Who Let the Demon Out? Badass Demon Bounty Hunters Book One Naomi Bellina - Darkly Funny Urban Fantasy, Comedy, Humor, UF - How hard can it be to send an escaped demon back to hell?


Who Let the Demon Out?
Badass Demon Bounty Hunters 
Book One
Naomi Bellina

Genre:  Darkly Funny Urban Fantasy,
Comedy, Humor, UF
Date of Publication:  8/21/2020
ASIN:  B089NFXVFT
Number of pages: 156
Word Count:  43,443
Cover Artist: Chris Kridler   

How hard can it be to send an escaped demon back to hell?

Not only is her suicide attempt thwarted by a stranger, but when she comes back from the dead, Sable is tasked by Lucifer to find and return to hell a demon she let loose. If she doesn't, she'll be sent to the darkest level of the afterlife when she dies.

The woman Jack pulled from a running car is obviously disturbed and her story about Lucifer and demons is bullshit. But she has the name of a dead man written on her arm and Jack wants to know why.

Since it's Jack's fault she's in this mess and his skills from a background in the security business are useful, Sable recruits him for her find-the-demon mission, which turns out to be all kinds of difficult. Not only can demons inhabit human bodies, they have other nasty tricks up their sleeves, like incinerating objects and people who get in their way.

It also turns out the inhabitants of hell lie and that things on Earth are not what they appear. Nor are things in her own world, Sable discovers, as she battles to complete her mission before time runs out and it's impossible to send the demon back.

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Interview with Naomi Bellina

Welcome to JB’s Bookworms with Brandy Mulder 

Tell us about your newest book. 

Hello Brandy, Mandy and Jena, thank you for having me here today. Who Let the Demon out is a darkly funny Urban Fantasy. I love the UF genre but I also like humor, so I’ve combined the two. Along with humor, this book has serious themes, as it opens with the main character, Sable, trying kill herself. She doesn’t succeed, and as the book goes on, finds a purpose in life, new friends, and secrets about her family and about the world in general. 


Writing isn’t easy. What was the most difficult thing you dealt with when writing your newest book? 

I’m always battling with not having enough time to write. The day job and an active personal life keep me busy. As far as difficult with this actual book, some of the scenes where Sable is sad made me cry. She has issues with her family (don’t we all), issues with self-esteem about her career and other life choices, and a big issue with what happened and why she’s trying to commit suicide. But don’t worry. Sable is tough! She will be around to hunt more demons. 


Tell us a little bit about your writing career. 

It’s been a long series of ups and downs. I’ve written for many small and one large publisher, written as an Indie author, been a ghostwriter, a freelance writer, an erotic romance writer, a romantic suspense writer, a paranormal author...I’ve done a lot of everything. And enjoyed the variety, that’s for sure! I’ve found I’m good at some types of writing I didn’t think I would like and haven’t connected with other kinds of writing that I thought would be perfect for me. My writing time is limited so I haven’t put out a huge number of books but I’m working on freeing up more hours in the day. 


They say Hind-sight is 20/20. If you could give advice to the writer you were the first time you sat down to write, what would it be? 

So many things! One biggie would be to take craft writing classes and workshops BEFORE you start writing books. Seriously. If you want to sell books you have to know how to write them well. Even though you might have been writing poetry or short stories or whatever, novels are not the same. And, not everyone is good at writing novels. If you just want to write and/or publish for fun that’s fine but if you want to try to sell books, spend some time with the craft part. Don’t read every how-to book by everyone and don’t get overwhelmed. Find a few that are recommend by people you admire and trust, find books that resonate with you (if you start a craft book and don’t like it it’s perfectly okay to stop and move on to the next one), take the nuggets of wisdom from each book and don’t worry about doing everything perfectly. When you do write that first book, ask for honest opinions from family and friends, hire beta readers who will REALLY give you honest feedback, and don’t worry if it sucks. Write another one until it doesn’t suck or switch to another genre or even to a totally different kind of writing if novels aren’t your thing. Don’t worry; you’ll eventually find your thing. 


What was your most difficult scene to write? 

There’s a scene when Sable finds out her dad did something bad. She’s angry, sad, doesn’t care because...whatever. All kinds of emotions are running through her. It reminded me of how I often feel about my family. You love them but sometimes you want to choke them till they turn blue. Grrrrr! You know. This scene brought up some memories and made me sniffle a bit. 


Are themes a big part of your stories, or not so much? 

Yes, I love themes. This whole series deals with how things are not always black and white and that there is good and evil in all of us. We have to honor both. 


What are you working on now? 

I’m excited to be working on book two in the Badass Demon Bounty Hunter Series. Sable is such a fun character and I have big plans for her. 


Is there a release date planned? 

Who Let the Demon Out is already out. Book two might be a while. This crazy year has derailed my writing schedule. *sigh* Along with many other things in my life. 


Who is your favorite character from your own stories, and why? 

Whatever character I’m writing at the moment. I love Sable in this book but I have a soft spot for Iggy. I can’t tell you more about him without giving spoilers but I think you’ll love him too. He’s sorta evil, pretentious, annoying, but he has potential to be redeemed. You’ll see. 


Most writers were readers as children. What was your favorite book in grade school? 

The Secret Garden, Are You There God It’s Me Margaret, Harriet the Spy. I read a lot of books when I was young and I’m so glad. It’s given me the desire to be a writer. If I could do any one thing to make the world better it would be to ensure that everyone learns to read and is given access to a variety of books. 


What are your plans for future projects? 

I’m going to concentrate on the Badass Demon Bounty Hunter series. I want to create more awesome characters, do a few short side-stories for them, and come up with fun swag as giveaways. 


Is there anything you would like to add before we finish? 

