PLEASE WELCOME CHRISTINE YOUNG!

Today I'm delighted to welcome fellow author, Christine Young, to my blog!


BIO
Born in Medford, Oregon, novelist Christine Young has lived in Oregon all of her life. After graduating from Oregon State University with a BS in science, she spent another year at Southern Oregon State University working on her teaching certificate, and a few years later received her Master's degree in secondary education and counseling. Her teaching and writing careers intertwined with raising three children. And the long, hot days of summer provided the perfect setting for creating romance. She sold her first book, Dakota's Bride, the summer of 1998 and her second book, My Angel, to Kensington. Since then, she has published twelve more full-length novels, and three novellas in anthologies. Now that she has retired from teaching full-time, Christine can devote more time to her newest venture--Rogue Phoenix Press. Christine is the founder, editor and co-owner with her husband. They live in Salem, Oregon.


You can visit Christine at her blog: <http://christineyoung-romancewriter.blogspot.com>


INTERVIEW

What is the name of your series of books? How many books are in the series? 

The Earth and Wind series. My original plan was to have three books in the series. The first book, Rebel Heart, features Victoria DeMontville and Cameron Savage. Victoria has a twin sister, Vanessa. I was planning on Vanessa having the third story. The second story goes to Jonathan Reese, a cousin to Tori and Nessa.

What's the genre/subgenre of your series? 

The genre is futuristic with some fantasy thrown in. These books are also erotic romance. Rebel Heart is a re-edited release with a brand new cover.

What is the premise your series?

Rebel Heart is set five hundred years in the future. The hero and heroine come from very different backgrounds. One is an Outsider and the other a City Dweller, but they are both dedicated scientists. Cameron savage is a physician. Victoria DeMontville is a research scientist. They are both working to create a vaccine that will work against a deadly virus. Victoria has uncovered another way to help the victims of the virus--genetic surgery. During many of her forays into the musty archives of the city library, she discovers a technique that would give the City Dwellers a gene that would enhance an almost non-existent immune system. The technique is called allele transplant surgery. 

What ties it together? 

War ties it all together. The life styles and needs of the Outsiders and the City Dwellers are very different. They are unable to settle their difference. Eventually the disagreements result in war.

Are the characters related, have the same career, live in the same town, etc.?

In Rebel Heart the characters, Tori and Cameron, have similar careers and they are working to solve a common problem. They want to find a cure for the deadly Signe Virus, which is wiping out entire towns.

In the second book Jonathan, the hero, is a cousin to the twins. He meets a woman who has magical abilities and can foresee the future. 

The third book will be Nessa's story. She is a computer geek but I am clueless at the moment as to the hero and direction the story will take.

Why write a series? What are the pros and cons? 

I write series because I almost always fall in love with my secondary characters. During the writing of one book, my mind starts to plan the direction the other characters will take. And of course, their stories have to be told because they will rattle around in my brain until I eventually put them on paper.

Pros: I feel readers think the same way. I have had times when my readers and/or editor has asked when a certain character will get their story. For example, Kate Duffy, my original editor for Dakota's Bride, asked about Jacob St. John. She expected Jacob and Angela to be a couple. Alas they were not. They had separate stories. Angela in My Angel and Jacob in the very last book of this series, Forever His.

I don't think there are any cons.

What's your next project? Is there another series in your writing future? 

My next project is an erotic fantasy romance. I think the title will be Catching Meara. It is about a hero who shape-shifts to a jaguar and a heroine who is a technical analyst (computer hacker). At this point in time, I don't think this book will be a series. But I never know. 

I do have another series. The first two books are already published, Allura and The Wager. This is my twelve dancing princesses series, which is set in Regency England and Scotland.

Any contests or giveaways related to this blog post or that you are running?

I would love to give away a copy of The Gift, a historical romance set during the War Between the States.

Any other information you would like to add?

Thanks so much for inviting me to your blog. 

EXCERPT

Rebel Heart

Christine Young

achristay@aol.com

Excerpt Heat Level: 1

Book Heat Level:

Buy at: www.roguephoenixpress.com

"God Almighty!" Cameron Savage rocked on the balls of his feet before he moved swiftly and silently behind the furtive shadow ahead. Until this moment, Cameron thought the area was secured and safe. If something wasn't done soon to stop this boy, all hell would break lose.

The most powerful of the overlords were due into this area by noon. He, Cameron Savage, confidant of the most influential of all the overlords and also double agent, spy--thieftaker, was blessed with the burden of securing the perimeter.

His job was two-fold; the overlords must feel safe, and the wheels must be set in motion for their eventual capture and prosecution.

This City Dweller complicated his mission, had the nerve to steal away in the early hours of dawn to some secret rendezvous. It seemed he cared not for the laws and the tenuous peace. And why should the boy? The corruption that existed in this world went unprosecuted, terrifying all law-abiding citizens.

Cameron vowed long ago to put an end to the trafficking, to stop the thieves who stole the deadly viruses from the disease control centers, holding them ransom until the City Dwellers were all but bankrupt. He'd vowed to stop the corrupt and dangerous thieftakers from forming unholy alliances with the thieves, and in the process reaping fortunes from both sides.

For a moment he looked at the emblem sewn on his jacket and gritted his teeth. Once, the golden red symbol of the dragon, of the thieftakers, stood for something noble. A man wearing the emblem could be proud of what he did.

But no longer.

Over the last five years, progress had been made. The tension had eased somewhat, but the threat of contamination always lingered. One mistake, one infestation and all would be for naught. All the hard work and research over the long years would be wasted by a few heartless people. Corrupt thieftakers. The crime syndicates.

