Tag: Bewitching Book Tours

Q&A with Maria Hammarblad: Space travel might not be such a picnic

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours

Today’s guest at Reading Reality is Maria Hammarblad, the author of the science fiction romance Kidnapped (of course there’s a review!) Maria took her heroine on a journey into outer space, but instead of it being a joyride on a fancy ship, it turned out to be more of a nightmare. Still a fancy ship, but with a scarred, tortured captor. Here’s what Maria had to say about the scarier final frontier. And rescuing dogs.

First, tell us a little bit about yourself. Who is Maria Hammarblad when she’s not writing?

Thank you for having me on the blog! I’m Swedish originally, came to the US late 2008, and today I live in the Tampa Bay area in Florida with my husband Mike and three rescue dogs. I work part time at Pet Doors USA; I take care of the company’s websites and make advertising material. I also go to school, aiming for a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management. It’s a bit tight to get the schedule together, but my husband pitches in with everything, and my employer is very accommodating when I need to change my schedule. Besides writing, I like to watch science fiction shows on TV, and I play the bass.

Kidnapped is science fiction romance. What drew you to SFR in particular?

You know, it just happened. I’ve always been fascinated with space and the thought of going to space. I see something, or hear something, my mind starts asking, “What if…” and all of a sudden I want to write.  When it comes to the romance part, I like love stories. Relations between people are interesting.

A lot of science fiction readers probably have the daydream of getting to travel aboard a spaceship. But you’ve made it seem more like a nightmare than a dream come true. What made you decide to take the story in this direction?

I too have always wanted to travel on a spaceship, like in Star Trek, but I always imagined it like something planned. Like, I would set out on a grand adventure, but get to pack up my things, know when I would come back home, be able to communicate with people still on Earth, and so on. Patricia is ripped away, without anything that even reminds her of home, and I think it would be pretty traumatic.

Travis’s ship is a scary and lonely place, and I’m sure Patricia would have been happier if she had been abducted by the rebels, but they wouldn’t have taken her in the first place.

Would you like to introduce us to your characters, Travis and Patricia?

Absolutely! Patricia is our heroine. She has her quirks, like talking to her car, but is overall pretty normal. She goes to work, likes to spend time with her friends, shops for clothes… She could be anyone.

Travis, on the other hand, was taken by this scary police state – the Alliance – as a very young boy, and has been brainwashed and trained all his life to be a perfect and obedient tool.  He has no likes or dislikes of his own. He does what he is told, and knows disobedience will be accompanied by punishment. Patricia turns his world upside down. She talks, laughs, cries, has nightmares, and he doesn’t know what to do with her. Poor guy, hahaha!

As the author, I know you might be prejudiced, but what’s your favorite scene from Kidnapped?

Difficult question! There is one scene where the happy couple has just reunited on a space station. Patricia is dressed as a hooker and can barely walk in her high heeled shoes, and Travis pretends to drag her away against her will. He ends up carrying her over his shoulder. She’s all happy and thinks this is a great adventure, and he is struggling to maintain his image of evil Alliance soldier without having to kill anyone. It’s quite comical in my head, I don’t think the humor in it quite made it to the pages, but it’s funny in my mind. ☺

Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

My mom, definitely. We had the house filled with books, and she taught me to read and write when I was very young. Being able to read gave me an advantage in school too; I was able to slack for years because she already taught me most of the things the other kids were struggling with.

Who influenced your decision to become a writer?

I don’t know… I always wanted to make books. Going back to my mom, I made her staple papers together to resemble books before I could write. I drew suns in them and said they were “The Sun Book.” There are so many stories bouncing around in my head all the time, I would be unhappy if I didn’t let them out.

Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you plan everything or just let the story flow?

I usually have an outline before I start writing, but once I get going, the story takes over. I get moments of, “Aaah, that’s what happens,” at very inconvenient times, like in the checkout lane at the grocery store, or when I’m driving. I become a little obsessive when I work on a story, I just want to write, write, and write.

Do your characters ever want to take over the story?

They definitely take over. I think of them as my imaginary friends who live in my head. Sometimes they don’t like each other even when they’re supposed to. Pesky invisible people, hehe!

What’s your favorite book, or who is your favorite writer, and why?

Ooh, there are so many. To name a few, Parallel by Christy Elkins is a wonderful book. She has an amazing imagination. State of Disgrace by Linda Ann Rentschler made me laugh out loud when I read it, as did Vengar the Barbarian by Chris J. Randolph.
A colleague recently told me to read The Hunger Games. I didn’t think I would like it, but I plowed through all three books in a weekend. I guess there’s a reason why they’re so popular. ☺

What projects do you have planned for the future? Will the Alliance ever come looking for Travis?

