Q&A Interview and Giveaway with Pamela Palmer

An Interview Gone Feral with the AMAZING Pamela Palmer

Hello Book Monsters and Literal Addicts! Book Monster Reviews andLITERAL ADDICTION are very pleased to welcome NY Times and USA Today bestselling author Pamela Palmer to our sites today.

Pamela writes under two pseudonyms. Contemporary dark paranormals  (ESRI and FERAL WARRIORS series) for Avon Books and Harlequin Nocturne as Pamela Palmer and Scottish historical time travels (JEWELS OF TIME series) for Berkley as Pamela Montgomerie.

Pamela wrote a great bio about herself for her website so we copied it here so you can learn more about her…….

I grew up in the Air Force. No, no, I didn’t wear little fatigues or salute my parents (although I have a snapshot of me attempting to do push-ups beside my pilot dad at age four), but as anyone in a career military household knows, it’s not just a job, it’s a life that includes the entire family and one that can provide some unique experiences. At a year old, I thought any man in an Air Force uniform was my daddy. At nine I received a government-issue set of dog tags, and at ten I rode an elephant in Bangkok and later watched an earthquake ripple like ocean waves across our front yard in the Philippines.

Unlike a lot of authors, I didn’t grow up wanting to be a writer. I didn’t even want to be a pilot like my dad. I wanted to be an astronaut. I spent hours alone in my room either reading, watching Star Trek, or imagining other worlds filled with magic, strange creatures and dashing space pirates. The dream followed me to college where I studied engineering with plans to head for NASA when I graduated. But at nineteen I woke up to the reality of the modern space program and the stars finally fell from my eyes. The Space Shuttle was never going to take me where my imagination wanted to go.

         Instead, I graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Industrial Engineering and went to work for a major computer manufacturer. I still devoured books (almost exclusively romances) and even tried writing one, but after the first exciting chapter I had no idea what to do with my characters. I thought I couldn’t write. In hindsight, I simply had no idea how to plot.

I set aside the dream of writing for a few years while I had babies, though I continued to create stories in my head. Then one night as I did the dinner dishes, one of those daydreams became too big to keep in my head. I had to write it down. This time, however, thanks to the recent opening of a brand new library down the street, I discovered a wealth of books on plotting and character development and realized I could learn how to turn scenes into books and craft entire stories. The process was neither fast nor easy, encompassing four manuscripts, half a dozen partials, and eleven years of hard work before I sold my first book. Fortunately, I had a lot of encouragement along the way. With my very first book I finaled for Romance Writers of America’s most prestigious award for unpublished writers, the Golden Heart. Each of my subsequent books also became a Golden Heart finalist, the third winning the award outright. The fourth, through the Golden Heart, sold.

Now I spend my days in those fascinating worlds filled with magic, excitement and dashing heroes, and my evenings with my real-life hero and two wonderful kids.

Pamela's hit series FERAL WARRIORS currently consists of five (5) books,"Desire Untamed", "Obsession Untamed", "Passion Untamed", "Rapture Untamed" and "Hunger Untamed" plus a novella that can be found in the "Bitten by Cupid" anthology book.  The 6th book in the FERAL WARRIORS series, "Ecstasy Untamed" will be released on October 25, 2011 and we will be helping Pamela promote it today.

Let's take a look at the books in the FERAL WARRIORS series…..

"Desire Untamed" Book 1 of the Feral Warriors -

Kara MacAllister's quiet small-town life is transformed forever the night a powerful stranger rips her from her home, claiming she is the chosen one – the key to his survival. Spiriting her away into the rain-soaked night, Lyon reveals a truth Kara can barely credit. She's immortal, and the only one who can save his race. And deep within her, he arouses a fierce, primal hunger beyond anything she's ever imagined. But only when their lives are threatened by an ancient evil will Kara and Lyon realize they have found a love they would risk their immortal souls to claim...and a powerful desire that could never, ever be tamed.

