EMOTIONAL INVOLVEMENT by Sascha Illyvich

Getting into the head of your characters is a topic we've all dealt with, read about in spades and had shoved down our throats until we're choking on the vileness that is those very words, right? Well, yes and no. The question I'd have is how far are you willing to go in order to get in touch with your character? What if your character is the opposite gender?

We've covered cross gender writing before, particularly if you've taken my class. I talk about the basic stuff in terms of getting to really know your character but what I usually gloss over is just how deep YOU the AUTHOR will go, what lengths will you go to in order to craft a deeply emotional character that readers can connect to.

Sure it's important to remember motivation but what gets tough is finding the motivation to save the hero or heroine when they're so hell bent on destruction that they can't find their way. Readers love jaded characters, JR Ward's sales (among others) are a testament to that. That's a case when some outside help is needed, usually in the form of a sidekick or best friend.

Or in my case, a second lover and a bottle. I possibly could have done without the bottle but the problem was with the story I recently sold to Red Sage, the character was an addict. Yeah, I went pretty far in my research to truly portray a jaded, wounded hero who needed more than just love. I'm in NO WAY suggesting you pick up vices or habits to dig into your characters heads, but to be fair I was in my early 20s when I started that story. My life was a chaotic mess and the music I listened to resonated deep within me. Writers seek all forms of inspiration, whether they know it or not, the subconscious plays a huge part in character creation.

The best way to remain objective to the voices in our heads is to get them on paper, bang them out then start asking the difficult questions. Why are you like this? What would fix it? How could we create the scenario given the world you're in that would allow you to realize the truth of romance?

That truth by the way is this: I love you so much more than the need to destroy myself.

Substitute 'destroy myself' with whatever behavior pattern your character (read, your hero) exhibits, then create that world and scenario. For Joséf in ENDANGERD, he hasn't learned the lesson in the first book, but he comes a step closer because of the way I chose to split the love he receives. Livía, his soul mate, gives attention to the demons in his heart, the ones who tell him he's not worth loving. Her female lover, Isabella, tends to the demons in his head. The ones that call him to go out in a Last Action Hero manner. She appeals to the logic in him.

To really make the impact and have you, the reader, root for the romance, non-traditional as it is, I had to dig into the core of fans who read ménage romances, and who enjoy and understand it from the paranormal perspective. This story meant a lot to me, and ten years later, it still does. So much so for both my career and my heart that I can't wait to share the beginning of Joséf's adventures with you, dear writer who happens to also read romance.

I'm hoping in the long run I can find something to pull me out of me, when I'm writing but the pre release reviews have been pretty positive, and I'm not sure I want to mess with that formula. For you however, the talented writer, understanding what motivates your audience outside of the typical desire to escape reality, will help you capture a writing formula that works for you.

Sascha Illyvich Bio:

Proclaimed by the Publishing industry as the Bad Boy of Romance, Sascha started writing fourteen years ago. His erotic romances have been listed under the Night Owl Romance and Road to Romance’s Recommended read list, and he's been nominated for a CAPA by The Romance Studio

Former host of The Unnamed Romance Show on Radio Dentata Sascha continues to write for Red Sage, Decadent Publishing, Sizzler Editions and Total E-bound. Find him at http://saschaillyvichauthor.com Agency Representation provided by The Corvisiero Agency

Editor for Sizzler Editions Intoxication Erotic Romance line, Sascha is also part of the WriteSex Panel, a blog group defining erotica for writers in any genre! Find us at http://www.write-sex.com

 

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I hope you will join my class titled

WHY KINK?

Hosted by

Fantasy-Futuristic & Paranormal Romance Writers

This Two Week class starts July 22, 2013

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WE OF THE CRAFT ARE ALL CRAZY

Author Viola Ryan

by Viola Ryan 

Poet Lord Byron once said, “We of the craft are all crazy. Some are affected by gaiety, others by melancholy, but all are more or less touched.” He should know. Lord Byron is the poster child for bipolar poets. Mood disorders, including bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic-depression, occur with a vastly higher frequency among creative people. Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison, a professor of psychology at Johns Hopkins Medical School, herself bipolar, wrote about this in Touched with Fire, Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament. 

Being diagnosed with any disorder is a terrifying experience. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in November 2004. I was just beginning to get back into writing after my kids started school full time. I was terrified what this meant for my future aspirations of being a writer. 

