Guest: Pamela Palmer

Bite Club is thrilled to feature Pamela Palmer today!  Pamela has the fabulous Feral Warriors series out right now and her latest is HUNGER UNTAMED.  She's got 3 copies of Hunger Untamed to give away to three lucky winners, so show her some love in the comments!

People often ask me how many books I plan to write in the Feral Warriors shape-shifter series, especially now that book 5, Hunger Untamed (Kougar’s book), is on shelves and book 6, Ecstasy Untamed (Hawke’s book), will be out Oct. 25^th. Since there are only nine Feral Warriors (the last nine shape-shifters left in the world, each of whom shifts into a different animal), the question appears obvious. 

But it’s not. Not at all. For starters, there’s Foxx. I won’t say more in case you haven’t read the first few books, but suffice it to say, Foxx won’t be getting his own book. So eight books? Or will there be nine anyway?

Well…

Oh, and what about the Seventeen? (Centuries ago, seventeen Feral Warriors walked into an enchanted cave and died. Their animals never returned to mark another.) Readers are always asking me if any of the seventeen might come back. The answer? Yes, at least a few of the Seventeen will return. When? Sorry, I’m not saying. So, how many new Ferals might get their own books? To tell you the truth, I don’t know.

Every writer is different. While some plot and plan their series in advance, sometimes down to the chapter, others don’t. I don’t. I follow where the story leads. In a lot of ways, I’m discovering this story right along with my readers. A bit ahead of you, since writing takes so much longer than reading, plus there’s the whole editorial and publication phase that typically takes about a year. But I don’t know everything ahead of time. I’ve learned the hard way that trying to figure it out before I get there is a waste of time.

For example, I had no idea, when I wrote the first three books in the Feral Warriors series, that Kougar had once been mated to an Ilina. What’s an Ilina? One of a race of female warriors who can turn to mist at will. At first, I didn’t even know about the Ilinas. All I knew was that in one of the early books in the series, someone mentioned that there used to be other immortal races but they were all extinct. It wasn’t until I was writing the novella, Hearts Untamed, for the Bitten By Cupid anthology that it occurred to me that perhaps they weren’t all extinct, everyone just thought they were. And if that was the case, what would they do to keep that secret?

I realized that the Ilinas’ determination to keep their existence a secret was going to endanger the heroine of the novella. But I was totally surprised when Kougar walked into one of the scenes, saw the Ilina who threatened the heroine’s life, and not only knew what she was…he knew her by name. I’d always known Kougar had a mysterious past, but that was the first time I realized he had a connection with the Ilinas. And it wasn’t until I was in the middle of Jag’s book, Rapture Untamed, that I realized what that connection was, that Kougar had once been mated to their queen, Ariana, that he’d believed her dead for over a thousand years. And that he hated her bitterly for her betrayal. And I had my story! Or, rather, I had Kougar’s story. 

From the back cover:
For a thousand years she has haunted him—Ariana, queen of the Ilinas, a beauty of mist and light. His love, his life mate... Kougar believed her lost to him forever until the truth of her stunning betrayal left him bitter and hungry for revenge. Now she alone holds the power to save two trapped and desperate Feral Warriors.

Ariana, caught in a deadly battle of her own, is neither the soulless creature Kougar believes her to be, nor the savior he seeks. And when darkness threatens to annihilate both races, the greatest danger of all becomes the glorious love Kougar and Ariana once shared. A love that must never rise again. A love that has never died.

With each new book, as I delve deeper and deeper into the story, I discover new things, new truths that open up doors and lead in different directions, pouring light into shadowy areas I’d never explored.

So, no, I can’t tell you how many books there will be in the Feral Warriors series. I do know where the story ends, eventually, but I honestly can’t say how many books it will take to get there. I guess we’re going to have to find out together.

Visit Pamela at her website, follow her on Twitter, and friend her on Facebook!