What is it about the paranormal, in
particular vampires, that fascinates you so much?
I've
read LOTS of fantasy books about vampires, witches and werewolves and I really
enjoy the genre but it always seems the focus is all about the supernaturals,
with their interactions with humans almost nonexistent; humans are merely
"prey or food" for vampires or else people to hide from and avoid for
werewolves. Also, the werewolf books are
all about the packs and the alphas.
What
I wanted to write was a book where: "There is no pack, no pride of other
werecats and no alpha". Missy has
enhanced senses, abilities and powers (which increase in later books) but she's
interacting with normal humans. I also
liked starting her off completely alone, making her have to cope for two years
after suddenly being forced to become a wild predator while retaining her human
intellect. What would living like that
do to a person? Then, when she finally
learns to be human again, what would she be like? Returning to "normal" life yet still
having all her enhanced senses and predatory nature? She retains all the instincts and reactions of
a mountain lion but these are now carried over to her human life and must be
controlled. (Hence all the extreme
training and exercise she seeks). I
thought trying to write such a fantasy might be fun ... and, it was! I'm enjoying what I've created and it seems most
of my readers seem to "get" what I'm doing and enjoy Missy as well.
Completely
unrealistic for a young girl to behave the way she does? Yep! Of
course! It's a FANTASY !!! Is she arrogant? Well, if you had all those enhanced abilities
and powers, which you worked hard to keep hidden ... would YOU be arrogant? Hard to be humble when you know you can easily
overpower everyone around you. At the
same time, I've tried to have Missy be willing to protect her friends and loved
ones, stand up to any bully and bravely risk herself in doing so. Does she make mistakes? Yes. Is
she perfect? No. It's been fun and I do hope readers can
continue to enjoy her story. I've now published
Book IV, Missy's Misadventure, and am writing Book V.
What inspired you to write this
book?
I
started writing Missy the Werecat to see if indeed I could actually write; once
I started writing her story, ideas kept coming and I kept writing. The story evolved and after I’d written a
hundred thousand words, I knew I had a novel.
I edited the story several times and then sent out a number of query
letters to see if any agents were interested.
None were, so I decided to self-publish on Amazon.
Please tell us about your latest
release.
I
began writing Missy the Werecat the middle of 2013 and published it on Dec 6,
2013. I then published three more books
about Missy by Dec 2014.
Do you
have a formula for developing characters? Like do you create a character sketch
or list of attributes before you start writing or do you just let the character
develop as you write?
My
favorite thing about writing is not knowing, when I start writing things, just
where the story will end up going. As I
try to work through each situation which my characters find themselves getting
into, possible scenarios and dialog will evolve and the result will often go
places I’d never dreamed of. Then, of
course, I go back and re-write and edit and re-write some more, but the
storyline has emerged and it’s fun to see just what has happened.
With the book being part of a
series, are there any character or story arcs, that readers jumping in somewhere
other than the first book, need to be aware of? Can these books be read as
stand alones?
While
the books can be read as stand alones, it really is better to read them in
order. The various characters evolve,
from book to book, as do their relationships.
Do you ever suffer from writer’s
block? How do you deal with it?
I
write. I just write things down and see
where those things will take me. If I’m
stuck trying to work out some elaborate plot?
I just write some things for each of my characters and see what they
come up with, what direction they will take me.
Often, an exciting plot will emerge or new characters will show up. So, I don’t just sit there … I write! I always write the stuff that I want to read
about and I don’t worry about my readers.
If I end up liking what I’ve written, chances are that others will like my
stuff as well.
Other than writing, what are some of
your interests, hobbies or passions in life?
Reading, of course! I enjoy all of the following authors, who
write the kinds of stories I enjoy and I read everything they write: Kelley Armstrong, Jennifer Lynn Barnes,
Patricia Briggs, Rachel Caine, Sierra Dean, Jennifer Estep, Diana Gabaldon, Kim
Harrison, Faith Hunter, Chloe Neill, Nalini Singh, Carrie Vaughn, Rachel
Vincent and Eileen Wilks.