I took great comfort that the list of writers who are believed to have suffered from mood disorders included many of the people who inspired me to write, including many speculative fiction writers--Hans Christian Anderson, James Barrie, Samuel Clemens, Charles Dickens, Mary Shelley and Robert Louis Stevenson. Handel composed The Messiah in 24 days in a manic episode. Everyone is familiar with the mood swings of Van Gogh. What is remarkable is if you line up his paintings chronologically, you can witness these. His paintings are evidence of his moods.

 

When someone is manic, there brain scans light up. This is called the Christmas Tree brain. When neurons fire, the brain makes connections. Normally, a person makes connections between A, B and C. For a manic person, we have to make sense of A, B, C, M, Q, T and Z. This helps drive our creativity. 

Depression also affects creativity. We all have to make sense of the world. Mood disorders affect our perception of reality. That is the hardest part of being bipolar for me. It is hard enough to trust your own perception. When I am manic or depressed, I know my perception is off. It is hard to even know when I am manic or depressed. It took years of therapy for me to recognize the warning signs. The highs of mania and the lows of depression have to be reconciled with the times I am level. All this gives me an interesting perspective of the world and also drives creativity. 

When I was diagnosed, I was terrified what being medicated would do to my creativity. That list of amazing writers weren’t medicated. I came up with some wild ideas while I was manic. How could I write, if I couldn’t come up with ideas? What I was unable to see was I came up with amazing universes when I was manic and I could stay up and write for hours and hours, but what I wrote was unintelligible to others. These great ideas were impossible for others to follow since I jumped around a lot. 

I agreed to seek therapy and take medication because I didn’t want to hurt my family. If I lost my creativity, that was a price I was willing to pay. It would tear me apart, but nothing was more important than my children having a stable upbringing. 

What I didn’t realize was being medicated wasn’t going to kill my creativity. It made it so it was more accessible to others. Being medicated doesn’t mean I’m always level, though I joke I take drugs to prevent what others take drugs to feel. Being manic can be compared to being on crystal meth. Being medicated means my life is manageable and my highs aren’t so high and my lows aren’t so low. The times I am level is much greater. 

Years of therapy taught me how to use these to my benefit. When I am manic, I am big idea girl. I come up with some amazing things. I can’t write, since what I write will be so disjointed, but I can do mind maps and research. I love researching when I’m manic. Net surfing is a manic person’s paradise. I can surf from one thing to another. It is also a great time to read, since I get so obsessive, I shut out the world. Reading is an important part of writing. 

When I am depressed, I can’t write either. It goes beyond writer’s block. I have trouble remembering words or anything for that matter. Writing becomes an act in frustration. There are better ways to spend my time. The world slows down and I’m hypercritical. This is the perfect time to edit. 

Then when I am fairly level, I write. I take all those big ideas and edits and turn them into a book that others will enjoy.  

Thank you FF&P for having me. You are one of the important parts of my support network. Thanks to you, my debut book, The Mark of Abel, came out  December 2012, a full eight years after I was diagnosed and thought I would never be able to make my dream of being a published writer come true. 

 

 

 

Blurb for The Mark of Abel:

Lucifer is fed up with humanity. He created hell to deter evil but man’s inhumanity is only escalating. He just wants to return home to heaven and Eve, but ever since that little problem in the Garden of Eden, the Pearly Gates remain firmly shut to him. It doesn’t help that he’s the first vampire, an abomination in God’s sight.

Fortunately, two thousand years ago his estranged brother, Jesus, gave him a prophecy--The path back to heaven can be found in terrors in the night turned into art and transformed by divine wisdom. Seems simple enough. The artist even bears a symbol so he knows who she is. If only she would stop dying every time he finds her. 

Janie’s a frustrated artist and college art teacher who wants two things—a  guy she can show her paintings to and a night without nightmares. Each nightmare plagues her until she paints it. She doesn’t realize these paintings are key to unlocking her destiny, one that could redeem the original fallen angel.

 

Bio: A very good friend of Viola Ryan in high school said, “You don’t think outside the box. You blow the thing up.” Sometimes boxes need exploding. That’s why she’s here. She has a whole bag of C4 and isn’t afraid to use it. She’s blessed with people who treasure her eccentricities or at least put up with them. 

Sometimes the box can be a cozy place. Without some sort of stability, her two daughters’ and her life would be unmanageable. That stability comes from her husband. He’s the rock holding her family together. 

