Interview with Nalini Singh

Welcome to Coffee Time Romance, February is the month for romance, and wow do we have a treat for you today, Nalini Singh is here to talk about her upcoming book Visions of Heat and a little about herself. Coffee Time Romance want to welcome Ms. Singh with us today. Welcome.

Thanks, Wateena. I’m so excited to be here.

Ms. Singh Visions of Heat was a total thrill to read and I was blown away with the depth of these characters and everything about this story.WHERE or How did you get the inspiration for this book?

To be quite honest, I’m not quite sure. But like all my stories, it began with a “what-if” question – what if you could see the future? That was the very basic premise. I then fed it it into the Psy/Changeling world. What if you could see terrible things in that future, but you were from a race where emotion wasn’t accepted? What if what you saw made you think you were insane? And then I just ran with it. I write character-based stories and both Vaughn and Faith were vivid to me from the first page. They told me their story and I listened.

Also This is the second as Slave to Sensation is the first, please tell us we can look forward to more of this series?

Yes, definitely! Book three comes out in September and is titled Caressed By Ice. That one’s a little different as it features a Psy hero. And then in October I have a novella in the Enchanted Seasons anthology that tells the story of Nate and Tamsyn, the mated pair people met in Slave to Sensation and Visions of Heat.

Ms. Singh I love the alph hero’s, in all of hero’s is there a characteristic that each of them have? Such as being more dominate, ect.?

Each hero is a very different individual, but yes, I do love writing alpha men. I think it’s important that aside from the dominance, they have a tender side (that often only the heroine sees!). I like my alphas to be strong, perhaps sometimes arrogant but never mean. I want them to be men women could truly fall in love with, knowing that they’d be shown respect and tenderness.

I noticed from your site, that you have lived in some very exotic places and that you were born in Fiji but lived in New Zeland and also Japan and now back to New Zealand. Has traveling helped your writing? And if so How?

It’s definitely broadened my horizons and shown me how different the world can be, both in terms of geography and in different people’s cultural perceptions of the same thing, which helps me write deeper characters. I also sometimes use bits from my travels to texture my stories. For example, the heroine in Slave to Sensation – Sascha, had a half-Japanese grandmother.

Ms. Singh you have several different types of occupations behind you, do you see being a writer your last?

Whatever else I do, I’ll always be a writer. It’s my passion!

What gets you in the mood for writing?

While being in the mood can be fun and exciting, I think it’s more a case of just sitting down and writing and getting into the mood that way. That discipline is important.. But when the mood does strike, for whatever reason, those days are magic. 🙂

What kind of research did you have to do for your book Visions of Heat?

I had to research jaguars, as Vaughn is a jaguar shapeshifter. I also had to research the California area and the Sierra Nevada region. Since this is a futuristic paranormal, I made up a lot of stuff *grin* but because this is a series, I had to be very careful about internal consistency. I have a folder full of notes about things from detailed character profiles (so I know people’s eye color and age etc), to the workings of the PsyNet. So that was quite important when I was writing – a different kind of research so to speak.

Do you like doing research?

Yes, I do like doing research because I tend to write about subjects that interest me. 🙂 But I like to do only basic research before I start, then do the in-depth research after the first draft is done. That way, I don’t give in to the too-much-information syndrome, that is, though I make sure my facts are correct, I don’t try to put all my research into the book. I don’t think most readers would be too impressed by pages and pages of research material LOL

Are you working on anything else right now?

I’m currently drafting book four in the Psy/Changeling series, which is about another one of the DarkRiver sentinels.

Ms. Singh what do you feel has been the highest point of your writing career?

Oh wow, this is such a hard question to answer. Every year new things happen and I’m delighted all over again, but I think for every writer, their first sale is very special. Mine was, too. Then when I sold Slave to Sensation – at auction – it felt like my first sale all over again. Those were both brilliant days.

Are you a romantic?

Yes, absolutely! We all need a little romance in our soul.

What are some of the characteristics of the man you would fall in love with?

Smart, funny, strong and loyal. That’s just the start! *g*

Ms. Singh you have wrote several Silhoutte Desire books, do you find writing for larger or longer books(like Visions of Heat) harder or just the same as a smaller books Like your silhouttes?

They are very different to write. The Desires are shorter so I have less room for secondary characters, while the longer books let me play with a much larger cast. As to difficulty, it’s hard to compare, as they are so different – especially since I’m writing paranormal in one area and contemporary in the other. That difference is what I like about writing in both sub-genres – it lets me really flex my writing muscles.

Ms. Singh Would you share something with us that maybe some of your readers don’t know?

I’ve ridden a camel in China. It was the coolest experience! They’re terribly high but once you get used to it, the ride is so much fun. I have pictures of the camels on my website. (www.nalinisingh.com/traveldiary) You mentioned you rode a camel,

Is there anything you would like to do or try to do in the future that maybe you have never done before?

I always say I want to skydive but I might be too chicken to do it! I’ve always wanted to fly so maybe if not skydiving, then gliding. I did go up in a helicopter for the first time last year and that only made me more excited about the possibility to parachuting or gliding, so who knows?!

Is there anything you would like to add before we close?

Thanks for the interview and I hope your readers will enjoy my books!

WOW, For you lovers of Sherrilyn Kenyon, and Christine Feehan you do not want to miss Nalini Singhs Visions of Heat, You will be hooked just like I am!