Right now, I’m working on edits for my novel Undercover that will be released in September, and I have a couple of releases scheduled for next year that require some attention. The Alliance might very well come looking for Travis – it doesn’t seem in character for them to let him off the hook this easily – but thus far any sequel ideas are very loose. I have been toying with the idea of making a prequel to Kidnapped, a short book that would give some background to the rebels and the history between Travis and Veronica. We’ll see what happens…

On your website, you talk a little bit about your work with rescue animals. Would you like to share some information about your fur-babies, or any other outside projects you have going on?

When I moved to America, I was shocked to hear how many cats and dogs are put down in shelters every year. It’s a huge cultural difference. I haven’t had much spare time lately, but when I can, I volunteer for Ewenity Farms Border Collie Rescue in Bradenton. Everyone can do something; just sharing shelter animals on Facebook or Twitter helps give them exposure, and is often the difference between life and death.
I have three dogs myself. Two are Border Collie mixes from Ewenity, and one is an American Eskimo from the Bishop shelter in Bradenton. We foster from time to time too. I wish I could take them all, but three of ours and one foster is the absolute upper limit of what I can take good care of.

Coffee or Tea?

Coffee!  Lots of it, with milk. I always say “Caffeine is good for you.” It might not be, but that’s beside the point, hahaha!

Maria, I understand completely. I’m instantly human if you add caffeine. Without, I’m a sad, sad creature. 

Thank you so much for answering all my questions, and for the insights into your work with rescue dogs. The dog picture above is from the Ewenity Farms site, and it conveys the message about rescuing animals so beautifully. (Our cats Erasmus and LaZorra were rescues, Sophie and Mellie are their daughters). 

Kidnapped

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

Did you ever think that it might be fun if Scotty “beamed you up”?

I certainly did.

But that’s not quite the way it works out for Patricia Risden in Kidnapped by Maria Hammarblad. Oh, Tricia gets “beamed up” all right. And imprisoned. Because the world of the Alliance is a lot colder and bleaker than the Federation.

And Alliance Commander Travis isn’t like anyone on the Enterprise. Unless you’re thinking of the Mirror universe Enterprise. The one where the universe went very, very wrong.

But Travis isn’t quite that evil, although the Alliance that he serves is. Travis has just, well, misplaced his humanity. Tricia helps him find it again. All because he made a mistake. Two mistakes.

Travis’ first mistake was picking Tricia up in the first place. Travis was chasing a known revolutionary. Said revolutionary made a temporary stop on Earth. Very temporary, but just long enough to appear in front of Tricia’s car and cause her to have an accident.

Travis thought the revolutionary (his name is William) and Tricia knew each other. Travis whisked Tricia away when he couldn’t get to William.

Once Tricia was aboard his ship, he realized that Tricia was exactly what she appeared to be, a harmless Earth woman with no technological expertise whatsoever, and no knowledge of the Alliance or the Revolution against it.

But it was too late. Travis had already notified his Commander that he was bringing in a prisoner. Since she is harmless, he decides to give her the run of the ship.

That’s his second mistake. Tricia is harmless in any technical sense. But she is also bright, curious and dependent on him. Yes, she has more than a touch of Stockholm Syndrome. She sees him as a man, and not the murdering monster the rest of the Alliance sees.

Because Commander Travis is a murdering monster. He is an assassin and a butcher for the Alliance. He’s been programmed to be since he was a child. The last time he disobeyed, the Supreme Commander cut off his arm and replaced it with a mechanical one.

Tricia knows none of this. All she sees is her only possible way home. Her only companion. She falls in love with him.

Travis is a man under all his programming. Harmless Tricia finds the chink in his Alliance conditioning. And Travis re-programs all of his unswerving loyalty from serving the Alliance–to saving, and loving, the woman he kidnapped from Earth.

If they can both manage to survive everything the entire Alliance, and the Revolution, throw at them.

Escape Rating B-: The story gets off to a slow start. Travis is not a sympathetic character in the beginning, and Tricia definitely has more than a touch of Stockholm Syndrome. She goes from being scared of her kidnapper to falling in love with him.

It’s what happens after that that makes the story interesting. Travis has been so conditioned to serve the Alliance that he shouldn’t respond to Tricia at all. Instead, he falls too. But he can’t quite get rid of the Alliance conditioning, so he finds a way around it. His solution was pretty neat.

The Alliance Supreme Commander was just a bit too cartoon-villainess for my taste. The whole manipulative vampy-spacesuit sex-goddess thing just didn’t work for me. But the family-vibe of the Revolutionary ship did. Reminded me a bit of Firefly, which is never a bad thing.

