MONDAY MUSINGS: FASCINATION WITH FAMILY BONDS

I've been doing quite a bit of reading for pleasure. I've downloaded onto my kindle lots of books to read later. I kinda like the idea of a library with capability of holding so many books but take up very little space. 

There is a saying about how we can't choose the family we are born to but we can choose our friends who can become closer than blood. I love stories that create those sort of bonds. Family dynamics have always fascinated me, whether it's family we've created or families to which we are born. Grace Burrows does a beautiful job with her lush historicals of the Wyndham family—but that's a review for another time. 

I did discover another author I have read over the years but not her new shifter series. While I love a good paranormal story, truth is, I get a little tired of the same O type of stories. I like it when an author creates a fresh perspective on a world and it's citizens. Such is the case with Jennifer Ashley and her Shifters Unbound series. I had seen the books but hadn't felt the inclination to read one--shifters are very popular and everyone and their sister is writing something about them. But I knew Jen wrote some compelling stories which I enjoyed over the years, so when she offered Bodyguard for 99 cents, I thought, why not? I bought it. 

Boy am I glad I did! Great story with some solid characters and issues. And a fresh, well crafted world.

BODYGUARD: ShiftersUnbound 

Jennifer Ashley 

Elizabeth Chapman is saved from an armed robber by a giant Kodiak bear who shifts into a large, well-muscled, and fully naked human male. But when it's revealed that the robber is the brother of a dangerous criminal, Elizabeth finds herself the target of a vendetta. Ronan, the Bear Shifter, takes her to Shiftertown for safety, where Elizabeth learns that the mateless Ronan, alone in the world, takes care of Shifters who have also been left on their own. Having grown up in foster care, Elizabeth can only admire how protective Ronan is. But Ronan will only let Elizabeth leave the confines of Shiftertown if he becomes her 24/7 bodyguard. Elizabeth chafes at the restriction, but agrees. The trouble is, the sassy human Elizabeth is triggering Ronan's long-buried need to find himself a mate.

MY THOUGHTS:

This was my first visit to Shiftertown, but I assure you, it won’t be my last. 

I loved my visit to Shiftertown and the close knit community that lives there. The family bonds and the willingness to make a family when none exists. This is a world where shifters, a dying race created by the Fae, have come out to the human world. For the most part, humans don’t believe in magic but they can’t deny the shifters are real and scary. In the human eyes they are little more than dangerous animals that can walk as humans. There is a lot of contempt for this race of beings now controlled by collars that are supposed to keep the shifters at less than full power of their animals. In United States, the Government has herded them into reservation type living areas and basically stripped them of many rights other citizens take for granted, limited their technology, their ability to travel, make a living, and segregated them. Yet, despite this attitude, the shifters thrived and are doing better now than when they were wild and unknown. 

The story is set around two very strong main characters—Ronan and Elizabeth and their families. There’s something special about Ronan that just draws you in—loving and protective, but with a fun sense of humor. Bears aren't pack animals and they tend to keep their distance in the wild and yet Ronan overcame that need for distance to be a part of a great community. I loved the fact he is a foster dad to several bear cubs and little Olaf was a sweet little polar cub. I also liked the fact he was willing to come to the rescue of a strong and self-sufficient human woman, Elizabeth. She is funny and tough and has made her way through the school of hard knocks and knows what it’s like to be an outsider and having to create a new life and home for her and her sister. She’s fought against the odds without any help. Ronan changes that with one act of kindness.

Jennifer creates a fresh take on shifters, their origins, world, and finding a mate. She adds a compelling story dealing with issues common to all. Her happy ever after is sexy and fun but is carved from a world  fraught with danger and prejudice. And sometimes, love is the greatest risk of all.

GENA SHOWALTER ON WRITING, DISTRACTIONS, AND BEST FRIENDS

New York Times Best-selling author Gena Showalter is my guest Over Coffee. Gena writes Urban Fantasy, Paranormal and Contemporary Romance.

I’ve read and enjoyed her Atlantis series and am looking forward to reading Alien Huntress series next. She has written four series and assorted novels. I think what impress me most about Gena’s writing, aside from her vivid imagination and prolific writing, is the way she builds her worlds. They’re worlds that are so complete that the reader feels as if they could book a flight to them. I also love her strong characters and the research she’s done to make the characters and her worlds believable.

