Sunday 30 September 2012

AUTHOR INTERVIEW & BOOK PROMOTIONAL SPOTLIGHT - MASKS OF THE LOST KINGS BY TOM BANE



What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now?
My name is Tom Bane, born in England and still living in this green and pleasant land!

Did it take a long time to get your first book published?
It took over 18 months of countless rejections and pestering agents and publishers, unfortunately it is something every writer has to go through.

Do you work another job as well as your writing work?
 Yes, unless you inherited a vast fortune, I don’t know any writer who can survive without a day job from the start, things get better though as success comes.

What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?
 It is called “Masks of the Lost Kings” , it is a Da-Vinci code style thriller which reveals the secrets of ancient tombs and the Golden Death Mask of Tutankhamun.


BLURB from Goodreads
Following the sudden disappearance of treasure hunter Ben Sanders in Mexico, beautiful archaeologist Suzy da Silva is snatched from the cloistered environs of Oxford University and thrust into a deadly maelstrom of intrigue and discovery. Joining forces with astrophysicist Tom Brooking she crosses four continents, to unlock the dark secrets of Tutankhamun's tomb, the Holy Sepulchre and the mysterious Mayan Temple of Inscriptions to reveal a mysterious truth. Together they risk their lives, pursued by martial assassins and renegade special forces, fighting the forces of evil to discover hidden knowledge so precious that it has lain dormant for over a thousand years....

Available at Amazon.co.uk

How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it? 
I would say it takes me 6 months to write a book, the editing and publication take about at least the same amount of time though.

Do you have plans for a new book? Is this book part of a series? 
I am writing the next book in the Suzy da Silva series, it will be out in December 2012, I can see another three titles in the series.

Do you have a favourite character from your books? and why are they your favourite?
 I identify a lot with the main protagonist Suzy da Silva, she is a mixture of opposites, polite but forceful, vulnerable but strong and adventurous but pragmatic.

Where do you get your book plot ideas from?What/Who is your inspiration?
 I invent my own ideas, they are often inspired from non-fiction, for writing inspiration I read a lot of poetry and old classic books like Arthur Conan Doyle or Agatha Christie.

Do you have anybody read your books and give you reviews before you officially release them?ie. Your partner, children, friends, reviewers you know? 
I have them read an edited by expert editors in their field, it is a bad idea to get friends to read them as they may not want to hurt your feelings if they don’t like it, it is best to get an expert independent and objective editor. Also some other writers can be jealous or biased so I would avoid them as well!

What was the toughest/best review you have ever had?
 I had a one star review it was from a Christian zealot, who didn’t like the discussion of the Mayan religion as it did not accord with her Christian beliefs! The best review I had was from a reader called Cheryl Dalton who runs a book club and is an avid reader.

How do you come up with the Title and Cover Designs for your book/books?Who designed the Cover of your books? 
The cover design was done by a talented US artist called Krystal Watters, the design was supervised by me as there are some hidden secrets in the book cover.

Do you choose a title first, or write the book then choose the title?
 I wrote the book first then chose the title, it is actually a good friend of mine called Lee who comes up with the titles!

Do you decide on character traits (ie shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along? 
Yes I decide all character traits before I write the book, I use an excellent book called “Writer’s guide to Character Traits” by Linda Edelstein, it details all the psychological nuances of people so that they are all internally consistent within your desired character.

Do you basic plot/plan for your book, before you actually begin writing it out? Or do you let the writing flow and see where it takes the story?
 It is a combination of flow and high-level outline plot. I don’t put myself in a strait-jacket by doing too detailed a plan, however I think you have to be incredibly brave or stupid to just “let it flow”.

What do you do to unwind and relax?Do you have a hobby? 
I do martial arts, I am a black belt in karate and an instructor in escrima, I also do a lot of brazilian jiu jitsu. Besides all that macho stuff, I like being in nature and I have a lovable golden Labrador who likes swimming and rolling in the mud.