Author Interview with Blair McDowell

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours

Today is a very special day for author Blair McDowell. June 7 is the Release Day Blitz for her delightful (sorry, couldn’t resist) time-travel ghost romance, Delighting in Your Company (review here). Blair is popping up all over the blogosphere today, but I managed to sit her down (virtually, at least) to answer a few questions about her writing and this haunting story.

Please tell us a little bit about yourself. Who is Blair McDowell when she isn’t writing about ghosts?

I run a B&B in the small fishing village of Gibsons Landing on Canada’s spectacular west coast. After the tourist season ends I go traveling—usually to Italy or Greece for a month. Then down to the Caribbean to a small island where I’ve had a house for 40 years. Then back to Gibsons to start the whole cycle again. Through all of this I try to write at least 4 hours a day. I’m retired from my day job so all of this is now possible.

Delighting In Your Company takes place on the island of St. Clement’s in the Carribean. Is there a real St. Clement’s? Or was there a particular place that served as the inspiration for the setting?

There is indeed a real island on which St. Clement’s is based. It’s St. Eustatius, and I built a house there some forty years ago. The legends and stories I heard there over the years were the inspiration for Delighting In Your Company.

It feels like a lot of research went into Delighting, about the legends of the West Indies, and about the “Triangle Trade” of rum, molasses and slaves. Would you like to share some of the interesting things that you found while you were researching the book?

I think some of the facts I discovered about the slave trade were the most interesting—and the most appalling. I made my hero, Jonathan, anti-slavery. I think one of the facts that struck me deeply was that although the slave trade was outlawed by Parliament in 1807, the actual ownership of slaves—the abolition of slavery in the British Isles — didn’t happen until some thirty years later. All the outlawing of transport did was result in a flourishing business for ships that could outrun the law.

Delighting is both a ghost-romance, and a time-travel romance. How did you decide to mix the two?

I couldn’t have done one without the other in this case. The story seemed to come from out of nowhere except my knowledge of the islands and their folk tales. It just arrived in my head, quite complete.

Who first introduced you to the love of reading?

Odd. I can’t even remember learning to read. I’ve always loved reading and read in every spare moment. When other children were playing ball, I was off in a corner reading.

Who or what most influenced your decision to become a writer?

Again, no one. It was as natural a choice as breathing. I’ve written since I was a child. Long letters to friends, short stories just for myself, then professional books in my field when I was a university professor, and now (my favorite) novels. I love writing.

And are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you plot everything out in advance, or do you just let the story flow?

I plot carefully. First I choose the setting I want to work in, then I start thinking about possible characters in that setting, then I start developing plot. The plot may change as I work on the book, but I start with a very complete story idea.

Do your characters ever want to take over the story?

Indeed. In Sonata, my book that will be coming out in the fall, one character completely turned the tables on me. I don’t know how it happened.

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

There just isn’t ONE book. No two of us are alike in what we bring to the books we read. What one person enjoys another may cordially detest. My advice is to read widely and in many genres. Only in that way can we be broad enough as readers or as authors.

Can you tell us a little bit about your next project?

Sonata is the story of a world class concert artist who falls in love with a Vancouver cop. There is a jewel heist, attempted murder and general mayhem before our hero and heroine finally get together.

What about your off-writing time? Any special hobbies or interests you’d like to share?

Travel. I love to travel. I enjoy being surrounded by cultures and languages other than my own.

Coffee or Tea?

Coffee—the kind the Italians call “cappuccino oscuro” Dark Cappuccino. A Cappuccino made with a double espresso and topped with the foam of milk—not actual milk, just the foam.

Blair, thanks so much for letting us have a glimpse into your writing world!

(Photo credits: Photo of St. Eustacius: Walter Hellebrand from Wikimedia Commons, Diagram of the slave ship is from the Archives of the Library of Congress and is in the Public Domain.)

Delighting In Your Company

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

If the phrase “delighting in your company” sounds familiar, it should. It’s from one of the most persistent ballads in the English language. Still stumped?

It’s Greensleeves.

And the story, Delighting in Your Company, uses the tune and the words, as it is one song that is familiar to people in both the 19th and 21st centuries.

That’s important, because Blair McDowell has created a ghost story and a time-travel story that links people and events between those two centuries.

Ms McDowell interweaves the history and beliefs of the Caribbean, a stinging rebuke against the “Triangle Trade” of the 17th and 18th centuries, and a bittersweet love story that changes history. Because history needed a “cosmic kick in the pants”.

But first, the heroine needs a more localized one. Amalie Ansett’s life needs a do-over. Or at least a fresh start. Her marriage has ended in bitter divorce, and her beloved mother is dead. While packing her her childhood home, she discovers a family secret–the good kind for a change. She has family she never knew about. A cousin in the Caribbean, on the laid-back island of St. Clement’s.