What can readers expect next from
you?
I’ve
only written about a third of Book V and haven’t got a title for it yet. Missy develops more powers and then, of
course, uses them to help others.
Where can readers find you on the
web?
Missy the Werecat
Book One
P. G. Allison
Genre: New Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Date of Publication: Dec 6, 2013
ISBN-13: 978-1494334260
ASIN: B00H2WPGDA
Number of pages: 400
Word Count: 105,000
Book Description:
When puberty brings on her first Shift, Missy goes into the mountains for two years until finally learning to Change back. She can Change from fully human in one instant to a mountain lion in the next.
Everyone assumes her two year disappearance was because she’d been kidnapped by a sexual predator that she managed to kill. She keeps her werecat nature a secret. There is no pack, no pride of other werecats and no alpha. She’s a girl with fantastic abilities growing up and learning to do great things in today’s world, amongst humans. She only has her instincts to guide her and those drive her to train herself to extremes. She must control those instincts; dampening the wild predator is often necessary.
Her raging hormones and enhanced senses require very strong controls; she explores what happens when those controls are relaxed.
Available at Amazon
Excerpt:
Prologue
Imagine a world
where werecats at one time did indeed exist, but became extinct eons ago. Then, because their recessive genes managed
to survive and get passed on -- thanks to some rare unions with humans -- DNA
with these special werecat genes continued down through the ages, further
evolving and being inherited by a very small number of descendants. And finally, imagine that two of these very
unique individuals -- each one in a billion -- would meet, fall in love and
become parents. While three of their
four children would be normal humans, one -- their daughter Missy -- would be
very special. She would be a werecat.
And thus, Missy
the werecat was born in today’s era.
She’s not exactly the same as those ancestor werecats, but she does have
many special abilities -- not the least of which is being able to transform,
with a great shimmer of light and burst of energy, into another form. She can Change from being fully human in one
instant to being a cat animal in the next.
In her cat form, she has the same body mass as in her human form and
fully retains her human intellect and memory.
And, in either form, she has all the instincts and abilities of a wild,
predatory mountain lion.
Eventually, she
will learn how to Change forms back and forth, and how to manage and control
her special abilities. Her genetic
anomaly, combined with some evolution along the way, brings her cat endowments
into her human form: speed, strength,
agility, and enhanced senses of smell, hearing, taste and sight. She is also gifted with rapid healing and is
immune to disease. As Missy will
gradually learn about herself, she will go from being a girl with great skills
to a grown woman with truly fantastic powers.
Chapter One
Jul 2013
In the middle of
her last night at soccer camp, Missy awakened with a strong desire to get up
and go outside. She just knew this was
something she had to do, and right away.
So, slipping out of bed and quietly making her way down from her
dormitory room, she did go out. Although
there was a full moon, it was cloudy and very dark outside, with no
streetlights or anything else to illuminate the landscape. However, the darkness did not bother her at
all. She could feel something pulling at
her, drawing her away from the dorm.
And, she also noticed her ability to see in the dark was somehow much
greater than ever before.
She had always
been able to see, hear and smell things to an extent far greater than those
around her, but tonight it was even more so.
She knew she had other special abilities as well. She had gradually come to realize that others
were not able to do all the things which she could do. She had accepted that she was just
different. She had shown an athletic
ability which was quite advanced, excelling in little league and youth soccer
programs, as well as at karate practice and during any gymnastic events. She easily had won all the competitive races
at school and in her local community.
All of that had lead to her attending soccer camp every summer.
Soccer camp was
in Keene, NH and near Monadnock Mountain.
It was now late July, a month after her 13th birthday, and Missy had
really been enjoying her time back at this wonderful camp once again. It was so beautiful there! A whole week away from home, where she was
getting some elite training in a sport where, as a junior high school player,
she had already been noted as being really special. Her Mom was keeping all the news articles
written about her in a special scrapbook along with several photos.
