From Russia With Blood - Book Tour and Giveaway

From Russia With Blood
Bratva Vampire Dark Duet 1
A Cruisin' Around Novel
by Vivian Murdoch
Genre: Dark Paranormal Romance 

I am a predator - a cold-blooded killer. Nothing and no one gets in my way.

As an up-and-coming, prominent member of my house, it’s my duty to prove myself.

The last thing I need is to catch feelings for a human. They’re so fragile, so easily crushed.

But one taste is not enough. It will never be enough.


**Trigger Warning!**
This book is on the darker side with dubcon, noncon, and a drugged rape scene.



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I’m a massage therapist by day and sassy romance writer by night. My books feature elements of power exchange and yummy alpha males. I like to try out everything I’m putting my heroines through, so the phrase “for science” is used in my house a lot!


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Can you, for those who don't know you already, tell something about yourself and how you became an author?
I have always been a writer. I think the first time I wrote anything, it was elementary school, and it was a book of poems. I remember using clip art to make my first “book” by printing and stapling it together. From there, I still wrote all the time, but never really thought about publishing. It wasn’t until I really decided to go for it, that I really applied myself. As of right now, I’m 100% self-published, and it’s been a wild ride.

What is something unique/quirky about you?
Goodness. What ISN’T quirky. Lol. There’s so much about me that I think some might find amusing, but a big one is that I was soooooo obsessed with vampires that I begged my parents to let me get my canines filed down…they of course said no. Even though I’m an adult, I still haven’t had my teeth permanently altered, but I for sure wear fangs on occasion.

What are some of your pet peeves?
So, it’s not like it’s diagnosed or anything (not sure if there even is a diagnosis to be honest) but I have what some might call misophonia. So many sounds just annoy the heck out of me. Bless my husband, but even his chewing gets on my last nerve. I also really don’t like people hovering over me when I’m typing. My dad does that, and I want to elbow him sooooo bad...but I can’t. He’s my dad.

Where were you born/grew up at?
I was born in Louisiana, but we moved when I was two. I spent about 10 years or so in South Carolina, moved to New Jersey, then down to Alabama.

If you knew you'd die tomorrow, how would you spend your last day?
Hopefully getting my brains screwed out. lol

Who is your hero and why?
Edgar Allen Poe. For serious he was my go-to darker author. I devoured everything by him. I know he’s probably not classical hero material, but his work made an impact on me.

What kind of world ruler would you be?
I would like to say fair and just. I hate double standards and I hate injustice of any kind.

What are you passionate about these days?
Right now, making swag. Ask me tomorrow and it will probably be something different. I’ve been using my Cricut nonstop!

What do you do to unwind and relax?
TRASH TV! Goodness. I love me some drama. Give me all the real housewives. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.

Describe yourself in 5 words or less!
Nicest oddball ever

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I wrote for forever but didn’t consider myself a writer until I published my first book in Sept 2020.

Do you have a favorite movie?
I wish I could say yes, but there are really too many. That and my favorites change via day/time/moon position.

Which of your novels can you imagine made into a movie?
I would say my university series for sure. I’d like to think all my books have movie potential, but right now, I think those are dark enough to get interest, but tame enough for HBO.

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?
I haven’t yet. It’s my goal to do the Sherilyn Kenyon Dark Hunters tour in NOLA

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?
What is the most neurotic creature? That would be me.

What inspired you to write this book?
Oddly enough, because this is a shared series, I had to do something on a cruise ship. That’s wasn’t my inspiration exactly. But having a cruise ship book come out on October and making it a Halloween themed cruise, heck yet. And oh wait, they use this ship to traffic victims? YASSSS PLEASE!

What can we expect from you in the future?
I have sooooo many deadlines right now, it’s beyond not funny. I have an Omegaverse (my first one!!) coming out in November, my first daddy dom coming out in December (He’s a grump that hates Christmas btw), another vampy book coming out in Feb (not super dark), another Omegaverse coming out in March? I think? Next university book for sure is coming out in April.

Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in From Russia With Blood?
Jackson Montgomery is a CIA agent. He’s lost his work partner and consequent submissive at the hands of Luka. No body was ever found, but the amount of blood made the agency have an open casket and call her dead. Luka, is a vampire that’s almost 600 years old. He may appear jaded, but he’s not. He just doesn’t care. He’s a monster, a predator, and he embraces it to the fullest. Katrina Sheffield is a college student who is suffering from a recent breakup from a wealthy, soon-to-be (in his mind) politician. He took care of her financially, so now she’s staying with her best friend Lizzy while trying to make extra money as a waitress.

How did you come up with the concept and characters for the book?
The vampire part came first when I decided to do the book. I knew there was going to be a vampire. I also knew he was going to have a victim, because you can’t have a vampire and no prey. What didn’t happen until writing the story was Jackson. I was toying with the idea of having sort of a love triangle thing maybe, but the way the story morphs was nothing I planned for.

Where did you come up with the names in the story?
I’d like to thank behindthename.com for always having my back when it comes to my characters. I usually look up their nationality and scroll through looking at names until they whisper, that’s the one.

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
I really enjoyed letting myself go. This is the darkest book I’ve written to date, and I revel in the fact that I gave my characters such free rein.

