Pamela Palmer talks with us today about her FERAL WARRIORS and VAMP CITY SERIES along with a Q&A you don’t want to miss.

1. Let’s start off with some background about the fantastic, Feral Warriors for our followers that haven’t read them yet.

Thank you for having me, and thank you for calling the Feral Warriors fantastic! : ) When the story begins, the Feral Warriors are the last nine shape-shifters left in the world and each shifts into a different animal: tiger, wolf, snake, fox, lion, jaguar, panther, hawk, and cougar. The story of the Ferals, as told in book one: “Eons ago, before the rise of human civilization, two immortal races battled the Daemons for control of the earth—the Mage, or magic ones, and the Therians, the mighty shape-shifters. Though traditional enemies, the Mage and Therians banded together to overcome the High Daemon, Satanan, ending his reign of terror and destroying his armies. The cost of victory was high. To win that ultimate battle, both races were forced to mortgage nearly all their power. Only one Therian among each of the ancient lines of shape-shifters was left with the power of his animal. They are called the Feral Warriors.”

2. The seventh installment in the Feral Warrior series is due out the end of December (which would make an awesome pre-ordered Christmas present by the way). What can you tell us about it?

Yes, this one, A Love Untamed, will be released December 26^th. Usually, new releases from Avon Books come out the last Tuesday of the month, but since the last Tuesday of December this year happens to be the 25^th, this one will be out on Wednesday, the 26^th instead.

A Love Untamed is Kieran/Fox's and Melisande’s story. Melisande first appeared in my Feral novella, Hearts Untamed, as the villainess. There are reasons, of course, for the way she acted and the things she did. But she has quite a journey ahead of her before she’ll be ready for, and worthy of, love. Fortunately, Fox is the male for the job. 

From the back cover:

The newest member of the elite Feral Warriors brotherhood, Fox is eager to prove himself on the frontlines of battle against the Daemons. When paired with the legendary Ilina warrior, Melisande, he expects the fierce beauty to quickly fall under the spell of his quite considerable charm. Instead, he finds himself spellbound by a woman who's his match in every way. 

Beneath Melisande's brittle exterior lies centuries of pain and a violent hatred of all shape-shifters—a hatred that slowly crumbles after they're caught in a deadly and cunning Mage trap and she glimpses a surprising depth in her far-too-seductive partner. Their survival demands unconditional trust—and their salvation surrender to a wild, untamed love.

3. Going from discovering the stars and wanting to be an astronaut, to writing words and becoming an author, seem so different, how did this all come about?

On the surface, they really are very different. But underneath it all, I’ve always been a dreamer. A dreamer who happened to be good at math. I much preferred math to English in school, mostly because I never enjoyed literature. Nancy Drew, yes. The Red Badge of Courage, not so much. I started college as an aerospace engineering major with plans to head to NASA, but discovered that although I enjoyed most math, calculus and I did not get along. And an aerospace engineer must have a way with calculus. It was also about this time, spring of my freshman year, that I finally woke up to the fact that being an astronaut didn’t mean joining the crew of the Starship Enterprise. The space shuttle was the most I could hope for, and my imagination was looking for a whole lot more. I wound up with a degree in industrial engineering and went to work for IBM. The writing happened entirely by accident. I’d always been a daydreamer and one day one of my daydreams got too big to hold in my head. I started typing it into the computer and the rest, as they say, is history.

4. Your books are so believable. The characters are so real. Is this something that flows easy for you or do you have to work with your ideas to accomplish this?

Thank you! I hear that a lot, that my characters are so real, and I absolutely love it. For the most part, the ability to climb into another person’s skin and understand what they think, how they feel, and how they might act in any given situation comes naturally to me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not effortless. It still takes a lot of work to get my characters right. But once I have them figured out, I pretty much know what they’re going to do and say. 

5. If you could spend the evening, have dinner with one of the Feral. Who would you pick and why?

Oh, that's a tough one. Tighe has such a great personality, and is such a doll. He’d be great fun. And he might fly me somewhere in his plane, which I’d love. But Hawke is so knowledgeable and so sweet. I could talk to him forever. I’d be happy to just stare at Fox all evening, but that probably goes for any of them. Hard on the eyes, they are not. ; )

6. We also want to hear about your novella, HEARTS UNTAMED.

I’m glad you asked! Hearts Untamed has just been re-released as a stand-alone ebook, with a brand new cover, and is priced at only $1.99. It was originally published as part of the Bitten By Cupid anthology several years ago and, so far, it’s my only Feral Warriors novella. It takes place just before the events in the series and includes appearances by three of the Ferals (Jag, Kougar, and Hawke), but this is Zeeland and Julianne’s story.

From the back cover: 

Ten years after he spurned Julianne's declaration of love and then vanished, Zee's back—only this time he's the one being rejected. Julianne's in desperate straits, and involving Zee could jeopardize his immortality. But he won't take no for an answer—and Julianne's about to discover that her former love is even wilder than she thought…

7. Tell us about your Vamp City Series and A BLOOD SEDUCTION.

A Blood Seduction (which is in stores, now) is a bit of a departure for me. It’s the first of a four or five book, continuing-character story which will ultimately be a romance. I’ve been wanting to do a bigger story for awhile, one that doesn’t require the entire romance to come together in a single book. One that gives the characters a lot of room to learn and grow. And one that gives me lots of space to explore. The Vamp City series is that story.

From the back cover:

Vampires live only for lust and pleasure in the eternal twilight of Vamp City. But the city's magic is dying. The only person who can restore it? A beautiful woman from the mortal world...one who knows nothing of the power she wields.

Quinn Lennox is searching for a missing friend when she stumbles into a dark otherworld that only she can see--and finds herself at the mercy of Arturo Mazza, a dangerously handsome vampire whose wicked kiss will save her, enslave her, bewitch her, and betray her. What Arturo can't do is forget about her--any more than Quinn can control her own feelings for him. Neither one can let desire get in the way of their mission--his to save his people, hers to save herself. But there is no escape from desire in a city built for seduction, where passion flows hot and blood-red. Welcome to Vamp City... 

Book 2, A Kiss of Blood, will be out June 25^th, 2013. And I’ll have a short Vamp City novella in the Avon Impulse anthology, Supernatural Underground: Vampires Gone Wild, which I believe will be out in March.

8. We have heard you like to travel. Where are three of your favorite travel spots?

I do love to travel! I’ve been all over the U.S. this year between conferences, conventions, research, and visiting family, and next year is shaping up to be even more travel-filled with reader conventions in St. Augustine, Florida, Kansas City, Missouri, Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Berlin, Germany. 

But my three current favorites? I’d have to say Whitefish, Montana; the Tuscany region of Italy; and Castle Urquhart on Scotland’s Loch Ness.

 9. One of your prominent characters is bad boy Jag. Can you tell us something about him that we can’t read in your books?

Ha! Actually, I can. When he has free time, which isn’t often, Jag gets a kick out of the NASCAR races on television.

10.Could you share some tidbits on what you’re working on now, or maybe a future project you have planned?

Absolutely! I’m currently writing the second book in the Vamp City series, A Kiss of Blood, which comes out next summer, book 2 in Quinn and Arturo’s story. I’m also working on the Vamp City novella which I mentioned above. And, I’ve been doing some research in preparation for my eighth Feral Warriors book.

About Pamela : 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.

We have a great giveaway for TWO of our followers from Pamela that you won’t want to miss out on. She is offering a signed copy of DESIRE UNTAMED to the first winner and a signed copy of A BLOOD SEDUCTION to the second. (This is an international giveaway, so spread the word)

Be sure to checkout Pamela's  Website and Facebook page for more information.

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