On the flip side, his career is anything but stable. He’s a Chief Marine Safety Technician in the US Coast Guard. They’ve lived from Kittery, Maine to Yorktown, Virginia. Fortunately, the moves have all been on the east coast. Then again, the Coast Guard tends to guard the coast. 

Her oldest daughter (15) was born on Cape Cod, not far from Plymouth. Massachusetts. Her youngest (11) was born in Yorktown, Virginia, down the road from Williamsburg. Viola jokes they’re doing the colonial America tour. 

You can find her at:

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FUN WITH ANIMAL FACTS:

author Isabo Kelly

Using Earth Biology to Create Otherworldly Creatures
by Isabo Kelly

As writers of paranormal, fantasy and science fiction romances, we spend a lot of time developing otherworldly creatures, be they supernatural or extra-terrestrial. But there’s no reason we need to stick to set parameters for these creations. (If readers required strict adherence to traditional myths, we wouldn’t have sparkly vampires.)  

With such rich and diverse examples of biology and behavior right here on Earth, we have a wealth of fun material to use. Incorporating real biology and real world behavior in your otherworldly creatures will not only add originality but bring those creations to believable life. 

Imagine a being that spends its entire life in the clouds—there are actually microbes that scientists believe live and breed in the clouds without ever settling on a solid surface or substrate (once thought to be essential to life). Perhaps your alien species requires a high pressure environment and if brought to a lower pressure setting would die, like so many deep sea creatures. Or perhaps they live at extraordinarily high or low temperatures and can’t survive outside these extremes. 

How about aliens whose breeding system is similar to the Anglerfish, where males are absorbed by females, becoming little more than vestigial lumps ready to release sperm when the female is ready to breed. Or forget sperm all together and use parthenogenesis—a breeding system where females’ eggs don’t require sperm in order to develop into a living embryo—and see what kind of interesting creature you can develop with that! (I love that word—parthenogenesis.) 

The strange and wondrous examples are plenty. Just a quick perusal of Earth biology will give you a myriad of things to incorporate into your creations. I recommend watching nature shows as a place to start. Then doing searches on the Internet for strange animal adaptations or behavior will give further helpful details. You can also find a number of books on interesting animal biology, such as Weird Life by David Toomey. Discovering the different ways life goes about its business here on Earth will provide whole hosts of possibilities for you. 

But I’m not suggesting you use the biological facts strictly. For example, in the science fiction television show, FARSCAPE, there was an alien species called the Delvians who looked humanoid but were actually plants and used photosynthesis to eat. Just because you find an interesting fact about how red-sided garter snakes form “mating balls” in which a female is swarmed by hundreds of males when she emerges from hibernation, doesn’t mean you have to give that trait to a were-snake species. Take that mating behavior and use it for your demons, for example. Or maybe your Fae can only reproduce if the females are swarmed by a multitude of males. Think of the plot possibilities! 

There are bacteria and fungi that live deep in the Earth’s crust and eat by synthesizing inorganic chemicals from the surrounding rocks. In my Naravan Chronicles series, I gave the native shape-shifting species on Narava a similar way of “feeding”—their cells pull the nutrients they need directly from the surrounding atmosphere, so when they’re in a shape other than their natural form, they can still eat. This way of feeding led to some complications that gave me great room to play with this species. 

In my short story, Mate Run, I gave my were-tigers the same background breeding issues that plague the Hawaiian monk seals—female numbers dropping for unexplained reasons, males so desperate to breed they gang up on females, sometimes killing them and making the situation even worse. Then I developed a solution to those problems that was unique to the were-tigers. Obviously seals and tigers are very different mammals with different behavior and biology. But I didn’t stick strictly to tiger biology when developing my were-tigers. Why? Because I didn’t have to. My world. My rules. 

One of the best things about writing in the FF&P genres is that we have such huge scope for our world-building. We don’t have to adhere to ancient myths or even parallel biology. In fact, the more unique you can make your otherworldly creations—without making them so strange humans can’t envision them!—the more interesting your worlds will be. Using things that really happen here on Earth will give you the needed authenticity while also providing a wealth of originality, creating otherworldly beings readers won’t be able to resist. 

So tell me, have you come across any strange animal facts that you’d love to use in your fiction? 

