In the Author Spotlight & Contest

Serena Shay

CONTEST: To those who leave a post and their email address, I’ll draw one winner for a copy of my book The Challenge.

AL: Hi Serena Thanks for being in the “Author Spotlight” this week.

Serena: Hi Ann, I so excited to be here. I always enjoy reading your author interviews and I’m honored to be included in such a great group of writers!

AL: So, tell us what’s happening with you.

Serena: Well, I just got off the road from my summer long quest to be an Aerosmith groupie, (and yes, I saw you there Ann!) I’m starting training for the Iditarod where I’m going to mush my two little Dachshunds and I’m trying to figure out how to make a Hermione Halloween costume for my Darling Diva. LOL, yes only one of those is true but I’ll let you figure out which it is…

All in all, I’m pretty boring. I’m a stay-at-home mom, thrilled to have school back in session so I again have some quiet time in my day. A wife to a wonderful guy who likes to keep busy with projects, keeping me free to write and mommy to two furry babies who look at me strangely when I shout “Gee,Gee” at them. ;)

AL: Your first book is out. Tell us what it’s like on cloud 9. Even better…tell us about your début novel.

Serena: Cloud 9 is wickedly awesome! I brought my muse along with me and all the other revelers want to look at his sculpted abs and big, wide shoulders as he rubs my feet and tells me how proud he is that I finished and sold THE CHALLENGE!

THE CHALLENGE is the story of a half jaguar shifter/half human woman, Marina, who finds herself intimately connected to a full blooded jaguar shifter and all around alpha male after a night of unbelievable passion. What she is unaware of is that rather than the one-night stand she hoped for, she has all but mated the pride leader of a group of shifters who are not human friendly.

There are some unexpected sexual problems caused by Marina’s connection to the pride leader, Bastian. In order to resolve them, Marina and Bastian must find a way to get past an antagonist who I promise you are going to love to hate and Marina will ultimately have to gain respect from the pride. It’s kind of a tall order.

AL: What are you working on now?

Serena: I’m working on a holiday story for April Fool’s Day involving a heroine who doesn’t know she both a witch and also young, an April Fool’s Day joke gone bad and a sexy demon fighting hero.

AL: Why shifter romance?

Serena: You know, I would love to have some really good answer for this question, but the reality is…because that’s what the characters told me they were when they stepped into the spotlight in my brain. ;) It’s kind of funny, but my stories all start as a bit of a support group. Hi, my name is Bastian, I’m a jaguar shape shifter and I’m going to tell you a story now. Please pick up your pen and take notes. Thank you! LOL

AL: Who inspired you to follow your dream of writing?

Serena: My husband. For years, I would jot down note after note of plots and characters, and scenes. I’d look up towns and music - All things paranormal and really just gather tons of information. Only I would do nothing with it but store it away in my one day I will get to do this file. I was working full-time at a job I’d lost the love for; I was a full-time mom & wife and we were at the tail end of a traumatic event within our close family. I was beyond burnt out. When he took me aside and told me that it was time to stop waiting for someday and to start writing like I should be, I was floor and flabbergasted and awed. He knew what I needed, before I’d even wrapped myself totally around it. I took his advice and haven’t stopped since.

AL: All right Serena, kick off your dominatrix boots and get comfy… Who is a great example to you and how you live your life?

Serena: But Ann, in order for the boots to come off, I need my buffly built butler in here to reach under my skirt and loosen the clasps at the back of my thighs!! If that happens, I may never finish this interview. Hehehehe

Wow – a great example, huh. Let’s see, definitely my daughter, the Darling Diva, honest and accepting, with caring and love in my heart.

Ann: Do you have a favorite sport, &/or team that you follow?

Serena: Um, I haven’t picked my team yet on the Amazing Race, and yes that is the closest I thing I have to a favorite team event, at least until the Olympics come on…love those!

AL: If your muse were to talk behind your back, what secrets would he/she tell?

Serena: Oh man, he’d probably tell you about my new addiction to Farmville on Facebook. I can hear it now, “yee gads, her with the plowing, and harvesting and planting. The trees, the animals, and the nonstop rearranging – It’s not like we don’t have books to write!”

AL: You have to ask a fictional character out on a date—who would you ask and what would you do together?

Serena: Oh my gosh, that’s a tough one! Let’s see, Dirk Pitt, and I’d make him take me on one of his awesome history changing excursions with NUMA! Of course, there is also this sweet and sexy vamp, named Christian, who if memory serves can move through time. Ummmm, there are many things in the past I would love to be witness too!

AL: Please share a favorite quote(s) with us.

Serena: I love so many quotes, but here are two of my favorites –

"Life's a journey, not a destination." ~Steven Tyler

"The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

AL: Thanks so much for sharing with joining us this week, Serena.

