Colleen’s Comments (group member since Apr 21, 2014)

Colleen’s comments from the Colleen Houck Book Club group.

Natalie wrote: "Judging by the Teaser Tuesdays on Tiger's Dream, will we be able to see more of Kishan and Durga/Anamika together like a team? See their relationship grow?

SO EXCITED!!!"

Yep. In fact, that's the main theme of the book.

Hope wrote: "Spoilers-My question is- why did Ren and Kishan have to die after Durga and Kelsey? And what about kadam? Is kadam in one way you? Is kadam in one way god? And why did you decide to put him in that role as opposed to creating someone else such as Durga?"

For Durga (Ana), she was a mortal, essentially. The power burned through her body more quickly. Ren and Kishan both lived longer than their spouses because the tigers gifted them with long lives.

Kadam is an interesting conundrum. He was a mortal man who wore the time piece of the amulet for a long, long time. It affected him, giving him a long life, but it also showed him his purpose in life. When he disappeared at the end of Tiger's Voyage, he was able to knit his form back together and study and learn while waiting for Nilima. During that time, he learned everything that Kishan would come to know and he kept his secrets close to spare the family he loved, even erasing the memory of being trapped in time from Nilima's mind. What's shocking is that he was able to keep his sanity and face his own demise with dignity. It must have been very, very hard for him, but no, he wasn't a god. He would call himself a devoted servant. He's absolutely my favorite character.

Louise wrote: "Teash wrote: "Hey Colleen,
Will Tiger's dream be coming out on any other book websites like booktopia? From Amazon it costs up to $40 because the extra money for shipping to where I live. I have th..."

Not hardcover at this time. Try the Book Depository. If they don't have it listed, they might be able to get it.

Teash wrote: "Hey Colleen,
Will Tiger's dream be coming out on any other book websites like booktopia? From Amazon it costs up to $40 because the extra money for shipping to where I live. I have the whole series..."

Hi there. I'm not sure about that. For most bookstores, I think you can go in and order a copy. If you live outside the US, the books would be available in English through Hodder. Did you try The Book Depository? It ships free worldwide.

Navreen wrote: "Hi Colleen,
I just wanted to ask if a physical copy of Tiger's Dream will be available soon? If so I will be content in looking forward to it!☺️
Thank you!"

You can get a paperback copy of Tiger's Dream on Amazon.

Ashley wrote: "I can't wait to get my claws on this book! I love everything you write. My question for you is would you ever consider writing another Shapeshifter animal series and if so what animal would you con..."

No new shapeshifter animals in Tiger's Dream. I do have bird shifters in the Reawakened series. Then there's a werewolf in The Lantern's Ember. I love shifter stories! What animal would you pick? I'm not sure what I'd do next.

Amanda wrote: "I've always felt like Ren and Kelsey had sort of a 'Beauty & The Beast' vibe, especially in the first book, when she first learned about the curse. Were you inspired by this particular fairy tale when you were writing their story?"

Thank you so much. You are exactly right! Good catch. At the heart of it, this is a Beauty and the Beast story.

Shannon wrote: "I prefer audible books. Any idea when Audible will release the 5th book?"

Me too! I don't know when yet but it's being recorded by Tantor audio and should be on Audible soon, I hope! It's a long book though and we didn't sign the contract until a few months ago.

Teash wrote: "First I would like to understand how you thought of such an amazing idea for a book? Does it reflect your own life in any way?

What got you into reading? and did you ever imagine a book you wrote would become this popular?

There has been rumours going around for year now that there is going to be a Tiger's Curse movie released. Both me and my mum have been waiting for ages now. So I was wondering are these just rumours? or do we maybe have a movie to look forward to in the future?

I Know you had to re read the series to write Tiger's dream, Is their anything you wish you had of done differently, and why?

Because of the Tiger's Curse series it has become my dream to be a writer, and allow people who read my books to have a chance to experience the feelings I felt when I read Tigers Curse. So this leads to my last question, what advice could you give to a new writer like me?
"

First I would like to understand how you thought of such an amazing idea for a book? Does it reflect your own life in any way?

There are parts of the book that borrowed from my life. I gave Kelsey my grandmother and blanket, for example. I also named secondary characters after nieces and nephews. Kelsey is much braver than I am though. I would never touch a tiger through a cage.

What got you into reading? and did you ever imagine a book you wrote would become this popular?

My mother is responsible for getting me interested in reading. She picked out a bunch of books one summer at the library and I quickly finished the pile and went back the next week. I never thought my book would ever get published let alone in many countries. It's an amazing thing.

There has been rumours going around for year now that there is going to be a Tiger's Curse movie released. Both me and my mum have been waiting for ages now. So I was wondering are these just rumours? or do we maybe have a movie to look forward to in the future?

