Synopsis:Discarded and ignored by those around her for most of her life, Cassie is a lonely human woman struggling to find her place in the world and meaning in her life. Cadeyrn is the Erlking, the leader of the Wild Hunt, a hundreds of thousands of years old Fae who has always known his purpose. He has spent his entire long existence tracking the criminals of Fairie and punishing them for their crimes.
While hunting for the murderer of a child who has escaped to Earth Cadeyrn comes across Cassie and realizes that she is the one that the great mother goddess has designated as his soul mate. He kidnaps her and takes her to his fortress in Fairie to protect her from his many enemies. He knows she will be angry and that he'll have to work to earn her trust, but he finds his task to be even more challenging than he had thought it would be due to Cassie's difficulty in opening her heart.
Will Cadeyrn be able to convince Cassie that the bond between them is real and earn her love?
Excerpt:
He leaned down to look into her face as she passed and it hit him: the Siorghra, literally, 'eternal love,' the bond between Fae who were Anamchara (soul mates). He’d heard of it, of course, all Fae knew of the Siorghra and hoped one day to feel its sweet sting, but after so long? And with a human? Impossible! He had never heard of a Fae finding their Anamchara in a human, not in all the millennia of his existence. Long ago some of the Fae had kidnapped humans and brought them to Fairie as mates or as servants, but even in the cases when the Fae and the human had felt the deepest of love for each other he had never heard of them forming the Siorghra. And yet it was unmistakable.
The Erlking looked into the human woman’s eyes, blue eyes that sparkled like the darkest sapphires, and felt a devotion unlike any he had ever felt in his very long life. His connection to this woman, who he had never even spoken to, was stronger even than his connection to the Wild Hunt. He hadn’t even thought that possible! He thought to wonder if this was some sort of spell cast by Griogal to distract him from the hunt, but no, Griogal was Sidhe and it was Pixies who had power for love and lust charms. No Pixie would aid one who had slain one of their children and even if they would, no love charm could be mistaken for the Siorghra. Dea Matrona (the great mother goddess) had created the Siorghra so that the Fae would always know when they had found their perfect match; she had made it so that all Fae would instantly know what it was when they felt it. She would never allow a cretin like Griogal to pervert such a magic for his own petty uses. No, this woman must truly be his Anamchara.
There was no question in the Erlking’s mind about what must be done next. All Fae only ever received one Anamchara; he could not possibly leave her in the human world. Aside from all of the perils she would face as part of her human existence, just being his Anamchara would make her a target for his enemies…and he had many enemies. Several hundred thousand years as the final arbiter of Fairie had resulted in more than one Fae holding a grudge against him; and along with their very long lives Fae had very long memories.
He would need to immediately take her and bring her to his fortress in Fairie. There only those who were oath bound to him would have access to her. It was possible for a Fae to break an oath, of course, but if they did so they were subject to vengeance from the Wild Hunt. Thus far none had ever broken an oath to the Erlking.
Author Interview:
Is there any particular author or book that influenced you in any way either growing up or as an adult?
Yes, I'm dyslexic and I had a really hard time learning how to read when I was a kid. Timothy Zahn's continuation of the Star Wars series is probably the reason I'm literate today. If my imagination hadn't been captured by the characters and universe that George Lucas created and Timothy Zahn expanded on it's possible I wouldn't have had the motivation to expend the effort it took for me to learn to read. So thank you to both of those gentlemen. :-)
What is your favorite part of being an author?
Having my characters drop in at random times for a chat. Sometimes they can be very persistent, but it's always interesting to hear their thoughts about where the story needs to go. I can be doing the most mundane thing (cleaning house, driving to work, etc.) and all of the sudden a resident of Fairie (or three) will stop by and give me their opinion(s) (in no uncertain terms! ;-)) about what needs to happen next or how a scene needs to unfold. It's exhausting at times, but interesting. :-)
Do you have a day job as well?
Yes, I work full-time in a hospital and I attend graduate school. So if I'm slow about getting my next book out I apologize, but it is coming. Promise! :-)
What is the hardest and easiest part about being an erotica writer?