I want to thank the crew at JB’s Bookworms for hosting me. As always, I also want to thank all the fabulous readers out there. It’s been a crap-tastic year, hasn’t it? I’ve gone through a lot in 2020 and I know climbing into bed at the end of the day and losing myself in a story helped me keep my sanity. I hope I can do the same for you with my books and give everyone a reason to keep going. *mwah* 


Good luck with your newest release, and thank you for being with us today. 

It’s been my pleasure! Thank you, guys, for having me here. Happy reading!



Excerpt:

One minute I was surrounded by white light and the scent of lavender. The next minute I was on my back in the dirt with a guy straddling me and pounding my chest.

“You awake? You alive? Shit.”

Hard to see much in the dark, but the full moon shining through the oak trees showed me his brown eyes, open wide and filled with fear.

“You’re alive. Jeez, woman.” He took his hands away and leaned back on his heels.

He smelled like garlic and motor oil, and he needed to get the hell off of me because a violent churning in my stomach meant ...

“Move.” I shoved him and rolled to my side.

He did, fast enough to get out of the way while I hurled the contents of my stomach onto the ground. I made my way to my hands and knees and retched a little more.

“Here.” The guy tapped my shoulder. “Water.”

I took the bottle he offered, rinsed and spit, then drank. A chunk of something went down my throat and I almost puked again. Rinse, spit, rinse, spit. Hope he didn’t want the bottle back.

A loud pop like a gunshot and a flash of light to my left made me swivel my head and instantly regret the move as my gut reacted by gurgling another warning.

The man looked in that direction too. “What was that? Are you alone out here?” he asked.

“As far as I know. Did you see something?”

“I don’t know.” He assumed a fighting stance, legs slightly spread, hands curled in fists at his side, then turned in a slow circle, studying the woods around us.

We both stayed silent for a moment as he continued to scan the area. I pulled in deep breaths, trying to convince my gut to settle down.

“An animal,” the man said and turned back to me. “Are you all right?”

No. Duh. He’d just pulled me out of a running car filled with carbon monoxide.

“Why the hell did you do that?” I asked.

“Do what?”

“Stick your nose in my business.” I stood, wobbled a little, but I could stay upright and possibly walk.

“You about died. I saved you,” he said.

“I about died because I wanted to.” I moved toward my car. “Pretty damn obvious, dude. What are you doing out here in these woods anyway?”

I’d chosen this parking area that accessed a hiking trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina because no one came here at night. No one was supposed to, anyway.

It would have been easier to fill up a garage with carbon monoxide, but I lived in an apartment and didn’t have one. I thought about using a friend’s place or renting a storage unit, but that meant someone would be in for a super-crappy day when they found my dead body in the morning. I didn’t want to be the cause of someone having a super-crappy day.

“I come here between calls,” he said. “You need to get medical attention.”

I walked back to my car, and he didn’t follow, which was good because I was likely to punch him. It’d taken every ounce of courage I could muster to set this up, and he’d ruined it. Now my car had holes in the exhaust system and floor, my stomach was about to turn inside out and my head hurt like a son of a bitch.

And I was still alive.

“Get the hell out of here and leave me alone.” I reached my car and leaned on it. He’d turned off the ignition and left the door open, but it still stank like poison.

“I’ll take you to the hospital. Come on.” He gestured with his hand.

I reached into the glove box, pulled out the Glock 19 I’d stolen/borrowed from my dad in case I needed a plan B (Dad had a buttload of firearms; he’d never miss this one), and pointed it at the guy. My arm shook, but I held it steady enough. “I said get out of here. Now.”

He raised his hands. “Okay. Take it easy. I’m going. You can keep the water.”

His hands remained in the air as he backed up slowly. Good. He wasn’t an idiot hero type. Just a knight in a stained T-shirt instead of shining armor, trying to rescue the girl. Except this girl didn’t need rescuing.

I didn’t lower the gun until the red glow of his truck taillights disappeared. When I did let my arm fall, it shook. I sat back down in the car. Okay, no biggie. Shut the doors, crank it up, finish the job. I could do it. That was the only way. Who was I kidding? There was no plan B. I totally couldn’t put a gun in my mouth. The knight wouldn’t come back again and stop me. Would he?

An owl hooted, and the wind blew a scent of wet leaves my way, the smell of strolls with Jasper, the world’s weirdest cat, who liked to go for walks on a leash in the woods.

“Step out of the car, would you please?”

Holy crap! I about broke my neck swiveling toward a voice that came from the entrance to the parking area. A man stood far enough away I couldn’t see him clearly, just an outline. I slid all the way inside, shut my car door and locked it. He stepped closer.

Not the same dude that screwed up my plan. This guy was tall, blond, wearing tight black jeans and a long-sleeve black shirt. I didn’t see another vehicle. Where the hell did he come from?

“Get away. I’m calling the police,” I yelled through the closed window. I reached for my phone. Oh yeah. I didn’t have a phone. Since I’d planned to die that night, I’d canceled my contract and told my carrier to stick their overpriced rates up their butts.

One of the best moments I’d had while preparing for my death.


About the Author:


Naomi Bellina lives in sunny Florida with the love of her life and the world's chattiest cat. Her interests include dancing, motorcycle riding, drumming and eavesdropping on strangers’ conversations for plot ideas. She used to worry about the battles between her cheery disposition and her dark imagination, but now they’re best friends and drink coffee and write books together. Her motto: Never pass up the opportunity to have an adventure!










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Comments

  1. Thank you for having me here today!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for sharing your great  book and for the giveaway too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I like the cover. The colors are great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you. My cover artist is awesome! I actually own that dagger and she took pictures and tweaked them to make that gorgeous picture.

      Delete

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