Thank
you for having me on your blog today. My paranormal romance, Unnatural Allies (Book #2 Shifting
Alliances), features a rat alpha shifter as a hero.
As
a writer, the real thrill in writing a rat alpha as a hero, is the freedom it
gave to explore the parameters of an alpha.
How far could I stretch that definition?
How many beta-like characteristics could I sneak in and still maintain
him as a leader who commanded respect of bigger, stronger predatorial shifters?
Lets’
start with what he looks like. Evan Grant is lean, with smaller muscles and
shorter stature and a facial twitch
(think rat with whiskers) we don’t tend to associate with heroes. While he is
physically significant among other rat shifters, he pales in size to predators.
He can be a deadly fighter, but prefers to use strategy and diplomacy over
weapons and fists to solve conflict.
He’s humble, letting people assume he’s a local shopkeeper, when he is
CEO of an international franchise. He
also reads and writes poetry and craves intimacy. His commitment to his pack,
however, makes it hard for him to have a steady lover, a spiritual pain he
carries everywhere like one would a phone.
Now
that you know what he looks like, I think the best way to understand Evan is to
meet him so I’m sharing an exclusive excerpt below.
Read on for an excerpt!
A World in Transition
Violent fae encroachment on shifter land
is heating up. With death tolls rising, the impossible becomes necessary –
an alliance among predator and prey shifters.
An Inconceivable Love
Nicca Baron, lone
wolf and wolf clan beta, finds herself under the command of Evan Grant, the rat
alpha. In different circumstances, he’d be dinner. Or so her wolf
keeps reminding her. Evan proves to be a perceptive leader, a skilled
fighter and irresistible to her lonely heart.
To rule the rats, you have to rule the
pack. Evan is a whiz at managing people and groups. Until he finds himself
leading a mission made up of every single large animal that thrives on rat
flesh. And not the kind between his legs. The only bright light is Nicca.
Her storm gray eyes miss nothing, her brilliant mind comprehends
everything and her succulent curves offer the perfect place for a rat to
nestle.
An Impossible Future
In each other’s arms, Nicca and Evan
discover love and a new perspective in an off-kilter world. But a
wolf cannot mate with a rat, no matter the strength of the human attraction.
At home, Evan Grant listened to Jillian’s angry voice
mail again, disappointment an angry pulse in his stomach. The females in his
clan drove away another potential girlfriend.
Again. He’d thought dating a doe from another mischief might circumvent
the competition, but the females ganged together more coherently this time.
Usually they took sides—for or against his intended lady. Either way, he had yet to meet a woman
willing to handle the fireworks.
An image of the wolf beta popped into his thoughts.
Shy on the outside, she radiated with hidden depths and lips a man could lose
himself in. Predator. Big teeth. Claws.
His rat was right, that was an odd thought. He was grasping at straws. The pack
would have to embrace any partner he chose, and they were possessive of him.
Too much so. A wolf would be out of the question. Probably fatigue conjuring up
crazy ideas. Or his ever-present need to be deeply connected, and being wrapped
around and inside a woman, her scent intermingled with his own, the closest he
got to satisfying that need. Having Jillian here tonight with that tinkling
laugh, lemony scent, and long, mewling moan instead of her shrewish accusations
would have helped him unwind after a tough evening.
For a rat alpha, pack integrity had to be his top
priority—it was the source of their strength—how they survived and thrived in a
world full of hunters. Since he earned rather than inherited leadership, as
happened in some clans, he didn’t need
to marry or start a family. He wanted to. Evan craved intimacy, which was what
made him the longest lasting rat alpha on record. He understood how to create
relationships, thrived on them. He loved his clan, but he also wanted to come
home, take off all the masks he wore to govern the rats, and lose himself in
his woman.
He sighed. Being solo again had its benefits. With the
fae on the march, and this strange new alliance in place, being there for his
pack would be paramount. Managing the clan jealousies that always came with his
relationships would divide his mischief and weaken them. Without strength, they’d be battling the
predators in the alliance at the same time as they battled the fae.
He erased Jillian’s message, then got himself a
beer. The bite of a strong, cold brew
kept him centered. Plopping down on his favorite recliner, he sank into the
buttery faux leather, worn from age and use. He reached for the book of poetry,
pen, and the journal he kept hidden under the chair cushion. His packmates
would not understand. To him, the lyric and motion of a poem, how its stark
language captured complex emotion, caressed his rough edges, tempered the well
of loneliness he carried even amidst his pack. Reading and writing poetry
released his inner torment and created a bridge to the empathy he needed to
manage the rats and negotiate among the predators.
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About
Shari
Hello, I'm Shari.
By day, I crawl out of bed, mainline coffee, walk the dog, get my kid off to
school, hop on the metro, and save cities within the four walls of my office.
Usually by email.
At night, the
other Shari emerges. I take off the suit, curl up on the couch and let my
imagination play, with words and images until stories take shape (while
periodically checking on my teen-ager, hiding out in the bedroom and plotting
world domination with her furry minions). As my alter ego, I save cities
in a cape and spangled tights, wander space and time on a surfboard, fly over
the Himalayas on feathered wings, make six-toed footprints in indigo talc snow
on the sixth planet in the Andromeda galaxy or eavesdrop on Olympian gods while
pretending to whip up a bowl of ambrosia.
In all these wondrous
worlds, romance and passion blossom. I can't resist a happy ending. And I am
particularly prone to writing happy endings for those who have given up on ever
getting one. That gives me immense satisfaction.
Join me on my
journey. The best ideas emerge
from team work.
Hang
out with Shari on the Web
Thanks so much for hosting me.
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