Isabo Kelly is the award-winning author of numerous science fiction, fantasy and paranormal romances. Before settling down to write full time, Isabo got her B.A. in Zoology with an emphasis on marine biology at University of Hawaii, Manoa and her Ph.D. in animal behavior from University College Dublin in Ireland. For more on Isabo and her books, visit her at www.isabokelly.com, follow her on Twitter @IsaboKelly or friend her on Facebook www.facebook.com/IsaboKelly

 

Nothing to Fear But Fear Itself by Nancy Gideon

What keeps a writer from taking that next step in their career?  Fear.  Whether you’re a newbie with that first work-in-progress or a bestseller looking for that next big hit, these six things can blow up into monstrous roadblocks at any point in your creative journey. 

Fear of Commitment

There’s safety in the process of writing for yourself.  No pressure to produce or perform, just the pleasure of puttering with words and calling yourself a writer.  Constantly researching, always rewriting, switching from one Oh Shiny! project to the next.  But never finishing, never submitting.  Sometimes, that’s enough, and that’s okay. Writing is a wonderful, cathartic pastime.  But an author has to be willing to make the jump to Not as a Hobby status in the eyes of the IRS.  Make a commitment to a critique partner, to a contest, to yourself.  Go for PRO status. And get it out there.  Welcome to being an author!

Fear of Not Being Ready

It’s that constant nagging insecurity that keeps you circling instead of moving forward.  Just another quick read through.  Maybe it should be a comedy instead of a mystery.  Maybe it should be in first person. First person is real popular now.  I should take a class on the Hero’s Journey and wait until I have 3,000 friends on Facebook. Maybe I should throw in a Highlander or a vampire.  There comes a point when you’re not making it better, you’re just making it different. It’s time to let go and trust yourself.  Put the vampire Highlander in your next book.

Fear of Competition

It’s a dog eat dog world. You tell yourself you’ll never be a Nora or Tami or Agatha or Dean. No, you won’t be. You’re not in competition with them.  You  are your only competition.  There’s always room for another good book – especially in this new e-volution. You’re not fighting with other writers to take their spot. You’re making a spot for yourself by writing the best book you can . . . and getting it out there. Stop looking around and look toward your own future.

Fear of Exposure

Yes, someone out there is not going to like what you write.  I guarantee it.  They will write a bad review. Someone is going to be offended that you have sex in your book.  Someone is going to look down their nose because you published a romance or self-published or used a semi-colon. It’s not personal.  You are NOT your product.  We fear ridicule.  We avoid criticism. It’s in our nature.  And when you publish, you have your baby out in front of the world and some will say it’s ugly.  You can’t do anything about that, but you can choose not to be intimidated.  You can write under a pseudonym.  You don’t have to read reviews. Remind yourself it’s just one person’s opinion and they’re entitled to it. Just don’t hide your light under a basket. Be proud of that accomplishment the majority of our society wishes they could claim. You’re an author.

Fear of Failure

Not everyone makes The Times list.  Not everyone wins a contest. Not everyone gets a 5 Star or even a 4 Star review. Not everyone sells that first, second, third or thirtieth book. Does not making that list, that number, that sale make you less of a person, less of a critique partner, less of a writer? No. Look at those other would be failures out there.  Tom Clancy.  Thomas Edison. J.K. Rowling. Failure is when you give up on the chance of success. That’s when the door closes on your dream. Don’t forget to rejoice in the goals you have reached.

Fear of Success

On the flipside, sometimes the thing you fear most is attaining what you’ve worked for.  That Second Book syndrome.  I’ve sold.  I’m an author.  I’m at the top.  Now what?  How can I match or perpetuate that success?  Am I prepared for the pressure, the deadlines, the interviews, the loss of personal time and space, the tours and obligations? There’s comfort in anonymity, but when you’re in the spotlight, there’s no place to hide.  Think about how you’d handle that success you dream of.  Be prepared for the call up from the minors to play in the Show so you can enjoy it if it happens. When it happens.

It all comes down to taking a determined step of faith a la Indiana Jones, trusting that the path will be there to support you.  Faith in yourself, in your talent, and in your dreams even when you have no control over the outcome. No risk, no reward. Don’t look down.  Don’t look to others. Rather look ahead, or better yet, upward.  And reach.

Nancy Gideon is the award winning author of over 54 romances ranging from historical, regency and series contemporary suspense to paranormal, with a couple of horror screenplays tossed into the mix.  She works full time as a legal assistant, and when not at the keyboard, feeds a Netflix addiction along with all things fur, fin and fowl. Her latest release, PRINCE OF SHADOWS, book 8 in her dark paranormal “By Moonight” series for Pocket Books, is now available as an e-exclusive.Visit Nancy at http://nancygideon.com or http://nancygideon.blogspot.com.

