Variants by Michelle C. Reilly: Interview + Giveaway

Variants (Anathergians Trilogy #1)
by Michelle C. Reilly

Genre: Sci-Fi Fantasy with Romance
Number of pages: 270 print, 325 Kindle

Sworn to Protect the Very People Bent on Destroying Them

POWERFUL

Auden, the king of the immortal Anathergian race, came to Earth five thousand years ago when he and his people escaped from their destroyed planet. His power is immense, but is threatened because he has yet to take a Lifemate.

WITCH

With the blood of an Anathergian and a witch running through her veins, Leah is a force to be reckoned with. After leaving her foster family to learn how to master her new-found powers, Auden finds her. With him, she discovers her heritage, her strength, and her love.

VARIANTS

An Anathergian is using variant strains of his DNA to turn humans into Anathergians. This enemy’s goal: use the Variants to take over the world and take Auden’s place as king. Auden and Leah’s goal: Stop the enemies and discover what connections Leah has with them.

Available at Amazon and CreateSpace


 

Michelle C. Reilly is a single mom of two wonderful boys. She spent ten years in the U.S. Navy as a Hospital Corpsman Preventive Medicine Technician, which meant she was actually attached to or stationed with the U.S. Marine Corps. She has a Masters in Science in Public Health, but she is generally an IT geek and a geek of many other things as well. She currently resides in Las Vegas, NV, with her two cats, Meowdy and Moose, and her dog, Katie aka “The Old Lady.”

Make sure to visit her website www.michellecreilly.com for more information about her and her upcoming books.

Feel free to visit, ask her questions, and hang out with her on Facebook at www.facebook.com/michellecorareilly

And if you’re a tweet-a-holic (or even if you’re not), follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MichelleCReilly

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/michellecreilly

Q & A with Author Michelle C. Reilly

Q:  Tell us a little bit about your main characters.

Auden came to Earth over five-thousand years ago when his planet, Anathergia, was destroyed.  He, and all other Anathergians who have gone through their transition, is immortal and powerful. However, Auden is the king of his race and the most powerful of all the Anathergians. When his race came to this planet, they took a sacred oath to help protect humankind. Because he’s lived so long without finding a Lifemate, he’s starting to lose control of his powers and his thoughts. The man is stubborn, obstinate, and old fashioned. He doesn’t have a lot of humor because, with his job, there isn’t a whole lot of things to laugh about.  As the king, he is an ultimate leader. And an ultimate Alpha.

Leah starts off as a sixteen year old. School pretty much bores her because she has a photographic memory and is extremely smart. She lives with her foster family and has a falling out with her foster father. She ends up hurting the man, but she doesn’t know how she did it, so she runs away. But it breaks her heart because she absolutely adores and loves her brother, Ceadan. When she leaves her home, a group of witches find her and tell her she’s actually a witch and they’re going to take her to teach her how to use her powers. Four years later, she had another incident at the school, and the head teacher notices Leah used powers that witches don’t have. Only Anathergians. Auden takes her away to his complex for training. He’s intrigued and curious about her. She is annoyed with him because she’s perfectly content, and doing very well where she is, thank you very much. But, when she realizes that Auden’s complex is back in her home city of Las Vegas, she realizes she can kill two birds with one stone: get even better training and have her brother close to her once again.  She, like Auden, is stubborn. When she loves, she loves deeply and forever, but it takes a while for her to trust and take someone in, probably because she has a hard time trusting.

Q:  What was your favorite scene to write?

There are SO many! I love writing the scenes where Leah is tiffed at Auden. Then there are the battles, which I find so fascinating. Nothing like killing people without really killing people. Of course, there’s always the sex scenes. And, boy, my books have some H-O-T sex scenes. :)

Q:  What is your work schedule like when you're writing?

That often depends on what’s going on with my other jobs. I will write as much as I can. I can write pretty fast. I’ve done 40k words in two weeks. If I can, I like to go to a coffee shop (preferably the ones in bookstores) and write. I like the background hum. I have a Microsoft Surface RT that I love. I take it with me everywhere I go. This is what I write on. So, if I have a few minutes while waiting in my car for something (a drive thru, even), or while waiting for a movie to start, or an appointment, I can pull it out and punch in a few paragraphs or pages.

Q:  How has your environment/upbringing colored your writing?

That’s an interesting question. I think I would’ve started writing much earlier, but imagination wasn’t a big thing in my family. So, I kind of dampened the voices in my head to a dull roar. But, there are some very specific people who, I believe, helped me tremendously. The first is my third grade teacher, Mrs. Richardson. She had red hair and was very pregnant when, on Christmas, she gave us all wrapped up presents. Mine was a copy of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. I could not believe there were stories like that. I must’ve read it at least ten times over and over again. I daydreamed about it, imagining myself as Meg. It was absolutely amazing! When I was a teenager, I started picking up my mom’s romance books. She always went for the blonds (I’m a fan of dark hair).  It was through these books that I learned a lot of my history. Then, I had another wonderful teacher in eleventh grade who challenged me with my composition.  I wanted to prove to myself that I could excel at this, and I did. I started my first book around 1991. I wrote the first few chapters and gave copies to my co-workers. During that time, I worked in a large casino, so I would see these friends (and others who’d they’d shared my writing with) in the hallways and they’d always ask where the rest of that book was.

  Q:  If you could be any character from your book, who would you be and why?

Well, in this particular book, I’m not really sure. If I were a guy, I’d say Auden. Or Gunner. Gunner is a lot like me, but a guy. He’s an IT geek, fun, and laid back. I really love him.

  Q:  What do you do to unwind and relax?

Well, I was recently told I need to force myself to relax. I try to once in a while. It lasts for about ten minutes. I always have to be doing something. I do like some good TV shows (Supernatural, Sons of Anarchy, Game of Thrones, to name just a few – can’t wait for Outlander!). I also love going to the movies. But, vacations are the big thing for me. I love to just get in my car, put on a good audiobook, and drive around this country. It’s so very beautiful and vast.

  Q:  If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Well, since I’m former military, I’ve been to quite a lot of places. But, I haven’t been to Russia yet. I’d love to go there.

  Q:  What book are you reading now?

I’m reading a few books right now.  I’m listening to Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Ascendancy by Eric Van Lustbader. I’m reading SEAL Team Six Outcasts by Howard E. Wasdin and Stephen Templin and Gaining Ground, Phoenix Rebellion Book III, by Gail R. Delaney. I also just received The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen for a review, so I’ll probably start that within the next two days. Crazy!

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