Interview with C.L. Wilson, author of The Winter King, giveaway as well

Book Description:

Wynter Atrialan, the Winter King, once lived in peace with his southern, Summerlander neighbors, but when Falcon, the prince of Summerlea, stole Wynter’s bride and murdered his young brother, Wynter vows vengeance. Calling upon a dangerous Wintercraig magic called the Ice Heart, he gathers his armies and marches against Summerlea, crushing their armies and spreading icy winter in his wake.

After three long, bitter years of battle, Summerlea is defeated and Wynter comes to the heart of the kingdom to issue his terms for their surrender. The prince of Summerlea stole Wynter’s bride and slew Wynter’s Heir. He wants the loss replaced. The Ice Heart is consuming him. Wynter hopes holding his own child in his arms will rekindle the warmth of love and melt the Ice Heart before he becomes the monster of Wintercraig legend, the Ice King.

The Summer King has three very precious daughters whom he loves dearly. Wynter will take one of them to wife. She will have one year to provide him with an Heir. If she fails, he will turn her out in the ice and snow of the mountains and claim another princess for his wife. And so it will continue until Wynter has his Heir or the Summer King is out of daughters. All the while, Wynter will enjoy the vengeance of knowing the Summer King will suffer each day without his beloved daughter(s), as Wynter suffers each day without his own beloved brother.

The plan is perfect—except for one small detail. The Summer King has a fourth daughter. One of which he is not so fond.

Blamed as a child for the death of her beloved mother, Khamsin Coruscate, the forgotten princess of Summerlea, has spent her life hidden from the world like an embarrassing secret. Dressed in cast-off gowns and left to her own devices, with only the determination of her loyal nursemaid to ensure she receives the education befitting an Heir to the Summer Throne, Khamsin haunts the abandoned towers and gardens of Summerlea’s royal palace, close to her beloved late mother’s treasures, and waits for the day her father will recognize her as a Princess of the Rose. But though she dreams of the valor and sacrifices of ancient Summerlea heroes and pines for paternal love that will never come, Khamsin is no sweet, gentle, helpless princess-in-a-tower. She is a fiercely passionate creature with a volatile, rebellious temper that is often as reckless and destructive as the dangerous forces of her weathergift, the power of storms.

Together will their stormy personalities be able to meld or will their powers destroy not only their love but the whole world?

The Winter King

C.L. Wilson

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Publisher: Avon Romance

ISBN 13: 9780062018977

Purchase Links:

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Excerpt:

Prologue ~ Scarlet on Snow

King’s Keep

Vera Sola, Summerlea

“Do you have to go?” Seventeen year old Khamsin Coruscate clung to her beloved brother’s hand as if by her grip alone she could anchor him fast and keep him from leaving.

“You know I do. Our treaties with the Winter King are very important.”

“But you’ll be home soon?” Whenever he was gone, the ancient walls of the royal palace of Summerlea that had been her home and her prison since birth seemed somehow more confining, more restrictive.

“Not this time, little sister.” Falcon shook his head. A strand of black hair that had pulled free of the queue at the back of his neck brushed against the soft, dark skin of his cheek. “It will take weeks to negotiate the treaties.”

Khamsin scowled, and the wind began to gust, sending Kham’s habitually untamed hair whipping into her mouth and eyes. “Why does he have to send you? Why can’t his ambassador negotiate the treaty? He’s sending you away because of me, isn’t he? Because he doesn’t want you spending so much time with me.” Her hands clenched into fists. The wind sent her skirts flying and a dark cloud rolled across the sun.

Their father, King Verdan IV of Summerlea, didn’t love her. She knew that. He kept her isolated in a remote part of the palace, hidden away from his court and his kingdom, on the pretext that her weathergifts were too volatile and dangerous and she couldn’t control them. That was all true. Kham’s gifts were dangerous, and she couldn’t control them any better than she could control her own temper. Until now, however, he’d never stooped to sending his other children away to keep them from visiting her.

“Here now. Be calm.” Falcon smoothed her wayward curls back, tucking them behind her ears. Compassion and pity shone softly in his eyes. “I wish I didn’t have to leave you. But Father believes I’ll have the best chance of getting what we want from Wintercraig, and I agree with him.” Summerlea, once a rich, thriving kingdom renowned for its fertile fields and abundant orchards, had been in a slow decline for years. Although the nobles and king maintained a prosperous façade for political and economic purposes, beneath the gilded domes and bright splendor of Summerlea’s palaces and grand estates, the rough tatters of neglect were beginning to show. “Besides, you won’t be alone while I’m gone. You have Tildy and the Seasons.”

