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In the Author SpotlightVivian Arend
AL: Hi Vivian! Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.
Vivian: I’ve been having so much fun dropping in on others—thanks for having me!
AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.
Vivian: I’m happy to report I’ve almost managed to complete cleaning out my craft room. While that may seem like a strange thing to be focused on, I have to tell you we’ve moved four times in four years, and the house is up for sale again. I –refuse- to allow myself to haul unneeded supplies on yet another trip.
Besides, I could use the shelf space for more books. :wink:
AL: Wolves, cowboys, Atlantian lovers…oh my! What new release do you have on the bookshelf for us to read.
Vivian: My latest is a twist on the shifter theme- Tidal Wave has merfolk who can live under the water in their human form, plus they can shift to dolphins. Some can even do a St. Elmo’s fire change. It’s a bit on the steamy side; the characters shanghaied me and turned the book into a ménage. I’m not sure I’ve recovered from the surprise yet.
AL: In your bio it says you didn’t start reading romance until 2008. What bug bit you good and hard so that you not only read, but now write such steamy tales?
Vivian: I think the only romance I’d been introduced to before were very vanilla kiss-in-the-sunset closed door varieties. There was something that really bothered me about it all; I mean in Sci-fi they discuss and describe technologies, why shouldn’t romance be about more than ‘Oh Fabio, hold me in your arms’…slam door?
The turning point was discovering eBooks. I met an online friend who mentioned them. Followed her to a publisher and grabbed the first book that caught my eye. :bugeyes: It was a m/m/f werewolf shifter by Tielle St. Clare, and I was intrigued.
Then the obsessive-compulsive behavior took over and I started writing!
AL: What do you hope for your writing career in the next few years? Any goals that you have yet to obtain that you have set for yourself?
Vivian: I would like to be able to write for a living. Is it possible? Not sure, but in the meantime I’m having too much fun to worry about all the details.
Goals? I would love to get into an anthology with other writers—I think that would be enormously entertaining.
AL: Of all your heroines which one is most like you?
Vivian: Ummm…I can be stubborn like Robyn in Wolf Signs. I could live on a farm and deal with the household like Jaxi.
I don’t plan my stories, they happen, so finding out details about a character is like meeting a new friend. In some ways we might get along and have similarities, and in others, they are all on their own.
AL: Now it’s time to kick our shoes off and get personal….If you had to write yourself as a heroine, what kind of heroine would you be? What would you be named?
Vivian: Oh, I would have to be a shifter. Dragon!! J I had the elvish name of Sirwyn back when I played D&D, but I don’t know if ‘River Maid’ works for a dragon.
AL: Now, as heroine part of the story is you have to kiss a frog. Who or what would he turn into?
Vivian: See, the dragon theme is still working for me. Hmm, a dragon shifter who looks like Ryan Reynolds. Yup, that would be fine…
Vivian: See, the dragon theme is still working for me. Hmm, a dragon shifter who looks like Ryan Reynolds. Yup, that would be fine…
AL: Do you have a favorite sport, &/or team that you follow?
Vivian: Oops. I love to watch the Olympics, but on a daily/weekly/monthly basis, no sports teams. I hike and kayak and ski myself. That’s more fun to my way of thinking.
AL: An American Werewolf in Paris or Wolf?
Vivian: Wolf, all the way. There is something so beautiful about a wolf pack singing when you’re in the mountains.
AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.
Vivian: “Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire.” W. B. Yeats. I think we can all learn things if we put our minds to it. Enthusiasm counts for a lot.
AL: Thanks so much once again for joining us, Vivian.
Vivian: So glad I could drop in. And I hope that if any of your readers have questions for me they give me a shout!
AL: If you’d like to find out more about Vivian please visit:
FEATURED TITLE:
Blurb:
Slippery when wet…
Forces of Nature, Book 1
From her first kiss to her first sight of dolphins dancing on the waves, Alexia Colten has always held a special place in her heart for Jaffrey’s Cove. Now that she’s back to help her grandmother settle into a home, she discovers this place has lost none of its remembered magic. In fact, it seems more magical than before—and more erotic.
After she’s gifted with a beautiful, dolphin-etched medallion, she finds herself surrounded by the golden boys of summers past. Her body is filled with longings she can’t explain and dreams of blue lights that turn into lovers.