The books are optioned for film but haven't moved much beyond that. It's still a possibility though, so fingers crossed.

I Know you had to re read the series to write Tiger's dream, Is their anything you wish you had of done differently, and why?

I would have liked to write Dream immediately following Destiny but if I had, it might have been slightly different. I like to think I've become a bit wiser over the years and perhaps my perspective is different now than it was then. But, no, I have no regrets or wish for any changes.

Because of the Tiger's Curse series it has become my dream to be a writer, and allow people who read my books to have a chance to experience the feelings I felt when I read Tigers Curse. So this leads to my last question, what advice could you give to a new writer like me?

Write what you love not what's trendy. It's a hard thing for any writer to do. Publishers will try to push you one way or another but if you don't love a project, your readers won't either.

dee booknerd wrote: "I want to ask a few questions, where did the inspiration come to write about India and the culture of India?
Another question is, what is next after Tiger Saga? What other fascinating work do you have in store for us?"

I was inspired by tiger myths from India. As for what's next, I have a steampunk Halloween book out this fall called, The Lantern's Ember. After that I'm working on a sci-fi/mythology mashup that I hope to publish in 2019.

Winston wrote: "Who designs the covers? They're all so amazing!"

They are! All the tiger books were designed by the same artist. His name is Cliff Nielsen. You can see more of his work here. http://www.shannonassociates.com/clif...

Ali Kiki wrote: "Do you feel that Tiger's Dream is a good wrap up to the series or would you want to keep writing more?"

The story is done now. That doesn't mean I wouldn't mind exploring some of the other characters. I have an idea for a Wes book set in Texas. I've also played around with the idea of a pair of novellas for the Lords of the Flame.

Natalie wrote: "After you wrote Tiger's Destiny, what thoughts did you have about Tiger's Dream? Most of us though Destiny was the last. I know I did."

I wanted to begin with Tiger's Dream immediately. I did, actually. I wrote about six or seven chapters before turning my attention to Reawakened.

Gretal wrote: "First of all, I can't believe Tiger's Dream is at last coming out. I'm so excited to read it. Second, it's so much longer than the other books. Is there a specific reason why?"

There was a lot more story to tell. I didn't expect it to end up that long but the story pretty much made up its own mind how long it needed to be.

Shaylee*cheeky* wrote: "Why did you wait so long to write this? Besides working on other things."

It was a contractual thing. I wanted to write it immediately but moving to a new US publishing house meant I had to begin a new series instead.

Kelly wrote: "Mostly I'm curious what age Kelsey and Ren are now. And, I'm guess that Kishan is somewhat ageless in his current role.

How much after Tiger's Destiny do the events of Tiger's Dream take place? If it's much later, was it difficult to write the characters as they matured?

Not a question, but a comment - what I love most about all your books are the vivid descriptions. You do an amazing job of bringing the scenery and characters to life!"

Ah, thank you so much! In Tiger's Dream we get to see Kelsey and Ren at many different times. The book begins six months after Ren and Kelsey leave Kishan in the past.

Yes. Kishan is more ageless. Ren begins aging normally after the tiger leaves him at the end of Destiny.

Allana wrote: "What was it like for you coming back to the Tiger's Curse series? Did you have any challenges writing from a different point of view than Kelsey?

Crazy question: If your characters from the Tiger's Curse series joined your characters from the Reawakened Series on a road trip, what would happen?"

I loved writing from Kishan's perspective. I didn't think I would but he's quite a sensitive soul when you get to know him. It was much easier than I thought it would be.

I'd love to do a mashup someday. It would be so awesome to have Ren and Kishan meet Tia in her lioness form. Also a sphinx and Egyptian gods sparring with the goddess Durga would be awesome!

Erika wrote: "Do you work with a specific bookstore we could order through and get a signed copy of Tiger's Dream? (Like Maggie Stiefvater works with Fountain Bookstore, Inc.)"

It's tricky. Most of the time I work with Powell's books, but since this is a self-published book in the US and most bookstores don't stock those, we're out of luck. You can write me and get a signed bookplate though. You can get the info for that by emailing me at contactme@colleenhouck.com.

Joy wrote: "Can someone tell me if they will publish a hardcover edition of The Tigers Dream?"

Not at this time. Since we had to self-publish the book in the US and Amazon no longer offers a hardback edition, we didn't have a way to do that. Maybe we can figure out something in the future but for now we only have those two options.

Rachel wrote: "Tiger's Destiny ended so well. I'm extremely excited for Tiger's Dream, but I'm wondering, what made you decide to write a fifth book?"

That one's easy. The story wasn't over yet. It could have been but I wanted to bring everything full circle.