Are there any hidden messages or morals contained in your books? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type of "The moral of this story is..") 
Yes there are a lot of hidden messages and metaphors used in my book, I also use a lot of material from ancient myths and fables as well as religious beliefs. I want to keep my reader thinking and contemplating after they have read the book.

Do you think ebooks will ever totally replace printed books? 
No I think for the books you truly treasure you need to feel the paper in your hands, maybe I am sentimental but I can’t see physical books disappearing.

Is there a book you know you will never read? Or one you tried to read but just couldn't finish?
I will never read Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler it is safe to say and I tried many times to read the whole of War and Peace, but I never managed to get through it.

What do you think about book trailers? 
I think they are an essential tool an author needs to get his message across, the majority of people think visually, so a book trailer is the best way for people to understand what’s inside the book cover in under a minute.

Do you or would you ever use a pen name?
Yes my pen name is Tom Bane, which is not my real name!

Where can readers follow you?

Your Blog Details?
http://tombane.com/index.php
Your Facebook Page?
http://www.facebook.com/tombaneauthor
Your Goodreads Author Page?

And any other information you wish to supply? 

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - ROBERT B. MARKS





1    
What is your name, where were you born and where do you live now?
My name is Robert B. Marks, I was born in the Greater Toronto Area, and I now live in Kingston, Ontario.

1    Did you always want to be a writer? If not what did you want to be?
I'm not sure if wanting to be a writer ever really came into it, actually.  By the time I reached high school, I was writing -- it was just what I did, what I loved to do, and what I couldn't stop myself doing.  I think this may be a case where writing chose me instead of the other way around.  It's my calling, and I answered it.

1     Did it take a long time to get your first book published?
It did take a couple of years of trying to get the attention of an editor who would give me a chance.  The funny thing is that for my first two books -- Diablo: Demonsbane and the EverQuest Companion -- I was actually trying to pitch something else at the time.  In both cases, the editor liked my writing style, wasn't interested in the project I was pitching, and offered me a different one.  Of course, I accepted.

1     Do you work another job as well as your writing work?
I wear many hats.  I own and operate a small publishing company, and I've also been a professional writer, editor, and even a national defense researcher.

1    What is the name of your latest book, and if you had to summarise it in less than 20 words what would you say?
Well, my latest e-book is titled the Traveller on the Road of Legends, and it's about a monk in the 15th century who gets conscripted by a man who can travel into the myths and legends to help save them.

     Who is your publisher? or do you self publish?
I've been published in the past by Pocket Books and Osborne/McGraw-Hill.  In this particular case, I've published the book under the banner of Legacy Books Press, which I own.  I did this partly to get some of my work out there again (thanks to a couple of issues that will go unmentioned, it's been about twelve years since I've had any longer fiction published), and also to test the waters for a prospective fiction line a couple of years down the road (and no, I'm not accepting fiction manuscripts at this time).


     How long does it usually take you to write a book, from the original idea to finishing writing it?
It really depends on the book, and the deadlines involved.  I'm somebody who is at his best when he's racing a deadline.  So, in the case of something like Demonsbane, which was commissioned, I finished the draft in three weeks flat.  In the case of something like The Traveller on the Road of Legends, it took considerably longer.  In some cases, it can take years.

     Which of your books were easier/harder to write than the others?
If there's a genre I really tend to have trouble with, it's historical fiction.  When it comes to fantasy, I find it very easy to relax and just let the characters do their thing.  When it comes to something set in the real world, particularly something set in the past, I have to keep reminding myself that getting all the details right is not the point and I have to force myself to focus on the story.  I think if I didn't do that, I'd end up never getting out of the research stage.

     What can we expect from you in the future?  ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?
Well, there are a couple of full-length manuscripts that my agent is trying to sell right now, both of which are set in the Road of Legends universe.  And, there are three partially completed books on my computer which I hope to be back to writing soon, one of which is another fantasy novel, another is a novel about Ragnarok set in the Viking Age, and the third is a retelling of my great grandfather's World War I story on the Eastern Front.

