ℚ♫ To Discover a Divine: Rise of the Stria [1] - Tessa McFionn

Today we have the pleasure of meeting up with author Tessa McFionn to talk about To Discover a Divine (20 March 2018, Fiery Seas Publishing, LLC, 184 pages), a Sci-Fi Romance, book one in the Rise of the Stria series.

"An up and coming talent, her books are full of snark, wit, and beautiful romance. Tessa McFionn is one to watch." ~  #1 NYT Best Selling author Sherrilyn Kenyon.

"In a paranormal genre ruled by vampires and shifters, Tessa McFionn brings to life a new kind of alpha. Fall into a world where magic is real and love truly conquers all.” ~ Steamy Romance Stories

|| Synopsis || Trailer || Teaser: KCR Preview || Teaser: Exclusive Excerpt || Author Q&A || About the Author || Giveaway & Tour Stops ||

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A very warm welcome to Tessa McFionn; thank you for joining us on BooksChatter!

Here at BooksChatter we love music, so Tessa McFionn has shared with us her music playlist for To Discover a Divine - enjoy!

What was the inspiration for To Discover a Divine?

"Damn, where do I start with this? To Discover a Divine has been in the back of my mind for years. I am a huge sci-fi fan and have been tinkering with an idea of fusing romance with an epic space opera.

I pitched it at first as The Wizard of Oz meets Star Wars. The opening scene has been rolling around in my head for ages. I asked myself, what would it be like to open your front door and not see what you expected? From there, things just took off. Quite literally, and the world of the Dantaran Galaxy began."

How much of yourself is reflected in this book, and how?

"Ooh, that’s tough. Since it’s a science fiction story, it’s hard to say I have any professional expertise in this field. Well, aside from reading Asimov, Heinlein, and Bradbury growing up, and the ability to recognize every episode of classic Star Trek within the first ten seconds.

But I do believe a bit of my personality does come through in the dialogue between all of the characters, not just the hero and heroine. It all stems from a slightly skewed sense of humour on my part. When I was in high school, I had a bumper sticker on my truck that basically summed things up: "I refuse to have a battle of wits with an unarmed person." So, I do pride myself on coming up with fun banter."

The first thing that draws me to a book is its cover. Can you tell us about your cover for To Discover a Divine - why you chose that concept and who the artist is.

"When dealing with romance, it seems that half naked men sell. So, on the cover of To Discover a Divine is the torso of a ripped man with a beautiful blue and purple starscape in the background.

Trying to blend science fiction with romance into a tantalizing cover is not easy. The design was created by one of the artists working at my publishing house."

Why should we read To Discover a Divine and what sets it apart from the rest? What makes your book unique?

"Personally, I believe this is something unexplored. There are many stories of aliens living among humans, so I opted to flip the switch. How would a human handle a distant planet?

We have the culture shock felt from both our hero and our heroine. She doesn’t understand the rules of his world and he has no idea how to handle her fiery spirit. Magic lives in many forms throughout the entire universe and what would a sci-fi story be without an evil empire?"

Can you tell us something quirky about To Discover a Divine, its story and characters?

"I love quirky characters, and by creating a new world with my own rules in a distant universe, I was able to invent completely new beings.

On board the ship, we have a large, blue skinned cleric with four eyes, a three-armed engineer and a pair of brothers with leonine features. Since I wanted magic, or special powers, to be part of the story, I came up with the idea of the Divines, those born with the innate ability to control energies rather than objects."

Who would you recommend To Discover a Divine to and what should readers be aware of (any warnings or disclaimers)?

"Any reader who loves to get lost in another world, and who loves sexy, strong, and snarky characters will just devour this story.

There is a bit of, shall we say, colourful language. Nothing traumatic or shocking, but a couple of the characters do drop the occasional “f-bomb.” This book, and series, definitely fall into the realm of steamy romance, so be ready for hot sex scenes."

If you could / wished to turn To Discover a Divine and the Rise of the Stria series into a movie, who would be your dream team?

"OMG! This would be my total dream! I could only see this story in my imagination.

Without a doubt, I would love to have Guillermo Del Toro on as the director. He is my guru for fantastical, yet deeply real characters.

For my hero, Kahlym, I would love to see a younger version of Jason Momoa (circa Baywatch), with the Justice League Aquaman version as his older brother, Brel. As for the heroine, I have been picturing a young Jennifer Love Hewitt.

The rest of the ship’s crew could be handled by character actors, especially Doug Jones. And since I’m not sure about getting locations in deep space, looks like that part will be on a massive green screen."

What do you like to write and read about? Do you stick to a particular genre or do you like to explore different ones?

"I love the idea of a world beyond what we see on a daily basis. All of the books and shorts I have written deal with something within the magic realm.

I’ve written ghosts, haunted spirits, immortal warriors, and of course, psychic space aliens. I believe I will always be drawn to stories with some level of supernatural influence. So, yeah.

When I have the rare opportunity to read, I grab anything paranormal, sci-fi, or fantasy. I have a giant collection of vampires and shifters, but all stories must have a strong romantic theme. What’s more magical than love?"

What is your writing process?

"LOL! Open laptop, stare at the screen, yell, scream, type four sentences, delete three sentences, close laptop, leave.

Repeat.

All right, so maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration.

Since I do have a day job that devours most of the time (I’m a teacher), my writing time is relegated to evenings, weekends, and holidays. Which, of course, is when I need to do other things, like laundry, food shopping, cleaning the house, eating, sleeping. You know, minor things. But each day, I open up my trusty MacBook Air once I get home from work and reread what I created the day before, hoping to kick my muse in the rear.

My weekends are my sacred time and that’s when I have the chance to get up early in the morning and just let the words fly.

Once the story is done, I have several editing steps before I hand it off to my betas (And I am always looking for new beta reader for every project.) As soon as it’s as clean and ready as I can make it, off to my publisher it goes. "

What is in store next?

"Oooh! This is fun.

So, I have the second book in this series already in to my editor at Fiery Seas and am frantically working on the third.

In book two, we see Kahlym and Evainne battling new enemies while she learns more about her powers. We meet Kahlym’s family and see just how far family ties can stretch.

Also, I have two novellas in the works. One is completed, and it will be paired with another story still in progress. These were so much fun to work on and I cannot wait to bring these two ghost stories to life."

And as a final quirky thing, to get to know you a little bit better... do you have a pet or something that is special to you that you could share with us?

"LMAO! I collect toys! I know, I know. I have a bunch of little figures next to me when I work. When I get stuck, I’ll actually pick up one of the little stuffed toys and hold it.

As silly as it sounds, it really does help me focus and get back on track. I also have a worry stone in the colours of Kahlym’s eyes which I keep in my pocket. 

Love it! Talking about toys and their ability to focus you... with rising stress I actually started to sleep holding a toy monkey - honestly, it does help relaxing me and getting me to sleep! So there ;-)
Jokes aside, thank you for sharing this lovely picture with us :-)

Even outcasts can change the course of the universe

To Discover a Divine
Available NOW!

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