Interview: Allyson James

Today we have with us author Allyson James whose last book, Firewalker, was released this tuesday.

Janet Begay's Crossroads Hotel has attracted the supernatural ever since it opened. But a new, dark power is rising, this time inside Janet herself. Her boyfriend Mick, a sexy dragon shapeshifter the Navajo call a Firewalker, know what terrifying magic is threatening to overwhelm Janet and her Stormwalker powers. He watches over her, ready to fight for her, to do anything to keep her safe.

But then a mysterious corpse is found near the Crossroads Hotel-and Janet becomes the main suspect. Now Janet and Mick must uncover what really happened, and their investigation leads to the most perilous decision of their lives...

Hi Allyson, thanks for being here today.

Thanks so much for asking me!

- How many hours a day do you spend writing?

I spend anywhere from two to eight hours writing. It depends on how energetic I am (or how tired), or how close I am to a deadline! I try to write at least 2000 words a day. Most days I manage 2000-4000.

- Do you listen to music while you write?

Yes. I love guitarists (Marc Antoine, Jeff Golub, to name a few). I have a loop of guitar music on my iPod that drowns out noise and lets me focus on the stories.

- If you could hang out with any of your characters, which one would you pick?

I’ve love to hang out with Janet and Mick (especially the hottie Mick). I also wouldn’t mind being with the Shifters in the Shifters series I write as Jennifer Ashley (Liam and Sean).

- How many books a year do you write on average?

I average 4 to 5 full-length books and a novella or two.

- What do you do when you need to disconnect?

I build dollhouse miniatures. I love getting into the miniature worlds and making everything exactly the way I want it. I love both big, beautiful dollhouses and tiny, whimsical settings. I’ve posted many of my minis here: http://www.jennifersromances.com/Miniatures/miniatures.html

- What are you working on right now?

I’m working on a couple of things: The Many Sins of Lord Cameron (Book 3 of the Mackenzie series—historical romance I write as Jennifer Ashley). Also Book 3 of the Shifters series, tentatively titled Wild Cat. After that it’s back to the Stormwalker series—I’ve just turned in Book 3 (Shadowwalker) and need to write Book 4. Many, many things!

- I love your dragon books. Any chances there are going to be more of them? (I really want to read Axel's story, even though I know he's not a dragon).

I love the dragon stories too. Right now, my publisher has me focused on the Stormwalker books, but the future may bring more dragons. (And Axel needs a happy ending, I agree!)

- I just finished reading Stormwalker and I loved it. What can you tell us about the sequel, Firewalker?

In Firewalker Mick must face a trial by a dragon tribunal for helping Janet in Book 1. We’ll meet some new characters: the witch Cassandra, who is Janet’s new hotel manager; a Changer wolf-woman named Pamela; Colby, a well-tattooed dragon shifter; and a couple other dragons, plus we’ll learn more about Mick. Janet’s grandmother, Jamison, Maya and Nash, the mirror, and Coyote will all return with prominent roles.

- Nash Jones is a very conflicted character. Is he going to change his attitude any time soon? How is his "relationship" with Maya going?

Nash is a complicated guy, and I really like him. As the series goes on, he learns to be more accepting of magic and what he is, and he and Janet start working better together. Maya and Nash are explosive!

- I loved Mick. I loved him even more when it was revealed he was a dragon. Are we going to learn more about them?

I reveal more and more about Mick as the series goes on. You learn more about his life in Firewalker, and still more in Book 3, Shadowwalker.

- So, we know that Mick sometimes disappeared. What exactly did he do? (Apart from giving information about Janet to the other dragons).

Spoiler Alert (for those who haven’t read Stormwalker): When Mick disappears, he reports to the dragons, but he also returns and watches over Janet. She doesn’t see him, but he follows her when he can, trying to keep her safe. When he’s not doing that, he’s checking out his own lair to make sure all is well.

- I have a soft spot for Janet's father. Are we going to see more of him in future books? Also, is there a HEA for him?

Pete Begay is such a sweet guy! Yes, we will see more of him, and yep a HEA is coming up for him, but I don’t want to give too much away!

- After the events of Stormwalker, does Janet have more powers than before or are her abilities the same that when she went "visit" her mother?

Janet’s powers continue to develop and grow throughout the series. She learns some serious stuff about herself.

- Are we going to learn how Janet's grandmother shapeshifted into a crow?

Janet’s grandmother will return in Firewalker and Shadowwalker, and you’ll learn much more about her (especially in Book 3, Shadowwalker).

- We know there are many different magical creatures in Janet's world. Are we going to learn more of them in the future?

Yes! There are Changers (shapeshifters), dragons of course, Nightwalkers (vampire-ish creatures), witches, powerful mages, and others. I reveal more about them in each book, and also in the novella “Double Hexed,” which will be in the Hexed anthology next June.

- Thanks again and good luck with your next book.

Thank you so much!!

You can also read my reviews of Stormwalker and Firewalker.
If you want to know more about the author you can check out her website.