As this week at
camp had been coming to a close, she’d been getting more and more excited about
the fall season coming up. This would be
her last year in junior high and she just knew her soccer team would go on to
win the state championship this year and get to compete in the nationals. Then, the following year, she would finally
be competing at the high school level.
Her older brother and sister had both been telling her all about the fun
activities they were experiencing in high school, and she could hardly wait to
get there.
At night, she
typically found herself anticipating and dreaming vividly about many of these
things and had no trouble sleeping soundly all night long. That’s why waking up with this sudden need to
go outside in the middle of the night came as such a complete surprise. What made her wake up and why did she feel
this compulsion so strongly? She could
not understand what was happening. Her
entire body was experiencing something new and strange, something she had never
felt before. Her heart was pounding and
her blood was racing! And, just why was
she having all these tingly feelings?
Once outside,
she was drawn towards the nearby trees which marked the edge of the deeper
forest and she quickly walked over to them, crossing the courtyard and the
small parking lot. The full moon
suddenly came out from behind the clouds, shining down brightly. She glanced backwards just once, looking back
the way she had come at the dormitory building she was leaving behind. She was thinking, “What am I doing? Why am I out here?” But, then she turned and walked deeper into
the woods. She just knew this was
something urgent and absolutely necessary.
Further and
further she went, all the while continuing to experience all kinds of new
feelings, with her senses hyper alert and more aware of sights and sounds and
smells than ever before. Since she still
had not had her first period, she began to wonder if that might be what this
was all about. Puberty! Yes, she had been anxiously waiting for this
as most of her girlfriends had already had their first period and had started
growing hair on their legs, under their arms, etc. Shaving had been a big topic amongst the
girls! And, boobs! And boys!
Missy was
somewhat of a late bloomer and had not yet really developed. She’d not had her first period yet, in spite
of various signs that things would be happening for her very soon. She had experienced some swelling of her
breasts and tenderness of her nipples but was concerned she still looked very
flat compared to most of the other girls.
Although she now did have some hair growing in new places, she had not
yet shaved under her arms … when would she finally be getting her period
anyway!?!
But all the
talks she’d had with her mother and her sister about this important subject had
not really suggested anything like what she was feeling right now. Not only was she physically reacting to something,
she was also getting so many thoughts and emotional signals. Whatever was happening was compelling her to
be out here … something irresistible was forcing her. Nothing had prepared her for this. And yet, remarkably, she was not at all
afraid. Somehow, she just knew …
And then … it
happened! Her body just collapsed and
her mind was overwhelmed, going to a quiet place deep within itself. She didn’t lose consciousness but felt as
though she was in a dream state. She had
no control. She knew there was some sort
of Change happening to her and then there was a shimmer of light and a burst of
energy. She could feel this was coming
from within, from somewhere deep inside and from something that was a part of
her. There was no pain or discomfort during
this Change. Then, in the next moment,
everything was suddenly new and different.
Very different!
She was a
cat. Her form was no longer human but
that of a large animal, very much like a mountain lion. She had no idea of that, at least at first. She did notice a huge difference in the
sounds and smells around her, which now were even more noticeable. And when she looked out at her surroundings,
she could see much more clearly, but without all the color. Since it was dark, there wasn’t much awareness
of that just yet. Instead, she was
noticing more the way things felt to her body.
Her arms and legs were very different and were covered with fur. So was the rest of her body, even her
face. Her hands and feet were now paws
-- paws with claws which could extend and retract.
About the Author:
P. G. Allison has always loved stories about female characters with special powers (Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Bionic Woman, Batgirl) along with stories about witches and werewolves. The Missy the Werecat Series has no pack, no pride of other werecats and no alpha; Missy is a girl with fantastic abilities doing great things in today's world, amongst humans. Future books in this Paranormal, New Adult, Urban Fantasy series are planned where Missy will go on to West Point and eventually serve in the Special Forces.
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2 comments:
nice prologue
Thank you for the great read.
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