What can you tell my readers about yourself that they might not know from looking on your bio or reading in another interview?
I’m fairly random. I think most creative people are! I love to sing Motown hits to my spaniels, love to crunch ice cubes as a snack, and can’t pass blankets in shops without touching them. And I own three pairs of slippers – I live in England. Enough said.
What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
Would it surprise you to know I love to read? ;) Apart from the obvious, I get obsessed with TV series and can “devour” a boxset in no time at all, especially shows like Castle, The Vampire Diaries and Gossip Girl. I like to take long country walks with the mad spaniels and I’ve even got into gym classes recently – keeps my cookie habit balanced!
What is your Favorite part of writing?
I love writing banter between characters. The simmering tension, the quick wit, the words that bring a smile to your face when you’re thinking about the book. I think that’s part of why my characters fall for each other, and why we fall in love with the characters.
Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
I need to reread the last 500 words or so before I dive back in – as if you’ve walked into a party where most people are familiar and all it takes is a few prompts and you’re like, “Ah, yeah!” I also find I write better if I write for an hour or so in the morning, then the afternoon, if I have the day off.
What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?
Obviously Nalini Singh, Kresley Cole and Gena Showalter are the major ones, and they’re all fantastic in their own ways. I also adore Karen Marie Moning’s Highlander series and Sherrilyn Kenyon’s League series. I’ve found some really funny PRs this past year including Juliette Cross, Hailey Edwards, Rosanna Leo and Lauren Smith.
How would you pitch Whispers to someone who has not heard of it before?
Hunger Games meets A Knight’s Tale. Years ago, Sapphy witnessed the queen’s murder and ran. Shamed now, she returns to watch over the trials of the Six – games to select who should be the next fae queen. Pretending to be a noble with the reluctant assistance of honourable Nathe, Sapphy is determined to prevent the murderer from claiming the throne for good…and equally determined NOT to fall in love.
Can you tell us a little bit about the world that Whispers is set in?
It’s an alternate world. The United Kingdom is now the Divided Kingdom, broken into territories assigned to different supernatural races. Governed by a slapdash body, the lands are in a state of watchful peace, ready to erupt into conflict with a single nudge.
Whispers is set in a realm within the Heartlands territory, the fae lands. Unlike most of the Divided Kingdom, nature still thrives here thanks to fae Elementals, and as such is a beautiful and peaceful place. Locked down to visitors, it has archaic ideas about women and ways of life – something our heroine, who lives in a kill-or-be-killed world, continually pushes against.
Do you have a favorite scene in Whispers?
Nathe and Sapphy were such fun characters to write. As opposites, their banter was full of teasing entendres from Sapphy and bland putdowns from Nathe. I enjoyed most of their scenes, but there’s a scene near the end when they set aside their false smiles and speak completely openly. I always find it heart-aching – if I’m allowed to say that about my own writing!
Which one character out of all your books was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
My heroines all tend to be quite kick-butt, no-nonsense, quipping-as-they-tear-you-a-new-one types. I love writing strong women, but equally men who slowly reveal a vulnerability that those strong women fall for. I have to confess that while I loved writing about Ana and Cade in the first book, Sapphy was my favourite to write about. She’s not as defensive as Ana, not so prickly or fierce. She’s got a quip for everything and loves deeply, puts a brave face on and tries to be tough, but is a sucker for helping people. She’s confident and yet not. I found her complexities engrossing.
The hardest character in all my books is possibly the character of Adelaide. She appears in Ashes, book one, as the silent beauty that guards the abused children, and again in a larger role in the third book, Deceptions. Her book is the one I’m writing now. She’s mute, so it is a challenging, new experience not being able to rely immediately on the heroine clashing verbal swords with the hero. It’s also interesting to delve into how being made mute has affected her personality and how others look at her, treat her. She’s been fragile, but is regaining her strength, and the hero in book four is definitely helping her!
What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
Book 3 of the Divided Kingdom series, Deceptions, focuses on the demon member of the Hoods, Faer, and a tough-talking gutter-gang female called Bo. She hates demons, but to save her family, she’ll now need to seduce one…which to her horror is not as disgusting a prospect as she originally thought.
I’m working on Book 4, Silences, Adelaide’s story now, as well as book one of a new trilogy set in a different paranormal world entirely. Let’s just say it involves ghosts, extortion, a gorgeous, sexy man and a stubborn woman. ☺
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Find Sophie and her books
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Whispers The Divided Kingdom #2
Samhain Amazon UK Amazon
"He s no pushover. And she ain t no fairy princess."Excerpt:
No one would guess that Sapphy, awesome whirlwind of Maze badassness, grew up sheltered in the Fae realm. Witnessing a murder drove her into the humans broken cities to hide, but now she s back, going undercover to keep history from repeating as the tournament to choose a new Fae queen dawns.