1    Where do you get your book plot ideas from?What/Who is your inspiration?
People do love to ask that -- I have never had a problem with getting plot ideas.  The problem is having enough time to write them down.  I call it "the bombardment of ideas."  It's almost like a form of autism, except that instead of being unable to shut out the entire world, I can't shut out the ideas.  And they literally come from everywhere and nowhere.

1    Do you have a certain routine you have for writing? ie You listen to music, sit in a certain chair?
I'm very musically inclined.  So, when I'm writing certain scenes, I'll put a movie soundtrack on that matches the scene.  I think I've written a number of battle scenes to the soundtrack from The 13th Warrior.

     Do you have anybody read your books and give you reviews before you officially release them?ie. Your partner, children, friends, reviewers you know?
Oh, absolutely.  It has been my experience that any given author is one of the worst editors of their own work.  When you write a book, or even an article, you know what you're trying to say, and even if you don't succeed in saying it, you project that onto the work anyway when you read it.  You need that extra set of eyeballs to make sure that everything works, and that you actually said what you thought you said.  In the case of The Traveller on the Road of Legends, I handed it over to my fiancee to read, and she indeed caught something that didn't work and needed fixing.

1   Do you read all the reviews of your book/books?
I actually try to.  As much as I probably should be just moving on and concentrating on the next book, I really do want to know what people thought of what I wrote.  For that matter, I think that in the business of writing, even the coldest, most dispassionate professional ultimately wants to know that people liked what they wrote.

1    Would you ever ask a reviewer to change their review if it was not all positive about your book/books?
Never.  It's not the author's place to dispute a review, good or bad, and frankly it would be incredibly unprofessional to do so.  The only times I have ever asked for a modification to a review have been when the reviewer forgot to put up a link to where the book could be bought, or in one case on Amazon where somebody hadn't so much written a review as launched a personal attack on me (quite literally, nothing in the book was mentioned).  That's the only case where I ever had to request that a review of one of my books be taken down, and Amazon was kind enough to do that.

1   How do you come up with characters names and place names in your books?
A lot of times, it's quite haphazard.  I do like to do what Tolkien did, and put in occasional linguistic jokes.  But, for the most part, I just roll the names around in my head until it sounds right.
The thing is this, though -- sometimes what sounds right in the first draft doesn't sound right in later drafts.  In the case of The Traveller on the Road of Legends, I think I ended up changing half of the names in the final draft.  When I first wrote it, "Cyric" sounded like a great name for the main character.  When I did my penultimate editing pass before handing it off to my fiancee, I realized that the name didn't fit a 15th century English monk in the slightest, and changed it to Edwin.

     Do you decide on character traits (ie shy, quiet, tomboy girl) before writing the whole book or as you go along?
I would love to be able to say that I know who most of these characters are before pen goes to paper, but I'd be lying through my teeth.  Before I start writing, I THINK I know who they are, I really do.  They do manage to surprise me, though.  I've had at least two instances where I had planned one character to be dour and brooding, and another to be happy and cheerful, and they ended up being exactly the opposite.  That's a good sign, though - it means that the characters have come to life.  The more they write themselves, the better it tends to be.

  Do you basic plot/plan for your book, before you actually begin writing it out? Or do you let the writing flow and see where it takes the story?
That's actually a bit of a hard question to answer.  I do tend to work off an outline, but very frequently the outline is written once I'm a good three chapters into the book.  When it comes to the outline, I very much let the writing flow - once the story starts flowing, I know I've got something worth putting on paper.

1    Have you ever suffered from a "writer's block"? What did you do to get past the "block"?
Not really.  There are a few times when I'm just too tired and the prose just comes out as crap.  What instead I tend to suffer from is a lack of motivation.  The busier things get and the longer you are away from publication, it gets harder and harder to justify writing that next chapter, and before you know it, six months have passed.  That's one of the reasons I wanted to get Traveller on the Road of Legends up as an e-book -- I want to get that drive back to write those next chapters.

