Rebel by Cheryl Brooks (Interview/Giveaway)

When a series hits double digits it’s time to crack out the good wine. So come enjoy some and congratulate our guest today, with book ten in her Cat Star Chronicles series, Cheryl Brooks!

Cheryl: *waving* Hello, and Happy Fourth of July, everyone! 

Lexi: Wow, ten books to this series. Congrats! *lifts glass in toast* Did you ever think you would make it this far in this series when you were writing book one or two?

Cheryl: Thanks, Lexi! I never dreamed that one day I’d have a ten-book series. Getting “The Call” was exciting enough, but when I sold Slave to Sourcebooks, they asked for a total of six books. That in itself was a little daunting, and then they asked me to write three more! Fortunately, I was still working on Hero, the last of the original six, and I was able to come up with a way to continue the series. That wasn’t easy when there were only supposed to be six Zetithians left in the galaxy! The series was supposed to end with the ninth book, Wildcat—cats have nine lives, you know—but Onca wouldn’t let me off the hook that easily. He hounded me until I finally wrote his story, Rebel.

Lexi: You do love your outlines if I remember your comments from one of your last visits here. Outlines are great, but it is fun when characters take a turn you didn’t expect. Only as the author then you have to deal with the repercussions! Have any of your characters refused to behave the way you planned?

Cheryl: Let’s just say that my outlines are pretty general and are always subject to change. The original synopsis I wrote for Rebel was only a page long and wasn’t terribly specific, so I had plenty of leeway for Onca and Kim (and the other characters) to take the story anywhere it needed to go. 
The most fun part of writing without a detailed outline is that I sometimes give a character a certain trait or ability on a whim and later have an “Aha!” moment when I hit on a use for it. Other times, when I’m stumped as to where to go next, the synopsis is there to keep me headed in the right direction. 
I can’t recall any character refusing to behave the way I have planned, mainly because I give them plenty of opportunity to develop their personalities as the plotting and writing progresses. 

Lexi: Onca certainly has his plans thwarted by Kimcasha in Rebel, book ten. Just when you think your life is winding down and you will be able to blend into the norm, a beautiful kidnapped girl invades your space. But maybe it is Kim who saves Onca? 

Cheryl: Maybe so! That’s sort of a recurring theme in the Cat Star books. Quite often, the heroine is the one doing the rescuing, although that “rescue” is sometimes more of an emotional nature than a physical one. 

Lexi: These two sound like one hot couple. But all of your couples in the Cat Star Chronicles are. Reading reviews there isn’t a clear winner, but what is clear is that each book is packed with intriguing alpha males and powerful romance. Do you still get giddy when you start to plot out each new love connection?

Cheryl: A lot of the plotting I do isn’t on paper; it’s in my head, and I love it when the pieces start to click together. I know where my characters have been and where I want them to end up, but I don’t always know exactly how they will get there. Discovering those twists and turns is the fun part of the writing process. That being said, the romance has to develop at a pace that works for the characters. For example, in Wildcat, Sara and Jerden each had a lot of emotional baggage to overcome before the steamy stuff could begin. In Warrior and Stud, the intimacy occurs almost immediately. In Rebel, Kim and Onca had their own schedule for responding to the mutual attraction, which tended to pop up at some highly inconvenient times! 

Lexi: We sure do! And that is why you have so many readers excited for your double digit release. We wish you success with it and hope there are more to come. Thanks for stopping by again Cheryl!

Cheryl: Ooh! Double digit release! I like the sound of that! Thanks so much for the good wishes and for having me here on Reading Between the Wines. Cheers!

Rebel 

(Cat Star Chronicles #10)

by Cheryl Brooks

Paperback, 406 pages

Published July 1st 2014 by Sourcebooks Casablanca

Goodreads | Amazon | B&N | Kindle | ARe

He helped to find her kidnapped friends. Will he let her steal his heart?
Kimcasha has lived by her wits since she lost her family when she was eight years old. So when three of her friends vanish, she has no fear about using herself as kidnapper’s bait, until a stranger foils her plot…
After ten years of selling his services in a brothel, Onca has decided to retire. A refugee of planet Zetith, he has no family, no surname, and no woman—until he rescues a young homeless girl from a kidnapper. Onca helps Kim find her friends, but as their intense attraction deepens, he begins feeling too jaded for someone so innocent. It’s up to Kim to convince him otherwise…

Author Bio: 

Cheryl Brooks is a former critical care nurse turned romance writer. Her Cat Star Chronicles series includes Slave, Warrior, Rogue, Outcast, Fugitive, Hero, Virgin, Stud, Wildcat, and the current release, Rebel. She is a member of the RWA and IRWA and lives with her husband and sons near Bloomfield, Indiana.

Author Website: http://www.cherylbrooksonline.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cherylbrooksauthor

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CherylCatMaster

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/cbcatmaster/

GIVEAWAY:
Sourcebooks is giving away one copy of REBEL to one reader, US/CA only please. To enter, just leave a question or comment for Cheryl on this post and then fill out the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway