The Latina Book Club is a big fan of Aileen Erin and her Alpha Series. It has a strong Latina Heroine who is half
witch and half wolf. Book 9 in the series was just released, and we
just had to talk to Aileen, especially when we learned she has a new series with another strong Latina Heroine!
LATINA BOOK CLUB: Hi, Aileen. How have you coped with
this pandemic and shelter in place? writing more? less? reading?
other?
AILEEN: The pandemic has been interesting, scary, and
truly stressful. But I’m used to being at home. I’m a full-time author. It’s my
job. So, I’m at home every day. What was weird was having my four-year-old
daughter—who had just been adjusting to more days and time at school—back at
home again. Balancing time with her and managing her stress with the changing
situation and still getting writing done was difficult. I was on a deadline
when the stay-at-home order hit LA, so my in-laws came to help with my daughter
so that I could finish the book in time for release. And once they left, my
nanny came back. So, aside from making it a little harder to concentrate with
all the stress, it didn’t exactly change my daily routine. I still write and
still make time to read.
LBC:
Your new book, ALPHA ERASED, is book 9 in your Alpha Girl series.
Can you tell us about the new book? Is Tessa really gone? is this the end of
the series? what is next for Tessa and Dastien?
AILEEN: I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but
it is the end of the series. For now. I’m taking a break from the series while
I write a spin-off with one of the characters that popped into BEING ALPHA and ALPHA ERASED. Once that’s done, I’ll most likely (muse-willing) come
back to the Alpha Girls world, but I’ll start with a book 1 with a new series
title and an all-new series arc and big bad. There’s a lot left to do with the
series for sure!
LBC:
We understand that you have another Latina heroine in your new
series. Tell us about Maite. What is her story?
AILEEN: Maité is a half-Latin, half-alien woman with
a big destiny. The Aunare Chronicles takes place in a distant future Earth, a
world where we’ve met aliens, gone to war with them, and where Earth’s governments
have all fallen and been taken over by corporations. Maité is strong, despite
great adversity, and with her, I hope to inspire readers to face whatever
adversity they’re facing in their lives head-on.
LBC:
Can you tell us why Latina Heroines? And, are there any upcoming
Latino Heroes?
AILEEN: I’m ½ Latina—or a little more than that. Two
of my four grandparents were from Mexico City. My other grandmother was from a
small city on the coast of Mexico, but had moved to California where she met my
grandfather. And my paternal grandfather was born in Mexico City, too—but was actually
Irish. My great-grandfather was working for the UK consulate there. Which is
why I have a very Irish name. I like to showcase a little of my heritage in my
heroines and the worlds I build.
LBC: Who do you read for pleasure?
who are your favorite authors? favorite heroines / heroes?
AILEEN: I read mostly romance these days. I found
that if I read too much paranormal or fantasy, then it distracts me from
whatever I’m working on. That said—there are exceptions. I’ll always read a
Patricia Briggs book. Same with Anne Bishop, Sarah J Maas, and Michelle Sagara.
Favorite heroines/heroes are from those books, but also really love Kahlan
Amnell from Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series. She shows so much strength
and grace through hardship, war, and loss. And in the end, she wins.
LBC:
What is the best writing advice you have ever received?
AILEEN: I’ve been given so much good advice that it’s
almost hard to pick the single best piece. There’s the one from my rhetoric
teacher when she showed me how much revising can change your writing. That your
first draft will never, ever, ever be your best draft. Or the ubiquitous
write every day one, which helps keep the writer immersed in their story-world
and helps avoid writer’s block. But the one that changed my process the most
was one I got from a comic book author and novelist. He told me that he
structured his days to work on the novel in the morning. When he was done with
his time for that, he’d stop in the middle of a scene so that he had a clear
place to pick up from the next day. Then, he worked on a comic book in the
afternoon. Those were easy for him to finish in one afternoon, so he got a
sense of feeling like he ended his day finishing something. I don’t write comic
books, so I don’t structure my days exactly like that, but I took away the
ending his day in the middle of a scene. I used to write to the end of a scene
or chapter and call that a “good stopping point.” The next day, I always had
trouble getting started. It was a lot of head scratching and frustration and
feeling like I had no idea what I was doing. But when I took his advice, I
suddenly sat down and had a goal. I knew what I was writing. It was easy to
pick up where I’d left off and finish the scene. And then, I’d keep going from
there. Now I know never to stop at what I think is a “good stopping point.” I
always keep writing—even if it’s only a few more sentences into the next scene
or chapter. It really helps keep the words flowing from day to day.#
AUTHOR BIO: USA Today bestselling author Aileen Erin is half-Irish,
half-Mexican, and 100% nerd--from Star Wars (prequels don't count) to Star Trek
(TNG FTW). She geeks out on Tolkien's linguistics, and has a severe fascination
with the supernatural. Aileen has a BS in Radio-TV-Film from the University of
Texas at Austin, and an MFA in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill
University. She lives with her husband and daughter in Los Angeles, and spends
her days doing her favorite things: reading books, creating worlds, and kicking
ass. Visit Aileen at https://www.aileenerin.com/
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| Ink Monster LLC |
Tessa—part witch, part werewolf, raised human and now the
unofficial leader of a newly minted supernatural alliance—gets a distressing
call from her brother, Axel, in the middle of the night. Tessa and her mate,
Dastien, race to save Axel, but Tessa's learned that nothing is ever easy in
the supernatural world.
She has seconds to make a choice, but there’s only one thing Tessa can do to save the two most important men in her life—sacrifice herself.
The last thing Dastien hears from Tessa was her plea—help Axel. But then their bond goes silent. He can’t hear her. He can’t feel her. And there’s no sign of the attackers who took her. Dastien does everything he can to save Axel before calling his friends in a panic but when he’s finally reunited with her, there’s no sign of recognition in her eyes.
No magic in her touch. No wolf beneath the surface.
Everything that made Tessa who she was…has been erased.
She has seconds to make a choice, but there’s only one thing Tessa can do to save the two most important men in her life—sacrifice herself.
The last thing Dastien hears from Tessa was her plea—help Axel. But then their bond goes silent. He can’t hear her. He can’t feel her. And there’s no sign of the attackers who took her. Dastien does everything he can to save Axel before calling his friends in a panic but when he’s finally reunited with her, there’s no sign of recognition in her eyes.
No magic in her touch. No wolf beneath the surface.
Everything that made Tessa who she was…has been erased.
 |
| Ink Monster LLC |
In an all-too-plausible future where corporate conglomerates have left the world’s governments in shambles, anyone with means has left the polluted Earth for the promise of a better life on a SpaceTech owned colony among the stars.
Maité Martinez is the daughter of an Earther Latina and a powerful Aunare man, an alien race that SpaceTech sees as a threat to their dominion. When tensions turn violent, Maité finds herself trapped on Earth and forced into hiding.
For over ten years, Maité has stayed hidden, but every minute Maité stays on Earth is one closer to getting caught. She’s lived on the streets. Gone hungry. And found a way to fight through it all. But one night, while waitressing in a greasy diner, a customer gets handsy with her. She reacts without thinking.
Covered in blood, Maité runs, but it’s not long before SpaceTech finds her…
Arrested and forced into dangerous work detail on a volcano planet, Maité waits for SpaceTech to make their move against the Aunare. She knows that if she can’t somehow find a way to stop them, there will be an interstellar war big enough to end all life in the universe.
There’s only one question: Can Maité prevent the total annihilation of humanity without getting herself killed in the process?
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