One delighted phone call, and Amalie is taking a much-needed rest on a sleepy tropical island where the pace is life is slow, and time has a chance to heal her.

The one thing she doesn’t expect to find is a man. The other thing she doesn’t expect to find is a mystery.

Long ago, there was another Amalie Ansett. Her portrait hangs in the museum. And she’s a dead-ringer for 21st century Amalie. There’s something else dead about historic Amalie. Her eyes. They’re empty. Not just in the sense that the portrait was bad, but as though the artist painted her corpse.

He did. History-Amalie was catatonic while she was painted, while she was the governor’s wife. There’s a big mystery about her death. And Amalie’s cousin Julia knows it. Something went very wrong back there in the past.

Because that man Amalie has met in the here-and-now? He’s a ghost. Everyone on the island knows something haunts the old Ansett and Evans Plantations, and it’s him. Jonathan Evans. The man the original Amalie was supposed to marry.

Instead there was a slave rebellion, and history went way, way, way off track. Jonathan’s ghost thinks his Amalie has come back to him. Amalie thinks that her handsome ghost-man is using her as a substitute for the woman he really loves.

But he’s real enough to her that they manage pretty well. Until Amalie investigates that rebellion-and figures out that she might be able to go back and fix things. But if she makes things right, she’ll lose the man she loves.

Love is about making the one you love happy, not yourself, isn’t it? No matter how much it hurts?

Escape Rating A-: Usually it’s either the ghost story or the time-travel story. This time it’s both, and it SO works. Amalie has to meet the ghost of Jonathan in order to know she’s supposed to go back and fix things. And yes, it might be a little arrogant to think she’s the one who has to fix the past, but who else?

The story works on a lot of levels, the love story because Amalie knows it can’t last, but does it anyway. She’s always trying to make things right for Jonathan, aware that it’s a sacrifice for the greater good. But it only works when she builds trust with people in both the present and the past, especially her past self. That was fascinating.

The time travel angle works because Amalie goes back to herself. She’s not trying to create a new role, she’s already there. She works with what is.

The historic mystery has its roots in the Triangle Trade, and the money to be made there. Not just the slave trade itself, but also the sales of the cash crop from the Caribbean that the slaves produced. If you’re curious about the Triangle Trade, the best, and most colorful description is still the song “Molasses to Rum to Slaves” from the musical 1776. It indicts everyone involved.

Interview with Tiffany Allee & Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Interviews> Author Q&A> blog tours> ebook giveaway> Giveaways

I’m so glad to finally be able to welcome Tiffany Allee, the author/extractor of the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, to Reading Reality. Let’s jump right into the interview, shall we?

I’m sure that readers would like to know a little more about the person behind the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, so Tiffany, please tell us a little bit about what you do when you’re not thinking up monsters for the OWEA to fight. Or monsters for the OWEA to run away from…

First of all, thank you so much for having me! What I do when I’m not writing or thinking about writing hrm…good question. Honestly, rarely does my brain go for too long without tossing (or shoving) ideas at me. But other than writing, I enjoy hiking, reading, and watching silly television shows with my husband. I also love to spend time with my family and bother my cats. I also love video games, although I don’t get a chance to play them very often.

Not long ago, I spent the majority of my days in a finance job in Corporate America. But for now I’m taking a break from my cubical to focus on writing.

For readers who are not yet familiar with the series, would you like to give a quick intro to the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency?

The From the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency series follows investigators from the OWEA (similar to the FBI, but for paranormal-related investigations) and the officers of the Chicago Police Department’s paranormal unit—or as they’re sometimes called: the freak squad.

The main investigators change with each book, and in each the main characters have something to lose—or have already lost something. And they are all otherworlders. Mac, the main female character in Banshee Charmer is a banshee—albeit an underpowered one. The main character of the second book, Marisol, is a succubus. But beneath both of their otherworlder powers, they are just people who are trying to do the right thing.

Banshees are not usually on the side of the righteous. What inspired you to make your heroine a banshee, even a half-banshee, for the first book in the Files series?

A banshee wasn’t something I’d seen done a lot before, and it sounded like such fun—especially since banshees aren’t usually seen as heroic. And I wanted Mac to be misunderstood, and a little out of place—even among her fellow cops and otherworlders. Making her a banshee seemed to fit the bill.

What inspired you to pick paranormal romance for your writing over another type? Or over another genre altogether?

While I love other genres, I’ve always been drawn to fantasy settings and characters. I also love a happy ending. Paranormal romance allows me to pull in the fantastical elements I enjoy and mix them in with real-world(ish) settings. And the dual stories of mystery and romance give paranormal romance an edge that you can really sink your teeth into. Plus, it gives me a lot of fun elements to juggle.

Do you plan everything or just let the story flow?

