~Author Spotlight~
with
Evangeline Anderson
Author of the Brides of the Kindred
Hi there, Evangeline Anderson here to talk to you about Hunted, the second book in my Brides of the Kindred series. I have someone here I think you’ll enjoy—Ladies, meet Sylvan.
Sylvan is one of the Kindred warriors who have come to save Earth from the evil Scourge. He’s six foot six and very muscular with spiky dark blond hair and penetrating ice blue eyes. And did I mention he’s a doctor? There’s just one little hitch—he’s bites.
That’s because Sylvan is a Blood Kindred—he has a double set of fangs on each side of his mouth (see the lovely cover art by Reese Dante if you’re having a hard time picturing this). Anyway, Blood Kindred bite in order to inject their essence when they bond with the female of their choice. It’s kind of kinky but also kind of hot—especially if you’re into vampires.
Sophia Waterhouse is not.
Sophie is the twin sister of Olivia, the heroine of Claimed, the first book in the Kindred series. There is an undeniable attraction between Sophie and Sylvan but they have a lot of roadblocks to get over before they can be together. Such as Sylvan’s vow never to call a bride and Sophie’s traumatic past and fear of being bitten. In fact, in writing them I put so many obstacles in their path, it took me over 160,000 words to get them together.
But what a wild ride. I had so much fun writing this book and so far, readers seem to be having fun reading it too.
Right now I’m in the middle of writing book 3 in the series, Sought. It’s the story of Kat, the plus-sized, sassy best friend of Olivia and Sophia and her two men. (Yes, I said two—Kat ends up with Twin Kindred who have to share a woman.) I’m about halfway finished with the book and it should be out in the beginning of August.
I’ve been getting lots of questions about some of the other characters in the books. So let me take a minute to answer a few.
*Spoiler Alert! Don’t read any further if you don’t want some juicy details of book 3, Sought and book 4, Found, both coming out later this year.*
Lots of readers are writing to ask about Xairn, the tortured son of the AllFather, who is the evil and menacing leader of the Scourge. In Hunted, Xairn had an awful time. He both hates, and desperately wants to be loved by his father but the AllFather is completely incapable of love. He tortures Xairn mentally with images from his past—most especially images of his long-dead mother. Xairn’s only source of love and affection is his urlich—the Scourge version of a dog—named Sanja. I’m sorry to say that Sanja comes to a bad end and her demise breaks something in Xairn. He feels dead inside, incapable of love or any emotion, really. Though he is the hero of book 4, he is the one who needs to be rescued.
Enter Laurent Jakes, the cousin that Olivia and Sophia never knew they had—you’ll be meeting her in book 3. This plays to another question some readers have been asking—will any of the heroines be women of color? Lauren is a woman of both color and courage. She is Xairn’s love interest though she starts out as his prisoner. Why did the Scourge kidnap her? Well, remember their prophesy? Lauren is the one they’ve been looking for all along and the AllFather has something very unpleasant planned for her. Will she escape? Will she be able to help Xairn? Sorry, you’ll have to read the rest of the series to find out.
Well, that’s all for now. Thanks so much for reading! And if you have any questions or comments, be sure to write me at vangiekitty@aol.com. I love to hear from readers.
Well, that’s all for now. Thanks so much for reading! And if you have any questions or comments, be sure to write me at vangiekitty@aol.com. I love to hear from readers.
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Interview with Evangeline Anderson
Well, I have always loved to read and I think writing is just a natural extension of that. I started writing fanfiction back in 2002 and then decided to take a creative writing class at my local community college in 2003. Shortly after that I started submitting stories and novels to different publishers and the rest is history.
2. I thought the cover to Claimed was wonderful, but Hunted ROCKS! Who designed the covers?
The very talented Reese Dante did both covers. I agree with you, Claimed is great but the cover for Hunted is even better. I can't wait to see what she does with the cover for Sought, because it has two heroes since Kat ends up with Twin Kindred who always have to share a woman. That should make for a very hot cover!
3. Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?
I have heard some writers say that they have problems writing love scenes and I have to agree that it can be difficult to write sex if you're not in the mood. (Much like having sex if you're not in the mood, lol) Personally, I try to be sure I'm really feeling each scene as I write it. I know that if what I have written doesn't turn me on, it won't do anything for the readers either.
4. Did you always know that there would be a second book in the series when you began to write CLAIMED?
I planned the series from the start to have four books in it. I knew I wanted to have four different kinds of heroes and have all the heroines be regular Earth girls that readers could identify with. So I guess the answer is yes. ; ) I knew there would be more books if readers had an interest in the first book. Happily, the Kindred series seems to have taken off so I plan to finish all four books this year.
5. What was the hardest part of writing the second book, Hunted?
Getting into it. I had written an outline and I knew what needed to happen, but it was difficult to find my way out of Baird and Olivia's heads and into Sylvan and Sophie's. But once I really got into the book, the characters took care of themselves.
6. Are your male characters based on anyone famous?
Ha-ha, you would ask me that question! In a way I hate to answer it because I want readers to feel free to imagine whoever they want when reading the books. But I have to confess that I do sometimes have a certain actor in mind when I'm writing--it helps to have a visual representation of the hero in mind. So yes, they are, but I'm not saying who.
7. Which of your books is your favourite?
I like the Kindred series a lot but for stand alone books, I have two favorites. Planet X, which is sci-fi like the Kindred--it's very much an adventure book as well as a love story. Also, Deal with the Devil. It's a paranormal book with a lot of angst but I really enjoyed writing it. With both of those books I had almost magical book flow--the story just came out by itself so smoothly and I adored my characters. I was really sorry to write “the end” when each of them was finished. A lot of readers have been writing me to ask what they can read in my backlist while they wait for the third Kindred book to be out--I would recommend both of those as well as Kristin's Addiction and Charlie's Bargain. Happy reading! : )
8. Which of your characters would you most/least to invite to lunch, and why?
Invite to lunch? Hmm, I would love to have lunch with Kat, Olivia, and Sophia. I think we would have a fabulous girl's day out. Notice I don't mention any of my male characters--I would want to take them somewhere other than lunch, I can tell you that. And as for least, I would NOT want to be in the same room with the AllFather for lunch or any other reason. Mainly because he doesn't eat food--he only feeds on painful and negative emotions and memories of others. I don't care to be dined on that way.
9. The ALLFather aka "Evil Dude" gives me the creeps, but I'm starting to sense a story coming on for his son. Do you plan on writing a book for Xairn?
Absolutely. Xairn is the hero (or antihero I guess) of book 4, Found. I am really looking forward to writing it--Xairn is very wounded right now and he has a long way to go to be healed. Luckily the heroine if book 4, who you will meet in book 3, Sough, is very strong and courageous. She is exactly what Xairn needs, although he doesn't know it yet.
10. Do you have anything specific that you want to say to your readers?
I just want to say thanks so much for reading. And thank you to all the readers who have written to let me know how much they're enjoying the series. Writing can be such a solitary profession, it's always nice to hear that someone else is enjoying your hard work. I always answer all e-mails so if you have a thought or just wanted to say hi, write me at vangiekitty@aol.com Also, check out my website www.evangelineanderson.com for an excerpt of Sought, which will be out August 1st. Hugs and Happy reading to all! Evangeline
Thank you so much Evangeline, I can't wait to see what you cook up for us next! ~ Dana
