Author Interview – Casey Moss
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I know Casey Moss as her steamy romance alter ego C.R. Moss, who is a pub buddy of mine over at Decadent Publishing. Casey delves into darker passions, sometimes blending in paranormal, suspense, thrills and eroticism (all with romantic elements of course).
Being set in an MMORPG (that’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game, for those not in the know), her new release, Open World – a C.O.V.E.N. Story, makes the inner-geek in me squeal with glee. Let’s find out more about it!
1. Hi Casey, and welcome to my blog. As a former Guild Wars addict, you had me at MMORPG. But for those more like my husband (whose response to my use of said acronym was: “Is that some sort of rocket-propelled grenade?”), would you mind explaining what this type of game is?
As stated above, it’s an MMORPG where players from around the world can go online to one location and play a game. In this game, there are different clans that have special abilities pertinent to that clan—shape shifting, vampiric qualities, magic, etc. Though in this book you don’t see too much of the clans’ abilities since the game is still in the testing phase. For more info on the terminology, you can check out these links: MMORPGs & Sandbox Gaming.
2. How do the main characters get sucked into this game? Once they are, what happens to them?
It’s a magical combination of severe lightning and thunderstorms, crystal pyramids and all the electronics and electronic interference. Once they’re in, they find themselves in a war-torn setting via the sandbox/open world, role playing game section.
3. Okay, I have to ask—what type of epic gear might Buzz drop (assuming he gets vanquished by our team)? I hear has a sex toy arsenal.
Now there’s an idea…dropping sex toys. My muse is smiling at that. If Buzz were to drop anything, it’d be like the Gorshalach (the Dark Render; one of the most powerful weapons in the universe; a massive greatsword) found in World of Warcraft.
4. Now that you’ve got me all, distracted, can you share a snippet that introduces Buzz?
Hope unfroze and spun toward the voice. A man, also dressed in black and in a matching colored Old West duster coat, stood before her. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes and his face was obscured by a hood cloaking his head. He wore a chain and pendant that reminded her of Mr. Jenkins.
“What? Who?” she stammered the short questions as behind her the growls and scrapes of footsteps slowly closed in on her location.
“Really? We don’t have time for a Q and A.” He reached out, grabbed her hand and yanked her from the alley. The man swung her behind him, shielding her with his body.
Off balance and slightly dizzy, she grasped the back of his coat, caught her breath, then peeked around him.
He held up his arm, his palm facing toward the oncoming Chem Warfare Urchin.
Her heartbeat fluttered, and her body braced to run. According to the game’s story line, CWUs were the dregs of current society, humans who’d lost their humanity and higher reasoning. During and after the chemical wars, they’d mutated, morphed and bred into creatures comparable to zombie-looking rogue vampires and had no special abilities. But if the CWU caught and bit a person, the poison they injected would change the infected into one of them.
Those animal-like beings were the complete opposite of her character’s kind. For some reason, the chemicals from the wars gave her, and those in other clans, special powers and heightened instincts.
A twisted smile contorted the monster’s mouth. Pointed canines dripped crimson liquid.
“Damn it. It’s fed. Means it’s going to be extra strong now.”
“Not a good thing,” she murmured.
“No worries, luv,” the stranger crooned in a deep voice.
The creature neared. Inch by inch it limped closer, dragging its bum leg along and making the foot rub against the ground.
Thump. Scratch. Thump. Scratch.
Hope couldn’t take the sounds, nor the onslaught of the vermin’s fetid stink much longer. “Dude.” She poked him in the back. “You going to do something or not?”
“Patience, my dear.”
Patience. The CWU’s just a yard away, and he’s telling me to be patient? If they didn’t move or kill the thing soon, they’d be toast. She started to take a step away from the man, but his reflexes beat out her thought process. He reached back with his other hand and grabbed her arm.
The urchin, seeming to take advantage of their brief distraction, advanced.
