I’d like to welcome Valerie Ullmer,
author of Xander (A Dark Assassins Novel Book Three) to my blog today.
RW: Tell us about yourself, your family, where you
live, etc.
VA: I live in Denver,
Colorado with my husband of sixteen years and our black lab mix, Maddie. I have
been a writer for seven years, but I published my first book (self-published)
in 2016 and I’ve been hooked ever since.
RW: How many hours a day do you spend writing?
VA: That depends on
whether I procrastinate the book or not. Usually, I spend at least three to
four hours a day outlining or writing, but that could increase the closer I get
to my deadline.
RW: Why did you decide to write? When did you
submit your first manuscript and what genre was it?
VA: I had thought about
writing for twenty years because I loved reading. Every book I read increased
my wanting to write, but it wasn’t until I was laid off from my job in 2010
that I took it seriously. I studied and made a poor attempt at my first
manuscript, which I still have. The mistakes I made throughout the book still
haunt me, but like everything else, it was a learning experience. I didn’t
submit my manuscript to an editor or a publisher. I instead decided to
self-publish, and I love the control I have. Some of the costs are expensive,
but it’s worth it, At least for me it is. I write paranormal and contemporary
erotic romance.
RW: Has your life changed since you became a
writer? What’s the best thing about being a writer?
VA: I’m happier since
deciding to become a writer. I used to dread going to work and when there,
became bored with my job. But with being a writer, you and your imagination create
the stories you want. I couldn’t ask for a better career.
RW: What makes a good book? A great romance? Is
humor important in fiction and why?
VA: In general, a good
book has to have a main character who you care about, at least a little, from
the beginning. If you have no desire to see them succeed, or even fail, at
their journey, then you have a badly written book. With romances, you need a
spark, a connection that only these two protagonists have. Even if they hate
each other, it’s still a spark and the story can go anywhere from there, as
long as the characters stay consistent in their personalities and grow from the
experiences.
Humor is something that I find goes with certain
books, but I find that when the author concentrates on trying to make the book funny,
they lose sight of either the relationship that they are trying to develop or
the story goes off on a tangent that doesn’t resemble a romance. A little humor
is good.
RW: How much of your personality and life
experiences are in your writing?
VA: Life experiences aren’t
in them as much as my personality. I noticed that my heroines, even while
scared as they are going through a change that upends their lives, aren’t going
to sit back and let someone fight their battles for them. I do, because the
older I get I find I do this, a lot, throw in some snarky comments, especially
in a tense situation.
RW: How do you come up with story ideas? What kind
of research do you do for a book?
VA: Story ideas are easy.
They come from other stories, a situation that I watch unfold in front of me as
I walk through the store, a conversation I overheard. I have tons of story
ideas, but the problem is that sometimes I write them down and when I come back
to them, I’m not interested or I can’t see how the idea would become a
full-fledge book and I move on. Luckily, over the next six or so months, I am
working on two novellas, the fourth through sixth book of the Dark Assassins
series, books two and three of the Unexpected series, and I’m starting a new
trilogy after that.
I’ve never been much of a researcher. I will
research history of a certain time period: weapons, careers, and sometimes
sexual positions, but mostly I’m creating my own world where I decide what
happens. Research has never been my strong suit.
RW: Bubble baths or steamy showers? Ocean or
mountains? Puppies or kittens? Chocolate or caramel?
VA: Steamy showers,
Ocean, Puppies, Chocolate.
RW: A biography has been written about you. What do
you think the title would be in six words or less?
VA: A smart-ass who loved
writing.
RW: Hunky heroes or average Joe?
VA: Hunky heroes
RW: You'd never be able to tell, but (fill in the blank).
VA: I have a wicked sense of humor.
RW: Those are all the questions I have for you.
Thank you for speaking to me.
VA: Thank you so much for having me, Rochelle, I appreciate it. It
was a lot of fun!
XANDER
DARK ASSASSINS, BOOK THREE
The Plot
Half-human,
half-shifter.
Xander has secretly
yearned for a mate for most of his immortal existence, and yet after three of
his friends find exactly what he’s always wanted, he’s come to believe he’s
missed his chance at happiness.
Until he
hears her voice.
Frost is a wildlife
biologist and tracker and she has been assigned, despite her adamant protests,
to lead mercenaries into the mountains of Snowfall, Colorado for the sole
purpose of killing immortal shifters. In order to protect those who have no
idea of the kind of danger they’re in, she agrees. As she leads the armed men
on a wild chase around the snow-covered pines, she can sense she’s running out
of time.
Until she
hears his voice.
