Interview with Virna DePaul {Chosen by Fate}, Excerpt & Giveaway!

I'm thrilled to have Virna DePaul here at AtM today to talk about her Para-Ops series and the newest installment, Chosen by Fate!

oOoOoOo

Happy New Release Day, Virna!!! *throws confetti*


Thank you so much for taking the time to stop by AtM to give readers a inside scoop into your newest release, Chosen by Fate!

First, can you tell readers who are not familiar with the Para-Ops series what the premise of the stories are about?

Five years after the Second Civil War ends, humans and Otherborn— humanlike creatures with superhuman DNA—still struggle for peace. To ensure the continued rights of both, the FBI forms a Para-Ops team with a unique set of skills. The team includes a vampire, mage, wraith, werebeast, and two humans, including a psychic shaman.

For readers who have not read book one, Chosen by Blood, and who would like to start with Chosen by Fate, are there any story or character arcs that they need to be aware of prior to reading?

I think Chosen By Fate stands on it own so you don't HAVE to start with Chosen By Blood. However, ideally, I'd read the books in order. Book 1 introduces the main team members, including Kyle Mahone, the FBI director who forms the team, Essenia, the goddess that watches over the team and threatens world destruction if it fails to satisfy her, and the Quorum, the main villainous organization of humans committed to returning things to the way they were before Otherborn were discovered.

You bring a lot of real life issues into the conflicts of the stories -- which I find make the urban fantasy world more life like. In fact, the world you've created seems so tangible because of its characters and settings. Can you share what goes into your world-building?

Thank you so much! I really wanted to take the modern world and current human issues and add believable, compelling twists, including the existence of a wide variety of paranormal creatures, with each race having its own history, distinct physical characteristics, and conflicting lifestyles. The vampires in the United States live in an artificial dome in Oregon. Wraiths, all female, have their own compound and territory in Maine. Werewolves are purists who reject their half-breeds while felines are more laid-back and cherish family regardless of mixed blood. These little details help create layers and contrasts while not overpowering the basic human issues being explored in the story. (At least, that's what I hope!)

Your heroine, Wraith, is unique in many ways, and additionally carries a large amount of physical and emotional pain along with her. Can you share with readers what makes Wraith a character that tugs at readers heart strings?

Wraith woke up in an alley with no memory of her human identity. She is literally the walking dead, with no pulse, brain activity, or fingerprints. She doesn't eat or sleep. And she can't be killed my any known methods. She's lonely and wants to care and be cared for, but she's been betrayed several times. She spent years being tortured and experimented on by a mage seeking the answer to immortality. She's a hard-edged character who has no reason to trust anybody, but she's desperate to trust Caleb, the charming, handsome human who sees beyond her tough facade.

Because of the type of character Wraith is, did you find it challenging to write her?

My main challenges were to stay true to her "bad ass" persona while still showing she's vulnerable and worth rooting for, and to get her and Caleb together despite the fact she feels pain when he touches her. Because she has such extreme physical traits and a pretty tragic back story, I needed to make sure she didn't turn into a caricature or strain believability.

Your books are so wonderfully crafted with complex and intricately woven plot, and sub plot, lines. There's never a dull moment! :) So, I have to ask, are you a pantser or plotster? Do you have the series mapped out?

Thank you for that wonderful compliment. I'm mostly a pantser, but I'm learning to plot a little at the beginning of the process because publishers usually like to see a synopsis (outline) of the story before they buy it. Even when I have a synopsis, however, I let the characters and plot take twists and turns. Each book reveals something new, whether it's about a character or plot point, and I don't always know how I'm going to deal with a particular thread. Figuring it out is sometimes the funnest part of my job.

Let's talk about heat, shall we? *grins* Your fabulous at creating not just the smexin' scenes, but also sexual tension. This may be a silly question, but do you find it challenging to keep the characters waiting for the culminating moment (lol), and what makes it so heartfelt between this particular hero and heroine?

I usually make my couples wait quite a bit for completion - I guess I just enjoy torturing them. :) But seriously, I usually create characters who have a lot of reasons to stay away from one another despite how intense their attraction is. This conflict makes them fight themselves as well as each other. With Caleb and Wraith, each has deep wounds and strong beliefs. Caleb, especially, has to accept the fact that he can never have a physical relationship with Wraith unless he's willing to hurt her. As a healer, how does he do that? In the end, it's because Wraith wants him so much she doesn't care about the pain and she's willing to push him and herself to get her way.

