Featured Interview With Aleena Stark
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
As a military brat, I moved around quite a bit as a child. My home town is a little spec on the map in the middle of Texas.
Now, I live in Maryland with my patient, loving husband and a very burdened cat. Every morning, though I’m sure he would love nothing more to sleep in and enjoy a life of leisure, my timid, black cuddler wakes me without fail at four o’clock, often with a triumphant whooping meow having acquired breakfast for me of some poor unsuspecting mammal who could weigh up to and including his own body weight.
I have published twelve erotic romance novels, and am eagerly working on four other projects. Although, hectic, and busy, I love putting my stories to pen and creating my own little world.
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
The first book I ever read in its entirety was Stephen King’s Carrie. I was around fourteen, and the next novels I ventured were his series The Gunslinger. Loved all of them. At one time, long ago, I could boast I had read everything by Stephen King. But that was a very long time ago. I’m afraid after I read my first Harlequin romance around age eighteen, King lost me for a time.
I started writing very young, but never had the courage to publish until much older. Now, having published twelve novels, I am excited about upcoming projects and eager to hear feedback from both critics and fans.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
I absolutely love Gena Showalter, LaurannDohner, and Nalini Singh. My favorite genre to write and read is erotic romance, but I enjoy a good fantasy like any adventuresome girl. R. A. Salvatore’s D&D Forgotten Realm stories aboutDrizztD’Urden, are a favorite.
Singh’s Desert Warrior is such a perfect story. I loved the instant tension, unwavering male presence, and magical world. Every scene in that book made me feel something, and I could not put the book down to save my life. As I write, I ask myself, what did this chapter make my audience feel? If I feel the scene failed to draw out some strong emotion from my audience, I start over.
Tell us a little about your latest book?
My latest book Sirius, The Cursed Series, Book 5, releases Feb 13. It is available for pre-order now at Amazon.com.
The concept of angels, and magical protectors always intrigued me, and the idea that divine beings existed without flaw bothered me. Why would they be exempt from secret desires and carnal needs? And if they harbored such feelings what would happen if they gave into their cravings?
After condemning an ethereal being with the most horrid act imaginable, I asked why he would commit such a crime, and what happened next? How would it change him, and to what course of action would it lead? I followed the idea of a disgraced angel and it brought me to the Cursed warriors. Who would be affected by the actions of an angel turned rogue? Who would suffer with the angel, and how? The answer: All of his sons, and their sons, and theirs.
Sirius shared in the punishment handed down to his angelic ancestor. The product of the union of a Cursed warrior and a gypsy woman, he would possess more power than any other Cursed brother, and know much more suffering, intimately. Until this book the only super human abilities in the series came from angels and angel kind, but Sirius’ mother possessed magical affinity before meeting her mate, a magic inherit in her blood. Sirius faced challenges none of his Cursed brothers were equipped to handle while hating himself and the monster that lied in wait under his own skin.
Until Sirius, the warriors in the Cursed brotherhood coveted true mates. The blessing of a mate brought an eternal lifetime of fulfillment and happiness to the lonely suffering warriors, but Sirius knew a darker side to mating. His parents were destined mates, and his perception of what taking a mate produces varied diversely from other warriors old enough to have remembered mates. Sirius was the only Cursed warrior who wanted absolutely nothing to do with a mate. So I asked myself, why is he the most suffering tortured warrior? What would compel him to who refuse love, deny bloodlust, and avoid to falling victim to a destined mating?
Abandonment is a common theme among the Cursed brothers. Due to Ornias’ war on mates, most were orphaned young, but Sirius, like Caleb, knew his parents. While Caleb, book 4, was adored by loving parents, Sirius experienced the exact opposite family life. He was abused, emotionally and physically, and could very well have followed in his father’s footsteps, but Sirius refused.
Sirius’ life took an entirely opposite turn. He never even tasted human blood, and knowing what happened between his parents, vowed never to take a mate. And then he met Olivia.
Olivia didn’t subscribe to the whole Cursed warriors, mates, and super human army. Her introduction to the Cursed world ensured she would never trust any of the warriors and take the first opportunity to escape their clutches. Broken and hopeless, she bided her time, but fate finds a way of setting the course.
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