Serena: Thanks for having me, Ann! You ask some tough, but awesome questions.

AL: If you’d like to find out more about Serena please visit:

http://www.serenashay.com/
http://serenashay.blogspot.com/
http://shapeshifterseductions.blogspot.com/

FEATURED TITLE: THE CHALLENGE
Blurb:
 
Marina Jamison is a mystery. As a half-breed shapeshifter, she lives on the fringe of were-jaguar society. Though her love for pride leader Bastian LaRue is forbidden, she finds herself tied to him by a bond stronger than their individual wills, a psychic link born from their one-night stand. When her secret is revealed, she is scorned and excluded. Neither Bastian nor the pride can accept a half-breed queen.
 
Excerpt:
 
Marina shook, but not from the motorcycle rumbling between her legs. Her concentration fled the moment Hoss locked her into the leather cuffs. The vile male who’d touched her only minutes before made her skin crawl. Fear from the narrow escape still choked her with its intensity. She’d never placed herself in such a precarious position before.


Given her no-holds-barred approach to life, she should be ecstatic. Curled against her rescuer’s back, flying down the road on his Harley, should have soothed her, relaxed her, yet it didn’t. The feel of his body mixed with the knowledge of the confrontation to come left her nervous, jittery...stimulated.

The dips and grooves of perfectly sculpted muscles rippled beneath her flattened palm. An incredible pair of pecs, rock solid and smooth, led to mile-wide shoulders. They were broad enough to provide shelter while strong enough to let her know he was in charge.

If she had the nerve to move her other hand lower she’d be re-introduced to a cock as thick as her wrist and long enough to satisfy her many times over. Sweat, having nothing to do with the outside temperature, slid between her breasts. Her nipples stood at attention.

She was in trouble.

Something changed her two years ago. Their first night together had been out of control. He’d dominated her, spanked her, and brought her release after erotic release. Somewhere amidst the orgasms, she’d formed a connection. She could sense his emotions. Her body tingled with sensations that were not her own, but his. Impressions of ownership flowed into her, marking her as his, and in the end what had she done? Rather than running, as any sane woman over her head would, she’d reveled in the attention and begged for more.

Only when he’d fallen into a much-needed sleep had she hobbled away, sick with the knowledge that her one-night stand had gone drastically wrong. Two things became clear as she’d left the warmth and safety of his arms: one, a single night of sex with Bastian ruined her for any other man, human or shifter, and two, she’d become strangely attached to him.

Thankfully, the bike’s rumbling pipes covered the sob slipping past the barrier of her lips. No doubt about it, she was in trouble.

Marina tightened her hold as the bike shot onto a familiar dirt drive leading to his cabin. Thighs wide, her bare flesh nestled the top of his ass and the vibration of the bike drove her arousal higher. How typical of her to be both afraid and aroused at the same time. Bastian pulled into the garage and killed the motorcycle’s engine. He climbed from the bike and turned; with a quick flick of his wrist, he released the snap before pulling the helmet from her head.

Her heart stopped as she got a clear view of the incredible man in front of her. Two years hadn’t changed him significantly, a bit older, more seasoned; still sexy as hell. He now wore black hair in a military buzz cut yet defied convention by growing it longer on top. His face formed an angular shape with lips full and kissable. As perfect as the parts of him happened to be, his eyes held her. Still a startling green, so green they glowed. She’d always found it difficult to look away from him. How did he get away with such a difference while among humans?

He moved close as Marina slid back on the bike’s seat, bracing her body against the sissy bar. She tired quickly from using every ounce of ability to cover her human scent. When he leaned into her neck she stiffened; his nostrils flared as he took her scent into his lungs. Sharp teeth snapped inside her head. A jaguar, with familiar green eyes, paced and growled with a ferocity that intrigued. What could he smell?

“What’s his name, Mari?”

Marina sucked in her breath, “What are you talking about, Bastian?”

Pulling back, Bastian looked into her eyes before quietly repeating his question, “What’s his name?” he said with a firmer voice. “What is the name of the fucking human I’m going to kill for marking you, Mari?”

“K-kill?” She said looking into his glowing green eyes. “Bastian, no one has marked me.”

Disbelief from the man facing her hammered across the connection.

“Only because you snuck out on me, Mari. You left before taking my mark.” His voice lowered. “Not to worry, though. I am going to correct my error as soon as the human has been found and you have been suitably punished for leaving me the way you did.”

The purr in his voice shook her. Arousal poured over her through their bond. Thighs, damp with excitement clenched at his threats. She’d readily take whatever punishment he could dish out.

REMEMBER: To those who leave a post and their email address, Serena draw one winner for a copy of my book The Challenge.