Readers Ask Carmina & Liam a few questions… The answers may surprise you.
It is not every day you get to ask questions directly from your main characters in a story. Truth is, when we entered into the intimate interview room to do just that, none of us knew what to expect. I myself, sat nervously looking at the door, wondering: How will this go? After all, Carmina and Liam are my family and I am fiercely protective of them – as I am over just about everyone in the Valley.
First through the door, was Jen Winters. She is an amazing author of several paranormal romances, and she was the first blogger to officially take a look at the lives of Carmina and Liam. Jen wasted no time, and after the pleasantries, got straight to the point:
While I bit my nails, I sat back and let the pair answer for themselves:
Jen: Carmina,What was the scariest moment for you living with your family?
Carmina opened her mouth several times but closed it again. I became fidgety, keen to know the answer myself as Carmina hardly spoke about any of the events surrounding the discovery.
Carmina: It is hard to answer that Jen, because my family are good people. When I learned what they are, I wasn’t really scared, but I was hurt and angry at them for hiding things from me. I think, looking back, the scary part for me came when I realised I could loose all of them and may have to choose death over life.
Jen gave Carmina an endearing look before she turned to Liam. As always, the big brute was stood against the wall, head down and arms folded over his chest. Liam lifted his head before Jen even asked the question, but he allowed her to speak it out loud. Carmina turned in her chair to look at him, a quirky smile on her lips.
Jen: Liam, what was it like the first time you shifted? Were you prepared? Was it surprising?
Liam: Mrs. Winters, the first time I shifted, I was having a disagreement with my father who thought it a good idea to force the matter. I was disgruntled at the Alpha and challenged him. So no, I wasn’t prepared, I was pissed off. Was it surprising? No. It was a lesson for me to learn to control my temper better. As for how it felt,” Liam motioned to Jen to touch him “why don’t see for yourself?”
Let nobody call Jen Winters a coward. She didn’t hesitate one moment, but the ominous look on Liam’s face and Carmina’s quick reaction to restrain the dark-haired beauty was enough notice for Jen to laugh and decline the offer with poise and grace.
Next up was the gentlemanly approach by the name of Tom Hodden. Tom too is an author friend of mine, but he is more than that. Tom is a mate, a man we all have come to respect and appreciate. After a general introduction, Tom’s question was aimed at Liam too.
Tom: What does it feel like to transform?
Liam regarded Tom with a side-long look though his eyes kept darting to the door where Jen has just gone through.
Liam: Hmm. It is energy that brings about the changes, Mr. Hodden. Imagine a swift electric shock from an open wire and you jerking your hand away to shake out the aftermath of the energy. The change is that quick and feels about the same, only, all over.”
Liam wiped at the corners of his mouth, his eyes fixed on Carmina while he waited for Tom to ask his next question.
Tom: Have you become more like your animal, or does the animal come from your own traits?
Liam: Man by nature is an animal, Mr. Hodden. Being able to skin-walk, only shows a truer form of the hidden beast. The traits, as with any animal, are passed on from the creators – in my case the Alpha pair. How they develop is partly based on who I am, what I choose and how I experience things. It is also partly based on pure instinct and desire.
Liam was done talking, and he dropped his chin to his chest again. I was rather pleased with the fact that Tom received an answer at all but it was clear to me that the friction between the couple was still present at times. Undeterred by any of the perceived undercurrents, Tom had one more question to ask, and he gently eased it towards the two individuals.
Tom: Do you ever watch horror movies, and complain they are wrong?
Carmina’s laughter was infectious, she answered first.
Carmina: [Still chuckling] I usually watch comedy, romance or drama, Tom. Though my favorite genre has always been Historical Romance. After learning some things, I admit that I do not think they are wrong at all – though I do question more often whether or not they are hiding anything more. Much of history, as I learned it, it appears, have a immortal hand in the pie somewhere.
Carmina pinched her lips together and shot a challenging look at Liam. Liam didn’t lift his head, nor did he rise to Carmina’s challenge. He simply answered Tom’s question.
Liam: No.
