I figured since Dawning of Light, the second book in the Lightbearer series, is coming out tomorrow, I’d reblog this interview with Tanner, the hero from the first Lightbearer book, Into the Light.
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It’s a beautiful summer day, and I’ve managed to catch Tanner Lyons during a rare moment of downtime. And alone, as well, which is unusual for the shifter to whom other beings tend to migrate. We are sitting outside a local brewery (his choice, not mine; I would have chosen a winery), in a roped off area that allows us to watch the foot traffic in this small town, and still be able to enjoy the craft beers he seems to favor. Tanner has, not surprisingly, situated himself so that his back is to a solid brick wall, and he can still keep an eye on his surroundings. My first question is a blurted, “Are you looking for someone?”
He arches one black brow and gives me a cool look. “Have you met my father?”
This interview is not starting on the right foot. I need to try to make up for my blunder. “Tell me about yourself,” I encourage.
“What do you want to know?”
Tanner, I know from the book, Into the Light, is not a man of many words. I suspect this will make the interview a bit of a challenge.
“What do you do for fun?” I ask.
“Fun?” he repeats with another eyebrow arch.
“Yeah, you know: movies, reading, going to the beach. Fun.”
“I have inherited a small pack of lightbearers with no fighting skills whatsoever, my practically invalid mother, and a female shifter with a young child and who is about to whelp her second any day now. Fun doesn’t exactly fit into the equation at the moment.”
I am at a loss for words now. If he isn’t willing to open up to me, I’ll have no material for my blog post. I don’t know what to do.
Abruptly, he softens. “I know you are only trying to do your job,” he admits as he leans back in his chair and takes a long drink from the dark beer he’s selected off the extensive menu. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s talk about Olivia.”
“Olivia? The lightbearer princess?”
“That’s the one,” he agrees, and I cannot help but notice his eyes are glowing faintly. I look around, wondering if any other humans in the vicinity have noticed.
“Humans only see what they want to see,” he says, accurately reading my thoughts.
“Oh. Right. So … tell me about Olivia.”
“She’s beautiful. Strangely delicate and yet impossibly strong all at the same time. She has been forced into a situation she doesn’t want, just because of who she was born to.”
“To whom she was born,” I automatically correct him. Stupid grammar Nazi author.
“Whatever.”
I clear my throat. “So what does that have to do with you? I mean, what’s your relationship?”
“She was captured by my father. He meant to kill her. I rescued her and now have to return her to her coterie.”
“What’s a coterie?”
“It’s this place where all the lightbearers live. It’s protected by a bunch of magical wards. Few lightbearers ever leave those protective wards, and as a result, most shifters assume they’ve gone extinct.”
“Except your father.”
“Yes.”
He clearly does not enjoy discussing the topic of his father, but I press anyway. “Why did he believe they were still alive, when everyone else didn’t?”
Tanner leans forward, those still faintly glowing eyes watching me with an intensity that is utterly unnerving. I want to look away. Actually, I want to run away, but it’s like he’s holding me prisoner, without even touching me.
“Shifters are a highly obsessive group of beings,” he explains in his low, gravely voice. “When we latch onto something – such as an idea or a person – we do not easily let go, if ever.”
“Such as Olivia?” I dare to ask.
“Are you implying something?” he growls.
I shrink away from him. “It’s just that every time you talk about her, your voice softens and your eyes glow and …”
He takes another drink of his beer, shifts his gaze away from me. “She is … special,” he states, almost grudgingly.
“Are you two …?”
“It’s complicated.”
“Relationships usually are.”
“We do not have a relationship. At least …”
“What?” I prod, anticipation thrumming through my system. Is he about to divulge something no one else knows?
He lifts the pint glass, drains the contents and places it back on the table. And then he stands, his gaze sweeping over the groups of humans wandering about the quaint little downtown area. “We’re done here,” he says, and then he is gone. I don’t even know in which direction he went.
And I have no idea how this interview veered so far off course.
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Haven’t yet read Tanner’s story? Want to? Click HERE. (It’s on sale for 50% off right now!!)
I’ve written multiple self-published books as well as published books through Crimson Romance (Crimson Romance/Naked Truth) and Liquid Silver Books (Liquid Silver Books/Into the Light and Liquid Silver Books/Love Gumbo). The second in the Lightbearer series, Dawning of Light, will be available as of tomorrow! You can pre-order here.
My goal is to live, love, and laugh, and I want the characters in my books to do the same. After they’ve overcome a few seemingly insurmountable obstacles first, of course.
I also love to be stalked on social media. My website is: http://tamilund.com and I can be found on nearly every social media outlet. Just type “Tami Lund Author.” I’m probably there.
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