"Obsession Untamed" Book 2 of the FERAL WARRIORS  -

Every time she closes her eyes, Delaney Randall suffers another nightmare. A brutal serial killer has found his way inside the tough, take-no-prisoners FBI agent's head. Now she lives the murders through his eyes, from his deadly approach, to his victims' screams. Until the night he breaks into her apartment and she fears she's going to be the next to die. But the man who snatches Delaney from her home isn't the murderer. He's Tighe, a dangerous Feral Warrior who needs her and her visions to stop the rampages of a creature as inhuman as he is evil. Tighe has little use for humans, but as he and Delaney join forces to track the dark fiend, he falls for the intense beauty and becomes wild with an obsession as untamed as his heart.

"Passion Untamed" Book 3 of the FERAL WARRIORS -

Though the Mage witch Skye has a gentle heart, demonic forces have enslaved her, forcing her to kidnap Paenther, a powerful and dangerous Feral Warrior. Even chained and naked, Paenther is a cunning prisoner who seduces her, body and soul, turning captive into captor. Paenther's pride demands revenge against the enchantress who emerged from the deep woods like a sensual vision and enthralled him, even as she makes his body burn with passion. Despite his fury over her treachery, Skye's gentle beauty calls to his soul, calming the wild chaos within him, and stealing his heart. But when evil threatens, Paenther and Skye's only chance at survival is to trust in one another…and the power of love.

"Rapture Untamed" Book 4 of the FERAL WARRIORS  -

The most combative - and tormented - of all the Ferals, Jag is a predator who hunts alone - until daemons terrorize the human population. To stop them, he partners with Olivia, a flame-haired Therian temptress as strong as she is beautiful. But Olivia is no ordinary immortal. The survivor of a vicious supernatural attack, she possesses a deadly and forbidden skill - one that must remain hidden, especially from the powerful Feral Warriors.

     As Jag and Olivia's sensual dance of dominance and seduction gets wilder and hotter, a dark force sets its sights on Olivia, threatening to destroy everything she has vowed to protect. And the only one who can save her soul is the arrogant jaguar shifter she lusts for but dares not love.

"Hunger Untamed" Book 5 of the FERAL WARRIORS  -

For a thousand years she has haunted him—Ariana, queen of the Ilinas, a beauty of mist and light. His love, his life mate... Kougar believed her lost to him forever until the truth of her stunning betrayal left him bitter and hungry for revenge. Now she alone holds the power to save two trapped and desperate Feral Warriors.

Ariana, caught in a deadly battle of her own, is neither the soulless creature Kougar believes her to be, nor the savior he seeks. And when darkness threatens to annihilate both races, the greatest danger of all becomes the glorious love Kougar and Ariana once shared. A love that must never rise again. A love that has never died.

"Ecstasy Untamed" Book 6 of the FERAL WARRIORS -
Coming October 25, 2011

Shattered by recent nightmarish events, Hawke feels his bond with his animal spirit weakening—and once it breaks, he's finished. The arrival of Faith sends his life spinning even further out of control, for although she delights him and enflames his deepest primal passions, she’s promised to Maxim, the newest Feral Warrior.

Faith is drawn to Hawke from the start, but Maxim holds her in his thrall and has secretly bent her to his malevolent will. Though gravely damaged, Hawke is the only one who can end Faith’s slavery and protect the Feral Warriors from Maxim’s evil designs. But first they both must embrace the wild…and surrender body and soul to a forbidden, all-consuming ecstasy.

Now that we've totally teased you and have you adding this awesome series to your TBR list, let's get to the interview so we can find out more about the amazing woman behind the books….

Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  Hi Pamela!  Thank you for stopping by to chat with us today!   We’re so happy to have you with us today!

Pamela: Thank you for having me! I’m delighted to be here.

Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  We always like to start out by getting to know our guest authors a little bit better.

Q1):   Can you tell us 3 things about yourself that we can't find out on the internet, in your bio, etc?

Pamela: Ha! Three things, huh? Okay, 1.  I have a replica of Frodo’s sword Sting (from the Lord of the Rings movies) hanging in my office. I told my dh a few years ago that I thought I’d start collecting swords and he bought me Sting. So far, that’s the only one I have. 2. According to my late Italian grandmother, there was a gypsy on our family tree. But every time I asked her for more information, she’d put a finger to her lips and shake her head. I never did learn the story. 3. I adore rainy days.