As it flew toward them, Hope screamed and dropped to her knees. Her rescuer projected a laser beam of golden light at the CWU.
The creature vaporized into thin air.
Air whooshed out of Hope. After a couple of inhales, she looked up at the man. All she could see was a pair of kissable lips and a square chin. “Well, now that was something.”
“Yes, it’s quite a handy talent.” He held out a hand.
She clutched it, and he helped her off the ground. “Thank you. Mister…?”
“Call me Buzz. And you are?”
“Buzz. Interesting name.” But what about Alden? Where’d he get off to? Maybe I am in the game… For some reason, her instincts were telling her not to use her game name, Quies. “Um, Hope.”
“Hope. Pretty.” He cocked his head. “Something troubling you?”
“I’m not sure.” How could she explain to the stranger the peculiar situation she seemed to have found herself in? I was in one place one moment and then another the next. Like I got sucked into a parallel universe. That would get her off to a great start.
Problem was, the more she stood across the way from the circus dome the more her current reality seemed real and the other she’d left?
Not so much.
“So, Hope, where you need to get to?”
Den mentioned ‘The Experience’ downtown was a neutral area. Maybe that’d be a good place for me to go and figure out my next move. “I’m needed down at ‘The Experience.’ Why?”
“You seem like a noob, so I want to give you a boost.”
“A noob? A boo—”
Before she could finish the second word, Buzz had lifted his hand and shot a burst of white light at her.
5. Hmm... don't know if I could forgive any guy for calling me a noob, but a burst of boosting white light might do the trick (hopefully, it does something cool). Before I let you go, I have to ask—will there be another C.O.V.E.N. book? What other projects do you have up your sleeve?
Yep. There’ll be another book. I’m working on finishing up C.O.V.E.N. Genesis now. That story will a prequel and let readers know how it all got started. Then there will be a story that continues with the beta testing, one that sees the public get involved and another either seeing the end of the game or the world. I also have a few horror stories in the works.
Since Casey’s a busy lady, I’ll let her run off. For more about her book (including buy links, hint, hint), just scroll down. As always, comments are much appreciated.
C.O.V.E.N.
The world of C.O.V.E.N. (Clans of Vegas – Endless Night) first appeared in Evernight Publishing’s anthology Keyboards & Kink (available directly from Evernight & at other fine e-tailers) in Casey’s story, AFK.
In AFK, we saw a peek into I-D-8 Entertainment’s in-production MMORPG: Clans of Vegas – Endless Night, also known as C.O.V.E.N. when Beth and another gamer got sucked into the game for real.
Now, in Open World, (an Editor’s Pick!) the employees have joined together for a LAN party to test the game. Here’s a look into the story…
Open World – a C.O.V.E.N. Story
The world has broken out in wars. Las Vegas has been ravaged by chemical warfare and is now home to several clans and creatures.
Welcome to I-D-8 Entertainment’s newest game: Clans of Vegas—Endless Night.
Friends and family have gathered for a crunch time playtest of C.O.V.E.N.. When a horrible thunderstorm hits, everyone’s sucked into the game for real. In the MMORPG, Hope Collins is kidnapped by Buzz and forced to submit to his whims. Her boyfriend, Alden, has to delay his quest of defeating a clan’s prince to save her, but time and circumstance don’t seem to be on his side. Faith Collins is bombarded by strange dreams brought on by Buzz. Her boyfriend, Tavis, learns to dream walk, but can he help break the spell she’s under and save her before she’s lost to him?
C.O.V.E.N. is more than just a game. It’s a whole other world.
Buy Links: Evernight | Amazon | AllRomance | BookStrand | B&N
About Casey Moss
Casey Moss delves into the darker aspects of life in her writing, sometimes basing the stories on reality, sometimes on myth. No matter the path, her stories will take you on a journey from the light-hearted paranormal to dark things unspeakable. What waits around the corner? Come explore…
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Come see Casey Moss and other wonderful authors at Hot Mojave Knights, September 2014!
