Interview with Jennifer Alli, Author of Seared by Desire

Hey Everyone. Welcome to our interview with Jennifer Alli, author of Seared by Desire. Our vampire lovers are sure to sink their fangs into this paranromal romance. Jennfier is also giving away three copies of her eBook to some lucky winners, so don't forget to leave an email after the interview so you can get entered into the contest. Now...for the interview:

What inspired the storyline to Seared by Desire?

Would you believe me if I said it was a horse? Not that I’ve ever ridden a horse in my life and I’ve only ever seen one up close once. Let me explain. I was coming to the end of my Love Bites trilogy and I just wondered how people delivered mail in the time before cars. It got me thinking about how far people would have to go to achieve things that we take for granted and I just thought of how hard it would be for two people to communicate if they had to ride horses instead of just picking up a phone. Then the idea came to me to write a book that wasn’t about werewolves, I wanted to switch it up and so the elementals came to me. I had the setting in terms of time, an idea for what paranormal element I wanted my characters to have and by then Sara had made herself known and Lucian followed very swiftly after. It’s near impossible to keep those two apart. J

Tell us a little more about your characters.

Well firstly we have our heroine, Sara who is a little bit of a contradiction. She’s an expert sword smith but she hates violence…I know it doesn’t seem like that makes sense but she’s a creature of necessity. She creates swords because there’s reliability in steel but after years of being an outcast and picked on for being weak she knows that not everything can be achieved through force. But when the chips are down she’s prepared to do anything to protect those close to her.

Then we have Lucian…What can I say about Lucian…he’s completely different to Sara. While she’s laid back and relaxed he’s intense and focused on completing his mission. He’s so focused on defeating his enemies once and for all that the first time he meets Sara he leaves her unconscious in the middle of a road so that he doesn’t have to deal with the problems a bride will bring. Now I’m making him sound like an arse…to be brutally honest he is at times but he does have a softer side, Sara just needs to work on bringing it out. He’s spent centuries alone and at war so it does take a little effort on her part especially seeing as he’s adamant no one, including Sara, finds out that she’s his bride.

How do you pick names for your characters?

I always pick my character names so that they have a meaning that I think relates to some aspect of their personality and works with the story. For example, Sara, despite being the lowest of the low in the fire elemental community actually means princess and Lucian means light. In Seared by Desire, Lucian and Sara become known as the King and Queen of light. I won’t tell you why, I’ll leave it as a surprise.

One name always comes to me first and then I spend ages trying to think of a name for the other lead. In Seared by Desire, Sara came first and then Lucian followed…after about 3 weeks of me pulling my hair out. You can’t write about [insert name here] forever after all.

Why did you choose to write about vampires?

In this case I didn’t choose to write about vampires, it’s just that they were the only ones that I could think of that would be able to fulfill the conditions to break Sara’s curse. It was interesting writing about them though, I made things up as I went along to create a type of vampire I’d like. That’s the amazing thing about writing paranormal romance you can literally create a world of your own with your rules and no one can really contradict you.

Do you write about other supernatural beings or creatures?

Yes I do. The bulk of my published works are actually about werewolves. I wrote a trilogy called Love Bites focusing on three wolves and how they found their mates and eventually, with many screw ups along the way, managed to fall in love. At the moment all my energy is focused on my elementals though. They’re great fun to write and I can bring in other supernatural creatures as and when I please.

Did you choose the paranormal genre or did it choose you?

I think it was a bit of both really. I started out reading fantasy and then progressed into paranormal romance. I started out with Sherrilyn Kenyon and by then moved on to Christine Feehan and by the time I got round to Kresley Cole I was hooked, a paranormal romance addict. There was so much potential in the genre that it was impossible for me not to write in it. I love the paranormal elements where anything is possible and I love the romance element too where love can literally move mountains if necessary. 

What’s your writing schedule like?

A schedule? Am I meant to have one of those? Just kidding…sort of. I write when and wherever I can grab the time. There’s always so much to do. If an idea grabs me I have to write it down otherwise I’ll forget. I knew it was bad when I started writing on the backs of receipts because I’d left my notebooks at home. J Honestly, there are days where I get nothing done and then there are days where the words just flow. No schedule just me trying to fit everything in to days where I don’t have any time.

How many books have you published?

Including Seared by Desire I have 5 books published but Whirlwind of Pleasure should be out for the end of the summer bringing that number up to six.

What other projects are you working on?

I’m writing frantically to get Whirlwind of Pleasure completed this summer. I’m just going through the final edits at the moment. It’ll be the third in the Elemental Passions series and is going to focus on Gwen and Nicholas, an air elemental cursed to have disaster follow her everywhere she goes and a lycan determined to have his mate consequences be damned.