I can't wait to find out what's next for us readers!! *waggles eyebrows* I have a secret little thing for Dex {Para-Ops team member}, he's just so mysterious -- and clearly has a story to tell. Will we get his story soon?

I'm working on his book, Chosen By Sin, right now! I'm learning new things about him and also challenging him to be the hero he really is. Dex has very good reasons for wanting revenge against his grandfather, and he joined the Para-Ops team in part because he was promised a "get out of jail" card when he enacts his revenge, but he needs to figure out that love beats out revenge any day of the week.

Can you leave readers with a little teaser/excerpt from CHOSEN BY FATE?

I'd love to!

EXCERPT:

Caleb willed the healing heat building within his body to transfer to Mahone. As it did, he took some of Mahone’s pain into himself.

He felt his own heartbeat slow.

His limbs weakened.

His body began to shake with the effort of remaining upright and he clenched his teeth, sensing he needed to maintain contact far longer than he ever had.

Come on, come on, he urged himself. Hang in there.

The dizziness came next. Then the nausea. He could feel his lungs filling with the gas that swirled around them and knew his time was running out.

His body jerked as he coughed and the movement threatened to pull his hands away from Mahone.

They had to get out of there, but if he disconnected too soon it would all be for nothing. Mahone would die. Hell, Caleb would probably die, as well, too weak from the healing to get out on his own.

But then he felt Mahone’s chest rising strongly and his pulse beating regularly and he knew it had worked. The heat slowly left his body and the voices of his ancestors faded. Caleb whispered his thanks, then opened his eyes. Swiftly, he reached up and unhooked Mahone’s chains from the manacles around his wrists. Mahone groaned and slumped over just as O’Flare caught him and threw him fireman-style over his shoulder. Caleb staggered a few steps before he turned, intending to carry Mahone to the doorway. Halfway there, his knees buckled. Caleb lost his grip on Mahone, and the man slipped and rolled a couple of feet away. Grunting, Caleb fell on all fours, his head hanging, his lungs seizing up.

He’d waited too long. They were both going to die in this warehouse just like those scientists. He looked up, eyes watering, searching the room, thankful that Team Blue had obeyed his orders even as he regretted the fact no one was going to be able to help him.

But then he saw her. Wraith. Running toward him. He tried to open his mouth. To yell at her to stop. He didn’t know how the gas would affect a wraith. Since it worked so well on vamps, immortality had nothing to do with it. But he couldn’t make a sound and Wraith kept coming. She knelt beside him and pulled him up. She was yelling something and he tried to make it out.

“—have to walk! I need to get Mahone. Can you walk, O’Flare?”

She was looking frantically between him and Mahone, the indecision on her face readily apparent. She couldn’t carry them both out of there before the gas ended them.

“Leave me—” he tried to say, but again no sound came out. It didn’t matter. Wraith understood.

She grabbed him by his shirt and shook him, hanging on when he began to slide, practically keeping him on his feet. “No fucking way, O’Flare. I didn’t survive Korea just to come back and lose you in the States. Stay on your feet and move. You’re walking out of here. Got it?”

The vehemence in her voice roused him enough to nod. She released him and, although he swayed on his feet, he didn’t fall. Quickly, she grabbed Mahone, carrying him in the same lift O’Flare had used. Then amazingly, she positioned herself next to him and ordered, “Lean against me if you need to. Start walking. Now.”

Thank you so much for hosting me on your site, Tanya. I always love getting to interact with you and your readers!


Find Virna @:

Website: http://www.virnadepaul.com

Giveaway Details:

• One lucky commenter will win either a copy of Chosen by Blood {Para-Ops, book 1} or Chosen by Fate {Para-Ops, book 2}.

• Leave either a comment on the interview or a question for Virna, along with your email addy!

• Contest will run from 10/4 - 10/8 11:59pm EST.

• Winner will be randomly selected and notified via email.

Good Luck, and thanks for stopping by to support Virna and Chosen by Fate!

Can't Wait? I understand! :)

Purchase @: Amazon
| Barnes & Noble | Book Depository