Ink Motions

Tami Lund likes to live, love, and laugh, and does her best to ensure the characters in her books do the same. After they’ve overcome a few seemingly insurmountable obstacles first, of course.

Tami has her own knight in shining armor who proposed in a way worthy of a romance novel, two often amusing kids, and the love of her life, a Brittany/Blue Heeler mix named Kaya. She doesn’t pay them nearly enough attention, because she’s usually either writing or reading.

Most of all, she loves to write. She figures it keeps her from going insane. Or at the very least, it keeps strangers from believing she is insane, because if she goes too long without writing the characters down on the computer, she tends to start talking to them. Out loud. Often, in public places.

 

Website/Blog: http://tamilund.com

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/TamiLundAuthor

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/TamiLundAuthor/

 

 

Ink Motions - Interview

 

How do you get an idea for your novel?

So many ways, but usually, from real life. Last year, I wrote a short as part of a Christmas anthology based on something I saw while I was in my car, sitting at a red light. There was a CVS pharmacy on the corner, and in front of it was a brick half wall, running the length of the sidewalk. I glanced to my left and noticed a man and a very young child. The man was holding the little girl’s hand, keeping her steady, while she walked along that brick wall. Her giggle was so cute, and the guy had this soft, indulgent smile on his face. That scene is the opening of my Christmas short, The Perfect Christmas. I ended up writing the entire story around that image.

 

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

I am one hundred percent a pantster. I cannot plot to save my life. Every book I’ve tried to plot never got written. On the flip side, when I get an idea in my head, I can sit down at the computer and hammer out 10,000 words in a day, assuming life leaves me alone.

 

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

I have many muses. Pinterest is my crack. When I get an idea in my head of what I want my hero and heroine to look like, I head on over to Pinterest and get utterly lost. I have boards for each of my series, as well as a general inspiration board.

 

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

I’ve published 14 books, with a new one coming out in June, another in August, and another anthology short in October. I write both contemporary and paranormal romance. The contemporary are outpacing the paranormal, so I guess I’d better get to work changing that J.

 

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

I am certain Katie MacAlister believes I stalk her. Probably because I do. I love her writing style, her sense of humor, her characters… I just love everything about her, as an author. Plus, she seems like a pretty cool person, too.

 

What is you favorite plot line type?

I love, love, love second chance love. One of my all time favorite books is Birthright by Nora Roberts. She did such an amazing job growing those two characters, guiding them toward realizing they truly belonged together.

 

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

Oh, I’m full of advice. First and foremost: don’t do it alone. And whatever you do, get that book edited before you publish it. And don’t expect you will become an overnight success, because chances are, you won’t. But don’t give up, either. This gig is a marathon, not a sprint. A really, really long marathon.

 

What is a good villain?

A good villain is someone whose issues result from something specific. It isn’t as believable if the villain is mean or nasty just because. Give your villain a little history, a reason for his actions. It will give him and your book more depth. And your readers will love you for it.

 

 

 

Excerpt:

“He sent it back?” Carley asked in disbelief.

Sara nodded. “He said he can tell you didn’t make it, and he refuses to eat anything from this kitchen that does not come specifically from you. He suggested you could come out and talk to him about it.”

Carley shook her head and rolled her eyes. She would just bet he was open to her going out into the dining room to talk to him.

“Tell him I’m not making steaks tonight. Tell him I’m focusing on the vegetarian dishes,” she said suddenly. She grinned when Sara walked away. That ought to teach him.

The waitress returned a moment later. “He wants the vegetarian special,” she said. “And the key lime pie.” She tilted her head and gave Carley a quizzical look. “What’s going on with you and that guy? I thought you said you didn’t know him?”

“I don’t,” Carley insisted. “I know…someone close to him,” she said. She washed her hands and nudged Eric away from the vegetable station. “He wants our vegetarian special? I’ll make him a vegetarian special,” she announced, and she set to work chopping every damn type of vegetable she could find.

When Sara returned with the empty plate from the shifter’s table, she held it up for Carley’s inspection and said, “He wants to speak to you. He said he’ll summon the manager if you don’t go out there.”

Carley’s heart sank. The manager would undoubtedly force the issue, if it was brought to his attention. He saw no reason why his chef wouldn’t want to go out into the dining room and schmooze customers.

“Fine,” she grumbled as she sliced a wedge from one of the key lime pies she had made earlier in the day. She deliberately dropped it onto its side on the plate and didn’t add garnish before shoving a few strands of hair behind her ear and stomping out of the kitchen.

“Here,” she said as she unceremoniously dropped the plate onto the table.

The shifter gave the sloppy slice of pie a cursory glance before lifting his pale blue eyes and focusing so wholly onto Carley that she was certain he saw absolutely nothing else in the room at the moment. How could someone be that focused? She didn’t think she’d ever had anyone pay her such full attention in her life.

She fidgeted, nervously twisting her hands together before she realized what she was doing and clasped them behind her back. The shifter continued to stare at her.

“You owe me for that one, Carley.”

She visibly jerked at the sound of his voice, low and deep and smooth as whiskey.

“For what?” she asked, wondering how in the world he knew her name and for what she could possibly owe him. As far as she knew, she’d never met the man before yesterday.

“That dinner. As enticing as it was eating something with your magical stamp on it, forcing me to eat vegetables does not put me in a particularly good mood.”