“It isn’t the same. They aren’t you.” He was the handsome Prince of Summerlea, charming, witty, heroic. He’d lived a life of adventure, most of which he shared with her, entertaining her with the tales of his exploits…the places he’d seen, the people he’d met. His hunts, his adventures, his triumphs. No matter how much her nursemaid, Tildavera Greenleaf, doted on Khamsin, or how often the three other princesses, Autumn, Spring, and Summer, snuck away from their palace duties to spend time with their ostracized youngest sister, Falcon was the one whose visits she couldn’t live without.

“Now there’s a pretty compliment. Careful, my lady. You’ll turn my head.” He smiled, and warmth poured into her. It was no wonder the ladies of their father’s court swooned at the slightest attention from him. Falcon had a magical way about him. He could he literally charm the birds from the trees with his name-gift—controlling any feathered creature on a whim--and the weathergift inherent in his royal Summerlander blood was stronger than it had been in any crown prince in generations. It was as if the Sun itself had taken up residence in his soul, and its warmth spilled from him each time he smiled.

Kham took a deep breath. The sharp edge of her temper abated, and in the skies, the gathering storm began to calm. Perhaps King Verdan truly had chosen to send his only son as envoy to Wintercraig for political reasons. Long, long ago, as a small child crying herself to sleep, she’d decided Falcon was the reincarnation of Roland Triumphant, the Hero of Summerlea, the brave King who had defeated an overwhelming invasion force with his wit, his weathergifts, and a legendary sword reputed to be a gift from the Sun God himself. If anyone could charm the cold, savage folk of the north into concessions most favorable to Summerlea, Falcon could.

“Will you at least write to me?” she asked.

“I’ll send you a bird every week.” He tapped her nose and gave her a charming, roguish grin. “Cheer up. Just think of all the swordfights you’ll win when you’re fighting invisible opponents instead of me.”

Kham rolled her eyes. He’d been teaching her sword-fighting for years, but she had yet to best him in a match.

“You know,” she said as they walked towards the doorway leading back into the palace, “it might actually be a good thing that you’ll be spending months in Wintercraig.”

“Oh?”

“Yes. You can use that time to find out what happened to Roland’s sword.”

Falcon tripped on an uneven flagstone and grabbed the trunk of a nearby tree to steady himself. “I’m sure I’ll be much too busy to chase fairy tales, Storm.”

She frowned in surprise. “But you’ve always believed the stories were true.” Blazing, the legendary sword of Roland Soldeus, had disappeared shortly after the heroic king’s death. Legend claimed it was the Winter King, the father of Roland’s betrothed, who had spirited the sword away so Roland’s brother Donal couldn’t claim it. Every royal Summerlea Heir for the last two millennia had dreamed of finding the legendary blade and bringing it back home where it belonged. Falcon had spent years chasing lead after lead, determined that he would be the one to find Blazing and restore Summerlea to its former glory.

“What about those letters?” she added. “The really old ones you found tucked in that monastery? You said they proved the stories were true.”

“That was six years ago. I was seventeen. I wanted the stories to be true.” He gave her a quick hug and a brotherly kiss on the forehead. “I’ve got to run. I’m meeting with Father and his advisors to go over our list of demands and concessions one last time before I leave. I’ll see you in a few months.”

“I’ll miss you every day.” She trailed after him, feeling bereft and forlorn when Falcon turned the corner and disappeared from view. But this time, she also felt confused. She’d never known Falcon to give up on something he felt passionately about. And he’d been passionate about finding Roland’s sword. He’d been certain he was on the right trail. He’d shared his discoveries with her because he knew she was just as hungry as he to find the legendary sword.

So why would he deny it now?


About the Author:

C. L. WILSON grew up camping and waterskiing across America, from Cherry Creek reservoir in Denver, CO, to Lake Gaston on the border of Virginia and North Carolina, to Georgia’s Lake Lanier and Lake Allatoona. When she wasn’t waterskiing and camping on family vacations, you could usually find her with a book in one hand and a sketch pad in the other—either reading, writing stories, or drawing. Sometime around the ninth grade, she decided she was better at drawing her pictures with words than paints and charcoals, and she set aside her sketchpad to focus entirely on writing.

