Marilu Mann “brings the steaminess of the Louisiana bayous to her books and she doesn't stop there”. With Changing Times, the first book in a hot new shifter series out now from Ellora's Cave, Marilu has already established herself as a writer to watch -- and it’s being followed today by book two in the Lusting Wild series, Changing Hearts!
In fact, Marilu is the brain child of Cai Smith and Stephanie Lynch, who teamed up to create a new persona. So this month, we have double trouble!
Chat with Marilu! Cai and Stephanie will be joining us on Wednesday, Nov. 12th from 9 am-1 pm eastern for a special guest author chat at the Sierra club!
Sierra Dafoe: Cai and Stephanie, thank you for joining me! To start with, how did the two of you meet?
Cai Smith: We actually met in high school and have been friends ever since. We’ve both always written, but only started writing toward publication in 2002.
Stephanie Lynch: I can’t believe she left out the Three Musketeer story and the “dumping Arwen in the lake” story. But yes, we’ve been friends forever and a day.
Sierra: What is it like, working as a team? Do you bounce ideas off each other? How does that work?
Cai: We do bounce ideas off one another and we frequently “discuss” plot points & character idiosyncrasies. Most of the time, one of us will get an idea for a story and start writing it then send it to the other one who takes it and goes forward.
Stephanie: Sometimes it is crazy because we can work on more than one story at a time. I’ve learned how to pull myself out of one story a bit faster these days. It makes writing challenging when you are working on several ideas at once.
Sierra: What do you like best about working together?
Cai: I think the fact that we’ve known one another for so long makes it easy for us to connect enough to write together. We do disagree on some things, but NEVER on what makes the story stronger/better. If we do have differing opinions, we’ll both write the scene out and then decide which one fits the story better. It’s not about Arwen and it’s not about me, it’s about the story.
Stephanie: I really like that I have someone who doesn’t think I’m crazy when I call her and start talking as if I’m one of the characters. Cai helps by also getting into character and we will literally talk scenes through.
Sierra: I know in 2005, Marilu got her start on the contest circuit. What was that experience like, and what did you get out of it?
Cai: Well, at first we had some trouble finding judges who actually liked our hero – this is the hero of the book that comes in next week, Changing Hearts. They felt he was “too animalistic,” which he really is...he’s a shapeshifter who identifies more strongly with his animal side than his human side, so he frequently thinks like an animal. Then we did some re-writing and started entering it again – this time we found just the right pitch for that character, and we started winning contests. Out of the 12 contests we entered that year, we won seven and placed in four. That’s also when our MS got the attention of a couple of editors.
Stephanie: And this was the second book so when our editor read this she immediately requested the first one. This is why we sold both books so quickly. The contest circuit for me was a lesson in tough love and tough skin. Some judges were very specific about what they did not like. Ouch!
Sierra: Congratulations on the upcoming release of Changing Hearts! (It comes out Nov. 7th). So tell us all about your Lusting Wild series -- where did the idea come from?
Cai: Well, to be quite honest, I had a dream…no, really. I dreamed the characters in the first book, Changing Times. I wrote a lot of it down and sent it to Stephanie (Arwen) and she ran with it – we did A LOT of rewriting on that first manuscript and by the time we were done, I’d become completely captivated by Slade. Malcolm Slade is the bad guy in Changing Times and the hero of Changing Hearts. When Briana St. James, our editor, read the first chapter of Changing Hearts, she sent us an email saying, “send me the first story,” which we did. We sold Changing Times to Ellora’s Cave in 2007 and a month later sold Changing Hearts as well. Since it was obvious they were so closely linked, she told us to brainstorm a series name. We sent a list of three or four names that we liked, and Lusting Wild was the one that became our series name. Our third book is under contract but we haven’t started editing that one, yet. It’s called Changing Focus.
Stephanie: And we have a fourth one in the hopper as well. Lusting Wild explores the idea of a world where shifters co-exist with humans. The catch is that the humans don’t know about the shifters. Wouldn’t you be surprised to know that your dentist howls at the moon?
