Character Interview - Rayla from 'Five' by Christie Rich

I would like to welcome Rayla Tate to our blog today! 

Rayla is the main character from Five, book one in the Elemental Enmity series by Christie Rich.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Rayla and was able to ask her some of the questions I know we've all been wondering about.






Thanks, Rayla, for stopping by today!  Let's get started.

1. Tell us a little about yourself. I’m just a small town girl with a dream that went wrong, lol. No really, I grew up in a town with one stop light. That should tell you enough, but if it doesn’t, here goes: I love art. The way it speaks and breathes like a real person. If you stare at a painting long enough the brushstrokes blur, making you forget you are looking at canvas and some paint. My real dream is to be immortalized by my work—to leave a piece of me when I pass from this life.

2. What was life really like growing up? What was your relationship like with your cousins? What was life really like? Boring! Haha. I love my family and my cousins are more like siblings to me. Especially Travis. He and I are the closest in age, and I’ve always considered him my brother. Pain in the neck brother, but hey. I’m really lucky, I guess. After Mom disappeared, I was blessed to be raised by a family that loves me. I’d do anything for them.

3. Did you ever question the generosity of Cassie's family in pulling strings (and helping monetarily) with going to to St. Mary's college? Of course! I flat out refused Mr. Lambert at first, but he and Mrs. Lambert had a talk with me to put me straight. They told me that I was just as much of a daughter to them as Cassie. Mrs. Lambert, especially, always made me feel that way. Mr. Lambert was away a lot of the time, but when he was there he was fun until Cassie or I brought up boys! He was always a bit over protective, but I had no idea what his real motivation was until recently. They even offered to adopt me when I was younger, but Aunt Grace wouldn’t have it or their money.

4. In all your years of growing up, despite all the babysitting you had to do for your cousins, how did you manage to never leave Moab before? No sneaking out for shopping at a nearby town with Cassie? Geez, don’t I wish! Or maybe not, considering what I know now ;) Moab is actually three hours from my house, so that is the closest town we could go to. We went there a few times, and I still got in trouble when I didn’t get home on time. We did try to go to Provo once, but Travis caught up with us on our way out of town. He claimed he didn’t know what we were doing, but Aunt Grace had sent him looking for me because she had to go in for an unexpected shift at work. I begged Travis to watch Jenny and Sarah, but he had to help Uncle John bale our hay. That was the last time I was allowed to sleep over at Cassie’s house. Aunt Grace said she couldn’t risk not being able to find me. Now that I know why, I understand, but it still bites.

5. Knowing everything that you know now, would you rather not know and go back to your life before? As tough as it has been for me to face my fears and the fae lords, I wouldn’t change it. My life is so much richer now than I ever imagined. I’m hoping one day to be able to find a balance between fae life and my dreams, but I have to stop Ainessa first.

6. What is your idea of the perfect date? Dancing! Did the room just get hotter? Uh, definitely dancing.

7. What three things couldn't you live without? My family and that includes Cassie, lip gloss (you can’t imagine how much I’ve needed it lately), and chocolate.

8. Favorite pizza topping? Cheese.
Thanks for having me here today, Sheri! It’s been fun chatting with you. I hope we can do this again sometime.

Thank you Rayla and Christie!  And a huge thanks to Alana at http://darkobsessionchronicles.blogspot.com for helping me come up with questions for you!

The books of the Elmental Enmity series:

Rayla Tate was just a child when her mother disappeared from her life forever. Raised by her aunt Grace in a small town, she has lived an extremely sheltered life. Unknown to her, she was hidden from the fae who live secretly among us. Descended from an ancient blood-line of Elementals, only she has the power to crown the first fae high-king.

Rayla Tate’s dreams for the future shattered when she discovered she was an Elemental capable of manipulating matter. Thrust, once again, into the magical fae realm of Faeresia, she has an important choice to make. But now that she has Heath to contend with, deciding between Zach and Luke is the least of her concerns. Tall, dark and lethal to her will, her attraction to Heath eclipses all she has experienced with any other lord, but he is using compulsion to wear her down. If only she could trust her feelings?

Having just escaped the nefarious plans of the Order, Rayla Tate thinks all she has to do now is rescue her family and sort through her feelings, but bonding with five men might just be her undoing. Not only does she have to deal with all of them reading her mind, Rayla must choose a bondmate before she will be allowed to venture into the mortal realm to save those she loves most.

Follow Christie!

Goodreads (be sure to friend me): 

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5147170.Christie_Rich 

My Blog: http://christierich.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/#!/christie.rich.9

Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/authorchristier

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