Joshua Marley and his cousin Anthony are merfolk, a people capable of living beneath the waves as either dolphin or human. Alexia holds the medallion that marks her as the next in line to lead their people—if she can prove she can transform. Working in tandem, they’re sure they can arouse her passion and protect her from those who would use her simply to gain power.
But their strength alone may not be enough to help her face the challenge of her new position…
Forces of Nature, Book 1
From her first kiss to her first sight of dolphins dancing on the waves, Alexia Colten has always held a special place in her heart for Jaffrey’s Cove. Now that she’s back to help her grandmother settle into a home, she discovers this place has lost none of its remembered magic. In fact, it seems more magical than before—and more erotic.
After she’s gifted with a beautiful, dolphin-etched medallion, she finds herself surrounded by the golden boys of summers past. Her body is filled with longings she can’t explain and dreams of blue lights that turn into lovers.
Joshua Marley and his cousin Anthony are merfolk, a people capable of living beneath the waves as either dolphin or human. Alexia holds the medallion that marks her as the next in line to lead their people—if she can prove she can transform. Working in tandem, they’re sure they can arouse her passion and protect her from those who would use her simply to gain power.
But their strength alone may not be enough to help her face the challenge of her new position…
Warning: This title contains a conniving granny, naked men in the surf and shifters who take fun in the water to new depths. Snorkels not required.
Excerpt:
The click as the door shut behind Michael echoed in the room, Anthony’s agitated breathing loud in the silence. Joshua swept a hand through his hair and took a calming breath himself. He’d never thought Michael would resort to violence to try and claim the Keeper.
Delicate fingers slipped into his hand and his heartbeat doubled. Alexia was here, he was here.
Anthony was still here.
His cousin’s expression held a mix of anger and awe, and Joshua empathized deeply. With Michael’s departure, the sexual tension returned, a heady sensation that tangled Joshua’s limbs and clouded his mind. In her every move and glance, Alexia sent a clear message of arousal and need, one he wished nothing more than to answer immediately.
Completely. Forcefully.
He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it lightly, tonguing the tender flesh between her knuckles.
“You have a good right hook, my lady,” Joshua said, soft and low, his voice gravelly as lust raced through his body.
Alexia’s eyes were huge in her pale face. She moistened her bottom lip with her tongue and a flush covered her skin.
“Now what, Joshua? Now what do we do?” He had to strain to hear her quiet voice, embarrassment coloring her prettily.
He raised a brow, his fingers stroking hers. “Anthony explained. You are the one who must decide what you need. We will do whatever you ask, whether it’s a walk on the beach or a game of cards. We could sit by the fire and tell you stories about what it’s like to travel underwater.”
As he spoke Alexia pulled away from him to stare out the window at the ocean. Her body sagged and she hugged her arms around her body tightly. Her head dropped to the cool glass for a moment and Joshua hesitated. Perhaps it was all too much too fast.
She knew what she needed to demand of them. It was a part of who she was, the heritage in belonging to the line of the matriarch. Now that the medallion had begun to awaken her body to the change, there was no turning back. Her longing for transformation would drive her need for sex higher and higher to the point of overwhelming lust.
Every inch of Joshua’s body urged him to step forward and take her into his arms, but he held back. He had to let her be the one to decide. “We could say good night, and let you sleep and think about things until the morning,” he said, attempting to keep the reluctance out of his voice.
Anthony cleared his throat. “We could…” His gaze flicked to Joshua as if asking permission. “We could…”
“Hold me?” Alexia whispered. She turned her back to the windows and squared her shoulders.
“Ummm, yes.”
“Kiss me?” she breathed as her head tilted to the side.
Anthony swallowed hard before nodding.
Alexia smiled, a mischievous expression crossing her face. She stepped closer to Anthony but looked at Joshua. “Make love to me?” she purred.
Groans tore from both their throats as she reached for them. Joshua stayed back, letting Anthony take Alexia into his arms first.
The anger he expected to flare at seeing anyone touch Alexia arrived, but far more tempered than he’d believed possible. Anthony’s tender adoration for her was so clear in his every movement Joshua felt a tentative peace as he watched their lips meet. He didn’t want it to happen. He’d give anything to be all she needed.
But he wasn’t. Not yet. Perhaps not ever.
