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[From VBC: We’re very excited to have Jeaniene Frost on the blog again today. And we’re so anxious for Once Burned, her spinoff book featuring Vlad. It comes out in June and at the end of this post there’s a chance to win advanced copies. With that, we turn it over to Jeaniene.]
I’m fresh off a superhero high after seeing The Avengers this weekend, but aside from my new found love for The Hulk, the movie also got me thinking about the attributes of larger-than-life heroes and heroines. If you haven’t seen The Avengers yet, I’ll describe the members of the team. There’s Ironman, a “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” named Tony Stark who fights evil while wearing an incredibly high-tech suit; Thor, demi-god of the planet Asgard, whose hammer-wielding badassery is only eclipsed by his mighty biceps; Steve Rogers’ Captain America, a formerly brave yet scrawny man who was transformed into a superhuman through breakthrough genetic tampering; The Hulk, whose non-mean-green-and-ready-to-ream personality is mild-mannered scientist Bruce Banner; Black Widow, former Russian spy Natasha Romanoff who uses her looks, wit, and lethal fighting skills to save the day; and Clint Barton, nicknamed Hawkeye, a S.H.I.E.L.D agent whose skill with a bow and arrow makes Legolas look like a child playing cowboys and Indians. Although not a fighting member of the Avengers, the mastermind behind them is Nick Fury, human director of the espionage agency S.H.I.E.L.D.
What I particularly loved about The Avengers is that three of the six superheroes are regular humans. See, my books feature supernatural creatures – in this case, vampires – fighting evil and finding love with humans. I get asked a lot about compatibility issues in a human/nonhuman relationship and I think the movie gives a great example of how being compatible has more to do with will, perseverance, and bravery than with matching supernatural abilities. Black Widow doesn’t have any otherworldly abilities – or a high-tech Super Suit – yet she’s critical to the success of the Avengers because of her other strengths. Same goes with Hawkeye. Tony Stark, even without his Ironman suit, is still instrumental to the team because of his intelligence. Sure, having the ability to withstand injuries that would kill a normal person (Captain America), or a huge magical hammer (Thor), or enough strength to throw a demi-god around like a rag doll (The Hulk) are also critical, but they’re not enough to defeat the villain and his army without those extraordinary yet “regular” Avengers.
As I said, I’ve played with the same themes in my books. My vampires may have abilities like super strength, telekinesis, mind control, or the ability to fly, but that doesn’t make their human counterparts less extraordinary, in my opinion. Take my upcoming novel, Once Burned. In it, my heroine Leila is a human whose exposure to a massive dose of electricity left her with some unusual abilities; namely, her body gives off voltage and she picks up psychic impressions through touch. While those abilities initially throw her together with my hero, a pyrokinetic vampire named Vlad (yes, that Vlad :)) it’s her mental fortitude that impresses Vlad the most. Without that, Leila would have been merely another tool he used against his enemies. But her inner strength proves so captivating that even the uncrowned Prince of Darkness ends up drawn into the most high-stakes battle of all: falling in love.
I’m going to assume that everyone agrees mental fortitude is important, but just for kicks, if you could have any supernatural ability (flying, mind control, pyrokinesis, telekinesis, shapeshifting, a big magic hammer, Hulking-out, etc.) what would it be? Everyone who answers will be entered to win one of two advance reading copy of Once Burned.
CONTEST DETAILS AND RULES
1. To enter, you leave a comment on this blog post answering Jeaniene’s question above.
2. You do not need to follow Vampire Book Club to be entered, but we sure do like it.
3. This contest is open internationally.
4. Contest closes at 11:59 p.m. CST on June 3, 2012.
5. The winners will be selected using Random.org. Then each will be contacted via email and given 48 hours to claim her prize. If we do not hear from the winner(s) within that time, a new winner will be selected.
6. Entrants must be at least 18 years old or have their parent’s permission to enter. Please review our privacy policy, if you have any questions as to how Vampire Book Club uses your information. (Short version: we’ll only use it to contact you for this contest.)
7. Though unlikely, Vampire Book Club has the right to change or cancel any giveaway at any time without prior notice.
8. Vampire Book Club is not responsible for prizes lost or damage in transit.
9. Big thank you to Jeaniene Frost for providing the two ARCs of Once Burned.
shapeshifting, lol try find me when i can be anyone
Hmm I’d hav to say healing powers 🙂
The ability to heal anyone would be a magical superpower
I would love to have healing power and/or pyrokinesis.
