Ink Motions with Kira Shayde

 

Kira enjoys studying love, sex, and relationships, and has a thing for Shifters. As a romance writer, she explores somewhat atypical pairings and settings, and can’t help adding a twinge of societal awareness to her works. But the focus is always on the developing romance, hot sex, and happy endings. You won’t find any hard-core BDSM in Kira’s stories. She prefers her hero and heroine to share the power and share the love.

Kira Shayde links

website: http://www.kirashayde.com

twitter: https://www.twitter.com/kirashayde

facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kirashayde

Interview

 

How do you get an idea for your novel?

I’m a lucid dreamer and I have very detailed dreams! For my book, Bane of Her Desire, I dreamt of a world where the humans had been delegated to animals, and the animals had become humans, but retained their ability to return to their animal form. The structure of human life such as societal organization, politics, law enforcement, etc., were quite different as these shifters brought both instinct and higher thought to their conflicts and solutions.

 

What is your writing style?  Do you just sit down and write or do you create

I’m more of a pantser than a plotter. Once I get an idea, I sit down and begin typing. The characters reveal their thoughts and actions as if they were real and I’m simply privy to their world. Sometimes I get a good story, sometimes it goes nowhere. I have tried plotting and it just doesn’t work for me. I do try and sketch out major plot points though once I feel a story is going somewhere.

 

Who is the "Writing Muse" in your life? I.E. who gets your juices flowing when

My husband and my kids. When I get stuck, they are great at helping me brainstorm. Also music helps put me in the mood if I need to feel a certain way to write a scene.

 

How many novels have you written including all work in progresses you are currently working on?

I have four completed works, two novels and two novellas, although only the two novellas are published at this point (one under a different pen name). I am in the midst of writing two additional novellas to follow Bane of Her Desire. I like that world and the characters.

 

Who is your "writing idol"? I.E. Who do you like and what is it about their writing that captures your soul?

I love Lora Leigh’s Breeds series. She created such an imaginative world. And her writing style is so emotional. It really speaks to me.

 

What is you favorite plot line type?

I don’t have a particular plot type that I go for. I love adventure and humor in books and I do not like weak heroines in constant need of rescue. Past that, I tend to prefer paranormal/sci-fi/fantasy romances, but a great book is a great book regardless of the genre or theme. I just finished reading a medical romance by Caroline Anderson involving a married couple struggling to find the romance again in their marriage, and I loved it!

 

Is there any advice you can offer to anyone who would like to write?

Work with critique partners or join a critique group once you have your first book written. Be prepared to have your feelings hurt. Set the book aside if need be to give yourself time to digest the suggestions and comments. Write something else. Return to your first book with a clear head and keep editing it.

 

What is a good villain?

Tough and nearly undefeatable, but in the end, of course, the hero and heroine are stronger and smarter. J

 

 

BANE OF HER DESIRE

Passion and danger on the Serengeti.

When Holly Ainran’s brother goes AWOL from an elite military force in New Tanzania, she confronts Commander Bane Ojore, a rare gray lion shifter. Sparks ignite, but Holly finds a challenge in taming this brooding, hostile beast.

Bane does not expect the daughter of a high-ranking Parliamentary executive to be a smart, code-breaking expert, adamant about abolishing the lion caste hierarchy and ending the lion-hyena conflict. Nor would he expect such a stunning lioness to fall for him.

But Bane’s job is to find the traitors supplying weapons to the hyenas and all signs point to Holly’s brother. Holly won’t give up on her brother though…or Bane. As their passion escalates, so do the risks, the danger, and ultimately, their love.

 

 

EXCERPT

 

Bane held his breath, the tension building inside his chest until he thought he would explode. Her scent had been driving him crazy ever since he inhaled the sweet, feminine aroma of her heat when she entered the base. Then he got a look at her, and it was all he could do not to take her right there and then. Her luminous eyes were the color of rich, dark gold naturally outlined in black, contrasting with her clean-scrubbed ivory skin. Her lips were rosy pink, and when she blushed, a pink veil spread across her cheeks. He thought of where else she’d be pink, and his groin tightened painfully.