Letting the story just flow? Without a plan? *gulps* The idea of pantsing a story gives me a tiny panic attack. I plan everything down to the scene. However, I do change my outline as I go and discover new things about the characters and the plot. I don’t stick to my outlines hard and fast, but if I change them, I do my best to make sure it’s for the better. I have yet to finish a story without a few changes to my original outline.

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

Tough question! Everyone has different tastes, so it’s a difficult thing for me to answer. But the most universal and important book I can think of is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Not always a comfortable book to read, but an important one.

More specifically, besides Banshee Charmer and Succubus Lost, of course, what other paranormal romance/urban fantasy books or series would you recommend to readers who enjoyed Files and needed something to tide them over until the next File opens?

For readers who enjoy darker urban fantasy, I highly recommend Stacia Kane’s Downside series. They’re harsh and real and wonderfully written. And they’ve drawn me in emotionally better than any other books I’ve read. There is also a strong romantic element that grows throughout the series.

If you’re looking for something lighter, I love Nicole Peeler’s Jane True series. Funny and romantic.

Speaking of which, can you tell us a little bit about your plans for the series, or just about your future projects?

The next book in the series is slated for September, and it will follow the sensitive, Astrid, as she struggles to clear her name. Her love interest may be familiar to people who read Banshee Charmer. In that story Mason Sanderson was an Internal Affairs officer in the Chicago Police Department. Between that book and the third in the series, he has moved on to the OWEA.

I also have a novelette coming out in June called Once Prey, Twice Forsaken that is a short, hot read about a newly-made vampire named Blair and the witch, David, who hunts her. And I hope to have news soon about a secret novel-length project too. 😉

Coffee or Tea?

Both, please! Coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon. I am powered by caffeine, in case you couldn’t tell, haha.

Tiffany, thank you so much for answering all my questions, and for this peek into the Files. I’ll be looking forward to Astrid’s story. (I was hoping she was next!)

And there’s a more days left to enter the tour-wide giveaway for a copy of Succubus Lost and the beautiful salamander pin. Rafflecopter coming right up!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Succubus Lost

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

The first succubus that Detective Marisol Whitman of the Chicago P.D. “freak squad”  knows is lost in Succubus Lost by Tiffany Allee is unfortunately one who is very near and dear to her. Marisol goes to her sister Elaine’s room to wake her up for a shoe-shopping expedition and discovers that Elaine’s bed hasn’t been slept in.

Elaine and Marisol are both succubi. And Elaine is missing. But when Marisol slams into her Lieutenant’s office to start a missing person’s investigation, she discovers that Elaine isn’t the only young succubus who has disappeared; twenty young succubi have been kidnapped over the last two years.

The Otherworlder Enforcement Agency has been tracking the case, right to her house. But the Agent the OWEA has sent, Valerio Costa, doesn’t like or trust succubi, not since one destroyed his brother’s life.

And Marisol still has other cases to deal with. There’s a murderer on the loose on the Otherworlder side of Chicago, one who burns his (or her) victims to an ash so fine the cremains can barely be recognized as human. The murderer can only be a powerful coven, or an even more powerful salamander. Which is just what Agent Costa is, a salamander.

Could the disappearances and the murders be part of the same case? The OWEA’s psychometrist says that all the victims are alive, right up until those cremains are identified as a missing siren, one previously unconnected to the case.

Then one of the victims turns up, with her powers subverted into something out of a nightmare, and her memory wiped clean. Marisol discovers that Costa has been keeping even more secrets from her about the case than even she expected from an OWEA agent–and she expected plenty.

But her sister’s life and sanity are on the line, and Marisol needs to trust someone. Agent Valerio Costa is the only one who might be able to help her get her sister back in one piece.

He’s also the hottest thing she’s ever seen–and not just because he’s a salamander. But if she trusts him and she’s wrong, he won’t need his powers to burn her heart out.

Escape Rating A-: I absolutely adore the Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency series by Tiffany Allee (see my review of Banshee Charmer here). One of the things that she has done that is particularly neat is pull in species that are not the same-old, same-old. Every urban fantasy series has vamps and werewolves. And they are here, but that’s not all.

Marisol is temporarily partnering with Astrid at the beginning of the story because Astrid’s vamp partner Claude is on vacation. I love this! A vampire taking a vacation. (I hope Astrid gets a story later, BTW)

But the heroine of Banshee Charmer was a half-banshee. Not many banshee heroines. The hero of Succubus Lost is a salamander. Again, not all that common. Also, succubi, while they aren’t rare, aren’t the flavor of the month, either.

I missed some of the “cop shop” banter from Banshee Charmer. Marisol isn’t “one of the boys” the way that Mac was, so the flavor was different. But I did like the way that the events of book one affected book 2. Costa’s ID got thoroughly checked out, after the Chicago P.D. got fooled the last time.

