Whether you've read Lotus Petals already, or are thinking of picking it up, here are 13 fun "insider" facts I think you'll really enjoy.
Vampires are the "Fourth Blood" of demons. The other Bloods are: exsul (incubi and succubi), werewolves, shadiil (shadow-walkers), and coven-Kin (witches and warlocks). Want to know which one of the Five Bloods you would belong to? Check out my quiz here.
The numerical order of the races denotes the order in which they were created by the Drogh Lord. This makes vampires the second-youngest race.
Rhiannon, like all my lead characters, is left-handed. This is an homage to my brother.
Over the course of writing Lotus Petals I watched Memoirs of a Geisha 23 times, and listened to the audiobook twice. This was so I could keep an audible "feel" for dialect and speech as I wrote Aijyn, Nagisa and Gohachiro.
Aijyn's is Japanese for "lover". Sölva's name is Norse for "sun warrior". Rhiannon's name is derived from the Celtic for "great queen".
Aijyn was originally written as a kin-born vampire. I changed her to a human when I realized she was too "watered down" as a vampire and there wasn't enough conflict as to her fate.
Sölva is probably the most unforgivable and unredeemable character I've ever written. She's a character designed to make you cringe. I love to know readers despise her.
In Her Dark Rewards—a prequel short—Sölva asks Rhiannon if she's ever taken a lover without Sölva's permission, and Rhiannon says no. Rhiannon a naughty liar.
Helena Donovan—Rhiannon's dam—was strongly inspired by Countess Carmilla from Vampire Hunter D, and bears a very strong resemblance to her.
In Rhiannon's stories, as in Anne Rice's , vampires do not change after they become immortal. This is directly inspired by the scene in Interview With a Vampire when Claudia tries to cut her hair, and it grows back immediately. Rhiannon's own hair fiasco in is a direct reference to this scene.
The reason Rhiannon's guild tattoo doesn't disappear like any other scar or wound is because it is alchemically treated with, among other things, trace amounts of silver. The presence of silver prevents the immortal's supernatural restoration from simply wiping the tattoo away. It's technically an unhealing wound. Thank the witches of the Blood Circle for concocting such a lasting "ink".
Yes, it is worth noting that Rhiannon's body becomes animated in the throes of intense emotional sensation. No, it does not mean true love will bring her to life.
Even I don't know who Rhiannon's father is. If I had to guess I'd say he's some sort of vampire pool boy.