When she shook her head, sandy-blonde wisps escaped her long braid, and he had to shove his hands behind his back or he would’ve reached out to tame the errant strands.

She could be his poison. But she was a mere babe, an innocent, and he felt a knot in his gut. She’d never know the truth about her brother or what her brother had done.

“Another message, sir,” a corporal announced, entering Bane’s office. The man spied Holly and grinned. “Excuse me, sir. Wasn’t aware you had company.”

Bane gave his underling a withering look, and the corporal’s grin vanished. “Th-the message, sir,” the man stammered, extending an envelope to Bane.

“Dismissed.”

The corporal nodded and hastily vacated the office.

Bane had aimed his order of dismissal at Holly as well, but given the way she tilted her head, a wry smile on her pretty face as if challenging him, she wouldn’t leave unless he forcibly evicted her. He held back a smile as he pictured her fighting him as he dragged her out of his office, her warm body wriggling against his, her indignant cries giving way to passionate begging.

His heart rate wasn’t the only thing that spiked. Damn the woman and her heat scent. She might as well be sitting in his office naked.

However, the message couldn’t wait. Weighing his options, he tapped the envelope against his hand. Ultimately he decided to open the envelope and pull out the folded paper. He quickly scanned it, then set the paper on his desk, and rubbed his mouth in frustration.

“Bad news?”

He didn’t bother looking at her. “Unknown. The message is coded.”

“Let me help,” she said, sounding bright and earnest. “I have experience cracking code.”

Bane sighed. “Miss Ainran, you are young. I’m guessing eighteen? First time away from home–”

“I’m twenty-six,” she interrupted dourly.

Bane lifted his gaze, and she shrugged. “I’ve always looked younger than I am.”

She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, which had the unfortunate effect of outlining her breasts and nipples. He forced himself to ignore that.

“I’m not a kid, Commander Ojore. I know how to handle myself. I spent my childhood on border patrols with my brother Fix and his friend Kipper before they joined the Alpha Force.”

The name rang a bell. “Kipper Lumbwi?”

Holly nodded. “You’ve worked with him?”

“Not directly.” Bane stared at Holly until she fidgeted in her chair. Finally he asked, “Kipper Lumbwi is a friend of yours?”

“Kipper was my brother’s best friend when they were young. He was at our house all the time, until they both joined the Alpha Force.”

Bane frowned. The situation with Fix Ainran was more complicated than he’d thought.

“Is there something wrong?”

“Kipper Lumbwi is involved with radical groups aimed at dismantling the caste hierarchy.”

Holly snorted in derision. “Can you blame him? The castes are archaic. Why should someone be relegated to a particular line of work or be forbidden their choice of mate solely because of the caste of their parents? What about the concepts of democracy and free will?”

Bane’s mouth thinned. “Spoken like a naive, sheltered little girl.”

Eyes flashing, she sprang from her chair. “I am not naive, Commander Ojore.”

“Social stratification is a necessity, Miss Ainran, facilitating trade and providing a sound economic institution.”

“You sound like you’re reading from a textbook,” she jeered.

Bane suppressed his reply and studied her. Perhaps she was not so much naive as stubborn. “The caste hierarchy reduces incompatible matings. By preventing lions from mating outside their born castes, the hierarchy ensures a pride’s socioeconomic compatibility. All members of a pride are on the same page, so to speak. This increases the stability of the pride.”

He turned to look out the window again. “The daughter of a parliamentary executive would be expected to join a pride led by a first-caste alpha male,” he said quietly.

“As I said before,” she said. “I will choose my own mate, regardless of what caste he’s from. I will choose him because I love him. And I will not share him.”

Bane returned his attention to her, analyzing her. “And what will your father have to say about that?”

“My father knows how I feel. He believes the system can withstand change.” She lifted her chin as if daring Bane to contradict her.

He did not.

Available from Loose Id LLC:

http://www.loose-id.com/bane-of-her-desire.html