Finally another post!  In between the long drives to and from the day job and the hubby’s long work days, it’s hard to sit down and write blogs sometimes about what I think is interesting to writers… C.A. Tibbitts, another good friend of mine, just recently jumped into the book writing pool as it were.  She and I have been writing partners for various fun projects, but I am so grateful that she decided that it would be fun to join me for this little interview.  I hope you all enjoy her first work as much as I have!

 

and so here we go…

 

1. Tell us about yourself.

 

I live in Oklahoma with my husband and a spunky little parakeet that thinks he runs the house (he just might!). I have an associates degree as a Paralegal. Writing has always been my passion. I plan to continue writing in the paranormal romance genre, as well as other romance genres (cowboy, thrillers, etc). Hobbies include swimming, cooking, reading, tv watching, and social networking websites (Facebook addict!).

 

2. When and why did you start writing?

 

I began to write for fun after being inspired by a few tv shows (fan fic). I created my own group to write based on La Femme Nikita (the first tv series – with Peta Wilson), which is still active to this day. I wrote a partial book several years back, but was not passionate enough about it to complete it. After reading tons of paranormal romance, I became inspired to write my own.

 

3. What is a one-sentence synopsis of your book?

 

Can two shifters overcome their pasts and proposed futures to come together for the sake of love, find out when they are Shifted for Love.

 

4. Was there an event or a person that inspired the creation of this book?

 

I was invited to a Facebook party a few months ago, and without meaning to – managed to “win” the chance to host an hour of it (the party was over a span of 5 days). I made a few caption contests, but thought it was a great opportunity to get feedback for a book. One contest was to name my main male lead, a risky thought, given that the winning name was decided by a random generator! Luckily, a pretty cool name won – Jace. The other contest involved a series of genres (romance subcatagories), which wound up ‘shifter’ by popular vote. Viola – Shifted for Love was born!

 

5. Under what genre does your book fall?

 

Paranormal romance.

 

6. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

 

Because my first book is approximately 15,000 words, I was done with the rough draft within two weeks. The story was read, reread, edited, added to, etc. Then I turned it over to 4 beta readers. I waited on pins and needles before I got the responses. All were positive, with very minor fixes. The only complaint was that it wasn’t long enough. Since I was unsure if anyone besides myself would read it, or enjoy the possible series (and I also thought I had told the story without leaving any plot holes, etc) – I decided I would market it as an introduction to the series. I still get comments that they want the story to be longer, and I promise the second one will be at least 3 times as long – probably longer!

 

7. Will this book be the first of a series or is it a stand-alone?

 

This is book 1 of the Pepper Valley Shifters Series, at least five books, but probably more.

 

8. Are you a plotter or a pantser?

 

Some of both! I try to make a very general outline of things that I want to use in the story, but my characters quickly get their own voice and demand certain things get told.

 

9. Do you have a favorite character in this book?

 

That is like choosing between children! I like them all, even the ‘bad guys’ (in this book they are mainly shades of gray – not necessarily horrible people, but selfish) – which there are a few.

 

10. How did you come up with the title for this book?

 

I wanted to have a theme for this series of book names, and since it is a shifter romance, a variable of ‘shift’ will be used (ie: shifted, shifter, etc).

 

11. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

 

I would say my books compare to those of Eve Langlais (although mine don’t have the humor hers do), but alpha males and females that are fiesty and don’t necessarily need rescuing (from anything but themselves). My shifters actually compare similarly to the shifters of the Sookie Stackhouse books (ie Sam on True Blood), in that they can shift into mulitple animals at any given time, as opposed to being strictly a werewolf, etc.

 

12 .What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

 

Since this is an introduction to the Pepper Valley Shifters Series, and spans approximately 10 years, you will be exposed to several characters. Most of which will eventually have their own dedicated books. Each story focuses on one couple that ends in happily ever after (eventually). I will never leave it on a ‘to be continued’ cliffhanger. Hopefully, each book will leave you satisfied, and you will want to read future books in the series in order to see how the next character finds his or her true love. I plan to publish the second book in the series (tentitively titled “Healing A Shifter”) in September of 2014.

 

Shifted for Love, Book 1, is currently available from Amazon in Kindle format only.

 

You can buy it here: Shifted For Love: Book 1, A Novela, The Pepper Valley Shifters Series eBook: C.A. Tibbitts