Carmina wasn’t impressed with the answer but she let it go and added to her own.
Carmina: Liam is more of a reader Tom, and a painter. Though judging by his method of painting, I think he may enjoy horror movies regardless of their accuracy.
Tom chuckled softly at the cheek of Carmina, and after a little chit-chat, he kindly stepped out to allow the next person into the chatroom. Next, through the door was Magda Cornelius. Her short, wavy copper red hair glistened under the light, and her lively hazel eyes roamed freely. Magda did not think twice, she simply hugged Carmina and Liam whether they wanted to or not. From where I watched, Carmina thoroughly enjoyed it, but Liam was slightly taken aback. After a little bit of back and forth, Magda eventually asked Liam her final question.
Magda: Liam if you open a FaceBook account would you use your own name?
Her question caught us all off guard. Nobody, not even Carmina, has thought of Liam’s human name, nor mentioned it before. I held my breath in anticipation, hoping Liam would open up and reveal the secret. Carmina leaned forward to hear the answer too. Liam looked pained when he finally lifted his head with a sigh.
Liam: If I did, you wouldn’t know.
Carmina let out a groan in objection, but Magda shook her head and her humour reminded me some of Esmeriska’s – Lady E. When Magda left, Liam and Carmina became tangled in a silent [I assumed non-verbal] argument, and the energy in the room became thick with tension. Where Carmina was [and still is] an open book, getting anything from Liam is difficult – and that is on a day when he’s talkative!
Next up was Linus Cornelius. It wasn’t hard to see the family resemblance, as he is Magda’s eldest son. His broad shoulders near matched Liam’s as Linus is an arm wrestler. He shook Liam’s hand and offered a quick, sisterly hug to Carmina.
Linus was excited to ask his question to Liam, he had mischief dancing on his face and he rubbed his hands together while speaking.
Linus: Liam, who is your favourite super hero. And this is not as easy a question to answer as one might think.
There are no words to describe what happened next, and I bet nobody is going to believe it. The walls in that small room shook, Carmina jumped and I gawked with my mouth wide open. Linus simply stood there with a massive grin, playfully mocking Liam with a ‘So?’ expression. Liam was folded over laughing, the sound was rich, warm and husky but crashing down around us like boulders from the side of a mountain. Try as I may, I do not recall ever hearing Liam laugh like this. It was something John did, not the Dark Lord!
Through splutters and snickers, Liam answered Linus.
Liam: To borrow my brother’s expression, Dude! That is the best question ever. John and I have debated this for… well, we’re old. It isn’t easy because we have our own skills right? John however always fancied himself a bit like the airbender Ank. Gods knows why, but I suppose maturity levels does not feature high in my brother’s priority list. But me? I would trade Carmina’s blood for the physical and mental capacity of Wolverine. There, I said it!
I swallowed, seriously I could not believe what I heard, and by the expression on Carmina’s face, nor could she. Liam and Linus debated back and forth for a good while, which was tense, to say the least, when the debate became heated. Linus however, stood fearlessly on his grounds, his own love for Japanese culture and history tested against Liam’s historical information. It was daunting to be in the company of an exuberant Liam, and neither Carmina nor I have ever heard him so fully engaged and dare I say it, rambling? To see this side of Liam scared me, though, as I soon realised that he was good at hiding a large part of himself, even from me.
When I finally chucked Linus out with an agreement of “It must be a boy thing,” and put an end to their debate, it was with Liam throwing a challenge back at Linus.
Liam: Let me know your favorite super villain Linus, I think I may relate better!
The next guest was Tina Fourie. She was more interested in a general chat than peppering the pair with questions. From behind her, Liam barely moved or made a sound, which was more in line with how we knew him. When her time to leave came, Tina said her goodbyes but she did have one question for Liam.
Tina: Is it just me or do you intimidate very one.
Carmina’s lips squeezed tight together, stifling a giggle while Liam’s only response was to shrug his shoulders. Tina rolled her eyes and left the room with a little wave at us.