Review: Firewalker by Allyson James

Title: Firewalker
Author: Allyson James
Series: Stormwalker #2
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: November 2, 2010
Publisher: Berkley Sensation
Edition: Paperback
Blurb:

Janet Begay's Crossroads Hotel has attracted the supernatural ever since it opened. But a new, dark power is rising, this time inside Janet herself. Her boyfriend Mick, a sexy dragon shapeshifter the Navajo call a Firewalker, know what terrifying magic is threatening to overwhelm Janet and her Stormwalker powers. He watches over her, ready to fight for her, to do anything to keep her safe.

But then a mysterious corpse is found near the Crossroads Hotel-and Janet becomes the main suspect. Now Janet and Mick must uncover what really happened, and their investigation leads to the most perilous decision of their lives...

This book mainly deals with the consequences of what happened in Stormwalker. The dragons are not happy with Mick and when he disappears Janet will do everything she can to get him back. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I love dragons. Dragons are my favourite creatures/shapeshifters, which makes me love this series even more.

Janet has to deal with the new magic that awakened in her, especially since it wants her to do evil things. Mick watches over her and some of the issues this entails are solved in this book (like if Janet makes a wrong move Mick will kill her). In that sense, their relationship has evolved and we mostly discover the depth of Mick's feelings for Janet.

Somehow the character I loved the most in this book was Nash Jones, the sheriff. It was funny reading the interactions between him and Janet plus a new side of him is revealed. At the end of things he is Janet's friend and we discover how far he will go to help her. As for Coyote, he keeps being as mysterious and unhelpful as the last book.

I loved that we get to find out more about the dragon society and how it works. It was very interesting seeing a dragon trial. We also get to meet some new creatures/beings that I hope we get more info about in the next book.

This was a great follow up book in which you get more in depth information about the main characters, the worldbuilding is expanded and a new plot thread is opened.
After an incredible and surprising discovery at the end, now I can't wait to see what happens in the next book.


Memorable Lines:

“Jones,” he said. Dark, biting, laconic.
“Hey, Nash. It’s Janet.”
There was a long silence.
“Fu*k,” Nash Jones said, and he hung up on me.

Previous Books:
1. Stormwalker - Review

Next Book:
3. Shadow Walker (June 2011)

Rating:

Review: Stormwalker by Allyson James

Title: Stormwalker
Author: Allyson James
Series: Stormwalker #1
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Release Date: May 4, 2010
Edition: Paperback
Blurb:
Half-Navajo Janet Begay comes to Magellan to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the police chief's daughter. But the people of Magellan sense that Janet is not what she seems, and they're right.

Janet possesses extraordinary power which is tied to the storms that waft across the desert. The only person who can control her when she's caught in the storm's evocative power is Mick, a dark-haired, blue-eyed biker Janet can't seem to touch with her powers. He can weild fire and not get burned, and Janet's never sure where he goes when they're not together.

Together they investigate mysterious disappearances, which Janet fears are tied to her mother's people, the mythical gods from below the earth. They are helped along the way by Coyote and Crow, but these shapeshifting gods have their own agendas.


I've been a fan of this author since I read her dragon books when they went out a couple of years ago. When I heard she was going to release a book with the main character being able to manipulate storms, I immediately put the book on my pre-order list.

I liked Janet instanty. She's a strong, complicated character who is trying to face her fears once and for all. She feels like she doesn't belong anywhere, so she buys a hotel in Magellan and hires a handful of interesting people to restore it, all because she wants to have a place she can call home.

Her relationship with Mick, the book's love interest, is complicated and carries a lot of history. She hasn't seen him in 5 years and at the moment she needs him the most, he reappears in her life. That's bound to make suspicious a lot of people, including Janet (and that's one of the things I liked the most about her, how she doesn't lie to herself).
Mick is a very likeable character: he takes care of Janet, he's powerful and a bit cocky. But he's keeping a lot of secrets, and while a lot of people may think that being mysterious is sexy, in this case I just wanted to kick him in the ass so he would start talking.

There are other interesting characters like the sheriff Nash Jones. He's a jerk. More important than that, I loved that he was a jerk. I guess he must have redeemable characteristics somewhere, but I didn't see them. There's also Coyote, who thinks he's smarter than anyone else and it seems like all he can think about is sex.

One of my favourite scenes was the one when Janet goes back home and finally talks alone with her dad. The conversation they had almost put tears in my eyes. Loved Janet's grandmother, by the way. She reminded me of another grandmother I love, the one of the World of the Lupi series by Eileen Wilks.

I love the world Allyson created, especially since it has my favourite creature in it (can't tell you which one, although I really want to talk about it. It would be a big spoiler!). I read this book in one sitting and after reading it I couldn't stop thinking about it. It was one of the best books I've read this summer!


Memorable Lines:

“Should I consider myself under arrest?” I asked.

Nash slammed the door and put on his seat belt. “Being taken in for questioning.”

“My bike?”

“Deputies are impounding it. It’s evidence.”

“Damn you, Jones, I didn’t run into that truck.”

“Save it.” He put the SUV in gear and pulled out past the flipped pickup as the deputies lifted my Harley and tossed carelessly it into the back of their truck.


Next Book:
Firewalker - Stormwalker #2 - November 2nd 2010.


Rating: 1/2