“After reading so many books as a child, I thought I was obligated to write my own so all of the wonderful authors who changed my life would get a chance to read my stories.”
Becoming a paranormal romance author was a happy accident when she chose to write a short novella to clear her mind of edits on her first urban fantasy novel, BLOODSPRITE. Now she finds she enjoys the focus on the relationships and loves traversing the two genres, and finding new ways to define both.
And here’s my interview with Xakara! She has kindly offered a copy of her book, Gost of Christmas Past, as a prize to the Small Blogs, Big Giveaways event!
Who are your favorite authors of all time?
Stephen King, Jim Butcher, Tanya Huff, Kim Harrison and Dean Knootz.
Nice top 5! What is it that fascinates you about books?
Since I was very small, I’ve always been drawn in by the fact that books can take you anywhere in the world and beyond.
How did you know you should become an author?
I honestly didn’t know I had a choice.
After reading so many books as a child, I thought I was obligated to write my own so all of the wonderful authors who changed my life would get a chance to read my stories.It was only later, around eight or nine, that I figured out it didn’t work that way. Then a friend told me to write down the stories I told on the playground when I was nine, and the obligation was there once more.
How do you create characters that can/will sustain a series of books? Do you know everything about them going in, or does that come bit by bit as you write the books?
I usual
ly start a book with a scene in mind. It can be as little as two sentences of dialogue or a fully fleshed interaction that leaves me needing to know what happens next. As I write out the excerpt or jump in from chapter one, the characters start to talk and details that never make it on the page unfold the further into things we get.
What discipline do you impose on yourself regarding schedules, goals etc.?
I wish I was better at this, but I’m not a disciplined writer at all. I know that if I open the document, something will come. It always does. So my only rule is to open the document every day. I’m working on building that to a specific minimum each day, but it’s not coming naturally.
What are five fun facts about you or your books, that readers would love to know?All of my books are sex-positive, poly-positive, and paranormal. Does that count as one or three? *grin* Let’s see, I’m an insomniac, so my perception of the world is always altered. And I write in my head constantly. There is never a moment where a world is not unfolding behind my eyes.
Talking about paranormal, what can you tell us about your paranormal series, the Therian World? What is unique about it?
>First, my WereCreatures are the top preternaturals in the world rather than bowing to vampires or fearing mortals. They also tend to intermingle, their human side is dominant as far as being social breeds. They see themselves as Felids, Canids and Bovids, rather than bothering to worry about who is specifically a panther or tiger or wolf or jackal; so the separation seen in other shifter worlds doesn’t exist on that level in my Therian World. Second, it’s an open world, the preternatural community is out and intergrated in the world at large,
Therians are celebrities that set the trends and control the social context, something that is usually missing in shifter/were centered worlds.Wow, that really got me excited to read about them! Now about your PsiCorps series, what do you love most about it?
I love the chance to explore the idea of polyamory and intimate networks in a more human setting, while still dressing it in a paranormal culture. Polyamory is the norm, with triads very common as 
a way to balance out the psychic load between psis. Intimate networks are also common, as triads, (or compasses–think four points–or circles) interact with one another and come into resonance. It’s a chance to bring in a large cast of characters and explore them in an intimate setting without needing to go outside of the cast or to break fidelity between them. Also, psychics are just kick-ass and I love, love, love using them as another way to explore the idea of vampires, shifters and incubus.
In the PsiCorps world, all legend is thought to have been based on the misunderstood psychics of their time Modern psis have taken on the mantle of vampire or incubus to denote their specific flavor of psychic resonance.In DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT, PsiCorps Volume Two, we begin to learn that it’s more than a passing resemblance and so much more going on than superstition giving the wrong names to the past.
Could you tell us when DAWN’S EARLY LIGHT (PsiCorps Book 2) will be out?
It will be released for the 4th of July, 2011 by Liquid Silver Books.
Do you have anything else about your projects that you’d like to share?
I have two other series that will be started soon, but the common thread between them will all be sincere emotion and the positive incorporation of sexuality.I consider sex to be another character in the story.It will be on the page when it’s called for in a scene and absent when it has no place; but whether on or off, it will always be treated with respect and adoration for what it brings into the lives of the other characters.Hot, hot hot! My last question: how would you define “Romance”?
This is a great question since I write both paranormal romance and urban fantasy. From every conversation I’ve ever had on the subject, I’ve most agreed with the definition of “a Romance” to be a story centered around the relationship before all other events taking place. I think that’s what romance is in our daily lives as well.
We’re romantic when we turn off our phones, shut off the television and turn to our partner(s) with our full attention. Nothing else matters in that romantic moment save for the person or people who make us our best selves.If that’s romance in our lives, it should also be romance on the page.
Thank you!
You can read more about Xakara’s Books and next releases here and here.
