When you’re brainstorming for a new story, what usually comes first for you, the plot or the characters?
They come so closely intwined that it can be hard to tell, but I think the plot comes first, followed immediately by the characters. They’re there, in the story and fully ready to go, but it takes me some time to catch up and figure out who these people are and what they want (other than their story told!).
When you’re writing, who is more in control, you or your characters?
The characters. It sounds insane, I know, but they are very much “invisible friends” that live in my head. When I try to change the story or write it to serve what I want, they’ll simply stop cooperating.
What do you like about writing series books?
I like the opportunity to fully tell a story. I like being able to stay with a group of characters and really explore who they are and where they’re going. Can you write a fully fleshed story detailing a coming-of-age or star-crossed lovers figuring out who they are in just a single book? Sure. Absolutely. But I prefer stories that span a significant chunk of lifetime—some lessons are hard-learned!—and the best way for me to read and write those are in series.
Would you tell us about your latest release?
Spark Rising is the story of Lena Gracey and Alejandro Reyes. Lena’s a young woman who is capable of creating energy in a post-apocalyptic world where energy as we know it is dead and people like her are essentially enslaved to fuel the remaining cities. She becomes embroiled in Reyes’s conspiracy after he arrives at her secret home in the desert to arrest her—he’s a double agent and thinks she’ll make a phenomenal weapon. She can run away and continue to hide as she has been, or she can join him to seek vengeance for her family and help ignite a revolution that could drop the world back into another dark age. In making her choice, she discovers that electricity doesn’t just come from her abilities…it can build between two people.
What are you working on now?
The follow-up to Spark Rising, which is consuming so much of my energy! Lena and Alex are both high-intensity people! I’ve also got a genre-blending sci fi/paranormal romance idea brewing that I jot notes and scenes for as they come. I plan to get started on that after I’ve finished with this one.
Do you have an excerpt from your latest release you would like to share?
Sure! In this excerpt, from Lena’s POV, Lena and Alex catch some curious students at the all-male Ward School trying to sneak to catch a glimpse of some girls that Lena has placed under her protection.
Excerpt:
“What do you think you’re doing?” The words were a low and menacing growl echoing down the hallway.
Lena jumped and spun. Alex? If it was, she’d never heard so much fury in his voice before. And that was saying something.
She strode down to the next intersection of corridors and looked both ways. Alex stood at the end of one hall. Between him and Lena in the junction, two teenaged boys were staring at him in frozen terror. From the guilt written plain on their faces, they were up to no good. Had they been sneaking toward the girls’ rooms? Lena’s vision flared red.
Enough.
Alex stalked toward the boys, chin down, eyes narrowed, and repeated his question, his normally husky voice grating and hard.
The boys exchanged a quick look. The shorter one told him, “We heard about girls, sir. We wanted to meet them….” He drifted off as Alex’s brows lowered further.
“Before dawn? Sneaking, like criminals? What, you were planning to break into their rooms?”
Another look passed between them. “It was a dare,” the taller one supplied.
“A dare? To choose to harass girls we rescued just yesterday?”
The boys exchanged another miserable look.
“Since you like choosing so much, I’ll give you a choice,” Alex continued. “You can come with me now, and we’ll go upstairs where you will wake the Councilor to tell him what you were doing and why. Or you can go with her right now and take whatever she chooses to dish out.” Alex pointed past them to Lena, standing silently in the hallway behind them, head lowered and lips compressed.
The boys turned and stared, wide-eyed. One of them swallowed. “Sir,” the shorter whispered hoarsely. “She’s—”
“Glowing.” Alex’s own attention was glued to her now, though he spoke to the boys. “Yes. She does that when she’s very, very angry. Right around the time the energy she can channel blows things into tiny pieces.”
Well, the truth was a little different. But it might happen this time.
“We’d like to talk to the Councilor, sir.”
Alex held out his arm for the boys to walk past him to the elevators. They scurried up the hall, heads down. He came forward another few steps to ask her in a low voice, “Are you okay?”
She stared into the backs of the fleeing young men. She liked angry Alex. She even liked intimidating Alex. She couldn’t deal with compassionate Alex right now. She shrugged.
“You haven’t slept,” he said. It wasn’t a question, and the words were laced with concern.
“No. I’ve been…patrolling.”
He cocked his head at her. “You should have known I’d have it covered. They’ve been through enough. They don’t need to be harassed, even if it is in curiosity and not—”
“It doesn’t matter why.” Her words were quick and cutting.
He nodded his agreement. Those dark eyes were still filled with concern. One hand lifted to touch her cheek, but she flinched away. She didn’t know what his game was, but she didn’t need another tall, dark, handsome asshole, even if he did kiss like lightning. And even if he looked like Alex.
Remember. He won’t ever feel anything back. Not really.
But he wasn’t accepting her rejection. He waited, hand still lifted, until she turned her face back to him. And then he slowly and gently brought his hand to her cheek until his long fingers curved around it, feather light and comforting. She tried to fight the calm spreading through her, although she didn’t know why.
“Lena,” his voice became husky again, and not hard at all, “it will be okay. We’ll figure it all out.”
What three words would the hero of your story use to describe his love interest?
Ha! Alex would describe Lena as trouble. Intriguing and powerful…trouble.
What three words would the heroine of your story use to describe her love interest? Dangerous. Maddening. Intoxicating.
What makes the hero of Spark Rising hot?
Besides being a tall, dark and sinfully dangerous man? *laugh* You know, Alex is a double agent, so he’s very morally compromised. He knows he’s a bad man. He knows that he does bad things, but he does them so that no one else has to and so that the people like them can be free. He doesn’t try to justify himself or his actions. He is absolutely devoted to his cause. But he also has the heart of a poet, and in a different time and place, he might have been a different man. I think that very much shines through as this unexpected love for the little spitfire he brought in begins to grow as they work together. This isn’t insta-love, it’s very much a slow burn love story that builds and that he resists—and I think that combination of dedication and distraction that you see in his POV highlights just how sexy he is.
What are your favorite genres to read and write?
I read anything I can get my hands on, but I love science fiction, urban fantasy, and romance. It wasn’t a surprise to me when the novel I wrote was a genre-bending combination of the three. I write what I love—I just do it all at once!
What is your favorite season?
I love autumn. When the weather changes and it’s brisk enough to redden your cheeks but not so cold that you need a coat? That’s my favorite time of year.
What is your favorite comfort food?
Ordinarily, it is spaghetti. I love Italian food, and I have a recipe that simmers for hours. It’s amazing! When I’m writing, I have a thing for Tom Ka Gai, a spicy Thai chicken and lemongrass soup with coconut milk. It’s my go-to writing fuel. In fact, I have a bowl of it right now!
Do you have any pets?
We have rescue animals coming out of our ears! *laugh* We have three dogs—an Aussie mix, a Pittie, and a little Pit mix. We also have two cats who rule us all. And a plump, happy guinea pig our Aussie is obsessed with watching.
Thank you so much for allowing me to visit!
Spark Rising is now available at a variety of retailers. If you’d like to read more about Lena and Alex, Spark Rising can be found here:
Amazon http://amzn.to/1uNCuD6
Barnes&Noble: http://bit.ly/1ITscuU
iBooks http://bit.ly/1wZbkzG
And if you’d like to contact me or follow me for news and announcements, feel free to use my social media:
Website/Blog: www.KateCorcino.com
Twitter: @KateCorcino
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorKateCorcino
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8381085.Kate_Corcino
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