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

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

Aleksandra wrote: "I have a question to you, It's been a lot of time since tiger's destiny was realased and since then have you ever want to end this series on Destiny? Or you were still working on it? And how in world you find so many accurate poem when Ren was talking to Kelsey? I also wanted to say thank you, for being with your fans xoxo greetings from Poland! love you <3."

Hello to Poland! I knew Destiny wasn't the end so Dream has been in the back of my mind for a long time. I love poetry. Some of the poems are my own and some are from famous writers. It was easy to find kissing poems. You just google it!

Mckenzie wrote: "We all know that Kishan drempt of a baby with his pirate gold eyes, but I would like to know if a) we get to see (er read about) the baby and b) if we get to learn more about Kishan's sparking love for Durga/Annimika. Once again I thank you for writing one of my favorite series. Ill never get over Ren and Kelsey's infectious love, they are too cute!!!!!!"

Great question. Yep, you will read more about the baby and a LOT more about Anamika. I love Kelsey and Ren too.

Maddie wrote: "Did you always know that you were going to write five books and not just end at Tiger's Destiny? I thought that Tiger'a Destiny was the end until the end until the Tiger's Promise novela came out and we got the little snippet came out. I'm super excited and I can wait to read it! I can usually finish a Tiger Saga book in a day if I really try so I think it's going to be really hard to put down a book with over 600 pages."

Yep, I always knew Destiny wasn't the end. I'm not sure even I could finish this one in a day since it ended up being over 800 pages!

Natalie wrote: "Will Tiger's Dream be able to answer the question I had in mind? As to why Phet told Kishan that Kelsey needed him?

Lokesh was defeated, the curse was lifted. What could possibly happen that Kells..."

I hope you have read the book and have the answer to that question by now. If you haven't figured it out yet, message me on twitter or goodreads and I'll explain. ;)

Natalie wrote: "We all thought Tiger's Destiny was the end, but you gave us the surprise about Tiger's Dream at end of the novella Tiger's Promise. What inspired you to write the 6th book?"

Dream was always in my mind. The story just wasn't finished at the end of Destiny and I knew I wanted to finish it at some point.

Диана wrote: "Was there any romantic feelings between Ren and Anamika or Ren and any other woman except Kelsey?"

Not really. Ren wanted to find love and thought he and Yesubai would end up loving each other despite an arranged marriage. After he met Kelsey, there was no one else for him.

Melissa wrote: "Why is this one so much bigger than the others?"

Kishan had a lot to say. ;)

anka_fm wrote: "I adore The Tiger’s Curse series and can’t wait for the final book!
Why did you decide to use Indian mythology?
Have you been to India?
Where did you learn about Indian mythology?
Who will be the main protagonists?
Will we see Ren and Kelsey?
How many pages are in the book? "

There are a lot of great tiger myths that come from India so it was pretty much a no brainer.

I haven't been to India yet though I would love to go someday.

I studied Indian mythology on the internet, in mythology books, and then made up a lot of stuff on my own such as the story of the Princess and the Tiger in Tiger's Dream.

You will see Ren and Kelsey but perhaps not as you expect. The main protagonist of this story is Kishan.

It's a big book, sitting at over 800 pages!

Anna wrote: "What inspired the twist of the love triangles, or in the Reawakened series, squares I guess? that are in your books?"

I really like romantic tension in books and its very, very hard to keep characters who are desperately in love from being together, especially in a long series. A love triangle or quadrangle is one tool that helps me do that. I am a Twilight fan and poor Jake didn't have much of a chance. I wanted Kishan to actually have a shot with Kelsey and show that he was just as good a guy. Seeing things from his perspective in Dream was an interesting twist for me.

Sonya wrote: "Why did you and the publishers decide to push the release of Tiger's Dream back so much? I loved the Reawakened series, but I was puzzled at the gap between Tiger's Destiny and Tiger's Dream. Was the writing process for Reawakened difficult knowing that the Tiger saga was incomplete? And did you ever find yourself mixing up the stories at all? Thank you! For the questions and choosing to be a writer! ."

Good question. The editor who worked on the tiger books wanted to stop the story after Kelsey got her happily ever after but I knew there was more to tell. There were no other publishers in the US willing to pick up a final book in a series so I had to first find a new publishing house and then negotiate writing Dream into my contract. I wish it could have come out with a bang right after Destiny. It wasn't meant to be, but I'm very proud of this book and really happy to finally share it with my readers.

