Feeling a tad thirsty?

Or are you simply out for blood?

Satisfy both cravings with Cynthia Leitich Smith’s brand new, darkly delicious gothic fantasy, Eternal (Candlewick, 2009), officially out today! Woo Hoo!

*rubs neck*

       
          ETERNAL by Cynthia Leitich Smith (Candlewick, 2009),
          Young Adult Gothic Fantasy, 320 pp.
   
I just read a titillating excerpt from the book and I’m hooked, or shall I say, I’ve been sucked in. The story is told in the alternating viewpoints of Miranda (a shy, but beautiful teenager who loves acting and just wants to be noticed), and Zachary (her guardian angel, who just happens to be in love with her).

While trying to save her life in a cemetery one night, Zachary inadvertently allows a vampire to turn Miranda into one of the undead. It’s not just any vampire, though, it’s the reigning King of the Mantle of Dracul. He takes Miranda for his new princess, and she suddenly has more power and popularity than she ever dreamed possible in her new life as a member of the eternal aristocracy. And because Zachary revealed himself to Miranda while attempting to rescue her, he falls from grace and must walk the earth as a mortal.

As Miranda becomes an unwitting accomplice to the King’s evil schemes, Zachary infiltrates the castle under the guise of her personal assistant in an attempt to save her soul. Set in Texas and Chicago, the fast paced narrative about the forces of good vs. evil is populated not only with vampires and angels, but werebeasts and shapeshifters, and of course, it is liberally spiced with glamor, smoldering passion, and Smith’s diabolical wit. In this dark realm, is redemption even possible, and, if so, at what price?

Eternal is a companion novel to Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007), which takes place in the same world, but with a different set of characters. The third book in the series, Blessed, where the characters from the first two books crossover, is now in the works. Smith counts among her influences, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, and Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities. In Eternal, she also touches on some of Stoker’s core themes, such as corruption, the role of women and the role of Christianity.

Ready to help me congratulate Cyn? Don’t worry if you didn’t have time to sharpen your fangs. Today’s celebration soup, served in its own coffin, is all there for the sucking, wickedly delectable in the absence of a suitable neck. Assume any guise you please, drink your fill, then fly on over to your local indie or fave online bookseller, and score your copy of Eternal.

Today’s Special: Tomato Clot, seasoned with garlic and stake sauce
(especially tasty with a side of necktarines).

Read an excerpt of Eternal here.

At Cynthia’s award winning website, you’ll also find a Reader’s Guide and an excellent interview with more background details about Eternal.

Finally, an excellent trailer created by Shayne Leighton can be viewed here.

*An alphabat a day keeps the werebeasts away.

**Soup coffin constructed by Count Rattigan, who was driven into a Draculinean frenzy playing with his table saw, saber saw, and compound mitre saw.