SEELIE KAY: Postcards from The Ledge: This week in The Loft: Author Christina Lynn Lambert!

Joining me today in The Loft is author Christina Lynn Lambert. Christina writes the Stranger Creatures series, which features stories of suspenseful, paranormal romance. She also writes poetry and science fiction. After working in sales, and as a case manager and a personal trainer/running coach, Christina turned to writing romance. She loves creating imperfect but determined characters who find the courage to love and the strength to survive in a world where there are no guarantees. When not writing, Christina enjoys spending time outside and finding ways to avoid cooking. She lives in Virginia with her husband, two teenagers, a sweet hairy monster of a dog, and two devious cats.

Author Christina Lynn Lambert

S: Welcome, Christina! I'm happy you could join me today!

Why did you start writing romance?

C: I have always loved writing. For years, I wrote poetry and essays for fun then stored them in a folder, never to be seen again. I never planned on writing a novel until I got an idea for a story that wouldn’t leave me alone. Completely changing careers to enter a field I knew nothing about was hard and overwhelming at times but I found my passion. I love creating stories about characters who find the courage to love and be loved.

S: That passion is so important when writing romance.

Book banning/book censorship is once again in the news. What can you, as an author, do to fight censorship? What can readers do?

C: Authors and readers alike can keep calling lawmakers and politicians out on their attempts to gatekeep information and ideas. Continuously engaging in discussions that illustrate the truth about what information is being hidden and why these strangely fearful groups want to hide it can help illustrate that suppressing or censoring information that one groups feels goes against their beliefs does not make the material truly objectionable. When I was a kid, my grandmother would send me books that highlighted different cultures and ideas as well as highlighting some of the tough issues people face and the sometimes heartbreaking decisions they have to make. These thought-provoking books taught me a lot about humanity and our flawed but persevering nature. I’ll do whatever I can to make sure politicians can’t continue to interfere with readers’ access to books.

S: People have to speak up and take a stand. Otherwise, the book banners win.

Do you write in other genres?

C: In addition to romance, I also write poetry, essays, and speculative fiction short stories. Writing paranormal romance allows me to create worlds and possibilities beyond the everyday, beyond the mundane. Even though a character may be able to shape shift into a wolf or a bear, they still want the same things most of us want— love, acceptance, and of course, sometimes justice or revenge. I have only just started writing dystopian, horror, and science fiction short stories. For poems and short stories, I like the challenge of creating a substantial story in only a paragraph or a few pages. When space is limited, every word and every action is intensely important. Writing essays gives me a chance to take on an issue directly while using tone and vivid imagery to make my statement impactful.

S: Do you think romance books have become too spicy?

C: There’s a spice level for everyone’s preference now. I prefer spice in the books I read, and while plot is the most important detail to me when I write, I include plenty of steamy scenes because that’s what my characters require from me. If a reader wants a story with no steamy scenes, there a ton of great books to choose from that won’t leave them blushing in public if they happen to be reading at a coffee shop or on break at work. Writers typically do a great job of using their blurb, book cover, explanation, and keywords to inform readers what the spice level of a book is so that readers can choose stories they will be comfortable with.

S: Exactly. People have the freedom to chose their "spice level." We need to ensure that opportunity is available for all readers.

What would you like people to know about you?

C: I love animals--cats, dogs, snakes, birds, lizards--pretty much everything. There are occasional sightings of bears and coyotes where I live. I leave them alone and they leave me alone. I set food out for the foxes that roam through my woods and try to always remember to fill up the water dishes I keep outside for the bees. My favorite part of the morning is taking my dog, Yuki, for a walk and enjoying the fresh air with him. It rains a lot in Virginia, though, and the water makes his fur stink like wet wool, so I go through a lot of waterless wash foam.

S: If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to write books?

C: Writing is what I was meant to do. I wouldn’t change it for anything. I spent many years in different careers completely unrelated to writing and had no formal training in fiction writing except for one fun, short story class in college that was an elective, so when I had an idea for a book, I had to spend a lot of time researching how to write fiction. I still got a lot of things wrong in the beginning. Luckily, I had a great editor who helped along the path. Even though I’ve written a few books now, I still get stuck or write chapters that I end up hating and have to start all over again, but I love what I do so much that it’s worth the pain and tears trying to create a story can sometimes bring.

S: What inspired "Coyote’s Vow?"

C: Trevor Ryland was a minor character in "Wolf’s Challenge (Stranger Creatures book 1)" and in "Tiger’s Last Chance (Stranger Creatures book 3)." The gruff coyote shifter really needed his own story. For Trevor, nothing is ever easy but he’s tough and he’s strong so he’s used to persevering and getting things done. When he falls for a psy, he is convinced he can forget about her. Kylie Claremont, a smart, beautiful web designer turns out to be unforgettable.

S: Is there anything special you would like people to know about "Coyote’s Vow?"

C: Each story in my Stranger Creatures series features a different couple as they fight for their happily ever after. "Coyote's Vow" is Trevor and Kylie's story. Love finds the telekinetic psy and the coyote shifter but they try hard to ignore every sign and clue along the way. If love is ignored for too long, the chance is gone and the loss is devastating. When their survival is at stake, Trevor and Kylie have to make some tough decisions. Trust doesn’t come easily for most people, especially not when life teaches so many painful lessons, but sometimes the universe sends a rare gift that requires a ton of courage to accept. Kylie and Trevor have to take a huge risk if they want the chance to be together.

Here's the blurb:

Kylie Claremont wants answers. She was the victim of a brutal experiment that caused her to develop telekinetic abilities. The position she’s offered as a liaison between Shifters United and the Psy Guild will give her the chance to find the elusive research company that disappeared after experimenting on her and bring them to justice. The only thing standing in her way is an arrogant coyote shifter who is convinced that Kylie is a threat to shifters and shouldn’t be allowed to be a part of Shifters United. She never expected to fall for the gruff, mistrusting man.

Coyote shifter Trevor Ryland will never trust the psy. Still, he knows the time has come to strengthen the tentative alliance between shifters and psy. He fully intends to ignore his attraction to the beautiful psy liaison, but he’d never forgive himself if something happened to her. His plan to protect Kylie from afar is wrecked when they’re forced to work together. She could be his mate but Trevor can’t let that happen. The struggle to deny his need for the one woman with the power to destroy him gets harder every day.

Trevor and Kylie uncover a web of greed and deceit during their search for a travelling research group. They’ll have to work fast and fight hard to stop the CEO’s latest plans or shifters and psy everywhere will suffer.