Title: By a Thread
Author: Nyna Queen
Series: Trueborn Heirs Series
Genre: Urban Fantasy/ Paranormal
Publisher: Levire
Release Date: May 1 2019
Editions: eBook
Blurb/Synopsis:
“I’m a spider, sugar. My shaper kind doesn’t bear that name for nothing.”
“I’m a spider, sugar. My shaper kind doesn’t bear that name for nothing.”
That's not something Alexis Harper dares to say very often.
If she did, it might just get her killed. Not that she is an easy mark, but
even fools get lucky once in a while.
In a world where the magically gifted trueborn rule and the
magicless halfborn slog away in the slums, half-blood mongrels like Alex are
outcasts—feared and shunned. For most of her life, she has lurked in the
shadows, trying to keep her true nature a secret. But the secrecy ends abruptly
when she saves two trueborn aristo children from a group of hired killers.
Accused of a crime she didn't commit, Alex suddenly finds herself running from
powerful enemies, with no one around to trust.
Or what about the mysterious stranger who has been following
her? He is one of Death’s Servants, born and bred to kill at the country’s
command. Not the most preferable ally, but then, her choices are limited. Soon
she has to decide whether she can trust him or not—it’s a gamble she might not
survive either way. And before Alex knows what is happening, her life is
hanging by a silken thread…
“You’re not one of those guys, are you?”
“And what kind of guy would that be?” Darken asked.
Alex flipped back a strand of blond hair. “One of those
macho-imbeciles who think that women belong behind the stove and not behind the
steering wheel.”
Darken gave her a puzzled look that was almost convincing.
“I beg your pardon,” he said stiffly. “I didn’t mean to
imply that there was anything wrong with your driving skills.”
Of course not.
“What did you mean to imply, if I may
ask?”
He sighed, impatiently. “If I recall it correctly, I just
told you about the possible physical repercussions of my magic. At the moment
you’re experiencing dizziness, perhaps even blurred vision. Your mouth feels
dry and your skin raw. Your pupils are dilated.” He bent forward, peering into
her face and she involuntarily took a step backward. Damn!
Max and Josy appeared around the car, notably dallying while
getting into the car to be able to listen in.
“And your point is?”
Darken waved an irritated hand. “Haven’t you been listening
at all? It’s going to get worse, a lot worse. What you are experiencing right
now are just the first ripples. Especially the first time when someone is
touched by a forfeit’s magic the effects are particularly dire. You’ll likely
feel like you’re having a bad case of the chills, perhaps even suffer from
shivering attacks and other … certain … physical symptoms.” His voice gained a
slightly clipped edge at those last words, but she was too mad to pay it any
attention.
Oh, so now he was getting all indignant because she wasn’t
falling to pieces at his touch. Poor little woman wasn’t able to handle the
touch of the big threatening predator. Males!
He’d probably expected her to suffer some kind of nervous breakdown or something,
getting all teary and whiny and swooning on his arm, begging him for smelling
salts. Perhaps that was what most people did in her current circumstances.
Well, she wouldn’t do him that favor, oh no! She’d suffered physical backlash
of magic before and while it wasn’t a pleasant experience, a shapers’ body
usually coped much better with it than other humans.
It was true, she did feel a bit shaky on her legs and there
was a faint tingling sensation on her skin, but there was just no way she would
grant him the triumph of backing down now. She’d have to grit her teeth and
tough it out.
“Thanks a lot,” she said pointedly, “but I think I can
manage.”
She yanked the door open—forcing him to quickly pull away
his hand if he didn’t want his fingers to get squashed—and paused to look at
him over the door casing. “Don’t worry, its a few hours’ drive to Gomorrah.
You’ll come to your right.”
Before he could argue, she pushed past him, slipped into the
driver’s seat and pulled the door shut behind her.
Well, chew on that,
Mr. Smug.
Where did you come up
with the idea for your book?
The idea for “By a Thread” hit me when I was on a vacation
in Turkey, reading Ilona Andrews’ “On the edge”, sipping a drink at the bar and
seeing a tiny white spider crawling across the sand…
How did you come up
with your characters?
I had the idea for my main character, Alex (Alexis Harper),
when I saw this stunning little white spider on the beach. Usually I am deadly
afraid of (and disgusted by) spiders but there was a certain mesmerizing beauty
to this creature. I thought: I can do this. I can create a character that makes
being considered a spider something cool and desirable. In my mind I
immediately saw this smart, tough, sharp-tongued bar-girl. I didn’t want her to
turn INTO a spider (gross!), just to have certain abilities and visible
features that make you think “spider”, but also “badass”.
Darken, the second main character, was inspired by a picture
I found on the internet while doing some idle research for one of my stories: a
male devil with glowing eyes and a tattoo on his shoulder – in that moment, I
knew I wanted my love interest to be some kind of deadly guy with eyes that
glow red and with beautiful tattoos on his arms.
In fact, I often get my ideas for characters when reading
books and watching movies or just by keeping my eyes open when I walk through
life. For example the idea for Valentine (aka the Duke of Gomorrha) came to me
while watching the movie “In Time” when Justin Timberlake made his appearance
as one of the slick, devious minutemen.
Who did you show your
first draft to and why?
