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(Never) Judge a Book by Its Cover

by | Dec 15, 2013 | Blog, Writing | 0 comments

Anjasa is an enigma. She seems to be one thing – a calm seductress, a gold digger. She should be a courtesan or a stripper, parting men from their hard earned money, but she’s left those things behind.

Instead, she’s looking for fun. A good time.

But even someone so trained in male behavior as her slips up when she finds a noble wallowing in a bar. She wants a bit of fun, a place to stay for the night, and she gets sucked into a world where no one is what they seem to be.

Whether it’s seeing a dapper gentleman pounding in a man’s face, or a dangerous killer smile, she’s constantly revealing the depths of their secrets.

That’s what makes it so interesting for us to write, is that in Torn and Seduced, you can’t judge a book by its cover. You can’t assume anything about the characters without them revealing another facet of their personality and motivations.

She’s a beautiful, middle aged elf, but there’s so much more to her than her curvy body and seductive smile. Then there are times when Anjasa would seem strong and in control only to have that ripped away. She can defend herself and use her prior professions – spy, assassin, courtesan – to her advantage, but then she finds someone stronger. More deadly.

Very quickly do her partners find that she is definitely not all she seems. She is what the situation calls for: A chameleon, adaptable and resilient. She could go from seducing a man for his money to saving a damsel in distress in the span of a day. She could walk someone to their death and then make love to their killer, just for the thrill of it.

She’s dangerous.

In the gritty world of Normevor, surrounded by humans, she always has to be on her guard. To be able to think on her toes, and to get her hands dirty.

That’s what we love about the character, and about Torn and Seduced. We encourage the reader to question their assumptions about characters, about their motives, and we play with power dynamics to the point that it’s never quite clear who’s in charge.

Everyone has ulterior motives and desires that run contrary to one another, and it makes this urban fantasy very action/adventure oriented. It’s fast paced through the sex or the fighting, even though the main focus is on the character building aspects.

We’ll definitely be doing more with this character (and already have a start on the second book!) but we’re aiming to make them all stand on their own merit. After all, Anjasa and the men in her life definitely have more secrets to tell.

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