Please help us in welcoming Lindsey Piper and her Dragon King Series to our blog today! Welcom, Lindsey! Please make yourself comfortable and we will get started.
So....
Where are you from
and from where/who did your love for writing come from?
I think some brains must be hardwired for storytelling. My mother still
has papers from when I was two or three, trying to form sentences the best I
could. I’ve always had a need to express myself, through art and song and
dance, but writing is the one I’m actually good at!
Can you say that your journey to publication was difficult? If so, what
were the hardest moments to get through?
The hardest moments are when
certainty evaporates. That’s the reminder this is a job as much as any, where
layoffs are always possible. If I’m under contract and happily writing
along...yay! If I see a blank spot on the horizon, I don’t breathe a sigh of
relief that I can take some time off. Heck no! Time to get the thinking cap on
and work harder. It was during a pause like that when I came up with the
proposal for “The Dragon Kings.”
How do you overcome i-suck-it is, that little voice in your head that
tells you your writing isn’t good enough?
Heh. Um. The computer program
“Write or Die” is about the only answer I can give you. Oh, and being under
contract. It’s hard to give into that voice for too long when an editor is
tapping her foot, waiting for a draft! But believe me, the little voice never
goes away.
What is your dream vacation?
Lounging, sleeping, eating,
Italy, cool breezes, clear nights, and more eating...probably Italian food,
since I’d be in Italy.
Describe your writing
style in five words.
Intense, sexy, emotional, unabashed, risk-taking.
What movies are you currently excited to see?
I just saw my absolute must-see
of the year, Before Midnight, so I’m a happy little bunny. I’ve been
following Jessie and Celine since their start. It’s like watching my life in a
fictional mirror, aging exactly with each film. But now I’m looking forward to The
Conjuring (I adore horror films) and a sing-along of Grease showing
at my local cinema next month!
What are you currently reading?
Because we’re in between seasons,
I’m back to Game of Thrones. I should finish it before my daughters head
off to college.
If you weren’t a writer, what other careers would you pursue?
I have a master’s in history, so
I’d probably be teaching high school or community college history, or now that
I have a pretty hefty publishing resume, I’d teach creative writing. I love
teaching.
If you could create a holiday of your own, what would it be called?
Don’t Talk to Me, I’m Sleeping.
For people who haven’t read your novel, how would you summarize the
plot?
A man who’s fought in Cage
matches all his life is tasked with training a woman to become his partner in
battle. He has extraordinary senses and reflexes, while she is just discovering
how volatile her powers are—powers she didn’t know she had. They’re a race on
the edge of extinction, which means the ultimate prize in these sport matches
is the right to conceive. He wants a child. She wants to save her kidnapped
son. Somehow they manage not to kill each other in the meantime, even falling
in love. Because it’s a romance, after all!
What are two of your pet-peeves?
Bad drivers and dog owners who
let their dogs bark on and on and on and on and on...
To you, what makes a good story?
Compelling characters. Make them
vampires or BDSM fetishists or rodeo cowboys—I don’t care. Just make me care
about them, and I’ll follow them to their happy ending, no matter how they need
to get there!
What usually turns you off about a story?
Just the opposite of the above
answer: characters that aren’t compelling. A character doesn’t have to be like
me in order for me to relate to him or her. In fact, the more escapism the
better! But if something rings false about their logic or emotions or behavior,
I can’t get into them as “people” I want to root for.
If you could collaborate with any author, who would you choose, and
why?
Ian
McEwan. He wrote Atonement, which was adapted into a movie starring
Keira Knightly and James McAvoy. He blows my mind. Intense and literarily
stunning, and always with a twist ending. I look for it. I really do! But I
never see it coming. I’d love to see how a mind like that works, and try to
keep up.
What is on your night stand?
Lotion. iPod. Kindle. And a
magazine that’s probably four months old but has Bradley Cooper on the cover!
What is your favorite book?
Atonement, followed closely by Dune. Among romances, it’s
Whispers of Heaven by Candice Proctor.
SERIES SPOTLIGHT INFO:
SILENT WARRIOR
The Dragon Kings, Prequel Novella
Publication
Date: April 23, 2013
Publisher: Pocket Star
ISBN: 978-1476713250
Only 99¢!
Available at: Amazon | Apple | B&N | Books-a-Million | Google | Kobo
Publisher: Pocket Star
ISBN: 978-1476713250
Only 99¢!
