Thank you for joining us today, Claire. So tell me, what made you decide to become a writer?
I think I’ve always been a writer. From the time I was a child I was always interested in stories and telling them. I was an incessant reader—it was not uncommon for me to walk to school with my nose buried in a book. In fact, I used to sometimes resent times when I was not alone on my walk to school because then I wouldn’t be able to read. I would read in the bathroom, anywhere I could. The progression from reading fascinating tales to wanting to tell them seemed natural.
Who are some of your favorite authors and why?
Barbara Samuel (O’Neal), Anne McCaffrey, Nalini Singh, Marjorie Liu, Stephen King. It may be a disparate list, with some contemporary romance through to fantasy to paranormal and then horror but each of these writers has the ability to draw characters that, good or bad, you want to know more about.
If you could be any character in any book, who would it be and why?
I’d want to be a dragonrider. I used to tell tales of being a dragonrider long before I was writing them down. I used to write (in my head) and re-write ways to continue on the books, especially Dragonquest, long before Ms. McCaffrey put out more books.
Do you have any hobbies you would like to share?
Not really. I have a stressful day job and I am active in my chapter of Romance Writers of America, so that leaves me little time for anything else. When I had more time I was active in a local animal rescue group (Kitten Rescue) and still do things for the group from time to time. Not sure saving kitty lives is a “hobby” per se, but it’s the other thing I do when I’m not working or writing.
Tell me about your first kiss? Was it magical or not so magical?
Unfortunately not so magical! But I liked it and wanted to learn more, but not with that particular boy. I think I was twelve and didn’t understand the difference between liking a boy as a friend and LIKING a boy NOT as a friend. The next time was better (not with him).
Do you have another career besides writing? If so, what is it?
Yes, I have a day job at a major Hollywood studio doing contract/rights administration and window management. It keeps me busy but more importantly it pays the writing bills. I like my job and the great thing is that I deal with people whereas if I were writing all day, nothing but writing I fear I would become an ill-tempered hermit!
What’s an item on your bucket list that you haven’t done yet?
I have to put travel overall on that list. I did not care so much about travel when I was younger, I was too busy running around the Sunset Strip back in the day but now that I’ve set books in various places I want to see those places. Google and Internet searches have given me lots of great information—enough to describe the locations—but there’s nothing like seeing them. Rome would be first, and Italy overall, then on to some of the other places.
Tell us the best vacation you have ever been on.
GREECE! It is one of the few places I’ve gotten to and the islands are magical. I was not so taken with Athens, although the ruins are amazing, but the islands were someplace I could live and breathe happily. I was fascinated with Santorini from the time I was seventeen and had a crush on a Greek actor and seeing it was every bit as amazing as reading about it. What a history. What an island. I would happily go back a hundred times and visit all the other islands there. And some of the big cities too but it’s Santorini that captured my heart.
Where do you find the inspiration for your books?
Anywhere and everywhere. The History Channel or the Science Channel. Random snippets of conversation. Reading something online. A dream I had (that is yielded some of my favorite stories). Plot bunnies that others post. Usually what happens is that an idea gets caught in my head and it could be an hour later or weeks later when a story plotline bursts forth. Of course I’m a pantser so sometimes it’s a sentence and the story rolls out from there.
Is there anything else you would like to share with your fans?
I love to hear from people so feel free to write me at www.clairedavon.com. Thank you for having some fun with me here today!
Tell me about your first kiss? Was it magical or not so magical?
Unfortunately not so magical! But I liked it and wanted to learn more, but not with that particular boy. I think I was twelve and didn’t understand the difference between liking a boy as a friend and LIKING a boy NOT as a friend. The next time was better (not with him).
Do you have another career besides writing? If so, what is it?
Yes, I have a day job at a major Hollywood studio doing contract/rights administration and window management. It keeps me busy but more importantly it pays the writing bills. I like my job and the great thing is that I deal with people whereas if I were writing all day, nothing but writing I fear I would become an ill-tempered hermit!
What’s an item on your bucket list that you haven’t done yet?
I have to put travel overall on that list. I did not care so much about travel when I was younger, I was too busy running around the Sunset Strip back in the day but now that I’ve set books in various places I want to see those places. Google and Internet searches have given me lots of great information—enough to describe the locations—but there’s nothing like seeing them. Rome would be first, and Italy overall, then on to some of the other places.
Tell us the best vacation you have ever been on.
