I started out writing contemporary romance. I had so many ideas
bouncing around in my head, I was a writing fool, starting one book after
another, finishing approximately 30% of them. And then, one day, I ran out of
ideas. In the real world, you have to follow the constraints of the world in
which we live, at least enough to be believable. Dogs do not talk in this
world. Magic doesn’t exist in the real world (sorry, guys!). Super hot sexy
alpha men cannot shift into dragons in our world (really, really sorry, guys!).
But they do in my made-up world. They can do all kinds of things, so
long as the writer ensures it all makes sense, that it works and the dots can
be connected in the reader’s mind.
That’s what I set out to do in my Twisted Fate trilogy. Create a
world that could make sense, so long as I was able to paint a vivid picture in
the readers’ mind of this place, the circumstances, the different aspects of
the characters I saw clearly in my own head.
Gavin, the annoyed, reluctant anti-hero. He didn’t ask for any of
this, didn’t want it, and in fact was cursed to believe he has to be a good
guy. Lucky for those of us who fall for the (really) subtle ways he shows he
cares, he reluctantly grows from experiencing a forced sense of obligation to
realizing this actually is what he is meant to do with his life.
Sydney, the unexpected heroine. She had no idea this paranormal
world existed, and then when her stepbrother Bryan tells her she’s part of it?
No way. Nope. Uh-uh. Okay, fine, if it’s true, then by God, she’s going to
operate by her own rules. That means not
believing everything people are telling her and making decisions for herself.
That includes this whole fated mates business Gavin keeps spouting. Given his
less-than-charming personality, she really
has doubts, even if she’s oddly attracted to the frustrating shifter.
And then there’s Bryan, Sydney’s Fate, who she believed was her
stepbrother until Gavin forces him to confide in her their true relationship:
That she’s some sort of special, rare shifter, and he’s her
protector-slash-mentor. He’s also a 200-pound linebacker-sized dude who prefers
dresses to pants and he spouts seriously worthy advice in a rather amusing
manner.
A few other characters are introduced as you move into books two and
three…
There’s Brandon, a shifter with a chip on his shoulder the size of
Mt. Everest. He hates Fates because they let his mother die; he hates Gavin
because he killed Brandon’s mother (before he was cursed to believe he’s a good
guy), and he really hates his attraction to Prim, the most sensual and
high-maintenance Fate he’s ever met.
Prim is utter perfection. Gorgeous, confident, determined to live
out her life on her terms, despite all the horror she’s experienced in her long
existence (Fates are immortal). Or so she appears on the outside. Which is
good, because on the inside, she’s legit losing it. And now Brandon wants her
to use a curse she hasn’t used in over 200 years. Because it’s that easy to
flip on the switch—without going insane in the process. Or maybe the insanity
is a result of her unorthodox attraction to the man who insists he hates
everything about her kind.
In book three you get to meet Lily and Matteo. I can’t tell you much
about their respective histories because there are a few spoilers if you
haven’t read the first two books. But I can say they are polar opposites, every
little thing about them. And Lily, who really, truly shouldn’t, develops a
serious crush on Matteo. Who, by the way, happens to be one of the bad guys.
~Tami Lund
Author, wine drinker, award winner