Hello thanks for the opportunity Ms. Frost:D umm if I had an ability it would be to Control elements!!! Yes now that’s siick:P well thank you(=
Ohh, this is a hard one for me. I think I would definitely have to go with shape-shifting though. Too often, I wish I was a fly on the wall in different areas just to know what’s going on.
I would have to choose telekenisis! I could get so much done at once! Thank you for the chance to win an ARC of Once Burned!
Well. If I had to choose….Superpowers would be cool and all but I would like to be like batman. Not rely on super humanness to save humanity, but just push my limits till I am a badass master at everything. And still save the world as a human! So super ninja skills for starters.
I would have to go with shapeshifting as my “super” power of choice. I was thinking of going with the power to heal but then you run into all kinds of moral and philosophical debates on who should or should not be healed, is it their time, could it screw up a “master plan” and all that so, shapeshifting it is – I do love those shifters! Thanks so much for the giveaway!!:D
I would love to shapeshift..i could be anyone i wanted!
I would have to say shapeshifting, if the option is human and animal forms. Telekinesis is a close second, though!
Hmm that’s a tough one but I have always wanted the power of telekinetic. Watching charmed made me first LOVE IT! My second choice is shapeshifting.
I would love to be able to heal or teleport.
Picking just one superpower is like getting a gift card for one song on iTunes: the people who think it’s easy to pick just one song are the people who don’t understand why music is important.
I think I’d like to have the gift of foresight/foretelling. Let’s face it, it’d be pretty handy to be able to pick investments (especially now!), and it would also make contingency planning less of a hassle!
🙂
Hmm, you could think this is an easy question, but acutally when you have the opportunity to choose, you don`t know what to take!
I think reading other peoples mind doesn`t sound too bad, but also shapeshifting is a pretty good gift! 😉 I would go with one of these!:)
This is an awesome contest, first of all because of the juicy prize and second because the question is awesome :D! My supernatural ability of choice would be telekinesis / telepathy… all college students’ dream come true *o* No more tidying up the dorm, easymode exams even in the hard subjects and first of all, more time to read vampire books :3
Shapeshifting 😀
I’m going to assume that everyone agrees mental fortitude is important, but just for kicks, if you could have any supernatural ability (flying, mind control, pyrokinesis, telekinesis, shapeshifting, a big magic hammer, Hulking-out, etc.) what would it be? Everyone who answers will be entered to win one of two advance reading copy of Once Burned.
Hmmmm….If I could have one supernatural ability it would definitely be Mind Control w/mind reading capabilities because I would love to know what everyone is thinking and be able to control some people who just need to be controlled and pushed about. I’m totally all about free will and control over ones self, but I’m realistic too, lol!
I would choose shapeshifting!
Out of all of the ones listed above I would choose Shape-Shifting because I think that would be really cool to do. I would love to shift into a wolf and run free sometimes, lol!
i wanna be like Magneto in Xmen, cuz then i can kick ass without getting out of my couch!
i would love to be able to shapeshift
The power I would love is Mind control. I would rule the world (evil laugh, hahahaha!)
Boy I hope I win this book, if nothing else, just to look at the cover. I am in love with the cover, almost as much as I am in love with Vlad.
Right now, I’d have to pick super healing abilities as my super power since I’ve been sick for a few years. My second choice (and what I’d pick if I were healthy) would be to have super mental abilities -super intelligence, mind reading ability, those kinds of things.
Thanks for the giveaway!
If I could have a single super power/gift I would choose cognitive foresight, the ability to see into the future and therefore be able to help people who are going to be severely disadvantaged by events in their life. I think it would be a heavy burden on the person with such an ability and mental fortitude would be crucial in dealing with important choices that would arise, but I think the overall benefit would vastly outweigh the cost.
p.s. Jeaniene your books are amazing 🙂
Hi, i would probaly want to be A SHAPESHIFTER. turn in to anyone. Make a bad hairday go away. 😉
I LOVE LOVE LOVE your books Jeaniene. i cant wait for vlads story!!!
My ability would be telekinesis. To be able to move things with out much physical effort would just be chock full of awesome.
I would love to teleport. I love to travel but hate planning trips and sitting on long flights. Costa Rica for a morning swim, Florence for lunch, and then a late night stroll in Sydney sounds perfect
I would have to say mind reading would be the super ability i would have to choose
Shapeshifter for sure, you can become anything!
