Interview with Susan Krinard & Giveaway - July 19, 2011

Please welcome Susan Krinard to The Qwillery.

TQ:  What would you say is your most interesting writing quirk?

Susan:  I've never thought that I have a particular quirk or ritual unique to me. When I'm not under a tight deadline, I like to "warm up" by reading a few of my favorite blogs before I settle down to work. But when I'm on a tight deadline, as I am right now, I have to give that up. Right now I'm going to the gym early (7-8 a.m.) to do aqua aerobics or elliptical and weights, which really gives me more energy to get going (which is always a little hard for me.) My best writing time is between 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

TQ: Are you a plotter or a pantster?

Susan:  Normally, a plotter. I'd usually be working from an outline anywhere from twenty to forty pages long. I would have motives worked out, major plot points, etc. but always allow myself the option to change things as needed according to what I "learn" during the actual writing.

However, with the book I'm currently working on--an urban fantasy for Tor Books named Mist (due out in October 2012)--I did not have time to do any of those things. As a result, most of what I'm doing is largely made up as I go along, which I find much more difficult. For instance, the character's motives were not completely clear to me until I'd written more than half the book! It's interesting to do, and sometimes it's amazing what can come up along the way, but it also takes me much more time since when I finally figure out where the plot and characters should be going, I have to go back and fix everything up to that point. This has required a huge chunk of time, and put me behind schedule. So I'd still prefer to do most plotting/characterization/motivation up front, but loosely enough so that I can change as necessary or better ideas crop up.

TQ:  What inspired you to write about werewolves?

Susan:  My love of wolves. I've always felt strongly about wolves and their right to live in at least some of the habitats they originally claimed, and I was always very bothered by fairy tales and stories and novels in which the wolves were the bad guys ... which was most of the time. I also came from a strong SF/Fantasy background, so when I first set out to write a romance novel--little knowing what I was doing--I chose to write about "non-cursed" werewolves, beings who could shift shape at will and embodied the good qualities in wolves instead of being ravening killers. I believe I was actually the first romance author (back in the early 90's) to feature this kind of werewolf, though there may have been one or two who did the cursed kind earlier.

TQ:  How do you choose the time period and setting for your werewolf novels?

Susan:  I love variety. For a while I did contemporary, then (after other kinds of paranormal romance) I switched to historical, particularly Victorian England and the American West. Victorian England is interesting because it provides such a vivid contrast between the very civilized setting and the wild, dangerous werewolf nature held in check. And the Wild West is a perfect background for werewolf stories. I've always loved Western movies, so it's quite easy to create a new "movie" in my mind and fall into the rhythm of life in those times. A werewolf in the Old West doesn't have to work as hard at hiding himself!

TQ:  What sort of research did you do for Code of the Wolf?

Susan:  I did research on the Quakers of that time. There were already several "sects" of Quakers, some very strict, some more liberal, and some that became much more "evangelical" and not much different from other churches of that time. I chose the middle ground, inspired by the movie Friendly Persuasion. I "made up" the Quaker settlements in Texas, but there didn't seem to be any reason such settlements couldn't have existed then.

TQ:  Without giving anything away, what is/are your favorite scene(s) in Code of the Wolf?

Susan:  I like the early scenes where Jacob is in the clutches of the outlaw villains and Serenity rescues him. I love beating up my heroes, and I love strong heroines who are physically capable of saving the hero's life. I also enjoy lots of conflict, so the suspicion with which Serenity regards Jacob at the beginning provides lots of fodder for the kind of emotional intensity I really enjoy.

TQ:  In Code of the Wolf, who was the most difficult character to write and why? The easiest and why?

Susan:  Serenity was definitely the hardest. She is so conflicted, so torn between her fears and her attraction to a man she knows is dangerous, her hatred and her love. I had to work hard to try and get the right balance, showing that she'd been more than a little embittered by her experiences but not letting her become unlikeable. I hope I succeeded! One of the things that's really important to me as an author is to make my characters like real people, with all the complexity of real people.

The easiest? Jacob. He just fell right into place, and I'd already introduced him in a previous novel, Bride of the Wolf. I tried to make him easy-going and at the same time dangerous, reluctant to show his passions and get involved but a deeply good man underneath the skin--and the fur.

TQ:  Who should play Jacob Constantine and Serenity Campbell if Code of the Wolf becomes a movie?