2)  What are some of your hobbies, or things that you each enjoy when you’re not writing or taking care of other author business?

Pamela: I enjoy spending time with my family, traveling, reading, watching movies, shopping.

3)  Do you have any interesting writing quirks, or things that you must have with you to begin the writing process?

Pamela: I need my music. I always listen to music when I write and it’s become Pavolvian. The music goes on and I’m in the zone. I turn it off even if I just get up to refill my water glass. I listen to instrumental music only, usually alternative jazz (Keiko Matsui is my favorite) or soundtracks. I love the Twilight scores and the HALO 3 soundtrack.

4)  What are the best parts of writing for you?  What are the hardest parts?

Pamela: My favorite part of writing is figuring out the story. I hesitate to call it plotting, since that makes it sound like I figure out what’s going to happen ahead of time. What I actually do is figure out my characters--their deep secrets, backstories, dreams, fears, and regrets, and the events that will force them to face them, and to change—to straighten out their lives and become worthy of love. At the same time, I look at where the previous story in the series left off and figure out what Lyon, the Chief of the Feral Warriors, would order his men to do based on the situation at that moment, and what the villains would do next. Once I have all these things figured out, I generally have an idea of where the story is going to begin and end and one or two major turning points in the middle. Then it’s time to start writing.

 

5)  What are 3 things that never fail to make you smile and 3 things that never fail to piss you off?

Pamela: Three things that make me smile: Giggling toddlers, readers who love my books, and the first snow of the year.

Things that piss me off: Installing new technology (because I can never, ever get it to work on the first try!), closed-mindedness, and grocery stores with twelve check-out lines and one check-out clerk.

6)  Who are some of your favorite authors and series respectively?

Pamela: I love Keri Arthur’s Riley Jensen series, Larissa Ione’s Demonica series, Nalini Singh’s Psy-Changeling series, and Karen Marie Moning’s Fever series.

7)  If you could spend the day with any one of the FERAL WARRIORS, who would it be, and what would you want to do?

Pamela: Oh, that’s such a hard choice! I’d probably choose Tighe because he’s such a charmer and such a doll, and I’d have him teach me to fly his airplane. Then I’d have him take me back to Feral House for dinner so I could chat with all the Ferals and their wives. Then I’d insist on accompanying the warriors on their nightly draden hunt so that I could watch them shift in and out of their animals. That sounds just about perfect!

8)  If you could have one super power, which would you want it to be and why that one?

Pamela: I want to fly. I think it would be amazing.

         Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  Now we'd like to ask you more about your books and series:

9)  For readers who have not yet experienced the awesomeness of the FERAL WARRIORS, can you please give us a brief synopsis of the series?

Pamela: The series, in a nutshell, is about the last nine shape-shifters left in the world, each of whom shifts into a different animal. They are all that stand between us and the Daemons who the Mage are trying to free back into the world.  Each book is a stand alone romance, but the external plot of the series continues from book to book.

10)  Can you give us any juicy tidbits of what we can expect in the newest book "Ecstasy Untamed"?

Pamela: Oh, that’s a tough request because so much happens in this book and most of it falls into the category of spoilers. I will tell you one thing since I’ve been hinting at it for awhile. The first of the lost seventeen animal spirits makes an appearance.

11)  How many more books do you have planned for the FERAL WARRIORS series?  Who's book will be up next?

Pamela: I’m honestly not sure how many books will be in the series overall. Like each individual book, I know things that are going to happen later in the series and I know how the series ends. But the journey itself I’m largely exploring right along with my readers. I know the rough story of the next three books, and the last, but in between is still in the shadows for me. It will become clear when I get there. As for whose book will be next, I’ll reveal that on December 1^st, which will give the most serious fans of the series a chance to read Ecstasy Untamed first.

12)  You have a new series coming out in 2012 called VAMP CITY.  Can you please tell us more about it and what we can expect?

