Wow! Thanks for all the kind words, y'all. It's gratifying to know that you enjoyed The Gladiator and The Thief because it was a very personal book to me. The heroine is a compilation of all the kids I worked with during the time I did child welfare case work. Now, let me say, none of them had been forced into prostitution like some of the kids in the book but the abuse  they suffered and facelessness of the system is certainly something that was always a concern for me.

It's really weird, this sci-fi thing because I started out writing historicals, westward expansion stuff, but never was able to finish a single one of those books. (Sadly, they are still mouldering away in folder on my computer). And one day, I was reading through this online science magazine and I saw a story about how one day we would be able to have computer chips put in our brains to record our memories. The writer called this "soul catching." I was intrigued. What, I wondered would a soul catcher do if he/she was a real person. And so, Lillith was born, the heroine of my first book, The Soul Collector. From there, I learned how to worldbuild and Across The Stars came into being. One of the reviewers mentioned she'd like to see some of the other characters have stories, hence The Gladiator and The Thief.

The hero, Kei, was very appealing to me, even though he had just a short part in ATS. He seemed to be calling to me, so I did a character bio on him, got to know him, and pretty much fell in love with him. He's this big strapping man who is incredibly dangerous, yet there is a soft, loving side to him (that we saw in ATS) and I loved that dichotomy. There's a duality about both of the characters that I think we all possess.

Anyway, thanks so much for your nice words. I'm so tickled you enjoyed the book. I admit that I was worried it might be a little too intense. YAY! Picture me doing the happy dance.

And now, back to writing that contemporary piece for my wonderful editor.

Happy Reading,

India