PRINCE OF SHADOWS by Nancy Gideon

Pocket Star / 5-27-13

Held hostage until she chooses a mate, Kendra Terriot must play a careful courtship game when choosing from among the dangerous Shifter heirs. As a prince in the House of Terriot, Cale knows with Kendra at his side he can be the leader his clan needs, but first he must learn to become the kind of man she desires. In a treacherous race for the crown, where weakness means death, to prove he’s not the beast his gentle beauty fears, the only way to win her trust could mean surrendering his throne. But the only way to win her heart could mean letting her go.

 

RESOLVING A LOVE TRIANGLE by Christa McHugh

Love Triangles – readers either love them or hate them. Yet they are very popular plot devices in both paranormal romances and young adult romances. If you’re thinking about including one in your next story, you need to consider how you’re going to resolve it in the end (unless you write ménage where a threesome is allowed, at which point you’re sitting pretty).

The first trick is to make the relationships worthy of being a good, tension evoking love triangle. For example, if Mary Sue has both Leo the Loser and Adam the Alpha Male chasing after her, it’s pretty obvious which one’s the better catch, and there’s no suspense involved with guessing which one she’ll choose. You have to create partners with both positive attributes and flaws. There’s a reason why Archie can never decide between Betty and Veronica – because they’re both awesome girls! You want readers to be divided into Team A and Team B. You want your protagonist to be torn between both lovers because it creates conflict, and conflict is part of good story-telling.

Next, you have to think about how it will be resolved. Sometimes, there’s one person left in the cold while the happy couple rides off into the sunset (like poor Walter in Sleepless in Seattle). Sometimes, there’s information revealed that makes one part of the triangle no longer appropriate (like Leia finding out that Luke’s her brother – after she kissed him). Sometimes, one person dies/moves away/leaves the picture/starts anew someplace far, far away, thus removing himself from the picture.

And sometimes, there’s a satisfying HEA for everyone… so long as the rejected party doesn’t imprint on his former love interest’s child.

Most of us who have written love triangles know which hero and heroine will get the HEA. We write our stories by planting both clues and red herrings along the way, ramping up the conflict until the very end when we’re forced to resolve the love triangle (or have all three hop into bed together for the grand climax – those lucky ménage writers). And we hope are readers are happy with the outcome and not left going, “Why the hell did she choose him??!!!”

What are some of your favorite love triangles? How did they end (or are they still on-going)?

About Crista:

Crista McHugh is a multiple award-winning author of fantasy and paranormal romance. She currently lives in the Audi-filled suburbs of Seattle with her husband and two children, maintaining her alter ego of mild-mannered physician by day while she continues to pursue writing on nights and weekends.

Find Crista online at:

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What Defines You? By Bonnie R. Paulson

    

They give you surveys with questions like "What are your hobbies or interests?"  and "What is your favorite ____ (Fill in the blank)?"

They try to peg you into a demographic based on age, color of skin, gender, religion, shopping interests, and reading preferences.  They pinhole you into a tax bracket, a health rating, a job or career, education level, or worse.

Who is they, you ask? They is anyone trying to get to know you. When you sit down with a new person who doesn’t have a history with you, what do they ask? What do you ask?

The standards, right?

What do you do? Do you have kids? Siblings? Where are you from? Do you do anything for fun? Interests?

I know why people do this, why I do this, but I wonder if it’s really effective in getting to know the heart of a person – the soul.

Oh, sorry, I ask these questions because I’m looking for something in common, something interesting, something I can relate to. Because we all want to be alike somehow. It makes it easier to feel safe.

But do you want to know the man sitting across from you on the bus? Do you want to know his interests to know him or to know you’re safe?  Do you want to know he’s a vampire secretly plotting the devouring of the girl next to you? Or would you prefer to just know his favorite color, because that’s safe?

Better yet, let’s take the focus off others. What would you like people to know about you? Is it enough that they know your ethnicity? Is that you? Your favorite food? Color? Football team? What about the music you like or the movies you watch? Is that you?

In the comments, I’d like to know the three words (three words ONLY) that you feel define who you are. The three words that you would be comfortable having etched into your tombstone or your obituary. Three words that YOU define yourself with – not others. So no cheating and turning to your co-worker and asking what they think.

How do you define yourself? And, most importantly, would it make others feel safe? *wink*

My three words: Mom, wife, friend.   