1    What do you do to unwind and relax?Do you have a hobby?
Well, I'm part of the Western Martial Arts movement, which means that I train in German longsword fighting.  I also play the violin (badly) and make honey wine (well).  I'm also quite a movie buff.

 Have you ever based characters on people you know or based events on things that have happened to you?
Character-wise, it does happen on occasion, although by the time the character is on the page he or she is often very different than the person who inspired him or her.  I think it would be more accurate to say that I tend to build my own experiences into my writing.

1    Are there any hidden messages or morals contained in your books? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type of "The moral of this story is..")
I'd say that there are more observations, or musings.  I do tend to have characters coming into the story with certain preconceptions, only to discover that things are more complicated than they appear.  Certainly, my stories are about things, and there's always something more going on under the surface.  I wouldn't say it's as simple as a moral or a hidden message, though.  I think I'd actually find that a bit trite.

1    Is there a certain Author that influenced you in writing?
Dennis L. McKiernan is the man who inspired me to pick up my pen in a serious way and actually make a proper go at it.  But, as far as a serious influence, I would have to say Michael Moorcock, in particular The Sailor on the Seas of Fate.  When I started writing, my approach to fantasy was to create a world.  What Moorcock showed me was that it was far more interesting -- and far less limiting -- to create a universe.  The entire idea of the Road of Legends, where one can walk from one world to another, owes most of its existence to Moorcock and his Eternal Champion series.

1    Which format of book do you prefer, ebook,hardback, or paperback?
I'm definitely a hardcover and paperback man.

1   What is your favourite book and Why?  Have you read it more than once?
It really varies.  It used to be that the book I kept coming back to was the Lord of the Rings, but I've moved on from that now.  I'm a big Bernard Cornwell fan (more of his Viking and Medieval novels than his Sharpe books), and I really enjoyed The Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett.  I also really love the Icelandic Sagas.

  What are you currently reading? Are you enjoying it? What format is it?(ebook, hardback or paperback)
Right now I'm reading Pierre Berton's War of 1812 in trade paperback, and I'm enjoying it quite a lot.  Burton manages to really bring the history to life.  I'm not sure what I'm going to read next, but I think I might read something on Prohibition era gangsters or the like (let's just say that my fiancee and I are both Boardwalk Empire fans).

1   Do you think ebooks will ever totally replace printed books?
People love to ask this question.  Frankly, I really have it in for technology pundits, who take a Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome approach to it all -- "Two formats enter!  ONE FORMAT LEAVES!"  And it's ridiculous, it really is.  They're complementary formats -- not only is one never going to replace the other, there's no reason it should.
My first book contract was a major e-book with Pocket Books back in 2000, back at the very beginning of the first e-book "revolution" -- the one that everybody likes to forget happened.  I watched Pocket Books twist itself into a pretzel to make the book succeed, only to discover that the supposedly huge market was a figment of the imagination of technology writers.  Twelve years later, there actually is a respectably sized and growing e-book market that is finally able to find its feet, and it stands proudly alongside the printed book.  But it's around $2 billion net of a roughly $30 billion net book market.  When you actually look at the market figures and trends, it's fairly clear that they are related but separate markets, and if I had to guess, the e-book market is most closely related to the mobile phone app market.  They have become big business, but they're big business alongside the book market, not replacing it.
Ultimately, when you look at the e-book vs. the printed book and if there's going to be a takeover, you have to look at the DVD and the laserdisc vs. VHS.  Why did the laserdisc attempt for around 15 years to make a dent in the home video market without success, while the DVD for all intents and purposes wiped out the VHS within five years of introduction?  Well, the answer is simple -- the DVD was simpler and easier to use than the VHS, whereas the laserdisc wasn't.  There was a lower technological barrier to entry, if you want to call it that.  And when it comes to a printed book, which is self contained and requires no technology to use, you would be hard pressed to find a simpler object.  An e-book may now have a low technological barrier to entry, but the printed book has NO technological barrier to entry.

