen years and have no idea why she fell for me, and no idea why she continues to put up with me, so I don’t really have a good explanation for what’s developing between Jimmy and Sabrina.

What I can tell you is there’s no random romping between the sheets in the book. Or in the series, for that matter. When and if Jimmy and Sabrina hook up, it will be with a lot of trepidation and a lot of forethought. It won’t quite be like a Booth & Bones hookup, but it will be the kind of thing that they talk about beforehand.

Because this isn’t really a romance series. It’s a series of books about people (some of whom happen to be undead apex predator types) with real feelings, and I want to be true to those feelings. Jimmy isn’t a confident guy who makes women swoon. He’s more of a goofy nerd that makes women laugh. And Sabrina isn’t a dominant take what she wants kind of woman. Well, she is, but not in her personal life. There she’s a lot more vulnerable, more worried about getting hurt. So they’re taking it slow. Really slow. Like, they don’t even kiss in this book slow.

But there is a kiss coming. And in a future book they do end up in bed together. Admittedly it’s not sexual, but more in a wake up at stakepoint kinda way, but they are in the same bed at the same time. There’s a romance coming in the series, but it’s a very slow build. The way that friends turn into lovers – slowly, and with mistakes along the way.

So there’s romance, but it’s the kind you’d expect when the guy has been dead since 1995 and didn’t have any game before he died. He didn’t suddenly turn into a stud when he got his fangs (and trust me, he was not happy about that), so it’s going to take him a while to make his move. And when he does, there’s no guarantee that it will be the right move. But it certainly won’t be boring along the way.

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About the Author:

John G. Hartness is a recovering theatre geek who likes loud music, fried pickles and cold beer. He’s been published or accepted online in several journals including The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, cc&d, Deuce Coupe and Truckin’.

His first novel, The Chosen, is an urban fantasy about saving the world, snotty archangels, gambling, tattooed street preachers, immortals with family issues, bar brawls and the consequences of our decisions. 

He followed up The Chosen with Hard Day’s Knight, a new twist on the vampire detective novel and the first in a planned series of at least five books. The second book of The Black Knight Chronicles, Back in Black, landed in March 2011 and has enjoyed immediate success.

John has been called “the Kevin Smith of Charlotte,” and fans of Joss Whedon and Jim Butcher should enjoy his snarky slant on the fantasy genre. His next novel, Knight Moves (Black Knight Chronicles Vol. 3) is due out in the summer of 2011.

He can be found online at www.johnhartness.com and spends too much time on Twitter, especially after a few drinks.

For more information on John Hartness, visit him here:
Buy the book here:

Next stop on the tour is:

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ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

John Hartness is giving away an ecopy of Hard Day’s Knight to one lucky reader, check out the rules and enter to win below: 
The Rules:
Giveaway will run until June 10th, 2011, 11:59 EST.
Winner will be chosen by random.org and have 48 hours to respond via email.
Open internationally.
 To enter fill out the form below:

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