Mind control or psychic ability…
I always want to choose flying as my super power on these questions but then I think, what if some evil villain somehow takes away my flying power while I’m mid-flight, leaving me to crash to my death! No thanks! So, I choose telekinesis – it appeals to my lazy side 😉
I want to be able to fly!
I want to have the power to shapeshift form at will, like in Richelle Mead’s Succubus series!
I’m going to assume that everyone agrees mental fortitude is important, but just for kicks, if you could have any supernatural ability (flying, mind control, pyrokinesis, telekinesis, shapeshifting, a big magic hammer, Hulking-out, etc.) what would it be? Everyone who answers will be entered to win one of two advance reading copy of Once Burned.
There are so many supernatural abilities that it makes it hard to choose, I like them all for different reasons.
I guess if i was to write about a character who had supernatural abilities then I love the idea of a woman who was able to manipulate the elements, kind of like mother nature but use them for protection, healing, etc. Plus she can kick ass too if in danger (but that’s because I love martial arts)!!. Plus she would be a calming soothing influence to animals, have a devine connection to them, be able to understand them too.
I also love telekinesis, idea too.
Anyway I just like to say I love all your books they are fanatastic, thank you for bringing me moments of happiness in being able to enjoy your books.
There are so many supernatural abilities that it makes it hard to choose, I like them all for different reasons.
I guess if i was to write about a character who had supernatural abilities then I love the idea of a woman who was able to manipulate the elements, kind of like mother nature but use them for protection, healing, etc. Plus she can kick ass too if in danger (but that’s because I love martial arts)!!. Plus she would be a calming soothing influence to animals, have a devine connection to them, be able to understand them too.
I also love telekinesis, idea too.
Anyway I just like to say I love all your books they are fanatastic, thank you for bringing me moments of happiness in being able to enjoy your books.
P-Y-R-O-K-I-N-E-S-I-S!! I’d definitely love to have this ability, even tough it’s hard to choose, because i’ve always had a fascination with fire, which I think could be used in both defence and offence!
Of course, the fact that it is Vlad’s ability might, just MIGHT, have something to do with it! Lots of love 😉
I would like my supernatural ability to be Aligist(The ability to understand all languages.) Just think how many less misunderstandings there would be . 🙂 By the way Ms.Frost I can’t get enough of you books…Happy Writing!!
Well, my favorite answer to this question is to dance like Beyonce 😀
I would probably pick teleportation or flying as my super power. I just love the idea that I could easy travel to great vacation spot whenever I had some free time. No more time wasted in airports? Yes, please!
As shapeshifting have always seem painful to me my choice of an ability would have to be mind control.
It would have to be the ability to control and read minds…be able to know what people are thinking and be able to manipulate what they think and see, you could be right infront of someone but make them think that they dont see you, that would have to come in handy 😛
I would like to be clairvoyant. It would be cool if to be able to know things about places, people and object without be told so.
Teleportation. Very useful in a fight as you could ‘blink’ in & out to avoid all the hits of the bad guys. Also, no more waiting @ airports to go on holiday.
I am stuck between mind-control and flying, both seem pretty awsome.
I would have the power to control and manipulate psychic and physical energy. It would be pretty cool to be able to make weapons just using my mind like Psylock (I think that’s her name. She’s a marvel character) and to be a siren. A siren is someone who can control people with their voice. Now that would be awesome!
First of all, thanks Jeaniene for giving us another chance to get an advance copy of Once Burned! I know my chances are very slim, but who knows, my luck might turn around 🙂
Anyway if I had a superpower, it would be the ability to fly. I’m terrified of heights, so I thought if I could fly, that would mean my fear of falling would diminish.
If I could choose one, I’d definitely choose the gift of forseeing the future. how handy would THAT be?
I would love to have the ability to control time (slow it down, fast forward, freeze). It would be amazing to control something so theoretically uncontrollable!
I would fly. So i could see my son in Alaska ,first yearin the Air force. My heart misses him.He bought me my nook ,and thats how i meet Cat and Bones they have gotten me through this past year. Thank you
I would want the ability to do that mind meld thing that vampires can do to make people forget certain situations. Seems like that would have come in handy more than a time or two. 🙂
Well, since i can’t scrape enough time to read lately, i would like to have the ability of time travel or super speed 😀
Thanks for making this international