1   Are there any New Authors you are interested in for us to watch out for? and Why should we watch out for them?
Oh, I think that you should definitely watch out for Kjeld Hald Galster, John-Allen Price, Aaron Taylor Miedema, and Michael Kaminski.  But then again, I'm biased -- I own the publishing company that publishes their work.  Still, they wrote tremendous books, and it was an honour to publish them.

1   What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
If I had to pick one bit of advice for today, I'd say to lead an interesting life, and get lots of experiences under your belt.  You write best what you know, and the more you've experienced, the better you'll be at writing about it.

Anyway, I hope you find it a worthwhile interview - I've taken the liberty of attaching my photograph and a high resolution version of the e-book cover.  Now, for links:

My livejournal:
 http://garwulf.livejournal.com/

My publishing company:
 http://www.legacybookspress.com/

And the link to Traveller on the Road of Legends (if you include only one link, please make it this one):
 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008EKYNKQ

Thank you very much for taking the time to take part in the Interview.

PROMOTIONAL SPOTLIGHT - THE TRAVELLER ON THE ROAD OF LEGENDS BY ROBERT B MARKS

BLURB from Amazon.co.uk
It is the Road of Legends, the Great Road, the road between worlds. Veiled in mist, it is a pathway where anything is possible, where heroes battle with dragons, and where immortals wander in their endless lives. It is where a traveller can journey into the very stories, myths, and legends themselves.

And, deep in the mists of the Great Road, a madman will stop at nothing to destroy every single one of them.

Robert B. Marks, the author of Diablo: Demonsbane, invites you to take your first steps onto the Road of Legends...


Available at Amazon.co.uk

Saturday 29 September 2012

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - CONSTANCE PHILLIPS



If you had to choose to be one of your characters in your book/books which would you be? and why?
Monique from Fairproof, hands down. Even though she has some negative traits she works to overcome them throughout the book, There are two huge things I admire about her.
She not afraid to do what she feels has to be done. Monique doesn’t submit to what her family thinks she should do or what Fairy society expects of her, but later, when need be, she stands up and defends the realm and her role in it.
The second trait I admire in Monique is her kind heart. She has the ability to see through to what the other characters are thinking and feeling and she’s sensitive to their wants and needs.

Are there any hidden messages or morals contained in your books? (Morals as in like Aesops Fables type of "The moral of this story is..")
That whether a character (person) is human or fairy, they are more alike than different. I think the separation of Fairy and human could be substituted for any two divisions of the population that are at odds.

What can we expect from you in the future?  ie More books of the same genre? Books of a different genre?
Crescent Moon Press will be releasing a second book (not related to Fairyproof) from me called Resurrecting Harry.  It’s also a paranormal romance. Currently, I’m writing a second book related to Fairyproof with Monique’s brother Keiran as the hero.

Do you think ebooks will ever totally replace printed books?
Totally replace? No. I liken it to what the music industry went through a few years ago. Everyone thought with the advent of iPods and other MP3 devices that the MP3 would wipe CDs, tapes and vinyl right off the face of the earth, but it hasn’t. In fact, there’s been a resurgence of vinyl recently.
I think ebooks are wonderful, and I think we can thank the companies that offer us so many different ebook readers for the proliferation of ebooks, but I think there will always be printed books around.
I don’t see them ever going completely away.

Do you think children at schools these days are encouraged enough to read? and/or do Imaginative writing?
Unfortunately, I think the answer to this question is no. For a while, I worked as an editor for an online magazine. On occasion college students would submit articles and I would be shocked at the level of skill they wrote at. It wasn’t only about commas and the like, but creating full sentences, or worse, sentences that went on and on and on.
Writing and reading are two things my kids have excelled at, but they’ve been encouraged to both from a young age.

Did you read a lot at school and write lots of stories or is being a writer something newer in your life?
Reading was instilled in me as a young girl. We only lived a couple blocks from the library in a small town, and I used to go to there several times a week. I’d bring home two or three books and devour them in a couple days. Then I’d return them and bring home two or three more.
I started writing stories about the same time I learned to string sentences together. In high school, I had the amazing support of a creative writing teacher. Her encouragement was enough to keep chugging away all these years.