Anthony kissed her again, a hesitant caress. Joshua watched a trickle of blue shoot from his cousin to brush Alexia’s skin. The magic of St. Elmo’s fire would make her strong. Along with the chemicals from both of them, she would able to transform and survive underwater and lead their people.
What Joshua could give alone wasn’t enough.
This night had to happen. He would share, for her sake, this one time.
Please let it be only this one time.
Joshua moved to stoke the fire higher, pull cushions to the floor and open the curtains to let the ocean witness their lovemaking.
Delicate fingers slipped into his hand and his heartbeat doubled. Alexia was here, he was here.
Anthony was still here.
His cousin’s expression held a mix of anger and awe, and Joshua empathized deeply. With Michael’s departure, the sexual tension returned, a heady sensation that tangled Joshua’s limbs and clouded his mind. In her every move and glance, Alexia sent a clear message of arousal and need, one he wished nothing more than to answer immediately.
Completely. Forcefully.
He lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it lightly, tonguing the tender flesh between her knuckles.
“You have a good right hook, my lady,” Joshua said, soft and low, his voice gravelly as lust raced through his body.
Alexia’s eyes were huge in her pale face. She moistened her bottom lip with her tongue and a flush covered her skin.
“Now what, Joshua? Now what do we do?” He had to strain to hear her quiet voice, embarrassment coloring her prettily.
He raised a brow, his fingers stroking hers. “Anthony explained. You are the one who must decide what you need. We will do whatever you ask, whether it’s a walk on the beach or a game of cards. We could sit by the fire and tell you stories about what it’s like to travel underwater.”
As he spoke Alexia pulled away from him to stare out the window at the ocean. Her body sagged and she hugged her arms around her body tightly. Her head dropped to the cool glass for a moment and Joshua hesitated. Perhaps it was all too much too fast.
She knew what she needed to demand of them. It was a part of who she was, the heritage in belonging to the line of the matriarch. Now that the medallion had begun to awaken her body to the change, there was no turning back. Her longing for transformation would drive her need for sex higher and higher to the point of overwhelming lust.
Every inch of Joshua’s body urged him to step forward and take her into his arms, but he held back. He had to let her be the one to decide. “We could say good night, and let you sleep and think about things until the morning,” he said, attempting to keep the reluctance out of his voice.
Anthony cleared his throat. “We could…” His gaze flicked to Joshua as if asking permission. “We could…”
“Hold me?” Alexia whispered. She turned her back to the windows and squared her shoulders.
“Ummm, yes.”
“Kiss me?” she breathed as her head tilted to the side.
Anthony swallowed hard before nodding.
Alexia smiled, a mischievous expression crossing her face. She stepped closer to Anthony but looked at Joshua. “Make love to me?” she purred.
Groans tore from both their throats as she reached for them. Joshua stayed back, letting Anthony take Alexia into his arms first.
The anger he expected to flare at seeing anyone touch Alexia arrived, but far more tempered than he’d believed possible. Anthony’s tender adoration for her was so clear in his every movement Joshua felt a tentative peace as he watched their lips meet. He didn’t want it to happen. He’d give anything to be all she needed.
But he wasn’t. Not yet. Perhaps not ever.
Anthony kissed her again, a hesitant caress. Joshua watched a trickle of blue shoot from his cousin to brush Alexia’s skin. The magic of St. Elmo’s fire would make her strong. Along with the chemicals from both of them, she would able to transform and survive underwater and lead their people.
What Joshua could give alone wasn’t enough.
This night had to happen. He would share, for her sake, this one time.
Please let it be only this one time.
Joshua moved to stoke the fire higher, pull cushions to the floor and open the curtains to let the ocean witness their lovemaking.
5 comments:
I want I want I want!
I more sleep! :D
You know..not that I am impatient or anything *grin*
Great interview Viv. I learned a lot about you.
Your Tidal Wave is completely enthralling. And of course with you as the author,it is super hot and ultra sexy. I start drooling again whenever I remember...
Sandie
Wonderful interview Viv! Thanks for telling me a little more about yourself.your a WONDERFUL Author! LOVE your books!
Oooh, me wants. Well done Viv. Welcome to the menage sisterhood, teehee.
This is an unusual and intriguing take on the shifter theme. I look forward to reading it!
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