Tell us a bit about yourself.
What my author Bio doesn’t tell you is…I’m a woman very much like my heroines in that I won’t give up. That doesn’t mean you can’t knock me down…that you can, but you’d better run like hell when I do get up. Yes, I’m feisty and determined. You have to be to make it in this business.
Tell us about your most recent book.
I’m in the middle of the Psychic Ménage Series, Book 4 ‘Intimate Betrayal’ is about to debut. The theme of this dystopian futuristic series is about the Airbornes; humans left to survive above the Earth’s crust after man-made catastrophe’s occurred that were meant to bring the world to its knees and kill off everyone except the chosen few elite. The elite; handpicked from the 5-G (a colluding group of the top 5 governments at that time) who wrongly and illegally spent their citizen’s tax dollars to build wonderful underground worlds for only their chosen elite to live there when the governments stages these catastrophes because they wanted to control the future of the New World.
Old World Moles; Fae beings left behind centuries ago to watch over the humans and help them after the devastation.
New World Moles; Runners from the Underworld (ex-Dirt Dwellers) who have mixed in with the Old World Moles.
Star Riders; human Astronauts left on space stations during the catastrophe (that interbred with Aliens), have joined with the Airbornes and the Old and New World Moles to fight against the Dirt Dwellers of the Underworld in their efforts to survive the Underworld’s genocide attacks, who seek to reclaim the surface of the Earth.
Within the struggles of survival and uncovering truths, tenacious women and strong men face their weaknesses and fears. They find their strengths but most of all they find true love.
Who is the villain or antagonist in your story and what is he/she like?
Landen Reto, ruler of the Dirt Dwellers in the Underworld of the chosen elite. His ego is astronomical. He believes his own propaganda about his grandeur. The power he was given has gone to his head. The man believes he’s unbeatable, even to those who granted him his totalitarian authority.
He has pushed beyond any moral limits and speaks as if he’s the man in control, when he is not. Soon, the real power behind him will teach him a lesson. Until that time, he will wreak havoc on his people and control them with fear, religion, and his desires.
What do you think are the heroic qualities he/she possess?
He hasn’t any. Reto is a true villain, who sees being heroic beneath him. Heroism is for the fool hearted who believe they are free. Reto is as dark as they come. But if I had to stretch the truth about this man, I’ll say if there was any minute bit of goodness in him, it would be his desire to make a perfect world (be it ~ what he believes as perfect) for his chosen people.
Is there any respect between this character and the hero/heroine of your story?
Fay Avalon, the heroine in Sinful Surrender, respected her ruler, Landen Reto and the image he displayed for the Dirt Dweller people, but in her mind travels (Remote Viewings) she began to see the dangerous truth behind the public persona.
Now the hero, Logan Abán and his brothers, Drakker and Arlo, have never respected their enemy. They only see him for the cruel, inhumane tyrant he is.
What was the most difficult part of writing about this character?
Keeping him in the shadows until his book comes out. Keeping his atrocities under wraps. This man is terrifying. When I profiled him…his violent nature and his coldhearted view of the world scared me. He’s extremely cruel. Bloodlines mean nothing to him. He’d kick a dog for the fun or it. He finds pleasure in dipping people into acid just to watch them die a horrible death, for his entertainment, even if that victim might be his own daughter. If the cruel act moves his goals closer to his reach…he’ll do it. He’ll kill his wife or a friend just to make a point to his enemies, and not mourn their loss.
But most difficult in writing this character was discovering those behind him. Those who have made him what and who he is. They are the true villains and the ones I fear most because there are similar sinister beings who hide behind those who govern us ~
If you could give this character one piece of advice, what would it be?
Check your back. You have no friends, and they don’t fear you.
What kind of antagonist is your favorite?
The villain who ranges in appearance: He may be appearing as the nice man next door who loves to help, or the government leader who wants to keep his country safe, but behind the scenes he’s plotting his own game that will usually hurt all those who believe and trust in him.
Who is one of your favorite fictional villains (can be from a book, movie or television)?
To show who my Villain Landen Reto is similar to ~ I’d pick Hannibal Lecter in ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (They are men who appear very normal, intelligent, even lovable at times and then they reveal their true selves.) Other multi-layered villains that intrigue me are Tommy DeVito in ‘Goodfellas’ and Gordon Gekko of ‘Wall Street’.
To you, how important is a good antagonist?
LOL…where would a story be without one? I can’t stand wishy-washy antagonist (a good guy with a bad attitude). That’s not a villain, that’s a good guy with a bad attitude! An author needs to develop her villain as in-depth in character as much as she does her hero or heroine. Even if the villain only appear in the shadows or only in a quarter of the story … his development has to show through in the few scenes he appears in. Like Hannibal…a lot of the film was the detective off checking leads and things but in the viewers (readers) minds we think of him as the whole movie BECAUSE those few scenes he was in STOOD OUT IN OUR MINDS because he was a well-rounded character with an entire history just like the heroine.
Author Bio:
Houston Havens retired from a successful modeling career and an adventurous jet-set lifestyle to set the world on fire with her erotic romance books. A tenacious Irish lass, she strives to entertain with seductive stories created from her decadent imagination and traces of a provocative lifestyle she may or may not admit to.
Her interest in the paranormal, fascination with quantum science, passion with myths, and the lure of her mysterious Celtic Irish-Druid bloodlines are combined with generally unknown truths, strange facts, and questionable fiction. Her novels reflect a mix of the past, present, and future, with sexy blends of futuristic science fiction, paranormal fantasy, western romance, and always love everlasting. An author of six romances, a seven book erotic romance series and numerous articles in literary magazines.