Tell us about your main characters- what makes them tick?
Luka is a monster. Plain and simple. The next best thing is what makes him tick. It’s the chase, the takedown, and the devouring. His main goal is to rule the entire branch of the Bratva, but there are older vampires still in power. Jackson is driven by justice. Even though he’s a sadist, he just and kind. He used to run on the idea of just getting the bad guy; however, after Gloria’s murder, he’s consumed with revenge. Katrina is the quiet counterpart to her friend Lizzy. She’s thoughtful, studious, hard working. She’s a masochist at her core and used to play in the local dungeons, but after being with Chet and having him reject her so soundly, she’s afraid of that part of her. She wants to set it free but worries it will make her undesirable.

How did you come up with the title of the book?
It’s a play on a James Bond film. The next book, You Only Die Twice, and the spinoff, Vampires are Forever, are also based on James Bond films.

Who designed your book covers?
Rachel Olson with No Sweat Graphics

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything in your latest book?
Maybe not put them on a cruise ship? Lol. But seriously, I’m probably never going to write another cruise book. I’ve never been on one and had to do sooooo much research (which is fine, but I’m the type that likes to have physical, hands-on knowledge of what I write). There were moments where moving the plot forwards was odd for me because of the confines of the ship. There’s only so many places you can go.

Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent book?
I learned that I’m more comfortable writing dark than I realized.

If your book was made into a film, who would you like to play the lead?
Neil Jackson for Jackson – hands down. A younger Dolph Lundgren for Luka? Or someone similar? Blake Lively as Katrina.

Anything specific you want to tell your readers?
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE read the warnings at the beginning of the book.

What is your favorite part of this book and why?
Oh man. I wish I could tell you. It’s such a big spoiler that I can’t. But oh buddy when I tell you. When you get to that part, I’m sure you’ll know. Just….Oh man.

Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
They are from my imagination.

Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reigns of the story?
OMG. Every. Single. Story. My characters will for sure take over. I feel that it makes it more believable, but they just do whatever the heck they want.

Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.
This book is a vindication for anyone who’s read or watched vampires and crave the monster. Luka is not a nice guy.

Have you written any other books that are not published?
I started several that I’m probably going to rewrite and publish after I get done with all my deadlines.

If your book had a candle, what scent would it be?
Blood Orange with a hint of vanilla

What did you edit out of this book?
I don’ usually remove things from my books. I do, however, add them in. I added in an entire scene during editing.

Do the characters all come to you at the same time or do some of them come to you as you write?
Most of the time, they’ll all come together. In bigger series projects like my university books, I’ll have characters from several books down the line demand they speak with me. It was different for this book though. I had Luka and I had Jackson. Katrina was the biggest holdout. She didn’t want to speak to me at all. The other two were like, fine, we’ll just take over. It was a nightmare holding them back.

What kind of research do you do before you begin writing a book?
Most of the research I do is physical in nature. I write a lot of kink in my books, and I will usually try everything (unless it’s a hard limit for me) that I make my h go though. For this book, I had to do so much cruise ship research. I kept having to stop look stuff up.

Do you see writing as a career?
For me, it’s most certainly a career.

What do you think about the current publishing market?
I do tend to worry that it’s over saturated. I have to keep reminding myself that there’s only one me. Even if I’m writing some of the same tropes and genres, no one is going to write it like me.

Do you read yourself and if so what is your favorite genre?
I do tend to read a lot. I CRAVE omegaverse. I also really like darker, bdsm books.

Do you prefer to write in silence or with noise? Why?
I need to have noise, but it has to be a specific noise. My favorite way to write is go to my local Panera. I like the sounds of people around me as long as they’re not interacting with me. I also listen to brain.fm for productivity binaural beats. I can’t do music with lyrics, or I’ll start singing. I can’t do movies because I’ll get too invested.

Do you write one book at a time or do you have several going at a time?
I think my brain can only handle one at a time. When I’m in the zone, I’m usually knocking out 10k + words in a day, so typing that fast and thinking about multiple stories will just make my brain explode.

Pen or type writer or computer?
Computer.

What made you want to become an author and do you feel it was the right decision?
I love to read. I love to write. I just seemed a natural progression to be an author. I don’t feel like it’s a wrong or bad decision, but some days, it’s much harder than others. I still wouldn’t take back these stories. These worlds are my life.

A day in the life of the author?
Are y’all sure you want to know this? For me, it’s probably much different than other authors. I get up whenever I wake up and either go out to the recliner or pack up and go to Panera. If I’m at Panera, I eat and write. If I’m at home, I play animal crossing, look up something for a different book entirely, work on swag, molest my husband if he’s home, maybe get writing.

Describe your writing style.
Panic mode gets the words going. I’m the type that flourish under tight deadlines. The closer the deadline, the more the words pour out of me. I’m also a plantser. I try to have the basics of a plot knowing full well the characters will change everything.

What is your writing Kryptonite?
Inertia. If I’m at home, I know it’s more difficult to get writing done.

Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
I’d like to think I’m giving readers what they want, but I don’t write to market. To be honest, I don’t even really know what the market is right now. I focus on writing stories that have rich worlds.

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from other genders?
Since I like to physically experience what I write, it’s kinda hard to do some things without the right anatomy. I’m stuck messaging hubby all the time asking for specific sensations. If only I had a dick, none of this would be an issue.

How long on average does it take you to write a book?
If I’m really into it, I can do a good 50-60k in about 2 weeks. With other books, a month or so. I wrote this one in about a month. I have a month to write my next one and a month to write the one after that.

Do you believe in writer’s block?
I believe you can get stuck. Everyone can. For me, talking things out verbally helps get me unstuck.  


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