Xander understands exactly
who Frost is the moment he hears her thoughts. With the help of Kane and
Gunnar, they eliminate those in her group as they try to keep her safe. But
during the fight, she is hurt and all of his protective instincts flare to
life. As Xander learns more about her, he realizes that Frost might be the key
to the creation of the immortals, both vampire and shifter.
But when she becomes a
target of those who want to destroy the Dark Company and Xander’s family, how
far will he go to save her?
An Excerpt:
“Are you Xander? The
one I’ve been talking to in my…well…mind, I guess you could say?”
He nodded as he
moved forward, taking her left hand in both of his.
“I really was
trying to lead them away, but despite me trying to convince them that they were
headed in the wrong direction, they noticed the smaller animals avoiding this
area. All animals will always listen to their instincts and stay away from apex
predators.” She paused for a long moment, her eyes never leaving his as she
explained. “Sorry, I tend to talk a lot when I’m in pain…or nervous. But I got
shot in the shoulder and it hurts like hell.”
Xander and Kane
chuckled, bringing out a huge smile on Frost’s face.
“There you go. You
guys looked so serious for a minute. But seriously, the cold is helping, but my
ass is starting to go numb. You don’t talk much, do you? Well, I ramble so that’s
why I became a wildlife biologist. So I can talk to the animals instead of
getting weird looks from people. If I didn’t see him in his human form, I could’ve
sworn the gray wolf thought I was crazy. Although, animals give me about the
same confused looks that you guys are giving me now. Huh.”
Xander couldn’t
tear his eyes away from her.
“Are you sure she
was shot? She’s not really acting like it,” Kane said.
Frost pulled her
gaze away from Xander and glanced up, way up, to where Kane stood with his arms
crossed, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and jeans with just a pair of tennis
shoes on. Xander could tell that her pulse didn’t increase, nor did her pupils
widen, as she glanced at Kane. He relaxed until her eyes narrowed a fraction.
“And what do you
know about it, Blondie?”
Kane raised one of
his eyebrows, too stunned to talk.
“I’ve been running
on adrenaline for the past few days, trying to lead these assholes off a cliff
while avoiding any evidence I found of animals in the area, but there isn’t a
cliff around here that is hidden. So how about we cut me some slack?”
Xander jerked out
of his astonishment when she tried to stand. As she spoke to Kane, he traced
every inch of her. Beautiful pale skin, plump peach lips, beautiful green-blue
eyes, and long, flowing dark hair. But her cry as her movement pulled at her
wound had him darting forward, wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling
her close. The humming that he hadn’t recognized before faded away abruptly
when he touched Frost. She seemed to sense the silence and comfort as well,
because she sagged against him, blowing out a relieved breath.
Should I get Liv? Gunnar
communicated while still in wolf form.
“Can you point me
to the nearest hospital?” Frost grunted with her face pinched in pain.
“No.” Xander’s
fierce anger came out of his mouth, before he realized that the harshness might
have Frost fear him. Instead, she smiled.
“Yes, Gunnar, can
you go and get Liv?” The wolf ran off through the trees as soon as Xander
spoke.
Xander lifted her
in his arms and walked toward his house, taking care not to jar her too much. But
when he spotted a cringe with each step, he cradled her in his arms and it
managed to lessen the shock.
“Who’s Liv? Your
wife? A doctor?”
Xander’s heart ran
a mile a minute because he knew that after searching for years, decades even,
that he’d finally found his mate. And she was tough, beautiful, and brilliant. He
held her tighter to his body when he started to salivate, already feeling the
need to claim her. But putting his selfish needs on hold, he cursed himself
because he wasn’t able to protect her.
“No, Liv’s a
friend and a vampire. Kai is her husband and mate.”
Frost relaxed in
his arms and he continued to explain.
“The blond is Kane—he’s
also a vampire. Gunnar is a gray wolf shifter, as you saw.”
“And you’re
Xander, who I can somehow communicate with through my mind. Which is completely
wicked, by the way.”
He laughed, cutting
off the sound, not wanting to jostle her too much. “Yes, and I’m a snow
leopard.”
Valerie Ullmer
Bio
Valerie resides in
Denver, Colorado with her husband and their dog, Maddie. Although she had been
interested in writing a romance novel for years, it wasn’t until she wrote her
first book that she really became hooked, and now she can’t stop. She has
notebooks full of ideas, and she plans to write most of them in the years to
come.
When she’s not
writing, learning about the craft of writing, or reading anything she can get
her hands on, she can be found surfing the Internet way too much, watching
Investigation Discovery and thinking that her neighbors are up to no good, and
finding new ways to get her husband to laugh.
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Link:
Contact
Valerie At:
Even the
Threat of cancer causes stress. The days before a doctor gets the results of
the test can seem like forever.