Wilson is active in Tampa Area Romance Authors (TARA), her local chapter of Romance Writers of America. When not engaged in writerly pursuits, she enjoys golfing, swimming, reading, playing video games with her children, and spending time with her friends and family. She is also an avid collector (her husband says pack rat!), and she’s the proud owner of an extensive collection of Dept. 56 Dickens and North Pole villages, unicorns, Lladro figurines, and mint condition comic books.

Wilson currently resides with her husband, their three wonderful children, and their little black cat, Oreo, in a secluded ranch community less than thirty miles away from the crystalline waters and sugar-sand beaches of Anna Maria Island and Siesta Key on Florida’s gulf coast.

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I was able to interview C.L. Wilson and this is what she shared:

What part of writing do you find the most challenging? The most enjoyable?

The most challenging part of writing to me is filling that blank page to begin with. It can be pretty daunting. And then, once the page is filled, I have to go over and over it many times. I’m an incurable revisionist and line editor. My publisher pretty much has to drag each manuscript out of my ink- and tear-stained hands.

Having filled that blank page and then going back to reading what I’ve written (and revised) and thinking, “Hmm, I really like this!” is among the most enjoyable parts of the job, to me, although meeting readers and making new friends has to be right up there. I love getting mail from people who have enjoyed my books.

What do you hope people get out of reading your book?

I hope that the people who pick up my books get to spend a few hours being thoroughly entertained. I hope that the characters become friends they’d like to revisit again. Basically, I hope they get from my books, the same enjoyment that I get from so many of my favorite reads from the authors I love.

It’s a complete thrill when someone writes to let me know that escaping into one of my books helped them through a tough time.

What are you working on and when can we expect it to be out?

I’m currently working on THE SEA KING, a new book set in the same world as THE WINTER KING. It features characters we meet in THE WINTER KING. (Anyone who reads THE WINTER KING should be able to immediately identify who the Sea King is ) The book is scheduled to come out next summer.

After that, I head back to the Fading Lands (setting of my first five books, the Tairen Soul series) to writes stories for some of the series’ most beloved characters, starting with Belliard vel Jelani.

What is your favorite summer activity?

I love water skiing, floating in the lake and kicking back with friends, and boating with my family and friends. I love jet skiing, too, especially in the Gulf.

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Oh, so easy. Bluebell’s Nutty Chocolate. Which is IMPOSSIBLE to find. Gah.

Do you prefer to go to the theater or wait for the DVD?

It depends on the movie. Big, spectacular special effects movies are theater-worthy. You can’t beat the big screen for things like that. I am with you on that!

What is a trait, characteristic, feature, quality, attribute, idiosyncrasy, mannerism, peculiarity, or quirk that is unique to you?

I can’t stand beignets, funnel cakes, squishy (non-cake) donuts, or sodas. Blech. I also love romance novels, write romance, and yet married a man without a romantic bone in his body. And I still adore him, unromantic lump that he is. Go figure. LOL! You are too funny!

What is your favorite or least favorite fruit?

LEAST Favorite - Red delicious apples. (Fujis, I like.) Favorite – Mango, and watermelon

What types or genres of books do you like to read?

Romance, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy are my favorites.

What type of music do you listen to?

When writing? Movie soundtracks or music for my brain (bi-aural CDs from Brain Sync to stimulate focus and creativity). When not writing? Pretty much everything except rap and the jazz that includes cymbals being tapped with those wire whisk thingies. (That sound rakes my nerves the wrong way.) :-)

What is your biggest weakness?

Besides Godiva chocolate? Ha! I’m not telling!

What is your summer beverage of choice?

Ice water and really good lemonade. I love lemonade too!

Would we find you inside or outside?

Inside. Especially in FL in the summer.

What is your favorite type of supernatural creature to read about and write about?

Read about – well, I love Nalini Singh’s psy-changelings, Thea Harrison’s Elder Races, Christine Feehan’s Carpathians, and Kresley Cole’s Immortals after Dark. I’m pretty eclectic on the supernatural creature love front. You fit in perfectly here! We love those books too!

My favorite to write about is the tairen from my Tairen Soul series. They are big, sentient cats…and writing cats can be quite a lot of fun.

The creature I dislike most, however, is whiny, woe-is-me vampires. Give me Lestat over Louis any day. :-)

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions.

Thanks so much for having me, Brenda!

Tour Giveaway:

A copy of THE WINTER KING, complete with a gorgeous white rose snow globe pendant reminiscent of the book!

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