GREECE! It is one of the few places I’ve gotten to and the islands are magical. I was not so taken with Athens, although the ruins are amazing, but the islands were someplace I could live and breathe happily. I was fascinated with Santorini from the time I was seventeen and had a crush on a Greek actor and seeing it was every bit as amazing as reading about it. What a history. What an island. I would happily go back a hundred times and visit all the other islands there. And some of the big cities too but it’s Santorini that captured my heart.
Where do you find the inspiration for your books?
Anywhere and everywhere. The History Channel or the Science Channel. Random snippets of conversation. Reading something online. A dream I had (that is yielded some of my favorite stories). Plot bunnies that others post. Usually what happens is that an idea gets caught in my head and it could be an hour later or weeks later when a story plotline bursts forth. Of course I’m a pantser so sometimes it’s a sentence and the story rolls out from there.
Is there anything else you would like to share with your fans?
I love to hear from people so feel free to write me at www.clairedavon.com. Thank you for having some fun with me here today!
Shifting Auras Blurb:
Maya Wingfield was raised to trust no one—least of all the dueling U.S. and Russian paranormal agencies, Universe and Night Stars, who’d love to harness her mind-reading gift. She thought Richmond a safe place to escape their influence and hide from a rising psychic malevolence that drove her out of San Diego. But when she gets yet another call to retrieve her drunken roommate, her mind shows her an amber-eyed Universe operative with an impenetrable net around his deepest secret—and a voice that sends shock waves of awareness down her nerve endings.
Maya’s curves and aquamarine eyes aren’t the only things that jolt Ian Sanderson’s mental shields, bringing sexual tension thrumming back to life. It’s a power his Universe-trained mind knows he shouldn’t trust. And a vulnerability that makes his telekinetic power burn in his palms to protect her.
But to Universe, she is just one of too many unanswered questions. A target for Whisper, a shadowy new group of paranormals with powers beyond anything Universe has ever seen. Once before, Ian failed to protect a sensitive from a brain-scrambling attack. He will not fail again . . . if it means using his talent—or his body—to stop a bullet.
Excerpt from Shifting Auras:
Maya felt a gathering of minds, but one in particular pulsed across her mental landscape. She’d felt that mind before in the chaos of San Diego. Then, as now, it had a seductive quality, coupled with raw energy. Its power was every bit as strong now as it was then. She wanted to turn and run, but her roommate was weaving on unsteady feet to the back of the warehouse where three men were standing in a loose semi-circle. Their minds had an expectant air.
Maya focused on the men. The aura of the man in the middle glowed with a white-hot light that screamed of danger. It was the same mind signature from San Diego. The duo faded into the background compared to this man. She wanted to turn and run but found herself moving toward the men in Bobbie’s wake.
“I brought her,” Bobbie said, half slurring and stumbling forward.
Maya blinked as calm settled over her, stilling her movements and bringing her to a stop.
“You did well,” the startlingly handsome man in the middle said.
Maya picked up the name in her mind. Oriel.
It was all going to be okay. There was nothing to worry about. She could trust this man.
The soothing murmur flowed over Maya, and she relaxed into it, taking one more step forward. Bobbie lurched to a halt in front of Oriel and turned her gaze toward the man to his right, who clamped a hand on her arm and drew her back.
“Come closer, mishka. There is nothing to fear.”
Of course there wasn’t. Maya raised her arms and turned her hands, palms toward the ceiling. She wanted to touch him. The man nodded in response, acknowledging her reaction as his due.
Of course it was. He was Oriel, after all. Even though she didn’t know him, she did know him. He was nobody to fear.
“Randy, please take Bobbie over there. We should not be disturbed.”
One of the men, a balding man of average height, showed Bobbie to the back of the warehouse. The third man stayed where he was, arms folded. Security or hired muscle, more than likely. Maya tried to read his mind and got images of guns and snarling dogs, of plunging through underbrush and gun battles. He was military of some sort. It didn’t matter. She focused on Oriel again. He was what counted. She couldn’t read his mind. He was like a piece of plastic. Every effort she made just slid off. All she got was that he was trustworthy.
A distant part of her knew this wasn’t normal, but as soon as the thought flowed into her head it was gone again.
His presence was as radiant as the sun. She wanted to bask in his glowing bright, royal-blue aura. She almost wanted to shield her eyes against him but instead moved toward him, her strides quickening as she got closer.
The door banged open behind her, echoing loud in the cavernous room.
“Maya, stop.”
***
“She’s on the move. Hurry, Brit.”
