Interview with Thea Harrison

The Reading Cafe is happy to welcome the wonderful Thea Harrison as our guest today.

Thea just released Lord’s Fall, her newest book in her Elder Races series.  We posted our review of Lord’s Fall yesterday.   

Let’s begin our interview with Thea.

 

 

Hi Thea.  Thank you for taking the time to answer some questions today.  We are always looking forward to reading about the author behind the book.

Thea: Hi, thank you for having me today!  I’m excited to be here with you.

TRC: Will you please tell us about yourself?

Thea: I am a complete nerd, always have been, and much less conservative than almost anyone else in my family.  Rather to their dismay, I might add!  I was a single parent for many years, and when my daughter went away to college, I decided to go back to school as well.  I ended up with a degree in Philanthropic Studies, and another one in Library Information Science, but ended up returning to writing full time instead of pursuing either professionally.

TRC: When and how did you become interested in writing?  Have you always liked to write?

Thea: I’ve always been interested, and when I was a teenager, I grew convinced that I could write romances like so many of the popular authors in the seventies.  I ended up writing my first romance when I was nineteen.  It was accepted by Harlequin Mills & Boon in the UK.  I was completely euphoric.

TRC: Many writers bounce ideas and information with a family member, a friend or another writer.  Who inspires you?  Do you have a muse?

Thea: I get inspiration from all different kinds of sources, but I have few people to bounce ideas and information around with.  My agent Amy is my primary sounding board, although I have developed a relationship with a few of my trusted beta readers where I believe they would welcome and enjoy having brainstorming sessions with me.  I hope to give that a try sometime soon!

TRC: On your Website it states that you wrote your first book at the age of 19, and have written 16 romance novels under the pen name of Amanda Carpenter. Then you stopped writing for a few years.  Why did you stop writing, and was it difficult to resume again years later?

Thea: Parenthood, other interests, and school took me away, and I did other things for several years until I wrote Dragon Bound in 2009 and returned to writing full time.  I dabbled a few times with some projects over those years but could never get anything off the ground.  However when I finally sat down to write Dragon Bound, the book flowed almost effortlessly.

TRC: When you started the Elder Races, with Dragon Bound, did you know at that point how far you wanted to go in this series?  How many books do you plan for this series?

Thea: When I wrote Dragon Bound, I had hoped maybe somebody might be interested in a sequel someday.  I had a very small vision at that point in time—and was incredulous and utterly thrilled to be offered a three book contract.  Now I’ve finished writing book six, which is Aryal’s story, and I’ve plotted ahead to book ten, so I’m ready and excited to see where I can take the series next.

TRC: Lord’s Fall was released this past Tuesday, November 6th. . Can you tell us a little about the premise of this story?

Thea: Essentially Lord’s Fall continues where Oracle’s Moon left off, not with the same characters, of course, but with the events in the Elder Races world.  Throughout the series, the pressures on Dragos and Pia, who are the original couple from Dragon Bound, continue to build.  Lord’s Fall returns to them to answer the many questions that have built up for readers, and also to address all those pressures that the Wyr demesne faces.

 LINKS TO ORDER
Amazon / The Book Depository / Barnes and Noble

TRC: We also have read that you have a dark romantic fantasy series that you are planning to write.  Would you care to tell us a little about it?

Thea: The Game of Shadows stories, Rising Darkness and Fallen Light, aren’t quite a series per se but a duology.  The books have been bought by Berkley, and now I’m looking at doing revisions for Rising Darkness, which is scheduled for release in April 2013.

TRC: Will you continue with the Elder Races series, when you start your new series?

Thea: Absolutely!

TRC:  Yayyyyyyyyyy!  🙂

TRC: Who is your favorite male character in your books?

Thea: Oh, I love them all!  It’s no lie that my favorite male character is the one I’m currently writing about—whoever that might be.  I love getting into each male’s head to see what makes him tick.

TRC: Who is your favorite Female Character in your books?

Thea: I’m afraid the same answer applies for the females too!

TRC: What are you currently working on?

Thea: I am working on something super-duper secret.  Nobody but my agent Amy knows what it is.

TRC: Would you like to add anything else?

Thea: Just another thank you for a great Q&A!  It’s been fun!

Thank you, Thea for answering our questions. Good luck with Lord’s Fall. We look forward to continuing to read your books, and to work with again you in the future.

If you want to learn more about Thea, you can visit her at the following sites:
Website: http://theaharrison.com/
Twitter:
Facebook:
Goodreads:

Thea has graciously offered to give a member of The Reading Café a chance to win a copy of their choice of one of the first four books in her Elder Races series (Dragon Bound, Storm’s Heart, Serpent’s Kiss or Oracle’s Moon)

1.  You must be a member at The Reading Cafe. If you are not a member, please register using the Log-In at the top of the page, or by using one of our social log-ins.

2.  If you are using a social log-in e.g. Twitter, please leave your email address along with your comment.

3.  Please post a comment and say Hi to Thea

4.  Giveaway open to U.S. & Canada Only

5.  Contest runs from November 9th – November 12th.