Any mistake could prove fatal.

While Cameron watched, the small figure stopped beside an old rotten log and knelt before whipping the knapsack from his back and rummaging through the inside. Seconds later a spade and a small knife were secured from the pack, and the figure began to shuffle through the dust, the dirt, and the growths found within. The boy sat back on his haunches and deposited debris in tiny plastic sacks.

A shiver snaked along Cameron's spine. The figure did appear elusive but hardly dangerous. He wore loose fitting camouflage pants and a matching shirt. His cloak was hooded and dark. When he looked up, he seemed to stare directly at Cameron. With lithe movements, he deftly packaged and labeled each article and moved farther into the dense undergrowth.

The darkened forest and the grey mist closed in around the City Dweller as he passed a huge redwood tree and disappeared. Cameron stepped forward, intent on tracking this person, but a flash of light where the boy had been digging made him stop. Cameron searched the ground for the object that pulled his attention away from his quarry. Then he saw the piece of jewelry, a ring, with the DeMontville crest.

Perhaps this wasn't a waste of time.

Cameron's hand closed around the ring and he held the jewelry a scant moment before he slipped it on his little finger.

He looked again for the wayward youth.

"Halt!" The person he trailed stepped from behind a shield of trees.

A slow smile of amusement curled Cameron's lip. "Halt?" Cameron leaned casually against the tree the juvenile had emerged from. His hands crossed negligently over his chest. "Why?" Cameron asked.

"You have no right to be here."

Cameron cast the boy a contemptuous glare. "And I suppose you do." Cameron straightened and stepped boldly toward the small tense figure.

"Yes...I..." The young man sounded unsure of himself.

"Tell me what you are up to and I might allow you to slip back over the wall. Perhaps the good people within will forgive you the indiscretion."

"It's nothing," the youth said shakily as he backed away.

"Leave the pack and go," Cameron said in what he hoped was his most menacing tone. This young man needed a good scare.

"No.”

"What?" There was too much at stake here. Cameron decided the boy's curt refusal was foolhardy, and perhaps a good scare was not quite intimidating enough to convince him. Perhaps he needed to be taught a more severe lesson. Cameron started toward him bent on that very thing.

The boy stood his ground, chin tilted upward in a strangely feminine gesture that almost stopped Cameron.

"No?" Cameron's eyebrow rose in mockery. "Don't try to defy me. It will do you no good."

The little hellion whipped out a gun and pointed it at him. "I kill thieftakers!"

"Hell!" Cameron swore again.

Despite the shaking fingers, Cameron had no doubt this boy would use the weapon. He could disarm the boy.

Easily disarm him. Swiftly he brought his hand up, landing hard beneath the boy's wrist.

The gun, that had moments before been pointed against Cameron, went flying into some green oblivion of forest and moss.

Retribution could be quite satisfying.

Satisfying indeed. Yet he was about to be deprived of it. That very minute the juvenile turned and ran, disappearing into the mist and the trees.

Seconds later Cameron picked up the sound of his quarry's rapid flight through the overgrown and nearly forgotten trail.

He moved swiftly through the forest and its pathways, as if he had intimate knowledge of every tree and bush within.

And he did.

But the boy proved elusive.

Cameron came to a complete stop, warily searching the surrounding area, listening intently for any sound, or a subtle mistake. Only silence prevailed in the forest.

Suddenly a camouflaged waif darted between two trees. Cameron followed. As he managed to close the distance between the two of them, his adversary reached for a handful of dirt and grass. The debris hit him squarely in the face.

"Damnation! Fight like a man or I'll treat you as I would a small child. You deserve a thrashing, by God." The dirt did not slow Cameron. He started after the brat once more.

The boy slipped several times and was now scrambling on all fours as if he searched for something else to throw.

"Just try it." There was nothing more in the little clearing for the urchin to grab hold.

Cameron, more frustrated than he could ever recall, moved with lightning speed and agility. Like a thunderbolt, he crossed the few remaining feet between them and tackled the boy.

Fragile hips suddenly lay between his thighs, and something within him quickened as he held the soft form. Sheer amazement at the sudden insight held him still for a second.

Even as she struggled again, with what should have been the last of her strength in a final bid for freedom, beating upon his chest with her small fists, Cameron tried to decide what should be done with her. He caught her wrists and held them still.

"Who are you?" he challenged.

Nothing had changed, except...

~ * ~

Annie for Euro Reviews writes:

Rebel Heart is a well-written futuristic novel of a time that very possibly could come to pass, when viral plagues have laid the planet waste, and life is lived either in the sterile confines of domed habitats, or as pariahs in the outside wilderness. The world-building is excellent, vivid, and true-to-life. The characters will quickly catch and hold the reader's sympathies. The plot is quick, and takes time to examine many valid social, economic, class, and political issues as well. Christine Young delivers a winner which will capture the interest of futuristic/science fiction fans as well as the general reader.

Jasmina Vallombrosa for TCM Reviews writes:

Filled with drama and suspense, this book will draw you into the mysteries of science fiction. I was pleasantly surprised by Ms. Young’s storytelling talents as she wove not only a wonderful futuristic adventure, but also that of a passionate love story. I loved the main characters as they came to life on the pages. The plot was quite suspenseful and deliciously entertaining. As a result, I had no choice but to keep flipping the pages as I raced to the end. Bravo Ms.Young for such an extraordinary book from cover to cover!