Ian raced toward the door and yanked it open without touching it. His hands glowed in the centers, his talent surging to the forefront. Ian focused, keeping his telekinetic power at the ready.
Ian had only seen the dangerous Russian operative Oriel in surveillance video until now. Oriel was at the back of the warehouse, facing the door. Maya was about five feet from him, an expression of adoration on her face. It matched Bobbie’s face as well as the Night Stars operative Ian knew as Randy.
Damn it. They’d been warned that Oriel was a new breed of talent called a dazzler, but he hadn’t yet made any moves on their people in Richmond. Now Ian realized that was because he was waiting for the right time.
This, apparently, was that time. The right time and the right woman. Maya was moving toward Oriel, her steps plodding.
“Maya, stop,” he said, his voice a combination of fear and anger. To his relief, the sensitive paused.
Maya tensed, her body wound tight on invisible strings. Bloody hell, he wished he were a sensitive at that moment. He needed to know what she was thinking and if he should get her out or take her down. He should have dealt with this back at the motel. Bollocks.
“I must go to him,” she said. Her tone suggested the words made sense.
“No, you do not,” he cried. The expression Maya turned on him was devoid of emotion. Then he saw a flicker, and her mouth twitched. Her face twisted with some internal struggle. Good. Perhaps she had the strength to fight the effects of Oriel’s dazzling.
Bobbie was off to one side, with Randy behind her, holding her shoulder. Ian raised his voice and aimed it at Randy. “Still being Oriel’s dogsbody, are you?”
Oriel’s chuckle rolled through the warehouse, the sound echoing off the aluminum walls and ceiling. There was something hypnotic in the laugh, and he felt an urge to let go of his concern and join the man.
Oriel pierced Ian with his amber eyes and waggled a finger at him. The urge to move forward surged through Ian.
“Zared, I could use a little help,” he said into his watch.
All at once there was a clap of thunder, a streak of lightning, and loud thumps on the metal roof. Hail. It was one of Zared’s specialties. Zared had remained outside, where Oriel’s dazzling couldn’t reach him. Ian wasn’t sure how long he could hold out. It had been a mistake to do this without more backup. He assessed the large room in a quick sweep and smiled. This place, which appeared to be an empty storage facility, had weapons. Focusing on a hammer, Ian shifted it slightly.
Maya’s eyes went to Bobbie, and a crease formed across the ridge of her brow bone. She shook her head, Oriel’s dazzle apparently fading when the hail struck the roof.
“Bobbie, why?”
Maya Wingfield was raised to trust no one—least of all the dueling U.S. and Russian paranormal agencies, Universe and Night Stars, who’d love to harness her mind-reading gift. She thought Richmond a safe place to escape their influence and hide from a rising psychic malevolence that drove her out of San Diego. But when she gets yet another call to retrieve her drunken roommate, her mind shows her an amber-eyed Universe operative with an impenetrable net around his deepest secret—and a voice that sends shock waves of awareness down her nerve endings.
Maya’s curves and aquamarine eyes aren’t the only things that jolt Ian Sanderson’s mental shields, bringing sexual tension thrumming back to life. It’s a power his Universe-trained mind knows he shouldn’t trust. And a vulnerability that makes his telekinetic power burn in his palms to protect her.
But to Universe, she is just one of too many unanswered questions. A target for Whisper, a shadowy new group of paranormals with powers beyond anything Universe has ever seen. Once before, Ian failed to protect a sensitive from a brain-scrambling attack. He will not fail again . . . if it means using his talent—or his body—to stop a bullet.
Excerpt from Shifting Auras:
Maya felt a gathering of minds, but one in particular pulsed across her mental landscape. She’d felt that mind before in the chaos of San Diego. Then, as now, it had a seductive quality, coupled with raw energy. Its power was every bit as strong now as it was then. She wanted to turn and run, but her roommate was weaving on unsteady feet to the back of the warehouse where three men were standing in a loose semi-circle. Their minds had an expectant air.
Maya focused on the men. The aura of the man in the middle glowed with a white-hot light that screamed of danger. It was the same mind signature from San Diego. The duo faded into the background compared to this man. She wanted to turn and run but found herself moving toward the men in Bobbie’s wake.
“I brought her,” Bobbie said, half slurring and stumbling forward.
Maya blinked as calm settled over her, stilling her movements and bringing her to a stop.
“You did well,” the startlingly handsome man in the middle said.
Maya picked up the name in her mind. Oriel.