Sierra: In your view, what really makes an erotic romance come alive? Both as readers and writers -- what makes a story really sing for you? And working as a duo, how do you decide when a book is “done”?
Cai: I think you, as a reader, have to be able to connect with one of the characters. If you can’t connect with at least one of them on some level, you can’t become involved in the story – not involved like, “This is my life,” but involved on the level that you care about what happens to this character. What makes the writing work for me is that I have to WANT this character to get his/her HEA. We frequently start a story knowing how it’s going to end – we might have discussion on HOW it gets there, but we almost always know WHEN it’s there. There are times we’ve “finished” a story and then gone back and added another thousand (or so) words. Mostly that’s just “tweaking” though, not changing anything major.
Stephanie: It has to have heart. I have to be emotionally involved with both characters for it to be a great book. Only thing for me is that some erotica reads humorously to me. It’s true. I find sex to be pretty amusing at times. Hmm, maybe that’s why I’m single? Cai has taught me a lot about how to put heart into a book. Her dialogue can really make the difference for me in how I feel about one of our characters.
Sierra: And where can readers find out more about you and your books?
Sierra: Cai and Stephanie, thanks so much for joining us this month!
Cai: Thanks for much for having us, Sierra! It’s been a pleasure.
Stephanie: This was a lot of fun! I’m delighted we got this opportunity. Thank you!
An excerpt from Changing Hearts
He had to get away. If he didn’t, they’d kill him.
Slade dragged himself to his knees. Everyone’s attention was focused away from him. Now or never, get moving. He willed himself to ignore the pain radiating throughout his body.
Heading for the wooded area surrounding the compound seemed his safest bet. He’d change direction soon, but for now this felt right. Slade glanced back as he reached the relative safety of the woods. Still too much confusion, too much noise, they hadn’t noticed he’d left yet. They would though and they’d be tracking him.
Pain and nausea doubled him over. He emptied his stomach, covering the mess with leaves and dirt. No sense leaving more of a scent trail than necessary for anyone to follow.
Gaining his feet again, he forced himself to continue, moving as fast as he could. He hit the edge of the bayou with a stifled groan. Falling more than stepping into the water, he felt the sting of cuts and scrapes on his body. Still, the warm water revived him somewhat.
He shook hair and water out of his face, then wiped away blood and sweat with one hand. The other one felt broken. He flexed the injured hand slightly. Yep, definitely broken. That and the ribs were the most painful injuries, the others were just nuisance ones. He’d survive. He’d been beaten worse than this and he’d made it.
North, got to head north. They won’t look for me this way. He set his mind and his feet on a northward trail.
Slade ran through the brackish water that reached his knees. He knew he was running out of steam. He also knew that he couldn’t stop. Stopping too soon meant they might catch his scent—catch him.
The hunter had become the hunted. Pack law didn’t offer any leeway. Killing his second-in-command, though necessary, had effectively exiled him from any Pack. It didn’t matter that there’d been no benefit of formal challenge. It didn’t matter that his second, along with his former lover, had betrayed him, poisoned him. All that mattered was that he’d abandoned his Pack without leadership.
He was alone now.
Again.
Slade stumbled, going down hard. With a mental curse, he bared his teeth at the culprit, a damn cypress knee. They stuck up out of the bayou in various places, just waiting to put a hole in a boat or hide a snake. He raised himself out of the water as he listened for pursuers. No sounds came from the south except a bull alligator roaring. That gator was just making himself known, there wasn’t any threat in it.
He cocked an ear to the other directions, even though he knew his trackers would be from New Orleans. A few voices laughing from the east and the faint trace of wood smoke in the air brought to mind good old boys drinking around a fire. No harm from any other direction, if his ears didn’t lie.
The bayou here didn’t run that deep, but he knew that if he went farther toward the middle he’d probably drown. The moss-covered trees loomed overhead, blotting out most of the light.
