Author Q & A - Part 1

THIS IS YOUR ONLY SPOILER ALERT DISCLAIMER! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK! Even the questions included in this series are spoilers, and there's some connections to easter eggs for my book, Taming the Queen of Beasts as well. So if you haven't read Rise of the Dark Alpha all the way to the end, or if you plan to read QUEEN, please don't read this interview until you have!

I REPEAT: If you haven't finished the book, don't read this interview until you have! LOL.

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WORLD:

How did you come up with Thana? Why did you choose those animals?

So, originally I had intended to enter a different book in the werewolf competition. I was going to tell Lerrin and Suhle's story, which would have started at the end of King, but filled in the gap between the two books, then ended alongside the ending of Queen. But by the time it was time to publish, there clearly wasn't an (big enough) audience for another BEAST book. I had a couple readers read the blurb and even they weren't super excited about it. But at that point I had already constructed this world of alpine animals that had been scientific experiments (it was originally a "sanctuary" here on Earth.)

When I had to go back to the drawing board, it occurred to me that I could use the world and side characters I'd already built, but put them in a different world, and tell that story from their perspective… and so Zev and Sasha were born.

Why does the sun rise in the West and set in the East in Thana? Because that's how I did it in Anima and it's really just to show the reader that they're in a different place than earth, BUT by the time the question was asked, I'd already decided to tie the two books together, so I couldn't answer it in the comments.

Why is it that the only Chimera that can talk telepathically are the wolves and how is it possible that after forming a mate bond they can also speak in their mate's mind?

Because the link is create by the wolves themselves. It isn't actually just mates, it's just that usually the only others species that wolves get close enough to do that with are mates. Zev can actually talk with Dunken, though he can't send all the images and emotions he can send to Sasha.

What is the difference between Yhet (Ancient), Chimera (shift back and forth) and Creatures (a melding?) Is Yhet just always in his animal form?

Yhet is ancient, which is a natural form. A supernaturally created being. The Chimera, including the Creatures, are all a result of being made by science (from the human perspective, the creatures are the 'errors' that didn't turn out the way it was expected.) Even the Chimera who were a product of science lab Chimera reproducing, their parents were scientific experiments, so... Yhet is just Yhet. He is what he is. He was originally discovered by the scientists and he told them his name was Yhet, so they named the entire species after him here on earth.

CHARACTERS

Who is your favorite character to write?

It's a toss-up between Zev and Lhars. On one level, I could happily be in Zev's head all day because I adore him. He has such a loving heart. But he's also got a lot of really screwed up thoughts and feelings about himself.

Lhars on the other hand was a voyage of discovery. When I first conceived the book, Nick was going to be my hidden good-guy, and Lhars was going to be the one that you'd never know until the end whether he was helping or hurting. But those roles flipped while I was writing the first volume, and that meant writing Lhars in the second volume was an unexpected treat. He's a lot like Zev (very loving and giving) but for some reason, even though he's technically younger, Lhars has always felt like the older soul to me. More solid at his core—or perhaps just more confident in his own capabilities.

Anyway I love writing Lhars and wish I could have done it more. SPIDERS? HOW DID YOU MAKE ME LIKE A SPIDER-PERSON?

Honestly, that was an accident. I thought it would be funny to make a really scary creature with a fun/funny personality and use him on the "good" side. And since nothing on earth scares me like spiders… that part was easy.

Little known fact: I named Ernie after my father, who is the guy least likely to scare any stranger that I know. (I got to tell him I did this on his birthday, because he doesn't read my stuff, so even though his birthday was weeks later, by that time everyone liked Ernie, so it was even more fun to tell him.)

Ernie was originally supposed to be a kind of "one and done" character. Showing up for a purpose, then disappearing. But I enjoyed him so much—and you all did too—that I kept him around.

What happened to Ernie after the book is over?

Ernie chose to stay in Thana and successfully captured and killed several humans from the Team using stealth webs. Over time, when they realized the shape-shifting Chimera were all gone, the humans left Thana alone. Ernie got bored and eventually went to the human world hunting Nick—but found the Sanctuary instead.

Because he can build webs and pull himself up trees, etc, he's become nocturnal and continues to haunt the scientific teams at the sanctuary. He kills a team member every few months, just to make things difficult for them, but he doesn't force a confrontation, because he swears that if they ever start making Chimera again, he's going to get each and every one of them out using webs.

The scientists are all quitting their jobs because they're all terrified of him.

Were there any males in the sanctuary that needed saving?

Very few. Most were returned to Thana very early on because the males didn't do well in captivity. The ones that were made were mostly Creatures, who were also released into Thana.

The reason the Team had become so fixated on Zev was because he'd been the most resilient male in terms of being connected to the humans, and because they kept seeing that the males could be left in Thana and controlled by keeping the females dangled in front of them. The whole set up was about control.

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