Gena also is a warm and genuinely funny person. I love her sense of humor. She also has a sometimes-mean Muse, who has its work cut out to keep her from being distracted, and thankfully, best friends who work their magic to get her over the 'stupid moment' humps.

Today, she shares with us a typical writing day…

I’m always asked how I write so quickly. So, I thought I’d share a typical writing day for me to better explain my . . . process.

• 7:00 am – Wake up. Wish I could sleep a little more, but drag myself out of bed anyway, threatening to kill all the characters in my book to make myself feel better.
  
  


• 7:10 – Drink coffee. It’s either that or send a family member to the hospital to patch abrasions caused by a flying . . . anything I can get my hands on. Respond to emails.
  
  


• 8:00 – Close email. Drink more coffee. It’s either that or yell at every member of my family for an imagined infraction. Open current Work In Progress document, realize that killing all the characters does not fit the current plotline, grumble about it, accept it, and start writing. Goal: write an entire chapter.
  
  


• 8:30 – Become distracted by thoughts of new emails. Check emails. Respond. Panic that I won’t reach my writing goal. Start writing again.
  
  


• 9:00 – Hit brick wall in plot. Start cutting spilt ends from hair to “think about the plot problem.”
  
  


• 9:35 – Realize the brick wall can be used in plot. Call best friend and fellow author Jill Monroe to tell her how brilliant I am.
  
  


• 10:00 – Check email. Respond. Take picture of myself making a face and email it to other best friend and fellow author Kresley Cole. Panic that I won’t reach my goal. Start writing again.
  
  


• 11:30 – Aching back convinces me to take a break. Go for a walk and – on the special days -- rescue some type of animal who jumps out from behind a tree and scares the crap out of me.
  
  


• 12:30 – Get home. Eat lunch – always the leftovers from dinner -- and check email.
  
  


• 1:00 – Decide I can’t write while I am a sweaty pig, so take shower. Come up with another brilliant idea and leap out of bathroom.
  
  


• 1:10 -- Start writing while dripping wet from shower because I am in a rush to write down this new, brilliant idea.
  
  


• 2:00 – Hit another brick wall. Call Jill Monroe again, this time to tell her how stupid I am.
  
  


• 2:15 – Laugh. Monroe has worked her magic. Check email. Respond. Panic that I won’t reach goal. Start writing again.
  
  


• 3:30 – Finish writing chapter, thereby reaching goal. Luxuriate in feelings of happiness, knowing I can relax for the rest of day.
  
  


• 3:35 -- Answer door. See that a manuscript has arrived for edits. Cry a little.
  
  


• 3:40 – Pick myself up and start editing.
  
  


• 4:30 -- Really feel like I am in a zone. Nothing can distract me.
  
  


• 4:35 – Check email. Respond. Feel guilty for slacking while a stack of papers that literally has my name on every page beckons. Panic that I won’t reach tomorrow’s Work in Progress goal because I didn’t edit enough on this second manuscript. Get back to editing.
  
  


• 5:30 – Wrists and back start to ache, along with brain. Decide to take break and eat a snack. Vacillate between Cheetos Puffs and Wheat Thins. Puffs win.
  
  


• 6:00 – Panic kicks in, demanding (loudly) that I return to work. Get back to work.
  
  


• 7:00 – Decide enough has been done for one workday because, well, the brain has been tapped dry. Collapse on couch. Wish the Puffs had not been devoured earlier.
  
  


• 7:10 – Panic kicks in again, demanding (even more loudly) that I return to work to get a jump-start on tomorrow’s goal. Resist. Or not.
  

And there you have it. A typical workday for me. I do get distracted easily, and I do panic often. But as strange as this sounds, I really do love the process. I love creating. I love watching a story take shape and the characters grow and change. I love twisting the plot so that even I’m surprised. But most of all, I love holding the finish product in my hands, as it’s a culmination of the blood, sweat and tears I poured into it. I hope you enjoy the results!

***
Gena Showalter is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of breathtaking paranormal and contemporary romances, cutting edge young adult novels, and stunning urban fantasy. Her novels have appeared in Cosmopolitan and Seventeen Magazine, and on MTV. The critics have called her books "sizzling page-turners" and "utterly spellbinding stories", while Showalter herself has been called “a star on the rise."