The last person through the door, was Ingvild Birkals, a nurse all the way from Norway. Ingvild’s warm greeting extended to both Carmina and Liam, and she was rewarded with a dazzling smile from the big lump against the wall. Carmina’s affection for Ingvild was evident too, as she offered a hug to the short woman.
The conversation was pleasant, and it was clear to me that Ingvild adored this couple and was hardly intimidated by Liam’s demeanour when she asked the things she wanted to know about them.
Ingvild: What are your favourite music, books, colors?
Carmina: We both like books about mythology, for different reasons, I suspect.
She glanced at Liam who nodded.
Liam: Posh fairytales, as Carmina would have it, are the history of my kind, while to you, Rockflower, it is legends and stories forged from imagination.
Carmina blushed at the mention of the pet name and the reference to her sarcastic observation when she saw Liam’s reading material for the first time. This amused Ingvild but the nurse wasn’t done with them yet.
Ingvild: If you could go anywhere, where would you go and why?
At this question, Liam looked up at her directly, and a far-off look wove through the gold in his eyes. Carmina smiled and nodded as if to answer him in a private agreement.
Liam: Anywhere where Carmina and I can have enough privacy to be a couple. She craves normality, I crave fewer people to get on my nerves.
Carmina: What he means Ingvild, is that we have been bombarded with one thing after another, and … we are a new pair. I am used to it, having grown up with a large family and all that, but Liam is –
Liam: Able to speak for myself. I don’t like people and I don’t like how they demand Carmina’s attention.
At this point, I tried to re-direct the conversation, but as so many times before, Liam and Carmina were locked in an argument with one another, to which we are not privy. Ingvild understood their means of communication and gave me a knowing look before she gained their attention with another direct question at Liam.
Ingvild: If you could choose anyone, who would you like to have dinner/coffee/tea/water with, and why? Not each other.
He seemed annoyed at her for the interruption but I couldn’t help but wonder if Ingvild had a ‘silent word’ with him too. Liam’s lips thinned out and his jaw clenched, but he nodded for Carmina to answer first.
Carmina: I’d have liked to sit down with my mother, Carmen. I learned a lot about her recently, and it made me realise that I have a rich history filled with wonder too. She saved me, by offering her own life, and there are many unanswered questions. I- I think I’d like that.
Compassion oozed from Ingvild for Carmina, her hand stroked over the arm of the red-head near her. Yet, she wasn’t going to let Liam off the hook. He shook his head, and again I felt as if something passed between them without words. He answered the question in a gruff, short manner.
Liam: I have no desire to entertain anyone, in particular, Mrs. Birkals.
He lifted his eyes to me and I felt myself shrink into a corner.
Liam: But I’d like to return the favor of hearing the story of the woman who keeps us straight and gave us our voices. The true creator, if you will.
Ingvild looked at me and I felt her warmth extend around the room. She has asked me so many questions over the past two years and she knew more about these two people in the room with us than most.
Carmina and Liam both stood up too, and I knew it was the end of this session. With Ingvild on one side, Carmina on the other, we walked out of the door that Liam held open for us.
There wasn’t anything else to say because we all knew that Liam Moretti, will eventually get his way when the time is right.
He knew it.
We knew it.
Second Breath Chronicles, Hidden Carmina, Adri Sinclair, Romance
Hidden Carmina is the first book in the Second Breath Chronicles.
To live, she has to die, to die, she has to love – and to love, she has to face her own history founded in mythology!
Carmina Nightshade is 22 years old, and feels as if her entire life has been one big illusion when she learns that her family and clan are not human. This unsettling revelation leads to a deeper understanding of their peculiar behavior around her, though it brings very little comfort. She now knows she triggers their hunting instinct by simply being around them, testing their resolve! Now begins the turbulent journey of self discovery, perilous dangers and buried truths. As Carmina learns that her entire identity is a lie, she also meets with the dark and brooding Liam Moretti. The act of falling in love becomes a burden with catastrophic consequences for both of them. Carmina will soon learn, however, that this problem pales by comparison to the darkness that lurks within herself. She is not exactly angelic descended.
