All the practice runs from when I was just a little kid, throughout all the daydreaming fantasy stories I'd played out in my mind, to my failed - but highly constructive - attempt at science fiction, paid off. I found my writing voice and haven't looked back since.

  What's the story behind The Citizen Saga?

  Big cities fascinate me. From their infrastructure, to their roadways, to their housing requirements and park designs. In particular, I find it amazing how so many people can live on such a small parcel of land. I've visited London, Berlin, Sydney, Los Angeles, Singapore, Paris, Rome - some pretty big cities with intricate and brilliant city designs and massive populations living in splendid harmony. And I loved every single one of them.

  Mix into this fascination a love of science fiction from when I was a small child, throw in a few modern day newsworthy concepts, and you have a meting hot-pot of vibrant colour and multiculturalism in a land area no bigger than Lake Taupo (my home town).

  The Citizen Saga came to me while on holiday in one of those big cities and it just built from there. A type of awe laced with a what-if scenario, that continued to grow inside my head until I had no choice but to put pen to paper and get it all out. In its most basic description, the story is about a strictly controlled nation cut-off from the rest of the world, and those remarkable people who rise up and fight back against the oppression in search of something more.

  It's fantasy based on reality with a mixture of science fiction and a grounding in romance and suspense. And I love it as much as I love those wonderful "real" big cities I've visited over the years.

  What is the greatest joy of writing for you?

  I love writing. Pure and simple. I have never had a job that has fulfilled me in the way writing books has. I feel privileged and enormously lucky to call myself an author, and to actually be able to do it for a living.

  But in order to adequately answer this question, the greatest joy I get out of writing has to be split into two main categories for me.

  One: The joy of getting to know a character. Of falling in love with them, getting frustrated with them. And most importantly finding out how it all goes for them in the end. I have a fair idea of where my stories are going when I start tapping away on the keyboard, but I don't necessarily know the path they will take until my characters walk it. That for me is joy. Discovering the twists and turns the story takes, as though I'm a reader along for the ride.

  And two: Hearing from readers of my books. Finding out I touched them through the words of my story in some way. Made them feel. Made them moved to such a degree that they either had to tell the world, or contact me. Nothing beats corresponding with a person who fell in love with one of my books.

  I write for me and I write for my readers. Everything else is secondary.

  What comes after The Citizen Saga?

  The rest of my year has been mapped out, even if I tend to write what feels right and find sticking to a schedule impossible. I have committed to the next two H.E.A.T. books, hopefully by the end of the year. Why? Because my darling mother and adorable aunts have begged me! They just can't get enough of Detective Lara Keen and her hot HEAT partner Damon Michaels.

  But then again, I'm getting pressure from the Sweet Seduction fans for Adam Savill's story, Sweet Seduction Secrets. And there's also Casey & Theo, from the Elemental Awakening series; they've certainly been turning up the heat to sizzling inside my head, not to mention the letters I've been getting from those eagerly awaiting The Tantalising Taste Of Water.

  So, I guess, it's a little of "wait and see." I've got a lot of stories inside my head clamouring to get out. It just depends whose voice is the loudest.

  And whose post on my Facebook page tickles me the most and gets me all fired up for the next must-have book that they're after.

  Hmm, delicious Damon, appetising Adam, or tasty Theo? Oh, my job is just so darn hard, isn't it! ;)

  About The Author

  Nicola Claire lives in beautiful Taupo, New Zealand with her husband and two young boys.

  She's tried her hand at being a paramedic, bank teller and medical sales representative, (not all necessarily in that order), but her love of writing keeps calling her back.

  She has a passion for all things supernatural, spiced up with a good dollop of romance - as long as they include strong characters, alpha males and capable females, and worlds which although make-believe are really quite believable in the end.

  There's nothing better than getting caught up in a compelling, intriguing and romantic book.

  When she's not writing or reading, she's out on her family boat at Lake Taupo, teaching her young boys to fish, showing them the beauty that surrounds them in nature and catching some delicious trout for dinner.

  Kindred has been a joy to write, creating a rich world with dynamic characters and paranormal twists that shock and awe has been pure bliss for this author. And just as well, because there's a lot more story yet to tell...

  Find more Nicola Claire books at:

  Nicola Claire Website

  Connect with Nicola Claire at:

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  Goodreads

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  Claire, Nicola, Citizen (Citizen Saga, Book 3)

 

 

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