Succubus Lost is urban fantasy that includes a strong romance between two people who have no particular reason to like or trust each other at the beginning, but need each other to solve a case. Watching them work through all their issues to earn their happy ending, is very, very satisfying.

Guest Post: Tiffany Allee on Flying Pigs plus Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blog tours> ebook giveaway> Giveaways> Guest Posts

I’d like to welcome Tiffany Allee to Reading Reality today. Tiffany is the creator, or perhaps I should say perpetrator, of the new urban fantasy/paranormal romance series, The Files of the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency. She’s here as part of the tour to promote the second story extracted from those Files, Succubus Lost. She’s going to tell us a bit about the process that all writers dread, that process of revising the scintillating and marvelous words that tripping out of our heads and onto our keyboards.

About those flying pigs…read her guest post, and you’ll understand.

Revisathon 2012

When I dreamed of being a writer—long before I ever took the steps to actually write with the goal of publication in mind—I envisioned many things. Words pouring from me that were perfection as soon as they hit the page. Sparkling characters. Movie deals. Stories that would make readers weep. A tweed jacket and a pipe. My name splashed on the headlines—in a good, non-scandalous way, of course.

I didn’t have a clue.

And the biggest thing I was wrong about was the first one. That I would write perfect first drafts. Of course, I don’t have any movie deals or tweed jackets yet, and I haven’t made anyone cry, but these are at least possibilities. Someday. The brilliant first draft on the other hand is as likely as pigs flying.

That’s not to say that some writers aren’t able to do this. But for most of us, it’s unrealistic. How many drafts do I go through to get from my first to the one that is actually published? This isn’t a question I really thought about with books before Succubus Lost. It’s the first story I had contracted before I wrote it, so I had a chance to really look at how much effort it took to get from idea to publishable draft.

I write fairly clean first drafts. Fairly. But they’re short. I tend to skip over details and descriptions. I mark spots with two Xs anytime I need to research something. I go back to those areas and do the research during the second draft, so that my speed isn’t slowed during the first. So I fill out all of these little things during the second draft. Then I read and polish and tinker for a third.

Then I send it to my critique partners, who send it back to me with wonderful advice and far too many jokes. Seriously, I can’t drink liquids while reading their comments. Another draft and round of polishes and it’s usually ready to send on to my editor.

I love my editor. She’s wonderful at what she does. And she works very hard to make sure my readers get the best I am capable of. She isn’t afraid to push me. So we go round and round. More drafts. More polishes. More fixes. And finally rounds of edits with other editors to make sure we’ve made the story sparkle. Then copy edits. Galleys. It’s exhausting.

And fantastic.

I can never again fool myself into thinking that I will ever be able to simply toss a draft out there without revising. But it’s worth every bit of effort to feel like I’ve told the story I set out to tell.

Do you write great first drafts (like some sort of rare unicorn), or do you only find your story a few drafts in?

Tiffany, thanks so much for giving us an insight into your writing process.

And I think I’m with the flying pigs on this one. My first draft is pretty good, but it still needs some work. And an editor. I’m great at editing somebody else’s work, and terrible at editing my own. What about  everyone else? Can you edit your own work, or do you need a different eye to see the flaws?

Now, about that giveaway! There’s still plenty of time to enter the tour-wide giveaway for a copy of Succubus Lost, and  the Salamander pin pictured just before the Rafflecopter.

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Guest Post: Lilly Cain on Writing and Loving the Alien + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blog tours> Guest Posts

Let’s welcome Lilly Cain, the author of the science fiction romance series The Confederacy Treaty, to Reading Reality. SFR is a genre that’s near and dear to my heart, so I really enjoyed all three books in the series (I couldn’t wait to read Undercover Alliance).

The thing about science fiction, including science fiction romance, is that humans are not likely to be the only people out there in the galaxy. Which means that, sooner or later, we’re going to run across aliens. Some will be lovable and some will be detestable. Some will be cuddly and some will be sexy.

The sexy aliens are the stuff that science fiction romances are made of.

Writing And Loving the Alien

First of all, thanks for having me here, at Reading Reality! I’m so glad to be celebrating my erotic sci-fi series, The Confederacy Treaty, from Carina Press.  Alien Revealed is the first book of the series, and the third will be coming out in June – Undercover Alliance.

 

 

 

 

 

When I came up with the concept for the series – Earth’s first treaty with an alien political alliance, I decided that a big group of crazy looking aliens descending on earth would be fun, but probably not conducive to romance. I write erotic romance, walking way over the edge of sexy, so I knew my aliens would have to be, well, compatible with us. I decided that the Confederacy as a group would be wise enough to agree and would send the Inarrii, humanoids that look enough like us that we would be able to relate to them.

One decision led to another and I created aliens with a language, abilities, values and beliefs. They have their own original physical aspects, but they have a culture as well.

The Inarrii are telepathic, to varying degrees.  In writing any Alien or non human culture, I felt that it was important to really think about language, so the Inarrii have their own, but they also have methods of communicating emotion and memories. And in their world, a large part of their personal relationships (like ours, whether we want to admit it or not) revolve around sex.

Sex for the Inarrii helps them stay sane – their telepathic abilities need the physical act to unload stress. Without it they can lose their sanity. For my first book, Alien Revealed, the heroine Alinna Gaerrii has been sent to earth to spy on humans and their culture.  She isn’t meant to actually meet any of them.  But when she does, crash landing on earth, she’s far from any sexual relief with her own people. She has a duty to fulfill, and she can’t let people know who she is.  But without physical relief she will eventually lose her mind. Duty and honor are paramount in her society, but her needs are very real.

I think it is really important when writing any alien / human romance, that there is a parallel between lovers. A meeting of needs, and an understanding of values.  The Inarrii are based on a warrior clan system, so Alinna’s hero is Major David Brown.  His career in the space military gives him an ingrained sense of duty, honor, loyalty.

All techno gadgetry aside, most aliens in sci-fi fall in with what I have described above – people who are not so dissimilar from us.  Think Vulcans, Yoda, the boy from I am Number Four.  They are different but we can understand them, they often represent extremes of our own cultures.

 

I don’t know if real aliens will be anything like us. I can only comment on popular fiction. 🙂 But I kind of hope so.  What do you think?

 

 

Lilly Cain
www.lillycain.com


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Alien Revealed

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews

First contact. In the story of Alien Revealed, the sexy science fiction romance by Lilly Cain, that phrase about the protocols surrounding the first meeting between humans and aliens takes on some amazing new variations.

And I don’t think any of them are quite what Star Fleet might have had in mind. Although Jim Kirk probably did. 😉

But in this first contact story, the humans are the less scientifically developed race being contacted by the more scientifically advanced Inarrii. And the contact is accidental. As in collision.

Agent Alinna Gaerrii has been observing the human Starforce installation from her covert base on the moon. Some of that observation has included a bit of close-in flying in a stealth pod. That’s what got her in trouble. An unscheduled airjet swerved into the airspace over the base and collided with her pod. The resulting crash wasn’t pretty. The airjet’s passengers were killed, and Alinna’s pod, with all of its alien technology, hit the trees. Alinna survived, just barely, but it was exactly the kind of situation for which self-destruct signals were created.

The humans were not supposed to know that they were being observed, Not quite yet. Alinna was just about ready to return to the Confederacy Alliance base on Jupiter’s moon Europa to report that the humans would be excellent candidates to join the Alliance against the brutal Raveners. The diplomatic team would return to begin treaty negotiations.

Instead, Alinna, wounded and bleeding, was found by Starforce pilots investigating the crash site. Also found was a small piece of melted plastic, the last remains of her ship.

Starforce Major David Brown mistakenly identifies Alinna as the psychtech who was supposed to have been aboard that airjet. The one who was scheduled to evaluate his Special Forces team before their mission to Mars.

Alinna decides to go along with the mistaken identity, using her Inarrii abilities of reading emotions as a way of observing the humans up close. Even though she will break every protocol of observation that an Agent is supposed to maintain, she is certain the information will be worth it. Everything she’s seen of the humans shows that they are exactly the allies the Confederacy needs.

But David Brown is a shock. Because Alinna can reach him, mind-to-mind, as though he were another Inarrii. Which he manifestly is not.

That any human can achieve mind contact makes the humans even more valuable as potential allies than anyone could have guessed. They can be full partners.

But for Alinna, alone and isolated for far too long for one of her people, David is much more. The mind contact that he initiates in his dreams soothes her. Inarrii need touch almost as much as food and water; and Alinna has been alone for months.

When those dream-meetings, and dream-matings, move into the real they discover that they might have something worth changing their lives for … if they can get past their very big differences. And the people who are shooting at them.

Escape Rating B: As I said in my review of the second book in Cain’s Confederacy Treaty series, The Naked Truth, this science fiction romance leans a little more on the romance side of the equation than the science fiction side.

However, maybe because Alien Revealed is the first book in the series (Undercover Alliance is third, and it’s due out in June) a lot of the science fiction worldbuilding takes place in Alien Revealed. Which I liked seeing.

Even if I think that the base security is weaker than it should be. But folks snuck into Stargate Command who shouldn’t have, too. I did love some of the fun touches, such as the bit about the folks who really, really wanted to meet an alien were nicknamed You-fo’s, derived from UFOs, and no one ever believed them. Until all of a sudden they were right.

