A reclusive artist who is overwhelmed by her powers of telepathy, and a vampire whose rising blood lust puts his poetic muse in jeopardy! Today on the Indie Author Feature with Coffee Time Romance and More, I’m pleased to welcome Shauna Aura Knight, author of A Fading Amaranth.
A Note from the Author
When I first started attending writing workshops at sci-fi/fantasy conventions, I never thought I’d go into indie publishing. Back then, self publishing was a sure-fire way to make yourself look unprofessional. Things have changed in the past two decades! What excites me most about indie publishing is that 1. I have control over my characters and my worlds, and especially 2. I don’t have to shoehorn things into the expectations of genre and what a publisher thinks will sell.
I have a longer urban fantasy series that deals with some of the psychic mage characters introduced in A Fading Amaranth. Back when I started writing that series, it had way too much erotic content to ever be published as a mainstream urban fantasy. But, nor did I want to break the series into chunks based on couples hooking up, because that’s not how the story goes.
In many of my stories, sex and how it works (or doesn’t work) between the characters is often a major piece of the character development. I thought about making a PG-13 version with “deleted scenes” available on my website for download, but that didn’t sit right either.
I took a break from fiction writing for a time and focused on my nonfiction writing and teaching workshops on leadership and public speaking. And then the self publishing boom happened. Meanwhile, there were more successful books out there blending the genre lines. Now, I’m in the process of finishing up the first book in my urban fantasy series, The Key and the Rose, and I’m really excited that—whether I pitch it to a publisher or publish it myself, I have options I didn’t have 10-20 years ago.
Being an indie author has its challenges, but there are some upsides too!
Nathaniel’s been a vampire long enough to grow weary of glamoured seduction, and he’s lost his poetic muse. He meets reclusive artist Alexandra—her telepathy has overwhelmed her for years, and she can bear no one’s touch. However, she can’t hear Nathaniel’s thoughts, and she’s immune to his vampire glamour. During scorching nights together, they rediscover their passion for life.
When a Faerie creature stalks Alexandra, the lovers find themselves snared in a paranormal battle alongside Chicago’s mage guardians. Worse, Nathan’s rising bloodlust places Alexandra in danger. Will she master her abilities before going insane? What will they risk to be together?
QUESTION: Who is your ultimate vampire bad boy? What classic vampire traits have you hooked from page one? What new twists on this age-old paradigm inspire you? Comment and let us know!
Find Shauna Aura Knight on the Web:
Self-Published Authors: Want to be the next Indie Author Feature with Coffee Time Romance and More? Submit your novel for consideration here.
Veronica Bale's Blog 
Leave a Reply