What piece of advice would you give to a new writer?
Never give up.
I know it seems a little cliché, but it is the absolute most important advice. Realize you will be told no. It’s inevitable, but you have to keep pushing until you find the person who connects with your work.

Where can readers follow you?
I have a blog and a lot of information about my books and guest appearances at my website.

Your Facebook page? I can also be found at facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ConstancePhillipsRomanceAuthor?ref=hl  
I’m also at Twitter with the handle CPhillips. 
You can also find me at Goodreads....

EXCERPT - FAIRYPROOF BY CONSTANCE PHILLIPS



(This is the scene in which the hero and heroine meet. Monique is interviewing for a job, and has given a false name – Naomi – because she is in hiding.)

Two large windows overlooked the park across the street, a tell-tale sign of his success in the business world. The park looming ten stories below, a bit of nature captured between the high-rise office buildings, reminded Moni que of the world she ran from. It was a slice of serenity amidst a chaotic city, and a dynamic illustration of the two worlds she was caught between.
A large, cherry desk with no clutter sat near one window. Other than a tray full of files in the left corner, only a computer monitor sat on the polished surface. In front of it were three reddish-brown leather chairs with cherry end tables separating them.
Both her father and brother used to say “focus on your strengths and downplay your weaknesses,” and that’s what needed to be done. Her best assets were physical: long legs, a small waist, and breasts that would always turn a man’s head, especially when she unbuttoned the top two buttons and wore a push up bra. Five-nine before slipping on the three-inch black heels, she towered over most women. The shoes matched a very short skirt and sleek-fitting jacket.
She shifted her weight, started across the room and focused on Daniel. Sitting behind the desk, his head was buried in a file. All she could see was his jet-black hair. Bone straight, it framed his face and brushed his shoulders with just enough gray at the temples to raise her pulse.
Then he looked up.
Gray eyes met hers from behind black-rimmed glasses. Her heart lurched in her chest. Charming him would be a pleasure.
Holding his gaze, she set her shoulders back enough that his eyes would drop lower, and closed the distance between them. She offered her hand across the desk and tipped her head, letting her hair fall across her right shoulder. When his large hand enveloped hers, she smiled and cast an enchantment spell. “Mr. Elliot, I’m Naomi Sanders.”
She waited for the familiar haze to cloud his eyes, a sure sign he was under her control.
He accepted her hand, cradled it in his for a brief moment before turning his attention to his assistant who handed him her paperwork.
No haze. He didn’t move toward her with an infatuated grin, just went about his business. A sharp pain seized her heart, radiating through her chest. What could have gone wrong? Casting an enchantment spell was second nature. She’d been using them to get what she wanted since seeking refuge among the humans.
As she lowered herself into one of the chairs, her mind grappled with what had gone wrong, and her body slipped into the familiar: teasing the man in front of her. She crossed her long legs, and let her skirt slide up her thigh.
Unaffected, Daniel read her file as he walked around his desk and leaned back against it. After a moment, he looked up and asked, “Why did you leave your last job?”
She shifted her weight in the chair, uncrossing her long legs and crossing them again in the opposite direction. He didn’t appear moved at all by her physical appearance, but even with her worries Monique couldn’t ignore him or the way his dark, tailored suit accented his long, lean body.
A smile crossed his thin lips, but not for the reason she wanted. He hadn’t even noticed her legs. Contact hadn’t been broken by his crisp, clear eyes. The grin turned to a light chuckle. “If that question is too hard, Miss Sanders, maybe we’re both wasting our time.”
Her cheeks flushed and she knew they were reddening with embarrassment. Worried they clashed with her hair, she tried to swallow the blush. If winning this job the old-fashioned way wasn’t going to work, then she wasn’t going to get it. Still, she had to say something. Fear knotted her stomach as she stammered, “It’s not too hard, Mr. Elliot. I needed a new start, so I moved.”