Q&A with Lauren Clark, Author of Dancing Naked in Dixie + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | Author Q&A> blog tours> Book Giveaway> Giveaways

I’d like to welcome Lauren Clark, the author of the absolutely terrific (check out my review here) Dancing Naked in Dixie to Reading Reality. I had the chance to cook up a few questions for Lauren, just in time for the release of Dancing Naked. (I love that title! And it fits so perfectly)

Tell us a little bit about Lauren Clark…

I am a mom of two school-aged boys, wife of a medical professional, daughter of a nurse practitioner and a college dean (also avid readers). I have a master’s degree in journalism and worked in TV news on-air for six years before deciding to write fiction. I love yoga, Pure Barre, travel, flavored coffee, the color pink, the ocean, my historic home, friends, laughter, and my family.

Is there a real Eufaula? Or what place, or places, were the inspirations for Eufaula Alabama?

Yes! It is a lovely place about three hours southwest of Atlanta, Georgia. I visited Eufaula and attended the Pilgrimage many times when I lived in Dothan, Alabama. It’s a magical place–the historic homes are marvelous, the people are so friendly, and Eufaula has a real sense of ‘community.’

Dancing Naked in Dixie is a terrific title. Can you tell us what brought that particular line to life?

I wanted a title that expressed unbridled joy and happiness–like the exhilaration of new love, the heady feeling that makes a person want to “dance naked.” I actually came up with the title before I wrote the book. Not something that usually happens, at least for me!

You refer to both Dancing Naked in Dixie and your first book, Stay Tuned, as women’s fiction rather than romance. What do you see as the difference?

The major difference, I believe, is my focus on a strong female protagonist who has a major challenge in her life. The crux of the story is finding a solution to that problem, or making a change in her life. That’s how she eventually finds happiness, not through finding the man of her dreams (although that part is an extra, added bonus if it happens!).

Let’s talk about casting. If Dancing Naked were made into a movie, who would you want to see playing Shug and Julia?

Gosh, I love the thought of Emma Stone playing Julia, though one of my editors had a dream that Dancing Naked was made into a movie and Reese Witherspoon was the lead role!!! My best friend wants me to say Matthew McConaughey for Shug, and although he doesn’t have dark hair, I have to agree that he’d be a great choice.

There are so many strong women in Dancing Naked. Is there one in particular who is your favorite? And why?

I love Julia. She’s me in so many ways (klutzy, coffee-drinker, loves to travel), but I have a great relationship with my parents and I am NOT allergic to bees! I love that she has both a physical and personal journey to go on–and that the two mirror each other and allow her to grow as a career woman, daughter, and person. Julia is terribly unorganized, however, and that’s one of my strong points (or I would never get any writing done)!

Who introduced you to the love of reading?

My parents shut of the family television all summer, every summer. As a result, I spent LOTS of time at the local library and carried stacks of books back and forth every week. I must have read one hundred books a summer. My parents and my grandparents are/were also big readers and bookstore lovers, so I think I was destined to be an avid bookworm.

Who or what influenced you to become a writer?

I’d played around with writing fiction after I got out of TV news, but didn’t get serious about it until about 7 years ago. I hired a freelance editor to help me with two stories I’d written and am forever grateful for her help and encouragement. Stay Tuned was the third novel I finished.

Do you plan your stories out to the nth degree, or do your characters sometimes take over?

I do outline pretty extensively, meaning that I do a sentence or two for each chapter and plan out the entire story beforehand. Yes, sometimes the characters surprise me!! For example, I didn’t plan on Mary Katherine being quite so scheming and deliberate, but I was having so much fun with her that I expanded her role, especially near the end of the story!

What book do you recommend everyone should read, and why?

One of my favorite novels is My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. It’s a fabulous story about how a family disintegrates when one of the children is born with a life-threatening illness. An ending rarely surprises me, but this book did–and made me cry! (Do NOT see the movie version) Other highly recommended reads:  The Green Mile, The Poisonwood Bible, The Secret Life of Bees, and anything by Sophie Kinsella.

Tell us a little bit about what comes next for you after Dancing Naked in Dixie? 

I am working on story about The Pie Lab, which is an actual restaurant in Greensboro, Alabama. It’s a great little place, has wonderful pies (both dessert pies and quiche/taco/lunch-type pies), and provides a place where local folks can get on-the-job training. My protagonist is a young woman who’s vowed never to return to Greensboro (her hometown), but is forced to do so when her husband leaves her for another man.

Since on your website you admit to being a “non-reformed coffee drinker,” I’ll have to ask a different final question. Morning person or night owl? 

Morning. Early morning, much to the chagrin of my husband, who likes to ‘sleep in’ until at least 8 a.m. on the weekends!


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