I want to welcome
Rachel Leigh Smith. First I’d love you to introduce yourself.
I write romance for the hero lover. Because I’m a hero
lover. Whenever you pick up a book with my name on it you can be certain it’s a
story about the hero.
I live in Louisiana, where I root for the Arkansas
Razorbacks because my dad’s a UA alum and I was born in Little Rock. I’m the
oldest of four, was homeschooled, love cats, and shrimp is my favorite food.
Purple is my favorite color. I do my hair and makeup 1940’s style. Tom Selleck
is one of the sexiest men alive. And chocolate should always be eaten without
fruit, without nuts, without caramel, and absolutely without whipped cream.
Tell us about your
latest release.
It’s the first book in the A’yen’s Legacy series, My Name Is
A’yen. Set 3,000 years in the future it’s the story of an enslaved alien race’s
fight to restore their freedom and return to their homeworld.
They've taken everything from him.
Except his name.
The Loks Mé have been slaves for so long, freedom is a
distant myth A'yen Mesu no longer believes. A year in holding, because of his
master's murder, has sucked the life from him. Archaeologist Farran
Hart buys him to protect her on an expedition to the Rim, the last unexplored
quadrant.
Farran believes the Loks Mé once lived on the Rim and is
determined to prove it. And win A'yen's trust. But she's a breeder's daughter
and can't be trusted.
Hidden rooms, information caches, and messages from a
long-dead king change A'yen's mind about her importance. When she's threatened
he offers himself in exchange, and lands on the Breeders Association's radar.
The truth must be told. Even if it costs him his heart.
Now I have a few
questions for you – I have found readers do like to know fun things about us
writers.
1.) Who is your
favorite villain – it can be from a book (even one of yours), movie or TV show.
And why?
Scorpius! He was the villain in Farscape, a space opera TV
show that ran from 1999 to 2003 on SyFy, back when it was spelled Sci-Fi. He
wanted the wormhole knowledge in the main character’s brain, and no tactic was
too low for him. He went so far as to put a mental clone of himself in
Crichton’s head and it wreaked all kinds of havoc.
Scorpy, as Crichton called him, is a fully formed,
three-dimensional bad guy with a complete back-story and moments where you
almost feel sorry for him.
2.) Who is your
favorite character out of your books? Why?
A’yen, without a doubt. He’s the main character in the first
three A’yen’s Legacy books. His arrival helped me heal from a marriage gone bad
and restored my ability to write. I wrote the first draft of My Name Is A’yen
in 86 days. He’s a snarky smart-ass who will do anything to keep his heroine
safe. Including sacrificing his own dignity and pride.
3.) What do genre do
you write? What made you pick that one?
I write science fiction romance and historical romance.
Weird combo, I know. History has always been my favorite subject, so it was a
natural thing to settle on when I wrote my first novel.
The SFR came out of nowhere. I had no idea it was an actual
genre until after I finished the first draft of My Name Is A’yen. Now I have
five completed SFR novels in the A’yen’s Legacy universe, half a dozen more
planned, and another SFR series built on multiverse theory and alien genetic
experiments.
4.) What are you
working on now?
I’m deep in edits on A’yen’s Legacy numbers two and three,
The King’s Mistress and To Save A Life. The King’s Mistress releases January
20.
5.) What got you to
start writing?
I don’t really remember ever not writing. The first thing I
clearly remember writing was what I considered missing scenes from Disney’s The
Little Mermaid, namely between the beach kiss and the wedding. I also wrote
Hardy Boys and Thoroughbred fan fiction for several years before switching
exclusively to original stuff. I finished my first novel in the fall of 2011.
6.) Where do you get
your ideas from?
Everywhere! My Name Is A’yen came in a dream. My historical
was born out of research I was doing at my job at a plantation-turned-museum.
My other SFR series came out of a desire to play with alternate dimensions and
creatures with feline characteristics. (I’m a cat person, and owned by a
half-crazed calico.)
