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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.
I would love to teleport! It would hale me so much in my day to day life and I could be anywhere on the globe only with a thought, which would be amazing!
I’ve always thought that telepathy would be a useful trait, but only if it were a controllable form able to be turned on and off at will. Otherwise I think I’d go for telekinetic powers.
Ooh, i’d go with mind control.. it’d make my job so much easier!
I think the worst would have to be mind control. People are mean spirited and I really don’t want to know what they think. I think if I could have any power it would be flying. I hate airports and TSS an the infamous X-ray machine that I get subjected to every time I fly….
I would like a combination of supernatural abilities: mind control, pyrokinesis, and shapeshifting.
I would have to say “Teleporting”, I can go where ever I want…..
If I could have a supernatural ability, it would be telepathy. FOr one reason and one reason only, my 6 year old son has Autism. He is high functioning but does not speak much at all. I would love the power of telepathy just so I could try to have a way to speak with him.
Thank you for the contest!!!!
I would want the power of technokinesis so that I could talk to all things technology based, understand and control them. I could get ATM machines to be really nice to me and could fix my laptop without having to sell my first born to get the techi guys to fix it. lol
Can’t wait for the vlad books, he is one of my favourite characters!
I would love to have the power of learning really fast : you know,you see someone doing kun fu and you can do it too just like that . 🙂
I would love to fly.( Had many dreams about doing this) There are so many people and places I could see. No cars, no gas no traffic= Dreamy
I would have to say shape shifting would be my all time favorite super ability. I think it would be awesome to be one of the great cats, preferablly leopard or tiger.
I think i’d love shapeshifting ability. As a Falcon I can flight, as a dragon I have fire and I love animals.
It’s a grat gift.
If I had a super power I think I would choose invisibility.
I would pick Mind Control- def. make things in life easier- lol
The first thing that came to mind was invisibility but really, I think it would be shapeshifting into whatever I want 🙂
I would love to be able to fly! Not only could I travel places quicker but I could fly away from danger. Plus I can just imagine it being relaxing!
I would like invisibility, mostly for the privacy.
Teleportation all the way! I also want to add this must come with the ability to take others with me! Just think of the time savings from commuting and all the trips you could go on! Thanks for the giveaway.
First, thank you for the opportunity. I thought I would like to move the objects, of course, with myself, so I could still fly with him. 🙂 I would be very useful Bones team, so you take me? 🙂
Because I am always on the go….I would love to be able to teleport. It would help me so much and save me so much gas. Getting two kids around to their various activities is exhausting.
Looking forward to some Vlad! I would take shapeshifting any day…lol
That’s a hard quetion! I would love to be able to teleport. It would be amazing to be able to go anywhere you wished.
Thank you for the international giveaway.
I’d want to be a teleporting, telepathic, shapeshifter that could see the future. Too much? No way.
Teleportation is tempting, but I’d have to go with the superhero genius of Tony Stark. Then I could build myself cool gadgets, fly, and be uber rich. It’s a win-win-win. 🙂
Thanks for the contest!
I gotta say it’ll sound dorky, but I want to be able to speak and understand any and every language out there. I mean, just think about it. You’d always be able to talk to someone anywhere you went.
Ooo definitely telekinesis!
Thanks so much for the giveaway! Can’t wait for Vlad and Leila! <3
I’d want the ability to be able to memorize anything. Knowledge is power. If I could retain any and everything I read I could surely find ways to help others and improve my own life.
I would be to greedy to be allowed any type of superpower, but if I had to choose ONE I would pick mind reading. That would make this wayyy easier in life!
Wow hard question but I believe telekinesis and mind control in combination would be awesome.
I think I would like flying you could get away from almost anything…reading minds would be interesting but ya know I don’t think I would want to know that much!
I never know how to answer these questions because I can see the pros and cons in just about every power you could think of. Probably the safest would be teleporting.
Thanks for the giveaway! Can’t wait for Vlad!
I’d want to fly or be really , really smart!
I’m torn between teleportation and mind control! I think I’ll go with mind control, though. That would make life SO much easier.
I would love all of Storm”s powers from xmen. Being able to fly and control the weather! That would be awesome! And avengers was the best Marvel movie they have done in a long time. The dialogue and action was priceless!!
I’d want telekinesis and teleporting, it would be awesome.
Thanks for the giveaway. 🙂
its a toss up between telekinesis and shapeshifting both would be fun
I would like to be able teleport anywhere i needed to go but i would also like to shoot lightening from my finger tips too. Every good super hero needs a defense too.
I would choose time travel. To be able to see any period, past or present, would be genuinely amazing. Plus I wouldn’t have to wait for a certain book to come out 😉 Thank you Jeaniene for being so generous with your work.
Ohhh… how about the ability to give random orgasms to people just by touching them? That’d be damned distracting for a bank robber or the jerk in front of you at the store berating the cashier.
Plus, all those endorphins are bound to cheer people up.
shape shifting,I would so love to turn into people and mess with their lives.
I would love the ability to make things grow at an increased rate. Plants, trees stuff like that. Love the series cant wait for my fav Vlad.
So many choices…telekinesis or shape shifting I think…telekinesis would make so many things easier (like cleaning), but I’d love to be able to change into a lion or other cat 😀
My superpower would be to become invisible with just a thought. You would pretty much be untouchable! Not to mention the dirt you would know about ANYTHING you wanted!
Controlling the weather, flying, mind-reading, and super strength would be so fun. Do we have to pick just one? All of the above!
If I could have one super power, I would have to say the ability to control other minds. As sinister as that sounds, my current desire for this power would be to control other drivers on the road, and to make them obey the rules and to drive properly! Can you tell I spend a lot of time in my car?? lol.
I’ve always wanted to be able to fly. As a child I remember getting the falling dreams but eventually I learned to fly when I fell and always loved those dreams. Still do!
I love your writing! Can’t wait to read about Vlad
I would have to say I would want teleportation and telepathy. It would be great for being a spy.
If I could have any supernatural ability I would have the ability to poof. I mean…crap, teleport. Yes, that would be awesome to be able to go anywhere at anytime. Like right now I would totally poof my pale ass to a beach.
I think I’d like telekinesis. Hard to choose of course and this might be because I tend to be on the lazy side. lol
Shapeshifting – Many times I’ve said “If I could be a fly on the wall…”. As a Shifter, I could do that and more.