It was all going to be okay. There was nothing to worry about. She could trust this man.
The soothing murmur flowed over Maya, and she relaxed into it, taking one more step forward. Bobbie lurched to a halt in front of Oriel and turned her gaze toward the man to his right, who clamped a hand on her arm and drew her back.
“Come closer, mishka. There is nothing to fear.”
Of course there wasn’t. Maya raised her arms and turned her hands, palms toward the ceiling. She wanted to touch him. The man nodded in response, acknowledging her reaction as his due.
Of course it was. He was Oriel, after all. Even though she didn’t know him, she did know him. He was nobody to fear.
“Randy, please take Bobbie over there. We should not be disturbed.”
One of the men, a balding man of average height, showed Bobbie to the back of the warehouse. The third man stayed where he was, arms folded. Security or hired muscle, more than likely. Maya tried to read his mind and got images of guns and snarling dogs, of plunging through underbrush and gun battles. He was military of some sort. It didn’t matter. She focused on Oriel again. He was what counted. She couldn’t read his mind. He was like a piece of plastic. Every effort she made just slid off. All she got was that he was trustworthy.
A distant part of her knew this wasn’t normal, but as soon as the thought flowed into her head it was gone again.
His presence was as radiant as the sun. She wanted to bask in his glowing bright, royal-blue aura. She almost wanted to shield her eyes against him but instead moved toward him, her strides quickening as she got closer.
The door banged open behind her, echoing loud in the cavernous room.
“Maya, stop.”
***
“She’s on the move. Hurry, Brit.”
Ian raced toward the door and yanked it open without touching it. His hands glowed in the centers, his talent surging to the forefront. Ian focused, keeping his telekinetic power at the ready.
Ian had only seen the dangerous Russian operative Oriel in surveillance video until now. Oriel was at the back of the warehouse, facing the door. Maya was about five feet from him, an expression of adoration on her face. It matched Bobbie’s face as well as the Night Stars operative Ian knew as Randy.
Damn it. They’d been warned that Oriel was a new breed of talent called a dazzler, but he hadn’t yet made any moves on their people in Richmond. Now Ian realized that was because he was waiting for the right time.
This, apparently, was that time. The right time and the right woman. Maya was moving toward Oriel, her steps plodding.
“Maya, stop,” he said, his voice a combination of fear and anger. To his relief, the sensitive paused.
Maya tensed, her body wound tight on invisible strings. Bloody hell, he wished he were a sensitive at that moment. He needed to know what she was thinking and if he should get her out or take her down. He should have dealt with this back at the motel. Bollocks.
“I must go to him,” she said. Her tone suggested the words made sense.
“No, you do not,” he cried. The expression Maya turned on him was devoid of emotion. Then he saw a flicker, and her mouth twitched. Her face twisted with some internal struggle. Good. Perhaps she had the strength to fight the effects of Oriel’s dazzling.
Bobbie was off to one side, with Randy behind her, holding her shoulder. Ian raised his voice and aimed it at Randy. “Still being Oriel’s dogsbody, are you?”
Oriel’s chuckle rolled through the warehouse, the sound echoing off the aluminum walls and ceiling. There was something hypnotic in the laugh, and he felt an urge to let go of his concern and join the man.
Oriel pierced Ian with his amber eyes and waggled a finger at him. The urge to move forward surged through Ian.
“Zared, I could use a little help,” he said into his watch.
All at once there was a clap of thunder, a streak of lightning, and loud thumps on the metal roof. Hail. It was one of Zared’s specialties. Zared had remained outside, where Oriel’s dazzling couldn’t reach him. Ian wasn’t sure how long he could hold out. It had been a mistake to do this without more backup. He assessed the large room in a quick sweep and smiled. This place, which appeared to be an empty storage facility, had weapons. Focusing on a hammer, Ian shifted it slightly.
Maya’s eyes went to Bobbie, and a crease formed across the ridge of her brow bone. She shook her head, Oriel’s dazzle apparently fading when the hail struck the roof.
“Bobbie, why?”
Follow Claire on Social Media:
Claire's website is www.clairedavon.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ClaireDavon
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bibimarlowe
**********************************************
Carly Jordynn is the author of young adult, new adult, and middle grade fiction. Look for Carly's newest release on June 26th with the final book of the Sasha Bishop Paranormal series, The Return. Follow Carly on social media.
Thanks for having me! My Facebook is https://www.facebook.com/ClaireDavonindieauthor/ if anyone wants to find me there.
ReplyDelete