Blog Tour Guest Post and Giveaway with Marie Treanor

I am so excited to have Marie with us today! I have had so much fun reading her Awakened  by Blood series. If you haven’t picked this series up you so need to! Please join me in welcoming Marie to the blog.

And now here is Marie:

Binding the Book by Marie Treanor
 
Bending the Spine… what a fine name for a book blog :).

 

I love the look of books. I love rows of them on the shelves, all over the house, and I don’t even mind if the spines are bent – it makes them appear all the more loved and well read. But I do like them to look good. Which means, generally, the cover.

 

Like most people, I’m often drawn first to the cover of a book, and I think all publishers acknowledge the cover to be a major selling point. To some extent, we probably all do judge a book by its cover – even if only as far as picking it up to read the blurb - and I know I’ve been extremely lucky in many of own covers, especially, perhaps, the Awakened by Blood books (Blood on Silk, Blood Sin and Blood Eternal).

 

But there’s another kind of binding entirely, that also draws me like a moth to a flame. And I confess I have bought books for these bindings without any consideration of the actual contents! I bought them for that lovely, musty, unmistakable old-book smell, the feel of the binding in my hands, and the sheer prettiness of the whole object. Such cover art doesn’t usually have anything to do with the book’s subject – it’s largely abstract patterns or symbols.

 

In fact, the ones I can afford don’t have much decoration at all, just a bit of gold tooling and some ridges on the leather spine! But in college, studying rare books, and in various jobs working with them (I was a librarian in another life), I have come across some real beauties. Not the ones below, which I found on Google :), but they give you an idea of the sort of binding that turns my brain to such mush that if I only had the money, I’d buy them! Wouldn’t you?

 

They’re the kind of book I imagine Elizabeth and the vampire hunters (of the Awakened by Blood trilogy) pouring over in the hunters’ Budapest library: huge folios with beautiful bindings in decorated leather, or even embroidered like in the third picture; or small but perfectly formed little gems; but all bursting with the past, not just in the words within, whether hand-written or printed, but in the actual, physical book. Some of the hunters’ books would be less ornate, of course. For example, the book where the hunters discover the prophecy relating to Elizabeth I imagine to be a much less eye-catching volume – plain, utilitarian leather, there only to keep the pages together, not to impress or attract or achieve great artistry. But it would have its own unassuming charm, and it would still have that smell…

 

All right, am I weird? Does anyone else find libraries and books that attractive? How much does the outer beauty of books matter to you? And if you read ebooks (as I do too!), does the lack of a cover bother you?

 

Thanks so much for being here Marie, and for this wonderful post! You can read my reviews of Marie’s awesome books Blood on Silk and Blood Sin by clicking on the book titles.

 

More info on Marie and Blood Eternal:

Blood Eternal
By Marie Treanor

Awakened by Blood, Book 3
Signet Eclipse
Mass Market Paperback
4th October 2011
Secrets don't disappear after seduction...
 

Elizabeth Silk is struggling to reconcile her passion for the vampire overlord Saloman and her allegiance to the vampire hunters. When a shocking vampire revolt calls Saloman away from her, she refuses to follow him.

 

To make matters worse, Saloman’s beloved cousin Luk has been found and awakened by one of his greatest enemies. Frenzied with bloodlust, Luk embarks on a killing spree and prepares to expose Saloman’s biggest vulnerability: Elizabeth.

 

But under Saloman’s regime, vampires have become less concerned with secrecy, no longer willing to hide their power. Rumors are swirling about attacks on humans. After Saloman joins forces with the vampire hunters to consolidate his power, Elizabeth begins to understand her role in the inevitable collision of the two worlds. She could bring resolution between vampires and humans—if she can manage to stay alive long enough to play both sides….

 

Author Bio:
Marie Treanor lives in Scotland with her eccentric husband and three much-too-smart children. Having grown bored with city life, she resides these days in a picturesque village by the sea where she is lucky enough to enjoy herself avoiding housework and writing sensual stories of paranormal romance and fantasy.
 
Marie Treanor has published more than twenty ebooks with small presses, (Samhain Publishing, Ellora’s Cave, Changeling Press and The Wild Rose Press), including a former Kindle bestseller, Killing Joe. Blood on Silk: an Awakened by Blood novel, was her New York debut with NAL.
 
In the Awakened by Blood series, Marie is delighted to be able to bring together her long-standing loves of vampire stories and Gothic romance.
 
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Now It’s Giveaway Time!

Up for grabs: One copy of Blood Eternal

• There will be one winner.
  
• This giveaway is open to anyone over the age of 18.
  
• This giveaway is open to US only.
  
• You do not have to be a follower to enter, though it is always appreciated, please let me know if you are a new follower so I can check out your blog.
  
• Giveaway will run from October 13, 2011 to October 27, 2011
  
• Winner will be chosen by random.org
  
• Winner must contact me with mailing address within 48hours of being chosen or give up prize to next chosen winner
• I am going to make this giveaway super easy. Simply answer Marie’s bookish questions from the bottom of her post in the comments and you are entered. Don’t forget to leave your email address so that I can contact you in case you win:)