Today I am happy to interview the talented author Rachel Vincent, who pens the popular Shifter series. The Shifter series is an adult urban fantasy series based on a world of werecats. She also writes a new young adult series that is getting rave reviews, Soul Screamers. Beware, spoilers for Prey, but not Shift, below.

Thank you Rachel for agreeing to this interview, I have been a fan for quite some time and I totally did a little dance and squealed when you said yes to my request. Thankfully no one else was in the room with me at the time. Congrats on the release of Shift, it seems each book you write is better than the last.

Rachel: Thanks! I certainly hope I’m getting better.

Shift, book 5 of the Shifters series is in stores now and Alpha, the last book in the series is set to release in October 2010. When you first started writing this series, did you have a set number of books in mind? If so, were you contracted for all of them from the start?

Rachel: Yeah. One. Seriously, I originally wrote Stray as a standalone, but then my mentor said she thought it could be the start of a series, so I went back and adjusted the manuscript, then wrote Rogue. The series sold in two separate contracts for 3 books each.

For any of my readers who may not be familiar with the series, can you tell us a bit about Faythe and the world she lives in?

Rachel: Faythe is a werecat shapeshifter who lives in our world, which doesn’t know anything other than humans exists. She is a rare female werecat (a tabby) in a strongly patriarchal society, which has no choice but to depend on her to provide the next generation of children for her Pride. But Faythe has other ideas. She’s just finished her undergraduate degree when the first book opens, and has no intention of going back home to get married and have kids. Fortunately, her parents are much more considerate and open-minded than most of the other Alphas and Dams. But even they can’t change the necessity of procreation for survival of the species. So over the course of the series, Faythe struggles to find her place in the werecat world, trying to find some compromise between what society needs from her, and what she wants for herself. Along the way, there are murders and kidnappings to solve, deaths to avenge, loves to sort out, and the ever-evolving influence that human society and technology exert on a culture older than the United States.

I like to think it’s a fun ride, and Faythe learns and grows with each book.

When plotting out a book, is there usually one part of the story that comes first for you (romantic events, bad guys, etc)? Additionally, my geeky mind wonders if have a giant flow chart hidden in your office somewhere?

Rachel: I actually don’t have a flowchart on paper anywhere. I do just about everything online, and only print out my receipts these days.

After the first book in a series, I tend to start sequels by organizing any plot threads left over from previous books. The story kind of grows from there, and the hardest part is always the main plot. That part feels like starting from scratch every single time. It involves a lot of post it notes and whiteboard action, and usually a lot of fajita dinners.

I know by your blog posts that Prey was difficult to write, did you find Shift any easier? I can say it certainly was not any easier to read! My heart was in my throat the entire time!

Rachel: Shift was also hard to write (though not as hard as Prey), but it was much, much easier to rewrite and polish, because unlike Prey, the plot in Shift didn’t need a huge overhaul. So it went much more quickly and smoothly. Fortunately.

Ever since the release of Prey, it seems fans have been very vocal about a couple of major plot points. I have a feeling you took a bit of heat because of a certain character’s death, though I think it took balls and I respect you for not taking an easy road. Did you ever have second thoughts about it, before or after the release?

Rachel: I did have second thoughts, in fact. That death was originally supposed to occur at the end of Pride, but when it came time to write the scene, I couldn’t do it. So I put it off, and it became even more heart wrenching than it would have been in the first place, because in Prey, Faythe spends the entire first half of the book with the doomed character, and we really got to see him shine. Right before he died. People were very, very upset about the death, and bunches of them demanded detailed reasons why it had to happen, and why it couldn’t have been anyone else. But in the end, the other controversial issue (not to mention the cliffhanger) seem to have outlasted the death is the most discussion-worthy topics of conversation.

Along with “the death”, fans have been pretty up in arms over Jace/Faythe/Marc. Did you expect the romantic subplot of the series to jump forward to center stage the way it has? Have any of the reactions surprised you?

Rachel: I didn’t expect it, and in fact, I was completely surprised that people do seem to see it as the focus of the books now. I never intended that. Each book still has a strong plot, which would stand unharmed if the romance were completely removed from the book. Faythe’s still finding people, and rescuing people, and fighting bad guys. She’s still doing what she’s always done best, but the emotional arc of the stories is what’s really grabbed people. That’s been an eye-opening revelation for me.

