Blog Tour: Vigilante Nights by Erin Richards

Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Vigilante Nights by Erin Richards, hosted by Itching for Books! I've got a fun interview with the author, all the info on her and her book, and a giveaway, so be sure to check it all out!

The Interview

In the form of a tweet, how would you describe Vigilante Nights?

Lucas risks his life for revenge on the gang who killed his sister…until he falls in love & risks more than he expected.

What are five fun facts about your book?
1. Lucas loves Camaros (a car I love).

2. Lucas’s best friend Kev can sum up life using song titles.
3. Vigilante Nights takes place in a completely fictional California seaside town, yet it’s between two towns that are very real, Monterey and San Jose.
4. Silver loved video games, especially war games, whereas Lucas hated them.
5. Tara’s original name was Teryn, but I changed it during editing at the recommendation of my editor.

According to the synopsis, Vigilante Nights features gangs. Why did you choose to include the subject and how did you portray it?The first novel I wrote at eighteen was originally inspired by S.E. Hinton’s classic novel, The Outsiders, one of my favorite all time novels. Memories of gang activity and street racing from my teen years also played a role in the plotting. My story had stayed with me for years, and I always wanted to update and write it with a fresh outlook and more experience. Vigilante Nights bears only slight resemblance to that long-ago story, but Lucas’s coming of age in a time of tragedy remained constant.

I kept the gang activity to a minimum and lightweight on purpose. I wanted the story to be more about Lucas emerging from tragedy and coming of age than I wanted to emphasis any hardcore gang activity. Also Vigilante Nights is set in a small fictional resort town, and I wanted to stay away from the type of gang activity that one might hear about in large urban cities.

Silver, Luke's twin sister, has an interesting name. Why did you give it to her?

I first heard the name Silver on the newer TV series, 90210 (yes, I actually watched that series for a few seasons!). I loved the name right off the bat and always wanted to use it for a secondary character. The minute I started writing Vigilante Nights, the name felt perfect for Lucas’s sister. I even researched it to make sure it wasn’t a one off being used in 90210 and found history of the name from other sources. It actually stems from Middle English and was used as a masculine name.

Using the letters of VIGILANTE, how would you describe yourself?

V: vigilant

I: introvert

G: guarded

I: individualist

L: levelheaded

A: author

N: nutty

T: thinker

E: equitable

The Outsiders or The Karate Kid?

The Outsiders

Billy Idol or Billy Joel?

Billy Idol

Cheetos or Doritos?

Cheetos (crunchy!)

Chocolate or vanilla?

Chocolate. Is there anything else?

Favorite T.V. show?

The Walking Dead

The Book

Title: Vigilante Nights

Author: Erin Richards
Publisher: Merit Press

Publishing Date: July 18, 2013

Pages: 303
Goodreads | Amazon
| Barnes & Noble

A "good boy" will do anything for vengeance when a gang rite kills his twin sister. Will Lucas win, or follow his sister Silver into the darkness?

After a hideous car wreck, Lucas wakes from a coma to find that his world is gutted. Not only is his beloved twin sister, Silver, gone forever, but Lucas is broken in body and spirit. He will never be a college athlete, and is robbed of what he now realizes was the most important bond of his life. Although they weren't identical twins, Lucas and Silver shared a bond so fierce it defied reason, and was nearly supernatural.

After her death, that bond seems to endure when Lucas sees Silver everywhere he turns. Either he's crazy, or Silver is trying to tell him something about the California gang initiation they stumbled into that cost Silver her life. Lucas is bent on revenge, turning on Raymond, Silver's former boyfriend; the one Lucas never wanted her to date. He forms a posse of vigilantes to take out the gangsters responsible for Silver's death, but he risks not only his own life, but the love of the new girl on his block, who knows more about Lucas and Silver than can be accounted for by mere chance.

The Author
Erin Richards writes SF&F romance and young adult fiction. Her YA debut novel, Vigilante Nights, releases from Merit Press (F+W Media) on July 18, 2013. Erin has also published two adult romance novels: Chasing Shadows, a romantic suspense (EPPIE award finalist), now available in print for the first time (July 2012); and Wicked Paradise, a fantasy romance, was released by Crimson Romance (F+W Media) in August 2012, available in eBook and print format. 

Erin Richards lives in Northern California. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, photography, and American muscle cars.

Website | Twitter

The Giveaway
For U.S. Residents!
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For International Folks!
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