Susan:  Hugh Jackman can play any of my characters anytime! Seriously, though I didn't think of Hugh while writing Jacob, I wouldn't turn him down! Another actor I'd like--though you'd have to dye his hair--is Daniel Craig. He has the tough look about him, but can project quiet strength. Like Jacob, he doesn't have anything to prove to anyone, so he doesn't have to act tough. (Saw him the trailer for Cowboys and Aliens, and yup, he could do it ....) Frankly, I usually see mature men when I write my characters, not the kind of "pretty boys" you see so much of these days in movies. My guy has to be a little rugged, a little worn. Going back to old-time actors, someone like Gregory Peck would work very well.

Serenity? That's a tough one. I'm not as up on modern actresses. She has the wrong color hair (again) but Keira Knightly could do it. She has a certain fragile toughness. Again, wrong color hair, but Ashley Judd would be good. What I wouldn't want is one of those urban sex-and-the-city blonde types, who hold no appeal for me. A very young Barbara Stanwyck could do it!

TQ:  How many additional werewolf novels are planned?

Susan:  Unfortunately, I will probably no longer be writing single-title werewolf
romances. My former publisher, HQN, decided to let me go, and I have no other romance publisher at this time. While I will be writing the short Nocturne books for Harlequin--a vampire series set in an alternate present-day Earth--I am also concentrating on fantasy, such as my urban fantasy for Tor.

TQ:  What's next?

Susan:  I'm especially excited about Mist. One of the things I've always striven for is not to cover the same territory everyone else has covered. It's impossible not to have a lot of overlap, no matter what you write, but I try to be a little different. For Mist, I decided to use Norse mythology ... the same kind you might have seen in the recent movie Thor. My heroine is a Valkyrie--one of the warrior women who swept dead heroes off the battlefield to live with the gods in Valhalla--who has been living on Earth for several thousand years, guarding an ancient treasure given to her by Thor's father, Odin, ruler of the gods. She believes all the gods and their enemies were destroyed in the last battle called Ragnarok, which was to have ended the old world and begun a new paradise of peace and plenty. But obviously that didn't happen, and when an evil Frost Giant shows up in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park ready to kill her for the treasure, she knows nothing she believes was true.

The main male protagonist is an elf who had also been exiled to Earth before Ragnarok. He's come to recruit Mist into the new war that's coming, and to reveal a shocking secret about her heritage that will change everything for her and the world. Dainn's got his own baggage, including a problem that bears quite a bit of similarity to the traditional werewolf curse. There is a strong romance, but it will be spread throughout three books instead of being completed in one.

TQ:  Thank you for joining us at The Qwillery

Susan:  Thanks for inviting me!


About Susan's 19th Century Werewolf* Books

Touch of the Wolf

19th Century Werewolf 1
(Bantam, October 5, 1999)

His heart could be captured--but his passion could never be tamed....

From the acclaimed author of Prince of Shadows and Body and Soul comes the first novel in a powerful new trilogy, the story of a noble clan whose elegance belies a savage secret--and a man who will stop at nothing to preserve his family's dynasty forevermore--.

Braden Forster, Earl of Greyburn, has devoted his life to restoring the purity of his clan's werewolf blood. He spent years searching in vain for a distant American cousin, a woman whose pure wolf bloodline is a vital link in his family's heritage. Braden had thought Cassidy Holt was lost forever--until she appeared one rainy night on the steps of his London mansion...her raven hair in disarray, her skin scented with sunlight and sagebrush. As Braden whisks young Cassidy to his family's secluded country estate, both can sense their undeniable attraction. But Cassidy soon learns that they can never satisfy their mutual passion; Braden has already betrothed her to another. Her only hope of claiming the one man she'll always love is to unravel the dark and lustful secrets of his past--.

Once a Wolf

19th Century Werewolf 2
(Bantam, July 5, 2000)

His love was wild...  his soul untamed...  his touch forbidden....