I showed my first draft only to my sister who also happens
to be a big fan of (urban) fantasy books. I did so for two reasons: one, I know
that she will be brutally honest when she thinks that something I wrote sucks
(so I can also trust her when she says that she likes it), and two, at the same
time she is able to see beyond the mess and gibberish I created (first drafts
are often shitty) and sees the possibilities in there and will take the time to
sort it out with me.
Do you have plans to
a follow up already in the works?
Absolutely! I started working on the second book in the Trueborn
Heirs Series (“Web of Lies”) right after I published book one on 1st
May 2019 and hopefully it will be ready by the end of this year.
Open your book to a
random page and tell us the first paragraph…
Absently, Darken raked a hand through his thick hair,
tousling the dark strands. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes he would have
said it wasn’t possible. You didn’t just climb Gomorrha’s walls! But once again
this shaper belied his beliefs, mocking all the rules of physics that bound
them ordinary mortals to earth and reason. The ease. The lissomness. As if
gravity didn’t even exist. They said shapers were creatures born from the
darkness, but really it should be born for
the darkness. The night was her element. They called her spider, but only now
he started to understand how much it fit her.
What do you like to
read? Do you only read the genre you write in?
I mostly read fantasy books (the genre I write in), in every
shape and color: urban (Ilona Andrews is one of my favorites here) but also
high and epic, dark and erotic (Anne Bishop *sigh*), paranormal, YA (OMG -
Harry Potter!), and the occasional sciFi. I just LOVE fantasy! Very rarely
–usually upon recommendation – I’ll pick up something else, like, for example,
Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code.
Where do you go to
escape?
Nature! I like to take long walk at a deserted beach or
through a forest to calm down and think. It is as if the mind stretches and
expands when you are out under the open sky…
What advice do you
have for aspiring writers?
If possible, write every
day, even if it is just for a little while. Keep pushing through your struggles
– it is absolutely worth it in the end.
Write what you would like to read and stay true to your own voice (believe me, others will like it too).
And don't EVER let anybody tell you that writing is not a worthy profession to pursue, that it is a waste of time, or that you're not good enough. Those people know nothing. This is your life and if writing makes your heart sing, there is only one thing to do: Write your heart out and capture that song!
Write what you would like to read and stay true to your own voice (believe me, others will like it too).
And don't EVER let anybody tell you that writing is not a worthy profession to pursue, that it is a waste of time, or that you're not good enough. Those people know nothing. This is your life and if writing makes your heart sing, there is only one thing to do: Write your heart out and capture that song!
Would you recommend
self-publishing or main stream publishing for first time novelists?
Ah, tricky question. When I finished my first book at the
beginning of this year I had to ask myself the same question. I contemplated traditional publishing because
– for some reason – it is still seen as the “right” way to do it and some
people will not consider you an author if you don’t have a publisher
(especially those who went through the trouble of getting one). However, when I
did my homework, I realized that between querying for an agent and finding a
publisher it usually takes AT LEAST another 2-3 years until your book will be
published, and that only if you are very lucky. And even if you do get
published you don’t get to decide anything: they pick the cover, they write the
blurb, and they usually ask you to change a lot of content. Also, if this is
your first novel, they usually won’t pay you much (if anything) and won’t put in a lot of budget and effort
into marketing your book either, so you’ll have to do marketing yourself anyway
(which was what I wanted to avoid – I just want to sit down and write and let
somebody else worry about the rest; unfortunately it is not as easy as that).
I don’t want to lie, self-publishing isn’t a cakewalk either, but for me it was the right choice. You have to spend some money on a good proofreader/editor (books with many mistakes suck, and readers will put them down even if the story is great) and a cover designer (let’s not fool ourselves; it is mostly the cover that makes people buy your book). Also you need to have some knowledge in web design and social media marketing or know someone who does and is willing to help you. And then you have to be active on social media too, which was a great challenge for me, as I did not even have an Instagram account before. If this seems possible for you, then self-publishing is a good option. I also chose this way because I was impatient. I’d love to quit my day job and only work as an author and I wanted to get my finished book out there to see if people actually like what I write. If you are not pressed for time, you can always try to find a publisher, but self-publishing is a real alternative and for a first-time novelist, in my opinion, the even better way.
I don’t want to lie, self-publishing isn’t a cakewalk either, but for me it was the right choice. You have to spend some money on a good proofreader/editor (books with many mistakes suck, and readers will put them down even if the story is great) and a cover designer (let’s not fool ourselves; it is mostly the cover that makes people buy your book). Also you need to have some knowledge in web design and social media marketing or know someone who does and is willing to help you. And then you have to be active on social media too, which was a great challenge for me, as I did not even have an Instagram account before. If this seems possible for you, then self-publishing is a good option. I also chose this way because I was impatient. I’d love to quit my day job and only work as an author and I wanted to get my finished book out there to see if people actually like what I write. If you are not pressed for time, you can always try to find a publisher, but self-publishing is a real alternative and for a first-time novelist, in my opinion, the even better way.
Nyna started reading fantasy books at the sweet age of six
(in fact, as soon as she could read) and never got out of it. After she
finished her law degree, she finally decided to commit herself to a career as
an author. When she isn't reading a book or dreaming up another story, she
works as a lawyer, indulges in way too much coffee and enjoys long walks in the
sun. If you are looking for Nyna, you'll likely find her behind her laptop,
hitting the keys, writing down her latest novel ideas - careful, if you speak
to her now, she might not remember later!
Right in this moment, Nyna is probably working on the second
book in her Trueborn Heirs Series: Web of Lies.
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