JenniferA_AllysonJ wrote:"I thought it had real social relevance, that is not to scare anybody away from it or anything. It's just a subtle effect of how the shifters are treated."
Yes, please don't be scared away! LOL. I'm not really into social commentary--I don't like books that get too messagy, whether I'm reading or writing them.
What I do like is to look at things from other points of view; as in--what would that really be like to have autism or Asperger's in the Victorian age when no one knew what it was? (Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie). People probably wouldn't face the extremes Ian did (part of it was because of his nasty father), but people would consider him "crazy." And his brothers are trying so hard to protect him they don't really understand him either (at first).
I also like mixing fantasy with realism--I just can't stop the "no, what would it *really* be like?" voice in my head. I like reading books with that mix too (like Patricia Brigg's Mercy series; Ilona Andrews' Kate Daniels series).
Speaking of the Madness of Lord Ian, the cover for Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage is just gorgeous!
Lady Isabella's Scandalous Marriage
Hi Jennifer - AnneB here - I loved Prime Mates !!! It was the first book that I downloaded to my new Kindle2 that my family gave me for my b-day. The characters were really great - I can't wait to find out each of their stories. After I read it, everyone on the BN Book Club threads kept talking about Lord Ian's book, so I read that too ! And now I can't wait to read Isabella's story - the cover looks great. Next I try one of your other books - any suggestions? Thanks for writing wonderful books...
Anne
On to Melanie's question: In two weeks (Tuesday, May 4), I launch the STORMWALKER series by Allyson James. This series is based around a Navajo woman who can capture and use the powers of storms (wind, water, lightning) to perform incredible magic. She can't work much magic without a storm (a few minor spells), but when there's a storm, she's very, very powerful.
She's also good at finding answers to paranormal problems (missing persons, solving cold cases, just finding out what happened at a given place and time). She can read the auras of places and pick up what happened there, even after years.
Her ex-boyfriend, Mick, some people call a Firewalker, but she's not sure what he is. He wields fire, is very powerful magically, and when Janet's crazy with her storm power and needs to calm down, Mick can "draw" off her excess magic and let her rest. He does this in a fun way. 
Janet left him about five years ago, because he was so mysterious that she stopped trusting him. But when she enters the town of Magellan, where many people believe in magic (because so many weird things happen there), Mick knows she'll be in danger, and he bursts back into her life. The town is dangerous because it's situated near vortexes, which draw mystical energy and are a pivotal to who Janet is, and her past.
I have a ton more about the series on the series page (characters, definitions, the first chapter, blurbs for books 1 and 2): http://www.allysonjames.com/stormwalker.html
Melanie posted the cover for STORMWALKER; the cover for FIREWALKER (Book 2; November) is awesome:
CubanDiva41 wrote:
I have read Pride Mates and loved it. I am anxiously awaiting the next segment. I hope the Guardian is going to get a special someone!
Yeah, Sean gets a sweetie. Her name is Andrea Gray, and she's a half-Shifter, half-Fae from Colorado (she moves in with Glory, the next door neighbor to Sean and Liam).
Melanie_Murray wrote:
Ooohhh...I saw that cover the other day and was completely bowled over. (Jennifer, folks here that I'm mad for historicals and fall for covers that feature gorgeous dresses.)
I'm reading
Stormwalker now. It's really something. How did you come up with the idea for the walkers, and can you explain a little bit about the story and world for us?
That's Jennifer Ashley, too? I have a copy of that - I think her publisher sent it. Good grief, I didn't realize it was a pen name of Jennifer's! (Or is Jennifer a pen name of Allyson's?)
Thanks for all the responses, and the compliments! Wow. 
"On Pride Mates, I have to say how much I loved Dylan, and the entire dynamic between the men in the family. It's not often that you read an all-male family dynamic in romance, and I found it really refreshing. Do you live with a lot of men?"
Actually, I don't. I grew up with only sisters, although there are a lot of males in my extended family (including my five nephews). My dh has two brothers and two nephews, only one girl in his family. It could be that my interest in all-male families stems from *not* living in one. Maybe if I'd had brothers I wouldn't be so interested in them, LOL.
Marisa-O wrote:
Quick question - you write the 'male voice' so well - I'm wondering do you find that you have to have a different 'mind set' when you're writing the male voice vs. the female voice?
I probably do have a different mindset. But I don't really think about it--each character is so unique to me that I write that *person*, whether it's male or female. I channel them and just write. (If I analyze what I do too much, I won't be able to do it! I know my brain.) That said, I do grill men I know about their thoughts ("So, what would a guy think? How would man react in this situation?")
I wrote six books of a mystery series in the male POV (in first person). I wrote those under the name Ashley Gardner, and it starred a Regency ex-military officer solving crimes in London. I just love him, and I hope to go back to the series. (http://www.gardnermysteries.com) That gave me a lot of training on the male POV!
becke_davis wrote:
What inspired you to make the human society shun the shifters and shut them out from so many technological "benefits?" I don't know why that bothered me so much, but it really raised my hackles!
It is supposed to raise hackles. :-) The decision goes back to my speculation about what would really happen if we found out shape shifters existed (for real). It's likely they'd be both feared and looked at in fascination--studied and boxed up rather like Native Americans (and other native peoples), than readily accepted. In my story, Shifters have been "out" twenty years, so humans are used to them, but still worried about them. Hence the Collars and the Shiftertowns. They're not allowed modern tech or professional jobs, the idea being that the Shifters won't be able to gain money or power.
Silly humans. Things will develop about all this as the series goes on--though I don't want to give anything away.
Jennifer