The only pebble in her shit-kicking boot is the jaw-gritting interference of Nathe Amergin, a Fae Enforcer whose solemn violet eyes set her skin to sizzle.
After the loss of his beloved sister, Nathe saved his last shred of sanity by clamping a lid on his emotions and forging a path to justice. When this frustrating, blue-eyed, my-go-or-I ll-blow female informs him of a possible threat to the realm, his offer of support is genuine, if reluctant.
While he s willing to work with her to protect his people, this sinful smart-ass skates perilously close to unleashing an avalanche of passion that, as the final choosing looms and whispers turn to screams, could bury them both.
"Warning: Contains ear-blushing sex between a flighty Fae with a mean air jab and a grounded Elemental who makes her earth move. Add a murderous queen clinging to power, and sabotage that strikes out of thin air. Anyone got ear plugs?"
“Where is she?” Nathe ran a hand down the back of his head, rubbing at the pressure point in his nape. “How did you fare at the dress shop? She must look acceptable, Tomas.”
“Trust me. Saphaia looks…acceptable.”
The edge of humor was not welcome. Not tonight. “Where is she?” Nathe stressed. “The announcements of competitors will begin soon. It will not look correct if she hasn’t mingled first.”
Tomas blinked at the rush of words. “You’re nervous.”
“I am not.”
“Like a virgin on her wedding night.”
“Can you stop thinking about sex for one moment, Tomas? This is serious. So many aspects of this plan can fall apart if she makes one wrong step.”
“Do you have so little trust in her?” Tomas pushed his hands into the pockets of his dress suit, a little more fashionable than Nathe’s own, the color of a good claret that complimented his dark skin.
Nathe sniffed. “You have known her one day. How can you have so much?”
Tomas shrugged, ignoring the giggles of passing noblewomen as they headed for the buffet. “She is a straightforward woman, a species I could get used to. Even attracted to.”
“What does that mean?”
“As I said, she is an intriguingly open woman. No false modesty. And she has an enticing form.”
Dark emotions swirled in Nathe’s gut at the thought of Sapphy pressing her lips to Tomas, her body astride his friend’s.
The earth threatened to tremor beneath him until he quelled it. “What happened at the gown shop?”
“We bought several outfits. We talked about life and love.” Tomas tilted his chin. “Are you looking in that direction, my friend?”
“No.”
“Then I pity the blind man.” With those puzzling words, Tomas slapped a hand on Nathe’s arm. “For all the good it may bring you, she’s on the stairs.”
Hit with a flood of relief, Nathe twisted to where Tomas now pointed.
And stood frozen.
His breath halted, his heart pounded once before forgetting its next action entirely. The dancers melted away, the shouts of laughter and revelry faded, even Tomas blurred until there was but the dark.
And her.
Sapphy stood poised at the top of the marble staircase like an angel from a painting, one graceful hand brushing the bannister, her face in profile as she looked away.
Her long, lithe body was wrapped in silk. The gown was a waterfall of blue, darkest blueberry at the bodice melting into crisp ice at the hem. Baring creamy white shoulders, it cupped her round breasts, slipped down to a waist he could span with both hands, before flaring out to the floor.
Her face had been painted, her lips a pale pink, her eyes a dramatic storm of smoke and ice. Sapphires trickled from her earlobes and graced her throat, simple, understated, elegant.
But it was her hair that was magnificent. A sweep of silvery-blue, the color of ice crystals on the verge of melting, it had been left loose to wave down to her hips, the different blues shimmering in the electric lights. A crown of bluebells adorned her head, a dramatic contrast between sensuality and innocence. The awakening.
She moved like the wind she called her own when she began to descend, a rolling of her hips that had Nathe’s blood sizzling, snapping, aching for her. His body stiffened, but he drifted toward her, unable to stop himself. Drawn together, he thought. Magnets.
And still there was nobody but them as he met her at the middle. She spoke not a word, but her eyes remained watchful, knowing. Even bluer now that her true colors had been revealed. They blistered him with a knowing look.
With a small smile, she held out a hand.
In the dreamscape, every movement was slow, and his taking of her hand was no different. Raising it to his lips, he inhaled the scent of her skin, brushing his lips over her knuckles, lingering.
His eyes flicked up. Breathless was how she looked, sensual and slumberous as she watched him out of hooded eyes.
His groin was on fire, his belly in knots as he longed to yank her to him, gather her skirts up and ride them both to ecstasy.
She waited for him to speak, but he couldn’t find the words to describe her beauty, every one trite and cliché. Every one fell short.
So he took the hand he still held and pressed it inside his jacket, against his racing heart. As her smile floated away, he moved in as close as the steps allowed.
“I burn,” he said softly. He held her gaze as his breath whispered across her cheek.
She quivered.
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