Available at: Amazon | Apple | B&N | Books-a-Million | Google | Kobo
A silent woman ashamed of her
criminal background becomes a Cage warrior to seek redemption. An unrepentant
fortune hunter will do anything to escape his mounting debts. Although rivals
on the streets of Hong Kong, they find common ground when seeking their clan’s
stolen idol, but for vastly different reasons. Neither one suspects that love
will begin when he becomes the first man in five years to hear her speak.
CAGED WARRIOR
The Dragon Kings, Book 1
Publication Date: June 25, 2013Publisher: Pocket Star
Print ISBN: 978-1451695915
Available Now: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Books-a-Million | Powell’s
Ten years ago, Audrey MacLaren chose
to marry her human lover, making her an exile from the Dragon Kings, an ancient
race of demons once worshiped as earthly gods. Audrey and her husband managed
to conceive, and their son is the first natural-born Dragon King in a
generation–which makes him irresistible to the sadistic scientist whose
mafia-funded technology allows demon procreation. In the year since her husband
was murdered, Audrey and her little boy have endured hideous experiments.
Shackled with a collar and bound for
life, Leto Garnis is a Cage warrior. Only through combat can Dragon Kings earn
the privilege of conceiving children. Leto uses his superhuman speed and
reflexes to secure the right for his two sisters to start families. After
torture reveals Audrey’s astonishing pyrokenesis, she is sent to fight in the
Cages. If she survives a year, she will be reunited with her son. Leto is
charged with her training. Initially, he has no sympathy for her plight. But if
natural conception is possible, what has he been fighting for? As enemies,
sparring partners, lovers, and eventual allies, Leto and Audrey learn that in a
violent underground world, love is the only prize worth winning.
BLOOD WARRIOR
The Dragon Kings, Book 3
Publication Date: July 30, 2013
Publisher: Pocket Star
Print ISBN: 978-1451695922
Pre-Order: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Books-a-Million | Powell’s
Publisher: Pocket Star
Print ISBN: 978-1451695922
Pre-Order: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository | Books-a-Million | Powell’s
As a young man, sarcastic, violent
Tallis Pendray believed the Dragon Kings’ survival depended on a prophecy
delivered in dreams by a woman named “the Sun.” His role has been to complete
inexplicable, even reprehensible tasks. First, by murdering a priest, he united
his fragmented clan in their hatred of him. Dubbed “the Heretic,” Tallis fled
his family’s Highland estate. Now disillusioned, he seeks revenge on the woman
he holds responsible for two decades of exile.
Telepath Kavya Indranan is a
charismatic, seductive cult leader born to a prominent family. However, she
grew up terrorized by the ominous threat of her powerful, insane twin brother.
On the run and hiding among the poor, she witnessed the destruction wrought by
her clan’s centuries-old civil war. Maturity nurtures Kavya’s determination to
end the cycle of bloodshed. Those who follow her call for peace have nicknamed
her “the Sun.”
Bent on revenge, and without
knowledge of Kavya’s noble intentions, Tallis kidnaps her on the eve of her
groundbreaking announcement. The two watch in horror as her twin brutally
smashes the tentative truce…and hunts the sister whose death would make him
invincible.
Kavya is the Sun–revered, untouched,
and bound by a lonely destiny that promises a deadly showdown against the last
of her family. Tallis is the Heretic–despised and exiled because of actions
that seem random, heartless, and contrary to the safety of the clans he
protects. She’s not a goddess, and he’s not a natural born killer. A desperate
trek from the Himalayan foothills to the Scottish Highlands reveals two
secluded souls hidden by bloody reputations. Will their trust be strong enough
to avert an all-out war that could destroy them, and their kind, forever?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lindsey
Piper is the alter ego of an award-winning historical and contemporary romance
author. Her hotly anticipated DRAGON KINGS series is her first foray into
paranormal fiction. She lives and writes in Chicago.
You can find
more info on Lindsey's Website, Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads
pages.a Rafflecopter giveaway
Lindsey Piper's CAGED WARRIOR Blog
Tour Schedule
June 24 - July 8
6/24 - Book
Monster Reviews
6/26 - The
Jeep Diva
6/27 -
Ramblings From This Chick
6/29 -Mad
Hatter Reads
6/29 -
Fandom Fanatic
6/30 - Crazy Four Books
7/01 -
Books-n-Kisses
7/01 - Wicked Readings by Tawania
7/02 - Book Lovin' Mamas
7/03 -
Books, Books & More Books
7/07-
Paranormal Romance Fans For Life
7/03 - You
Gotta Read Reviews
7/05 - My
Secret Romance
7/06 - Page
Flipperz
Great interview! How many more books are planned?
ReplyDeleteBarrie