A Talon At Her Throat

by Michele de Winton

Published September 19th 2012 by The Wild Rose Press

ISBN: 978-1-61217-481-5

Torn between hiding her goddess lineage from mortals and needing her powerful gifts for self-preservation, Yasmin Freeman just wants to be ordinary. But when an assignment leads her to Gray, a Talon shape-shifter able to assume the deadly features of any bird of prey, the true nature of her abilities is revealed.

Fiercely protective of his people, Gray is honor-bound to dispose of intruders, but Yasmin provokes a lustful hunger in him he doesn’t understand–a hunger that drives him to disregard the Talon’s strict avoidance of humans.

Gray’s seductive touch triggers an ancient bonding process Yasmin is powerless to stop. Their bond should hold them together, but without the cooperation of their people, humans, goddesses, and Talons could die. Yasmin must face Gray in battle if she is to plead with the Talon elders for cooperation, yet defeating Grey might mean the end of the fragile trust between them.

Buy the book: Wild Rose Press / iTunes

When one world isn’t enough.

Michele de Winton’s first romance novel The Boss and Her Billionaire was released in July with Entangled Publishing to fab reviews and ratings and now her paranormal title A Talon at Her Throat is just out with The Wild Rose Press. She chats with us about being a newbie
and writing between contemporary and paranormal romance.

1. Tell us about yourself.
I love sunshine, chardonnay, (preferably together), beaches, trees, great vegetarian food, steamy writing and happy endings. I’ve been known to be an all round arty type and it’s no wonder that my first romance had a little sparkle of the stage tucked into its pages. Being a writer was not was I was supposed to be when I ‘grew up’ but then neither was being a dancer. My poor parents. They thought that when I toddled off to law school they’d bred a responsible, useful adult and instead they got a performer and word junkie. Sometimes my performing past jumps into the dress up box and requires attention. But most of the time I’m content to stay in my PJs. All day. I also think that chocolate can solve pretty much everything. Chocolate margaritas are pure genius.

2. How did you get your start as a writer?
It was a slightly rambling path to be honest. I had always been an avid reader but it feels like I became a novelist by lucky accident. I was looking for a venue for a new dance show and found a tiny paragraph about the first lighthouse keeper in New Zealand. Her story got hold of me, was joined by two other characters and turned itself into a novel. Coupled with the modest success of that book, the support of my husband and a writing fellowship, writing seemed to be something that chose me rather than the other way around. Writing full time is a dream really.

Living in New Zealand however I’m pretty realistic about what it takes to make a living as a writer. Now I write nonfiction for a variety of clients, still keep up my literary work as well as writing for kids, and of course am embarking into the awesome world of romance. It means writing across genres within romance isn’t too different from my other work.

I’m such a newbie still that I’m constantly learning about the romance world. Especially the social media and online side of it. Sometimes it seems completely overwhelming – but happily there are so many fabulous writers out there who are willing to lend a hand and some advice. Still it’s been quite a rollercoaster speedtrip. A big thank you to anyone who has read/reviewed/recommended or generally smiled in the direction of my work! It means soooo much.

3. What is your typical writing schedule like?
Wake. Feed my wee man and myself. Try and entertain him and answer emails and tweets at the same time (not often sucessfully). When he sleeps, I write. I’m pretty diciplined and write most days but I try and take time off in the weekend and evenings. If I’m on deadline every second is up for grabs and unfortunately I seem to get going just when I should be cooking dinner. Pizza anyone?

4. How did you come to write both contemporary and paranormal fiction?
I had always thought I would never write paranormal romance because it wasn’t something I read a lot of. Then I was introduced to Nalini Singh – a fellow Kiwi – and all my preconceptions about liking or not liking the genre disolved into the background. She builds great worlds and I guess that’s the part about paranormal romance that I really like – the ability to completely let go of normality and bend every rule available – even those of gravity if you want! I submitted both my contemporary romance The Boss and Her Billionaire and this paranormal title at the same time to two different publishers and was blown away when they were both accepted. It’s been very interesting seeing how the two different houses work. There is the danger that my ‘brand’ gets diluted. But I write under a different name for non romance so I’m hoping I can continue to keep my word-worlds ticking along side by side.

5. Can you tell us about A Talon at Her Throat?
It’s a novella, coming in at just over 20,000 words. Set in a world where shape shifting Talon rule the skies, and humans and goddesses have interbred, a battle rages over how to share the land, skies and sea. Torn between hiding her goddess lineage from mortals and needing her powerful gifts for self-preservation, Yasmin Freeman just wants to be ordinary. But when an assignment leads her to Gray, a Talon shape-shifter able to assume the deadly features of any bird of prey, the true nature of her abilities is revealed. Fiercely protective of his people, Gray is honor-bound to dispose of intruders, but Yasmin provokes a lustful hunger in him he doesn’t understand–a hunger that drives him to disregard the Talon’s strict avoidance of humans. Gray’s seductive touch triggers an ancient bonding process Yasmin is powerless to stop. Their bond should hold them together, but without the cooperation of their people, humans, goddesses, and Talons could die. Yasmin must face Gray in battle if she is to plead with the Talon elders for cooperation, yet defeating Gray might mean the end of the fragile trust between them.

6. And just for something different — what are three things about you that might surprise your readers?
(1)I painted multi coloured stripes on my kitchen wall. It surprised my husband. He thought the kitchen was going to be white. But ten rolls of masking tape and about twenty test pots of paint later, our kitchen looks like its wearing a Paul Frank scarf. I love it.

(2)I sailed to Tonga from New Zealand. My husband had visions of us sailing the world as a couple, me cooking, him helming some fabulous super yatch. Turns out I get sea sick in blue water. If you do too you’ll know just how awful it is. The world roiling and trying to kill you by pulling your stomach out through your nose. Never again.

(3) I don’t like white chocolate. Let’s be honest, there’s not even any cocoa in it. How can you call it chocolate. Give me a dark or milk block every time. And I do mean the whole block.

I’d love to hear from readers so get in touch.

You can find me on Facebook / Twitter

Drop me a line or post a comment on my blog through www.micheledewinton.com
I also blog at The Naked Hero as The Luna goddess: www.thenakedhero.com
And on the Indulgence blog: http://entangledindulgence.wordpress.com/