Showing posts with label Su Lute. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Su Lute. Show all posts

Saturday, October 17, 2015

For the Love of Shapeshifter Romances by Susan Lute

DRAGONKIND CHRONICLES
BOOK
1
As I'm writing this post, I'm watching The Wedding Date, a classic romance if ever there was one, and one that's right up my alley. Fun. Quirky. Unexpected. I'm also making a new version of teriyaki chicken with baked potatoes. Multitasking. Since there's never enough time in a day, that's a skill writers need.

But this is about dragons. I'm a little obsessed with them. I've always loved paranormal romances, just never envisioned myself writing one. Nor did I set out to write dragon shapeshifters on purpose. It was more the result of a temper tantrum, believe it or not, and came about while on a flight to Norman, Oklahoma to see the hubby. Women's fiction was tanking. My agent, who worked her little heart out, had just received another rejection from an editor we thought was on the verge of buying.

That's when the shift happened. I thought...I'll try anything. Anything that's not women's fiction or contemporary. So...Logan Pen, Beyla, the Umbra, and The Dragonkind Chronicles were born. At a lusty, crowded bar, in a post apocalyptic New Orleans, they came to life. He'd come to capture an elusive shadow thief. She escapes after stealing his greatest treasure—a talisman forged at his birth on the night of the apocalypse. Of course there's more at stake than the loss of his telein. That's what kept me writing to the end. It took eight months to write that story and I enjoyed every minute of the process.

Why do we, as readers, love paranormal romances? I think we relate to a world gone a bit sideways. We're willing to take the journey in order to see if good overcomes evil. Along the way, the discovery that things are not exactly as they seem answers age old questions. Who are we? Are we alone in this universe? The answer to that in my universe is a world inhabited by dragons, shadow thieves, shaman, the phoenix (a hint of what's to come), Avalon, more dragons, fallen angels, all recorded in the Dragonkind Chronicles. We want to fight on the side of good. Victory is our reward.

The cool thing about paranormal romances is that the genre draws it's multitude of fans into the story's central struggle, takes them on a ride, invites them to be part of the triumphant party at the end. The stories and legends are gripping, interactive, and best of all uber-satisfying. Some of my favorite shapeshifter storytellers are Rebecca Zanetti, Jessa Slade, Elsa Jade, and  J.T. Geissinger. Who are yours?

SUSAN LUTE
Susan Lute is an award winning, multi-published traditional and Indie author. She is published in women's fiction, contemporary romance, and paranormal/fantasy romance. Her most recent release is A FOOL FOR LOVE, Book One of the Sellwood Novellas. Look for the second book in The Dragonkind Chronicles, DRAGON'S FLAME, coming out in 2016. You can find Susan at www.susanlute.com. Visit and sign up for her newsletter, Su's News, to be one of the first to hear about new releases and special deals.


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Saturday, October 6, 2012

Post-Apocalyptic Romance: THE DRAGON'S THIEF Interview with Su Lute



Sarah Raplee interviewed today's guest, multi-talented romance author Susan Lute.

SUSAN LUTE
 What sets a Post-Apocalyptic Romance apart from other Sci-Fi Romances?

A post-apocalyptic romance is set in a very specific time period after the destruction of the world as we know it today. They can be any sub-genre – pararnormal, steampunk, fantasy, futuristic, action drama, dystopian like The Hunger Games. My debut PA Romance, Dragon's Thief is a paranormal-fantasy, with a dash of steampunk.

What led you to write a Post-Apocalyptic Romance Novel?

It's a cautionary tale really, one some of you may have already heard. Frustrated by the shrinking markets for manuscripts and wondering how a writer was supposed to know in which genre their voice fit best, I decided to do an experiment. I took my favorite hero – a reformed mercenary; my favorite heroine – a thief; and my favorite setting – a bar, a little worn around the edges. The challenge was to take these three elements and write the meet cute in four or five different genres – not contemporary because I was writing contemporary romance and women's fiction at the time and figured I had a sample of what my voice looked like in those genres - but historical, young adult, paranormal, and cozy mystery to see where my voice shined the most. Because I never envisioned in my wildest dreams I could write paranormal, that's the one I started with. And I wrote. And I wrote. And I kept writing until I wrote, The End. The proposal for Dragon's Thief is now sitting on an editor's desk waiting to be read.

Which came to you first, your plot or your characters?

The characters. The plot came while writing that first scene.

Why do you think this romance sub-genre is gaining in popularity at this time?

Well it's 2012, and there are a lot of predictions pertaining to the Mayan calendar at the end of this year. I think people are curious. What's next for human kind? It's nice that some of us have stories to tell about it.

What did you find most difficult about writing this book?

Absolutely nothing. This book just flew out of my fingertips. It was a joy to write all the way through.

What did you find most fun?

Writing the first scene where Logan and Beyla meet. Then the tournament which takes up the second half of the book. And the end. I also LOVED writing the fighting scenes. And especially I LOVED writing Logan and Beyla's romance.

In your opinion, who is the audience for these stories?
That's the magic question, isn't it? The most likely audience for PA Romances, and especially for Dragon's Thief, is going to be anyone who's interested in reading stories about finding family in the most unlikely places. Readers who love characters with the courage to find themselves and fight for what they discover in the most challenging environments. And readers who want to believe humanity will survive, no matter what trials we go through.

Do you have books out in other sub-genres of romance?

I do. Contemporary Romance, and Women's Fiction.

In fact I have a new release coming out in October, The Broken Road. Here’s the blurb:

"Susan Lute is a beautiful keeper
of the human heart..."

Dr. Dana Murphy has everything a physician can want. Everything except the one thing she can’t get back. When she’s diagnosed with a degenerative condition that threatens the career she loves, and her husband discovers he has a teenage daughter, the comfortable life she’s built begins to unravel. When her crazy mother and sister come to stay, in the chaos that follows, Dana scrambles to scotch tape it all back together, and instead finds herself on the brink of losing everything she holds dear.

Thank you so much for having me. This has been a lot of fun.  ~Susan Lute