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Tomorrow marks the release of my debut paranormal romance, Drawn into Darkness. It's the first book in a series about immortal Soul Gatherers who battle demons for the souls of the dead.

 What's a Soul Gatherer, and why is he locked in such an eternal struggle? Well, on some level, he's a re-imagining of the grim reaper concept-serving as a warrior for Death, collecting the souls of those who've passed on. But on another level, he's something of a savior. He not only gathers souls-he ensures those souls reach their rightful destination, be it heaven or hell, no matter what it takes.

 That where the demon battles come in. Good souls go to heaven and only bad souls go in the other direction, right? In the world of Drawn into Darkness, that's mostly true. Problem is, demons don't play fair. They aren't content to take only the souls allotted to them-they want more. Their answer? Ambush a Soul Gatherer or two and steal some of the souls destined to go upstairs.

Clearly, Soul Gatherers can't be skeletal. They also walk among the living in order to do their jobs, so wearing a dark, hooded cape and carrying a scythe isn't very practical. To be effective, a Soul Gatherer must be a true warrior-capable, strong, and mostly honorable.

Only mostly honorable? Yes. Each Soul Gatherer is a person serving in purgatory, trying to redeem himself for past mistakes and earn his way into heaven. Here's a discussion between my heroine, Rachel, and a secondary character that explains what I mean:

Excerpt:

She glanced up. "How reassuring, they pick morons to be Soul Gatherers."

"Ouch. But for the record, Death doesn't pick morons, just sinners. Morons don't last long in this job."

"Don't all the sinners go to hell?"

"No, believe it or not, a lot of them make it into heaven. God's big on the whole forgiveness schtick. Only the completely unredeemable souls go to hell." He grinned. "I didn't qualify. We Gatherers aren't rotten enough for hell and aren't sweet enough for heaven. We're getting one last chance to prove ourselves."

"I see." Sort of. "But Gatherers are all men, right? What happens to the women who fall into a similar limbo?"

"Doomed to an eternity as high school guidance counselors, I think."

"Very funny."

His eyes twinkled. "Seriously? The odd woman passes muster as a Gatherer, but you're right, most don't. They and the guys who aren't natural warriors end up working somewhere in Death's bureaucracy, managing her messaging system, extracting relevant information from the huge volumes of data she collects on humans, giving us our job assignments, that type of thing."

"Ugh."

"Hey, no one said purgatory would be fun."

I rather like the idea of an immortal warrior standing ready to defend my soul from demon thieves. It doesn't hurt to imagine him as sexy, well-built, and powerful, either! I'll be back on Wednesday to talk about how I managed to get a sword-wielding Scottish hero into my contemporary paranormal romance. J

Interested in seeing the book trailer for Drawn into Darkness? Check it out here.

--Annette McCleave

Drawn Into Darkness, A Soul Gatherer Novel, Annette McCleave, Paranormal Romance, books, Penguin Books