Tuesday Teaser–author Vijaya Schartz

Author Vijaya Schartz joins me today on the Believing is Seeing blog. Give her a warm welcome!

SS: As an author, what makes a book great in your eyes?

VS: Great characters I will remember for a long time, great plot twists, a unique setting. I particularly enjoy good writing. As an author, if the prose is less than stellar, I tend to don my editing hat, and it spoils the reading pleasure. It takes me out of the story. I like the total immersion, the total experience. I hope I provide that for my readers.

SS: Being an author is hard on the reading life lol Tell us a little about what you are working on.

VS: Right now, I’m working on NOAH’S ARK, the prequel to the Chronicles of Kassouk, to be published in April 2012 by Desert Breeze Publishing. It’s a lot of fun to round up all the ideas I developed in the previous books and find out how it all started. I thought of so many threads over the first four novels, that it’s almost overwhelming. But it makes for a very exciting story, one I’m thrilled to write and I hope readers will enjoy.

SS: Interesting! What is the hardest scene you had to write in this piece?

VS: All the scenes are challenging. I’m a perfectionist, so I’m never happy with them. And I’m always nervous about letting go of the work when I send it to the editor. I’m on strict deadlines, and writing fast is another challenge. I always say “I wish I had more time.” But of course, if I had more time, I would just write at a slower pace. For me, the action scenes are easy to write. The love scenes are the most challenging. I want to make sure my romance readers get the satisfaction of witnessing the happiness and the passion ignited by my characters’ love.

SS: Let’s talk about the book you’d like to promote today. How did you come up with the title and where can we find it?

VS: The title came easy. All the titles in the series are reminiscent of felines. In the Kassouk society warriors adopt feline names and have large felines as pets. I love cats, big and small. After White Tiger, Red Leopard, Black Jaguar, Blue Lioness was an easy pick. The titles are the warrior names of the hero or heroine for each book.

You can find Blue Lioness and all the other books in the series everywhere eBooks are sold, in nook, kindle, at All Romance eBooks (Are), from the publisher in various formats, at Omnilit in other formats. They are also available (sometimes with a slight delay) from Kobo, Sony, and all eBook distributors in all formats. This particular series is not available from Smashwords.

SS: What was your first reaction when you got a glimpse of your cover art?

VS: I was thrilled. The art department at Desert Breeze is so talented. All their covers are fabulous. The cover of WHITE TIGER, the first book in the series won the Ariana Award, and the Quasar Award for the best overall eBook cover of 2009. All the covers in this series afterwards are on the same model, with variations, different feline, different backgrounds. But when you see one of these covers, you know it’s part of the Chronicles of Kassouk series.

SS: Please give us a blurb and excerpt!

VS: In the face of Human slavery, Back Sword Captain Ariela of Kassouk must do the unthinkable. Rebel against the Mutant regime. But she cannot do it alone.

Ariela suspects the king’s death is no accident. And the tyrant who usurped the throne looks guilty as hell. As leader of the Human rebellion against the Mutant rulers, Ariela is desperate for help, and Lord Starro, the handsome Crown Prince of the Star Children, offers the technology the Human faction lacks. But can Ariela trust a spoiled, arrogant foreign prince who never fought a battle, and thinks he is destined to rule the universe? Is she trading one tyrant for another? No matter how kind, handsome, or fascinating, Starro has frightening mental abilities. And this alliance is not safe, especially for Ariela’s heart.

EXCERPT:

Beloved. Starro struggled to sit up but flinched with a violent spasm and fell back on the pillow. “If you have any compassion, finish me off with your lethal blades. I can’t even breathe without needles jabbing my insides.”

She scowled her deep blue eyes at him and pulled the blanket up to his shoulders. “You have not earned the right to die, Lord Starro. Too many lives depend on your survival.”

“Please, don’t call me lord.” He scoffed and grimaced at the stabbing sensation inside his chest. “You don’t understand…”

“You will get better.” Her stoic confidence didn’t boost his.

He clenched his jaw against another spasm. “There is no recovery from this drug. Only slow, agonizing death. I’m already dead.”

Ariela steadied his twitching arm with a firm hand. He closed his eyes briefly, enjoying the calming effect of her touch. He wished they had more time. He wanted a chance to know her. But his quick death would prevent his shame and dishonor. She was Human, hence forbidden… yet Beloved.

She frowned at him. “How can you give up hope? I thought the Star Children were models of righteousness.”

The criticism hurt more than the cramps in his innards. Starro managed to sit up on the bed and she pulled and fluffed the pillows for him to lean back.

He let out a calming breath, grateful for her soothing presence. “You have no right to judge me or my people.”

“You are their prince. You can’t give up. Your people need you.” Her condemning gaze upset him greatly.

Starro grimaced but noticed the cramps had somehow lessened to an almost tolerable level. “What have you done to me? I should be dead.”

The woman’s smile illuminated the square room carved into the rock. “I guess it wasn’t your time to die.”
Starro chuckled and immediately regretted it as pain shot through his body. “Who says when it’s time?”

“The Great Engineer of the Universe, that’s who.” She flashed a devilish grin. “But I like to help whenever I can.”

SS: Nice! Now for the fun stuff. Do you have any guilty pleasures?

VS: Chocolate. But I justify it by eating only dark chocolate, which is supposed to be healthy, right? When out on the town, I drink sweet (red) Vermouth. Bar tenders never know how to serve it. It’s a French thing (I’m French). Most women in France drink Red Vermouth as an aperitif, before a fancy meal.

SS: Name one thing readers would be surprised to know about you.

VS: I’m a black belt in Aikido. Now you know where I find the inspiration for my fight scenes. I know how to wield a sword. I had a Japanese master when I lived in Hawaii.

SS: If you didn’t have to worry about counting calories or fat, what’s the first food you’d reach for?

VS: Rich vanilla custard with a drizzle of chocolate, Teramisu, or Crème Brulée. Yum.

SS: Since you write romance, fess up. Have you ever read the “Grande Dames” of the genre like Jane Austen, Barbara Cartland, Danielle Steel, Nora Roberts? What do you really think of their books?

VS: I read the classics, of course. I love them. I’m glad to see that the genre is evolving to include very strong women. I like kick butt heroines, whether with a sword or a gun. To me, romance is only one element of a story. I want more than just the love story. I want to learn something, or be thrilled, or scared, or enthralled. I want plot and content around my romances.

SS: If someone hasn’t read any of your work, what book would you recommend they start with and why?

VS: It all depends on what they like. I write in different genres. If they prefer contemporary, I would say read Ashes for the Elephant God, A Desperado for Christmas. If they like contemporary paranormal, Coyote Gorgeous (shapeshifter), The Archangel series.

If they like Romantic Science Fiction, then any of my other books will do. I have fifteen titles to date.

SS: Thanks for spending a bit of time with Believing is Seeing! Best wishes for your continued success. Where can readers find you on the Web?

VS: I’m very visible on the web. You’ll find all information about me on my website at: http://www.vijayaschartz.com
My blog is called ROMANCING SCI-FI:

http://romancingscifi.blogspot.com/

They can find me on Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vijaya-Schartz-Author/109777709045040

They can join my tweeter followers at:

https://twitter.com/#!/Vijayaschartz

Thank you so much, Sandra, for the opportunity to be on your lovely blog.