Novelist A. M. Griffin joins me today to chat about her new sci-fi romance, The Game Warden’s Mate.
During her virtual book tour, A.M. will be giving away a $20 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit her other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
A. M. Griffin is a mother of three, dog owner (and sometimes dog owned), a daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She’s a hard worker whose two favorite outlets are reading and writing. She enjoys reading everything from mystery novels to historical romances and of course fantasy romance. She is a believer in the unbelievable, open to all possibilities from mermaids in our oceans and seas, angels in the skies and intelligent life forms in distant galaxies.
Welcome, A. M., please tell us about your current release.
The Game Warden’s Mate is book 1 in my sci-fi series, The Hunt. Xrez, inherited the gaming planet and The Hunt from his recently deceased father. His job is to protect his father’s legacy while also maintaining the rules of The Hunt that have been in place for generations. But this Hunt is much different than the previous hunts. This one is made up of human prey, solely, at his father’s direction. Xrez sees no choice but to break one of the coveted rules: He enters The Hunt in an effort to help along the humans who he sees as epic failures and doesn’t believe they would give the hunters a lively experience. He quickly learns that after the initial shock of being abducted from Earth and dropped on an alien planet to be hunted, that humans are a crafty and determined bunch. He finds this most when his eyes catches Esme, a nerdy scientist who he helps along. Sparks fly between these two!
What inspired you to write this book?
I’m a serial girlie, so I knew I wanted the first book to be an introduction to the world of The Hunt as well as the major players. I wanted to create a world full of excitement with a fast pace, while still making it a love story. As a sci-fi author, I knew the only limitations were my imagination and wanted to go all out, no holds bar. There are currently 5 books in the series (The Game Warden’s Mate, Hunted by the Alien Prince, The Alien’s King Desire, Hunted by the Alien Vampire, Hunted by the Alien General) with a few more to go in order to wrap up everyone’s stories, and I’m super excited to see what happens at the end. Maybe new inspirations of spin offs?
Excerpt from The Game Warden’s Mate:
“You’re in The Hunt. There are three ways to leave the arena. You can get yourself killed, captured by a hunter or win.” He briefly glanced their way. “From what I’ve observed so far you’ll be captured and processed before the day is over.”
“Hunt?” the male asked. His eyes were opened wide. Panic and fear splashed across his face.
The female gasped and clutched the male tighter, pressing her body against his back.. “Arena?”
Xrez stared at them, pitying them for the circumstances that they’d found themselves in. It wasn’t their fault that they were useless. They were a product of their species. And it wasn’t their fault they were on Turolois. His father was to blame for that.
“My advice? Summon an escape pod. Two hunters followed me and should be closing in on our position. If you leave now, you’ll have a chance to put distance between you and them. They are pack hunters and skilled at what they do. Leaving here on foot is no longer an option as they’ll pick up your scent and corral you into a trap.”
The male scrunched his face, and his lips thinned. “You sound bonkers, man. If you aren’t going to help, get out of here.” Spittle dropped from his lips. “What’s with the bad costume anyway? Are you some messed up cosplayer?”
Xrez didn’t have the energy to indulge these two any longer. No matter what he said, it wouldn’t register in their tiny brains. He’d given them sound advice, and they hadn’t made a move to save themselves.
He took one last glance at the pair of weaklings. If a hunter didn’t capture them soon, their stupidity would get them killed. Yes, it was best that they were taken right away so he could focus on helping the other humans to Level Two.
“I’m so scared of that thing, Spencer,” the woman cried. “It’s so ugly. It looks like a monster.”
“Don’t worry, Mary Ann. This is just a crazy scheme to frighten us. I hate weirdos like him,” the male said in hushed tones. “Ignore him. Maybe if we do, he’ll go away and leave us alone.”
Monster? Ugly?
Is that how humans viewed him? The females of his species found him attractive, virile and strong.
Xrez shrugged. The female didn’t know what a good mate was considering what she’d been used to on Earth. Xrez left the opposite way he’d come, following the scent of one female in particular. He hadn’t gotten two clicks away before he’d heard the screams. It seemed the Cyrox’s efforts had paid off. They’d just acquired a male and female without having to do very much work at all.
What exciting project are you working on next?
I currently have a sci-fi trilogy as part of the Intergalactic Dating Agency World. In this series, 3 alien scientists are sent on a covert mission to observe humans as a preliminary review for inclusion in the Intergalactic Dating Agency. A solar flare sends their spaceship careening to Earth and our 3 heros find themselves trying to blend into society while waiting for their rescue. The heros, Phate, Kien and Solgre, meet their match with 3 heroines, Tasha, Nisha and Margie. Misunderstandings, betrayal and lies make for some funny moments and feel-good stories. The titles are; Phate’s Mate, Kien’s Kindred and Solgre’s Soulmate.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I knew I always wanted to write but didn’t aspire to become an author until I wrote my first book, Dangerously Mine. Watching my mother at her typewriter was a staple at my house and I’d spent my childhood writing short sci-fi stories and poems. In my later years, I would try to write longer stories but couldn’t get past what I thought were the boring parts and would put the story away. For Dangerously Mine, I wanted to see it through and for the first time, I was actually excited to complete it. And for that reason, Dangerously will forever be my favorite book because of the sentimental value behind it.
I’d originally self-published it under a different title and different pen name. Then, I read another sci-fi story, and something clicked in my brain. “What if I sent this book to the same publisher?” I’d never published anything and didn’t have any friends or connections in that world. But without another thought, I sent it to Ellora’s Cave (2012) and surprisingly they picked it up. That was the easy part. The hard part was the editing process. LOL. I didn’t even have a clue what dialogue tags were, and proper grammar eluded me. That book was a hot mess. Shout out to my first ever editor Briana because she had her work cut out for her.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I don’t write full time. It’s an advantage and disadvantage at the same time. The disadvantage is that I have to find time to write, which can be difficult to do after a long day at work. But, since I don’t write full time, I think that allows for me to write what I want and I’m not beholden to industry whims. Writing is a fun release for me. When I treat it as anything other than that, it becomes a chore with deadlines and such hanging over my head, which isn’t fun at all. lol
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
Words tend to only flow to me during the evening hours. I write best nestled in my comfortable bed and I love em dashes lol
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
Free. Lol. I just wanted to be free and to be able to live and create my own life as I saw fit. I never had dreams of being a wife, mother, or join the workforce. I just wanted to be free.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Thank you all for supporting these characters and loving this series as much as I do!
Links:
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Thank you so much for featuring this author and book today.
Sounds like a great read.
Sounds good and I look forward to reading this.