Stop by for a visit and leave a comment at http://houstonhavens.wordpress.com
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Sinful Surrender (Psychic Ménage #1)
Series Genre: Dystopian, Sci-Fi Romance, Ménage (MFMM/MFM), Paranormal, Fantasy, Futuristic, Suspense, Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Erotic, Mystery.
Themes with a light touch: Voyeurism, Spanking, BDSM, Anal, Psychic, Fae
Tag Line: Why be tempted by one man’s seduction when you can be loved by three?
Blurb:
Top psychic spy Fay Avalon saw too much on her latest mind traveling mission and is now on the run from her post-catastrophic dystopian government, searching for the truth and proof. She escapes but is shot down, landing in the arms of the enemy.
In Drakker and Arlo’s world, women are so rare the men have accepted a polyandrous lifestyle. When the brothers stumble upon Fay unconscious in the wreckage of an aircraft, they are immediately attracted to her. Arlo wants to keep her, but Drakker knows they can’t. They must take her to their brother Logan Abán, leader of their people.
Logan struggles with trusting anyone, even himself. When a beautiful, intelligent, and intriguing woman falls into their laps, his denied desires for intimacy challenge his need to trust the spy. He’s frustrated by romantic Arlo’s claims of her innocence. Even when pragmatic and dominating Drakker defends her as well, Logan refuses to trust his gut.
Can one woman satisfy the diverse desires of three men? Will Logan’s fears be realized by betrayal? Is Fay to be sentenced to death as a spy, suffer a fate worse than death by being returned to her government as a traitor, or will she find a new life and love as the wife of three sexy brothers?
Excerpt:
She hurried aboard the ship, closing the hatch behind her. Strapped into her five-point harness seat she piloted the craft out of the station without a problem, but her luck didn’t hold. The minute she reentered the stratosphere, her flight communications panel lit up like a nuclear-meltdown warnings board. On the first video channel was the vent-aerial station’s first commander. He was yelling at her to return. Immediately, she touched her earphone to indicate she couldn’t hear him and switched channels. The Flight Command Center on the second channel was hollering at her to return the ship at once. Knowing her communications LCD screen didn’t show more than her head, Fay gently flipped the toggled switch up and down on the front of the cockpit’s flight panel to give the impression of transmission troubles. The Communication Center was now butting in on the channel four frequency telling her there was a problem, and she had to return as soon as possible. There was a beep and then a blue light—it was the private waveband reserved for covert communications with the government’s ruler.
“Mind traveler Fay Avalon.” A deep voice boomed out at her. “This is your ruler. Bring that craft back immediately!” Landen Reto’s round face appeared on her screen. His rosacea-covered cheeks flushed a deeper red with the heat of anger.
“I—can’t ex—suit or—ers—my—cra—” She faked the breaking up of her speech to give the impression there was a communications problem.
His black eyes bulged in a murderous glare. “You bring that craft down, or I’ll shoot you out of the sky! Do you hear me, Avalon? Now!”
“Grac—ious Ru—l—eto—” she replied, but halfway through her sentence she stopped voicing her words and only moved her lips as if she were talking. She waited for him to respond.
“Avalon, you’ve got five seconds before I order you shot down! One! Two—”
There’s no way he’ll crash one of these expensive, rare crafts. No way. It was a gamble, but one she was willing to take. Fay pinched her brow into what she hoped was a worried furrow and pointed to her ear, indicating she was having trouble hearing him. A couple of communication failures should convince him she wasn’t being defiant.
She was wrong. Lights all over the panel started blinking as her ruler attempted to override her ship’s controls. Aware they could see her, Fay reached and adjusted the monitor. “Damn thing!” She smacked at it. “Show me an image!” She released her harness, got up, and stepped back to look at the screen. She saw them very clearly, but pretended she couldn’t see them at all. For their benefit, she cussed like a mechanic and rattled the screen as though she were having visual problems too. Slipping her thumb over the cam lens, she surreptitiously pulled the visual adapter plug from the side of the monitor. Now she could work without being seen.
The minute she returned to her seat the autopilot light came on. She pressed it to countermand their remote control. When it didn’t work, she reached over, opened the base of the drive system, and pulled out the chip for the autopilot. Her ship wobbled, and she strapped herself back into her harness.
A swirling blue beam materialized in front of her craft and grew until it created a white concentric circle moving counterclockwise, netting the atmosphere like a spider’s web.
“Shit!” Fay moved her hands lightning quick over the control panel in an attempt to navigate the ship away from the glowing net and the rainbow of clouds surrounding it. A sudden pressure in her head and a change in her heart’s rhythm warned she hadn’t escaped the effects of the beam. Blood dripped from her nose. She swiped the back of her hand across her top lip, knowing nosebleeds were a symptom of HAARP electromagnetic energy exposure. Her stomach twisted and rolled with nausea.
Just when she thought she had control, the ship’s power source suddenly died. “F’ing bas…” HAARP had disabled the craft’s main systems.
“Damn it!” The airship jutted into a nosedive. Fay adjusted the elevators on the back of the craft and cut the reserve power source to counter the steep descent angle. When that didn’t work, she opened the hidden wings along the body of the ship. Though the craft’s front lifted a bit, it was still hurtling downward. She worked quickly to bring the ship in for a hard belly-flop landing. Seeing she might not make it, she pressed the red emergency button to engage the gelwrap crash shield. The hatch above her head ejected a putty substance that surrounded her body and her chair, inflating just seconds before she felt the impact rattle her teeth to their roots, and then her world went black
Sinful Surrender
E-book and Paperback
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Thanks for having me here today. This is an awesome blog!
Thank you for being a guest, Houston!