UFI welcomes Alexia Reed Author of Hunting the Shadows. Thanks for Joining us!!
What it Means to be Strong
There are many
breeds of heroines—those created strong and kick-ass from page one and then the
others who grow as the story progresses. While I do enjoy a heroine who is kick-ass
and can handle herself from the first moment we catch a glimpse of her, I love the
ones who are grow to be strong.
I don’t mean the
kind who won’t fight for what she believes in or feels sorry for herself when
things get rough for the entire book. I mean someone who isn’t highly trained
in fighting or completely secure in standing up for herself but learns to be.
Someone who isn’t fine with taking the life of another, even when threatened.
Characters who
grow into themselves, who learn who they are. These are the stories that I love
the most.
With Amy, I went
back and forth in the various versions I’d written. In the earlier ones, she
was a lot more worldly. She lived a normal life then was dragged into the chaos
of the Centre. She knew who she was in those old versions. This didn’t resonate
with me. She was fine, but there wasn’t anything that made me connect. So I
rewrote her to have been part of the Centre the whole time and at the same
time, an outsider.
I knew Amy wouldn’t
have the training the others had. It’s just not realistic. A telepathic-empath
with no natural mental shields is never going to be able to walk outside and
keep her sanity. I wanted her to be an outcast, to learn as the story
progressed with the reader.
I wanted Amy to
keep growing, not just in Hunting the Shadows, but every future book. It could
be easy to have her know everything, but I didn’t feel that would be effective.
Being a telepath, she could have easily
gone into the head of J.C. and simply ‘known’ everything. I wanted to give her
barriers and a reason to grow.
And when things
get rocky, she doesn’t give up. Even when no one will believe her about the
killer and she’s sedated, she keeps trying to get through to someone, anyone, psychically. She doesn’t stop
fighting, despite her situation.
Do you look for
a certain kind of heroine when you read? Who do you feel you connect more to…or
want to?
***
Blurb: Amy has spent her
life in isolation. Locked away in the Centre, a secret government facility
where children with extraordinary abilities are raised as highly skilled fighters,
she longs for a normal life. A life where being around people doesn't overload
her sensitive telepathic mind. A life where she can't see through the eyes of a
murderer as he hunts down his next victim...
J.C. Nikolaiev was a top researcher, but when his
conscience got the better of him, he tried to destroy his work and free his
subjects—and was imprisoned as a traitor. To save himself and prevent more
people from dying, J.C. must catch the serial killer stalking the halls of the
facility. But his only leads come from a woman whose thoughts have invaded his
mind...
Finally out of the psych ward, Amy joins forces with J.C.
to find the killer before he closes in on them. Can their growing attraction
withstand the truths they uncover?
You can purchase Hunting the Shadows through the Carina Press, Amazon,
or Barnes
and Noble.
__________________________________
While in reality Alexia Reed resides in Ontario, she likes to say that she lives in her own little world. A lover of all things scientific and the paranormal, Alexia uses her books as a way to straddle the realms of fact and fiction—and always with a healthy dose of romance thrown in.
When not writing and reading, Alexia paints, and is the caretaker to two neurotic cats.
__________________________________
Find Alexia and her books
__________________________________
Hunting the ShadowsShadow Ops Project #1
May 7 2012
Amy has spent her life in isolation. Locked away in the Centre, a secret government facility where children with extraordinary abilities are raised as highly skilled fighters, she longs for a normal life. A life where being around people doesn't overload her sensitive telepathic mind. A life where she can't see through the eyes of a murderer as he hunts down his next victim...
J.C. Nikolaiev was a top researcher, but when his conscience got the better of him, he tried to destroy his work and free his subjects—and was imprisoned as a traitor. To save himself and prevent more people from dying, J.C. must catch the serial killer stalking the halls of the facility. But his only leads come from a woman whose thoughts have invaded his mind...
Finally out of the psych ward, Amy joins forces with J.C. to find the killer before he closes in on them. Can their growing attraction withstand the truths they uncover?
__________________________________
International