She blinked owlishly. “I didn’t force you to eat vegetables.”

“You refused to make me a steak.”

“Sean’s steaks are practically as good as mine,” she protested.

“‘Practically’ isn’t yours.”

With a great deal of effort, she pulled her gaze away from his and made a swift perusal around the restaurant. All human, and none were paying them any particular attention, other than the ones she knew were listening at the door behind her.

“Do I know you?” she asked.

“Not yet,” he replied.

She frowned. “What is that supposed to mean?”

His voice pitched low. “It means I intend to get to know you, every inch of you, from the inside out. I intend to possess you. I intend to do things—” He reached for her, and she pulled away as if he was about to hit her. He froze, midreach and midsentence. And then he slowly lowered his hand.

“You’ve been abused,” he stated, matter-of-factly.

She shook her head, trying to deny it. Don’t go there. Don’t go there.

“Past lover?”

She shook her head again. How had the conversation turned to this?

“Family member then.”

“No,” she finally managed to get out.

“Who?”

“Stop,” she said as she lifted her hand, palm facing out. “Just stop. This is none of your business. I don’t know you. I don’t even know your name, and I have no idea how you know mine. I—” He cut her off.

“My name is Reid. And one of your employees referred to you by name yesterday, when I went into the kitchen to meet you.”

“Fine. Fine. Reid. Look, Reid, obviously you know what I am, and I know what you are. So can we just be honest with each other? What do you want from me?”

“I was in the middle of telling you when you flinched away as if you expected I would hit you.”

Carley blew out a breath. Damned instincts. But it was hard to change the only way she knew how to interact with men.

“I don’t know how you found me, but—”

“It was purely by accident.”

She drew in a ragged breath. “Fine. By accident. Whatever. Look, I’m trying to establish a nice, normal life here. One that doesn’t involve shifters or lightbearers or anyone else from the magical community for that matter. That means there isn’t any room in that nice, normal life for you. So the best thing for you to do is just finish up that key lime pie and go back to whatever pack you came from, okay?”

“I can’t go back,” he replied. “And it isn’t acceptable that you have no room in your life for me.”

Was he serious? She stared at him. He certainly looked serious. If he was joking, he was doing a damn fine job of acting deadpan. Too fine a job.

“I don’t understand,” she finally said.

“Which part?”

She flapped her hand. “All of it. What do you mean, it isn’t acceptable? Since when do you have any say in my life?”

“Since I entered it and decided I want you.”

She stared again, her jaw falling open. “You want—”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Clearly it isn’t for your quick wit.”

She snapped her mouth shut and stabbed her finger at the restaurant entrance. “Get out of my restaurant. You can’t have me. Get out. Now.” She didn’t wait to see if he complied. She turned and stalked back into the kitchen with her head held stiffly, refusing to turn around and look at him again. She didn’t need to, to know he was watching her. Lights above, she could feel the intensity of his stare without having to look.

Just as soon as the kitchen door swung shut behind her, she leaned against the wall and took great, gasping breaths. Her entire body shook as if she was in shock. Hell, she probably was.

Someone thrust a glass into her hand. The stench of bourbon assaulted her nose.

“Drink,” Vivian commanded. Carley obediently drank and then sputtered and gasped when the amber liquid slid down her throat.

“What did he do to you?” Vivian demanded, clearly having decided she was coherent enough to speak of the incident.

“Nothing,” Carley said.

“Well, what happened, then? You’re shaking like a leaf. Something scared the crap out of you. What was it?”

Carley shook her head, but Vivian was a tenacious human being. Finally, Carley admitted, “I’ve never stood up to a man like that before.”

 

Blurb:

Wanting to forget the magical world from whence she came, lightbearer Carley Santiago seeks sanctuary in the human world. But when she meets shifter Reid Hennigan, she finds her heart is not so easily controlled. As passion turns to love, Carley finds that keeping secrets and hiding from her past could be dangerous for them both – fatally dangerous. Welcome back to Tami Lund’s magical world in Light Beyond the Darkness, Book 3 of her paranormal romance series, Lightbearer.

Carley was once the premier chef for the King of the Lightbearers. But when her mate pushes her over a cliff and she miraculously survives, she flees the coterie, knowing he will want to finish the job. She figures hiding in the human world is the best way to ensure her safety.

While working as a chef at one of Chicago’s top restaurants, she meets Reid Hennigan, a lone shifter running from his own past. Carley tries to push him away—she wants nothing to do with anyone from the magical community, even a persistent shifter who insists he only wants to show her pleasure.

Reid Hennigan is another reject from Quentin Lyons’ defunct pack. When he received word his pack master was dead, Reid ran away, having no interest in being forced to be subservient to another abusive pack master. Unfortunately for Reid, shifters are hardwired to be part of a pack, and soon he is wandering aimlessly through life, with no clear idea of what to do next. When he stumbles upon the shy lightbearer working at a restaurant in Chicago, he discovers a new lease on life.

Passion turns to love, and Reid figures his life is pretty damn perfect, despite no longer belonging to a pack. But Carley has secrets of her own, and her secrets could be fatal—to both of them.

 

Buy on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W4GCDPS/ref=s9_simh_gw_p351_d0_i5?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=desktop-1&pf_rd_r=1TGSR6NWYV6WP4WAJFZ8&pf_rd_t=36701&pf_rd_p=2079475242&pf_rd_i=desktop