I’m really excited by how involved people are getting with my characters, because it means that I’ve written them well enough that readers think of them as real people. At least, I hope that’s what it means. But I have taken a LOT of backlash for this element. Evidently I’m breaking a couple of sacred tenets of romance. Which is interesting, because I didn’t know I was writing romance. I’m thrilled to have caught on with so many romance readers, but I’ve always thought of the series as urban fantasy, at its heart.

I try very hard to make sure that Faythe’s choices, while not always brilliant, are realistic. Real people often make very big mistakes and discover very important things about themselves and others in the grip of fresh grief. And that’s what happened here.

But not everyone’s happy about that. Multiple readers have written to politely (and not so politely) request that I kill off Jace, to make life easier for Marc. It’s been fascinating, watching the fervor build, and it’s necessitated quite a bit of peace keeping in my discussion group, where two different camps have formed around the details of Faythe’s love life, and they’re often at each other’s figurative throats.

On that same note, back in June of 2009 you did a release party Prey over at Bitten By Books. I posed the question to you in the comments – “were you ever tempted to let the Faythe and Jace chemistry go further?” — to which you replied yes, with a winky face. Did you always plan for Faythe to wind up in this little love triangle, or was it something that came about as you got further into the series?

Rachel: It was actually supposed to happen earlier. But I don’t think of it as a love triangle. I think of it as Faythe having two genuine options, and one very, very difficult decision.

In a world where authors don’t always get a say in their covers/titles, you seem to have been blessed by the cover gods. Each one is beautiful tho I think the covers for Shift and Alpha are my favorites so far. How much say did you have in them? The same question for titles…. were the titles of each book your own or suggested to you?

Rachel: Thank you! I have been very fortunate! The titles are all mine, and were all submitted with the original manuscripts. As for the covers, I’ve filled out forms for the art department, telling them where Faythe’s latest injuries are (and that’s generally where her scratch marks will show up) but the rest of the credit has to go to Mira’s art department. They came up with the clawmark branding, and the scratch patterns, and other bits of continuity. For Alpha, I told them that Faythe needed to look powerful and dangerous, and I may have mentioned the Alpha chair. And boy did they deliver! I can’t believe how powerful they made her look, without sacrificing any of her femininity. They didn’t resort to feet-spread power poses or weaponry she doesn’t use. No butt shots or exposed stomach in this one either, yet she’s never looked more beautiful, confident, or competent. Not to mention powerful. I am so far beyond thrilled with this cover!

With the Shifters series being 1 book closer to an end, are there any plans for other books in the werecat world?

Rachel: No. Right now, we’re not talking about more Shifters books. Faythe’s story is over, and I have a short story coming out early next year that features Abby. But no new Shifters novels have been discussed.

Lastly, any hints as to where Faythe and her crew go from here? It is going to be a long 8 months until Alpha’s release….

Rachel: Oh, it’s only seven months away! And hints… Let’s see…

The entire council will convene again. Old characters will return. Both sides will suffer losses. Faythe will make a decision in her personal life (though the road will be very rocky). We will finally meet someone we’ve only heard about before. And the civil war will be fought, and it will change the werecat world forever. For better or for worse.

But more important is what we will not see: Faythe will NOT get pregnant. That was never the goal of this series. Her love life decision will not be taken out of her hands. Neither Marc nor Jace will back down or die before she can make her decision. She’s not gonna get off that easily.

Thank you again for taking the time to answer my questions! Good luck with the release and congrats on all the positive reviews so far!

Rachel: Thank you so much! And thanks so much for having me!

	Title: Stray (Shifters, Book 1) Release: June 1, 2007 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Rogue (Shifters, Book 2) Release: April 1, 2008 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Pride (Shifters, Book 3) Release: February 1, 2009 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Prey (Shifters, Book 4) Release: July 1, 2009 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Shift (Shifters, Book 5) Release: March 1, 2010 Purchase this book: Amazon | Kindle Version | Book Depository | FictionWise
	Title: Alpha (Shifters, Book 6) Release: October 1, 2010

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• Review: Shift by Rachel Vincent
• Review: Alpha by Rachel Vincent
• Teaser Tuesday: Shift by Rachel Vincent