From acclaimed author Susan Krinard comes the second novel in a magnificent trilogy of a powerful clan whose sensual legacy is cloaked in secrecy-and a beautiful woman kidnapped by an outlaw whose forbidden embrace could reveal her true identity.... Once a Wolf

In the unspoiled expanses of the American West, Tomás Alejandro Randall was called El Lobo, the desperado and sworn enemy of powerful financier Cole MacLean.  Few humans knew his true identity: heir to a wolf bloodline that made him as much an exotic beast as a devastatingly attractive man.  It was Tomás's plan to lure Cole MacLean's elegant fiancée, Lady Rowena Forster, from her New York mansion to the wild frontier.  There he planned to seduce the golden-haired beauty as revenge for the destruction of his family at MacLean's hands. But once she was in his possession, El Lobo found himself unable to resist the call of his own untamed passion-a passion that would claim the beauty for his own.  As for Lady Rowena, she desperately hid her own wolf heritage behind an icy, controlled exterior. Yet the famous "Lady Ice" found her inhibitions melting and her true nature emerging in the presence of this handsome desperado.  Both knew the danger of their pairing, but their wild hearts would risk everything-even death-for a chance at everlasting love.

Secret of the Wolf

19th Century Werewolf 3
(Berkley, October 1, 2001)

Quentin Forster, member of a powerful werewolf clan, must face hidden memories and a dangerous secret with the help of doctor and hypnotist Johanna Schell.

Amid the lush vineyards and majestic hills of Napa Valley, hypnotist Johanna Schell has founded Der Hafen--a sanctuary for those who know the pain of being "different." For desperate, frightened people whose souls are lost to grief. For lonely, tortured men like Quentin Forster....

Frightening spells of amnesia have plagued Quentin for years, and Johanna wants nothing more than to ease his unspeakable pain--and find out if his claim to werewolf blood is just a delusion. But she is horrified to discover that, under hypnosis, this tender, thoughtful man becomes violent, vengeful ...evil. And now--caught in the balance between reality and illusion, truth and deception, simple desire and absolute destruction--she must find the courage to trust him. To love him. To save him...

To Catch a Wolf

19th Century Werewolf 4
(Berkley, Spetember 2003)

When crippled Denver socialite Athena Munroe sees werewolf Morgan Holt in a traveling circus, she will have to fight tooth and nail to keep her passion for him at bay-or discover her own extraordinary destiny...

Morgan lost everything--his family, his past, and his hope-- when he went in search of the father who had abandoned him, his mother and sister. Accused of a terrible crime, Morgan is condemned to long years in prison, a fate unimaginable for a man of shapeshifter blood.

All he wants is to live the rest of his life in freedom among the wolves. But a fateful encounter with a traveling circus calls him back to humanity, and to a meeting with the one woman meant for him: Athena Munroe, crippled in a devastating accident and now one of the leading lights of Denver's wealthy society.


Call of the Wolf (Secret of the Wolf and To Catch a Wolf)
19th Century Werewolf 3 & 4
(Berkley, May 2006)

Packaged together for the first time, Call of the Wolf contains two of USA Today bestselling author Susan Krinard's sexiest supernatural novels.
 
In Secret of the Wolf, hypnotist Johanna Schell takes Quentin Foster under her care to discover if his claim to werewolf blood is just a delusion. But she is horrified to learn that, under hypnosis, this tender, thoughtful man becomes violent, vengeful, and evil. Now, to save him, she has no choice but to trust him, and even love him.

In To Catch a Wolf, wheelchair-bound Athena Munroe and convicted murderer Morgan Holt live on the fringes of both humanity and werewolf society. But their irresistible attraction to each other threatens to expose their true natures-and free their hearts.

To Tame a Wolf

19th Century Werewolf 5
(HQN, May 1, 2005)

Her innocence destroyed, young widow Tally Bernard swore that she would never trust a man again. But when her brother disappears, she has little choice but to make a pact with the devil.

Though he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life on a ranch of his own, Simeon Kavanaugh can't escape the legacy of his werewolf father. The animal instincts that keep him from being fully human also make him a brilliant tracker, forced to survive on the desperation of people in need.

The attraction between these two wounded souls is immediate, primal—and dangerous. And if Simeon has any hope of saving Tally, he must do what he has always resisted and merge both man and beast within him. But if she cannot accept what he becomes, his choice may cost Simeon the only thing worth having—Tally's love....

Bride of the Wolf

19th Century Werewolf 6
(HQN, March 1, 2010)

Rachel Lyndon yearns to escape her scandalous past, but her dreams for a better life seem ruined after she buries her fiancé on the Texas plains.

Heath Renier has been evading the law by the skin of his teeth for years. Now he's found a new identity as Holden Renshaw, foreman of Dog Creek Ranch. But the arrival of his boss's mail-order bride, now a widow, upsets his fragile peace and threatens to expose his deadly secrets.