I think they define me without extra words needed. But if I got a fourth, I’d claim dirt bike fan or food lover. Because that’s how I roll!

Thank you so much for having me today. Please do comment below. I would love to see how you see yourself.

Check out my back cover blurb from Out of the Ashes – the final book in my Into the End series. It’s crazily fun!

America can rise, but the cost is high.

Traumatized by previous exposure to her own tests, Dr. Rachel Parker has to complete the methodical steps she swore would never see the light of day… on herself. Her sister, Brenda Krous, may be the only one capable of pulling her through intact.

If they can accomplish the feat and find resolution together, the answers they discover can help the rest of America rise up and reclaim itself from the protection of destruction.

But a nation’s fall has a time frame and pride can get in the way. Rachel and Brenda must find what they need in each other to conquer the fear in others.

http://bonnierpaulson.com

Trust is a Universal Need by Cathryn Cade

Hi, I'm Cathryn Cade. I write sci fi and contemporary paranormal romance. This means my heroines encounter some pretty weird and wonderful situations, beings and villains.

However, it does not mean they escape the same needs as heroines in every sub-genre of romance. We women want a strong hero to watch our back while we battle the malign forces of the universe, whether a boss, a teenager or a slimy, multi-jawed alien who wants to feed us to her young. 

We want the emotional and financial security of a home in which to make a family—whatever that looks like—a cabin in the woods, a beach house or a rickety space station. We want a rockin', sexy courtship on the way there, in which our hero proves that not only does he have our back, he also has our front; enough that he'll continue to desire us through child-bearing, broken household appliances and the stress of dual careers. We want a man we can trust.

These are the themes of contemporary romance. We get that, because we live it.

Add the wonderful weirdness of sci fi/paranormal and the game changes … or does it?

I think Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle put it best when she said romance is universally about  ' … flawed, emotionally vulnerable heroes and heroines who … must find a way to deal with their natural conflicts so that a new family can be founded and civilization will be saved. These values survive and endure because they are core survival values for our species, affirmed anew for each generation in (romance).'

Yeah, Jayne! Tell it. 'Cause now we're to the fun part.

In sci fi/paranormal it's a given that our plucky heroine is going to have to wade through some pretty horrendous trials, BUT (and it’s a big one) she also gets to marshal some awesome powers and allies to help her! Juxtaposed with the universal trials of romance, this can lead to some amazing and sometimes downright funny situations.

Castle's famed dust bunnies ride around on her futuristic heroines' shoulders, cute little balls of fluff until their mistresses are threatened. Like they say, 'by the time you see the teeth, it's too late'. Wish we all had one of those. Who can you trust if not a beloved pet?

However, Castle's heroines still have to deal with heroes. Trust a sexy alpha ghost hunter to settle down to hearth and home? Yikes.

Trust is a universal issue for women, magnified by paranormal issues. Hard enough to trust a big strong human male to play nice during that first intimate encounter.

Vampires, shifters, aliens and super-heroes, the men of sci fi/paranormal have the daunting habit of revealing a little something extra when they take off their clothing. When he suddenly bares extra long fangs, claws or some mind-bending super-power and growls that he'd like to penetrate our heroine with those too? Holy heck!

In my Hawaiian Heroes series, the Ho'omalu family has been tasked by the goddess Pele herself with protecting her islands from those who would bring harm. To do this, she's gifted them with powers stemming from the islands, the sea and sky.

Burning up the Rain, Hawaiian Heroes Bk 4

Her powers could save her island…or bring their love crashing down.

Despite her successful career, Lalei Kai-Ho’omalu has always considered herself mere decoration in a dynamic Hawaiian family, with none of their powerful gifts. Destined for life as a useless, upper-crust Honolulu wife. Then Lalei acts on her sizzling attraction to a guest at her cousin’s island wedding, making him a bold offer he can’t refuse. A no-strings, no-holds-barred affair on Nawea Bay with the sexy Hawaiian beauty is just the break California Realtor Jack Nord needs from his fast-paced career—and an inner darkness he’d like to forget. Just for a while.

Their very public liaison is the shocking declaration of independence Lalei intended—with unintended consequences. Stirred to anger by developers set on carving her family’s unspoiled ancestral lands into a resort, Lalei discovers she has the supernatural power to stop them. But when Jack learns his lover can bring down the rain and throw bolts of lightning, whose side will he take? The money-making machine? Or the woman born to protect her island home?

http://www.cathryncade.com
http://www.facebook.com/cathryncade.author