The hardest and easiest part of being an erotica author is writing the sex scenes. OMG! They are so much fun to write! After all, who wouldn't enjoy letting their wildest sexual fantasies run wild through their head? ;-) But sometimes it's hard to rein them back in to the realm of the possible. Also, I'm a woman so I've never made love as a man. What do men think about during sex? How does it feel to them? How, exactly, does one make love to a woman? These are all important questions! And has anyone ever noticed that many men have difficulty expressing feelings in words? I need input people! ;-)
How hard was it to come up with characters?
So far I haven't had any trouble coming up with characters; they've all come up and introduced themselves rather forcefully. ;-) Well, I can't blame them, no one likes to be ignored. Plus some of my beta readers have been kind enough to become so enthusiastic about my stories that they've asked to be included in them, so some of my characters are based on real people (can you guess which ones? ;-)). The only real trouble I've had with characters is coming up with names for them. Sometimes they aren't cooperative enough to give me their names and I have to guess. Picking just one word to describe a person is often not all that easy. Oh, and I also sometimes have trouble getting them to leave me alone when I'm trying to sleep. ;-)
Where do you get your ideas/inspiration for your writing?
Well, the inspiration for my first book (Taken By The Huntsman) came from a dream I had after a rather spirited debate with an online friend about the nature of consent (and some other political issues I won't bore you with). When I woke up I thought about the dream and realized it might make an interesting story (as well as provide me with a soap box ;-)). I texted a friend and asked her if she thought the idea had merit. She said she did and so I wrote the first couple of chapters and emailed them to her asking her to read them and tell me if she was bored yet. She was kind enough to say that she wasn't bored and that she'd like to read the rest of the story, so I wrote it. The ideas for the next few books and short stories came from characters who came to me and told me that they deserved a story too, and it was my job to write them. So I will! :-)
For those who might consider reading your book, what would you tell them to expect?
First off, it's not just a bunch of sex scenes strung together. I spent a lot of time setting up the story and explaining "my world," so you'll have to read about 60% through it before you get to the steamy bits. It's my opinion that it's important for the reader to spend enough time with the characters to get to know them a bit so they care about the emotional turmoil they are experiencing, but I know that's not what everyone is looking for. There are some BDSM elements in Taken By The Huntsman and I hope to explore those a little bit more in my next book. There are also a couple of gory scenes, so be prepared for that. All-in-all though, if you like fantasy romance stories and aren't offended by a bit of kink I think you'll enjoy it. I'd love it if you'd let me know one way or the other. :-)
What is your favorite thing about being an Indie writer?
Having an outlet for my creative energies. Both my job and my school work are rather technical and precise in nature. It's important to get them exactly right, there's not much margin for error, and following established procedures and protocols is crucial; people's lives depend on it. Writing allows me to step outside of the box and just go where my imagination takes me. It's very liberating. :-)
Will you have a new book coming out soon? Can you tell us about it?
I hope to have my next book out by the beginning of 2015 (no promises). It will be the story of Uaine, Fairie's Summer Court prince, and Veronica (Roni), a human petty thief and con artist, who are united by a magical bond created by Fairie's great mother goddess. I've only just started writing it, but you can read the first couple of paragraphs on my Facebook page and I'll try to post updates as I write it.
Anything you want to say to your readers?
Thank you so much for reading my book!! I appreciate the fact that you've given your time and your money to experience my work; it humbles me that you have been willing to do so. I value all of your feedback, both good and bad, because it can only make me a better writer and help me create a better product for you to enjoy. So thank you, as far as I'm concerned you're totally awesome! :-)"
Mistral Dawn is a thirty-something gal who has lived on both coasts of the US but somehow never in the middle. She currently resides in the Southeast US with her kitty cats (please spay or neuter! :-)) where she works as a hospital drudge and attends graduate school. This is her first effort at writing fiction and if it is well received she has ideas for several more novels and short-stories in this series.
She just started Twittering and she is still figuring out this whole Facebook thing (feel free to contact her, but until she figures out how it works, exactly, she'll have to beg your pardon if she accidentally doesn't "friend" you (is that the right word?)), but you may contact her at mistralkdawn@gmail.com and she would love to hear from you. She thanks you humbly for purchasing and reading her first book and hopes you will do her the honor of rating and reviewing her work. :-)
For a free sample of the first chapter of Taken By The Huntsman and sneak peaks of and updates about her second book, check out Mistral Dawn's Facebook page.
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