Thursday, September 17, 2015

Twin Flames by Cassandra L Shaw Excerpt, Interview & Giveaway


Twin Flames
Katoom Series
Book One
Cassandra L Shaw

Genre:  Paranormal Romance / Suspense

Publisher: Black Opal Books

Date of Publication: 25th July, 2015

ASIN:  B011CN2YM0

Number of pages: 316
Word Count: 100 000

About the Book:

She’s in grave danger, but she doesn’t want his protection…

After a long and bitter world-war for pure human supremacy, humans and two sub-species the Eli and Crea reside on Earth in an uneasy harmony. One morning on a jog, Bliss Jacobs finds a murdered fellow Eli. She scents the killer on the body, but other evidence is washed away by a savage storm, leaving Bliss as the sole witness and the target of an assassin—and forcing her back into the world of the man who shattered her heart.

He believes she is his destined mate, but he knows there are no second chances…

Kaid Sinclair is chasing more than his best friend’s murderer. He wants Bliss in his bed and in his life, but after their relationship went south several years ago, he knows he has to tread carefully. So how can he keep her safe, while still proving to her that they are destined to be mates, and he doesn’t just want to control her? All he wants is for her to be safe—but with a killer who sees her as Kaid bait, Kaid may have to choose…his life or hers?

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Chapter 1

Train Tracks

The assassin grunted, dropped the body, and then watched it roll and sprawl on its back. Empty eyes stared at the dark and cold Montana spring night sky. The assassin laughed.
He’d killed him.

He scratched at the chemical reactive burning inside his robotic chest. Hissed at the scald of the toxins pulsing in his neck and right arm veins. Silver and the metals that only resided in Eli—a race of humans who, along with the Crea, had taken refuge on Earth five hundred years ago when their own planet Ecreal died—merged with the contaminants in his body with caustic results.



About the Author:

Cassandra L Shaw writes Urban Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Romantic Suspense, & Contemporary Romance. She lives in a small farm on the Sunshine Coast of Australia. Her eclectic past includes fashion design, environmental science and years of drudgery as an office worker where she dreamed of NOT being an office worker.  She discovered writing a few years ago and has decided that with its mix of art, writing craft, and study she’s at last found the career that suits her arty and academic mind.  


Interview

Where are you from?
Hi, I live on a small farm at the top end of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia. I’m surrounded by animals (pets and wild), trees, and creeks but only half an hour from Noosa’s beaches and shops. It’s a good life.

Tell us your latest news?
Black Opal Books recently released my paranormal romantic suspense, Twin Flames, book 1 of the Katoom series. Which is pretty exciting.
I’ve also just returned from the Romance Writers of Australia, Melbourne conference and a week-long immersion course with Margie Lawson on deepening writer craft. Added together it was 9 days of inspiring fun and damn exhausting. Third day home and I’m still tired but can’t wait to apply my new knowledge to my work.

When and why did you begin writing?
I started at the very beginning of 2011 after I’d written a very long winded, poorly crafted 170 000 word paranormal romance in about six weeks.  It was awful but it sparked my writing bug. But since I knew my writing craft was poor I sought help.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
As soon as I took several courses and workshops and applied what I’d learned. Once I saw the difference I knew I wanted to pursue writing as my career and it was at this point I started calling myself a writer.

What inspired you to write your first book?
I had a lull in my life. Kids were at school, I’d finished my degree, finished renovating the house we were then living in and was bored. I needed a new challenge, a challenge that would use both my creative side and my need to learn side.
I’d always wanted to write but had little confidence in my ability, then one day I read a simply written book that I enjoyed and thought, wow, I wonder if I can write after all and so it started. (The book was Twilight).

Do you have a specific writing style?
Well I’m a pantser and I write and revise with layers. So I write a rough draft out of my head with nothing more than an idea or even just a single image of the main character in my mind. One I’ve written the rough draft of the story I revise it and revise it and revise it etc. etc.– each time adding layers of depth and plot. Some layers can be as simple as adding more humor, or torturing my characters (deepening their emotional journey)

How did you come up with the title?
I choose all my titles out of the story. Twin Flames is part of the connection of the main couple. In another story I chose what the main character calls her job, so it’s usually a phrase that is in the story that is relevant to the character or characters.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?
Honestly, not really.
In Twin Flames I’ve used a commonality I see worldwide—and one that has in the past changed the world—hatred and racism. My over-arching plot that will drive the series forward is the Pures. Pure humans who detest and fear the sub-humans, the Eli and Crea (aliens who live on Earth). Each novel will be about fighting the Pures (the evil and suspense part of the story) and following the life and love of my latest hero and heroine (the romance part).

How much of the book is realistic?
Twin Flames is set in alternative futuristic Earth and has both paranormal and sci-fi elements but though the main characters aren’t 100% human their emotions are realistic, and their way of life is easily recognizable as ours with a few twists.

Are experiences based on someone you know, or events in your own life?
No, it’s totally fiction dug out of my dreams.

What books have influenced your life most?
I can’t honestly say any fictional books have influenced me in any way. To me fiction is to take you on a journey of entertainment. Non-fiction may have, but then you read what you are interested in so influence is only gained through a door you already have open.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?
Karen Marie Moning or Nalini Singh as both write series and characters well.

What book are you reading now?
The 7th in the Eve Dallas series by J.D. Robb. The first ten in the series are the ones I re-read.  And I just put finished Sworn to Silence by Linda Castillo.

Are there any new authors that have grasped your interest?
Well Linda Castillo is new to me and I’m keen to read her second in the series. I also have a large to be read pile and it has a lot of new authors on it.

What are your current projects?
I’m currently working on four books. I’m revising the rough draft of the 2nd of my Grave Robber series, writing the rough draft of the second in the Katoom series (book after Twin Flames), writing the rough draft of a Sci-fi Romantic suspense and revising a single title contemporary romance (the first story I’ve written without speculative elements).

What would you like my readers to know?
I’m here for the long journey and I love connecting with my readers and fellow speculative authors







Tour giveaway

$50 amazon GC


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