Is Seared by Desire part of a series or a stand-alone?

Seared by Desire is the first book in the Elemental Passions quartet.  It’s followed by Rocked by Passion, Whirlwind of Pleasure and the WIP Submerged in Ecstasy.

Tell us one random fact about yourself.

I am a die-hard chocoholic. If you need to know anything about chocolate and baking I’m the woman for the job, (~_^)

Where can readers purchase your book?

You can find Seared by Desire on amazon, smashwords and if you’re looking for a paperback then it’s also available on blurb.

Where can readers connect with you on the web?

I’m really big on talking to readers and interacting with people who read my books so I’m all over the internet.

I’m on: Facebook, twitter, goodreads and I have a blog too!

Can you share an excerpt from Seared by Desire?

Of course.

He was intrigued. Fire elementals never called for help.

He moved closer, examining the freckles that covered her cheeks, her plump red lips and the curve of her nose. She fell to her knees and the smell of her blood exploded into the air. He was close now, so close he could feel her heat and the smell of her blood hit him like a drug. Rich. Exotic. His.

The warm blood running through his veins froze. He stepped back as though he’d been punched in the gut; he felt as though he had been. The woman in front of him was his bride, the woman fate had put aside solely for him. In all the centuries he’d been alive he’d never expected to find her but here she was, presented to him like a gift. His fangs ached. He took another step back despite the fact he wanted to get closer to her.

He had just fed but he wanted nothing more than to sink his fangs into her soft skin, drink her until she was boneless then take her body until she couldn’t move. Or both at the same time. The thought appealed to him while at the same time scaring him beyond all reason. To drink his bride’s blood would be to tie his strength to her. No other’s blood would invigorate him like hers; he would be at his most powerful while being at his most vulnerable. She would give him power like no other but the blood of everyone else would leave his stomach full but his body weak. She was a liability he couldn’t afford to have right now. He was in the middle of a war. He hadn’t even realised he’d moved to her side.

Her hand gripped his tightly forcing him to stare into her burning blue eyes. “You have to run. Please. You have to run, I can’t control her. Everything will burn. Warn everyone on your way out. Run.” Her soft voice was desperate, her words slurring as she suddenly lost consciousness.

Lucian looked down at their joined hands; her tanned skin was hot against his, her warmth seeping into him, heating his blood. His body was stirring to life at the sight of her, the smell of her, the feel of her. He knew in that instant that she would drive him to distraction and distraction was the one thing he couldn’t afford, not now, not when the end was so close. He pulled his hand loose and she slid boneless to the ground. Squashing down any traces of sympathy he felt towards his unconscious bride, he took a step back.

“My Lord?” The voice was quiet, hesitant as he asked the question.

Spinning round to stare at Russell, Lucian snapped, “What?”

“You have fed?”

“Yes,” he responded abruptly.

“Then should we move on? The Malachites?”

Dark eyes turned to glance at the woman laying prone against the ground, an urge to help her rising within him. She’s a fire elemental. She’ll be fine. She’ll survive until my war is over and then…then I’ll come for her. The words meant to reassure him did little to that effect. “Fine, I’ll deal with the Malachites but I want you to stay here.”

“Why my Lord? Don’t you want me to help you?”

“What I want is for you to stay and watch over this woman until she wakes. No one is to harm her or disturb her rest.” His eyes flickered to the fangs protruding from Russell's mouth and a beast rose within him, determined to tear the man’s head from his shoulders. “And no one is to drink her either. She is to remain exactly as she is now. Completely untouched.”

“And if she doesn’t wake until after the sun rises?”

Then burn but watch over her. He shook his head to repel the thought. “Summon some of our humans and have them watch her in your stead but I don’t want her to see you. As soon as you’re sure she’s awake, come back.”

“Yes my Lord.”

Though it pained him, Lucian turned away from his unconscious bride, wiping her blood off his hand and onto his coat all the while resisting the urge to bring the cool skin to his mouth and lick it clean. And people wonder why I wear so much black, he scoffed. The blood doesn’t show. Although, if there were anyone whose blood I would wish to be covered in, it’s hers. I have more important things to deal with than a woman, even if she is mine. He forced his mind away from his bride’s delicious blood, leaping into the air and disappearing into the night. There was a war going on and one woman wasn’t going to change that.

~ * ~

A special thank you to Jennifer for taking time out for our interview. Don't miss you chance to chat with her live this Wednesday on Blog Talk Radio at 3:30pm Pacific Time. Set a reminder for the show on our channel here.

Now's your chance to enter the contest for a chance to win one of the three eBook copies of Seared by Desire. Leave us a comment along with your email address in the following format: parayournormalteam(at)gmail(dot)com. Good luck to everyone!