Author Spolight - Q&A with Tami Dee and Lynette Endicott

STEPH: I don't know much about Animal Instinct. What's it about?

Lynette: Dr. Allison Green is one of a long line of women in her family who bear the Heartmark - a heart-shaped birthmark that draws out a time-traveling enemy to deny their happiness. She is a veterinarian whose growing love with detective Sean Barnett is threatened by this ancient enemy.

Tami: It is about two people meeting, falling in love, and while doing so having to survive not only Allison's ancestral memories, but coming to grips with the fact that she is a part of her family's amazing legend and legacy simply by bearing the Heartmark on her body. Sean and Alison must face, and conquer, a time traveling enemy who is determined to rob them of their new found love.

STEPH: Where did you find the inspiration for the story?

Lynette: I was thinking about how fun it would be to track a family's romances through time. I am the genealogist in our family, on both sides, and in the third published in this series will actually take much of the story from one of my husband's ancestors from the 1890s from Ireland to Wyoming.

Tami: Lynette e mailed me with the outline, asked if I wanted to share this adventure with her, and I jumped at the chance.

Lynette Endicott

STEPH: Did you have to do to a lot of research?

Lynette: This will be a series of six books and each one is written in a different time period, so yes, there is research. I did live in the 1970s so the time period of Animal Instinct wasn't hard, but I knew nothing about veterinarian medicine in that time.

Tami: Yes, lots.

STEPH: How does the cover reflect the story within?

Lynette: Oooo - I love our cover. Gwen Phifer did a fabulous job of capturing the mystery and sometimes pain of carrying the Heartmark. She also gives us a glimpse of the passion beneath the surface of our very modest veterinarian once she finds the man of her life.

Tami: The cover highlights the 'mood' of the story. As the story is driven by ancestral memories it gives readers a glimpse of mystery and intrigue. As both Lynette and I take the lead in three books each, our wonderful cover artist, Gwen Phiter, went above and beyond her job by coming up with a way to show which of us leads in each book without compromising the integrity of the series covers. As Lynette took the lead in Animal Instinct, her name is listed first. The next book in the series I take the lead in, and my name will be listed first and so on.

Tami Dee

STEPH: Dr. Allison Green is the heroine. What are her strengths? Weaknesses?

Lynette: She is a bright, capable doctor who cares a great deal about her patients and her community. At the same time she doesn't always see the evil in people, and that is a weakness when it comes to recognizing the enemy.

Tami: I have to agree with Lynette's assessment. Allison is warm and kind, and much too trusting. But as the story moves forward, she learns to be more cautious, without losing her internal sense of goodness.

STEPH: What does the hero, Detective Sean Barnett, find appealing about the heroine?

Lynette: She is sexy but innocent, bright but not jaded by the evil in the world, strong when she needs to be - and before the book is over she definitely needs to be strong to help him survive.

Tami: He recognizes her as an intelligent woman, sees the good within her heart, and definitely benefits from her bravery and all-consuming love for him and her single minded determination to not let anyone hurt him.

STEPH: What genre is Animal Instinct and what do you like about writing this genre?

Lynette: Romantic Fiction with some speculative elements. I have always loved the romance - and to set it against a generational saga and the classic good vs. evil in a romance context was fun. Because there are speculative elements we can play a little with how the animals help and communicate, how the enemy is thrown through time to the next situation, and how ancestral memories help the story along.

Tami: Although this is a six book series, and Animal Instinct is the first to be released, this story is by no means the first book in the series. Our series concept ~ our editor gifted us with a remarkable amount of trust by allowing us to do this ~ is a bit different than readers expect with series books. None of the books are being written, or released, in a chronological order. The stories and their release order are basically driven by Meredith, the time traveling enemy. Once she has had her chance to destroy the Heartmark women's true love, whether she succeeds or fails, she is thrust through time-- sometimes landing in the future, sometimes in the past within a span of eight hundred years or so. Each story in this series can stand alone, with the ancestral memories tying them together and giving small peeks into the other books. It will not really matter what order the books are read in, the reader will come away with a sense of completion.

STEPH: Do you have an ebook reader? If so, what were the last 3 books you downloaded on to it?

Lynette: I have an iPad and the last three books I've read were all DBP books - finished Janus last night (and now can't wait for the next one. Gail Delaney leaves us in great suspense.) Before that A Discreet Gentleman of Discovery which also has my mouth watering for the sequel by Kris Tualla who has a marvelous touch with the main character's capabilities, and his deafness as a characteristic not a tragedy. I am now starting Noah's Ark, a prequel to a set of stories by Vijaya Schartz. I love cats, and big cats have been featured on the covers of the other books in this series.

Tami: I have a Kindle. Last three books were My Brave Highlander by Vonda Sinclair, Everglades by Petie McCarty, and The Abduction of Julia by Karen Hawkins.

STEPH: Tell us a little about the town/state you live?

Lynette: We both live in the San Joaquin Valley in California - even though we didn't know that when we "met" in an on-line critique group. I live in Fresno, which is right in the middle of California both North to South and East to West. When the air is clear, which is unfortunately not often, you can see the Sierra mountains and we are 45 miles from the south gate of Yosemite.

Tami: I live in Stockton. Some may recall The Big Valley TV show (1965 western) which was set in Stockton. Haha, things have changed quite a bit from when Miss Barbara Stanwyck who played widowed matriarch Victoria Barkley held down her homestead. But I have to say, when I was a little girl, Stockton was mostly orchards and rural areas. It's grown a lot, and recently had the misfortune of being listed on AOL headline news as one of the ten most dangerous places in the United States to live. :/

10. Fun question: Did you watch the Olympics? If so, what did you find fun to watch?

Lynette: My daughter was a competitive swimmer through high school, and breast was her stroke, so the women's breast stroke was my favorite. Of course all the drama around the men's swimming was interesting but the quiet triumph of Rebecca Soni taking the gold in the 200 breast was my favorite moment.

Tami: Olympics? Was that on already? Guess I should get my nose out of books and check out the TV once in a while. hahah


LINKS include:
http://tamidee.blogspot.com/
www.lynetteendicott.com
http://www.tamidee.com/
https://twitter.com/LynetteEndicott
https://twitter.com/authortamidee
www.facebook.com/authorlynetteendicott
https://www.facebook.com/tami.dee.7
Buy link at Desert Breeze Publishing: http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-332/Time-After-Time-Book/Detail.bok


First of the Time after Time Saga with Tami Dee
Video trailer: http://bit.ly/OJFLzrl