The fifth A’yen’s Legacy book was born after I read Acheron
by Sherrilyn Kenyon, and asked myself what if someone was as trained as Acheron
in physical pleasure, but actually enjoyed it. It was a lot of fun to write.
The hero in that one, Lorin, is about as polar opposite of A’yen as a hero can
be.
7.) What would people
who read your work be surprised to find out about you?
That I see the world in black and white. There’s right and
there’s wrong, and very few shades of gray. Yet shades of gray is where I live
in my writing. Go figure!
8.) Do you have any
special talents?
I can swing dance and waltz. Other than words, I’m not that
creative. Can’t draw, can only paint if it’s by number. I do counted
cross-stitch all the time, and I have a fondness for intricate patterns that
makes people stare at what I’m doing and wonder how I’m not losing my mind
doing it. I like to use hand-dyed fabrics too and find just the right one to
set off the design.
9.) What was the one
piece of advice you received when you were an aspiring author that has stuck
with you? Why?
Finish your first draft! You’ll learn more by finishing that
very first first draft, than from any class or workshop you ever take. And it’s
true. Once I had a completed novel under my belt I knew this was the life for
me and that I had many many more stories in me.
10.) If you could talk
to any famous figure (present, past or fictional) who would it be and what would
you talk about?
This is such a hard question. I’ve watched so much science
fiction that I’ve absorbed the lessons of time travel. The first one is don’t
mess things up. One of the easiest ways to mess things up is to talk to people.
That aside, a conversation with Louisa May Alcott would be
fun. I love her stuff, especially An Old-Fashioned Girl. I’d like to ask
her if she’s on Team Laurie or Team Professor Bhaer. I’m on Team Professor
Bhaer, but my sister’s on Team Laurie.
11.) What song would
you say describes your life?
You know, I can’t think of one. In the grand scheme of
things my life has been pretty boring. I was 18 before I ever left the United
States. But I love my life and wouldn’t trade places with anyone.
12.) If you could come
back as any animal – what would it be?
A cat! So I could sleep most of the day and everyone would
think I’m adorable while doing it. There are days I want to trade places with
my cat, Zoe.
Excerpt:
He did what he did best and faded into
the background while Dr. Hart finished giving instructions. None of them
applied to him anyway. She turned to him and he followed her back into the main
room and set about gathering the things he’d need to measure the grid so he
could lay out the base map.
Twenty minutes later all nineteen of
them, counting him, left base camp. He remained up front with Dr. Hart despite
the looks from some of the others. Part of his job was to keep her safe and,
breeder’s daughter or not, he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t live up
to his designation of protector. Even without having had those instincts
enhanced when he was marked the first time, he’d still do it.
The group hiked for two miles through
pristine forests painted with hues of purple, blue, orange, yellow, and red.
Trying to capture the play of color had stymied him last time. Maybe with more
time he’d figure out how to transfer it to paper. Here and there along the
path, white flowers stretched for the sun. Still no bird song.
Like last time, the presence of pathways
and what might have been roads surprised him. It was almost as if the planet
held its breath, waiting for someone to return. These little details were
things not even the best scans picked up. Mapping these almost roads could be
useful, especially if Dr. Hart found evidence of a past civilization.
A growing part of him wanted her to
succeed.
The path forked and they went left.
Trees parted and another meadow stretched before them, the biggest one on this
part of the continent, and a logical place to start looking for evidence of a
city or village. Here and there stone pillars pointed to the sky. A rainbow of
flowers covered every inch of the meadow. The earth-moving equipment covered
the southeast corner of the meadow.
Buy links:
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1120027890?ean=9781501424267&itm=1&usri=9781501424267
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Rachel_Leigh_Smith_My_Name_Is_A_yen?id=63tlBAAAQBAJ&hl=en
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/476415
Thanks so much for having me today, Barb!
ReplyDeleteThanks for answering my questions - I have noticed a theme amongst my guests - a lot of us are cat owners - you think it's a writing thing?
ReplyDeleteCats are well suited to introverts, and most writers tend toward introversion.
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