Pamela: Yes, absolutely! A Blood Seduction is scheduled to be released the end of May 2012 and is the first of what I believe will be a five-book continuing character romance. Vamp City is a magical dark city created long ago by a sorcerer, a vampire utopia where the sun never shines and where the vampires can live and hunt in the open. The story starts when the heroine and her brother accidentally stumble through the portal while searching for her brother’s lost friend.

13)  Can you please tell us about your ESRI series and what's coming up next for this series?

Pamela: The Esri series is the story of an invasion of the human world by a race of immortals who are at the heart of the old legends of fairies and elves. But these creatures, the Esri, are man-sized, malicious, and bent on the enslavement of mankind. Only a handful of humans can see them for what they are and can’t be enchanted. They’re the only ones who can save us. The series will be four books in all. Book 3, A Warrior’s Desire, will be out in February and Book 4, Warrior Rising, comes out in April, both from Harlequin Nocturne.

14)  Can you give us some information about your JEWELS OF TIME series and what coming up next in this series?

Pamela: My Jewels of Time series, which I wrote under the pseudonym Pamela Montgomerie, is currently just two books, both Scottish historical time travels. They’re a little lighter than my others, though both have non-stop action, adventure, and romance, of course. I don’t have plans to write more of these, at least not immediately.

15)  What advice would you give to writer's that are just starting out?

Pamela: No one expects an artist to paint a masterpiece his first try. Artists take classes, they study the masters, they work for years to develop and improve their craft. Writers are very much artists, though our medium is words. The techniques can absolutely be learned. Work hard, take classes, study authors who, in your opinion, do it right and those you feel do it wrong. In each case, figure out why. Above all, write, and keep writing. 

16)  What is the most surprising thing you have learned in writing your books?

Pamela: I used to worry that if I wrote too many books I might someday run out of ideas, but so far I’m finding just the opposite. The more that I write, the more story ideas that come to me.

17)  If you could leave readers with one legacy, what would you want it to be?

Pamela: To believe that anything is possible, not only in the world, but within yourself.

18)  What question have you always wanted to be asked in an interview, but have never been asked?  How would you answer?

Pamela: LOL. There are plenty I’ve hoped wouldn’t be asked, but I can’t say I have any that I’ve hoped would be, that weren’t. Okay, here’s one (though I’ve probably answered it somewhere): When it comes to writing, do you believe in talent? My answer: No. I believe that writing speaks to each of us individually. Like beauty, writing talent lies in the eyes (and ears and mind) of the beholder. To be a fiction writer, you truly need only one thing: stories to tell. We’re storytellers at heart. How we tell those stories is a craft that, like I said, can be learned. And how readers take to our story is a personal, individual thing, just like one’s appreciation for a painting. Some will love it, some won’t. Write for the ones who do.

19)  Is there anything specific you would like to say to your readers while we have you here today?

Pamela: Just this: Thank you! Without you to share my stories with, I’m just a daydreamer. I love that you’re enjoying my books.

Book Monster Reviews/LITERAL ADDICTION:  Thank you again Pamela for taking time out of your busy schedule to chat with us.  We would love to have you back again in 2012 to help you promote your new releases and series.

Pamela: I would love that! Thanks so much for having me.

If you would like to find out more about Pamela and keep up with her latest news, you can visit her at any of the sites below.

Website:  http://www.pamelapalmer.net/

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/PamelaPalmer

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/Pamela_Palmer

Goodreads: 
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/267687.Pamela_Palmer?origin=

************************************************************

CONTEST:  Pamela is giving away 4 books from the FERAL WARRIORS series (winner’s choice of book) to 2 lucky Book Monsters and 2 lucky Literal Addicts.  That’s a total of 4 winners (one winner per book).
Don't forget to drop by the LITERAL ADDICTION website (http://www.literaladdiction.com/) and follow the directions and links to enter their contest too!!!

To Enter: Make sure you are a member of the Book Monster Blog (by clicking on the “JOIN THIS SITE” button at the top left hand corner of blog page), and then post a comment on the interview and make sure you leave a valid email address. 

*Any comments without an email address will NOT be entered into drawing. 

GOOD LUCK!!!!