..Mira, what would you like to tell readers about yourself?
......* I’m the best damn gladiator you’ll find in the Iron Gate prison. Most other vampires in my fighting class are pathetic excuses for immortality. I’m not even sure how they manage to survive. It has to be the patrons they have paying for their care. Whatever. I don’t need some pampered Elite human paying me to service them just so I can get an extra ration or two. I live by the code kill or be killed, and I’m not meeting my end anytime soon.
..Are you happy with the way people perceive you?
......* Humans can think what they want of me. Call me a savage, a leech, doesn’t matter. I know who I am. I don’t need their approval.
..Is expressing love difficult for you? Why?
......* Love is useless. Why bother with it. Anyone you might come to care about is just one battle away from meeting their end. No. Don’t bother with feelings like love or care. Hate, that will get you farther, help fuel you.
..Does your author ever try to take over the story? And how do you deal with it?
......* Katie, nah! She’s a good listener. She really loves to get down to the nitty gritty too. No bloody detail spared. I appreciate her dedication to getting the story right and showing the reality of life on the inside of Iron Gate.
..If you were taken out of the story and placed into your author’s world, what would be the first thing you’d do?
......* Don’t laugh. I can kill you, remember that. First thing I’d do… see the stars. It’s been so long since I’ve been able to breathe fresh free air and see the glorious twinkling stars above. Cherish your freedom. You never know when it could all be stripped from you.
..If you could pull your author into your world, what do you think would happen to them?
......* Katie would do fine, she’s human. Not sure how well she’d do. Writing isn’t really a valued skill in my world. If she could toughen up a bit she might apply to be a soldier or handler. They have a reasonably comfortable life. But general lower class humans don’t have too many perks.
..What was the best sexual experience you’ve had?
......* Long before I was taken to New Haven and imprisoned behind the Iron Gate, I had Theo. He was the first and only man I’ve ever loved. We met in the barn of my family’s farm. He was on the run, escaping persecution. The connection was instant. It didn’t hurt that the element of danger, he being a vampire, and I a human at the time, was working in our favor. And let me tell you, those teeth… a nibble here, a bite there, ahhh. He knew just where to touch and taste. I didn’t even mind the rough hay under our naked bodies. It was magical. And sadly our only experience.
..Where do you see yourself in the future? What do you hope to accomplish?
......* If I get my way, I’ll be free, forever! Each time I try, I come closer and closer to escape. One day!
..Now for some author information!
......* And if you can believe all of those lies, there is some beautiful swamp land in Florida for sale…
......* Katie Salidas resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mother, wife, and author, she does try to do it all, often causing sleep deprivation and many nights passed out at the computer. Writing books is her passion, and she hopes that her passion will bring you hours of entertainment.
..You can find my author, Katie Salidas, here...
......Blog | Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Publisher | Amazon - US | Amazon - UK | Barnes & Noble | Smashwords |All Romance eBooks
..Now for some book information!
..A look into the story
......* But not all survivors were human.
......* In the dark, militant society that has risen in the aftermath, vampires, once thought to be mythical, have been assimilated and enslaved. Used for blood sport their lives are allowed to continue only for the entertainment of the masses. Reviled as savages, they are destined to serve out their immortal lives in the arena, as gladiators.
......* And there is no greater gladiator than Mira: undefeated, uncompromising...and seemingly unbreakable. When an escape attempt leads Mira into the path of Lucian Stavros, the city’s Regent, her destiny is changed forever.
......* Lucian, raised in a culture which both reviles and celebrates the savagery and inhumanity of vampires, finds Mira as intriguing as she is brash. An impulsive decision - to become Mira’s patron – changes more than just Lucian’s perception about vampire kind. The course of his life is altered in ways he could never have predicted – a life that is suddenly as expendable as hers.
......* Can Mira prove to Lucian that all is not as it seems? Can Lucian escape centuries of lies, bloodshed, and propaganda to see the truth? Or will the supreme power of the human overlords destroy them both? ..
......* The Regent listened for a moment, making a show of putting his hands to his ears to hear screaming hoard’s request, and then held a hand out, with his thumb pointed to the side.
......* As if the next moment were the most important, the anticipating mass hushed. Eerie silence filled the arena as everyone watched for the Regent to make his decision.
......* From her vantage point below, Mira saw the steely look of determination cross the Regent’s face. If she didn’t know better, she might have thought he took this decision seriously; but then, he was human, and they never cared much if her kind lived or died. Lucian Stavros took a cursory glance down at Mira. Their eyes met. It was only a brief moment, but in that short time, Mira saw him waver.
......* Could it be true, she wondered, or was it just a trick of the light? No human actually cared about the lives of vampires. The moment faded, and the fleeting thought left.
......* Mira saw the Regent’s decision. He turned his thumb down. Death!
......* The crowd went wild.
......* The last hope for her defeated opponent had vanished; Mira had to finish him. “Sorry,” she whispered to the half-dead vampire on his knees before her. Though her fangs tingled at the prospect of tasting his final dying moments—her reward, if you could call it that, for living through another battle— she did not enjoy what she was about to do. Like her, he was a slave, forced into servitude to the humans as they saw fit. He had not asked for this, and neither had she. But, despite what either of them wanted, it was the will of the crowd, the humans, that had to be served.
......* Aiming to sever the carotid artery with her fangs, Mira dove at her opponent’s neck. His death would be quick. At least she could afford him that luxury.
..Buy Dissension – Chronicles of the Uprising: Book 1 here...
......Nook | Amazon - US | Amazon - UK | Kobo | Smashwords
..Thank you for joining us here today, Mira! It was a pleasure getting to know about you, the story you're in, and your author.
