UFI welcomes Pippa Jay Author of Tethered. 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?
I keep chickens, I had a huge crush on Luke Skywalker, and my current favorite vice is Lucozade Cherry.
What do you enjoy doing on your down time?
I do freestyle street dance to keep fit, I like to sew and often make cosplay outfits, I draw a little, read, listen to music, watch a lot of SF films and series, and mock up book covers. Weekends are family time, and we spend a lot of it at the beach, weather permitting.
What is your Favorite part of writing?
World building. Nothing I like more than creating new worlds and settings, and throwing my characters into it.
Do you have any certain routines you must follow as you write?
Sit. Write. Repeat.
What are some of your Favorite books or Authors in the Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal Genres?
Elle Hill's Hunted series, stories by Chantal Halpin, and The Neon Court by Kate Griffin.
How would you pitch Tethered to someone who has not heard of it before? Think Orphan Black but set in the future—cloned assassins, ferocious feline warriors, and a sexy but scarred hero who has the heroine tied up in knots trying to figure him out.
Can you tell us a little bit about the world that is set in?
It's the far future, and humanity has moved beyond Earth and diversified, as well as meeting other alien races. Tyree's people have human ancestry, but years of genetic alteration and cloning have given them abilities true humans don't have, and a scary reputation as assassins who cannot be evaded. Humans are at a pivotal point, negotiating a peace treaty with a ferocious feline race who don't much like anyone else, and someone seems determined to sabotage it and send the populated worlds into a war they are unlikely to win. Space travel, psychic powers and alien races abound, but you won't have to be afraid of long, scientific explanations for it all. Promise!
Do you have a favorite scene in Tethered?
One of my favorites is when Tyree challenges Zander to a sparring match. It's a bit of an unfair fight as Tyree has advantages over a human male, but he surprises her and I think they both enjoyed it far more than they let on.
Which character was your favorite to write about? What about the hardest to write about?
I adored writing about Tyree, because she was very different to other characters I'd done. She's strong, confident, easily provoked, and yet in a way very naive and vulnerable, because she's not used to living around humans and she finds them generally confusing. Zander was harder because I didn't want to give too much away and yet convey some of the things that were going on in his head. It was tough to get the balance so that we are as confused about him as Tyree, and yet we can probably pick up some of the things about him that Tyree was completely blind to.
What Other Projects can we look forward to reading from you?
Releasing this year, I have a YA supernatural novella (Restless In Peaceville), a paranormal short set around Halloween releasing in October (title is a secret, shhh!), and a superhero story (When Dark Falls) set in an alternative 1920s that has yet to be given a release date. I'm also working on a bad angel story for the Christmas holiday season, a kind of futuristic urban fantasy (think angels appearing in Bladerunner, lol).
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A stay-at-home mum of three who spent twelve years working as an Analytical Chemist in a Metals and Minerals laboratory, Pippa Jay bases her stories on a lifetime addiction to science-fiction books and films. Somewhere along the line a touch of romance crept into her work and refused to leave. In between torturing her plethora of characters, she spends the odd free moments trying to learn guitar, indulging in freestyle street dance and drinking high-caffeine coffee. Although happily settled in historical Colchester in the UK with her husband of 20 years, she continues to roam the rest of the Universe in her head.
Pippa Jay is a dedicated member of the SFR Brigade, a community of science fiction romance authors and publishing professionals committed to writing and promoting the very best in the genre.
Find Pippa and her books
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Tethered
Buy Link
She can kill with a kiss. But can assassin Tyree also heal one man's grief, and bring peace to a galaxy threatened by war?__________________________________
For Tyree of the Su, being an assassin isn't simply something she was trained for. It's the sole reason for her existence. A genetically enhanced clone—one of many in Refuge—she's about to learn her secluded lifestyle, and that of all her kind, is under threat by a race capable of neutralizing their special talents to leave them defenseless.
For Zander D'joren, being a diplomat has not only cost him his appearance, but also the love of his life. Scarred, grieving, he must nonetheless continue in his role as co-delegate to the fearsome Tier-vane or risk a conflict that could only end one way.
Now both of them need to keep each other alive and maintain a perilous deception long enough to renegotiate the treaty with the Tier-vane, or throw their people into a war that could wipe out Terrans and Inc-Su alike. But there's more at stake than humanity, whether true or modified. Can the love growing between them save them both? Or merely hasten their destruction?