Happy end of December! As 2013 comes to a close we have one of my stories for the Can't Stop Reading book club. You can read Bonds Unbroken, the first story in my Carthera Takeover trilogy in Stories if you haven't already. Renee was kind enough to interview me for the blog, so we'll go straight into that!

First a few more general questions:

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Hmm… I don’t know if I have a mentor about writing. Nephy gave me some amazing tips when I first began to write. Julie Hayes guided me through publishing and helped me learn how to market. That’s the great thing about the community. Authors working in the MM genre are very connected, and I’ve had a lot of really great experiences with many of them reaching out to help me.

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Hmm… I have so little time to keep up with serial stories on the site anymore. If I have to pick one I’ve enjoyed recently it was Finding Everything by Redsunshine. My fav eBook author from recent months would have to be Eden Winters. She wrote a hilarious shifter story about opossums that had me in stitches.

Name one entity that you feel supported you outside of family members.
An ‘entity’ leaves it open for so much interpretation. LOL. Could little people really be running my mind and inspiring me? (One of my Dribbles talks about this, lol). This sounds sappy as hell, but I have to credit this site. I’ve received encouragement from so many people that I can’t pinpoint any one without needing to mention a ton of others. I’ve grown as an author due to the encouragement and help I’ve found on GA.

What are your current projects?
Well I just finished a final proof on The Experiment, which publishes soon, and I’m working up marketing plans and materials for a novella that began as my flash piece, One Night, that publishes Jan. 10^th. I’ve failed completely at keeping up with my sequel novel to The Experiment I’ve been posting for free. Adverse Effects is close to done, if I can just FINISH it. Then I’ve had a ton of requests for Benny’s story, more set in the world from Heated Blood, continuing Coupled in Synchronicity, writing Nicklaus’ story from The Experiment world… As you can see, I always have a ton of work projects to write, but actually doing them. Ughs.

Can you share a little of your current work with us?
Not really. My writing is really limited anymore. Mostly my flash and editing for publishing. Anyone care to share any dedication with me? I’d make it my New Year’s resolution if I actually ever completed any of those.

What has been the toughest criticism given to you as an author? What has been the best compliment?
Meh, I don’t find criticism that tough. Either the people have a point and I appreciate it, or they flamers and I roll my eyes and ignore it. I once had someone tell me they went from sobbing to stroking reading one of my stories. I probably blushed ten shades of red, but hey, I’ll take it. LOL

Chocolate or Vanilla?
Vanilla with a scoop of peanut butter! Yum.

Now, lets get into the nitty gritty questions about Bonds Unbroken

Your Carthera tales are definitely different, how did you come up with the idea for the Carthera characters and why do you call them Carthera?
I have a cat that loves to snuggle. One day he was laying on my shoulder and I was rubbing his head, watching his ears flick. I thought it would be such a cute mannerism on a ‘person’ but I didn’t want to do the run of the mill shifter types. I read, a lot, so it just took me a few hours of going over books I'd read to pinpoint how I wanted my shifter trope to develop. To be honest, the name just sorta came to me. It doesn’t signify anything in particular in the ‘real world’.

How do you decide what “animal” each of your characters is going to represent?
Well, first I decide which animal needs to be in the story based on the characteristics and events. Then I start building the character around those traits. I often do character bio sheets to pinpoint how old they are, their hometown and history, likes, dislikes, etc… so that I can visualize their response no matter what situation I throw at them. I know it’s not a very organic way to write but I’m a planner through and through.

If your book were made into a movie, who do you picture playing each characters part?
I can never answer this question. I don’t see my characters as any particular actor. They are so vivid in my head that they’re already a ‘person’. Real people just don’t fit that visual.

Is there something about “Bonds Unbroken” that you wish you had done differently?
Oh yeah. The story is pretty simplistic. I could expand it easily and more fully immerse the reader in the Carthera world beyond Velaku and Natham’s story.

Which character in “Bonds Unbroken” is your favorite and why?
I loved Natham’s character. He’s been so abused but he’s still strong. The bond or not, he’s protective of Velaku, and I adore that alpha male type.

Do you plan to write more stories in the Carthera series and if so, do you have a timeline for when we can expect the next story?
I still have Benny’s story (Character from third story, Hypnotic) written down bare bones, so I guess that would be next. It’ll stand alone like his brother’s story, Inside of You. I don’t have a timeline on that. I also have a 2^nd trilogy planned out that’ll bring a lot of the other shifters introduced in the third story. Bears, whales, other birds… lots to work with!

Thanks for reading through my interview! Feel free to leave your thoughts on the story, good and bad, though remember... flamers will be laughed at! Also, please let me know if you have any story suggestions to begin 2014's CSR Book Club.