Rachel knows that the mysterious and savagely handsome Holden is the last man she should trust—especially once she's seen glimpses of his true nature. When he's suspected of killing his employer, she has a terrible choice to make. But the heat of his gaze ignites something seductive and irresistible within her. No matter how dangerous the road ahead, she's determined to give him the one thing he's never truly believed he deserves: her undying love.

Luck of the Wolf

19th Century Werewolf 7
(HQN, November 1, 2010)

Branded an outcast by the noble branch of his werewolf clan, Cort Renier had come to San Francisco seeking fortune—and revenge. What he found was a mysterious beauty who could not—or would not—reveal who she truly was. At first glance she seemed vulnerable and afraid, like so many girls caught up in the debauchery of the city's whiskey-soaked gambling dens. But one look into her stunning turquoise eyes and he knew he'd found the winning hand.

Aria di Reinardus had reasons of her own for concealing her identity, but Cort's kisses were more than enough to convince her to go along with his plan to transform her into a missing heiress and return her to her "family." But they were not the only ones with secrets to keep and vengeance in mind, and they were about to discover that some destinies couldn't be outrun....


Code of the Wolf
19th Century Werewolf 8
(HQN, July 19, 2011)

Lust and revenge are best served after sundown...

Outlaw werewolves destroyed his home and killed his wife. But they made one mistake: they didn't kill him, too. Now, after ten lonely years honing his skills with a gun, Jacob Constantine is back in New Mexico, hell-bent on justice—until he's ambushed by bandits and saved by an angel on her own deadly crusade.

With a gun slung low across her seductive hips and vengeance in her eyes, Serenity Campbell isn't who she seems to be. But neither is the mysterious bounty hunter who threatens to drive her desire into dangerous territory. Together they track their prey with the same intensity they circle one another. But will their growing passion be enough to right the wrongs of the past and bring two damaged hearts together?


Susan has also written a vampire/werewolf trilogy set during the Roaring Twenties:

Chasing Midnight, Dark of the Moon, and Come the Night

And a werewolf series set in modern times:  

Prince of Wolves and Prince of Shadows

*19th Century Werewolf is an unofficial series name.

For a complete list of Susan's romance novels, please visit the Romance Homepage at her website.


About Susan

Susan Krinard never expected to become a writer. She fell into it by accident when a friend suggested she try writing a novel, and that novel sold to a major publisher two years later. A longtime reader of science fiction and fantasy, Susan began reading romance—and realized what she wanted to do was combine the two genres. One of the first romance novelists to introduced shapeshifters and werewolves to the genre, she has been writing paranormal romance since 1993. Her forthcoming books include an urban fantasy series with Tor Books and a vampire series with Silhouette Nocturne.

Susan makes her home in New Mexico, the “Land of Enchantment,” with her husband, Serge, her dogs, Freya, Nahla, and Cagney, and her cats Rocky and Agatha. In addition to writing, Susan's interests include music, old movies, reading, nature, baking and mixed media art.

Susan's Links:
Website
Facebook


The Giveaway

THE RULES

What:  One commenter will win Mass Market Paperback copies of Bride of the Wolf, Luck of the Wolf, and Code of the Wolf from The Qwillery.

How:  Leave a comment answering the following question:

Werewolves or Vampires?

Please remember - if you don't answer the question your entry will not be counted.

You may receive additional entries by:

1) Being a Follower of The Qwillery.

2) Mentioning the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter. Even if you mention the giveaway on both, you will get only one additional entry. You get only one additional entry even if you mention the giveaway on Facebook and/or Twitter multiple times.

3) Mentioning the giveaway on your on blog or website. It must be your own blog or website; not a website that belongs to someone else or a site where giveaways, contests, etc. are posted.

There are a total of 4 entries you may receive: Comment (1 entry), Follower (+1 entry), Facebook and/or Twitter (+ 1 entry), and personal blog/website mention (+1 entry). This is subject to change again in the future for future giveaways.

Please leave links for Facebook, Twitter, or blog/website mentions. In addition please leave a way to contact you.

Who and When: The contest is open to all humans on the planet earth with a mailing address. Contest ends at 11:59pm US Eastern Time on Tuesday, July 26, 2011. Void where prohibited by law.

*Giveaway rules are subject to change.*