The sun climbed and still he ran, walked, moved north. He stopped to throw up a second time as the silver worked through his system. He fell again. It felt as though he’d been running for a lifetime, but he’d learned a long time ago that whining only got you more grief. He’d taught that to his Pack as well. Never give up. With that firmly in mind, Slade managed to get to his feet again. Moving forward sucked, but he wouldn’t stop now.
When a chill hit him in the evening, he knew he felt the onset of shock. The outside temperature had to be somewhere in the eighties. If his sense of direction hadn’t failed him, he had to be getting closer to LaPlace.
Slade stumbled again, but this time he kept his feet under him. The urge to rest gave way to the need to stop and change. Better to be safe than sorry, so he scanned the area one more time by scent.
He couldn’t smell anything close to him other than the water and his own sweat and blood. Slade looked around again, using the rest of his senses. He could sense people near, but the diluted scent told him they weren’t close enough to bother him. He turned his ears toward them. All he could hear were faint shifting noises and deep breathing. They were sleeping.
No shifters followed him right now. Maybe they thought him dead. That gave him pause. If that held true, then the Pack would never seek him out. He might actually get lucky on this. Then he laughed. He hadn’t been that kind of lucky since the age of six. However, he would be dead if he didn’t change soon. He refused to give in to the need to just lie down and let the silver finish him off.
His lips curled up in what might have been a snarl but could have been a laugh. Weak would never be a word used to describe him. Weak was letting someone like his ex gain control, letting a female call the shots. That had never happened to him and it never would. None of his lovers had ever been more than a casual sex partner. No female called him mate—he didn’t get that close. Why take a mate when you might have to leave again?
Shifters, like wolves, mated for life. So far he hadn’t found anyone he wanted that much. Hadn’t found anyone he’d willingly cede control to. He hadn’t found any one place he could truly call home.
Slade tried to take a deep breath. The pain brought him to his knees. It was harder to get back up this time. Giving in at last, he threw his head back on a harsh gasp that echoed from the trees surrounding him.
He moved out of the water to the marshy ground that served as a bank for the bayou. Kneeling down, he let the loamy earth absorb the shock. It hurt. God, it hurt. There was no help for it. He had to change.
Slade took several shallow breaths as he felt the change beginning. The cracking of a branch to his right caused him to whip around. The pain from his sudden movement shot through him like an electric charge.
Bones realigned, skin flowed, warm hair enfolded his body. The dank bayou night became a smorgasbord of smells. His vision took on such clarity that he could see the turtles sleeping just beneath the water. No longer a man, he was an animal.
His change to wolf form complete, he fell to the ground into the welcoming darkness of unconsciousness.
* * * * *
The boards on the porch felt rough under her bare feet, but she didn’t worry about splinters. Something out there needed her. Joie Sue Landry wrapped the lightweight shawl tighter around her shoulders for comfort. The night, though still humid, seemed quieter than usual.
Even the katydids weren’t singing. She paused before stepping off the relative safety of her stoop. That meant whatever it was it had to be big. The last time it had been a gator. What could it be this time?
The uncanny call sounded loud and strong in her head. It wasn’t a voice, exactly, more like a murmur of sound, a whisper. To deny what she heard would have guaranteed a migraine. Moving down the cypress steps, she began to make her way cautiously to the water’s edge. Oppressive heat clung near the bank of the bayou and only the mosquitoes’ buzzing broke the quiet of the night.
A sound of something in pain nearby caused her to falter. A branch cracked under her bare foot. Joie stood on the edge of the bayou with her mouth hanging open. No way had she just seen a naked man on his hands and knees at the edge of the water.
Hurt men didn’t call to her the way the wild things did. Where an animal lay on his side now was just where she thought she’d seen the man. As she drew closer, she saw a wolf. She shook her head. Foolish! It must have been a trick of the light.
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He had to get away. If he didn’t, they’d kill him.