UFI welcomes Nola Sarina Author of Gilded Destiny. Thanks for Joining us!!
What can you tell my
readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or
reading in another interview?
First, I am a mother. That always comes first in my life.
After that comes the rest of me: wife, writer, and Tarot card reader.
My ancestors were Romani Gypsies from Poland/Russia/wherever, since it’s
really hard to track the origins of travelling ancestors. I learned about
stereotypical Gypsies when I was young and began reading Tarot cards before I
hit my teens. Now, I use the Tarot to guide me in everyday life, to open my
eyes to things I may have missed, and to foreshadow what challenges may lay
ahead. I love reading cards for others, too. All of it makes up a piece of who
I am, along with the littler puzzle pieces like “Star Trek fan” and “constantly
wears zip-up hoodies.”
What do you enjoy doing on
your down time?
Down time is kind of rare for me. But my best friend (and writing partner
on other projects) has a gaggle of kids of her own, so we get together for
family dinners and video games and swimming. In the summer, we also geocache
and hike along the river. It really takes someone else enticing me away from
the writing/housework routine with magical phrases like “treasure hunting” and
“shiny rocks in the river” that make me go OMG, maybe we’ll see a FAERY!!!
And it’s always worth it, too. One time we found a big boulder and broke
it apart because it was loaded with crystals inside. Imagine the glee on the
faces of seven kids crowding around a rock that opens up and reveals what they
think are diamonds. J
What is your Favorite part
of writing?
Probably the daydreaming. Like, when you read a book, you don’t think
about, “How many scenes in this book were structured while the author was in
the bathtub?” But the answer is: a lot. I spend more time imagining the scenes,
arranging the characters in my head and flowing through their dialogue than I
spend writing them out.
Hell, sometimes my husband catches me staring into space and moving my
lips and hands around while my characters are talking to each other. And then
I’ll get really into it and gasp out loud, or laugh at something and then my
husband can’t keep it in anymore and he starts laughing. But I get SO INTO IT.
Action scenes, not so much. I’m not running around my yard going, “AAAHH!
VESPERS!” and ducking and rolling through the mud or anything. I swear. *shifty
eyes*
Do you have any certain
routines you must follow as you write?
Every time I complete a scene, I read back over it, and then I set it
aside for an hour, a day, a week, whatever time my brain needs to form the next
scene in my head. But when I sit down to write the new one, I always re-read
the last thing I wrote.
Also, coffee is a must before writing, but I do sometimes sip tea while
writing for one reason only: I can keep the teapot next to me and pour into my
little tiny teacups and sip a little, and then when I draw a blank on a
sentence, I pour another cup and sip it so it looks like I’m doing something,
rather than just staring at the screen going duuuuuhhhhh…….. *flatlined brain*
What are some of your
Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?
Jacqueline Carey is my favorite Fantasy author. Her worlds are elaborate,
refined, and her characters experience the world through vivid relationships
and conflicts that I’m so invested in because she just knows how to make you
cheer for a character’s success.
I’m also a big fan of Karen Chance and her sense of humor, and the action
that is so packed with the unexpected that I flip the pages until I’m
exhausted!
How would you pitch Gilded Destiny to someone who
has never heard of it before??
A woman's
memory returns when she falls in love with the monster who took it from her.
What can you tell me about
the world that Gilded
Destiny is set in?
Gilded Destiny is set in this world, and the events of the immortals
involved are always hidden from the public eye. The Vespers move at night and
on secret trains, and forbid any human outside the train company to know of
their existence. In fact, that secrecy leads to the most frightening conflict
in the book: Calli’s exposure to so much of the Vesper world puts her in
serious danger from the brutal Master she fears.
Do you have a favorite
scene in Gilded Destiny?
The sex. Hahahaha Okay, no
seriously… the sex. *laughs* What can I say? I write what I love, and I love
having my characters connect on that intimate level. I also love allowing them
to walk on that border between the most forbidden pleasure and the most
exquisite danger, as is the nature of sex between Vespers and humans.
Which character was your
favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
Nycholas was a
joy. He’s quite different from the other Vespers I’ve written about, because
he’s already defied the Master and isn’t stuck in the repetitive life of
servitude, anymore. The thing about Vespers is that they don’t get to enjoy how
awesome they are, since they’re always oppressed beneath their duty to
safeguard humanity, their food source. Nycholas gets to be a bit freer, eat
when he needs to, love with a depth of which he’s not afraid, and seek what he
wants without giving a crap about the repercussions unless it personally
affects him.
Calli was
difficult for me, because I’m not good at writing female 1st person
voice. Or at least I wasn’t, until Calli. She taught me a lot about how a woman
thinks and behaves, but I’m so used to male voice (despite being a woman,
myself) that it took a few tries to really sink into her voice and figure out
where she came from, and what she wants.
What Other Projects can we
look forward to reading from you?
Gilded Destiny is the first in a trilogy of Vesper
novellas which will allow the reader to understand the divide between the
genders of the Vespers as well as learn more about their origin through the
eyes of unique characters falling dangerously in love.
In addition to the novellas, I have the full-length novels in the series Vesper on submission to publishers thanks to my amazing Inklings agent
Michelle Johnson. Vesper explores
the relationship between the immortal Levi and a certain red-headed human woman
who pursues him, and the dire consequences that result from his eventual
betrayal of his Master’s rules.
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Nola is a mother, wife, writer, and giggle-a-holic,
living in Canada and raising a pack of kids. In her spare time she can be found
geocaching, guzzling coffee, or tending to her garden. Her VESPER series is on submission by her agent to publishers, along
with WILD HYACINTHE, a paranormal
romance co-authored with Emily Faith.
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Gilded DestinyA Vesper Novella
A woman's memory returns when she falls in love with the monster who took it from her.
Calli tattoos her skin to fill the holes in her memory, thanks to an accident that left her mind damaged and empty. But a nasty encounter with a fired employee leaves her in the arms of her unlikely savior: Nycholas, a predatory, serpentine Vesper on the run from his brutal master.
Nycholas’ clandestine world holds the secrets to mankind’s origin and survival… but he only wants one thing before his time is up: a few colorful nights with Calli, the fragile, tattooed, human woman he pursued and saved.
The more Calli learns about Nycholas, the more her own darkened memories return to her. Despite her haunted past, she loses herself to passion and desire with her immortal captor.
Now, Calli must overcome the demons of her past, or allow Nycholas to kiss her memories away and spare her the trauma of loving a doomed immortal. But each choice comes with dire consequences – some that endanger not only herself, but her family as well.
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