“From the locations of your last three jobs — Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, and Boston — it seems like you’ve needed a few new starts. Now, it’s Elgin, Illinois. Some would say moving across country when you don’t have a job lined up is a very stupid thing to do.”
A glint in his eyes that told her he didn’t agree with that statement. She followed that instinct and moved forward, hoping to salvage things. “I’m not worried. If I don’t get this job, I’ll find another.”
If he was immune to her spells, was she also transparent to him? Did he know she was lying? Could he see just how desperate she was? Her fears raced through her head, breaking her concentration.
“I would say you’re brave and a go-getter.”
Wait. Those were positive attributes. Right?
He tapped the pen on the edge of his desk, studying her file. “On the other hand, I’m worried wanderlust might strike again. The reason there is an opening at all is because Renee’s new husband’s job is taking them both out of state. I don’t want to have to go through a search like this again in six months when you decide you need another change.”
She’d be lucky if she was still here in six weeks, but she couldn’t tell Daniel that. The fact she had to tell him anything at all annoyed her. Her prowess and powers should have had this job cinched by now. He should be sending the other girls home and inviting her to lunch.
But she couldn’t let her frustration derail her. This job was too important to her survival to let it slip away. She dug deep, reached out and touched his knee so she could cast the spell again. Smiling in his direction, she said, “If you give me the chance, I won’t disappoint you.”
He shifted to his right and let her hand slip away as his eyes returned to the file. His lower lip curled between his teeth as he studied her application, not dissuaded from the task at hand. He didn’t even seem to recognize the subtle inflection in her voice.
Instead, he was going on and on with legitimate questions about her employment history and her knowledge of the business world. Could she work weekends if asked? Was she familiar with the software their computers used? Did she have experience with multi-line phones? Did she consider herself a people person?
Some she answered honestly. Others she flubbed her way through, making up the best answers she could. Unfortunately, thinking on her feet was not what she considered a strong suit and she was having a hard time deciphering how Daniel was reacting to her. It just wasn’t happening the way she’d hoped.
Her toe tapped against the floor, but deep inside her heart quivered. His cool, detached attitude challenged her, but if she didn’t impress with this interview, she’d never get the chance to know if she’d overcome his immunity to her.
 “Well, thank you for coming in, Naomi. I have a few other women to interview, but I need to make a decision soon. You’ll be hearing from me either way.”
It was over. For the first time since leaving her own world and stepping into the humans’, she’d failed. She hadn’t charmed Daniel and she wouldn’t be getting this desperately-needed job.
 Stepping into the small elevator, she watched the metal doors close and asked her mirrored reflection what’d gone wrong. Humans weren’t immune to her power — their power — it just didn’t happen.  Did it?
Keiran considered all humans the enemy and he knew his enemy well. He would know what was going on here, but, since they weren’t even on speaking terms, she couldn’t ask. He’d be more concerned with getting her far away from them and back home than teaching her more about their ways. She wasn’t willing to surrender to him. And she wasn’t going home.
Not yet.
Of all times for her powers to fail! And it wasn’t just about how much she needed the job. As important as it was, her desire to see Daniel again burned inside her and it went so much deeper than his grey eyes and lean frame. Deeper than his delightful smile.
For some reason, his immunity to her spells and wiles intrigued her. She hungered for what lingered just out for reach like some forbidden fruit.
Without the job, she’d never see him again and the fact he appeared to be spell-proof would no longer be significant.
But what if it was a failing with her instead of a resistance in him?
In some ways, the thought made sense. It also terrified her. She’d always survived here by keeping humans, especially the men, on puppet strings that she controlled. If she had to deal with them on a level playing field, she was doomed.
Without this job, she was more vulnerable to her brother and Eero. Would Daniel Elliot, with his charm and good looks, be the one to end her earthly romp and cause her to go home?
Damn it! Didn’t he know he was supposed to find her irresistible? After all, she was a fairy.