A World Unbalanced: An interview with paranormal/SF author Cindy Lynn Speer about her book, Unbalanced

Today, I'm talking with Cindy Lynn Speer about her paranormal/science fiction novel, Unbalanced.

1) Tell us about your book. 

Andromeda Pendragon has been trained her whole life to be an agent of Balance, an organization that acts as a supernatural UN to keep the peace among werewolves, vampires and magic users. It's a busy start for a new agent--all she has to do is prevent a war, solve several murders, stay out of prison, keep the world from learning about things that have been secret for hundreds of years and preserve the stability to the agency she was raised to be a part of.

And then there’s Alaister, the man she loved and let go because no normal man wants a girlfriend who hangs out with creatures from his nightmares. The man who re-enters her life at a party the night a young woman is savagely murdered. The man who has a few secrets of his own.

But nothing--and no one--will unbalance Andromeda Pendragon.

2) What inspired you to write this book?

  

I was inspired to write this book by my lifelong obsession with things that go bump in the night.  In Andromeda’s world, belief is a strong force…if you believe strongly enough, if you have yourself convinced, there actually is someone under the stair, waiting to grab your ankles.  There actually is a shadow under your bed.  I’ve also always liked vampires and werewolves, and I wanted to see if I could say something different about them.

3) Werewolves, mages, and vampires makes for a crowded setting. Why do you decide to include all those elements instead of just focusing primarily on one?

I  decided to focus on all three because I wanted to create a world. A rich in diversity as well as tension.  I liked the idea of these people being different from us genetically, as if werewolves are a different race, basically, and thought it would open the door for some interesting tensions, racially as well as politically.  And having more than one, sadly, isn’t that uncommon anymore.  It was when I started writing this book way in the 90’s, but not so much now.

4) In a setting filled with supernaturals, being a 'normal' brings with an inherent tension. Is this why you chose to have your protagonist not be a supernatural?

I chose to have my protagonist to not be supernatural because I wanted a main character who could act as an everyman in this versatile world. She’s just a human, like you or I, among all these other strange creatures.

5) Which character did you have more fun creating: Andromeda or Alaister?

Andromeda, because when she started out she actually was a vampire, and she had this huge back story with a twin sister and all sorts of horror and sorrow.  She didn’t work. So when I took her fangs away, she underwent this huge change in personality and everything, and she became a woman I could really connect with.

6) Any plans for a sequel?

 I am not sure if there will be a direct sequel. There had been plans, but the person I was back then, who created these characters, is not the same person.  I’ve been writing another series set in the same world, though, so I am sure that, even if Andromeda and Alaister don’t have their own book again, they will make appearances. 

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Thanks, Cindy.

You can read more from Cindy at her blog http://apenandfire.com/.

Click here to check out Unbalanced.