Keeping Company With Bloodhounds is a book that only exists in the fictional world of our Bloodhounds series. Penned by Leatrice Kettering, the book covers all of the most important topics any young lady wanting to get involved with a Bloodhound would need to know.
In the following excerpt, our intrepid gossip-turned-author introduces you to the alternate world of the Bloodhounds, including it's Weird West setting. The books themselves take place in an alternate version of 1883, complete with gunslingers and outlaws...plus a few not-so-usual wild west creatures like vampires. Writing an alternate history series gives us lots of changes to tweak the details...and as you can see below, sometimes the details are pretty big. ;)
CHAPTER
TWO - THE GUILD: A HISTORY
For
more than three score, the Bloodhound Guild has devoted itself to the creation
and training of our greatest weapon against the vampire threat: bloodhounds.
Though officially founded in 1823 by a small group of likeminded scientists and citizens, the Guild had already been in operation for several years by that point, almost wholly supported in its then-clandestine efforts by President Monroe. The public announcement of the Guild’s formation followed what many assume to be the first successful test of the alchemical formula used to transform men into bloodhounds.
For nearly four decades, the Guild provided hounds to patrol the border between our territories and those held by the vampires, collectively referred to as the Deadlands. The years prior to this show of force had seen devastating loss of life and land to the vampire encroachment, but the Guild succeeded in beating the monsters back beyond the original borders of the Deadlands.
Their progress halted for a time with the beginning of the War Between the States. The Guild refocused its efforts on ending the war as expediently as possible, providing specialized troops and weaponry to the Union forces. Perhaps their greatest contribution came on the night of April 14, 1865, when a new bloodhound named Carter Ward, who had been assigned to the President’s personal protection detail, thwarted an assassination attempt by actor and Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth.
In the years since the war’s end, the Guild has increased its patrols and permanent strongholds in the western territories. Because of their unflagging diligence, the citizens of this great country can rest easy in the knowledge that we have dedicated protectors standing between us and the vampires on the far coast.
Though officially founded in 1823 by a small group of likeminded scientists and citizens, the Guild had already been in operation for several years by that point, almost wholly supported in its then-clandestine efforts by President Monroe. The public announcement of the Guild’s formation followed what many assume to be the first successful test of the alchemical formula used to transform men into bloodhounds.
For nearly four decades, the Guild provided hounds to patrol the border between our territories and those held by the vampires, collectively referred to as the Deadlands. The years prior to this show of force had seen devastating loss of life and land to the vampire encroachment, but the Guild succeeded in beating the monsters back beyond the original borders of the Deadlands.
Their progress halted for a time with the beginning of the War Between the States. The Guild refocused its efforts on ending the war as expediently as possible, providing specialized troops and weaponry to the Union forces. Perhaps their greatest contribution came on the night of April 14, 1865, when a new bloodhound named Carter Ward, who had been assigned to the President’s personal protection detail, thwarted an assassination attempt by actor and Confederate sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth.
In the years since the war’s end, the Guild has increased its patrols and permanent strongholds in the western territories. Because of their unflagging diligence, the citizens of this great country can rest easy in the knowledge that we have dedicated protectors standing between us and the vampires on the far coast.
* * *
Read more about Moira
Rogers & the Bloodhounds series at http://www.moirarogers.com/bloodhounds Book #3 in the series, Archer’s Lady, is available
on July 3rd, 2012.
* * *
I want to thank Moira Rogers (Donna and Bree) for their wonderful guest post and for letting me be a part of their tour sharing excerpts from a very scandalous book. Please check out my guest review and giveaway for one copy of Archer's Lady below.
This does sound interesting. I haven't read this series yet.
ReplyDeleteFrancesca
Very intriguing!
ReplyDeleteFirst, I love that cover! It feels dark and sinister, and has a cowboy - bonus! I've not heard of this before, but I am definitely going to check it out. Thanks!
ReplyDelete