As for the two series, it wasn't too hard to keep them separate though I just recently figured out a way to bridge the four worlds I've been working on. It was pretty much a mind blowing experience for me. It's a bit Marvelesque actually.

Daniela wrote: "I love this series so much, so when I heard about a fifth book coming out, I flipped out. Will this follow Kelsey's point of view, or be a dual, or follow someone else? How much time passes between the fourth book and this one? ."

Tiger's Dream is in Kishan's perspective. I didn't think I'd be able to write a male perspective but it was a surprisingly smooth task. He had a lot to say and the words just flowed. When this book is...is a difficult thing to describe. There's a bit of time travel going on =) but it picks up in the beginning about six months after Ren and Kelsey leave the past where Lokesh was finally defeated.

Louise wrote: "I was wondering, the dream that Kishan had at the end of Tigers Destiny, is it possible that he could be tied to it. He is after all in the past and time in novels as Dr Who put it, is wibbly wobbl..."

It is all wibbly wobbly. =) I'm not sure which dream you're referring to. The biggest dream in this series, the one that affects the characters the most, are the dreams that occur in the Grove of Dreams in Shangri-La. Kishan tells Kelsey a part of what he sees but he misunderstands it a bit and then there's the part he doesn't share. You get a sneak peek of that dream in Tiger's Dream when he goes back to Shangri-La with Anamika.

Nour wrote: "So I just wanted to ask, will Tiger’s dream include the same characters? Will it be a continuation or a different story?"

For those of you who haven't read it, Tiger's Dream is a continuation. It's told from Kishan's perspective. All the same characters will be in the story but they don't all share center stage. When I describe the book, I say it's a conclusion that will flip the curse upside down and if you aren't shocked by all the reveals, I'd be very, very surprised.

Lauryn wrote: "After rereading this series for about the 6th time, I've always wondered what made you chose to write about India? Did any one inspire you when you created Mr. Kadam's character? And finally my last truly puzzling question, how on earth did you ever think of the names "Dhiren" and "Kishan"?"

India mythology was inspired by the tiger. The tiger always came first for me. Kadam is a mix of two great characters, Mr. Spock from Star Trek and Mr. Roarke from Fantasy Island. He's mysterious and logical. This is where the Mr. comes from by the way. Ren and Kishan got their names from babynames.com. =) I keep of book of interesting names too but for the Indian names I had to go online. I think Kishan means the color black which is fitting and Ren is brave or warrior or something. I can't remember exactly. Anik means soldier and Nilima is a flower, I think.

Milena wrote: "You mentioned during Reunited chat that you were inspired to write after reading Twilight series. Stephanie Meyer revealed that Bella and Edward's story came to her in a dream. How did Kelsey, Ren, and Kishan's story come to you? And why did you chose Indian mythology for your first series?"

It all started with a Beauty and the Beast theme. I chose a tiger for my beast and thought I'd set the book in Russia at first, then researching the white tiger took me to India. I started exploring Indian tiger myths and it just blossomed from there.

Shaylee*cheeky* wrote: "Have you experienced anything of India firsthand? Every time I read these, I find myself wanting to go there."

Nothing more than Indian restaurants. Luckily, I had a great editor from India who helped me with all the niggling details. I have a trip to India on my bucket list. So excited to one day go and see everything I wrote about.

These Violent Delights wrote: "I guess my question is, How was it getting back into writing about this world again? Was it difficult to get started on this book because of the long break between the rest of the series and this book? Or was writing this book a breeze?"

It was actually so, so easy going back to this world. I know the characters so well. Having said that, I had to reread all the books and take tons of notes since my brain had already moved on to a different series. I wanted to make sure I remembered all the little details and caught all the Easter eggs I'd planted. Considering the size, I wrote this one rather quickly. It took about six months or so.

Frida wrote: "Why did you decided to make a 5th book? I mean, everything seemed rapped up in the fourth book. What inspired you to write the 5th one? - I can’t wait for it to come out. Greetings from the grande ..."

Hello back to Texas! I thought I'd be able to finish everything in a mega book four, AKA Tiger's Destiny. By the time I introduced Anamika, the book was already way too big. I knew then I needed to add a fifth book. Dream was always in my mind and the story was left unfinished. My publisher wanted to stop the series with Kelsey's story, and I'm sure there are many readers who feel the same, but I really wanted to get the whole thing out there. It took some time but I finally made it happen.

Are you a panster or a plotter?

Do you have a favorite pirate movie?